Recaps

Liu Qian learned that three dragon eggs were close to hatching while the black-and-red egg remained dormant, and Doctor Marwyn found a possible way to unlock the magical seal on the black stone. As Liu Qian and Janice shared their first kiss, the three eggs began to hatch.

• Marwyn told Liu Qian that three dragon eggs had grown hot and bright, while the black-and-red egg remained cold and apparently lacked enough magic to hatch.
• Janice explained that she and Doctor Marwyn had examined the dormant egg but could not awaken it.
• Doctor Marwyn reported that he had found clues to a magical resonance ritual that could unlock the seal on the black stone.
• Liu Qian thanked Janice, embraced her, and told her they would establish a new home where their dragons could thrive.
• Liu Qian and Janice kissed beside the three glowing eggs, whose shells cracked as three hatchlings emerged.

Liu Qian and Janice welcomed three dragon hatchlings, named them Blooddance, Duskwraith, and Silverfall, and learned that they recognized Liu Qian’s blood-bound authority. Liu Qian then announced plans to move his companions and the dragons from Torturer's Deep to Crown Town, where the hatchlings would have better nesting grounds.

• Liu Qian gathered the newly hatched red, purple, and silver dragons, and the purple hatchling bonded with Janice through the Dragonblood Pact.
• Liu Qian named the hatchlings Blooddance, Duskwraith, and Silverfall, and all three reacted with apparent approval.
• The next morning, Marwyn was astonished to see the hatchlings, and Blooddance warned him away when he tried to touch it.
• Liu Qian explained that the dragons recognized only his will and those connected to him through his blood, not other Dragonlords.
• Liu Qian told Marwyn that Qyburn would oversee construction of a coastal castle near the Crown Tree Hills and that they would all move to Crown Town, where the dragons could grow in a fertile river valley.

Liu Qian returned to Crown Town, where Qyburn reported rapid progress on the castle and asked for more prisoners to use in his soul experiments. Liu Qian ordered an armaments workshop planned and considered recruiting Unsullied, before news arrived that a Seven Kingdoms delegation had come to Tyrosh to discuss a ceasefire and prisoner ransoms.

• Liu Qian sailed from Torturer's Deep with its books, instruments, Ghost Grass, and Black Stone, while the three dragon hatchlings demonstrated flames matching their scales.
• At Crown Town, Qyburn reported that thirty thousand prisoners had arrived and that construction of the main castle had begun.
• Qyburn told Liu Qian that his death-row prisoners were exhausted and that his attempts to prevent souls from dissipating had failed; Liu Qian suggested using Lannister prisoners as experimental subjects under cover of worksite accidents.
• Liu Qian asked Qyburn to plan a large workshop to mass-produce coats of plates and mail, and considered sending someone to Astapor to recruit Unsullied.
• Five days later, a messenger pigeon reported that a Seven Kingdoms peace delegation had arrived in Tyrosh to discuss a ceasefire and prisoner ransoms.

Liu Qian learned that Varys was investigating his marriage prospects, then received a delegation led by Eddard Stark to negotiate peace and the release of captive nobles. The Seven Kingdoms’ envoys shared what they had learned about the defeat at Bloodstone, and Liu Qian agreed that a truce could be reached.

• Mezzo told Liu Qian that Varys’s Little Birds had been ordered to investigate his marital status and preferences, and Liu Qian realized Varys wanted him to marry Daenerys and draw Robert’s attention.
• Eddard Stark led a delegation of nobles from the Seven Kingdoms to Tyrosh after their relatives were captured and the city fell to Liu Qian.
• Eddard and the delegation visited the imprisoned nobles, where Lord Paxter denounced the Westermen, Ironborn, and Dornish for seeking Valyrian steel rather than fighting Liu Qian.
• The delegation learned that Jorah Mormont had betrayed the Seven Kingdoms, Morlin Tyrell had been beheaded, and Liu Qian seemed wary of scorpions after hearing how the Dornish had killed Meraxes.
• Eddard asked Liu Qian to agree to a truce and release the captive lords, and Liu Qian said they could reach a truce.

