Recaps

Jelena’s forces captured Spearhaft, and Liu Qian reinforced the island while suspecting Tyrosh was coordinating with the Seven Kingdoms. Back on Bloodstone Island, he learned that the Seven Kingdoms were mobilizing for war and began assessing their forces and intentions.

• Jelena led pirates and Dragon Spirit Guardians in a swift assault that captured Spearhaft, killed or captured its Tyroshi garrison, and seized the island’s stores and wealth.
• Jelena reorganized Spearhaft’s black market, and Liu Qian arrived with reinforcements before ordering her to make the island appear heavily defended.
• Jelena reported that Tyrosh’s fleet remained quiet, and Liu Qian suspected Tyrosh and the Seven Kingdoms were preparing to join forces against him.
• Mezzo told Liu Qian that Petyr Baelish had been sent to Tyrosh for secret talks and that the Seven Kingdoms had begun mobilizing for war.
• Mezzo reported that the Redwyne fleet was preparing to sail, the Royal Fleet was being repaired, and the Iron Islands had sent thirty longships under threat to Theon Greyjoy.
• Liu Qian concluded that the lords might use the campaign to advance their own ambitions and resolved to prepare for a future contest over Westeros.

Robert Baratheon insisted on leading the campaign against the eastern warlock, and the Small Council chose Paxter Redwyne to command the expedition. The council also relied on Ser Jorah to gather intelligence before the fleet landed.

• Robert rejected Jon Arryn's warning that the campaign's costs were burdensome and insisted on joining the fighting.
• Robert ordered that the vanguard land before he went into battle, but dismissed Stannis as a possible commander.
• Jon Arryn explained that Ned Stark lacked naval experience and suggested Paxter Redwyne as the most suitable commander.
• Robert approved Paxter Redwyne's appointment to lead the expedition to the Stepstones.
• Varys reported that Ser Jorah was gathering intelligence on the eastern warlock, and Robert promised him a royal pardon for valuable information.

Jorah Mormont reunited with Lynesse on Bloodstone Island, where they confessed their love and dreamed of escaping together. After learning she was being guarded and could visit only briefly, Jorah resolved to obtain Liu Qian’s battle plans to secure their freedom.

• Jorah worried that Varys’s Little Birds had ordered him to obtain Liu Qian’s tactical arrangements, which he could not access.
• Lynesse visited Jorah and told him Liu Qian had moved her from Torturer’s Deep to Bloodstone Island while troops gathered on Broken Spear Island.
• Lynesse apologized for her past behavior and told Jorah she wanted to travel the world with him if they regained their freedom.
• Jorah revealed that he had contacted powerful ministers on the Small Council and needed Liu Qian’s battle plans to earn a pardon for them both.
• Lynesse said Liu Qian had forbidden her from seeing Jorah and urged him to endure until King Robert’s forces arrived.
• After Lynesse left, Jorah resolved to obtain the plans at any cost to save her.

Jorah Mormont learned from a drunken Rollo that Liu Qian planned to attack Tyrosh while leaving Bloodstone Island guarded by only Jorah and five hundred men. Jorah secretly sent a raven northwest with the information.

• Rollo invited Jorah to drink and admitted that he had come to respect Jorah for training his men to fight and survive.
• Rollo revealed that the forces capable of fighting were gathering on Broken Spear Island for an assault on Tyrosh.
• Rollo said Jorah would remain on Bloodstone Island with five hundred men to guard the base.
• Rollo hinted that ships from the Seven Kingdoms had been moving through the area and could discover how weakly Bloodstone Island was defended.
• Jorah concealed his excitement, left Rollo's courtyard, and sent a raven flying northwest.

The lords of the Seven Kingdoms gathered at Dragonstone and agreed to attack the eastern warlock’s forces in the Stepstones by seizing Bloodstone Island. Robert ordered the fleet to sail, and an enormous coalition began its expedition.

• Paxter Redwyne explained that the eastern warlock’s main force was on Broken Spear Island and urged the coalition to capture Bloodstone Island as a base.
• Ser Kevan questioned reports of an Undying Legion, while Oberyn mocked him and Eddard warned that Jorah Mormont’s claims might be exaggerated.
• Oberyn asked why Stannis was absent, and Robert angrily condemned Stannis for refusing to join the expedition.
• Paxter asked Robert to order the fleet to sail, and Robert raised his warhammer and commanded the armies to crush the enemy.
• More than four hundred warships carrying a coalition of forty-three thousand soldiers left Dragonstone for Bloodstone Island.

