Recaps

Redd and Rhaenyra attended a Small Council meeting where Viserys announced that Daemon would establish and command a new fleet to defend Blackwater Bay, undermining Corlys Velaryon’s authority. Corlys faced pressure to accept the loss of House Velaryon’s naval influence or risk appearing disloyal.

• Mysaria told Redd that Viserys had been meeting privately with ministers and had secretly ordered Daemon to prepare a new Blackwater Bay Fleet.
• Viserys convened the Small Council with Redd and Rhaenyra attending as special guests.
• Otto criticized the royal navy’s failure to curb pirate activity, and Corlys defended its patrols while calling for more resources and unified command.
• Viserys announced that Daemon would establish and command a new fleet to defend Blackwater Bay.
• Corlys objected that Daemon lacked fleet-command experience, but Viserys insisted that Driftmark’s fleet help train the new force.
• Otto endorsed Viserys’s decision, while Redd watched Corlys caught between obeying the king and resisting the erosion of House Velaryon’s power.

Redd recognized that Viserys’s order to Corlys had deepened the rift between House Velaryon and Daemon, then considered turning Corlys’s resentment to his advantage. Viserys privately asked Redd to lead an attack on Tormund in the Stepstones, and Redd saw the request as a scheme to weaken both him and his enemies.

• Viserys forced Corlys to commit the Driftmark fleet to assisting Daemon, leaving Corlys humiliated and silent for the rest of the meeting.
• Redd told Rhaenyra that Corlys would retaliate and considered having Mysaria make private contact with him.
• Otto told Redd that Viserys wanted to speak with him alone, and Redd sent Rhaenyra back with Mysaria before following Otto into a side chamber.
• Viserys asked Redd to lead his eastern forces and dragon to the Stepstones to defeat Tormund, offering him rewards if he succeeded.
• Redd concluded that Viserys wanted to use the campaign to redirect trouble and weaken Redd, Tormund, and House Velaryon regardless of the outcome.

Redd agreed to help King Viserys target Tormund, but delayed the campaign and made the crown responsible for providing support. He began assembling ships while Daemon secretly confronted Corlys about his ties to Tormund.

• Redd told Viserys that the campaign against Tormund required time, intelligence, and cooperation from Corlys's Driftmark fleet.
• Otto agreed that Corlys should provide charts and intelligence, and Viserys ordered Otto to assist Redd.
• Redd dispatched Mysaria to Dragonstone and Braavos to gather more than a hundred warships from each territory.
• Daemon secretly met Corlys at the Broken Anchor and demanded to know the truth about Corlys's relationship with Tormund.
• Corlys claimed he and Tormund had only conducted business, but Daemon pressed him about possible secret deals or understandings.

Daemon pressed Corlys to hand over much of the Driftmark fleet for his new Blackwater Bay fleet, but Corlys refused to weaken House Velaryon. Daemon left considering how to use the king’s order against Tormund to expose Corlys and seize his ships.

• Corlys admitted that he had dealt with Tormund and exchanged intelligence with him, while concealing their blood ties.
• Daemon argued that he and Corlys needed to unite against the king, Otto Hightower, and their other rivals, then demanded half the Driftmark fleet, the Sea Snake, and three fast longships.
• Corlys refused to give Daemon command of his ships and rejected his attempt to pressure him through Laena and a possible grandson.
• Corlys left, and Daemon realized his Blackwater Bay fleet would remain weak without Driftmark’s support.
• Daemon considered using Redd’s task to wipe out Tormund to expose Corlys and give the king grounds to strip him of his office and fleet.

Daemon secretly prepared to interfere in the conflict among Corlys, Redd, and Tormund, while Corlys decided to defect to Rhaenyra. Rhaenys challenged his plan, warning that Rhaenyra was not formally the heir and that Redd could make House Velaryon his pawn; Corlys demanded to know what alternative she proposed.

• Daemon ordered an attendant to deploy hidden forces and watch Corlys, Redd, and Tormund.
• Corlys decided to leave Viserys's service and offer House Velaryon's support to Rhaenyra.
• Rhaenys told Corlys that Rhaenyra had never been formally invested as heir, so supporting her could amount to open rebellion.
• Corlys argued that Viserys's suspicions and Daemon's designs threatened House Velaryon, and that backing Rhaenyra could protect and elevate their house.
• Rhaenys warned that Redd wanted control over Westeros and could use House Velaryon as a pawn, while their family was already divided.
• Corlys asked Rhaenys what he should do instead of enduring Viserys's distrust and Daemon's covetousness.

