Chapter Summaries

Gary defeated the Tyrell cavalry at Highgarden and used the moat’s water to raise an enormous Ice Rose that blocked the gate. He spared Lord Mace, accepted Margaery’s warhorse as compensation, and was asked to give her the Shadowcat as a token of their betrothal.

• Gary killed the charging cavalrymen, then subdued the final four after Lord Mace ordered them to attack.
• As reinforcements arrived, Gary froze the moat into a giant Ice Rose that destroyed the bridge and blocked Highgarden’s gate.
• Gary spared Lord Mace after Margaery warned him of the danger of war, and Margaery stopped her father from threatening him again.
• Margaery offered Gary Lord Mace’s warhorse, and he accepted it as compensation from House Tyrell.
• Margaery asked Gary for a betrothal token and chose the Shadowcat.

Gary arranged for Margaery to become the Shadowcat’s master, while Bingling secretly struck a bargain with her for food and help with Gary’s plans. Margaery agreed to feed the dragon and hoped to win Gary’s affection before her family could decide her future.

• Gary asked Bingling to give Margaery the Shadowcat, and Bingling agreed after he promised to spend his purse on meat.
• Gary told Margaery that the Ice Rose would melt within hours and left Highgarden, while Margaery wondered whether he would return to see her.
• More than ten days later, Margaery followed the Shadowcat into the woods and discovered Bingling could write; Bingling asked when she would help Gary get the crown.
• Bingling asked Margaery for food to help it grow, and Margaery promised daily meat and agreed to keep the dragon hidden with the Shadowcat.
• Margaery secretly brought three pigs into the woods, rejecting the idea of betraying Bingling because she wanted to control her own future and feared Gary might choose another woman.

Margaery told Olenna that she loved Luke Stark and planned to wait five years for him to seek her hand, while Olenna remained skeptical. In Oldtown, Gary reached the Citadel with the king’s letter of recommendation and was introduced to Archmaester Theobald, the current Steward.

• Residents near Highgarden avoided Tiger Forest, where Margaery kept her docile but dangerous tiger.
• Margaery persuaded Olenna that she loved Luke Stark and said he had asked her to wait five years before seeking her hand.
• Olenna worried that Margaery would suffer in the North and questioned whether Luke could truly wait that long.
• Gary arrived in Oldtown after nearly a month and went to the Citadel with the king’s letter of recommendation.
• A maester guided Gary through the Citadel to Archmaester Theobald, whom he introduced as the Steward for that year.

Luke Stark pressured the Citadel into searching its vast library for clues about a powerful Green Crystal, using King Robert’s authority to secure the scholars’ cooperation. The search began with a six-month deadline, and Gary promised that whoever found a useful clue might travel with him to meet the king.

• Theobald told Luke Stark that King Robert had ordered the Citadel to open its books to him but could not make him a maester outside the Citadel’s traditions.
• Luke Stark demanded that the Citadel’s maesters search their books for clues, threatening to insist on his appointment as a maester if they refused.
• Theobald summoned the Citadel’s scholars and announced that King Robert had commanded them to help Luke Stark.
• Luke Stark described the Green Crystal and its immense energy, then invoked the king’s authority to silence scholars who questioned the search.
• Theobald explained that searching nearly a million books would take six months, and Luke Stark accepted the deadline while dangling a possible trip to meet King Robert as a reward.

Gary left the Citadel after half a year of searching for clues about the Green Crystal and sailed toward Essos to investigate the ruins of Valyria. As he waited for the merchant fleet to depart, Varys arrived with a new assignment from King Robert.

• Gary dismissed most of the scholars’ gemstone leads but kept a possible Rhoynar connection and a rumor that Valyria had found a god’s sacred stone.
• Gary decided to search the ruins of Valyria and then seize Daenerys Targaryen’s three dragon eggs, and he booked passage on a merchant fleet bound for Volantis.
• Gary evaded the Baratheon knights and soldiers sent to bring him back to King’s Landing and boarded the ship without saying goodbye.
• Gary worried that Bingling had been missing for six months as he watched white ravens near the harbor.
• Varys joined Gary on the ship and announced that King Robert had sent him with a new assignment.

