Game of Thrones, Seasons 7-8 Rewrite Part 2

 

 This is the second part of my Game of Thrones Seasons 7-8 rewrite. 

Yes, this is me fanboying over both the book and show versions of Euron Greyjoy.

Yes, this gets kind of corny and sets up a classical fantasy-style final battle.

Yes, this is my version of horribly killing off characters because I can be brutal too.

And yet, the best/worst is yet to come for our heroes!

Stay tuned for Part 3!

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This is Part 2 of my Rewrite for Seasons 7 and 8 for Game of Thrones. Be sure to read Part 1 first, as well as my previous rewrite for Seasons 5-7 for Game of Thrones.

A new day was dawning for Westeros. However, the cost of the victory for the Targaryen royal army after the battle with the White Walkers in Winterfell became clear: over half their troops were slain in the fighting. Many local lords from the southern kingdoms and the North died alongside their soldiers, and what’s left of the royal army was a shell of its former self. Daenerys and Jon Snow/Aegon VII headed up North with almost 200,000 men, now it was down to less than 100,000. Even lords like Randyll Tarly who survived did not come out of it unscathed. While many of the major players survived the attack, the experience left them scarred emotionally and psychologically to witness so much death in a single night. Even hard hitters like Brienne of Tarth and Sandor Clegane felt rather disturbed and psychologically shaken due to the extreme amount of death they just witnessed, with younger nobles like Gendry Baratheon and Arya Stark beginning to wonder if all this death was worth it. Even Jaime’s army took moderate losses defending the lines of forts while Winterfell was preparing its defenses. Still, others like Lady Lyanna Mormont and Lady Shireen Baratheon were celebrating the victory. Aegon VII also wanted to rest with his wife and their two infants, now that Daenerys had given birth to them. Many northern lords appreciated the fact that Daenerys chose northern names for the two babies, Eddard and Lyanna, showing how she is willing to assimilate to the culture of the North and become just like their king. This pleased the likes of Catelyn Stark, Yohn Royce, and Brynden Tully, since they were now beginning to see the Dragon Queen in a new light. Perhaps she does have what it takes to be a Stark in spirit after all.

With the Night King retreating, and having lost most of his giants, mammoths, and Ice Dragons, the royal forces decided that the time was ripe for a counterattack. They took the morning to mourn and burn the dead, commemorating them as heroes who sacrificed all to stop the true enemy of the living. Then the royal forces reconfigured their troop organization to prepare to attack the White Walkers, who have taken refuge in a nearby forest north of Winterfell. Jaime once again volunteered to be the vanguard, and given that his army was in better shape than most of the other forces of the royalists, Aegon VII and Daenerys I did not argue with him. Varys’ spies scouted out the area near the forest, and it seems that the White Walkers were waiting for sundown to resume their march north, due to the fact that their forces are vulnerable to being spotted by dragons if they marched during the day. As such, the Lannister army, once it had enough time to rest, took several siege engines and some wildfire with them to march near the forest.

Jaime planned with Bronn and Alester Sarwyck, setting the stage for a wildfire attack to spread throughout the forest and roast the army of the dead. Joining him was Aegon VII, Arya Stark, Brienne of Tarth, some remnants of the Night’s Watch, along with Bran Stark, who wanted to use his warging powers to aid in the battle. Since two out of three of the Targaryen dragons were heavily injured in the fighting, and the last one was exhausted from the fighting, Jon had to leave them behind. As the sun set and the moon arose, the Lannisters prepared their forces to assail what was left of the White Walkers and the Night King’s forces, Bran used his warging powers on some ravens to pinpoint key areas for Jaime’s siege weapons to drop wildfire projectiles on. Once they were all set, Jon sent out the signal, which then led to Jaime and his forces lighting the wildfire and their fire arrows, and started firing at the undead host.

