Recaps

Titus sparred with Wenda, discovered that her eye patch concealed a sighted eye, and learned how she used her Skinchanger ability while keeping one eye on her own surroundings. In King's Landing, Aerys learned that Rhaella was pregnant and decided to send her and Viserys to Dragonstone as the rebels approached.

• Titus and Wenda sparred in the captain's cabin until he pinned her, and she yielded.
• Titus noticed Wenda's eye patch had slipped and discovered her left eye was intact; Wenda explained how she used it to conceal her Skinchanger ability and monitor her own body.
• Titus and Wenda fell asleep together fully clothed, and Wenda woke in his arms with his hand resting on her chest.
• Grand Maester Pycelle told Aerys that Rhaella was pregnant, and Aerys reacted with rare joy.
• Aerys told Rhaella that he would send the Royal Fleet to take her and Viserys to Dragonstone before the rebels attacked King's Landing.

Aerys sent Rhaella and Viserys east by ship while he remained in King's Landing, and Titus hurried his fleet toward the city as Tywin Lannister advanced from the west. The fleets met near the Blackwater Rush, where Titus ordered Dragonbane to approach two Royal Fleet warships blocking the river.

• Aerys refused to leave King's Landing and sent Queen Rhaella and Viserys east with Willem Darry aboard ten Royal Fleet warships.
• Raynald Weywater watched the fleet depart, while Aerys remained in the Red Keep and vowed to defend his throne.
• Titus ordered Davos to speed up the flotilla as Tywin Lannister marched east with twelve thousand men.
• Wenda reported that Tywin was nearing King's Landing with at least ten thousand troops, and the Royal Fleet was sighted ahead.
• Davos reported that two Royal Fleet warships blocked the river, and Titus ordered Dragonbane to bring alongside them.

Davos Seaworth confronted Captain Raynald Weywater aboard his warship and persuaded him to cooperate with the Black Earl as the royal capital faced an imminent change of hands. Raynald boarded the Dragonbane, while the chapter revealed that his family descended from Alyn Velaryon and carried dragon blood.

• The Dragonbane and Seahorse approached the Royal Fleet, and Captain Raynald Weywater recognized the ships he had secretly sold.
• Davos Seaworth boarded Raynald’s ship alone and revealed that the Black Earl had bought the vessels and that the Westerlands army was outside King’s Landing.
• Raynald realized the warship deal could bring him punishment and agreed to cooperate with Davos and the Black Earl.
• Raynald left instructions for his deputy and traveled by small boat to the Dragonbane, where Titus saw him arrive with Davos.
• The chapter traced Raynald’s ancestry to Alyn Velaryon and Yronna Targaryen through their bastard descendants.

Titus pressured Captain Renafor into joining the rebels’ plans for the Royal Fleet, turning his offer to seize ships into an order to serve as a covert agent on Dragonstone. Renafor signed a letter of submission and was told to await instructions from Captain Wenda.

• Renafor met Titus aboard the Dragonbane and claimed he was eager to aid the rebel army, then reported that six Royal Fleet warships remained in King’s Landing after ten had sailed to Dragonstone.
• After learning his sailors could crew only three or four additional ships, Titus rejected Renafor’s offer to seize the whole fleet and said he wanted three warships while Renafor took command of the remaining five.
• Titus ordered Renafor to deal with Captain Oliver, help the rebels take three ships, and lead the other five away from King’s Landing under the pretense of protecting Queen Rhaella and Prince Viserys on Dragonstone.
• When Renafor tried to plead that he lacked the ability to carry out the plan, Titus challenged his claim of influence in the Royal Fleet until he promised to do his best.
• Titus ordered Captain Wenda to write a letter of submission in Renafor’s name and told him to maintain his fleet position, act loyal to House Targaryen on Dragonstone, and follow Wenda’s instructions.
• Wenda prepared the letter, and Renafor signed it and pressed his thumbprint onto it.

Titus’s fleet infiltrated the Royal Fleet’s anchorage while his cavalry prepared to strike King’s Landing. At the Lion Gate, Aerys ordered Tywin’s army admitted despite Varys’s warnings, and Tywin entered the undefended capital.

