Chapter Summaries

Redd learned from the captured Faceless Man that the assassination had originated with the Sealord of Braavos and threatened to destroy Braavos unless the Sealord explained himself. The Sealord sent an envoy to negotiate, while Corlys’s scheme to turn Braavos against Redd was revealed.

• Jasent tortured the Faceless Man until he confessed that the Sealord of Braavos had ordered the assassination.
• Redd ordered Douglas to demand an explanation from the Sealord within a week or face dragonfire, then ordered Jasent to hang the Faceless Man at the docks.
• The Sealord received Redd’s threat, gathered intelligence, and decided to send an envoy with money and valuables to negotiate.
• The Sealord regretted helping contact the Faceless Men and suspected the assassination scheme had drawn him into a trap.
• Corlys planned to make Braavos confront Redd because Redd’s growing fleet threatened House Velaryon’s interests in the Narrow Sea.

Tormund intercepted Braavos’s compensation fleet and disguised its destruction as a pirate attack, leaving Redd angry and convinced the Sealord had denied him. Redd sent Aegon and Ehm to strike Braavos with Dragonfire, while King Ghidorah remained asleep in the magma.

• Corlys ordered Tormund to deploy his hidden fleet, and Tormund sailed from Pentos with hundreds of warships.
• Tormund destroyed the Sealord’s ships, seized the compensation meant for Redd, and staged the attack to look like piracy.
• Redd received only an apology from the Sealord and grew increasingly angry as a week passed without compensation.
• Redd decided to send Dragons to Braavos and sensed that King Ghidorah was still sleeping in the magma.
• Redd ordered Aegon and Ehm to go to Braavos, and the two Titan Demon Dragons rose from the volcanic crater and flew into the night sky.

Redd received Viserys’s demand that he come to King’s Landing and marry Rhaenyra, while deciding to honor his promise but avoid involvement in Dorne’s affairs. After Dorne delivered its compensation to Dragonstone, the Sealord put Braavos on alert for a dragon attack, but the city had underestimated the approaching dragons.

• Redd received a letter from King’s Landing demanding that he come at once to marry Rhaenyra, and he decided to wait a few days before traveling there.
• Redd resolved to keep his promise to Viserys but stay out of anything involving Dorne.
• Dorne delivered gold and other compensation to Dragonstone, and Redd had Douglas count the goods, especially noting the useful ore for the Dragonpit.
• The Sealord learned that his agents had disappeared and that investigators had been attacked by supposed pirates, and he suspected someone was behind it.
• The Sealord ordered Braavos to prepare for a dragon attack, and the city installed enormous scorpions across its towers and landmarks.

Redd used Aegon and Ehm to devastate Braavos, then sent Douglas to inform the Prince of Pentos, prompting Pentos to raise an army against the city. As war began, Redd reviewed his growing fleet and forces and worried about the shortage of warships and skilled artisans.

• Aegon and Ehm attacked Braavos with dragonfire, destroying the Sealord's Palace and the House of Black and White before flying away.
• Redd ordered Douglas to send the Prince of Pentos a letter reporting the Demon Dragon attack on Braavos.
• The Prince of Pentos and the magisters assembled an army of a hundred thousand slaves and marched it toward Braavos, whose new Sealord led the city's army into battle.
• Redd reviewed Douglas's fleet-building report and found sixty merchant ships, fewer than eight warships, and too few skilled artisans, though recruitment had produced over eight thousand sailors and nine thousand soldiers.

Redd traveled from Dragonstone to King's Landing after Viserys urgently summoned him, hoping their planned marriage would preserve peace amid Redd's growing power and the war between Braavos and Pentos. Redd arrived at the Red Keep with Cannibal, where Viserys welcomed him and prepared a banquet.

• Viserys grew concerned that Redd's attack on Braavos and preparations to raise an army signaled ambitions to expand, so he decided to arrange Redd and Rhaenyra's marriage quickly.
• Redd delegated army recruitment and training to Douglas and Jasent, then flew from Dragonstone to King's Landing on Cannibal, leaving three demonic dragons behind to guard the island.
• While crossing the Gullet, Redd saw Corlys's fleet blockading the waters and wondered what purpose Corlys had in mind.
• Redd arrived at the Red Keep after nightfall, and Viserys briefly considered keeping him there before deciding against provoking him.
• Viserys welcomed Redd into the Red Keep and prepared a banquet to show his regard.

