Recaps

Daemon Targaryen restored order in King's Landing as Viserys I awaited Queen Aemma's delivery, but Aemma died during a forced attempt to save their child. Their son Baelon survived and realized he had transmigrated into House of the Dragon as the doomed heir for a day.

• Daemon Targaryen took command of the City Watch and led a violent crackdown on crime in King's Landing.
• Viserys I announced that Queen Aemma had gone into labor and anxiously awaited the birth of the son he expected.
• After Maester Mellos warned that Aemma and the child might both die, Viserys chose to have the child cut from her womb despite Aemma's pleas.
• Aemma died during the procedure, and Viserys named the surviving baby Baelon Targaryen.
• Baelon awoke as a newborn, recognized Viserys's prophecy, and realized he had transmigrated into House of the Dragon as Baelon, the heir for a day.

Baelon Targaryen survived his birth but found that his mother, Queen Aemma, had died, and he discovered that his system granted him dragon-training trials and buffs. Rhaenyra visited him with a Dragon Egg and promised to protect him, then punished the maids who had left him unattended; Baelon worried that they would still be caring for him.

• Baelon saw Queen Aemma’s mutilated, lifeless body before Viserys called for Mellos to examine the newborn prince.
• Queen Aemma’s death and Baelon’s birth were announced across the Seven Kingdoms, and Rhaenyra later saw her mother’s shrouded body.
• Baelon examined his system, learned about its dragon-focused Pet Battle Training System, and considered ways to improve childbirth care and prevent infection.
• Rhaenyra visited Baelon at night, placed a golden Dragon Egg in his cradle, and vowed to protect him.
• Rhaenyra confronted the two maids for leaving Baelon alone and docked a year’s wages, but Baelon worried that they would continue caring for him.

Baelon tested the system’s first stage, where three enormous wolves killed him before he returned to his cradle with a pounding headache. He later woke in time to attend Queen Aemma’s funeral by the sea.

• Baelon stopped crying after the wet nurse fed him, then learned that Rhaenyra would visit the king to discuss Queen Aemma’s funeral.
• Baelon rejected the system’s offered dragon egg and entered the Forest of Death despite the warning and preparation requirements.
• Three white wolves attacked Baelon in the stage, killing him and sending his consciousness back to his cradle.
• Baelon heard Lola comfort Mia as they spoke sadly about Queen Aemma’s death.
• Queen Aemma’s funeral was held by the sea, and Baelon fought free of his swaddling in time to attend.

After Queen Aemma’s funeral, Viserys named his infant son Baelon Prince of Dragonstone and secured the lords’ oaths, displacing Daemon as heir. Pressured to marry Laena Velaryon, Viserys considered Lyonel Strong’s suggestion that she marry Baelon instead, but the chapter ended with Viserys insisting his son was healthy.

• Rhaenyra commanded Syrax to burn Queen Aemma’s funeral pyre while Viserys held the infant Baelon and mourned.
• Viserys placed Baelon on the Iron Throne, declared him Prince of Dragonstone, and received the lords’ oaths of allegiance, including Daemon’s.
• Viserys dismissed the urgency of taking a new queen because Baelon was his heir, while Corlys and Rhaenys Velaryon proposed a match with Laena.
• Viserys consulted the Small Council, and Lyonel Strong suggested marrying Laena to Baelon rather than to Viserys.
• Viserys worried about Baelon’s survival, then reassured Lyonel that the prince was healthy and strong.

After Viserys secured a betrothal between Baelon and Laena and accepted the Triarchy’s terms for peace, rumors branding Baelon a matricide spread through King’s Landing. Otto traced the slander to Daemon, and Viserys ordered his brother brought before him while Rhaenyra worried that Daemon was being falsely accused.

• Corlys accepted the betrothal between Laena and Baelon, then reluctantly accepted Viserys’s peace policy toward the Triarchy despite wanting war over the Stepstones.
• Baelon considered claiming Vhagar or Vermithor when he grew older and overheard maids discussing rumors that called him a matricide.
• Viserys learned of the rumor, became enraged, and ordered Otto to find its source.
• Otto reported that Daemon had used the slur in a brothel on the Street of Silk, citing seven witnesses.
• Rhaenyra defended Daemon, but Viserys ordered the Kingsguard to bring him before the king.

