Recaps

Robert and Elia welcomed Jon Arryn’s proposal to bring Mya Stone to the Red Keep, and Mya traveled from the Vale to meet her father. The chapter ended with Mya telling Robert she preferred leather and hoped to wear armor like the Vale knights.

• Robert told Elia about Jon Arryn’s proposal, and Elia agreed to welcome Mya so she could keep Rhaenys company.
• Denys Arryn’s wife Julia prepared Mya for the journey, and Mya left the Gates of the Moon for Gulltown.
• Mya traveled by ship to King’s Landing, where Jon Arryn’s blue-cloaked knights escorted her to the Red Keep.
• Robert reunited with Mya and tried to make her feel at ease by asking about her clothes.
• Mya told Robert she disliked dresses, preferred leather, and wanted to wear light armor when she was older.

Mya Stone met Rhaenys Martell and attended a feast where Robert celebrated her arrival, while nobles privately questioned why neither girl was a Baratheon. At Starpike, Titus reviewed a flood of marriage proposals and suspected Alester Florent had helped set them in motion.

• Mya Stone asked Robert for light armor, then met Rhaenys Martell and became friends with her.
• Robert I held a princesses' feast for Mya and Rhaenys, and Queen Elia Martell helped Mya navigate the gathering.
• Jon Arryn felt uneasy watching the girls together, while nobles privately questioned why neither was named Baratheon.
• Titus read marriage proposals from across the Seven Kingdoms, including one for Melissa Florent, and suspected Alester Florent had stirred up the offers.
• Wenda Storm asked Titus how he planned to choose among the marriage proposals, and he regarded them as traps.

Titus rejected marriage proposals from Cersei Lannister and Janna Tyrell, then refused Olenna Redwyne’s offer to send Willas Tyrell as his squire. His refusals made him a celebrated figure among young nobles, and House Corbray sent three challengers to reclaim its Valyrian steel sword.

• Titus judged Cersei Lannister unsuitable and politely declined the marriage proposals from Alester Florent, Tywin Lannister, and Olenna Redwyne.
• Olenna Redwyne proposed sending Willas Tyrell to serve as Titus’s squire, but Titus refused and had Captain Wenda spread word of his decision.
• Young noblemen flooded Starpike with requests to become Titus’s squires, so he left Lady White Eagle to send polite refusals.
• House Corbray sent three men to challenge Titus and reclaim its Valyrian steel sword, with one carrying a sword, another a flail and shield, and the third a battle-axe.

Titus killed three challengers from House Corbray after they came to Starpike seeking to reclaim Lady Forlorn, then warned the house to send no more weak fighters. He showed their escorts the giant Lizard-lion Rexton and continued developing a zoo at Starpike as a testing ground for Skinchangers.

• Titus told the three Corbray challengers to attack him together and explained to Galladon and Gerold that he would demonstrate how to kill.
• Titus swiftly killed the flail-wielding knight, the heavy-axe knight, and the sword-bearing Corbray knight.
• Titus told House Corbray’s escorts to warn their lord that further challengers would be thrown into the Lizard-lion pool.
• Gerold Dayne led the shaken escorts to see Rexton, the giant Lizard-lion sent by Howland Reed.
• Titus visited the zoo with Dodge, fed Rexton a chicken, and planned to use the area to test Skinchangers’ abilities.

Titus received Roose Bolton’s request to take Domeric Bolton as his squire and decided to accept, reflecting on the Boltons’ bloody history with the Starks. The chapter left Domeric’s future at Starpike pending his arrival in a few years.

• Rexton devoured a pheasant while Titus asked Dodge about Skinchanging into the crocodile, learning that Wenda had succeeded on her first attempt.
• Titus read Roose Bolton’s letter asking him to educate Domeric Bolton, Roose’s eleven-year-old heir.
• Titus decided to accept Domeric as his fourth squire, to be sent to Starpike when he was older.
• Titus considered whether Domeric and Sansa Stark might make a good match, though he thought Sansa might dislike the Boltons’ reputation.
• Titus recalled how the Red Kings and Winter Kings competed for power in the North until Harlon Stark besieged the Dreadfort and forced Rogar Bolton to surrender and renounce flaying.