The undead host were taken by complete surprise. As they were preparing to vacate the forest, the wildfire projectiles hit the trees, causing them to burst into flames, enveloping the remaining wights in the army of the dead with wildfire. Many of the undead polar bears were caught on fire too, as well as the remaining spider mounts of the White Walkers. As the undead army began to burn into a crisp, Bran continued to watch using warged animals as the White Walkers and the Night King were fending off and hiding from dragonglass arrows and crossbow bolts fired by the Lannister host. Once enough of the undead have been roasted, Bran gave the signal. Jaime, Bronn, Alester, Arya, Brienne, and Jon all charged into the forest with their host, armed with dragonglass weapons and fire arrows. Jaime gave the order to specifically look for the Night King and end him once and for all, and his forces charged in and smashed into what was left of the undead forces and the White Walkers.

The Lannister soldiers using fiery weapons thanks to Alester’s spells carved a path through the wights, while Night’s Watch crossbowmen armed with dragonglass crossbow bolts sniped at White Walkers trying to stop the Lannister forces. At first, it all went well, until the Night King himself entered the battle using large spider as a steed. Jaime, Alester, and Bronn all charged at him, but his skill with his icy sword meant that not one of the three could score a hit on him. The Night King managed to unhorse all three of them, then he engaged them on foot once Alester managed to hit his mount with a fire-imbued dragonglass crossbow bolt to the eyes. The Night King approached with a clear intention to kill Jaime Lannister, especially since Jaime’s actions cost the White Walkers dearly in the previous battle. What remained of the polar bears in the Night King’s army charged the Lannister forces, which caused more than a bit of a ruckus.

Swatting aside Bronn and Alester, the Night King engaged the one-handed Jaime in a duel, in which he was clearly outmatched. In a matter of seconds, the Night King disarmed Jaime and slashed through the Kingslayer’s splendorous Lannister armor and injured him before going for the kill. Brienne of Tarth tried to butt in and stop it, managing to keep up with the Night King in a swordfight for a while, but even she was no match for the Night King, getting tossed aside like a ragdoll. As the Night King was about to kill Jaime, Jon Snow came in to fight. Aegon VII put up a decent fight against the Night King, but it was clear that despite his skills, the Night King was more skilled than he was. Arya followed in, having the Night’s Watch crossbowmen try to hit the Night King, to no avail, as he swatted aside the crossbow bolts before going back to smacking Jon around, slashing him in the side. Arya tried to intervene and jumped at the chance to kill the Night King, and was able to stab him in the stomach with a Valyrian steel dagger. But it didn’t kill the Night King, as it barely injured the monster, who just smacked Arya around. The Night King took the dagger out of his stomach and prepared to stab Arya with it.

However, Bran Stark decided for the good of the realm to warg into Jon to finish the Night King. Just as the Night King was about to stab Arya with her own dagger, Bran, warging into Jon, put Blackfyre through the Night King’s head, which caused him to shatter into a thousand icy pieces. The White Walkers similarly were killed off by the Lannister and Night’s Watch forces using crossbows with dragonglass bolts, and as the last of them perished, the last of their undead minions went limp and deactivated. The battle was now over, and the Night King, destroyed along with his entire undead army. Jon fell back to the ground as Bran “released” him, while the Lannister and Night’s Watch host surveyed the battlefield and recovered their injured and fallen officers from the field.

The following morning, the royal forces prepared a massive celebration and feast. They just won the war against the undead-and the occasion called for celebration. Bards recounted tales from the Age of Heroes, and began weaving new tales concerning the new heroes of the past few battles. Aegon VII, Jaime Lannister, Arya Stark, Randyll Tarly, Alester Sarwyck, Ser Bronn, Ser Jorah, Ser Barristan, and Brienne of Tarth, among others, were praised as heroes by the songwriters. Daenerys even joined in and sang a song for Jon about how much she loves him and how he helped save the world, dealing the final blow that won the war. Others such as Catelyn Stark, Petyr Baelish, and Varys avoided the spotlight, preferring instead to observe the big heroes of the recent battles from a distance. Sure, there was still the problem of Cersei in the capital, but after crushing the forces of the Night King, how tough can she be? Especially when her own brother is on the side of the crown against her, and all she has are a bunch of good-for-nothing mercenaries and Euron Greyjoy’s traitorous pirates. Once they’ve been dealt with, peace will return to the land.