• Titus promised Renafor Weywater advancement in exchange for helping his fleet and keeping watch on Dragonstone, and Renafor took control of his ship after Captain Oliver was declared gravely ill.
• Renafor guided Titus’s six ships into the Royal Fleet’s anchorage while Davos and Oswin prepared captured warships, and Renafor set out to take command of more vessels.
• Titus landed nearly eight hundred cavalrymen and prepared to move as fighting began at King’s Landing’s western gates.
• Tywin brought twelve thousand Westerlands soldiers to the Lion Gate, but Ser Alliser Thorne refused entry until he received the King’s command.
• Varys warned against admitting Tywin’s army, while Pycelle argued for it, and Aerys ordered Alliser to open the gate.
• Alliser obeyed, and Tywin led his army into King’s Landing.

Tywin Lannister seized the Lion Gate and sent his army to sack King's Landing while dispatching Gregor Clegane and other knights to the Red Keep. As the city burned, Aerys II ordered Rossart to carry out their plan to destroy it, embracing his delusion that he would be reborn as the King of Ashes.

• Roland Crakehall's Westerlands soldiers turned on the Lion Gate guards, took the gate, and captured Ser Alliser Thorne.
• Tywin ordered his army to loot and burn King's Landing, then sent Ser Amory Lorch, Ser Gregor Clegane, and other cavalry leaders toward the Red Keep for dirty work.
• The Westerlands army rampaged through the undefended city, robbing, killing, and setting fires as its people fled.
• Aerys II awoke to news of the invasion and found the Throne Room abandoned except for Rossart and the dragon skulls.
• Aerys ordered Rossart to enact their plan to burn King's Landing and declared that he would survive the flames as the King of Ashes.

Jaime Lannister discovered that Aerys II planned to burn King's Landing with Wildfire, then confronted the king and killed him when he refused to stop. Jaime saved the city, but stood alone in the Throne Room as his courage and sense of honor drained away.

• Jaime Lannister intercepted Rossart and learned that Wildfire was being prepared and stored around King's Landing.
• Jaime killed Rossart, then went to the Throne Room to urge Aerys II to halt the order to ignite the Wildfire.
• Aerys II demanded that Jaime bring him Tywin's head or watch the city burn, forcing Jaime to choose between his father, his oath, and the people of King's Landing.
• Jaime chose to protect the city and stabbed Aerys II through the back, killing the king.
• Jaime stood over Aerys II's corpse in the silent Throne Room, knowing he had saved hundreds of thousands of people but believing no one would ever know.

Titus led eight hundred cavalry into King's Landing after Gordon opened the River Gate, then ambushed the Westerlands column at Hook Lane. He left Amory Lorch dead with a fabricated story blaming the clash on the Westerlands before riding east after Tywin's force.

• Gordon bribed and threatened the River Gate squad leaders until they seized the gate, captured its commander, and opened the way for Titus's cavalry.
• Titus ordered Gordon to secure the River Gate and then charged through King's Landing, scattering Gold Cloaks who tried to block the cavalry.
• Titus's cavalry struck the Westerlands column at the Hook Lane crossroads, split it apart, and routed its rear half.
• Titus had Amory Lorch captured, mocked his threats, and ordered his men to stab him to death while inventing a story that blamed his death on a fight with the River Gate commander.
• Titus led his cavalry east in pursuit of the Westerlands force, leaving Amory's body behind.

Jack and Max organized Flea Bottom's Steel Brotherhood to support Titus's plans as King's Landing descended into chaos. Andy captured the Alchemists' Guild leaders and seized the components of an experimental wildfire-powered siege engine, which the Pyromancers would secretly complete outside Starpike.

• Max rallied the Steel Brotherhood, while Jack prepared twenty men for Captain Andy's operation.
• Andy took the Brotherhood's men to Tobho Mott's shop and then led a mixed force to raid the Alchemists' Guild.
• Andy arrested Goghos, Belis, and the guild's assistants and apprentices, then ordered them to gather wildfire-making materials.
• Andy found the Alchemists' Guild's preserved prototype of the Divine Dragon, a wildfire-powered siege engine commissioned by Aegon IV.
• Andy planned to have the captured Pyromancers secretly complete the Divine Dragon outside Starpike in the Dornish Marches.

The Black Earl’s cavalry seized the Red Keep and Titus entered the Throne Room, where Jaime Lannister had killed Aerys II and waited on the Iron Throne. Jaime explained that Aerys planned to burn King’s Landing, but the Black Knight challenged him to draw his sword, leaving their confrontation about to begin.