Viserys confronted Daemon over calling Baelon a kinslayer, and the brothers argued over Daemon’s place at court and Viserys’s trust in Otto. Three months later, after Daemon’s harsh rule in King’s Landing, Viserys and Daemon had made up and visited Baelon together.

• Viserys questioned Daemon about calling Baelon a kinslayer, and Daemon admitted it had been an accident.
• Viserys and Daemon argued over Daemon’s resentment at not being named Hand and Viserys’s refusal to replace Otto; Viserys warned Daemon not to use the epithet again and said he would never make him Hand.
• Viserys let Daemon remain commander of the City Watch or leave as he wished, while Baelon later heard Viserys recount the confrontation and privately questioned his leniency.
• Baelon heard that Daemon was beheading criminals and had earned the nickname Maegor with No Crown, and he reconsidered how royal brothers behaved in Westeros.
• Three months later, Viserys and Daemon arrived at Baelon’s bedside together, talking and laughing as if they had reconciled.

Six-year-old Baelon practiced archery with Ser Samwell Swann while reflecting on how his past life shaped his views of Westerosi customs and security. Ser Swann then turned the lesson into a boastful display of his physique for the ladies and maids watching from the walkway.

• Baelon asked to use a heavier bow, but Ser Samwell Swann told him to master the basics first and praised his progress.
• Baelon considered how his instructors’ repeated lessons about deferring to experts clashed with his instincts and how lax royal security seemed to him.
• Baelon loosed another arrow, and Ser Samwell Swann said he had almost hit the target.
• Ser Samwell Swann claimed he was the Marches’ finest longbowman, stripped off his clothes, and flexed for the watching ladies and maids.
• Baelon watched the crowd cheer and regretted how much Ser Samwell Swann had changed since the tourney.

At Baelon’s fifth Name Day feast, he recalled the riches and political tensions surrounding his upbringing, including House Greyjoy’s repeated failure to send gifts. He watched Viserys speak warmly with Alicent and noticed the guests around them before recalling his first meeting with Ser Samwell Swan.

• Baelon remembered the lavish gifts and feast that marked his Name Day, especially House Tyrell’s old Green Hand coins and House Greyjoy’s absence from the gift-giving.
• He recalled that Viserys had not remarried, though Baelon welcomed the possibility of younger siblings and hoped for a brother named Aemon.
• Baelon watched Viserys laugh with Alicent, Rhaenyra link arms with her, Daemon drink morosely, and Ser Criston Cole watch Rhaenyra.
• Baelon recalled first meeting the towering young knight Ser Samwell Swan, who sat alone and quietly ate at the feast.

Baelon met Ser Swan at a banquet, learned about his immense strength and skill with a longbow, and asked to see his muscles. The encounter ended with Baelon gaining an archery instructor and Ser Swan basking in the prince’s praise.

• Baelon approached Ser Swan and learned that he came from Stonehelm but had grown up in the Dornish Marches.
• Ser Swan told Baelon he planned to enter the archery contest rather than the joust and showed him his 170-pound longbow.
• Baelon asked to see Ser Swan’s muscles, then praised his powerful arm and asked to see his back muscles.
• Ser Swan displayed bodybuilding poses while Baelon praised him and asked about his training.
• Baelon gained an archery instructor and training advice, while Ser Swan left the encounter delighted by the praise.

At the tournament, Ser Swan won the crowd with a shirtless archery display, while Baelon practiced and then refused Rhaenyra’s invitation to meet the young dragon that had shared his cradle. Rhaenyra accused him of recklessly pursuing an adult dragon and leaving his family afraid for him.

• Ser Swan shot an arrow through ten rings to burst a red ball, then showed off the bodybuilding poses Baelon had taught him.
• Rhaenyra arrived and admired Ser Swan until Baelon stepped between them and asked why she had come.
• Rhaenyra said Viserys wanted Baelon to visit the cradle dragon, but Baelon declined because he planned to inspect a factory and had his heart set on an adult dragon.
• Baelon explained that he did not want the young dragon to become a second choice, and argued that dragons deserved sincere riders.
• Rhaenyra called Baelon’s reasoning pretty words and accused him of making his father and sister fear he would die pursuing a dragon.
• Baelon insisted he had promised not to go to Dragonstone alone or approach a dragon without preparation, but wondered why his family still distrusted him.

