A Song of Ice and Fire, #3
A Storm of Swords
by George R. R. Martin
Contents
CHAPTER 27: DAENERYS
Overview
Daenerys negotiates in Astapor to purchase every Unsullied, seemingly trading Drogon to secure the deal. She frees Missandei and receives a cryptic warning from Quaithe. At the handover, Daenerys commands Drogon to burn Kraznys, reveals her Valyrian, and orders the Unsullied to kill slavers and free the slaves, sparing children.
Summary
In Astapor’s pyramid, Daenerys insists on buying every Unsullied—trained and in training—despite the Good Masters’ resistance. Lacking funds, she offers her three ships, then shocks all by offering one dragon, Drogon, to secure the entire host. Arstan Whitebeard begs her to reconsider; Daenerys rebukes him publicly and proceeds.
Outside, she frees the translator Missandei to serve her willingly and learns more of the Unsullied’s conditioning and absolute obedience. That night, Daenerys struggles with her choice, argues with Captain Groleo, and dreams of victory. A masked Quaithe appears with a cryptic directive to go east to go west, then vanishes.
At dawn, Daenerys parades through Astapor with her followers and chained dragons to the Plaza of Punishment, witnessing flayed rebels displayed as warnings. The slavers assemble the Unsullied and accept Daenerys’s trade goods and ships. In the formal exchange, Kraznys hands her the harpy’s-finger whip while taking Drogon’s chain.
Daenerys rides the ranks, declaring in Valyrian that the Unsullied are hers. When Kraznys fails to move Drogon, she lashes his face and commands, “Dracarys.” Drogon’s fire engulfs Kraznys, sowing panic among Astapor’s horsemen and masters as Viserion and Rhaegal are loosed to the air.
With the slavers in disarray, Daenerys orders the Unsullied to kill all who wear tokars or carry whips, spare children under twelve, and break every slave’s chains. Casting aside the whip, she proclaims freedom as the Unsullied answer “Dracarys,” turning the plaza into a rout of slavers and a liberation of the enslaved.
Who Appears
- Daenerys TargaryenBuys all Unsullied by offering Drogon, frees Missandei, reveals Valyrian, burns Kraznys, and orders liberation of slaves.
- Kraznys mo NaklozAstapori slaver negotiating the sale; receives Drogon’s chain, is whipped, then burned to death by Drogon.
- MissandeiTranslator given as a ‘gift’; Daenerys frees her. Explains Unsullied conditioning and chooses to serve Daenerys.
- Arstan WhitebeardWarns against trading a dragon; publicly rebuked. Silently accompanies Daenerys afterward.
- Ser Jorah MormontSupports Daenerys, removes Arstan, oversees trade goods, guards her during the confrontation.
- DrogonBlack dragon seemingly traded; at Daenerys’s command burns Kraznys and helps rout the slavers.
- ViserionUnchained during chaos; takes to the air, adding to the terror among Astapori.
- RhaegalUnchained alongside Viserion; flies and helps scatter Astapor’s forces.
- Grazdan (elder, pearl-fringed)Senior slaver endorsing the sale; commands Unsullied to defend them before being shot and abandoned.
- Strong BelwasBodyguard; draws arakh and charges during the plaza battle.
- AggoDothraki archer; methodically shoots slavers and guards amid the rout.
- RakharoDothraki bloodrider; kills slavers and guards during the uprising.
- JhogoDothraki bloodrider; snares a lancer with his whip in the melee.
- GroleoShip captain; argues against trading the fleet, overruled by Daenerys.