• The Black Earl’s cavalry slaughtered the Westerlands force at the Red Keep gates, then Titus ordered Aegon to secure the entrances and defenses.
• Titus sent Lady White Eagle and selected guards after fleeing Westerlands soldiers, then led a detachment toward the Throne Room.
• Jaime Lannister sat on the Iron Throne beside Aerys II’s corpse, brooding over his regicide and awaiting whoever would take the city.
• The Black Knight rode into the Throne Room with his cavalry and taunted Jaime, who rose from the throne and described Aerys’s plan to burn King’s Landing.
• The Black Knight listened to Jaime’s account, then called him Kingslayer and ordered him to draw his sword.

Titus defeated Jaime Lannister in the Throne Room, took him prisoner, and hurried toward Maegor’s Holdfast to meet Wenda. There, Gregor Clegane and the surviving Westerlands soldiers were massacring people in the corridors.

• Titus challenged Jaime, overpowered him with Orphan-Maker, and broke Jaime’s golden sword.
• Titus disarmed Jaime, accepted his surrender, and told him to behave as a prisoner while refusing to affirm that he had saved King’s Landing.
• Titus ordered his men to tend to Aerys II’s remains and hurried toward Maegor’s Holdfast.
• Gregor Clegane led the remaining Westerlands cavalry through Maegor’s Holdfast, ordering them to kill every survivor.
• The Westerlands soldiers slaughtered the Red Keep’s maids, cooks, squires, and cupbearers as Gregor walked through the bloodied corridors with his migraine returning.

Gregor Clegane rampaged through Maegor's Holdfast, killed Prince Aegon and threatened Princess Elia before Wenda the White Eagle intervened. Wenda and Dodge's men restrained Gregor with chains, but he began breaking free.

• Gregor Clegane killed more than a dozen people as he searched Maegor's Holdfast for the royal nursery.
• Gregor killed the wet nurse and Prince Aegon, then turned on Princess Elia Martell.
• Wenda the White Eagle shot Gregor in the arm and rescued Elia from his attack.
• Gregor charged at Wenda and her guards using an armored corpse as a shield, knocking down their shield line.
• Dodge's men ensnared Gregor with iron chains, but he strained against them and began snapping several links.

Captain Wenda and the guards subdued Gregor Clegane after he killed Aegon and attacked Princess Elia, while Titus Peake met Elia in Maegor’s Holdfast and explained why she and Rhaenys could not safely return to Dorne. Titus began proposing a way to protect Elia and her daughter and preserve peace, but the chapter ended before he revealed it.

• Dodge and the guards overwhelmed Gregor Clegane, and Wenda knocked him unconscious with a kick before they chained him up.
• Wenda refused to kill Gregor, explaining that Titus had a use for him, then brought Elia to meet the Earl.
• Titus told Elia that he had spared Prince Lewyn and would release him for the right price, but Lewyn would stay to protect his niece.
• Titus explained that Dornish succession laws gave Rhaenys a claim that could threaten Robert Baratheon’s rule, making her return to Dorne unacceptable to the rebel leaders.
• Titus warned Elia that other rebels might eliminate the Targaryen children and began offering a way to protect her and Rhaenys.

After King's Landing fell, Titus Peake held the Red Keep while Tywin Lannister withdrew and Eddard Stark arrived with the rebel army. The leaders prepared for Robert I's coronation, gathering at the Great Sept of Baelor as tensions between Titus and Tywin remained unresolved.

• Tywin Lannister withdrew his men from King's Landing and surrendered the Lion Gate's defenses while awaiting Eddard Stark's approaching army.
• Eddard arrived to find the capital already captured, and Titus Peake admitted the allied leaders and Tywin into the Red Keep.
• Titus explained the Mad King's death, the Westerlands' looting, and his protection of the royal women, prompting Eddard to distrust Tywin's army.
• Eddard took charge of King's Landing's defenses, while Titus retained control of the Red Keep and secured promotions for Andy and Gordon.
• The leaders and the crowd assembled at the Great Sept of Baelor for Robert I's impending coronation, with Titus and Tywin kept apart at the front.

Robert Baratheon was crowned Robert I, marking the fall of House Targaryen and the beginning of Baratheon rule. At the new king’s first Small Council meeting, the assembled lords confirmed House Peake’s jurisdiction over three castles.