However, a more dire problem came to the attention of the royal forces: many of their troops are exhausted. Some are barely holding it together, others are over-indulging in the victory celebration to wash away the bad memories of what they just fought. They’re in no shape to march to the capital for another battle, which meant that they would at least need a month’s worth of rest, if not more. Daenerys and Jon found themselves in a bit of a pickle, but at Lady Catelyn Stark’s urging, Lord Baelish arose to offer them a solution. Littlefinger offered his army in the Vale. Baelish only had 10,000 of the Vale forces having fought for Jon Snow in both the south and the north, while he kept 30,000 Vale troops in reserve, thinking that after the war, they will need those troops to enforce royal will. At first, several of the lords bristled at Baelish holding out on them, especially when they suffered heavy casualties against the undead, but Daenerys and Aegon realized the wisdom of Petyr’s actions-now, thanks to him, they have a force of 30,000 troops fresh and ready to fight Cersei’s forces down south. As bad as Baelish’s actions were, in the end, they seemed to be necessary to enforce the will of the crown and secure victory.

With Randyll Tarly out of commission for a while due to his injuries, Daenerys and Aegon appointed a new Hand of the King: Jaime Lannister, the son of the mighty Tywin. Jaime led the final charge that led to the defeat of the Night King, he held off the undead long enough to allow Winterfell to prepare its defenses, and his actions in both battles led to the living decimating the undead. Bran Stark openly stated that Jaime has redeemed his family in the eyes of the Starks, and even Catelyn had to agree. Jaime’s actions helped save the North, and his army helped them win two decisive victories against the undead. Jaime eagerly accepted the task. Daenerys asked Jaime if he was ready and willing to fight his sister, and Jaime answered that he is ready to take the fight to Cersei and finally end her crooked, misbegotten reign. Daenerys and Aegon mused at how ironic it was: that Jaime Lannister, the man who fought both of them for Cersei, was now going to fight against Cersei on their behalf.

Speaking of Cersei, several companies of mercenaries under her have spread her rule in the south, to the consternation of the people there who were growing to love Aegon VII and Daenerys I. The mercenaries pilfered and looted the countryside, with many towns and cities opening their gates due to the armies of the south being up north. Euron and Cersei tried to tighten their grip on the south, however, the odd rebellion keeps popping up now and then, which meant that the mercenaries they hired continued to hike up their prices for each rebellion foiled. Cersei and Euron began to feel that owning the south wasn’t all that it was cracked up to be, as their unpopular rule and unruly mercenaries became twin problems for them to handle.

The Golden Company, especially, began exerting a lot of power and authority, and Cersei feared contradicting their leader, this so-called “Young Griff,” mostly because if she did, the Golden Company might depose her and place a monarch of their own on the throne. Things got even worse for Cersei after news from the North arrived about Daenerys Targaryen and Aegon VII defeating the White Walkers back up North. If the Targaryen forces can defeat the army of the dead, complete with undead giants, mammoths, polar bears, spiders, and ice dragons, then how long would it take for them to flatten a bunch of mercenaries who haven’t fought any big wars in the scale of the War of the Five Kings? Of course, Cersei began fortifying the Red Keep with Euron Greyjoy’s men, but they wondered how long can these sea pirates hold out against a land-based mercenary army.