Rhaenys urged Corlys to keep House Velaryon neutral and strengthen its defenses, while Corlys remained uneasy about the dangers ahead. Days later, Redd and Daemon joined Corlys’s fleet for the campaign against the pirates, where Redd noticed Daemon’s strange new dragon.

• Rhaenys told Corlys to fortify Driftmark, strengthen the fleet, and quietly seek ties with other powers rather than support Rhaenyra and Redd.
• Corlys and Rhaenys remained divided over how House Velaryon should face the growing crisis.
• Redd escorted his heavily pregnant wife, Rhaenyra, back to Dragonstone before the fleet departed to fight the pirates.
• Corlys led the main Driftmark fleet, while Redd’s Dragon King Fleet served in support and Daemon oversaw the campaign without troops of his own.
• Redd studied Daemon’s savage-looking dragon and wondered what had happened to make it appear in place of Caraxes.
• Mysaria identified the dragon as the newly appeared wild dragon.

Corlys and Tormund secretly arranged a staged pirate-hunting campaign, while Redd, Daemon, and their dragons joined the fleet’s advance into the Stepstones. Tormund gathered a decoy force of more than three hundred flimsy ships, but the presence of King Ghidorah and Caraxes threatened to upset the plan.

• Corlys ordered the fleets to scout the islands and advance slowly as Daemon flew low beside them on Caraxes.
• King Ghidorah surveyed the fleet and the mist-shrouded Stepstones as the expedition began amid mutual distrust.
• Corlys secretly revealed the fleet’s route to Tormund and arranged for him to stage a defeat using expendable pirates.
• Tormund sent his strongest pirates to safety and assembled more than three hundred altered merchant and other vessels as a decoy fleet.
• Tormund prepared to lead the motley fleet in a staged battle and retreat, but grew uneasy at the sight of King Ghidorah and Caraxes.
• A lookout warned Tormund that the Velaryon fleet and the easterners’ ships had arrived.

Daemon ignored the plan and had Caraxes set Tormund’s fleet ablaze, forcing Tormund to flee through a reef-strewn channel. A huge, unfamiliar dragon that breathed scalding steam appeared and drove Daemon off, then crashed into a reef beside Tormund’s flagship.

• Daemon ordered Caraxes to burn the pirate ships, turning the staged engagement into a real slaughter.
• Tormund ordered his remaining ships to scatter and escape while Corlys tried to stop Daemon and protect him.
• Tormund’s flagship broke free and raced toward a narrow channel, but Daemon pursued it with Caraxes.
• A massive armored dragon emerged from behind a cliff and forced Daemon and Caraxes to retreat.
• The steam-breathing dragon circled in the air, then slammed into a reef beside Tormund’s flagship.

A mysterious steam-breathing dragon rescued Tormund and fled into the Stepstones fog, turning the pirate campaign into a dispute over whether to pursue. Corlys urged a return to report to the king, while Daemon and Redd insisted on learning more about the dragon.

• The steam Dragon shattered a reef, seized Tormund's flagship, and carried him into the fog.
• Daemon, Corlys, and Redd watched the dragon escape, and Redd ordered King Ghidorah to follow its direction.
• The three men landed on a rocky island to discuss what to do next.
• Corlys proposed returning to report their victory and the dragon to the king.
• Daemon accused Corlys of hiding the depth of his cooperation with Tormund and demanded pursuit.
• Redd intervened as Corlys and Daemon's argument grew heated.

Redd persuaded Daemon and Corlys to pursue Tormund and the unusual steam-breathing Dragon for a limited search, with King Ghidorah tracking their trail. As the fleet sailed toward the edge of the Summer Sea, Mysaria reported warm, sulfurous waters and unusual currents near Grey Gallows Island.

• Redd supported Corlys's caution but argued that Tormund and his unknown Dragon posed a serious threat worth investigating.
• Redd offered fleet supplies and said King Ghidorah could track the fugitives, prompting Daemon to press Corlys to join the pursuit.
• Corlys agreed to investigate for three days, searching southeast to the edge of the Summer Sea and avoiding unnecessary conflict.
• The Driftmark fleet and Dragon King's fleet sailed south, guided and watched over by their two Dragons.
• Redd considered whether ancient magic or geological forces could explain the steam Dragon's unusual traits as the fleet passed the Stepstones.
• Mysaria told Redd that scouts had found warm water, strange currents, sulfurous bubbles, and few fish near Grey Gallows Island.