Liu Qian revealed that he had long known Jorah was spying for King's Landing and had him captured as the Seven Kingdoms' fleet approached Bloodstone Island. He transformed into a massive golden dragon and concealed himself in the storm, preparing to ambush the fleet.

• Jorah tried to leave his residence but the Dragon Spirit Guardians wounded and pinned him while Liu Qian and Chai Yi confronted him.
• Liu Qian revealed that he had known Jorah was sending intelligence to King's Landing and ordered the guards to imprison him.
• Jorah warned that the fleet was coming and begged Liu Qian to protect Lynesse, who was actually at Torturer's Deep.
• Liu Qian returned Chai Yi's ruby and said Rollo, Hal, Jelena, and Chai Yi were positioned to ambush the approaching forces.
• Liu Qian used True Dragon Descent, transformed into a golden dragon, and flew into the storm to watch for the fleet.

The Seven Kingdoms' vanguard fleet fell into a reckless race to reach Bloodstone Island first, while Eddard Stark struggled to keep the king safe amid the storm. Lightning revealed a mountain-sized shadow circling overhead, and Eddard ordered an immediate retreat.

• Paxter Redwyne watched the Westerlands, Iron Islands, and Dornish ships abandon formation to race toward Bloodstone Island, then ordered the Reach fleet to catch up.
• Robert drank wine aboard the king's flagship as Eddard Stark and Renly discussed the vanguard's disorder and the worsening storm.
• Jaime Lannister taunted Eddard, who rebuked him for breaking his oath, and the two nearly came to blows.
• Lightning revealed a vast shadow circling in the clouds, terrifying everyone on deck.
• Eddard Stark ran toward the cabin and shouted for the fleet to retreat and get the king away.

The Seven Kingdoms' fleet landed on Bloodstone Island, where Golden Dragon Liu Qian ambushed the ships with Dragonfire. As the survivors faced the Dragon Spirit Guardians emerging from the fortress, Jelena led them into battle.

• Victarion Greyjoy and Ser Kevan Lannister raced to land first and seize Valyrian steel, ignoring Earl Paxter Redwyne's orders.
• A Great Dragon appeared above the harbor, and Golden Dragon Liu Qian revealed himself as he attacked the fleets with Dragonfire.
• Liu Qian burned warships and drove their crews into the sea, while survivors on shore watched the fleet collapse.
• The fortress gates opened, and the Dragon Spirit Guardians marched out, confirming that Jorah's warning about the Army of the Dead was true.
• Jelena, with Chai Yi beside her, ordered the Dragon Spirit Guardians to attack the surviving soldiers on the beachhead.

The Dragon Spirit Guardians and Liu Qian’s golden dragon overwhelmed the Seven Kingdoms’ landing force and fleet. Paxter Redwyne and Kevan Lannister surrendered, and the surviving prisoners were taken to Bloodstone Island as Liu Qian flew back to Rollo and Hal.

• The Dragon Spirit Guardians cut down the soldiers of the Seven Kingdoms on the piers, while Liu Qian’s dragon burned their warships at sea.
• Baelor Hightower urged Paxter Redwyne to surrender, and Paxter finally ordered the Reach forces to lay down their arms.
• Kevan Lannister surrendered the surviving Westerlands troops, and the Ironborn and Dornish stopped resisting.
• Jelena and Chai Yi’s Dragon Spirit Guardians bound the survivors and escorted them to the dungeons of Bloodstone Island.
• Liu Qian flew back to Rollo and Hal, who believed their master was a true dragonrider.

After destroying the Seven Kingdoms fleet, Liu Qian’s forces captured tens of thousands of survivors and recorded the identities of hundreds of nobles and knights. The king, Eddard Stark, Renly Baratheon, and the Kingsguard remained missing, while Liu Qian prepared to receive his captured lords.

• Rollo and Hal ordered their fleet to rescue and capture survivors from the burning wreckage of the Seven Kingdoms fleet.
• Rollo and Hal’s soldiers bound the survivors, subdued defiant knights, and recorded the prisoners’ identities.
• After searching the sea, Rollo and Hal returned to Bloodstone Island with their prisoners but had found no trace of the king, Eddard Stark, Renly Baratheon, or the Kingsguard.
• Rollo reported that about seventy thousand people had survived, including roughly twenty thousand soldiers and more than three hundred nobles and knights.
• Liu Qian ordered Rollo to categorize the captured laborers and sailors by trade and bring the noble prisoners to the tower’s hall as guests.

Liu Qian confronted the captured nobles and knights of the Seven Kingdoms on Bloodstone Island, revealing their defeat and Jorah Mormont’s betrayal. He challenged Paxter Redwyne over the invasion and declared that he had grounds to execute the prisoners.