Things became even more hilarious for the royal forces when several companies of mercenaries (not the Golden Company) working for Cersei tried to take the Riverlands as the first phase of their war against the main Targaryen forces. Westeros still remembered how the Golden Company got a beating at the hands of Jaime’s forces, so the lord of Riverrun, Edmure Tully, instructed his forces to fly Lannister banners left over from Jaime’s past occupation of Riverrun and ordered his forces to hold up in their castles and not engage, just hold off the the enemy mercenaries. These mercenaries, remembering how the Golden Company got beaten by Jaime last time, thought that Jaime’s forces traveled down south to reinforce the Riverlands and fight them, and so they left without so much as engaging the enemy.

When news reached Winterfell, the Targaryen bannermen had a good laugh over how the mercenaries that Cersei hired were trying to play it safe and lacked the courage and resolve to fight on. This second war will be a short one, indeed. Jaime had already beaten the Golden Company once, and Petyr Baelish’s Vale Army will make short work of the rest of them. And considering that the Knights of the Vale are some of the most well-trained fighters in Westeros, trained to battle in the ice and snow, this next war with Cersei won’t take that long. Aegon VII and Daenerys I already began to count down how long it would take for them to defeat Cersei.

It was in this moment, that a discovery that spelled certain doom for the South emerged. The White Walkers, who were thought to have been defeated in the North by the Targaryen forces, had remnants heading down south. Several dozens of them. They were led by a mysterious white lady-the same white lady that Bran complained about in his earlier letter to Jon Snow, the one that blocked his visions. This lady, with skin as white as snow, and garments of white silk and blue crystals, traveled past Moat Cailin and the Riverlands, to get to the rich lands of the south. She then began sending out her own White Walkers, each going to a castle, a town, a city, a village, places with plenty of people, seeing as how the armies of the kingdoms were off in the North, there was little resistance, outside of mercenaries who knew nothing of the White Walker threat. This lady in white is none other than the Great Other, the true source of the undead threat. Sacrificing the Night King and his army of undead wildlings and beasts to force the armies of the living to fight up north while she headed south with her own contingent of Ice Dragons and White Walkers was a gambit she was willing to pay, since now, her only competitors for power down south are a queen with little support of her own, a king whose forces are mostly seaborne, and a cornucopia of mercenaries who would make for poor sport when compared to the disciplined armies that the Night King faced up North.

Several of the Great Other’s White Walkers each walked into a town, a city, a village, or castle, dressed in a cloak. They would kill a few people, raise them as undead, kill more people, raise more undead, and so on, until the whole place is full of undead soldiers. The paltry mercenaries Cersei used to enforce her rule in the South were no match for White Walkers and wights-they have never even seen dead people before, and they discounted the Stark and Targaryen warnings about the undead as mere propaganda. When faced with actual walking dead men, they were sorely unprepared, with no dragonglass or fiery weapons of their own. They were quickly cut down by the White Walkers or their undead minions, and were added to the army of the dead.

This new army was not comprised of wildling dead or beasts, but rather, men and women with much access to arms and armament. The mercenary companies brought more than a few weapons with them, and the undead armies began organizing into archers, men-at-arms, pikemen, and confiscated the mercenaries’ siege weapons. Soon enough, they had catapults and trebuchets of their own, to besiege castles, towns, cities, and villages that have locked down and wizened up to the undead threat in the south. The undead forces in the North were close to mindless berserkers, with the beasts pulling the weight on strategy, but the undead in the south operated like an elite army, with each segment having their own purpose.

One by one, Cersei’s occupied towns and cities fell. The lords who swore allegiance to her either lost contact with her or were sending her dire reports of undead forces emerging from the countryside. Farms and villages were sending out warnings and petitions for help from the capital to send in soldiers for protection. Even the undead imprisoned at the capital being studied by the Maesters began to show more vitality as more news of undead forces began appearing all across the South. In desperation, Euron’s Ironborn and the Golden Company locked down the capital, denying entrance to many refugees seeking shelter, for fear that the White Walkers are following them. Cersei and Euron, swallowing their pride, wrote a letter to the North, BEGGING Daenerys and Aegon VII to deliver them from their current predicament, promising that they will bend the knee for real to the Targaryens if they are saved.

