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The story of the evil pirate Euron Greyjoy from the A Song of Ice and Fire novel series and its television adaptation Game of Thrones.
Biography[]
| “ | Who knows more of gods than I? Horse gods and fire gods, gods made of gold with gemstone eyes, gods carved of cedar wood, gods chiseled into mountains, gods of empty air... I know them all. I have seen their peoples garland them with flowers, and shed the blood of goats and bulls and children in their names. And I have heard the prayers, in half a hundred tongues. Cure my withered leg, make the maiden love me, grant me a healthy son. Save me, succor me, make me wealthy... protect me! Protect me from mine enemies, protect me from the darkness, protect me from the crabs inside my belly, from the horselords, from the slavers, from the sellswords at my door. Protect me from the Silence. | „ |
| ~ Euron to Aeron Greyjoy. |
Early Life[]
Euron Greyjoy was born in between the years 256 and 268 AC in Pyke, a castle on an island of the same name. The island of Pyke was part of a harsh archipelago called the Iron Islands located off the western coast of the continent of Westeros. The people of the Iron Islands, called the ironborn, were hardy seafarers who prided themselves on their tradition of raiding and plundering mainland Westeros. The ironborn respected strength and glory above all else. Euron Greyjoy's father was Lord Quellon Greyjoy, the ruler of Pyke and the Iron Islands as a whole, and his mother was a member of House Sunderly, a major ironborn noble family.
Euron had four older brothers named Harlon Greyjoy, Quenton Greyjoy, Donel Greyjoy, and Balon Greyjoy, and four younger brothers named Victarion Greyjoy, Urrigon Greyjoy, Aeron Greyjoy, and Robin Greyjoy. Despite the hostile nature of the ironborn, House Greyjoy, and the entire Iron Islands by extension, were sworn in obedience to House Targaryen, the ruling family of the Seven Kingdoms of Westeros. Unlike his forebears, Lord Quellon wanted to do away with the ironborn traditions by forbidding most raids and freeing slaves. He also wanted to integrate the people Iron Islands into the rest of the Seven Kingdoms.
During his youth, Euron murdered his older half-brother, Harlon, who suffered from a fatal disease called "greyscale" that turned the affected person's skin stiff and dead, and stone-like. Harlon's mouth had already been sealed by greyscale, as had his arms and legs, so Euron killed him by pinching his nose shut and preventing him from breathing. Euron killed another of his half-siblings too, Robin, a sickly halfwit boy with a large soft head. Euron's older half-brothers, Quenton and Donel, also died when they were children, however Euron hasn't claimed responsibility for their deaths (at least for now).
In the adult hood Euron becomo handsome, charismatic, fiercely, and intelligent, man, and above all a very sadistic charater.
Euron has never shown love or respect for his family members, who do not like him very much, while his brothers openly hate him. Euron also used to sexually abuse his younger brothers Urrigon and Aeron when they were children. Whenever Euron drank too much, he would enter the bedroom shared by his brothers Aeron and Urrigon "Urri", and sexually abuse one of them, of his choosing. Even now, after so many years, the priest Aeron suffers occasional nightmares about a door with squeaking rusty hinges, which he associates with Euron. Still, the main reason Aeron hates Euron is because Euron is "godless" and Aeron is a devoted follower of the Drowned God.
After the famous Battle of the Trident, where the Storm Lord, Robert Baratheon, defeated Prince Rhaegar Targaryen, Euron, Balon and Victarion urged their father, Lord Quellon, to join the rebels as soon as possible, or lose any chance of getting any spoils of war. Quellon led fifty longships in the attack on the Reach, who were royalist supporters of House Targaryen, and was killed fighting on the river Mander. Immediately after this, the ironborn abandoned the rebellion, that was not their fight. As Euron's older brother, Balon ascended as the new Lord of the Iron Islands after Quellon's death at sea. Euron's brother Urrigon died of an infection after performing a finger dance (a dangerous game of the ironborn, played with the axe) with Aeron, while Quellon and Balon still led the fleet on the Mander.