At a banquet of King's Landing's leading figures, Viserys openly favored Redd, while the guests tried to learn what the approaching marriage between Redd and Rhaenyra meant. Otto Hightower sent Alicent to probe Redd, but Redd charmed her and avoided discussing the marriage or his own intentions.

• Viserys held Redd's hand and introduced him to the important guests, whose questions about the marriage alliance received only vague answers.
• Otto Hightower failed to uncover Redd's intentions and signaled Alicent to try instead.
• Alicent approached Redd and drew him into an easy conversation about court life, literature, art, and politics.
• Alicent steered the conversation toward Rhaenyra, but Redd praised Alicent's appearance and changed the subject.
• Alicent continued talking with Redd about lighter subjects while he avoided revealing anything important about himself.

Redd explained dragon-taming to Alicent before Rhaenyra pulled him aside and offered him a share of the Iron Throne’s power in exchange for his support. Redd offered to help if she satisfied him, and Rhaenyra resolved to pursue the throne at any cost.

• Redd told Alicent how hatchlings bonded with their hatchers and how dragons became harder to tame as they grew older.
• Rhaenyra saw Redd and Alicent talking, then took Redd by the hand and led him away to speak privately.
• Rhaenyra said she would become heir after marrying Redd and asked him to support her so they could share power over the Iron Throne.
• Redd questioned whether Rhaenyra’s father might have another son, and she declared that she would never have a younger brother.
• Redd offered to help Rhaenyra if she performed well and satisfied him, and she resolved to claim the Iron Throne regardless of the cost.

After Viserys declared war on Dorne, Redd refused to join the campaign and returned to Dragonstone, where he received a desperate plea for help from Pentos. He decided to intervene personally and began planning to take over a city-state, relying on two dragons to protect Dragonstone.

• Viserys was crowned King of the Seven Kingdoms and declared war on Dorne, prompting the Dornish to invade the Stormlands.
• Viserys sent Daemon and Corlys to attack Dorne from the Stormlands and the Stepstones, but Dornish forces resisted with guerrilla and tunnel warfare.
• Redd declined Viserys's attempts to draw him into the war and returned to Dragonstone after marrying Rhaenyra.
• Redd received a letter from the Prince of Pentos pleading for aid after Pentos quickly lost its war against Braavos.
• Redd summoned Douglas and asked whether their troops could take over a city-state; Douglas warned that deploying them all would leave Dragonstone undefended.
• Redd ordered Douglas not to worry and said he would leave two dragons behind to defend Dragonstone.

Redd sent Douglas ahead with the fleet to Pentos, then secured the Dragon Eggs at Dragonstone before flying after the fleet with King Ghidorah. In Pentos, Nerys prepared for Redd’s arrival and the fleet reached the harbor, where Ryan waited to receive him.

• Redd ordered Douglas to lead the fleet and soldiers to Pentos while he followed by dragonback.
• Redd placed Dragon Eggs in the Dragonpit near the volcano and ordered Cannibal to guard them before flying after the fleet on King Ghidorah; Ehm and Aegon followed.
• Nerys received Redd’s promise of military aid and ordered Ryan to watch the hostile magisters and prepare to welcome the Dragon King.
• Redd’s fleet arrived at Pentos with three Dragons overhead, stunning the harbor workers and revealing House Targaryen’s arrival.
• Ryan and a formation of soldiers waited on the docks as Redd’s fleet sailed into the harbor.

Redd secured Nerys’s allegiance and ordered a purge of the families opposing him before the Braavosi army arrived. With King Ghidorah aiding his forces, Redd’s soldiers stormed Pentos, and the fighting ended by midnight.

• Redd met Nerys in Pentos, where Nerys pledged allegiance in exchange for protection for himself and his family.
• Nerys told Redd that the Braavosi army would arrive within five days and that twenty-nine of Pentos’s forty families opposed him.
• Redd took the list of opposing families and ordered Douglas to eliminate them that night, with help from Nerys’s men and King Ghidorah.
• Nerys’s cooperation allowed Redd’s twenty thousand soldiers to pass through the Black Wall and launch a surprise attack on the noble slave owners.
• King Ghidorah’s lightning broke through castle walls as Douglas rallied the soldiers by calling Redd the “Dragon God,” and the fighting ended at midnight.

