THE QUEEN’S HAND

At dawn in rain-drenched Meereen, Quentyn Martell dies from dragonfire wounds in Daenerys’s bed, tended to the end by Missandei. Ser Barristan Selmy steels himself, clinging to faith that Daenerys lives, while the city smolders and dragons avoid the rain.

Skahaz Shavepate arrives with grim news: the Sons of the Harpy have escalated killings to nearly thirty in a night, demanding Hizdahr’s release and the dragons’ deaths. As acting Hand, Selmy convenes a roundtable of commanders—Unsullied, freedmen leaders, Stormcrows, Stalwart Shields, Dothraki, pit fighters, and Strong Belwas—asserting authority while refusing Skahaz’s calls to execute hostages.

Selmy outlines a beacon-triggered assault plan to break the Yunkish siege, inviting debate over deployments, elephants, cavalry, and the Unsullied’s role. The captains argue through the day; Selmy withholds promises about dragon support, warning they are unpredictable, and dismisses the assembly with orders to stand ready.

He visits imprisoned Archibald Yronwood and Gerris Drinkwater, informs them of Quentyn’s death, rebukes claims of love as motive, and extracts the truth: Quentyn had promised the Tattered Prince Pentos to gain help seizing the dragons. Selmy offers life and passage home if they serve his plan—return with the feigned-deserter Windblown to deliver his message: Meereen will pay the Tattered Prince’s price for the safe return of the hostages.

Back atop the pyramid, Selmy receives the Green Grace, Galazza Galare. She urges Hizdahr’s release and insists the gods proclaim his innocence; Selmy refuses. He had sent her to offer ransom—each hostage’s weight in gold—before all Yunkish commanders. She reports a flat refusal: only dragon blood will buy freedom, while implying Daenerys is dead and pleading for the dragons’ deaths.

Skahaz bursts in with urgent news: all six enemy trebuchets have begun to fire. Galazza reveals the payload is not stones but corpses, signaling Yunkai’s answer and the onset of pestilence and war.