Baelon left the Red Keep with Ser Uther, whose new armor and humble service helped draw a crowd that recognized the prince. As the crowd pressed around his carriage, Baelon grew wary and stepped out to address them.

• Rhaenyra held back the truth about Viserys's dreamwalking and his anxiety whenever he went too long without seeing Baelon.
• Baelon told Ser Swann to take three days off for his Name Day and look for the gift he had left him.
• On the way out of the city, Baelon asked Ser Uther about his new armor, and Uther proudly praised it.
• Ser Uther warned the accompanying knights to watch for sellsword knights, inadvertently revealing that Baelon was in the carriage and drawing an excited crowd.
• Baelon reflected on how his generosity and respect had won the loyalty of sellsword knights, while worrying that the nobles' failure to imitate him signaled hidden danger.
• When a woman carrying a child stumbled in the growing crowd, Baelon opened the carriage door, stepped out, and told everyone to listen.

Baelon calmed a crush of King's Landing residents by asking them to protect one another, then spoke with Old Katu, who described how Baelon's reed-buying program had improved his life. The crowd remained peaceful as Old Katu recounted three years of cutting reeds with his dog, No Name.

• A knight suggested that Baelon ride through the crowd, but Baelon refused and urged the people to stop pushing and help the elderly and children.
• Baelon climbed down from his carriage and helped Old Katu to his feet before asking how he had been doing.
• Old Katu explained that Baelon had opened a factory that paid residents to harvest reeds along the Blackwater Rush, and he recalled earning his first copper pennies there.
• Old Katu described spending his first earnings on food and later keeping a little black dog he named No Name.
• Over the next three years, Old Katu replaced his stone knife with a sickle while No Name grew large enough to carry bundles of reeds.

Baelon comforted Old Katu over the death of his unnamed dog and gave him seven days away from work to grieve. He then named a baby born at the Public Birthing House Baelon, satisfied that the mother had received her towel and egg.

• Old Katu admitted that someone had caught his dog and taken it to be eaten, then realized he was crying because he had never named it.
• Baelon gave Old Katu five Copper Stars and bought seven days of his time so he could grieve without working.
• Baelon invited Old Katu to come to the Red Keep if he needed someone to hear his sorrow.
• A woman brought her baby to Baelon and asked him to choose a name.
• The woman confirmed that she had received the Public Birthing House's towel and egg, and Baelon named her son Baelon.

Baelon granted a commoner the name “Baelon Number Two” and declared that people across Westeros could use the name, then considered the political and dragon support behind his claim to power. He arrived at the paper mill and corrected Ser Uther about what to call his invention.

• Baelon named the sturdy woman’s child Baelon “Number Two” and announced that everyone in Westeros could use the name Baelon.
• The crowd argued over who would be called Number Two as Baelon’s carriage continued through the Mud Gate.
• Baelon borrowed money from Ser Uther, who warned that nobles might gossip about his treatment of commoners.
• Baelon assessed his alliances and the dragons likely to support him, and resolved to reshape Westeros and Essos.
• Ser Uther told Baelon they had reached the dragon paper mill, and Baelon insisted that it was a toilet paper mill.

Baelon expanded his toilet paper business, reviewing the factory’s sales and raw material supply while deciding how to handle requests for house sigils on the paper. He left the factory buying reeds and preparing both embossed and colored designs for noble customers.

• Baelon visited the toilet paper factory and asked Bodo about quarterly sales, purchases, and the workers.
• Bodo reported that ninety-six houses across the Seven Kingdoms had bought toilet paper and that reed supplies were piling up.
• Baelon ordered a new paper batch made with less reed and promised the worker who discovered the improvement three gold dragons if it passed inspection.
• Baelon refused to limit reed purchases, hoping to give more unemployed people in King’s Landing a way to earn income.
• Baelon agreed to house sigils on the toilet paper, instructing Bodo to test embossed designs and buy the best pigments in case nobles wanted colored ones.

Viserys considered arranging Rhaenyra’s marriage to Jason Lannister and decided Baelon should attend the Small Council as a cupbearer. Otto urged Alicent to help secure Hightower influence by becoming queen, while Viserys recalled how Baelon had helped heal his wound before summoning Lyonel.

