The funeral pyre of Princess Daena Targaryen and her stillborn daughter draws the royal family, courtiers, and mourners to the unfinished Sept of Baelor.
Queen Naerys, Princess Mariah, and the princesses Elaena and Rhaena take their place in the vigil, while Daemon Waters comes forward to pray over his mother.
After a tense vigil for Morgil Hastwyck in the unfinished Sept of Baelor, the trial by combat proceeds before court and city; Aemon offers mercy, Morgil refuses and fights to the death, Dark Sister kills him and vindicates Naerys, and the victory's aftermath turns chaotic when Daena goes into labor and the Goldcloaks and courtiers clear a path back to the Red Keep.
In the stalled and hungry royal camp after the wildfire disaster, Aegon shares Arbor wine with shaken knights, hears of lost men and the scattered fleet, and announces that the war on Dorne will wait while the host marches to Tumbleton for food and then disperses or returns home.
When one of Aegon's wildfire engines breaks an axle and stalls the entire royal host, the king threatens reluctant laborers, Otho and others organize levers and manpower, and the engineers and pyromancers reveal that the engines already carry wildfire inside them.
At a lavish royal feast with Aegon IV and pregnant Barba Bracken presiding, courtiers toast Sharon Selmy's pregnancy, joke and maneuver around matches for Andard Brax and Osmon Beesbury, speculate about appointments and tourneys, and contrast the king's merry excess with Baelor's austerity.
While awaiting a marble-laden cog for Baelor's sept, Aidan, Durance, Josella, and Roryn hear Tyroshi sailor Gorro Tarasstis report that Alyn Velaryon was last seen pursuing the corsair Anshrut Noh near Grey Gallows before a storm separated the ships.
During a royal hunt in the Kingswood, Aidan Dayne shows his skill with the bow, Jannia Buckwell and Josella Hightower try their hands at flushed birds, and the courtly pavilion around Daena and Mariah turns to gossip about Aegon's progress, Elaena, Alyn Velaryon's absence, and Jannia's planned bardic gathering.
Late in a Maidenvault revel after the Hand's tourney, Aegon IV summons Jannia Buckwell and then Elyse Caswell to his table, teasing out Jannia's courtly loyalties and Elyse's Meadows inheritance dispute while Durance and Roryn keep uneasy company below.
The court gathers outside the Royal Sept as King Viserys, struck dead by a sudden illness, lies in state within. Rumors swirl about what the future holds and about what kind of a ruler Aegon, the Fourth of his Name, will prove to be.
Lord Alyn Velaryon has been released by the King...but ordered to depart for Volantis, exiled in all but name. As he takes his leave of kin and companions, it becomes apparent that opinions differ at court in regards to the royal decision.
A week ago after the birth of his natural children by Princess Elaena, Lord Alyn Velaryon is taken into custody by the Kingsguard in front of a surprised gathering of knights and ladies.
King Baelor holds court and demonstrates his approach to justice. During the proceedings, news reaches the King and the Hand that Princess Daena is missing from the Maidenvault.
In the Red Keep throne room, Baelor announces that he will take septon's vows while retaining the crown, leaving court to absorb the growing power of the Faith as Roland, Ryckon, Farin, Durance, and Farena trade careful political reactions afterward.
After the naming ceremony of Elias Corbray, there is a bit of conversation and some awkwardness before the little gathering dissolves.