After Robert's Rebellion, Balon attempted a rebellion of his own, known as "Greyjoy's Rebellion". Euron personally concocted the plan to destroy the Lannister navy in Lannisport, during the infamous burning of the Lannister fleet on Lannisport, one of the most important attacks during the Greyjoy Rebellion. The plan was successfully executed by Euron's younger brother Victarion; Lord Captain of the Iron Fleet. Tywin Lannister's entire fleet was destroyed while still at anchor and unable to respond against the ironmen. Tyrion Lannister witnessed the deaths of sailors and also helpless fishermen from the windows of Casterly Rock. Tywin was unable to defend the west of the realm from the Greyjoy brothers and King Robert I Baratheon ordered his brother Stannis Baratheon to destroy the Iron Fleet.
Euron and Victarion kept the Sunset Sea under the control of the Ironborn. However, the rebellion ultimately failed, largely due to the military skills of Stannis Baratheon, who encountered Victarion's fleet near Fair Isle and lured the Ironborn into a trap. It was Victarion's first and only defeat in naval combat and is remembered as a nightmare for the Iron Fleet. After Stannis destroyed almost the entire Iron Fleet, the forces of the Iron Throne invaded the Iron Islands and Balon knelt before King Robert.
Euron's actions during the rest of the war are unknown.
Years after Balon's failed rebellion, Euron seduced or raped the salt wife of his younger brother Victarion and, in general, his third wife, whom he loved dearly. When Victarion confronted Euron about this, Euron claimed that it was not rape and instead she approached him willingly. What's more, Euron mocked his brother by responding:
"It seems Victarion is great everywhere but where it matters."
Shortly afterwards Victarion also learned that Euron impregnated his wife. Knowing that the Ironmen would mock him as a cuckold, Victarion beat her to death with his fists, as Ironborn custom dictated, and fed her to the crabs. He would have killed Euron too if it weren't for Balon, who strongly supported the taboo against kinslaying and would have none of that in his hall. Balon still felt bad for Victarion, and for his crime Euron was exiled by Balon, who warned him never to return to the Iron Islands as long as Balon lived. Balon ordered never to mention Victarion's third wife again.
Euron's villainy made him very unpopular with the Drowned Men priests, who deride him as an "ungodly" man or "the godless". The Drowned God religion isn't very moral and considers raiding, stealing, killing the weak, pillaging, and fighting other religions holy, yet it considers respect for the family highly important and sacred. Euron however, makes fun of the Drowned God and ironborn traditions in general, further earning him the hatred of the priests. When Aeron becomes the leader priest "Damphair", Euron becomes known as a servant of the Storm God. The Storm God is the evil deity of the ironborn culture, who brings the bad cold weather of the Iron Islands to challenge the Drowned God, and his symbol animal is the crow, Euron's future personal mark, which is also why the priests dislike Maesters and their ravens.
Euron took his ship, the Silence and sailed it across the known world, pillaging and raping wherever he went, earning him a deadly reputation. He's known as a terror to the known oceans and everyone in the world knows the name of his ship. He saw a lot of unnatural things, as he sailed beyond the known world. He claimed to have sailed as far as Asshai by the Shadow, where he plundered shadowbinder sorcerers, and many other places and continents such as the Summer Sea and Sothoryos, Qarth, the Jade Sea and many cities of shadowbinders, the harbors of Yi Ti, the Shivering Sea and Ibben. At the frozen Ib, he wrestled the big hairy warriors to take their booty. He also claimed to have sailed the Smoking Sea and walked the charred allegedly demon-haunted ruins of Old Valyria itself, a feat unmatched by any man alive, as both sea and Valyria are feared by all pirates, even the Saan family, and no sailor ever returns from those places. Overall he is one of very rare people to have travelled in most of the entire world and even saw remote places and forgotten secrets. With no particular life goal, but love for lack of order, thrill and first for godly strength, Euron took many women as salt wives and concubines, he sold women and children as slaves, and tortured feared sorcerers in the world, such as shadowbinders and warlocks. He got rich by paying the iron price, stealing unique fortunes of the south and the further east. In the sixth book, Euron wears a unique and real Valyrian armor of Valyrian steel, suggesting that his experience in Valyria is likely real, much to everybody's shock.
