The wedding of Hizdahr zo Loraq and Daenerys Targaryen takes place in Meereen in 300 AC. Daenerys Targaryen chooses to marry Hizdahr zo Loraq to help solidify her reign as Queen of Meereen.
Prelude
Daenerys Targaryen is wed to Drogo as part of her brother Viserys's alliance with the khal.[1] Drogo later kills Viserys at Vaes Dothrak,[2] however, and Drogo himself dies from wounds suffered in the Dothraki sea.[3] Daenerys hatches three dragons from dragon eggs place in Drogo's funeral pyre,[4] and she eventually embarks on a campaign to end slavery in Slaver's Bay.[5][6][7]
Daenerys chooses to rule as Queen of Meereen after conquering the city,[8] and the widow refuses marriage offers from Cleon the Great of Astapor[8] and from Xaro Xhoan Daxos of Qarth.[9] Meanwhile, the Sons of the Harpy resist Daenerys's rule over Meereen by engaging in a shadow war against her supporters.[10] To bring peace to the city, Galazza Galare advises Daenerys to marry a highborn Meereenese man of noble blood, suggesting Hizdahr zo Loraq. Daenerys tells Hizdahr she might be willing to marry him if he can prevent any murders in the city for ninety days and nights.[11]
Ser Barristan Selmy, Lord Commander of the Queensguard, is wary of the idea, telling Daenerys that the Seven Kingdoms of Westeros would never accept Hizdahr as king.[12] Daario Naharis suggests himself as a groom instead but is refused. After the sellsword suggests that Daenerys massacre the Great Masters at the wedding if she marries Hizdahr, the queen decides to send Daario back into the field.[11]
Reznak mo Reznak and Galazza, the Green Grace, discuss wedding preparations and customs with Daenerys. The queen rejects the custom of the bride being examined by the husband's female family members to test for fertility, as well as the custom of the bride washing the groom's feet. Daenerys would prefer to marry using Westerosi rites, but Galazza explains that would be unacceptable to the Ghiscari. Daenerys learns that the bride is expected to wear dark red veils above a tokar of white silk fringed with baby pearls.[12] Hizdahr affirms for Daenerys that her enemies, including Yunkai and New Ghis, require her to wed as part of any peace treaty to end the second siege of Meereen.[12]
Daenerys sleeps with Daario when he returns to Meereen,[12] but continues to refuse his own marriage offers.[13] Prince Quentyn Martell arrives in Meereen to offer his own hand in marriage as well, but he is refused by Daenerys as well.[13] The queen commits instead to marrying Hizdahr the next day, though she sleeps with Daario one last time that night.[13]
Wedding
Jhiqui and Irri help Daenerys dress in her tokar with pearls. Reznak and Skahaz mo Kandaq request the honor of escorting the queen from the Great Pyramid to the Temple of the Graces. She intends to ride there on her silver mare, but Missandei points out she would be unable to in a tokar. Instead of a palanquin, Daenerys agrees to be carried in a sedan chair. Quentyn makes another entreaty, but he is again refused.[13]
While they travel to the temple, Barristan tells the queen about her parents, King Aerys II Targaryen and Queen Rhaelle Targaryen, and how Rhaelle had once been smitten with a young knight.[13] Daenerys's procession is joined by that of Hizdahr, who is being transported in his own sedan chair.[13]
The procession is awaited outside the temple by Galazza and Graces of various colors. They bring forth an ivory chair with a plush velvet seat, as well as a golden bowl so that Hizdahr can wash the queen's feet with warm fragrant oils. Fifty eunuchs sing during the public ritual, which is observed by ten thousand eyes. Daenerys and Hizdahr then enter the temple to be wed, and the married couple leaves the building four hours later with their wrist and ankles bound together with chains of yellow gold.[13]
Aftermath
King Hizdahr decides to reopen the fighting pits of Meereen to celebrate the city's peace with Yunkai, and he hosts a feast in the Great Pyramid for the Yunkishmen. Daenerys is displeased that a slave market has been opened by the Wise Masters south of the Skahazadhan. Daario is angered by the marriage, so for his own protection Daenerys includes the sellsword among the hostages sent over the Yunkai'i.[14]
Queen Daenerys attends the reopening of Daznak's Pit. Drogon appears during the competition, and the queen flies away on his back while attempting to control the dragon.[15] With Daenerys vanished from Meereen, Hizdahr assumes rule over the city.[16] Quentyn attempts to tame one of the dragons confined by the queen to the pit below the Great Pyramid,[17] but he is mortally wounded in the attempt and Rhaegal and Viserion are freed.[18]
Victarion Greyjoy sails with the Iron Fleet toward Meereen, having been sent by his brother Euron to bring Daenerys to Westeros as the Crow's Eye's bride. Victarion intends to marry Daenerys himself, however, and after learning of her marriage he finds himself willing to kill Hizdahr to make Daenerys a widow again.[19]
Attendees
Quotes
Galazza: Oft have I heard that yours is the blood of Aegon the Conqueror, Jaehaerys the Wise, and Daeron the Dragon. The noble Hizdahr is of the blood of Mazdhan the Magnificent, Hazrak the Handsome, and Zharaq the Liberator.
