Ranking all 11 sample chapters from The Winds of Winter
By John Fallon
5. “Tyrion II”
Tyrion’s journey in Essos could go longer than he’d originally planned. Lately enslaved by the Wise Masters of Yunkai, he’s encamped outside of the walls of Meereen before a great battle. Meanwhile, Daenerys remains lost in the Dothraki Sea and her enemies lurk both within and outside the walls of the city.
In this sample chapter, officially included in The World of Ice and Fire app in 2014, Tyrion and Jorah Mormont are in the midst of a maelstrom, as Rhaegal and Viserion rage overhead and Tyrion hears the clash of warships in the distance. Tyrion has ingratiated himself with Brown Ben Plumm, the leader of the Second Sons mercenary company. In exchange for membership, Tyrion has promised Ben and his men large sums of money. The Second Sons get orders to defend the slaver’s ships, but Brown Ben Plumm reveals that they have always been Queen’s men, and joined with the Yunkai’i as a ploy. That means Tyrion and Jorah will soon be fighting for the Dragon Queen.
Things look messy in Slaver’s Bay, and things are just getting more complicated as Victarion Greyjoy’s Ironborn fleet join the fray and the slavers lose soldiers fast. It may not be a particularly exciting chapter, but it shows how the plot will be moving forward in Meereen.