Euron claims to once have owned a dragon's egg, but supposedly tossed it into the sea during a "foul mood."
A Clash of Kings[]
When Theon Greyjoy returns to Pyke to meet his father again, he notes that his uncle Euron's ship, Silence, is not in the fleet gathered at Lordsport. Theon is confident about his claim as Balon's heir, as he thinks the other members of House Greyjoy are not a problem for him: Euron has been missing for years and might be dead in some foreign sea, Victarion is considered stupid but obedient, Aeron is a priest who only cares about serving the Drowned God, and Asha is a woman, and the Iron Islands never had a woman ruling them.
A Storm of Swords[]
| “ | Euron Greyjoy is no man’s notion of a king, if half of what Theon said of him was true. | „ |
| ~ Robb Stark to his bannermen. |
During the War of the Five Kings the exiled Euron is still sailing in the seas of the continent of Essos. Shortly after Daenerys Targaryen leaves Qarth, Pyat Pree and other three fellow warlocks start searching for her, heading for the Free City of Pentos. It is possible that Pyat Pree and his companions didn't make it to Pentos as they have been captured by Euron Greyjoy. The exiled pirate says he captured a certain galleass out of Qarth, containing four warlocks. One of them threatened Euron, resulting in Euron killing the sorcerer and feeding him to the three starving remaining warlocks, who are terrorized of Euron, himself a sorcerer. It is still unknown if Pyat was the one killed by Euron or just one of his three other companions. The other warlocks are reportedly coaching Euron in black magic.
Balon Greyjoy is murdered by a Faceless Man hired by Euron. After the death of his brother Balon, who fell into the sea from a rope-bridge during a storm, Euron returned to Pyke, sailing at Lordsport in a mere day after his brother's death, surprising everyone, and claiming the Seastone Chair as the new king. From the castle of Pyke he sends ravens to all the lords and "kings" of the Iron Islands, commanding them to swear fealty to him. When Lord Sawane Botley objected and claimed that Theon was the true king (only by the laws of the green lands and not from the old ironborn ways), Euron had him drowned in a cask of seawater and gave his lands to Sawane's brother, Germund, instead of son. Aeron believes the Storm God, the enemy of the Drowned God, has sent Euron to destroy the servants of the ocean. Euron instead is godless and believes only in his own ego, thinking himself as both the storm and drowned god. Aeron plans a Kingsmoot in order to stop Euron and put Victarion as the new King of the Isles and the North.
A prophecy Arya Stark heard from the Ghost of High Heart referred to "a man without a face, waiting on a bridge that swayed and swung. On his shoulder perched a drowned crow with seaweed hanging from his wings." This prophecy shows that Euron hired a Faceless Man to murder his brother.
When Robb Stark receives news about Euron claiming the Seastone Chair, Lord Greatjon Umber is amused by Balon's death, but Robb is actually worried and thinks about the stories Theon told him about his infamous pirate uncle, and how everyone in the world is terrified by the sight of his black and red ominous galley, the Silence. He states that Euron is no man's notion to be a king and thinks Asha and Victarion will abandon their posts at Moat Cailin and Deepwood Motte to return on the Iron Islands to take the throne from Euron, which is exactly what they do.
A Feast for Crows[]
Aeron Greyjoy, Euron's youngest brother, learns of Euron claiming the Seastone Chair and goes about trying to depose him, believing Euron to be godless, and that no godless man may sit the Seastone Chair. He and many others question the timing of Euron's return, finding it suspicious that Euron returned to Pyke a day after Balon's death, when he was supposedly far away reaving at sea. The Iron Islands are left in tension and chaotic state. A short time after Balon's death, Robb Stark and Joffrey Baratheon die as well, both murdered during wedding feasts, leaving Stannis Baratheon the only original monarch of the Five Kings.