Titus considered which of Westeros’s families were as dangerous as the Boltons, reviewing the histories of House Wyl, House Uller, and the Greyjoys. He concluded that House Wyl would be his first target if he attacked eastern Dorne, then turned his attention to the Greyjoy family.

• Titus recounted House Wyl’s history of cruelty, from the Widow’s Lover’s atrocities to Earl Wyl’s imprisonment of Aemon Targaryen.
• Titus decided House Wyl would be the first family he dealt with in an eastern Dorne campaign and that he would exterminate them.
• Titus considered House Uller’s brutal history, including the fall of Meraxes and the unresolved fate of Rhaenys Targaryen.
• Titus recalled Dorne’s war with the Targaryens and the peace treaty that secured Dorne’s independence.
• Titus turned to the Greyjoys and noted their long history of brutal and unstable rulers before considering Quellon Greyjoy’s family.

Viserys Targaryen III faced a financial crisis in Braavos and chose to sell half his fleet rather than borrow money. He planned to use the proceeds to form a mercenary company, leaving Lucerys Velaryon opposed to the loss of his ships.

• Titus reflected on Targaryen madness and the uncertain effects of dragon blood while observing a strange reptilian creature in a pool.
• Willem Darry proposed selling five of Viserys’s ten warships to address the cost of supporting their household and more than a thousand soldiers.
• Lucerys Velaryon rejected the proposal and urged Viserys to seek a loan from the Sealord or the Iron Bank.
• Viserys sided with Willem, ordered five warships sold, and announced plans to form a mercenary company from their sailors.

Viserys strengthened his restoration plans by creating a sellsword company and allowing Lucerys to raise money through naval escorts, while privately considering Braavos’s dangers and Daenerys’s future. In the Vale, Denys Arryn returned to his wife Julia, and the chapter ended by introducing their son Lao.

• Viserys named Ser Willem Darry commander of the six-hundred-man sellsword company Dragon's Wrath and hoped it might eventually attract the Golden Company.
• Lucerys accepted Viserys's plan and proposed that his fleet earn money escorting Braavosi merchants, setting the naval and land forces to compete for royal funds.
• Viserys considered the Sealord's proposed marriage alliance for Daenerys, then set aside his concerns and went to see his sister.
• Viserys picked up Daenerys and vowed that they would reclaim what belonged to the Targaryens, unaware that House Peake was watching him in Braavos.
• At the Gates of the Moon, Denys Arryn returned to Julia and asked where their son Lao was; the narration explained that Denys had named the boy on Titus Peake's advice.

Denys Arryn faced resistance from Vale lords while Julia worried about rumors that Robert might legitimize Mya Stone, who remained happily unaware at the Red Keep. Meanwhile, Jaime prepared to return to Casterly Rock, and Titus received an invitation to Stannis Baratheon’s wedding.

• Denys told Julia that Yohn Royce had confronted him over punishing a knight from House Royce, and Julia comforted him.
• Denys said rumors claimed Robert might legitimize Mya, but Jon Arryn had intervened to deny them and reassure the nobles.
• Mya and Rhaenys played with Balerion in the Red Keep’s Godswood while Jaime watched and recalled that Tywin had ordered him home.
• Robert approved Jaime’s leave to return to Casterly Rock.
• Titus received an invitation to Stannis Baratheon’s wedding to Selyse Florent at Storm’s End.

Titus traveled to Storm's End for Stannis Baratheon's wedding, where he reunited with Stormlands nobles and observed the complicated differences among the three Baratheon brothers. He ended up joining Robert and Stannis, only for Robert to tease him about finding a wife.

• Titus chose to attend Stannis's wedding at Storm's End and set out with Wenda, Belwas, two squires, and his guard, joined by three Marcher earls.
• At Storm's End, Galladon Tarth reunited with his family and embarrassed Gerold Dayne by suggesting he marry Brienne.
• Titus greeted Renly, Robert, and Stannis and reflected on their contrasting personalities and their relationships.
• Titus recalled how he had recruited the injured smith Donal Noye to oversee work at Starpike's armaments factory.
• Titus joined Robert and Stannis, teased Robert about his family, and then endured Robert's teasing about finding him a wife.