At first, once Cersei’s letter reached Winterfell, the Targaryens and their allies laughed at it. Surely, it was a jest in poor taste. Cersei was trying to make them laugh. The undead were defeated. The Night King was no more. But Bran began having more bad dreams as the Great Other spread her forces across the South. He began to see towns, cities, and castles being raided by zombies, and he urged Jon not to ignore Cersei’s letter. While Jon and Dany were skeptical about remaining undead forces after the Night King’s death, what pushed them over the edge to believing Cersei was when, several days later, letters from the Stormlands, Riverlands, the Reach, and Dorne began reaching the North. Oldtown, Highgarden, Storm’s End, Sunspear, and Riverrun were all reporting undead activity near their borders, which frightened the North. Even forces at the Vale began noticing undead forces trying to force themselves through the Bloody Gate of the Vale of Arryn, to no avail. Realizing the dire situation they were in, the Targaryen monarchs began to prepare a march down south, to meet up with the Vale Army in Riverrun and to expunge the undead threat from Westeros once and for all. But with most of their army tired or exhausted, they were only able to take a small contingent of the army to meet up with the Vale army that was massing and heading for Riverrun. Aegon VII and Daenerys sent a letter to Cersei, accepting her surrender to the Targaryens in exchange for saving her, granting her the title of “Castellan of the Red Keep”, and telling her that reinforcements are on their way.

However, Cersei’s problems did not end with the undead. Not only did she have to deal with undead marching at her doorstep, but when the undead army invaded the Crownlands with a clear and direct goal to take King’s Landing, the Golden Company deserted her. With most of her mercenary companies having been added to the undead army already, and Euron’s Ironborn being barely enough to defend King’s Landing, now the bulk of her remaining mercenary forces left her. The Golden Company deserted in the middle of the night. They stole some of the royal fleet’s ships and headed for Dragonstone, where they invited members of the Dornish royal family to meet with them. Cersei was angered by their desertion, down to the point where she told Euron to send his fleet to besiege Dragonstone post-haste, but Euron told her that with the Golden Company leaving, what’s left of his fleet now has to deploy its troops to the city to keep the undead at bay. Cersei cursed Young Griff, as she was forced to defend her city with Ironborn pirates who are better at stealing ships rather than defending large cities.

Young Griff’s real plans were to reveal his true identity to those he considered his kin. When Prince Doran Martell, Prince Trystane Martell, and Princess Myrcella Baratheon reached Dragonstone, Young Griff revealed to them that he was Aegon VI, the Aegon Targaryen who was the son of Prince Rhaegar Targaryen and Princess Elia Martell, supposedly callously murdered by Gregor Clegane and Tywin Lannister during the Sack of King’s Landing. To prove it, he brought his mother and sister along: Elia Martell, and Rhaenys Targaryen. Prince Doran recognized his sister, and shared a warm hug with her. Apparently, they managed to survive the sack of King’s Landing by Tywin Lannister by switching out with some decoys, some prostitute look-alikes and their bastard children. They spent all this time in hiding from King Robert Baratheon, but after his death, they began preparing for the day they can invade Westeros and take the crown. When Cersei invited them in to secure her place on the throne, that was their chance. However, Griff was very angered by the presence of Myrcella Baratheon, Cersei’s daughter. Even though Myrcella told them that she no longer supports her mother after the Sept of Baelor exploded, Young Griff still saw her as a threat, considering that she could never be fully trusted to raise a hand against her beloved mother. Griff also brought some loyal warlocks and red priests from Essos, who recognized that they can raise the stone dragons of Dragonstone into life if they had a sufficient sacrifice from the blood of kings.