Redd’s fleet reached Grey Gallows Island after King Ghidorah sensed unusual heat, life energy, and a draconic presence in a secluded bay. As scouts approached, Tormund hid in an undersea cavern with the sea dragon he had kept secret for years, fearing the Targaryens and Redd would come after him.

• Mysaria told Redd that old charts and sailors’ tales described strange cave murals and hammer-like echoes in the Stepstones.
• King Ghidorah detected concentrated heat and life energy in a bay on Grey Gallows Island, and Redd ordered the fleet to investigate cautiously.
• Daemon circled the bay on Caraxes while Corlys sent two groups of longships ahead and warned Daemon not to rush in.
• Tormund waited in an undersea cavern beside the sea dragon that had rescued him, regretting that he had exposed it while escaping Daemon.
• Tormund recalled how an ancient marine creature called the Ocean Guide had helped him find the sea dragon and warned him to keep it hidden from powerful dragon-owning families.

Corlys found Tormund and his sea dragon, Raging Tide, in a hidden cavern on Grey Gallows Island and learned why Tormund had kept the dragon secret. With Daemon and Redd already aware of its existence and King Ghidorah able to track it, the brothers faced the urgent problem of escaping without drawing the attention of Westeros.

• Tormund sensed a disturbance in the cavern water as the sea dragon warned that pursuers were approaching.
• Corlys delayed Daemon and Redd, then slipped away to search for the hiding place Redd had identified.
• Corlys found Tormund and the sea dragon safe in the cavern, relieved but angry that Tormund had concealed the dragon.
• Tormund told Corlys about meeting the Ocean Guide and the warning that dragonlord families, especially the Targaryens, would seek to control the sea dragon.
• Corlys explained that Daemon and Redd had both seen the dragon and that King Ghidorah seemed able to track it.
• Corlys rejected fighting their way out, warning that it would make Tormund and the sea dragon targets across Westeros.

Corlys arranged for Tormund and Raging Tide to fake their escape from Grey Gallows Island and hide in a remote sea cave while he returned to face Daemon and Redd. As the search continued, Mysaria noticed signs that Corlys’s men were preparing a diversion, while Redd claimed King Ghidorah could not pinpoint the sea dragon through the island’s natural interference.

• Corlys and Tormund planned a staged battle and false trail to convince the searchers that Tormund and Raging Tide had fled south.
• Corlys told Tormund to remain hidden in a secluded undersea cave until he returned or sent a specially coded letter.
• Tormund watched Corlys leave, then Raging Tide submerged into the cave’s warm waters and suppressed his presence.
• Daemon complained that the search had found no trace of Tormund and accused Corlys of delaying or secretly helping him.
• Mysaria learned that Corlys’s trusted guards had been sent with grease, sulfur, damaged weapons, and pirate clothing.
• Redd told Daemon that King Ghidorah sensed the target was still in the islands but could not locate it precisely because of natural interference.

Redd suspected Corlys had staged evidence to make it seem that Tormund and the sea dragon had fled south, so he joined Daemon’s pursuit while ordering King Ghidorah to keep watching Grey Gallows Island. The pursuit fleet sailed into the Summer Sea as the true hunter and prey might still have been hiding nearby.

• A Driftmark commander reported battle traces, wrecked pirate ships, and a dragon scale found in a concealed fjord on Grey Gallows Island.
• Daemon concluded that Tormund and the sea dragon had been injured and fled south, while Redd suspected the convincing evidence was staged.
• Redd secretly ordered King Ghidorah to monitor Grey Gallows Island and nearby waters for hidden energy, geothermal anomalies, and large creatures.
• Redd proposed that he and Daemon pursue south while Corlys remained with the main fleet, and Daemon agreed.
• Daemon rode ahead on Caraxes as the mixed fleet sailed south, while Redd suspected Corlys had hidden the real dragon nearby.

Redd used Corlys’s report of underwater activity to turn the main fleet back toward the waters around Grey Gallows Island while Daemon took ten fast ships south to continue the search. As Redd’s fleet moved to meet Driftmark’s, Tormund and Raging Tide launched a concealed attack on Redd’s flagship.

• King Ghidorah detected the faint sea-dragon signature near Grey Gallows Island, and Redd suspected Corlys had staged the underwater sighting to cover his plans.
• Corlys’s fleet signaled that it had spotted suspicious underwater activity and requested a coordinated search.
• Redd proposed splitting the search, and Daemon chose to take ten fast ships south while Redd returned to join Corlys.
• As the fleets began to converge, Tormund and Raging Tide raced from the direction of Grey Gallows Island toward Redd’s flagship.