Redd took control of Pentos after the purge and restored its army, city, and trade. When a Braavosi envoy arrived unaware that Pentos had changed hands and demanded territory and compensation, Redd ordered Nerys to execute him.

• Redd declared that he would take over Pentos, and the remaining family representatives submitted to him.
• Redd ordered Nerys to restore order and trade, with Douglas assisting him.
• Redd appointed Marcus commander and Ryan his deputy, expanding his forces from twenty thousand to fifty thousand soldiers.
• Three days later, a Braavosi envoy arrived and demanded compensation, fertile land, and control of the waters.
• Redd asked whether the envoy should be hanged or beheaded, and Nerys chose beheading before executing him.

After Pentos submitted, Redd marched toward Braavos and rejected the Sealord’s offer of money, demanding surrender instead. When the battle began, three Demon Dragons devastated Braavos’s army, leaving the Sealord stunned as his forces routed.

• Nerys executed the envoy and sent his head to the Sealord, then pledged himself to Redd, who left Pentos for Braavos.
• After learning that Pentos had submitted to the Dragon King, the Sealord met with his advisers and accepted Storos’s proposal to seek peace with money.
• Redd rejected the Braavosi envoy’s offer and demanded the Sealord’s submission within one day.
• The next day, Redd’s three Demon Dragons unleashed Dragonfire on the battlefield, destroying formations and sending the army of more than a hundred thousand soldiers into a rout.
• The Sealord stood stunned as his forces fled and the scale of the Demon Dragons’ power became clear.

Redd’s army routed the Sealord’s forces and reached Braavos, where Redd offered terms that included taking all the Iron Bank’s wealth. With the city surrounded and its leaders unwilling to risk their lives, the Sealord surrendered and accepted the Dragon King’s terms.

• King Ghidorah helped Redd’s forces defeat the Sealord’s troops, and the army advanced to Braavos.
• Redd chose not to destroy Braavos and sent an envoy to demand the city’s surrender.
• Braavos’s rulers gathered in a temple after the Sealord’s Palace was destroyed and protested Redd’s harsh terms, especially his demand for the Iron Bank’s entire wealth.
• The Sealord called on the rulers to choose between fighting to the death and surrendering, but most stayed silent rather than risk their lives.
• The Sealord surrendered and accepted all the Dragon King’s terms, prompting relief among the gathered rulers.

Redd entered Braavos unopposed and forced its Sealord and the Iron Bank’s representatives to submit to his rule. After the Sealord swore loyalty, Redd demanded most of the bank’s wealth and ordered the deaths of those who defied him, leaving the city under his control through fear.

• Redd led his army into Braavos as Aegon and Ehm killed people trying to flee.
• Redd confronted the Sealord beneath King Ghidorah and promised to spare Braavos if it paid tribute and obeyed him.
• The Sealord swore loyalty to Redd, who accepted his sword and snapped it as a warning against betrayal.
• Redd ordered the Iron Bank’s representatives to send seventy percent of its wealth to Dragonstone.
• When one representative refused, Redd killed him and ordered Marcus to kill the man’s entire family.
• Marcus’s soldiers killed the family, and the remaining witnesses sat in terrified silence.

Redd ordered King Ghidorah to kill a Faceless Man who was spying on him, then launched a brutal citywide purge of the Many-Faced God's followers in Braavos. A week later, Ryan brought an elderly man claiming descent from House Targaryen to meet Redd.

• Redd spotted a Faceless Man on a rooftop and ordered King Ghidorah to kill him, and the dragon blasted him away along with buildings in its path.
• Redd ordered Marcus and Ryan to hunt down every Faceless Man and threatened anyone who sheltered them.
• Marcus and Ryan led tens of thousands of soldiers through Braavos, killing those who resisted and rooting out many followers of the Many-Faced God.
• King Ghidorah's dragonfire burned entire blocks as resistance against Redd's forces faltered.
• A week later, Ryan told Redd that an elderly descendant of House Targaryen had requested an audience, and Redd ordered him brought in.