Griff decided that Cersei’s daughter will do. The Lannisters were once kings of the Rock and the Westerlands, and Young Griff decided to do away with Cersei’s daughter to remove any potential traitors from his midst.  Jon Connington tried to talk Griff out of it, saying that this is not a good way to start his reign, but Griff justified it by saying that the undead marching upon them necessitates any sacrifice, and that Myrcella’s death will save the world. While Princes Trystane and Doran Martell protested, the warlocks took Myrcella, killed her, and used the blood sacrifice to awaken two stone dragons in Dragonstone. What surprised the warlocks was how powerful Myrcella’s blood was for their magic, and it was something they hadn’t seen ever since the noble families of Old Valyria died out save for one. With their magic empowered by the blood of an innocent girl, the warlocks managed to bring to life three stone dragons, with glowing red eyes and unnatural crimson flames. They recognized Aegon VI as their master, and he rode on the back of one and began to fly around Dragonstone.

When news of her daughter’s death reached Cersei, it broke her heart. Sure, Myrcella had chosen to sign on with Doran Martell, and by extension, Daenerys Targaryen, but Cersei thought that she could one day reconcile and reconnect with her beloved daughter. Myrcella’s death put an end to that hope, and with it, the last of Cersei’s children. She remembered the Valonqar prophecy that she got from Maggy the Frog as a kid, on how she will have three children, with golden crowns and golden shrouds, and how someone more beautiful will cast her aside. The latter part was already accomplished, since despite retaking the capital, people had little respect for Cersei and more respect for Daenerys, and even she had to bend the knee to Dany in order to get help to save what’s left of the South. Now, her children are all dead, leaving Cersei a cold and distant woman. She contemplated suicide that evening, until Euron Greyjoy came to her with a proposal and a promise: he will use his Dragonbinder horn to bind one of Griff’s stone dragons to his will, then he will capture Aegon VI for Cersei so that she can sacrifice him personally. Cersei accepted the proposal, and told Euron that she will be forever his, along with Casterly Rock, so long as he accomplishes his goal.

At that night, however, assassins from Dorne attacked Cersei. The Sand Snakes, as they were called, were bastard daughters of Oberyn Martell, the Prince of Dorne who died in a Trial by Combat that would have decided the fate of Tyrion Lannister had he not escaped to Essos. Obara, Nymeria, and Elia Sand infiltrated the Red Keep and tried to assassinate Cersei in the middle of the night, only to be stopped by Euron Greyjoy and Gregor Clegane. However, Cersei ordered that they be kept alive. Euron already showed Cersei his knowledge of eastern mystical arts, due in no small part to the fact that his fleet had warlocks and magicians from Essos as part of his retinue. Cersei, wanting to test Euron’s powers, had them sacrificed as per the same methods Myrcella was sacrificed. Thanks to his spies, Euron knew which ritual was used, and he had the three sacrificed to summon a mist that could hide his ships. He had an idea that he knew Cersei would like. He asked Cersei permission to raid Dragonstone and procure some “specimens” for a greater sacrifice, and Cersei granted it, hoping that it would aid in her war against both the Golden Company and the undead.

As Euron’s fleet headed towards Dragonstone, the mist hid his ships from Aegon VI’s stone dragons and Golden Company forces. Griff, despite flying around Dragonstone, couldn’t see anything and had to land back in the castle. This was part of Euron’s scheme: he secretly landed on Dragonstone with an elite Ironborn strike team, and they broke into the castle, killing some Golden Company forces, and kidnapped Elia Martell and her daughter, Princess Rhaenys. By the time Griff realized what was going on, it was already too late, and the Ironborn fleet was headed back towards King’s Landing. Without summoning the rest of his forces, Griff sped towards Euron’s flagship, the Silence, and prepared to burn it down with his stone dragon, only for Euron to personally fire at Griff’s dragon with an upgraded scorpion ballista, scoring a direct hit to the torso with the upgraded scorpion bolt that skewered the stone dragon’s hide and caused it to break apart as Young Griff fell into the water. By the time the Golden Company’s ships got wise to what was happening thanks to Jon Connington sending out an alert, it was already too late, and they got pummeled by the Ironborn ships’ upgraded scorpion ballistas. The mist, and the Ironborn ships hidden within it, were gone. Elia Martell and her daughter, Princess Rhaenys Targaryen, were now captives of Euron and Cersei. Young Griff, Aegon VI, now realized what it was like for Cersei to lose her daughter.

