Upon arriving on dragonstone with her fleet, army and dragons, Daenerys Targaryen held
a meeting with her Hand of the Queen Tyrion Lannister and Varys the Spider to discuss
their strategy.
While their forces are more than sufficient to take King’s Landing from Queen Cersei
by force, Tyrion advises caution, wanting to minimize innocent casualties by winning
the support of the noblemen of the continent, and isolating the Lannisters.
However before they can move forward with any plans, Daenerys questions Varys, unsure
of his loyalties.
She recalls that he once served her father the Mad King, only to then serve King Robert
for a while before moving on to support her brother Viserys Targaryen.
Despite Tyrion attempting to speak on his behalf, Daenerys seems unwilling to trust
the former master of whisperers, until he made an impassioned plea, stating that his
loyalty has always been to the common people who suffer under despots and prosper under
just rule.
He serves as best he can but will not reward incompetence with blind loyalty.
Daenerys is convinced to give him a chance, and has him swear an oath, then warning that
should he ever betray her, she will burn him alive.
Afterwards, the Mother of Dragons meets with the red priestess Melisandre, welcoming her
to dragonstone, as they are on good terms with the Faith of R’hllor, who helped her
establish peace in Meereen.
Melisandre explains that the Long Night is coming, and that only the Prince who Was Promised
can save them.
Missandae explains that the translation of the word from the prophecy does not have gender,
so it might mean prince or princess.
Daenerys like the possibility of being the saviour to which the red Priestess is referring,
but Melisandre states that understanding prophecy is difficult, and that she is but one of the
figures that has an important role to play in the coming war, with the other being Jon
Snow, former Lord Commander of the Night’s Watch now King in the North, who has united
the Wildlings and Northmen to fight against their common enemy.
Tyrion lends his voice to speak on behalf of Jon Snow, convincing Daenerys to send him
a letter, inviting him to Dragonstone, but she adds that he must bend the knee.
A meeting is then held with the allies of House Targaryen, gathering Elaria Sand of
Dorne, Olenna Tyrell of the Reach, Yara and Theon Greyjoy representing a faction of the
Iron Islands and her advisers Tyrion and Varys.
While Yara and Elaria suggest attacking the capital immediately, Daenerys and Tyrion explain
that they want to be mindful of innocent casualties.
They also need to win over the lords of westeros and sending a foreign army to capture the
capital will not help in that regard.
And so they present a plan to send Yara and her fleet with Elaria to Dorne, where they
will gather their warriors and bring them to join the soldiers of the reach in surrounding
the capital on all sides, cutting them off from fresh supplies.
Meanwhile, the Unsullied and Dothraki will sail to the Westerlands and capture Casterly
Rock.
Although they all agree to the plan, afterwards, Olenna advises Daenerys to be wary of listening
to clever men like Tyrion and that she should act more like the dragon she was born to be.
As part of the plan, Greyworm must travel with the Unsullied to the Westerlands, and
so Missandei visits him to say goodbye, and they spend the night together.
Travelling south along the narrow sea, the Ironborn under Yara Greyjoy, escorting Elaria
Sand and the Sand Snakes to Dorne, are attacked during a stormy night by Euron Greyjoy and
his own Ironborn fleet.
This leads to a great battle which sees King Euron victorious, killing Obara and Nymeria
Sand while capturing Tyene, Elaria and Yara.
Theon seeing their forces defeated, and his sister taken by Euron, jumps off the ship
to escape.
South In King’s Landing, Queen Cersei Lannister
gathers the nobles of the realms still available to her, including men of the Reach who also
owe loyalty to Olenna Tyrell.
Cersei reminds them of the horrors of the Mad King, and how his daughter crucified noblemen
in the east, and now came west with an army of dothraki savages and unsullied eunichs.
She appeals to their distaste for foreign invaders and paints Olenna as a traitor working
against her own people.
However Randyl Tarly, Lord of Horn Hill expresses the concern of many, when he asks how she
they plans to deal with dragons, even referring back to Aegon the conqueror, who also had
3 dragons when he conquered westeros 300 years earlier.
After the gathering Jaime talks to Lord Tarly in private, offering him the position of ranking
general in their army.
As the only man to ever defeat Robert Baratheon on the field of battle,* Lord Tarly had a
great reputation as a warrior and would serve them well.
But he is hesitant to join them because of his oath to House Tyrell.
Jaime further reminds him that the threat they face is one of foreign occupation and
offers him the position warden of the south once the war is won.
While Cersei and Jaime work to forge new political alliances, Qyburn the Master of Whisperers
works on a way to defeat the dragons, presenting the queen with a large Ballista, demonstrating
its fire power by destroying the skull of Balerion the Blackdread, which is kept in
the lower levels of the Red Keep.
In the Citadel of Old Town, the Archmaester examining Ser Jorah Mormont informs him he
is too far gone to be helped, telling him he has about 6 more months of sanity, while
the actual affliction would not kill him for another 10 or 20 years.
Normally they would immediately ship him off to live with the Stone Men of Valyria, but
because Jorah is an anointed knight he is given an extra day at the citadel and the
option of committing suicide.
Samwell Tarly who is assisting in the examination, then learns of Jorah’s identity as a mormont.
Given Sam’s loyalty to the man’s father Lord Commander Jeor Mormont,
Sam decides to break the rules and try a forbidden
and experimental treatment on Jorah, that has a chance to save his life.
Unfortunately it is a painful procedure, involving the removal of infected skin and the application
of a special ointment.
In the riverlands, Arya continues her journey south to King’s Landing, but runs in to
her old friend Hot Pie at an the inn of the crossroads, who informs her that Jon Snow
has defeated the Bolton at Winterfell and is now King in the North.
Shocked by the news, she turns back from her mission and starts to head north.
Alone in the wilderness, Arya wis later surrounded by a pack of wolves, then seeing her old Direwolf
Nymeria approach as their leader.
Arya tries to bond with the animal as she had when they were younger, but the Direwolf
ultimately chooses not to rejoin her, and leaves with her pack.
North In Winterfell, King Jon Snow receives a letter
from Tyrion Lannister on behalf of Daenerys, asking him to bend the knee at Dragonstone.
In addition Jon gets a letter from Samwell explaining that a mountain of dragonglass
can be found on the very same island.
Given their dire need for allies and dragonglass, Jon decides to accept the invitation south
in order to win Daenerys as an ally, so her dragons, army and dragonglass might serve
them in the war against the White walkers.
Sansa objects, reminding him of how the Mad King once invited their grandfather south
before roasting him alive.
Many of the lords and ladies make similar objections, but Jon’s decision is made,
and so leaves his sister Sansa in charge of the kingdom while he journeys to meet the
Queen.
Before leaving, Jon goes to the crypts beneath winterfell and is approached by Petyr Baelish
who tries to assure Jon of his noble intentions and love for Catelyn and Sansa.
But Jon does not believe a word and attacks the man, slamming him against the wall and
warning him not to touch his sister.