Varys forced Gary to sail to Pentos and threaten Jon Snow’s safety if he refused to assassinate the surviving Targaryen children. After months at sea, mercenaries tried to kill Gary, but he used ice magic to defeat them and took control of the ship, deciding to reach Pentos and retaliate.

• Varys delivered Robert’s order for Gary to kill the two surviving Targaryen children and threatened Jon Snow to ensure Gary accepted the mission.
• Gary agreed to sail to Pentos but warned Varys that he would kill him and his Little Birds if Jon were harmed.
• Three months into the voyage, mercenaries killed the captain and sailors, then confronted the seasick and weakened Gary.
• Gary froze the deck and sea, killed the lead mercenary and the others who had not offered useful skills, and spared six crewmen who could help sail the ship.
• Gary ordered the survivors to clean the deck and continue to Pentos, where he intended to return the mistreatment he had suffered.

Gary escaped Varys’s trap by landing south of Pentos and traveled with two mercenaries to a small town, where he planned to recover before continuing. He stayed wary of the mercenaries and kept his identity concealed as they waited for horses.

• Gary ordered the ship to land before Pentos, then used ice to cross from the grounded vessel to shore with two mercenaries after they killed the other four.
• Gary paid the two mercenaries and promised a chance at knighthood if they helped him reach King’s Landing.
• After four days of travel, Gary and the mercenaries reached a small town south of Pentos, where he booked rooms and planned to recuperate while waiting to buy horses.
• Sergei told Gary that Gabo had gone to visit a trader who brought enslaved women to town, and Gary warned Sergei not to reveal their identities.
• Sergei offered to find women for Gary, but Gary declined, and Sergei ran downstairs before Gary could stop him.

Gary was summoned to a slave owner’s compound after Sergei and Gabo were captured, and learned that Sergei had killed a man trying to rescue a Westerosi woman from his hometown. When the slave owner ordered his soldiers to attack, Gary freed the two mercenaries and prepared to fight.

• Gary left the tavern to train but was stopped by armed men who escorted him to a wealthy merchant’s compound.
• Gary found Sergei and Gabo injured and bound, while the slave owner demanded forty-five Gold Dragons for damages and a dead subordinate.
• Sergei admitted he had killed a man while trying to rescue a woman from his hometown, whom the slave owner had tortured; he suspected another captive might be from the North.
• The slave owner ordered his soldiers to keep Gary and the mercenaries alive, and Gary drew Dark Sister and cut Sergei and Gabo’s chains.

Gary and his companions defeated a slave owner’s soldiers and found three captive women, one of whom believed Gary was a divine messenger. When her prayer connected her suffering to him, a silver-haired, purple-eyed dragon girl appeared and called her Gary’s first believer.

• Gary killed the slave owner’s fifty-odd soldiers, though he and Gabo suffered wounds, and the group captured the slave owner.
• Sergei led Gary and Gabo to the cages, where he rescued Cindy, his runaway bride, while they found another woman dead and a third dying from horrific injuries.
• The dying woman mistook Gary for a messenger of the Seven, and Gary invented a Supreme God to give her hope.
• The woman prayed for Gary’s protection and offered her soul, sending a silvery thread into his chest and making him feel part of her pain.
• Time and space froze, and a silver-haired, purple-eyed girl with dragon horns and wings appeared behind Gary, asking whether he had found his first believer.

Gary met the Mother of Dragons, who explained that the Primal Stone’s power could grow through human believers and offered to help him use it. Though he agreed to gather believers and accepted her spell to heal his first believer, Gary sealed the Mother of Dragons inside his consciousness because he did not trust her.

• The Mother of Dragons read the disabled woman’s memories and recognized the Primal Stone in Gary’s body.
• She told Gary that human believers would help him control the Primal Stone, and that he could eventually use it to create a physical body for a god.
• Gary learned that the Mother of Dragons’s body lay in the Shadow Lands, but restoring it would expose her to the gods, so he agreed to gather believers instead.
• The Mother of Dragons enchanted Gary’s left hand to convert the Primal Stone’s power into life force, which could heal the disabled woman and regrow her limbs.
• Gary used the Primal Stone to seal the Mother of Dragons inside his consciousness because he still did not trust her.

