- Daemon and the Sea Snake battle the Crabfeeder. The realm celebrates Aegon's second nameday. Rhaenyra faces the prospect of marriage.
- For three years, Lord Corlys and Prince Daemon have battled the Crabfeeder and his forces in the Stepstones without the Iron Throne's support. Meanwhile, King Viserys plans a great hunt to celebrate his and pregnant Queen Alicent's son Aegon's second birthday. Rhaenyra resents her father's excessive attention towards her half-brother, Aegon. The ailing king insists that Rhaenyra, now seventeen, must marry to form a strong alliance and protect their lineage. Many suitors are considered, including two-year old Prince Aegon. Lord Lyonel Strong recommends Ser Laenor Velaryon, Lord Corlys' son, as a potential match to mend the rift between the two houses. Overcoming previous doubts, Viserys assures Rhaenyra she remains his heir and can choose her consort. Meanwhile, brothers Hobert and Otto Hightower secretly scheme to make Aegon the successor, furthering their family's power and prestige. After Ser Vaemond Velaryon pleads for the king's help, Viserys agrees to send aid to the Stepstones. Seeing his brother's support as ending his chance to prove himself, Daemon acts as bait to ambush the Crabfeeder, winning the ensuing battle before the crown's forces arrive.
- Prince Daemon and Lord Corlys combated the Crabfeeder's forces in the Stepstones for For three years, without any royal support. King Viserys plans a great hunt to celebrate his and son Aegon's second birthday. Pregnant Queen Alicent must drag along Rhaenyra, who resents her father's excessive attention towards her half-brother, Aegon, even when he vows never to make the boy heir in her place. The ailing king insists that Rhaenyra, now seventeen, must marry to form a strong alliance and protect their lineage. Many suitors or matches are suggested, including two-year old Prince Aegon. Lord Lyonel Strong recommends Lord Corlys' son Ser Laenor Velaryon, to mend the rift between the two houses, but Viserys assures Rhaenyra she may choose her spouse. The hunt is to culminate in killing a white stag -former royal emblem- but only a brown stag is caught for him to pierce with a newly suitor-gifted spear, an elusive white one is only sighted by Rhaenerys, who left with only guardsman Ser Criston Cole, together overcoming a boar attack. Hand Otto Hightower and his brother Hobert secretly scheme to make Aegon the successor, furthering their family's power and prestige. After Ser Vaemond Velaryon pleads for the king's help, Viserys seems to refuse but finally sends an army to the Stepstones. Seeing this as stealing his chance to prove himself, Daemon acts as bait to ambush the Crabfeeder and wins the ensuing battle before the crown's forces arrive.—KGF Vissers
- Three years on, the war in the Stepstones archipelago is going badly. Enemy commander Craghas "The Crabfeeder" Drahar and his forces have engaged in guerilla tactics, raiding Lord Corlys Velaryon's fleets at night and retreating into deep caves whenever Prince Daemon launches attacks with his dragon, Caraxes.
Meanwhile, Alicent Hightower, having married King Viserys and giving birth to son, Aegon, is pregnant again; Queen Alicent and Princess Rhaenyra, once close friends, have become estranged. Viserys, disinterested in the Stepstones war, leads the court on a hunt to celebrate Aegon's second nameday; he intends to kill a white hart stag, considered a royal good omen. Believing Viserys intends to replace her with Aegon as heir to the throne, Rhaenyra storms away from camp, with only her Kingsguard, Ser Criston Cole, following.
Viserys dismisses Lord Jason Lannister's marriage suit for Rhaenyra, while Hand of the King Ser Otto Hightower proposes betrothing to Prince Aegon, Rhaenyra's two-year-old half-brother and Otto's grandson. Master of Laws Lord Lyonel Strong advises Viserys to wed Rhaenyra to Corlys Velaryon's son, Ser Laenor, to heal the rift between Houses Targaryen and Velaryon.
While camped overnight in the woods, a wild boar invades the campsite, trampling Criston and attacking Rhaenyra before the two kill it. Before returning to the main camp, Rhaenyra encounters the white hart and allows it to go unharmed; meanwhile, Viserys takes two attempts to slay a regular stag.
Following the hunt, Otto tells Alicent that the realm's nobles will favor Aegon as king, despite Viserys preferring Rhaenyra. Meanwhile, Viserys assures Rhaenyra she will never be replaced as his heir, but urges her to find an influential husband to bolster her claim to the Iron Throne.
Alicent advises Viserys to send reinforcements to the Stepstones. When a messenger brings word of Viserys's decision, Daemon refuses to accept his brother's aid. He feigns surrender to lure the Crabfeeder's army into the open, at which point the Velaryon infantry, led by Corlys, and his younger brother, Vaemond, launch a counterattack. Simultaneously, Ser Laenor cuts off the enemy's escape route with his dragon, Seasmoke. Daemon pursues Drahar into the caverns, killing him as the Velaryon forces claim victory.
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