When the Silence arrived at King’s Landing, Cersei, who was previously distraught over Myrcella’s death, was now as giddy as a young girl about to receive presents on her name day. It was personal, especially for her-not only did Elia’s son kill her daughter, but Cersei remembered that Rhaegar Targaryen chose Elia Martell over her in the past, back during the reign of Aerys II. As a girl, Cersei fantasized about marrying Rhaegar, and yet it was this “Dornish whore” that Rhaegar chose to be his first wife over her. The sting still exists in Cersei’s heart, and the fact that Elia’s son killed Myrcella only served to exasperate the sting and made Cersei even more hungry for revenge. She had Euron prepare a similar ritual like the one they did with the Sand Snakes, as the undead army were beginning to close in on King’s Landing. Cersei wanted to use magic to repel the undead army, and she also wanted to make Young Griff feel what it’s like to lose a loved one in such a horrifying way as a human sacrifice. So she had Griff’s sister and mother strung up in the throne room and had Euron prepare them to be sacrificed. Elia and Rhaenys begged for mercy, saying that they did not agree with Griff when he sacrificed Myrcella, and that if she lets them go, they will go back to Griff and plead with him to join their fight with the undead.

Cersei simply laughed, and replied, “A Lannister always pays her debts.” She owed Young Griff a payment in blood, and she wasn’t looking to skimp out on it. After all, her father Tywin did try to kill them in the past. To Cersei, now was the time to finish the job her father started.

As the undead army marched towards King’s Landing, Victarion Greyjoy, Euron’s brother, was camped right on the battlements of the city. He wondered what strategy would their great leader employ. The undead host marched with siege towers, catapults, scorpion ballistas, trebuchets, as well as formations of shields, pikemen, and even some undead cavalry. Victarion wondered how Euron would respond to this. All of a sudden, the sky erupted in flames, and bolts of fire rained down upon the undead forces. Euron has sacrificed Elia and Rhaenys, and with the latter’s Targaryen blood, he had a lot of magic to summon a rain of fire. The firebolts rained upon the undead forces, bathing them in flames. The fiery projectiles were so strong that the siege engines of the undead were incinerated, just as much as the undead infantry were bathed in fire. Only the White Walkers were left, and they didn’t dare to attack the capital alone, not with Ironborn warriors aiming crossbows with dragonglass bolts at them. The firestorm lasted merely an hour before the skies cleared, but the undead army that was before the gates were utterly annihilated. Euron and Cersei celebrated their crushing victory against the undead army, although that was just an advance force, while the bulk of the undead led by the Great Other was still gathering strength on their way to get to the capital.

Young Griff heard the news a few days later, and he was filled with rage over the deaths of his mother and sister. Jon Connington advised restraint, telling Griff that they should wait until more undead forces batter the capital before attacking, but Griff would have none of it. He took his remaining two stone dragons and prepared his fleet to land the Golden Company onto Blackwater Bay, just as Stannis had attempted to do several years ago. When Connington warned him of the Iron Fleet, Aegon merely bristled that his dragons will answer for them and for the city’s defenses. The skies were clear, and there were no more mists to protect Euron and his fleet. This time, Griff reasoned, he will be ready for them. He ordered the Golden Company and some of the Dornish troops who accompanied Prince Doran to Dragonstone to join him and sail towards King’s Landing, with his two dragons scouting ahead for Euron’s ships, to watch out for any anti-dragon or anti-ship defenses that Cersei might have. Having no choice, Connington and Captain Strickland obeyed.