On the island of Old Wyk, Aeron Damphair calls a Kingsmoot, an ancient tradition with the purpose of choosing a new king, since Balon's succession was unclear. On Nagga's Hill, many candidates make their claims at the Kingsmoot, chief among them are: Princess Asha Greyjoy, Balon's daughter and preferred heir, accompanied by her champions Qarl the Maid, Tristifer Botley, and Ser Harras Harlaw - Victarion Greyjoy, the Lord Camptain of the Iron Fleet, with his champions Nute the Barber, Ralf the Limper, and Red Ralf Stonehouse - Lord Gylbert Farwynd, with his three sons, Gyles, Ygon, and Yohn - Erik Ironmaker, with three of his grandsons, Dagon, Thormor, and Urek - Lord Dunstan Drumm, with Andrik the Unsmiling and Drumm's sons, Donnel and Denys - Euron Greyjoy, with his tongueless mute men from the Silence, among them 3 boys of his countless bastard children.
When Victarion sees Euron, he finds him unnaturally young and unchanged, exactly the same look he had years ago, his hair as black as night, while Victarion, younger brother, has hair flecked with grey. Asha openly accuses Euron of murdering her father, but it cannot be proven. Euron is so brazen that he doesn't really care how suspicious it appeared to return immediately the day after his brother's death and then claim his throne, and dismisses Asha's accusations nonchalantly. It is unclear whether other ironborn suspect Euron too: nearly everyone at the Iron Islands and Westeros in general, including Aeron and Victarion, simply accept Balon's death as a fact, and the cause of death does not matter to them. However, Aeron believe that the Storm God himself killed Balon for "making the Iron Islands great again", in his own words. At the time, storms and heavy rains were raging in the west, when Robb Stark was still travelling to the Twins, and for Aeron's perspective Euron the Crow's Eye is the Storm God's tool to destroy the Drowned God's people, so it's pretty much the same enemy and Balon's murderer overall for Aeron. Asha instead claims that Euron is not afraid to be seen as a kinslayer because if someone says that he is, he'd simply murder one of his own sons just to prove he is not (and she is also more right than she thinks).
Lord Farwynd promises the ironborn that if he becomes king he will lead them to a new bountiful land across the Sunset Sea, as Nymeria did with her ten thousand ships. His gifts are whale bone, sealskins and bronze. Erik's gifts are silver, bronze and a few steel daggers and blades. Asha humiliates him by asking him to stand on his own two feet, which he is unable to do. Dunstan's speech starts well but he talks too long and soon loses the interest of the crowd. His gifts of bronze do not win them back to him. Victarion is well received and his gifts of gold, silver and gems add to his supporters. Aeron hopes to crown Victarion, whom he knows will continue Balon's traditional and conservative ways. Asha does better than anyone expected. Unlike the rest, her gifts are cobblestones, pinecones and turnips. She shows the ironborn these gifts to demonstrate that this is what they have won so far by fighting the North, losing fathers and sons for these "treasures". She offers them a chance for land, peace and victory. She wins much support, but many more support Victarion and it looks like there is about to be a riot between their followers.
Euron silences everyone and beats them all by showing the Ironborn this Dragon Horn, a legendary artifact with the ability to control dragons. He has one of his men, Cragorn, blow the dragon horn, which silences the fighting. Euron then steps forward and claims the horn they heard can bind dragons to his will, and that he knows where to locate three of the creatures. He promises to use them so the ironborn can conquer all of Westeros. His men then pour forward his gifts, a wealth of treasure. Immediately most supporters of Asha and Victarion switch their support to Euron. Euron is elected the new Iron King. However, the election could be declared unlawful should the survival of Prince Theon Greyjoy became known to the ironborn, as he was absent to put forth his candidacy. Euron tells them he knows where to find three living dragons, and will use them to conquer all of Westeros for the Ironborn.
While Euron wins, there are still some that oppose him. His brother Aeron swears to find a way to depose him, as does his niece Asha, and Lord Baelor Blacktyde flat out refuses to accept Euron as king, which leads to Euron killing him by cutting him into seven pieces as a mockery, as Baelor worshipped the Seven. Blacktyde's saying about the Greyjoy brothers' madness becomes a common saying among the ironborn. Euron is the acknowledged heir to the Seastone Chair and styled King Euron III, Son of the Sea Wind and King of the Isles and the North. After being crowned, Euron reveals his new personal sigil: a red eye (with a black pupil), which is surmounted by a black crown being held aloft by two black crows - wordplay on his nickname, "Crow's Eye". Euron wears the traditional ancient Driftwood Crown, but he plans to change it with a new personal crown representing himself only.