Tormund and Sea Dragon Raging Tide ambushed Redd’s flagship, but King Ghidorah intercepted them with a Gravity Beam and forced them to flee. The chase continued through the treacherous waters between Grey Gallows Island and Giant’s Tooth Reef, where Raging Tide tried to evade Ghidorah’s devastating attacks.

• Tormund and Sea Dragon Raging Tide attacked Redd’s flagship as the fleet turned, alarming the ships nearby.
• King Ghidorah spotted the attack and fired a Gravity Beam at Raging Tide, whose evasive roll kept it from taking a direct hit.
• Raging Tide fled toward the reefs, and Redd ordered King Ghidorah to pursue it.
• King Ghidorah blasted reefs, islands, and trenches with repeated Gravity Beams as Tormund clung to Raging Tide.
• Raging Tide darted through narrow channels and around stone pillars, relying on its agility and familiarity with the terrain to escape.

Tormund escaped King Ghidorah’s attack by hiding Raging Tide in a narrow sea rift, but Redd ordered a blockade and systematic search to trap them. Daemon returned, realized Corlys had deceived him, and confronted him while Corlys denied knowing about Tormund’s attack.

• Tormund directed Raging Tide into a narrow rift, where it escaped King Ghidorah’s Gravity Beam as falling rocks partly blocked the entrance.
• King Ghidorah failed to blast open the rift, and Redd ordered him to watch its exits while the fleet searched nearby waters and underwater passages.
• Redd instructed Mysaria to bring in underwater specialists and seek records about the Stepstones’ geology and possible ancient magic or geothermal anomalies.
• Daemon returned on Caraxes, learned that Tormund had remained nearby and attacked Redd, and realized Corlys had misled him.
• Daemon accused Corlys of helping Tormund, but Corlys denied knowing about the attack and claimed Tormund was wounded, trapped, and desperate.

Daemon ordered the fissure containing Tormund and the Sea Dragon smoked out or collapsed while Redd and Corlys organized the search for exits and blasting points. As the siege began, Redd recognized that the crisis had become entangled with the growing mistrust among Viserys, Daemon, and House Velaryon.

• Daemon rejected a direct assault and proposed using fire, smoke, and wildfire to drive Tormund and the Sea Dragon out or bury them in the fissure.
• Redd agreed to the plan but warned that the Sea Dragon’s scalding steam, hidden vents, and the fissure’s structure could defeat or complicate it.
• Daemon ordered men to gather fuel, survey the fissure for blasting points, watch for escape routes, and block all connected passages.
• The fleet began gathering combustibles and searching the coast while King Ghidorah kept watch above the fissure.
• Redd assessed how Viserys’s suspicions, Daemon’s ambitions, and Corlys’s vulnerable position had turned the Stepstones crisis into a broader political struggle.

Redd planned to use the siege of Grey Gallows Island to let Daemon and Corlys weaken each other while his men surveyed the Rift and watched their movements. Inside the Karst Cave, Tormund and the wounded Sea Dragon Raging Tide remained trapped after Caraxes drove them back and King Ghidorah arrived.

• Redd considered how dragonriders outside House Targaryen threatened its power and shaped his strategy around letting Daemon and Corlys wear each other down.
• Redd ordered Mysaria to survey the Rift, preserve his forces, and monitor Daemon’s and Corlys’s troops and supplies.
• Tormund recalled how Daemon and Caraxes intercepted his attempted escape and forced Raging Tide to retreat into the Karst Cave.
• Raging Tide bore deep wounds from the clash, while Tormund remained trapped in the cave and searched for another way out.
• Tormund believed he had escaped King Ghidorah’s Gravity Beam only by ordering Raging Tide to break free of Caraxes and flee deeper into the cave.

Trapped in the cave with Raging Tide and facing starvation and a fire attack, Tormund smashed the statue the Ocean Guide had given him. Its pulse awakened something ancient in the deep sea, and an unusual change appeared on the water just as Daemon and Redd prepared to set the cave entrance alight.