Liu Qian presented the Seven Kingdoms with severe peace terms and threatened to bring his dragon to Westeros when Lord Eddard rejected them. Garth Tyrell then received Liu Qian’s ransom demands for captured nobles, including ten thousand gold dragons for Garlan Tyrell.

• Mezzo gave Lord Eddard a scroll demanding a million gold dragons, the cession of Estermont and Tarth, and decades of trade privileges.
• Lord Eddard rejected the terms, and Liu Qian threatened to claim what he wanted on the shores of Westeros with his dragon.
• Garth Tyrell asked to ransom the captured nobles of the Reach, and Liu Qian told him that he would set the prices.
• Garth read the ransom list, saw that Garlan Tyrell’s ransom was ten thousand gold dragons, and feared the cost would overwhelm Highgarden.

Petyr Baelish tried to negotiate Liu Qian’s harsh terms by offering the Seven Kingdoms as an ally against the Free Cities and warning him about dragon-slaying Scorpions. Liu Qian let the delegation leave to bargain, while revealing that he planned to delay conflict with Westeros and expected it to collapse into civil war.

• Petyr Baelish argued that the Seven Kingdoms could become Liu Qian’s ally against Pentos, Myr, and Lys, and warned that they had Scorpions capable of piercing dragon scales.
• Liu Qian pretended to reconsider and sent the Westerosi delegation away to discuss what price it could accept.
• After the delegation left, Mezzo confirmed that the visitors had tried to threaten Liu Qian with Scorpions.
• Liu Qian told Mezzo that he wanted negotiations to drag on while his prisoners built a castle in the Disputed Lands and his forces focused on the Free Cities.
• Liu Qian explained that he had used Jorah Mormont to lure the Seven Kingdoms’ fleet into a trap, then predicted that Westeros would soon be consumed by civil war.

Illyrio persuaded Viserys to offer Daenerys to Liu Qian, the Eastern conqueror, in exchange for his army to reclaim the Iron Throne. The siblings set off for Liu Qian’s coronation, with Daenerys frightened and despairing over Viserys’s threats and plans for her.

• Illyrio told Viserys that Liu Qian controlled a powerful army, a fleet, and possibly a great dragon, and Viserys imagined using his forces to invade Westeros.
• Illyrio said Daenerys could win Liu Qian’s favor and proposed a betrothal now, with a wedding later; Viserys reluctantly agreed.
• Viserys ordered Daenerys to charm Liu Qian and threatened her with the dragon’s wrath if she disgraced him.
• Daenerys recognized that Viserys intended to trade her for his hoped-for crown and recalled how his cruelty had replaced their earlier warmth.
• Illyrio arranged a palanquin, and Viserys, Daenerys, and Illyrio rode toward Tyrosh’s royal palace for Liu Qian’s coronation.

At Liu Qian’s coronation, Viserys and Daenerys faced the delegation from the Seven Kingdoms, and a confrontation turned deadly when Stafford Lannister threatened them. Liu Qian killed Stafford and surrounded the delegation with Dragon Spirit Guardians, leaving Eddard Stark and the others forced to disarm.

• Illyrio brought Viserys and Daenerys to meet Rollo, who mocked Viserys’s claim to the Iron Throne.
• Petyr Baelish and Eddard Stark arrived with the Seven Kingdoms’ delegation, and Eddard declared Robert Baratheon the rightful king.
• Stafford Lannister and members of the delegation drew their swords, while Eddard ordered them to stand down.
• Liu Qian shot and killed Stafford as he threatened Daenerys, then Dragon Spirit Guardians surrounded the delegation.
• “Jorah Mormont” demanded that the delegation surrender its weapons, and the Vale and Westerlands men slowly sheathed their swords.

