Contents
TYRION — Chapter 48
Overview
Tyrion and Penny are auctioned in the Yunkish camp and purchased by the wealthy slaver Yezzan zo Qaggaz; Jorah Mormont is also acquired after Tyrion intervenes. Collared and installed among Yezzan’s grotesqueries, they perform for Yunkish lords. Tyrion bests Brown Ben Plumm at cyvasse, enriching Yezzan. As reward, the dwarfs are promised a public joust in the Great Pit of Daznak, binding them tighter to Meereen’s looming spectacle.
Summary
At a slave auction beside the Skahazadhan, Tyrion and Penny are offered as a pair with their dog and pig. Bidding escalates among a crone, a martial girl, a sellsword captain, and an immense yellow-clad Yunkish lord. Tyrion’s provocations earn lashes but raise interest. The fat lord, Yezzan zo Qaggaz, buys them, overruling the sellsword’s attempts.
As Jorah Mormont is brought to the block—beaten, branded, and desolate at news of Daenerys’s marriage—bidding falters until the crone moves to claim him. Tyrion convinces Yezzan’s overseer, Nurse, to have Yezzan purchase Jorah as part of their act, rescuing the knight from a harsher fate but binding him to Yezzan as well.
Escorted through the sprawling, disease-prone Yunkish siege camp, Tyrion witnesses cruelty and failed escapes punished by Tolosi slingers. At Yezzan’s lavish pavilion, the captives are collared and housed with other curiosities, including Sweets. Nurse warns them to please their master, while Sweets describes Yezzan’s decay and whims.
That evening, Tyrion and Penny perform their dwarf-joust for Yezzan’s guests, including the Yunkish supreme commander Yurkhaz zo Yunzak and sellsword leaders. The act delights Yezzan. Serving afterward, Tyrion is challenged to cyvasse. He defeats Brown Ben Plumm repeatedly, winning gold for Yezzan and gauging the sellsword’s cautious nature.
After the feast, as Tyrion scrubs spilled wine, Nurse announces their “reward”: to celebrate the new peace, the dwarfs will joust in the Great Pit of Daznak before vast crowds, further entangling them in Meereen’s politics and peril.
Who Appears
- Tyrion Lannister ("Yollo")Auctioned slave; sardonic, strategic. Manipulates Jorah’s purchase, performs for Yezzan, and defeats Brown Ben Plumm at cyvasse.
- PennyTyrion’s fellow dwarf performer; fearful but compliant. Collared by Yezzan and performs the joust routine with Crunch and Pretty Pig.
- Yezzan zo QaggazWealthy, decaying Yunkish slaver who buys Tyrion, Penny, and Jorah; delights in their performances and profits from Tyrion’s cyvasse wins.
- NurseYezzan’s cruel overseer; manages the slaves, collars them, enforces obedience, and arranges their future performance in Daznak’s Pit.
- Ser Jorah MormontBeaten and branded captive; purchased by Yezzan after Tyrion’s intervention. Despondent at Daenerys’s marriage, chained outside the pavilion.
- Brown Ben PlummCaptain of the Second Sons; attempts to buy Tyrion, later loses multiple cyvasse games to him, enriching Yezzan.
- Yurkhaz zo YunzakYunkish supreme commander; attends Yezzan’s feast, endorses the dwarfs’ antics, symbol of Yunkai’s leadership.
- SweetsIntersex slave among Yezzan’s curiosities; warns Tyrion about Nurse and explains Yezzan’s condition and whims.
- ZahrinaCrone in a violet tokar; bids on Tyrion and later on Jorah, known for buying cheap fighters as pit fodder.