Gary used his new healing magic to restore Tysha Sivifes, a dying captive, and made her his first believer. Tysha gained ice magic through her connection to him and killed the slave owner, while Gary’s left hand remained numb from the healing.

• Gary healed his abdominal wound with the magic granted by the Primal Stone.
• Gary prayed over the dying Tysha, and crimson energy restored her injuries and severed limbs.
• Tysha pledged herself to the Supreme God, gained ice magic, and introduced herself to Gary as Tysha Sivifes.
• Gabo asked Gary to heal his back, but Gary told him that insincere prayers would not earn the god’s response.
• Gary considered why healing Tysha had caused mana overload and planned to recover before setting out for Pentos.
• Tysha froze dirty water into an ice spike and killed the slave owner who had held her captive.

Gary and his companions traveled toward Pentos with the slave master's gold while Gabo explained the city’s defenses and mercenaries. When a white dragon landed before them, Gary revealed that he planned to attack Pentos with its help.

• Tysha told Gary that a Westerlands noble had sold her into slavery, and Gary promised that she would one day have the power to judge cruel nobles.
• Gabo described Pentos as a wealthy city-state with only two or three thousand city watchmen, but warned that it could hire powerful mercenary companies.
• Gary declared that he did not need an army because he had a dragon.
• A dragon descended and landed in front of the travelers, frightening Gabo and the others.
• Gary handed Gabo his reins and went to approach the dragon alone.

Gary reunited with Bingling and revealed that he planned to attack Pentos to obtain three Dragon Eggs. After preparing in the city, he began his assault during a downpour, leaving Bingling to set the harbor ablaze while Gabo prepared to seize the magisters’ estates.

• Gary reunited with Bingling, which had grown while staying secretly in Highgarden, and told it that Pentos held three Dragon Eggs.
• Gary used his red magic on Bingling, increasing its lifespan, then sent it to hide outside Pentos and await his signal.
• After arriving in Pentos, Gary had Gabo investigate Illyrio’s estate and recruit mercenaries while they waited for the right moment.
• When freezing rain began falling, Gary ordered Gabo to seize the other magisters’ estates and reserved Illyrio’s estate for himself.
• Bingling attacked Pentos’s harbor with dragonfire, setting merchant ships ablaze and plunging the city into chaos.

Gary attacked Illyrio’s residence and forced him to reveal the hidden Dragon Eggs. After testing the eggs with fire, Gary claimed to be Luke Stark, the posthumous son of Prince Rhaegar and Lyanna Stark, and asked Illyrio to swear allegiance to him.

• Gary and Tysha fought their way through Illyrio’s guards and entered his room.
• Gary cut off Illyrio’s little finger and forced him to lead them to the Dragon Eggs.
• Illyrio showed Gary three Dragon Eggs hidden in a cellar beneath his armory.
• Gary placed the eggs in a brazier, but Illyrio said previous attempts to awaken them had failed.
• Gary revealed his Valyrian steel sword and claimed to be Luke Stark, asking Illyrio to swear allegiance.

Gary secured Illyrio’s outward pledge and took the dragon eggs, then confronted Viserys and Daenerys in Pentos. He offered Viserys control of the city in exchange for Daenerys, but left them one night to answer after threatening her.

• Illyrio pledged allegiance to Gary and promised to conceal his identity, while Gary took the three dragon eggs and told Illyrio to keep Pentos stable.
• Illyrio left, and Gary explained to Tysha that he expected him to alert an old friend before entering the building where Viserys and Daenerys were staying.
• Gary and Tysha found Viserys beating Daenerys, and Gary stopped Tysha from rushing in to intervene.
• Gary offered Viserys Pentos as a base for reclaiming the Iron Throne in exchange for Daenerys, and Viserys tried to demand the dragon as well.
• Gary threatened to take Daenerys and described a brutal fate for her, then gave Viserys and Daenerys until the next day to accept his offer.

Gary tracked down and killed Illyrio, then slaughtered the mercenaries who challenged his authority in Magister Haiman’s mansion. He left Sergei to guard the mansion and took Gabo to command Pentos’s city guard.