Liu Qian staged an elaborate coronation in Tyrosh, entering the Palace in distinctive royal robes and taking the White Gemstone Throne. He was proclaimed King of Tyrosh, King of the Narrow Sea and Stepstones, as the gathered guests acclaimed him.

• Illyrio led Daenerys and Viserys into the lavishly decorated Palace with the Seven Kingdoms' delegation.
• A hidden pipe organ and Tyroshi singers performed Liu Qian's adapted royal hymn in three languages.
• Liu Qian entered in a white ermine cloak and jeweled crown, prompting awe from the envoys and jealousy from Viserys.
• Liu Qian seated himself on the White Gemstone Throne, and Mezzo Maher proclaimed him King of Tyrosh, King of the Narrow Sea and Stepstones.
• The assembled guests answered, “May his realm endure forever,” completing Liu Qian's coronation.

Liu Qian rejected Illyrio’s attempt to arrange a marriage with Daenerys, then allowed the Targaryen siblings to remain safely in Tyrosh under close watch. As his new kingdom prospered, he planned to expand its military and reshape its population through immigration, leaving his future ambitions for Westeros clear.

• Illyrio introduced Viserys and Daenerys to Liu Qian and proposed a marriage alliance, but Liu Qian rejected the offer and denied having a Great Dragon.
• Illyrio offered a valuable wedding gift and warned that the Targaryens faced assassins; Liu Qian said he would discuss the matter after receiving the gift, then ordered Mezzo to guard the siblings and keep them inside Tyrosh.
• Liu Qian’s elaborate coronation parade won over many Tyroshi citizens, while reports later showed that the connected canals had brought a strong harvest to the Disputed Lands.
• Liu Qian calculated his kingdom’s tax income and expenses, then allocated funds to buy a thousand Unsullied and recruit landless farmers from Yidi.
• Liu Qian planned to use immigration to build a loyal population base and viewed war as a means of redistributing Westerosi land.

Renly and Mace Tyrell advanced a plan to replace Cersei with Margaery, relying on House Tyrell’s new favor with King Robert. They prepared to approach Eddard when he returned, while Renly’s motives and ambitions remained unclear to Mace.

• Renly told Mace that House Tyrell’s support had weakened the Lannisters’ standing and proposed taking the next step toward replacing Cersei.
• Mace agreed and said he had commissioned a portrait of Margaery, while Renly suggested hiding it inside a pendant to show Eddard when he returned.
• The chapter recounted how House Tyrell had sent troops to the Stepstones and paid the Iron Throne’s three-hundred-thousand-Golden-Dragon indemnity, earning Robert’s praise.
• Renly offered to send one hundred thousand Golden Dragons to help ransom the captured nobles, leaving Mace startled and suspicious of his purpose.
• Mace raised Margaery’s age and lack of first flowering, and Renly said there was no need to rush until the Stepstones war ended.

Liu Qian inspected Crown Town’s rapid construction, the growing dragons, and his expanding arms workshops and army. He learned that Lyseni merchants had sharply curtailed and inflated iron supplies, and he resolved to handle the threat as he returned to Tyrosh.

• Liu Qian visited the hidden valley camp, where Blooddance, Silverfall, and Duskwraith showed how much they had grown and then flew into the forest to hunt.
• Liu Qian found Doctor Marwyn asleep amid Valyrian books and then inspected the arms workshops with Qyburn.
• Qyburn reported that Lyseni merchants had cut pig-iron deliveries by more than seventy percent and more than doubled prices, threatening weapons production.
• Liu Qian ordered Qyburn to focus on the workshops and said he would solve the iron shortage.
• Liu Qian watched Jelena’s seven thousand soldiers drill and reviewed how his forces were distributed across the Disputed Lands, Tyrosh, and the nearby islands.
• Liu Qian finished his inspection and set off for Tyrosh.

Liu Qian agreed to let Morio Tumitis and Corlien Sasmung lead an expedition to capture living unicorns from Skagos in exchange for tax concessions and a promotion. He then learned that House Tyrell would fund the Iron Throne’s war reparations, leaving him wary of their sudden generosity.