Euron manages to become not only the new king of the ironborn, but also manages to become the new great savior of the Iron Islands, building a cult around him by both his own foreign men and ironborn who glorified him as a demigod sorcerer who will take over the world and remake it. Other ironmen are terrified by his presence and believe he will bring doom and destruction to the Iron Islands. The Drowned Men openly oppose him and deem him as the incarnation of evil, under the Storm God's service.
Aeron disappears the next day after the kingsmoot, planning to turn the people against Euron, and no one knows what happened to him. At the same time, Asha leaves the Iron Islands with her lover Qarl the Maid, Tristifer Botley and the rest of her friends and fleet, heading back to Deepwood Motte. With her also Lady Sybelle Glover, while the rest of the Glover family well-treated captives remain at Ten Towers, the seat of House Harlaw, Asha's maternal family, because Asha thought the Glover children might not survive another cold sea travel. Before leaving the Iron Islands for his war, Euron manages to neutralize Asha anyway by marrying her to Lord Erik Ironmaker, also named by Euron Lord Steward of the Iron Islands and Castellan of Pyke. As for his thought dead nephew Theon, the Bastard of Bolton, Ramsay Bolton has already made Euron a favor by breaking Theon at the Dreadfort. Euron and Victarion sail with the Iron Fleet to the Reach, with them Lord Rodrik Harlaw, Lord Dunstan Drumm, and many other Ironborn nobles.
Later during the journey to the Reach, Cragorn, the man who blew the dragon horn for Euron, suddenly died. When a maester cut his body open his lungs were black and charred.
Euron leads the Ironborn in a series of raids against the fertile Reach. With most of the Reach's armies and naval forces busy elsewhere, mainly against Stannis Baratheon's castles, the raids are a great success. Euron captures the four Shield Islands after luring their fleet away, which gives the Ironmen a base for attacks on Highgarden and Oldtown, the two greatest areas in the Reach. Victarion personally led both naval battles and invasions of the islands with his fierce strength, however Euron takes all the credits to himself, much to Victarion's anger. Euron uses this as an opportunity to weaken his actual and potential rivals, giving their strongest supporters lands and holdings on the Isles. He names Ser Harras Harlaw, Andrik the Unsmiling, Maron Volmark, and Nute the Barber, all of them supporters of rival ironmen kings, the new Lords of the seats of the Shield Islands.
It is whispered that Euron and his warlocks offered a blood sacrifice to appease the Storm God. This allowed his ships to sail far to the west in the Sunset Sea, rather than hugging the coast of Westeros, thereby enabling the taking of the Shields to be a surprise. Euron knows well that eventually the Tyrells will retake the Shield Islands back, but does not care, nor is he worried that he will blamed for that: he is certain that the ironborn will only remember his victory taking the islands and his generosity of giving them to the new-appointed ironborn lords, but will blame their loss on the Houses that try to hold them. He no longer needs those islands, because their capture has fulfilled its purpose in his plan. The only one who sees through Euron's manipulation is Balon's brother-in-law, Rodrik Harlaw, who is a smart bookworm - a rare sight among the ironborn.
While landing at Lord Hewett's Town, Rodrik Harlaw and Dunstan Drumm are worried that Euron's little conquest will bring ruin down upon them, as surely Highgarden will respond and the Tyrell's wrath will come; Rodrik tries to warn Victarion about Euron's cunning and manipulation, but Victarion does not listen, just like the other warriors. Euron is strongly annoyed by the fears of the ironborn men, unlike his mutes, thinking how none of them is a true Ironborn, like their ancestors used to be, before Aegon's Conquest.