• Liu Qian entered the hall and took his seat as the captured nobles watched in fear.
• Jorah Mormont stood with Liu Qian’s officers, and the prisoners realized he had fed the Seven Kingdoms false intelligence.
• Morlin Tyrell denounced Jorah, and Rollo ordered soldiers to behead him.
• Liu Qian questioned Paxter Redwyne, who admitted he had come under Robert Baratheon’s orders to quell disorder in the Stepstones.
• Liu Qian said the Stepstones had never belonged to the Seven Kingdoms and warned that he could execute the invaders.

Liu Qian exposed Jorah Mormont as the agent who lured the Seven Kingdoms’ fleet to the Stepstones, where he confessed his ambitions to seize the North and Bear Island. After rebuffing the nobles’ objections to his invasion, Liu Qian had Rollo escort the captives away, confident Jorah was now despised as a traitor.

• Paxter Redwyne said Jorah’s intelligence had persuaded the Iron Throne to send its fleet to the Stepstones, and Jorah admitted he had done so on Liu Qian’s instructions.
• Jorah declared that he had abandoned the North and planned to become its Warden, then said Maege Mormont deserved to die for taking his place on Bear Island.
• Kevan Lannister condemned Jorah for betraying Westeros, while Liu Qian challenged the nobles’ claims to honor by recounting Westeros’s history of conquest.
• Paxter Redwyne and Oberyn Martell argued that one dragon could not defeat the Seven Kingdoms on land, and Liu Qian concealed his plans for the Dragon Eggs.
• Liu Qian ordered Rollo to escort the nobles back to their rooms.

Liu Qian revealed how he had used Chai Yi disguised as Jorah Mormont to turn Jorah into a pawn for stirring up war in the North. He then tried to recruit Anders Yronwood by offering him the title of Warden of Dorne if Liu Qian conquered Westeros.

• Chai Yi removed the ruby and revealed that she had been posing as Jorah, while Liu Qian explained that he had impersonated Lynesse to manipulate Jorah into summoning the Seven Kingdoms' armies.
• Liu Qian told Chai Yi and Jelena that he planned to use Jorah to destabilize the North, promising House Mormont a claim while keeping Jorah under control through the real Lynesse.
• Liu Qian ordered Jelena to bring Anders Yronwood from the dungeon so he could discuss Dorne's future with him.
• Liu Qian offered Anders food and Tyrosh pear brandy, then asked him to join his side when he conquered Westeros.
• Anders rejected Liu Qian's offer and declared that he would rather die than betray Westeros, so Liu Qian promised to make him Warden of Dorne.

Liu Qian exploited House Yronwood’s resentment of House Martell and planted doubts that Prince Doran had substituted an impostor for Quentyn. Anders Yronwood agreed to investigate the claim while keeping their conversation secret, then asked to ransom himself and his daughter’s betrothed.

• Liu Qian described Dorne’s ethnic divisions and promised Anders Yronwood control of Dorne if he supported him against House Martell.
• Liu Qian suggested that the Quentyn raised at Yronwood might have been an impostor substituted by Prince Doran, and Anders reacted with shock.
• Liu Qian admitted he had no direct proof but urged Anders to compare Quentyn’s appearance and consider Doran’s motives.
• Anders began doubting Quentyn’s identity and agreed that their conversation would remain secret while he returned to investigate.
• Anders asked Liu Qian to accept a ransom for himself and Ser Rohanne Allyrion, who was also imprisoned.

Liu Qian interrogated captured lords Anders and Yohn Royce, seeking leverage over Dorne and the Vale. After Royce refused to betray House Arryn, Liu Qian considered the nobles he had captured and the openings he might exploit across the Seven Kingdoms.

• Liu Qian told Anders he would announce the ransom terms to the nobles of the Seven Kingdoms soon, and Anders reluctantly ate before being taken away.
• Yohn Royce lunged at Liu Qian and was beaten by the Dragon Spirit Guardians until he sat, injured and gasping.
• Liu Qian tried to persuade Royce to discuss the future of the Vale's wardenship, but Royce swore House Royce would never betray House Arryn.
• Liu Qian dismissed Royce and noted that Harrold Hardyng, another prisoner, could give him leverage in the Vale.
• Liu Qian reviewed the prisoner list and weighed possible alliances and conflicts involving the Reach, Westerlands, Riverlands, and Stormlands.

Liu Qian ordered an attack on Tyrosh and agreed to use captured Seven Kingdoms banners to deceive the city. In Tyrosh, Greenbeard realized the supposed Seven Kingdoms army at Broken Spear Island was a ruse, while Bluebeard welcomed the apparent allies and prepared to confront Paxter Redwyne.