• Viserys discussed Baelon’s popularity with Otto and Alicent, and Alicent reminded him that Rhaenyra had once been praised as the Light of the Realm.
• Viserys told Otto that letters from across the Seven Kingdoms sought Rhaenyra’s hand and asked what he thought of a marriage to Jason Lannister.
• Viserys said Rhaenyra should accept duty as Baelon had, then announced that Baelon would attend the Small Council as its new cupbearer.
• Otto told Alicent that becoming queen was their opportunity to root Hightower blood in the Red Keep, and Alicent lowered her head as he looked at her belly.
• Viserys recalled how Baelon had advised him to clean and dress his infected wound, which had healed, and then welcomed Lyonel to the council chamber.

Viserys told Lyonel he wanted to unite the realm through his queen’s Hightower marriage and Rhaenyra’s marriage to Jason Lannister, then use his strengthened power to conquer Dorne. Lyonel failed to change the king’s mind but decided to seek help from someone who could influence him.

• Viserys explained that he wanted Rhaenyra to marry Jason Lannister and hoped a Hightower queen would secure the Reach and Westerlands for the Iron Throne.
• Lyonel warned Viserys against war with Dorne and urged him to preserve the peace.
• Viserys said he believed Baelon, the prince in his prophecy, was a divine sign that his time for a great trial had come.
• Lyonel realized Viserys was determined to pursue war and learned that the Small Council had not yet been told.
• Lyonel decided to keep the plan secret until the marriages were secured and thought of a kind, influential person who might persuade Viserys.

Viserys reconsidered his plans for war and a Hightower marriage after Lyonel cautioned him, then sent for Rhaenyra. In the Godswood, Rhaenyra persuaded Cole to sit beside her, leaving them alone together beneath the trees.

• Viserys agreed with Lyonel that he should conceal his intentions until the marriage alliance and preparations for war were complete.
• Viserys said he meant to marry Otto's niece rather than Alicent, explaining that he would restrain his desires for the kingdom's sake.
• Lyonel urged Viserys to reconsider his choice of queen, and Viserys promised to give it serious thought.
• Viserys asked Ser Harrold to fetch Rhaenyra.
• Rhaenyra invited Cole to sit with her in the Godswood, and Cole eventually joined her on the grass.

Rhaenyra flirted with Criston Cole in the Godswood until Ser Harrold interrupted them, leaving Cole terrified and resentful. Elsewhere, Daemon learned Mysaria was carrying his child and hurried to the Dragonpit to choose a dragon egg.

• Rhaenyra held hands and embraced Cole, then rejected his offer to abandon the Kingsguard and run away together.
• Ser Harrold summoned Rhaenyra to see the king and caught Cole alone in the Godswood, where he gave him a cold, contemptuous look.
• Cole feared Harrold would report him, blamed Rhaenyra, and hurried toward the White Sword Tower.
• A limping figure emerged from behind the Godswood's flowers and branches after Rhaenyra and Harrold left.
• Daemon woke beside Mysaria, learned she was carrying his child, and promised to choose a dragon egg for the baby.
• Daemon hurried toward the Dragonpit while Baelon sniffed his liquid gold.

Baelon reviewed the booming perfume business and limited a huge order from Lys to avoid driving up grain prices. His meeting was interrupted when two old women appeared and his guards mistook them for a threat.

• Dorey reported rising perfume orders from House Tyrell and the Lannisters, while Borros Baratheon requested a new scent for his house.
• Baelon sent five perfumers to Storm's End and learned that Lys wanted an enormous quantity of perfume.
• Baelon rejected most of Lys's request, allowing supply to increase by only fifteen percent because perfume required alcohol made from grain.
• Ser Uther and Leado shielded Baelon when two old women appeared at the door, and Baelon ordered the knights to lower their swords.

Baelon gave two impoverished women food and arranged for Meiri to be tested for a job at the Perfume Factory after she described her sharp sense of smell. The chapter ended when a noble lord arrived with word from the Red Keep.