• Morio Tumitis told Liu Qian that he had found a unicorn den while smuggling timber on Skagos and offered to bring the unicorns back alive.
• Liu Qian promised Morio tax concessions and offered Corlien Sasmung command of a small fleet if they captured the unicorns.
• Liu Qian considered breeding unicorns to form a cavalry regiment.
• Mezzo Maher informed Liu Qian that the Seven Kingdoms’ envoy would soon arrive to sign the peace treaty and bring three hundred thousand Golden Dragons in reparations.
• Mezzo revealed that Mace Tyrell had offered to fund the reparations, and Liu Qian questioned House Tyrell’s motives.

Liu Qian learned that Renly had arranged for Margaery Tyrell’s portrait and suspected he was advancing a plan to replace Cersei. In Tyrosh, Eddard Stark rejected the order to kill the Targaryen siblings and said he would answer to Robert and Jon Arryn.

• Mezzo gave Liu Qian a discarded portrait of Margaery and explained that Mace Tyrell had commissioned painters to depict her.
• Liu Qian inferred that Renly was moving ahead with his plan to replace the queen and considered how Renly might benefit.
• Mezzo told Liu Qian that Stannis Baratheon would travel to sign the treaty as the Seven Kingdoms’ representative, sparing Eddard Stark the dishonor.
• Littlefinger proposed hiring assassins or using poison to kill the Targaryen siblings, and Harmen Uller condemned the suggestion.
• Eddard Stark forbade poisoning the children and said he would return to King's Landing to explain his refusal to Robert and Jon Arryn.

Stannis Baratheon arrived in Tyrosh to join the delegation negotiating a truce, bringing Ser Jaime Lannister and Ser Davos Seaworth. Jaime clashed with Eddard Stark over the failed plan to kill the Targaryen siblings, then challenged Liu Qian after accusing him of killing Jaime’s uncle.

• Stannis arrived in Tyrosh with Jaime, Davos, and a company of soldiers, while Littlefinger welcomed him on Eddard Stark’s behalf.
• Stannis ignored Eddard when they met at the palace, deepening the tension between them.
• Jaime accused Eddard of failing to eliminate the Targaryen siblings and urged him to use assassins or poison.
• Eddard refused to use hired killers or poison, insisting he would face any intended victim himself.
• Liu Qian entered the palace with Mezzo, Rollo, Chai Yi disguised as Jorah Mormont, and the Dragon Spirit Guardians.
• Jaime tried to confront Liu Qian, but the guardians blocked him, so he challenged the King of Tyrosh to single combat.

“Jorah” defeated Jaime in a brutal duel at the Palace after Jaime challenged him for insulting Liu Qian. Jaime yielded and apologized to the King of Tyrosh, then was taken away for treatment.

• Jaime challenged “Jorah” to a duel, and Stannis allowed the fight to proceed.
• “Jorah” overwhelmed Jaime with his one-handed Valyrian steel sword, broke his blade, wounded his shoulder, and kicked him down twice.
• “Jorah” taunted the injured Jaime and demanded an apology to Liu Qian, while Stannis warned Jaime to yield or die.
• Jaime yielded and apologized to the King of Tyrosh, and Stannis sent a Westerlands squire to take him for treatment.

Stannis Baratheon and Liu Qian signed a three-year armistice, and the Seven Kingdoms paid Tyrosh’s war reparations and noble ransoms. After learning three captives had supposedly died, the delegation prepared to return to Westeros while Eddard Stark wrote home to Winterfell.