• Liu Qian rejected using the Great Dragon against Tyrosh and chose Rollo, a native of the city, to lead the vanguard.
• Mezzo Maher proposed flying captured Seven Kingdoms banners, and Liu Qian approved the deception.
• Tyrosh’s lookout reported smoke and apparent Seven Kingdoms troops attacking pirates at Spearhaft on Broken Spear Island.
• Prince Bluebeard ordered the Tyrosh fleet to join the Seven Kingdoms, but Greenbeard questioned why they had arrived without warning.
• A soldier announced that Paxter Redwyne was outside the city, and Greenbeard concluded that the Seven Kingdoms had deceived Tyrosh and demanded an explanation.

Liu Qian used a disguise to trick Tyrosh into opening its gates, then led a coordinated assault that overwhelmed the city’s defenders. With the gates being sealed and the Archon’s palace as his next target, he pressed deeper into Tyrosh.

• Liu Qian disguised his soldiers as a Seven Kingdoms army and tricked the Tyroshi into opening the gates.
• Liu Qian’s pirates stormed the city as Rollo and Hal’s fleet attacked Tyroshi warships in the harbor.
• Jelena and the Dragon Spirit Guardians turned the naval battle in the pirates’ favor, forcing the Tyroshi sailors to surrender.
• Liu Qian used Dragonfire Breath to rout the defenders on the walls and ordered Jelena to seal every gate.
• Liu Qian headed for the Archon’s palace while terrified Tyroshi citizens hid in their homes.

Liu Qian conquered Tyrosh, executed its rulers, and began reorganizing the city’s forces and resources. He sent Jelena to seize the fertile Disputed Lands while Mezzo Maher expanded his intelligence network across Essos.

• Greenbeard learned that Liu Qian had taken Tyrosh, tried to flee, and was captured by Dragon Spirit Guardians.
• Liu Qian ordered Prince Bluebeard’s head displayed at the city gates and had Greenbeard executed after learning his identity.
• Liu Qian declared that Tyrosh would have no more princes.
• Rollo and Hal counted Tyrosh’s captured fleet of 120 warships and nearly two thousand sailors, whom Liu Qian ordered Jelena to reorganize.
• Liu Qian tasked Mezzo Maher with extending his intelligence network throughout Essos and monitoring Tyrosh’s wealthy merchants.
• Liu Qian ordered Jelena to sail with the reorganized Tyroshi soldiers and take control of the Disputed Lands.

After the Seven Kingdoms’ fleet was destroyed by the Eastern Warlock and his Great Dragon, the Small Council debated how to defend Westeros and recover the captured nobles. With the treasury empty and the fleet ruined, Jon Arryn proposed negotiating a truce and ransoming the captives.

• Jon Arryn confronted Varys over the false intelligence that had helped lead the fleet into disaster, while Renly Baratheon condemned the loss of lords, troops, and laborers.
• Eddard Stark urged the council to focus on rescuing the captives, and King Robert demanded a way to deal with the Eastern Warlock and his dragon.
• Pycelle recalled that a Dornish ballista had killed Meraxes and suggested the Eastern Warlock might have found his dragon in the Shadow Lands and learned forbidden arts in Asshai.
• Robert ordered giant crossbows for King's Landing and demanded new warships, but Jon Arryn explained that the treasury was empty and fewer than ten warships remained.
• Jon Arryn proposed negotiating a temporary peace with the Eastern Warlock and paying ransoms for the captured nobles.

After Robert demanded negotiations to free the captive nobles, Jon chose Eddard Stark and Petyr as envoys to the Stepstones. In a secret passage, Varys learned from Illyrio that Tyrosh had fallen and his spies there had vanished, leaving him alarmed by the eastern guest and his dragon.

• Robert rejected Jon's proposal for peace with the eastern pirate, then ordered Jon to find an envoy who could delay him and ransom the captive nobles.
• Eddard Stark volunteered to negotiate because many northmen remained captive, and Jon assigned him to travel with Petyr.
• In a secret passage beneath the Red Keep, Varys asked Illyrio whether Tyrosh had fallen.
• Illyrio reported that Tyrosh had fallen, no Little Birds had escaped, and a merchant ship had carried the news to Pentos.
• Varys grew concerned that the eastern guest was more dangerous than expected and learned that he had a dragon.

Varys told Illyrio that Eddard Stark had reported a Great Dragon destroyed the Seven Kingdoms' fleet, making the Easterner a threat to their plans for Young Griff. Illyrio proposed marrying Daenerys to the Easterner to make him weaken the Iron Throne, while they waited to restore Young Griff as king.

