Chapter Summaries

After Redd tested Douglas’s loyalty and reminded him that his authority depended on Redd, Douglas returned to the Black Wall Castle and considered how to avoid provoking suspicion. He understood that Redd could strip away his power at any time, while King Ghidorah and the Demon Dragons ultimately answered only to Redd.

• Redd left Douglas with a warning that he should resolve the dangers posed by his growing power himself.
• Douglas steadied himself after Redd departed, confirmed that King Ghidorah’s scale was still hidden in his breastplate, and headed to the Black Wall Castle.
• Douglas went to his private study, lit an oil lamp, and reviewed Redd’s quiet question about whether he would betray him.
• Douglas concluded that Redd already knew he could rebel and had used silence to make him recognize where the line lay.
• Douglas understood that Redd could reclaim his troops, warships, and Demon Dragons, whose ultimate loyalty belonged to King Ghidorah and Redd.

Douglas realized Redd could revoke the authority he had given him, so he planned to redistribute some military power while keeping the navy and command of the Demon Dragons. As Douglas summoned Theora and Marcus to discuss reorganizing the armies, Redd flew over the recovering Disputed Lands.

• Douglas recognized that Theora and Marcus may have let him gather military authority so Redd would see him as its sole holder.
• Douglas decided to keep control of the navy and the Demon Dragons while transferring part of the slave army and garrison forces to Theora and Marcus.
• Douglas wrote to Theora and Marcus, asking them to come to Volantis to discuss the distribution of power and reorganization of the armies.
• Redd flew over the Disputed Lands on King Ghidorah and saw its fields and villages recovering from the devastation of war.

Redd surveyed the recovering Disputed Lands and concluded that Douglas, Theora, and Marcus had secured his Free Cities power base. After flying for a day, he reached Dragonstone and sent King Ghidorah to rest at Dragonmont.

• Redd saw merchants and workers restoring trade across the Disputed Lands and judged that the region had recovered from the war against the church.
• Redd credited Douglas, Theora, and Marcus with stabilizing his power base through their military, administrative, and financial work.
• Redd recalled that Douglas had used one hundred Demon Dragons alongside regular troops to defeat the church's forces and believers.
• Redd decided that the Free Cities could now serve as a secure rear base while he focused on Westeros.
• Redd reached Dragonstone at dusk on King Ghidorah and sent him to Dragonmont, allowing him to roam nearby.

After returning to Dragonstone, Redd reunited with Mysaria, and they spent the night together in the Stone Drum Tower. By noon, Redd had awakened and quietly freed himself from Mysaria, who remained asleep.

• Mysaria ran to greet Redd after he passed through the Dragon's Tail Gate.
• Redd embraced Mysaria, carried her to his quarters in the Stone Drum Tower, and shut the door behind them.
• Redd and Mysaria spent the night together until Mysaria fell asleep near daybreak.
• At noon, Redd woke while Mysaria still slept with one leg hooked around his waist.
• Redd carefully eased himself free, put on a robe, and looked back at Mysaria.

Redd gave his children books about magic and explained their importance, leaving Visenya asking why she could read words that others could not see.

• Redd left the bedroom after covering his sleeping companion and ate a meal in the hall.
• Rhaenyra brought Jaehaerys and Visenya to the dining room, where Redd considered what they should learn next.
• Redd took two magical books from System Space and explained that only his bloodline could see their writing and safely use the magic within.
• Redd gave Jaehaerys a book about blood and fire magic and Visenya one about ice magic.
• Visenya opened her book and asked Redd why she could see its words when other people could not.

Redd gave Jaehaerys and Visenya books of magic to study, then refused Rhaenyra’s request to let the Citadel send a maester to manage Dragonstone. He left her with a warning to the Citadel and watched the courtyard and Dragonmont, where King Ghidorah was likely resting.

• Redd told Jaehaerys and Visenya to study their books of magic and note down anything they did not understand before asking him.
• After the children left, Redd warned Rhaenyra that she could not learn the magic in the books and would only harm herself if she tried.
• Rhaenyra told Redd that the Citadel wanted to send a maester to help manage Dragonstone’s affairs.
• Redd rejected the proposal and warned Rhaenyra to tell the Citadel not to test his patience, threatening to raze it if necessary.
• Rhaenyra dropped the subject, and Redd went to the window to look toward Dragonmont, where he believed King Ghidorah was resting.

Redd arranged the children’s lessons with Rhaenyra, then returned to the Stone Drum Tower and reviewed reports while Mysaria slept. Mysaria woke and went to eat, promising to draft replies for Redd to review that evening.

• Redd told Rhaenyra that Mysaria would teach the children basic subjects, that he would explain their books monthly, and that dragon riding could wait until they were older.
• Rhaenyra agreed to monitor the children’s reading and went to visit them while Redd returned to the Stone Drum Tower.
• Redd covered Mysaria as she slept, then reviewed letters reporting Dothraki raids in the Narrow Sea and rumors of the Red God’s faith in Volantis.
• Mysaria woke, greeted Redd, and left to eat before drafting replies for him to review that night.

Redd and Mysaria spent a quiet day reviewing letters and records on Dragonstone, while Jaehaerys and Visenya studied magic through dinner. Redd’s review showed that Dragonstone’s poor agriculture, livestock, and trade left the island unable to meet its needs without outside supplies.

• Redd read a report about limited rumors of Red God worship in Volantis and ordered continued surveillance with weekly reports.
• Mysaria joined Redd in reviewing letters, selecting important information and marking matters that needed his instructions.
• Redd and Mysaria finished their work and went to dinner, where Jaehaerys and Visenya continued reading their magic books.
• Redd reviewed Dragonstone’s accounts and found that grain and livestock production could not sustain the garrison and dragons, while fishing and harbor taxes provided only limited support.

Redd considered Dragonstone’s limited trade, the risks posed by King Viserys’s ministers, and his plan to place Jaehaerys on the Iron Throne while he built strength in Essos. Meanwhile, Rhaenyra and Mysaria exchanged political intelligence and private remarks, though their apparent closeness concealed tension.

• Redd assessed Dragonstone’s resources and recognized that the island depended on grain shipments from King’s Landing or imports from across the Narrow Sea.
• Redd judged that powerful ministerial families could eventually undermine King Viserys and relied on Douglas, Theora, and Marcus because their fortunes depended on his favor.
• Redd decided he would eventually put Jaehaerys on the Iron Throne, avoiding kingship himself and preserving the existing order while he prepared to confront the gods’ power.
• Rhaenyra told Mysaria that Viserys had appointed a capable finance deputy whose loyalties leaned toward House Hightower.
• Mysaria reported that Douglas had sent slave legions to Volantis and craftsmen to repair Pentos’s walls, while she and Rhaenyra exchanged teasing remarks that revealed an uneasy atmosphere between them.

Redd went with Rhaenyra and Mysaria to Driftmark for Laena’s funeral, bringing Jaehaerys and Visenya along. As the children explored the ship, Redd openly enjoyed Mysaria’s company, leaving Rhaenyra resentful as they sailed toward Driftmark.

• At dinner, Rhaenyra and Mysaria traded restrained barbs while discussing governance, and Redd chose not to mediate their rivalry.
• Redd brought both women to bed, interrupting their attempts to discuss the planned trip to Driftmark.
• Mysaria woke Redd the next morning and reminded him that they were going to Laena’s funeral at Rhaenys’s invitation.
• Redd decided to bring Jaehaerys and Visenya and arranged extra cabins and guards for them aboard the ship.
• Jaehaerys and Visenya excitedly explored the ship while Redd stood at the bow with Mysaria, making Rhaenyra grit her teeth.