Daenerys: His forebears are as dead as mine. Will Hizdahr raise their shades to defend Meereen against its enemies? I need a man with ships and swords. You offer me ancestors.
Galazza: We are an old people. Ancestors are important to us. Wed Hizdahr zo Loraq and make a son with him, a son whose father is the harpy, whose mother is the dragon. In him the prophecies shall be fulfilled, and your enemies will melt away like snow.[11]
Reznak: Magnificence, you do not understand. The washing of the feet is hallowed by tradition. It signifies that you shall be your husband's handmaid. The wedding garb is fraught with meaning too. The bride is dressed in dark red veils above a tokar of white silk, fringed with baby pearls.
Daenerys: All those pearls will make me rattle when I walk.
Reznak: The pearls symbolize fertility. The more pearls Your Worship wears, the more healthy children she will bear.[12]
Hizdahr: Words are wind, as you yourself have so oft said. No words of yours will secure this peace for Meereen. Your foes require deeds. They would see us wed, and they would see me crowned as king, to rule beside you.
Daenerys: Marriage or carnage. A wedding or a war. Are those my choices?
Hizdahr: I see only one choice, Your Radiance. Let us say our vows before the gods of Ghis and make a new Meereen together.[12]
References
- ↑ A Game of Thrones, Chapter 11, Daenerys II.
- ↑ A Game of Thrones, Chapter 46, Daenerys V.
- ↑ A Game of Thrones, Chapter 68, Daenerys IX.
- ↑ A Game of Thrones, Chapter 72, Daenerys X.
- ↑ A Storm of Swords, Chapter 27, Daenerys III.
- ↑ A Storm of Swords, Chapter 42, Daenerys IV.
- ↑ A Storm of Swords, Chapter 57, Daenerys V.
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 A Storm of Swords, Chapter 71, Daenerys VI.
- ↑ A Dance with Dragons, Chapter 16, Daenerys III.
- ↑ A Dance with Dragons, Chapter 11, Daenerys II.
- ↑ 11.0 11.1 11.2 A Dance with Dragons, Chapter 23, Daenerys IV.
- ↑ 12.0 12.1 12.2 12.3 12.4 12.5 A Dance with Dragons, Chapter 36, Daenerys VI.
- ↑ 13.0 13.1 13.2 13.3 13.4 13.5 13.6 A Dance with Dragons, Chapter 43, Daenerys VII.
- ↑ A Dance with Dragons, Chapter 50, Daenerys VIII.
- ↑ A Dance with Dragons, Chapter 52, Daenerys IX.
- ↑ A Dance with Dragons, Chapter 55, The Queensguard.
- ↑ A Dance with Dragons, Chapter 68, The Dragontamer.
- ↑ A Dance with Dragons, Chapter 70, The Queen's Hand.
- ↑ A Dance with Dragons, Chapter 56, The Iron Suitor.