At Stannis Baratheon and Selyse Florent’s wedding, Robert’s intimacy with Delena Florent caused a scandal and renewed tensions between the brothers. Back at Starpike, Titus Peake received news that Lyswell Peake had died and wondered whether Varys and Illyrio had discovered his interest in the Golden Company.

• Titus and Robert joked together at the feast while Stannis stood aside, reflecting on his different relationship with Robert.
• Patchface performed a song as guests learned of his survival after the shipwreck that killed Steffon Baratheon and his wife.
• Robert flirted with Delena Florent, then drunkenly bedded her in Stannis and Selyse’s bridal bed, worsening his relationship with Stannis.
• Titus considered arranging for a Peake relative in Essos to marry Delena if she became pregnant, and sent a summons to Essos after returning to Starpike.
• Titus learned that Lyswell Peake had died and suspected that Varys and Illyrio might have been involved because of his inquiries into the Golden Company.

Titus suspected that someone within the Golden Company had caused Leswell’s death and sent Davos Seaworth to Essos to investigate and secure the faction loyal to him. Davos arrived at Allied Harbor and entered the Golden Company’s tavern to meet its commander, Myles Toyne.

• Titus considered whether Varys, Illyrio, or Myles Toyne was behind Leswell’s death and the threat to his plans for the Golden Company.
• Captain Wenda offered to travel to Essos, but Titus decided to send the Golden Mountain Knight in his place.
• Davos arrived at Allied Harbor with three warships, ten armed merchant ships, and more than six hundred soldiers and sailors.
• Davos entered the reserved Black Gold tavern, where Myles Toyne and armed Golden Company mercenaries awaited him.

Davos met with Myles Toyne and senior Golden Company officers to negotiate on behalf of Titus Peake. He invoked Titus’s victories to rebuff Myles’s attempt to belittle him and left the meeting facing a challenge from Dennis Strong.

• Davos entered the tavern with his guards and told the Golden Company that he had come to discuss business.
• Myles Toyne welcomed Davos as the “Gold Mountain Knight” and joked that he could join the Golden Company.
• Davos named Jon Connington and reminded him that Titus Peake had defeated him, prompting Jon and the other officers to react angrily and solemnly.
• Myles stopped his officers from escalating the exchange and invited Davos to sit down for negotiations.
• Myles introduced Jon Connington, Black Bakk, Torman and Pykewood Peake, Harry Strickland, and Dennis Strong to Davos.
• Dennis Strong said he wanted to see what Titus Peake could do.

Davos Seaworth confronted Myles Toyne over Ser Leswell Peake’s suspicious death, then read Lord Titus Peake’s letter recalling Pykewood Peake to Whitegrove and arranging his marriage. The letter’s warning to protect Torman Peake left the Golden Company commander under pressure.

• Davos questioned Myles Toyne about Ser Leswell’s death, but Myles insisted Leswell had died of dysentery.
• Davos read Lord Titus Peake’s letter, which offered Pykewood Peake the lordship of Whitegrove and a marriage to Delena Florent.
• The Golden Company’s officers reacted with surprise and envy at Pykewood’s chance to return to Westeros.
• Torman Peake realized that remaining with the Golden Company could mean he was being entrusted with an important role.
• Davos warned Myles to protect Torman, saying Starpike did not want another Peake to die.

Davos threatened the Golden Company’s officers to protect Torman Peake and completed his business in Allied Harbor. Titus explained the Golden Company’s history to Wenda, while Davos continued his diplomatic mission toward Lys and Tyrosh.

• Davos warned the Golden Company officers that he would hold them responsible if Torman Peake came to harm, and Torman gained their renewed respect.
• Titus told Wenda that the Golden Company’s traditions and Aegor Rivers’s leadership had kept the exiles united and focused on returning to Westeros.
• Titus defended Davos’s ability to handle the mission, trusting that the Starpike Fleet’s warships would deter the Golden Company from challenging him.
• Davos left Allied Harbor to negotiate a secret business and military partnership with Lys’s Trade Prince, Tregar Omorlen, through Salladhor Saan.
• Davos planned to continue to Tyrosh to visit Titus’s uncle, Johnny Adrys, before returning to Gold Mountain Harbor.