Thorne Belaerys offered Redd a Valyrian steel disc containing a method for constructing a God's Domain in exchange for rescuing his family from Volantis. After sending Theora to retrieve them, Redd deciphered the disc and learned that a God's Domain was an independent space sustained by faith power.

• Redd sensed true Dragon blood in Thorne Belaerys and heard him ask for help rescuing his people in the name of their shared ancestry.
• Thorne offered Redd a method for becoming a god and showed him a Valyrian steel disc inscribed with runes and diagrams about constructing a God's Domain.
• Thorne asked Redd to rescue his imprisoned family from the Black Wall in Volantis, and Redd wrote him a letter of assistance.
• Redd ordered Theora to accompany Thorne to Volantis and bring every member of his family back.
• Redd spent two days and nights deciphering the disc and discovered that a God's Domain was an independent space sustained by faith power.

Redd learned about the power of faith and received a letter from King Viserys asking him to send troops against the Kingdom of the Three Daughters, but he refused. He ordered Douglas to deal decisively with the Sealord’s fleet, insisting that he cared only about results.

• Redd tried to convert the power of faith into magic before Douglas brought him a letter from King's Landing.
• Redd read that the Kingdom of the Three Daughters had allied with Dorne and that Meleys had been badly wounded by a Dragon-shooting Crossbow.
• King Viserys asked Redd to send troops into the Disputed Lands, but Redd rejected the request and discarded the letter.
• Redd asked Douglas how he had handled the Sealord's fleet, and Douglas said many crew members would obey only the Sealord.
• Redd rebuked Douglas and told him to remove anyone who would not obey, adding that he cared only about results.

Redd punished the Iron Bank’s dissenters, then set out for Volantis with Ehm while King Ghidorah unleashed a super-hurricane ahead of them. In Volantis, Beato watched a sacrificial ritual create a fiery cocoon around a priest and three Dragon Eggs, and threatened the Red Priestess if the ritual failed.

• Redd dismissed the Sealord and reflected on how his purge had left only seven of the Iron Bank’s twenty-two founding families alive and obedient.
• After learning his envoys in Volantis had been detained and possibly harmed, Redd arranged for Aegon to guard the temple and intimidate the Sealord.
• Redd rode Ehm toward Volantis as King Ghidorah followed and generated a super-hurricane that raced toward the city.
• In Volantis’s Temple of R'hllor, a priest cut his wrist to begin a sacrifice, and the flames consumed the offerings before forming a huge dark-red cocoon.
• The priest entered the cocoon with three Dragon Eggs as Beato watched and warned the Red Priestess that he would punish her and her companions if the ritual failed.

The Red Priestesses’ ritual unleashed a deadly creature and dark-red flames across Volantis. King Ghidorah arrived amid the storm as the city burned, while Beato was consumed by regret.

• Beato left the Red Priestess, deciding he would offer her head to the Dragon King if the priests failed to stop the Demon Dragon.
• Melisandre left Volantis with Kinvara, who comforted her about the sacrifices made in the Lord’s name.
• The cocoon in the Temple of R'hllor cracked open, and a dark-red streak killed everyone inside.
• People across Volantis spontaneously burst into dark-red flames, which spread through the city.
• King Ghidorah arrived in a storm that drove the flames into a destructive fire tornado, while Beato regretted trusting the Red Priestess as the fire climbed his body.

Beato was burned to ashes as a dark red Demon Dragon formed from the flames in Volantis and confronted King Ghidorah. After surviving the Gravity Beams and transforming to resemble King Ghidorah, it clashed with him in a brutal battle that remained underway.

• Beato struggled in the flames but was burned to ashes.
• Redd sensed a dangerous magical aura in Volantis and watched from a distance as the dark red flames contracted into a Demon Dragon.
• King Ghidorah attacked the Demon Dragon with three Gravity Beams, blasting its flame body apart, but it re-formed with weakened magical energy.
• The re-formed Demon Dragon transformed to resemble King Ghidorah, growing three heads and three tails before charging at him.
• King Ghidorah and the Demon Dragon collided and fought at close quarters, with King Ghidorah gaining the upper hand.