• Tormund realized he and Raging Tide had no way out as Daemon and Redd’s forces prepared to attack the cave.
• Tormund remembered the Ocean Guide’s warning and smashed the black statue on the reef rock.
• The statue’s fragments glowed blue and sent a pulse through the water toward the deep sea.
• Tormund felt something enormous stirring, while the cave’s water grew turbulent and cold and Raging Tide reacted with fear and recognition.
• Daemon and Redd had sailors pour fish oil and fire oil at the cave entrance, but an unusual change suddenly appeared on the calm sea before they could light it.

A colossal wave surged toward Grey Gallows Island, and Redd sensed an ancient, powerful creature within it. King Ghidorah rescued Redd and Mysaria just before the wave struck, leaving the island devastated.

• A hundred-meter wave approached Grey Gallows Island, throwing the allied fleet and soldiers into panic.
• Corlys Velaryon fled inland, while Daemon Targaryen escaped on Caraxes.
• Redd sensed an immense life-form within the wave and suspected Tormund had summoned it as a helper.
• Redd told Mysaria to hold on and had King Ghidorah swoop down to lift them into the sky.
• The wave smashed ships, tore up reefs, flooded the coast, and began spreading into the island.

An ancient sea beast rose from the depths near Grey Gallows Island as Tormund and Daemon continued their aerial battle amid the chaos. The beast wounded Caraxes, giving Tormund and Raging Tide a chance to flee southeast while Daemon remained in danger.

• A colossal serpentine sea beast emerged from a whirlpool and fixed its attention on Grey Gallows Island and King Ghidorah.
• Tormund rode his wounded Raging Tide around the waterspout while Daemon pursued on Caraxes, trying to kill him before the sea beast became more dangerous.
• The sea beast lunged at both dragons, and Caraxes's tail was badly injured by its teeth.
• Tormund seized the chance to escape, and Raging Tide flew southeast away from the sea beast and Bloodstone Island.
• Daemon clung to the falling Caraxes as the sea beast opened its mouth for another attack.

Redd sent King Ghidorah to save Daemon and Caraxes from the deep-sea beast, then ordered Ghidorah to fight it. After reaching safety, Daemon faced Redd’s direct question about the connection between his Dragon and the dead Caraxes.

• The deep-sea beast nearly swallowed Daemon and Caraxes, but King Ghidorah struck its mouth and neck with three Gravity Beams, forcing it to release them.
• Caraxes carried Daemon to safety while King Ghidorah faced the wounded beast across the waters.
• Redd ordered King Ghidorah to attack the serpentine beast and reflected that Daemon might know why his Dragon resembled the dead Caraxes.
• Daemon reached Bloodstone Island and saw Caraxes badly injured as the battle devastated Grey Gallows Island’s coast.
• Redd asked Daemon what relationship his Dragon had to the Caraxes who died, and Daemon stiffened at the question.

Redd learned that Daemon had preserved Caraxes’s dragon soul and given it a new body through secret means, while King Ghidorah fought a deep-sea behemoth near the Stepstones. As Caraxes threatened Redd, Redd warned Daemon to control his dragon and revealed his confidence in his own growing strength.

• Daemon admitted that Caraxes had died, but he preserved the dragon’s soul and gave it a new form with someone’s help.
• Redd connected Daemon’s secret methods to his interest in Tormund’s sea dragon and considered the dangers of Daemon’s knowledge.
• King Ghidorah and the deep-sea behemoth continued their fierce battle, shaking Grey Gallows Island and Bloodstone Island.
• Daemon asked Redd what the behemoth was, and Redd suggested it might be an ancient inhabitant of the world.
• Caraxes roared aggressively at Redd, and Daemon restrained himself from ordering an attack.
• Redd warned Daemon to control Caraxes and reflected on how his bond with King Ghidorah had made his body exceptionally powerful.

Mysaria identified the sea beast fighting King Ghidorah as a possible descendant of the legendary Naga, and Redd considered what its existence meant for Westeros’s ancient myths. King Ghidorah unleashed a devastating gravitational field, killed the beast, and left Daemon more wary of—and interested in—its power.

• Mysaria judged that the sea beast might be descended from Naga, the legendary creature slain by the Grey King.
• Redd reflected on Naga’s legend and suspected that Tormund might help communicate with ancient sea races.
• King Ghidorah gathered golden lightning and unleashed a destructive gravitational field against the beast.
• The wounded beast tried to flee into the sea, but King Ghidorah’s attack tore through its armor and exposed its wounds.
• King Ghidorah struck the beast’s vital points with Gravity Beams until it died and sank into the sea.
• Daemon watched the victory, reassessed King Ghidorah’s power, and privately considered his options.