• Stannis Baratheon and Liu Qian signed the armistice after Duke Eddard and the envoys reviewed its terms.
• The Seven Kingdoms paid three hundred thousand golden dragons in reparations and five hundred thousand in noble ransoms.
• Mezzo Maher claimed Domeric Bolton, Ser Harrold Hardyng, and Ser Rohanne Allyrion had died of illness during the voyage to Tyrosh.
• Liu Qian set a ransom price of ten golden dragons per captured soldier, prompting dismay among the delegation.
• After lunch, the delegation took custody of the noble captives and planned to leave for Westeros the next morning.
• Eddard Stark wrote to Catelyn beneath a lamp, hoping to hear that their child had been born.

A disguised agent posing as Stannis deceived Eddard into believing Renly planned to replace Cersei with a Tyrell queen, while another posing as Eddard planted doubts in Stannis about the legitimacy of Robert’s children. The Seven Kingdoms’ delegation sailed from Tyrosh, with Eddard keeping the supposed plot secret and Stannis eager to investigate the children’s parentage.

• A disguised agent posing as Stannis told Eddard that Renly planned to replace the Lannister Queen with a Tyrell and persuaded him to keep the warning secret.
• A disguised agent posing as Eddard told Stannis that Robert’s three golden-haired children might not be his and suggested ways to investigate their parentage.
• Stannis resolved to resign as Master of Ships and return to Dragonstone after anticipating public anger over the treaty.
• The Seven Kingdoms’ delegation boarded ships at Tyrosh with the signed treaty and ransomed noble prisoners, while leaving negotiations over captured soldiers to their houses.
• Eddard and Stannis exchanged wary glances aboard the ship as the fleet sailed for Westeros, each preoccupied by the previous night’s claims.

Liu Qian inspected the construction at Conqueror's Holdfast and visited his growing dragons before meeting Lynesse Hightower in the camp. Lynesse sought freedom by offering herself, and Liu Qian left her imprisoned but secured her agreement to his terms.

• Liu Qian ordered Mezzo to monitor the political moves of Jon Arryn, Stannis, Eddard Stark, House Lannister, and House Tyrell in King's Landing.
• Liu Qian visited Conqueror's Holdfast and watched Blooddance, Duskwraith, and Silverfall, then ordered Blooddance to share food and obey Janice.
• Liu Qian went to retrieve the Valyrian steel armor and accidentally found Lynesse Hightower bathing.
• Lynesse asked Liu Qian how long he intended to keep her imprisoned and offered to do anything if he freed her.
• Liu Qian did not agree to release Lynesse, but offered her other terms, which she accepted.

Liu Qian joined Jelena at Watch Camp and decided to strike Lys’s Outpost Tower before its hired mercenaries arrived. His night raid overwhelmed the tower’s defenders, giving Tyrosh control of the stronghold.

• Liu Qian arrived at Watch Camp with Chai Yi and combined their forces with Jelena’s army.
• Liu Qian studied the Disputed Lands and chose to attack the Outpost Tower to break Lys’s hold on the Grey Mountains mines.
• Liu Qian’s troops approached the tower at night, and the alarmed Lysene slave soldiers fled when the Tyroshi army emerged from the forest.
• Liu Qian ordered his soldiers to fill the tower’s ditch and batter down its doors while defenders rained arrows on them.
• Liu Qian led the assault inside, where the Tyroshi quickly subdued the defenders and captured Officer Savio.
• Liu Qian’s forces took the Outpost Tower in less than an hour with minimal losses.

Liu Qian captured the Gray Hills mining area and discovered that the Cat Company was approaching to defend it. He disguised his troops as slave soldiers and prepared an ambush for Bloodbeard’s mercenaries.

• Liu Qian left Chai Yi with three thousand soldiers at the outpost tower and marched into the Grey Mountains with Jelena and the remaining forces.
• Liu Qian’s scouts found that the mining area had only about a thousand poorly equipped slave soldiers guarding it.
• Liu Qian and Jelena attacked the mining area, defeated its guards, and took three hundred slave soldiers prisoner while ordering the slaves to keep working.
• Chai Yi’s scouts reported that the Cat Company was advancing toward the mines under a black cat banner.
• Liu Qian ordered his soldiers to disguise themselves in captured armor, hid the Dragon Spirit Guardians along the river valley, and made the mining area look untouched.
• Bloodbeard led the Cat Company through the valley, grumbling to Paymaster Will about being hired to defend the Lys mines.