At a King's Landing tavern, two servants of Godric Poneel boasted that their lord had drunk with King Robert and described the Three Sisters’ defiant history and illicit trades. Their story left the islanders’ criminal livelihood exposed to the curious crowd.

• A stubbly drinker argued that he had outdrunk men from House Hogg, and another tavern patron claimed he had shared drinks with King Robert.
• The patron and his companion said they served Godric Poneel of Sweet Sister and described his drinking contest with the king at the Red Keep.
• The servants praised the Three Sisters’ independence and recounted their ancient conflict with House Stark and uneasy submission to House Arryn.
• The islanders explained their old gods, the Lady of the Waves and the Lord of the Skies, to the gathered drinkers.
• One servant revealed that smuggling, robbery, theft, and salvage brought the Three Sisters more profit than their public trades.

Stannis Baratheon arrested twelve men from Sweet Sister after learning they boasted of piracy and smuggling, then brought their crimes before the Small Council. Robert Baratheon arrived to defend his drinking companion, Earl Godric Pynell, as Stannis accused Godric of enabling the crimes.

• A man in a silk coat heard men from Sweet Sister boast in the Copper Pot tavern about luring ships onto reefs and smuggling goods through Sisterton, then reported their crimes to Stannis.
• Stannis ordered his guards and the City Watch, including Ser Andy, to arrest the men from Sweet Sister and bring them to the Black Cells.
• The next morning, Stannis persuaded Jon Arryn to convene the Small Council to discuss the arrests and whether Godric Pynell should be held accountable.
• Robert arrived at the council meeting after Godric told him that Stannis had arrested their drinking companions.
• Stannis accused the twelve prisoners of piracy and smuggling and argued that Godric had allowed their crimes, while admitting he lacked proof that Godric had ordered the false lighthouse signals.

Robert Baratheon and Stannis clashed at the Small Council over Stannis’s plan to execute Godric Poneel, exposing their deeper resentment over Storm’s End and royal authority. Robert spared Godric while the twelve Sweet Sister islanders were hanged, and the brothers’ feud continued through petty retaliations across the realm.

• Robert defended Godric Poneel and rebuked Stannis for claiming authority over the Three Sisters, while Stannis argued that Godric’s men endangered eastern shipping and deserved punishment.
• Robert declared that he was the law and ordered Hoster Tully to prepare a pardon for Godric; the Small Council members watched or tried to calm the brothers.
• The next day, Ser Gordon arranged for the twelve Sweet Sister islanders to be hanged outside the River Gate, while Godric remained in the capital and continued carousing with Robert.
• Stannis returned to Dragonstone, and the brothers’ dispute became public across the capital and Crownlands.
• Robert raised Dragonstone’s taxes, and Stannis seized merchant ships from King’s Landing that lacked complete paperwork; Robert mocked him at a feast, and Stannis cut off most dealings with the capital.

Titus received three conflicting reports about the dispute between Robert and Stannis, and reflected on how authority shaped power in the kingdom. He then gathered his maesters at Starpike and ordered them to train officials so his territories could be properly staffed within a year.

• Alester urged Titus to mediate between Robert and Stannis, while Varys warned of the dangers posed by their conflict and Pycelle avoided taking a position.
• Titus compared the letters and concluded that authority gave information, wealth, and armies their force, recalling Cersei Lannister's argument that power was power.
• Maester Greg told Titus that four maesters from his territories had arrived at Starpike, joining Greg to form a team of specialist advisers.
• Titus instructed Greg and the other maesters to train teachers and lower-level administrators, aiming to staff Starpike's lands with qualified officials within a year.

Titus planned to extend his influence over the five principal houses of the eastern Mander basin through trade, protection, and alliances. Meanwhile, Earl Raymun Fossoway and Ser Jon Fossoway arrived at Highgarden for Lady Olenna Redwyne’s gathering and were greeted by Earl Allard Crane.