• Robert Baratheon knelt before the High Septon, who anointed him and crowned him Robert Baratheon I, King of the Andals, the Rhoynar, and the First Men.
• Nobles and commoners cheered Robert I as the bells rang across King’s Landing, while Princess Elia watched from the royal bedchamber with Rhaenys in her arms.
• Robert I presided over the first Small Council meeting of House Baratheon with the five leaders who had gathered at Riverrun.
• Robert I confirmed Lord Titus Peake’s claim that Whitegrove, Dunstonbury, and Horn Hill fell under Starpike’s jurisdiction, and no one objected.

The new court divided offices and debated the fate of Jaime Lannister and the former royal family’s prisoners. Robert ended the meeting by demanding that every surviving Targaryen child be killed, while Titus had promised Elia Martell and her daughter protection.

• Robert Baratheon appointed Jon Arryn Hand of the King, Hoster Tully Master of Laws, and Barristan Selmy Lord Commander of the Kingsguard.
• Eddard Stark said he planned to return to the North after finding his sister, while Titus declined a Small Council post for now.
• The council discussed Tywin Lannister’s possible role and Jaime Lannister’s fate, and Robert allowed Titus to deal with his prisoner as he saw fit.
• Jon Arryn asked Titus about Prince Lewyn Martell, Elia Martell, and her daughter, whom Titus held as prisoners and had promised to protect.
• Robert struck the table and demanded that every last Targaryen child be killed.

Robert Baratheon, Eddard Stark, Jon Arryn, and Titus Peake debated the fate of the Targaryen survivors and the alliance’s next moves. They spared Rhaenys by separating her from House Targaryen, but left the threat at Dragonstone unresolved and prepared for Titus to face Mace Tyrell’s army besieging Storm’s End.

• Robert demanded that Rhaenys Targaryen be killed, while Eddard opposed harming a child and condemned the murder of Rhaegar’s son.
• Titus proposed changing Rhaenys’s surname to Martell and having her and Elia renounce their claims to the Iron Throne before the people and nobles.
• Robert agreed to spare Rhaenys but insisted that she remain in the Red Keep under close watch, and Titus agreed to hand Elia and her daughter over to Robert and Jon Arryn.
• Jon warned that the allies lacked the warships needed to challenge Rhaella and her son at Dragonstone, so the council considered buying ships or seeking Ironborn help.
• Jon Arryn and another attendee privately considered finding Robert a wife, while Robert turned the council’s attention to the Reach army besieging Storm’s End.
• Robert asked whether Titus was willing to lead the attack against Mace Tyrell, and Titus was ready to take the field.

Titus took command of the southbound campaign and rejected Jon Arryn’s preference for a peaceful settlement, while privately proposing a new queen candidate if Lyanna could not be found. The chapter ended with Varys summoning Titus to meet him.

• Robert envied his brothers as the alliance settled that Titus would command roughly twenty-five thousand men marching south, with Eddard as his deputy until he left to search for Lyanna.
• Jon Arryn urged Titus to prioritize peace, but Titus vowed to lift Storm’s End’s siege and crush the southern rebels into submission.
• Eddard thanked Titus for recovering House Stark’s Valyrian steel sword Ice, and the brothers discussed the greatsword.
• Titus privately asked Jon whether Eddard could find Lyanna, challenged the idea of marrying Robert to Cersei Lannister, and hinted that he had a better queen candidate.
• As Titus left the Red Keep, a child told him that Lord Varys wanted to meet with him.

Lord Titus confronted Varys in the Red Keep over his past attempt to manipulate House Peake and his current request for help returning to the Small Council. Varys apologized and offered anything to settle their quarrel, but Titus challenged whether he had ever truly treated him as a friend.

• Titus refused Varys’s invitation to meet at the Dragonpit and summoned him to the Red Keep instead.
• Varys apologized for his earlier approach and asked Titus to help him regain his former position.
• Titus revealed that he knew about Varys’s Pentoshi Rats and recounted how Varys and Illyrio Mopatis had built their intelligence network.
• Titus accused Varys of underestimating him, seeking cooperation on his own terms, and still keeping him at a distance.
• Titus introduced the kitten named Balerion and rose to confront Varys about why he had never approached him as a friend.

Titus pressured Varys to compensate him for the alleged ambush, and Varys offered gifts while seeking to build a useful friendship. After Varys left, Titus summoned Grand Maester Pycelle for another meeting before departing the Red Keep.

