Great Pyramid

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The Great Pyramid. © FFG

The Great Pyramid of Meereen is 800 feet tall (243,84 meters),[1][2] from its huge square base to the lofty apex.[3] A huge bronze harpy once stood at the apex.[1]

About

Ser Barristan Selmy atop the Great Pyramid awaiting the return of Queen Daenerys Targaryen - by Marc Fishman ©

The Great Pyramid had been built as an echo to the Great Pyramid of Ghis whose colossal ruins Lomas Longstrider had once visited. Like its ancient predecessor, the Pyramid has thirty-three levels, a number which is considered to be sacred to the gods of Ghis.[4]

Meereen has a score of lesser pyramids, but none stand even half as tall.[5]

The foundations of the pyramid are massive and thick to support the weight of the huge structure overhead. The interior walls are 3 times thicker than the curtain walls of any castle. The outer walls are 30 feet thick (9.14 meters); they muffle the tumult of the streets and keep the heat outside. Consequently, it is cool and dim within. It is always dusk inside the base of the Great Pyramid. [6]

It is a long descent down from top to bottom. The servant's steps are hidden within the thick brick walls and are narrower, steeper and straighter stairs than the grand stairways of veined marble. [4]

The pyramid’s main doors are closed and barred at sunset. [7] Word travels quickly within the pyramid.

Layout

The Great Pyramid from above in Game of Thrones

The Great Pyramid boasts three-and-thirty levels, a number sacred to the Gods of Ghis.[4] On the second level, the armory is located,[4] while a training hall is located on the third level.[7] Also on the second level are the chambers occupied by Reznak mo Reznak during the reign of Queen Daenerys Targaryen.[7] Daenerys herself takes the chambers in the apex of the pyramid,[8] with her audience chamber one level below her chambers.[5] Prince Quentyn Martell is given rooms in the pyramid on the thirtieth level, two levels below the audience hall.[9]

The Apex

Daenerys Targaryen's keeps her private chambers (or queen's apartments) in the lofty apex of the pyramid on the highest step. Her chambers are surrounded by greenery and fragrant pools.[8] There are low brick parapets.

The Hall

The queen’s splendorous audience chamber (or hall) is one level below her apartments, [5] down a broad marble stair.[3] It is an echoing, high-ceilinged room with tiles and walls of purple marble. Tall candles burn amongst the purple marble pillars[10], Unsullied stand with their backs to the pillars. [3] Daenerys Targaryen sits upon a plain ebony bench that she has made her throne, having broken up the previous throne of gilded wood carved in the shape of a harpy.[5]

The Heart

Massive brick walls surround a suite of rooms buried in the very heart of the pyramid on the sixteenth and seventeenth levels. [7] [4] Hizdahr zo Loraq and the cupbearers of Daenerys Targaryen take up residence here during Daenerys' absence. [7] The king’s chambers are dark and windowless, surrounded on all sides by brick walls 8 feet thick (2, 44 meters). Great beams of black oak support the high ceilings. [4]

The Base

Located at ground level the base of the pyramid is a hushed place, full of dust and shadows. Within the ground level walls, sounds echo off arches of many coloured brick, and amongst the stables, stalls, and storerooms. [11] Horses - including Daenerys' mare the Silver) - mules and donkeys are stabled in the western walls, elephants in the eastern. Currently there are only 3 elephants stabled within the Pyramid. [6] [7] Daenerys’s wedding procession formed up inside the gates.

The Pit (Dragon Pit)

The pit of the Great Pyramid is 40 feet deep (12.19 meters) and large enough to hold 500 men. [11] Until Daenerys Targaryen's arrival the Great Masters used the pit in the Great Pyramid as a prison. The pit becomes a makeshift dragon pit when the queen’s dragons Viserion and Rhaegal are enclosed and chained up inside.

The Dungeons

There are dungeons and torture chambers in proximity to the dragon pit. [12] Archibald Yronwood and Gerris Drinkwater were confined there due to their role in the escape of the dragons. Other members of the Windblown, feigned deserters, are also imprisoned in the dungeons.

Recent Events

At the gates of Meereen, the enormous harpy is visible atop the Great Pyramid. © FFG

A Storm of Swords

Daenerys Targaryen observes that Meereen is as large as Astapor and Yunkai combined.

Behind Meereen's walls, huge against the sky, can be seen the top of the Great Pyramid, a monstrous thing eight hundered feet tall with a towering bronze harpy at its top. When he sees it Dany's sellsword Daario Naharis declares that the harpy is a craven thing. [1]

After the city is conquered Daenerys breaks her fast under the persimmon tree that grows in the terrace garden, watching her dragons chase each other about the apex of the Great Pyramid - where the huge bronze harpy once stood.

A Dance with Dragons

After the Siege of Meereen Queen Daenerys Targaryen takes the Great Pyramid as her seat. Her POV initially notes that the bronze harpy of the apex is no longer there, but does not mention if it was removed or destroyed. She later recalls her personal command to pull the harpy down. [5]

During her rein Ser Barristan Selmy makes the climb up the Great Pyramid 5 or 6 times a day on the queen’s business, leaving him with pain in his knees and back. Ser Barristan feels his age when he climbs and fears that one day climbing the stairs will prove beyond his powers. [7]

Despite the thickness of the walls Viserion is able to carve a hole in the walls on the dragon pit, which served as a sleeping place for himself - his equivalent to a dragon's lair. [12]

Ser Barristan Selmy later constructed a beacon at the pyramid’s apex where the harpy once stood. The beacon consists of dry wood, soaked with oil. It is covered to keep the rain off. He intends to light the beacon when the time to attack the besiegers arrives. The flames will be the signals for the forces of Meereen to pour out of the city gates and attack their besiegers. [13]

Quotes

Up here in her garden Dany sometimes felt like a god, living atop the highest mountain in the world. Do all gods feel so lonely? [5]

- Queen Daenerys Targaryen, in contemplation, atop the Great Pyramid.

References and Notes

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 A Storm of Swords, Chapter 57, Daenerys V.
  2. The Great Pyramid of Giza was initially only 481 feet tall (146 meters) and erosion has diminished its height. No historic human structure reached or exceeded the height of 800 feet until the completion of the Eiffel Tower in 1889.
  3. 3.0 3.1 3.2 A Dance with Dragons, Chapter 2, Daenerys I.
  4. 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.5 A Dance with Dragons, Chapter 67, The Kingbreaker.
  5. 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 5.5 A Storm of Swords, Chapter 71, Daenerys VI.
  6. 6.0 6.1 A Dance with Dragons, Chapter 43, Daenerys VII.
  7. 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 7.4 7.5 7.6 A Dance with Dragons, Chapter 55, The Queensguard.
  8. 8.0 8.1 A Dance with Dragons, Chapter 36, Daenerys VI.
  9. A Dance with Dragons, Chapter 59, The Discarded Knight.
  10. A Dance with Dragons, Chapter 30, Daenerys V.
  11. 11.0 11.1 A Dance with Dragons, Chapter 11, Daenerys II.
  12. 12.0 12.1 A Dance with Dragons, Chapter 68, The Dragontamer.
  13. A Dance with Dragons, Chapter 70, The Queen's Hand.