Cersei was ready for them. Euron’s scout ships spotted the Golden Company fleet sailing towards them with a Dornish fleet that they press-ganged into obedience, and they were headed for Blackwater Bay. Aegon VI’s two remaining stone dragons were with him, flying ahead of the fleet. Euron’s fleet was ready to meet them, and Euron himself was ready to meet Aegon VI’s dragons with his own dragonbinder horn. As the dragons flew closer and closer, Euron gave the signal, and one of his men blew the horn loudly enough, that the whole Iron Fleet heard the noise, and so did the Golden Company fleet. Aegon VI’s dragons were also shaken by the horn, and to Young Griff’s horror, one of his two dragons flew towards the Red Keep without his instructions. The dragon he was riding remained under his control, but the other one flew towards the Red Keep, and surprisingly, the Ironborn forces did not fire upon it. Aegon VI then decided to attack the Ironborn fleet with his one dragon, as the combatants on both sides were still recovering from the effects of the horn’s wretched sound.

Griff made sure to fly with the sun behind his back at full speed, attacking the ships from the sides, left to right, right to left, to avoid the same fate that befell his other stone dragon the last time he tried to burn Euron’s fleet. Dozens, nay, hundreds of ships were lit ablaze as Young Griff’s stone dragon bathed them with unnatural, magical crimson flames. The men on the ships were burned to a crisp, some even becoming skeletons and ash. As they tried to fire scorpion bolts to no avail, the Golden Company fleet began firing trebuchets and catapults with fiery projectiles at the surviving ships, clearing a path for the Golden Company forces to land on Blackwater Bay. But then, the dragon that left Young Griff’s forces re-emerged from the Red Keep-and now it had a new rider: Euron Greyjoy.

Greyjoy spent a short amount of time learning how to ride the dragon he ensnared with his magic dragon-binding horn, and the lives and ships of his fleet were a fair price to pay for him to learn how to ride a dragon like a Targaryen. Once he was confident he could control the beast, he bade Cersei farewell and vowed to return, with Young Griff in tow, alive or dead. Cersei told him that she’d prefer him to be captured alive, but if he can’t do so, dead will have to do. Euron’s stone dragon zipped past Young Griff’s, and began burning the Golden Company fleet in earnest, along with some of the Dornish fleet they had in tow. Griff followed Euron with his dragon, intending on engaging him before he does more damage. The battle between the two dragonriders consumed the sky, with columns and blasts of red magic flames firing from one dragon to another, as the two dragons jockeyed for position to blast the other and avoid the other’s flames. The stone dragons, being magical constructs attuned to the minds of their riders, knew exactly what their riders desired and moved and fired at each other as if they were acting in perfect unison with their riders.

As the two fleets battled in the waters below, Euron and Griff were battling in the skies above for over an hour. However, Euron was battling for his own personal glory and thrill; Young Griff was fighting with pure rage and hatred in his heart. Consumed with rage and bloodlust, he cast aside all notions of self preservation, and when his dragon flew close to Euron’s, he jumped and lunged at the pirate king with his own Valyrian steel sword, Truth, a Valyrian steel longsword he won in a betting game against a Lyseni nobleman named Moredo Rogare in the past. But to his surprise, Euron was wearing Valyrian steel plate armor, and the blade failed to go through Euron’s chestplate. Euron managed to knock Griff off his dragon, only for his own dragon to catch him. At their next charge, Euron leapt from his own dragon to Griff’s, with the full intention of carving Griff’s head in two with a large Valyrian steel kraken axe.The two of them struggled and fought, hanging onto the dragon that was flying out of control, until finally, Griff managed to shove his sword through Euron’s right eye, and kicked him off. Griff’s dragon corrected its flight path and bit Euron’s dragon at the neck, destroying the stone neck of the dragon, leading to its stony head and body falling into the Blackwater Bay.

Euron Greyjoy, the pirate who tried to conspire with both Daenerys Targaryen and Cersei Lannister to become King of Westeros, was no more