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 Groleo, by Scott Altmann © FFG | ||||
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| Titles |
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| Allegiance | House Targaryen | |||
| Culture | Pentoshi | |||
| Born | Pentos[1] | |||
| Died |
300 AC Meereen | |||
| Books |
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Groleo is the captain of the cog Saduleon, renamed the Balerion.[2]
Character
Groleo is an aging Pentoshi man.[3]
Recent Events
A Storm of Swords
Captain Groleo is sent by Illyrio Mopatis with three ships, including the great cog Saduleon, to bring Daenerys Targaryen back to Pentos. Daenerys instead renames the ships after Targaryen dragons[4] and commands Groleo to head for Slaver's Bay.[3]
During the siege of Meereen Daenerys realizes she cannot take the city without siege engines, but there is no available wood because the Meereenese have burned all nearby trees. Daenerys commands Groleo to drive his ships ashore, and her Unsullied and sellswords use the wood of the ships to create siege engines to take Meereen, such as battering rams, mantlets, turtles, catapults, and scaling ladders. Groleo accepts this, but grieves for his ship.[5]
A Dance with Dragons
Groleo is made an admiral by Daenerys Targaryen, but without a fleet, it is an empty title. He inspects the thirteen ships brought by Xaro Xhoan Daxos and pronounces them seaworthy. Howeever, Daenerys refuses Xaro's gift, not wanting to leave Meereen.[6]
Daenerys has an argument with Groleo, who advises her to send her dragons to attack the enemy fleet besieging Meereen. Daenerys tells him to attack with ships, but he replies that she dismantled his ships, speaking bitterly of his lost Saduleon. He states that all the timber in twenty leagues has been burned so that no more ships can be built.[7]
Groleo, Daario Naharis, Jhogo, Hero and three of the kin of Hizdahr zo Loraq are given over to the Yunkai'i as hostages as a guarantee for the safe conduct of the Yunkish commanders who visit Meereen when a peace treaty is made between both cities.[8]
However, one of the Yunkish commanders, Yurkhaz zo Yunzak, is killed when Drogon appeared in the fighting pits, so Groleo is eventually murdered by Bloodbeard, who presents the head of the captain to Hizdahr. Ser Barristan Selmy and the Brazen Beasts, who are in the room when the head is presented, are eager to cut down the Yunkish nobles and Bloodbeard in retaliation, but are puzzled when the order is not given by Hizdahr. Barristan then has Hizdahr request Groleo's body be returned so he can be decently buried. Barristan remembers Groleo had a wife, children, and grandchildren, and all the man wanted to do was return home to Pentos.[9]
When Barristan, Skahaz mo Kandaq, the Unsullied and the Brazen Beasts seize control of Meereen, they use the password Groleo in honor of the admiral.[10]
Quotes
Would that this Balerion could soar as her namesake did, Your Grace. Then we should not need to row, nor tow, nor pray for wind.[3]
Even upon the sea, queens take precedence over captains.[3]
—Groleo to Daenerys Targaryen, giving her his cabin
I am a sailor, not a shipwright. I was sent to fetch Your Grace back to Pentos. Instead you brought us here and tore my Saduleon to pieces for some nails and scraps of wood. I will never see her like again.[7]
—Groleo, to Daenerys Targaryen
—thoughts of Barristan Selmy
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 George R. R. Martin's A World of Ice and Fire, Groleo.
- ↑ A Storm of Swords, Appendix.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 A Storm of Swords, Chapter 8, Daenerys I.
- ↑ A Clash of Kings, Chapter 63, Daenerys V.
- ↑ A Storm of Swords, Chapter 71, Daenerys VI.
- ↑ A Dance with Dragons, Chapter 16, Daenerys III.
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 A Dance with Dragons, Chapter 30, Daenerys V.
- ↑ A Dance with Dragons, Chapter 50, Daenerys VIII.
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 A Dance with Dragons, Chapter 59, The Discarded Knight.
- ↑ A Dance with Dragons, Chapter 67, The Kingbreaker.