Liu Qian trapped and annihilated the Cat Company at the Gray Hills mining area, killing its commander, Bloodbeard, and taking control of the mines. He ordered the mercenaries’ heads piled up as a warning to the other companies.

• Lucas warned Bloodbeard that the watchtower had sent no scouts or messenger, but Bloodbeard dismissed the concern and led the Cat Company toward the Gray Hills mines.
• A disguised Liu Qian greeted Bloodbeard at the mining camp and killed him with a sudden sword strike.
• Disguised Tyroshi soldiers and workers attacked the Cat Company from within the camp as twelve hundred Dragon Spirit Guardians struck its rear and flanks.
• Lucas tried to rally the mercenaries, but the ambush overwhelmed them, and the Dragon Spirit Guardians killed the last Cat Company survivors by nightfall.
• Liu Qian took control of the Gray Hills mining area and ordered the Cat Company’s heads piled into a Jingguan as a warning to other mercenaries.

Lys and Myr agreed to renew their alliance and oppose the Easterner, while the Lysene council conscripted more slave soldiers. Denaco remained convinced that a dragon had destroyed the Westerosi fleet.

• Lansono and the Lysene Governors debated how to defend their estates, and Denaco agreed to levy twenty-five thousand slave soldiers.
• A Myrish envoy offered an alliance, claiming Myr had assembled twelve thousand slave soldiers and hired four mercenary companies.
• Lansono accepted Myr’s offer, and the two cities agreed to fight the Easterner together.
• Treg dismissed the rumors that the Easterner possessed a Great Dragon, and the Myrish envoy departed to mobilize Myr’s army.
• Lys’s guards dragged slaves from fields and workshops to equip them for conscription, while Denaco suspected a dragon had destroyed the Westerosi fleet.

Liu Qian learned that Lys and Myr were gathering mercenaries, but the Golden Company was absent, and he chose to exploit Lys's weakened defenses by attacking its capital. After seizing an outer island with little resistance, his fleet headed for the main island and the Governor's Council.

• Liu Qian ordered an ironworks built near Crown Town and left soldiers and captured slaves to guard the Grey Mountains mining area.
• Liu Qian noticed the Golden Company was missing from the mercenary companies assembling for Lys and Myr, and concluded that Illyrio and Varys were keeping it in reserve.
• Liu Qian told Chai Yi and Jelena that he would attack Lys while its slave soldiers were committed to the Disputed Lands, and arranged for Rollo to bring a fleet.
• Liu Qian led eight thousand soldiers south from Outpost Tower, while Chai Yi stayed behind to mislead approaching mercenaries.
• Liu Qian's fleet landed on an outer island of Lys and swiftly defeated its poorly trained slave guards.
• Liu Qian learned from a prisoner that the Governor's Council stood on the main island, then ordered his soldiers to attack its harbor.

Liu Qian's army surprised and captured Lys, whose defenses had been weakened by the deployment of its slave soldiers to the Disputed Lands. After the city fell, Liu Qian had First Governor Lansono Hane, Moredo, and Denaco executed and ordered their heads sent to the mercenaries.

• Liu Qian led his troops ashore and swept through Lys toward the governors' Palace, meeting little resistance.
• Lansono learned that the invading army had reached the Palace and tried to escape through a secret passage, but Denaco exposed him and soldiers captured him.
• At dawn, Liu Qian questioned the captured governors and learned that Treg O'Morren had likely escaped by boat.
• Lansono accused Denaco of betraying the city, and Denaco defended himself by blaming Lansono's conscription of workers.
• Liu Qian ordered Lansono, Moredo, and Denaco executed, then commanded that their heads be preserved and sent to the mercenaries in the Disputed Lands.