• Titus offered to help Varys regain the Small Council's favor but demanded compensation for the ambush.
• Varys proposed giving Titus Sandoq the Shadow's Valyrian steel arakh, and Titus instead asked for a fossilized dragon egg.
• Varys agreed to have Illyrio Mopatis search for a dragon egg and departed the Red Keep.
• Titus invited Dodge to summon Grand Maester Pycelle and asked Wenda to play with the kitten.

Titus Peake bribed Grand Maester Pycelle and used him to send Lord Tywin a message that Jaime Lannister could be freed through negotiation. At Robert I’s first royal court, Titus publicly accused Gregor Clegane of murdering Rhaegar’s infant son and trying to assault Princess Elia, putting Tywin under pressure.

• Titus gave Pycelle a box of gold coins and asked him to pass a conciliatory message to Lord Tywin about Jaime.
• Titus asked Pycelle to share important news from the Red Keep with him, and Pycelle agreed.
• Robert I held his first royal court, where Jon Arryn announced decrees including the order for the Targaryen remnants on Dragonstone to surrender within seven days.
• Titus accused Gregor Clegane before the court of killing Rhaegar’s infant son and attempting to assault Princess Elia, while Lord Tywin listened in anger.

At court, Earl Titus accused Gregor Clegane and the Westerlands army of brutal crimes in King's Landing, forcing Tywin Lannister to concede some responsibility while denying that he had ordered the atrocities. Gregor admitted to his own crimes but refused to name anyone behind them, leaving the nobles’ suspicion fixed on Tywin.

• Earl Titus denounced Gregor Clegane’s attack on Princess Elia and accused the Westerlands army of looting and killing civilians in King's Landing.
• Tywin Lannister denied ordering the crimes, blamed Gregor’s nature and his soldiers’ lack of discipline, and offered compensation for the victims.
• Titus called for justice for the dead infant, Princess Elia, and the people of the capital, then had Gregor brought into the Throne Room in chains.
• Titus asked Gregor who had ordered him to attack Rhaegar’s children and assault Elia, and Gregor claimed he had acted alone.
• Titus argued that Gregor could not have acted without powerful backing, prompting the nobles to turn their suspicion toward Tywin.

Titus condemned Gregor Clegane for his atrocities, accepted Gregor’s demand for trial by combat, and chose to fight him himself. The two faced each other in the Throne Room as the duel began, with Titus calm despite the Mountain’s immense size.

• Titus refused to clear Tywin of suspicion and declared that Gregor’s crimes would be punished, while Tywin distanced himself from Gregor.
• Gregor demanded a trial by combat, and Titus accepted, rebuffing Tywin’s warning and his attempt to intervene.
• Titus declared that he would fight Gregor himself, despite other knights volunteering and his allies’ concern.
• Titus drew Heartsbane and waited as Gregor was released from his chains and took up his enormous sword.
• Gregor threatened Titus as they faced each other in the Throne Room, but Titus remained unafraid.

Titus fought Gregor in the Throne Room, testing the Mountain’s strength before using his speed to outmaneuver and wound him. Gregor entered a furious charge after losing his balance and bleeding, and Titus braced for another clash.

• Gregor opened with a powerful downward strike that cracked the marble floor, but Titus dodged it.
• Titus tested Gregor’s strength by clashing Heartsbane against his heavy sword, then judged his opponent’s movements and weaknesses.
• Titus circled Gregor at high speed and repeatedly struck his armor, cutting his thigh and drawing blood.
• Wounded, dizzy, and furious, Gregor abandoned his careful pursuit and charged straight at Titus.
• Titus met Gregor’s charge with Heartsbane, denting the Mountain’s sword before leaping out of range and joking that the boss had entered phase two.

Titus Peake defeated and executed Gregor Clegane in the Throne Room, then openly provoked Tywin Lannister. The duel ended with House Peake and Casterly Rock established as enemies, just as Titus intended.

• Titus exploited Gregor's wounded leg and drove Heartsbane through his belly, then struck him repeatedly until he fell to his knees.
• Titus pinned Gregor to the floor, forced him to face Tywin, and revealed that he carried a second Valyrian steel sword, Orphan-Maker.
• Titus declared Gregor guilty and beheaded him with Orphan-Maker before the assembled nobles.
• Titus flicked Gregor's blood toward Tywin, making his execution a deliberate warning to the Westerlands.
• Titus considered his feud with Casterly Rock a useful way to establish a powerful enemy for House Peake.