• Titus told Maester Greg that correspondence with the eastern Mander lords would increase and asked him to help manage the added paperwork.
• Titus reviewed his growing ties with Houses Cuy and Meadows and planned to bring the Merryweathers, Caswells, and Fossoways further into his sphere of power.
• Lady Olenna Redwyne held a gathering at Highgarden intended to unite the Reach’s powerful nobles.
• Earl Raymun Fossoway and Ser Jon Fossoway traveled together to Highgarden and admired the restored maze and harbor district.
• At the second wall, Earl Allard Crane left his conversation with Ser Fo Timo Crane to greet Raymun and Jon.

Allard Crane, Raymun Fossoway, and Jon Fossoway arrived at Highgarden for Olenna Redwyne’s gathering and learned that several major Reach houses were absent, raising doubts about House Tyrell’s alliances. The lords entered the reception hall to find Olenna waiting, while the chapter ended by introducing Silverwing’s island home in Red Lake.

• Allard Crane asked Raymun and Jon about Mace Tyrell, prompting awkwardness over Mace’s withdrawal from public life after his capture and ransom.
• Fo Timo Crane led the three visitors through Highgarden and explained away suggestive sounds from the gardens as the acting troupe rehearsing.
• Fo Timo listed the absent houses, including Meadows, Hightower, Cuy, Florent, and Redwyne, while Raymun, Jon, and Allard considered what their absence meant for the Tyrells.
• Fo Timo told the visitors that Mathis Rowan had arrived, easing their concern that every powerful Reach house was distancing itself from Highgarden.
• The four entered the reception hall, where Olenna Redwyne sat ready to host the gathering; the chapter then introduced Silverwing’s island home in Red Lake.

Lady Olenna offered support to neighboring lords and invited them to watch a play about the Battle of the Bells, where Titus Peake defeated Jon Connington. The performance ended with the Black Earl severing the Red Earl’s left hand, leaving the assembled nobles watching the reenactment of the battle’s climax.

• Lady Olenna offered commercial support and interest-free loans to neighboring houses, then asked them to support Garlan Tyrell when he became old enough to squire.
• Willas Tyrell impressed Earl Matus with his conversation while Lady Olenna invited the assembled lords to watch a play written by Seven-Stringed Tom.
• The nobles watched actors portray the Battle of the Bells, with the Black Earl facing the Red Earl at Stoney Sept.
• The actors reenacted the duel as the Black Earl parried the Red Earl’s attacks and then severed his left hand.
• The Red Earl dropped his swords and appeared to accept defeat as bells rang and the play’s song mourned Heartsbane’s fall.

Lady Olenna used a play about Titus Peake’s rise to urge Reach nobles to unite and adapt, while privately planning ways to counter his growing power. She considered an alliance with the Lannisters, a future royal match for Margaery, and a new generation of Tyrell heirs as Highgarden’s secret coalition took shape.

• After the play ended, Mathis Rowan asked Olenna what message she intended to convey, and she warned that Titus Peake viewed the gathered nobles as obstacles.
• Olenna urged Mathis Rowan and Awen Oakheart to learn from Titus’s policies, while privately weighing a Lannister marriage alliance against her ties to Goldengrove.
• Olenna resolved to train Margaery Tyrell in Lyanna Stark’s image and assigned Willas, Garlan, and Loras distinct paths to strengthen House Tyrell.
• Olenna led the northwestern Reach nobles back to the reception room to continue their secret plotting against Titus Peake.
• The nobles’ ambitions grew from the example of Robert I’s victory and the Five Houses Alliance’s success in claiming the Iron Throne.

Titus had Jalabhar Xho tortured after the exiled Summer Isles prince raided his cargo, and Belwas cut off Jalabhar’s hand. Jalabhar finally confessed that he had acted recklessly because he was inexperienced in the outside world.

• Belwas ignored Jalabhar Xho’s pleas and severed his hand while Titus watched.
• The guild staff left the torture chamber alone after learning Jalabhar was the wanted raider who had attacked a Starpike shipment.
• Titus examined Jalabhar’s goldenheart bow and passed it to Captain Wenda to test.
• Titus mocked Jalabhar’s judgment and showed him the wanted poster offering three thousand Gold Dragons.
• Jalabhar broke down and confessed that he had recently been exiled from the Summer Isles and knew little about the dangers beyond them.