• Varys told Illyrio that Eddard Stark had confirmed the Easterner possessed a Great Dragon that could threaten Westeros.
• Varys explained that he had helped provoke the expedition to the Stepstones to weaken the Seven Kingdoms before Young Griff's planned return.
• Illyrio feared the Easterner's power would endanger the prince, the princess, and Young Griff, who were in Tyrosh.
• Illyrio proposed that the princess marry the Easterner so he would attack Westeros and bear the Iron Throne's wrath.
• Varys and Illyrio planned to let the Easterner and the prince draw attention and exhaust Westeros, then bring Young Griff forward to claim the throne and the Great Dragon.

Liu Qian rebuffed envoys from Lys and Myr who sought to negotiate passage taxes and probe rumors about a dragon, then announced he would be crowned in Tyrosh. After Mezzo Maher dismantled Varys's Little Birds network in the city, Liu Qian ordered its defectors to feed Varys false information.

• The Lysene envoy asked Liu Qian to preserve the old arrangement for merchant ships and reduce their passage taxes, but Liu Qian refused and reminded him that Lys had supported Salladhor Saan.
• The Myrish envoy questioned Liu Qian about rumors that a Great Dragon had destroyed the Seven Kingdoms' fleet, and Liu Qian claimed a hurricane had sunk it.
• Liu Qian invited Lys and Myr to send envoys to his coronation in Tyrosh in two months, and both envoys agreed to report the invitation to their Governors.
• Mezzo Maher told Liu Qian that his men had arrested suspicious children and used their disclosures to dismantle Varys's Little Birds network in Tyrosh.
• Liu Qian ordered the Little Birds who had submitted to keep reporting to Varys while sending him false news.

Liu Qian inspected the newly conquered Disputed Lands and chose the hill beside the Crown Tree as the site for a mainland fortress and future capital. He outlined plans for a castle and harbor city, leaving construction as his next step.

• Jelena reported that she had taken control of Tyrosh's western holdings in the Disputed Lands with little resistance.
• Liu Qian examined the bay and surrounding terrain with Jelena and her soldiers.
• Jelena showed Liu Qian the Crown Tree, where the Ninepenny Kings had sworn a blood oath thirty years earlier.
• Liu Qian rejected Tyrosh as a suitable long-term capital because of its exposed island location and logistical weaknesses.
• Liu Qian chose the hill by the bay for a castle and described plans for a keep, layered defenses, a road, and a harbor city.

Liu Qian planned a massive castle and harbor at Crown Town, then surveyed his new lands and questioned Autumn Pear Town’s tax official about the estates. Oro reported that tax collection was far behind, prompting Liu Qian to challenge claims of poor harvests.

• Liu Qian rejected Jelena’s suggestion to transfer estate slaves and ordered seventy thousand prisoners to build Conqueror’s Holdfast and Crown Town.
• Liu Qian hired more than a thousand Tyroshi craftsmen and named the harbor town Crown Town and the castle Conqueror’s Holdfast.
• Liu Qian rode with Jelena through the countryside, saw a slave owner whipping a Summer Isles slave, and declined to intervene because slavery underpinned the local economy.
• Jelena told Liu Qian she had replaced Autumn Pear Town’s Tyroshi soldiers with their own men but retained the tax official Oro for his local knowledge.
• Oro told Liu Qian that his district covered 282 estates and about a hundred thousand mu of farmland, but that less than half the taxes had been collected.
• Liu Qian questioned Oro’s claims of poor harvests, pointing out that the Long Summer had brought ample sunshine and rain.

Liu Qian ordered water-sharing and irrigation canal construction to address crop failures in the Disputed Lands. A message from Janice drew him back to Torturer's Deep, where he saw the three dragon eggs glowing and learned they were about to hatch.

• Oro explained that wealthy estate owners monopolized irrigation water, leaving small estates and freeholders with unreliable harvests and tax arrears.
• Liu Qian ordered his estates to share water, assigned workers to build canals, and instructed Oro to warn landowners that resistance would be punished.
• A messenger delivered Janice's letter saying the dragon hatchlings were about to emerge, so Liu Qian left Jelena to oversee the orders and hurried to Torturer's Deep.
• At Torturer's Deep, Doctor Marwyn questioned Liu Qian about the dragon eggs, Janice's surname, the Dragon Spirit Guardians, and his journey from Tyria.
• Liu Qian went to see the three dragon eggs and found their shells glowing with violet, red, and silver light as warmth filled the room.