• Gary followed the magical mark to Illyrio’s hideout and learned that Illyrio had already sent information to Varys through a Little Mouse.
• Gary froze Illyrio solid and shattered him, then set off with Tysha to find Gabo.
• At Magister Haiman’s mansion, Gabo told Gary that the mercenaries refused to serve outsiders and were demanding more gold.
• Gary spread ice across the garden and killed more than four hundred mercenaries on ice spikes.
• Gary ordered Sergei to guard the mansion and took Gabo to command Pentos’s city guard.

Gary consolidated his control of Pentos and prepared a public speech while offering Viserys a chance to regain the Iron Throne in exchange for Daenerys. He led the Targaryen siblings toward the city square, carrying a bloodstained crown and a gold chain.

• Gary took over the Palace guards, formed a new City Watch, and ordered his men to restore order and gather the people for a speech.
• Tysha told Gary that Gabo and Sergei had already set out, and Gary decided to meet Viserys before resting.
• Viserys learned that Luke had killed the magisters and taken control of Pentos, while Daenerys feared her brother would trade her away.
• Viserys found Gary at breakfast and asked whether his offer still stood; Gary said it did until noon and invited Viserys and Daenerys to the square.
• Gary had Tysha fetch a gold chain from Illyrio's cellar, then set off with the Targaryen siblings and told Viserys his bundle contained three magisters' heads.

Gary traded Daenerys to Viserys for the crown of Pentos, then left the city with her. He headed toward the Stone Mountains to find Bingling and begin hatching the Dragon Eggs.

• Gary offered Viserys the crown of Pentos in exchange for Daenerys becoming his handmaid and promised him the city's City Watch and Magisters' gold.
• Viserys fastened a Golden Collar on Daenerys, took the crown, and replaced Gabo on the platform as Pentos's new king.
• Gary led Daenerys away from the square, while she begged him not to let his men or horses torment her and still hoped Viserys would rescue her.
• Gary told Tysha to travel slowly with Daenerys, then instructed Sergei to kill Viserys after news of his accession reached Westeros.
• Gary left Pentos with Daenerys in a carriage and rode toward the Stone Mountains to find Bingling and begin hatching the Dragon Eggs.

Gary tried several ways to hatch three supposedly dead dragon eggs, then set them alight with Daenerys, believing her Targaryen blood would awaken them. The fire left Daenerys unharmed but the eggs unchanged, so Gary wondered if hatching them required sacrifices.

• Gary brought the three dragon eggs to Bingling, which examined them and declared them dead and turned to stone.
• Gary tried transferring life force into the eggs, but they showed no signs of life.
• Gary sent the driver back to Pentos and brought Tysha and Daenerys up the hill with firewood and oil.
• Bingling felt an unsettling affinity toward Daenerys, while Daenerys recognized the dragon that had attacked Pentos.
• Gary soaked Daenerys and the eggs with oil and burned them, but Daenerys survived and the eggs remained unchanged.
• Gary recalled that Daenerys had burned a witch and her husband when she hatched dragons, and wondered whether sacrifices were needed.

Gary failed to hatch the petrified dragon eggs, then learned from the Mother of Dragons that a Valyrian descendant and Gary’s mana-infused blood could help revive them. She also revealed that the Ruins of Valyria might hold more than a thousand Valyrian steel swords and dragon eggs, leaving Gary to consider seeking them.

• Gary sent Tysha and Daenerys down the mountain and discussed his plans to build a religious army with Bingling.
• Gary dreamed of the Mother of Dragons, who said a living dragon or a Valyrian descendant was needed to hatch the petrified eggs.
• The Mother of Dragons explained that Gary must test a Valyrian descendant by burning him, then give him Gary’s blood infused with mana and life force to begin the hatching ritual.
• The Mother of Dragons warned that dragons revived this way would be frail, and said burning the eggs with the Valyrian descendant could help them absorb life force and mana.
• The Mother of Dragons told Gary that the Ruins of Valyria might contain roughly a thousand Valyrian steel swords, armor, and dragon eggs, and said she could sense the magical metals there.