• Meiri and Sharon explained that they had walked from Crossed Elm Village to sell moonflowers, earning one copper star for their eleven clumps.
• Baelon gave the women white bread and asked Meiri why she had stayed in King's Landing after selling the flowers.
• Meiri told Baelon she wanted to become a perfumer and claimed she could identify scents from far away.
• Baelon agreed to have Meiri tested at the Perfume Factory, and workers led her and Sharon away.
• Sharon complained that Meiri had taken more bread, so Meiri shoved her down and hurried off without her.
• A noble lord in armor hurried past Sharon and told Baelon that word had come from the Red Keep.

Baelon returned to the Red Keep intending to mediate between Viserys and Rhaenyra, but Lyonel Strong revealed that Viserys was preparing to invade Dorne. Baelon questioned how the king would handle Dornish resistance and began considering an earlier journey to Dragonstone to claim a dragon.

• Baelon instructed Assor Celtigar to keep buying grain from across the Narrow Sea and to purchase modest amounts from the Riverlands without raising prices.
• Baelon learned that Viserys and Rhaenyra were alone in the Kingspyre Tower and sent Ser Uther and fifteen knights away on a separate task.
• Lyonel Strong told Baelon that Viserys had developed ambitions to launch an expedition against Dorne.
• Baelon asked what Viserys would do if the Dornish avoided battle and warned that the king might have to kill every Dornish noble to secure submission.
• Baelon decided that his plans had to change and considered bringing forward his trip to Dragonstone to tame a dragon.

Baelon redirected Viserys’s anger toward Criston Cole and urged Rhaenyra to pursue Daemon after he stole a dragon egg and fled for the Free Cities. The chapter ended with Cole missing from the White Sword Tower and Viserys collapsing into his chair in fury.

• Lyonel Strong realized Baelon was confident and decisive, and Baelon promised to dissuade Viserys from starting a war.
• Baelon entered Viserys’s chambers, where Viserys and Rhaenyra were arguing, and Viserys announced that Baelon would serve as cupbearer on the Small Council.
• Baelon argued that Criston Cole should be stripped of his honors and sent to the Wall, prompting Viserys to summon him.
• Rhaenyra claimed she had initiated the encounter with Cole, just as a dragonkeeper reported that Daemon had stolen a dragon egg and fled with his lover for the Free Cities.
• Baelon urged Rhaenyra to pursue Daemon on Syrax, but the Kingsguard reported that Cole had fled the Red Keep with a large bundle, leaving Viserys furious and collapsed in his chair.

After Criston Cole fled the Red Keep, Baelon arranged for his guards to track him while Rhaenyra rode after Daemon and the Dragon Egg. Cole reached the Mud Gate hoping to escape across the Narrow Sea, but a column of knights blocked his path.

• Viserys ordered the city gates sealed and demanded that Criston Cole be captured, but Baelon urged Rhaenyra to prioritize recovering Daemon’s Dragon Egg.
• Rhaenyra set out after Daemon, declaring she did not care what people said about her and promising to bring the Dragon Egg back.
• Baelon told Rhaenyra that his guards were tracking Cole and warned her not to land in the Free Cities if she could not catch Daemon.
• Before leaving, Rhaenyra asked Baelon not to let Viserys agree to Cole’s Trial by Combat, and Baelon told her to ask Daemon to fight Cole as Viserys’s champion.
• Cole abandoned his white armor and packed valuables before heading through the city toward the Mud Gate, planning to flee to the Free Cities.
• As Cole approached the gate, a column of knights emerged from an alley and blocked his escape.

Criston Cole was captured and brought before Viserys, who condemned him for his affair with Rhaenyra and ordered his execution. Cole demanded a trial by combat, then begged Ser Harrold for a sword as the chapter ended with Viserys’s decision still pending.

• Cole faced twenty-four knights and a second group led by Ser Uther, then surrendered when they surrounded him.
• Baelon told Viserys that Cole might die during his capture, but Viserys ordered him brought to the Red Keep and declared that he deserved death.
• Baelon escorted Cole to the throne room, where Viserys accused him of seducing Rhaenyra and Cole claimed that she had seduced him.
• Viserys rejected the idea of sending Cole to the Night’s Watch and ordered Ser Harrold to kill him.
• Cole demanded a trial by combat, evaded Ser Harrold’s first strike, and begged for a sword so he could die like a knight.
• Ser Harrold stopped his blade and looked to Viserys for permission to give Cole a weapon.