Euron shames Lord Humfrey Hewett and his wife and daughters. Lord Humfrey is muzzled and tied to his chair during the feast, his wife and daughters forced to serve the unwanted guests. His 17 years old bastard daughter Falia becomes Euron's lover and she suggests the idea to make Lord Humfrey's wife and female relatives serve naked before his eyes, implying perhaps she received poor treatment from the Hewetts. After tearing down Hewett tapestries, Lucas Codd rapes one of Humfrey's daughters. Euron gathers the ironborn captains and lords, and announces that the next day they will sail east, to bring the dragons; they will obtain enough money to buy provisions by selling slaves in Lys and Volantis. Rodrik "the Reader" Harlaw objects: he states that autumn is ending and winter is near; the way is strewn with dangers and enemies; they will find it difficult to restock provisions; at best, third of the ships will reach the far side of the narrow sea; and that ironborn are not slavers. Euron tries to dismiss those objections lightly, but the Reader's defiance encourages the other present ironborn, and they raise a series of objections against Euron's plan - mainly that the Reach is closer and richer. Rather than answer the captains, Euron leaves the room. The naive Victarion muses gloatingly that Euron is a coward, and his new position is not as secure as he thinks. Euron takes his new lover Falia upstairs to Lord Hewett's chambers. When Victarion Greyjoy is summoned to Euron, he spots Falia sleeping naked on the bed.
Euron is irritated by the ironborn's lack of ambition, but he also knows that Rodrik is correct. He changes plan: he dispaches the Iron Fleet and gives Victarion command to half of it; Victarion is also given the Dragon Horn and Euron's tongueless salt wife, the "dusky woman", and also a maester, Kerwin. Euron commands his brother to sail to Slaver's Bay with half of the fleet, go to Meereen and find Daenerys Targaryen, then bring her to Euron so he can wed her, and use the Dragon Horn to control her dragons. Euron will continue to lead the other half of the fleet in their military campaign against the Reach. Victarion agrees only because he plans to steal Daenerys from Euron as revenge, and he is also weary of the Dragon Horn and the dusky woman, since they are both Euron's gift. Euron also tells Victarion a story: a Myrish wizard swore he could hatch a dragon egg if Euron gave him a year and all the gold that he required; when Euron grew bored with his excuses, he slew the wizard, and threw the egg in the sea during one of his dark moods. It is unknown if the story is true, but the last part is unlikely, since dragon's eggs are priceless, hatched or not.
The lords sworn to Highgarden who escaped destruction on the islands or the Mander retreat and wait for reinforcement from Highgarden. The peasant women and children whose husbands and fathers died during the battle are sold into slavery instead of thralldom by the ironborn. King's Landing receives the reports which say Lord Hewett and Lord Chester are among the slain. Lord Grimm remains held captive in his own castle, and Lord Serry has managed to flee to Highgarden with the remnants of his fleet. Ser Willas Tyrell sends word to House Hightower at Oldtown, which is suspected to be Euron's next target, and Ser Garlan Tyrell is forced to abandon his siege of Brightwater Keep against the Florents and begins raising men to retake the Shields. Euron sends his ships to raid up the Arbor, the Whispering Sound and the Redwyne Straits and they are going as far as threatening Oldtown.
While travelling in the Reach on their way to Oldtown, Samwell Tarly, Gilly, and the crew of their ship pass the Redwyne Straits, after facing trouble with the Ironmen: twice they evade and once drive off the longships of the Ironmen before they reach Oldtown, where Lord Leyton Hightower is consulting old books with his eldest daughter to find some magic to defeat Euron.
The ironborn now control many of the outlying towns and fortifications surrounding the Arbor and along the Mander nearly to Oldtown, having sacked Ryamsport and taken Vinetown and Starfish Harbor. They have also been raiding ships in the area. The Tyrell brothers, Willas and Garlan, are in need of Paxter Redwyne's fleet, who's still besieging Dragonstone and Dowager Queen Cersei Lannister refuses to allow the fleet to return to the Reach until Stannis's seat is taken, hoping the Ironborn will cause damage in the Reach with Paxter's absence. In fact Cersei assists Euron inadvertently, by refusing to send the Redwyne fleet back as long as Dragonstone has not been conquered, because King Stannis I is regaining power in the North. It is just an excuse, as she secretly gloats over the Tyrells' distress, failing as usual to consider the consequences of her decision. Thanks to Cersei, the ironborn had enough time to turn the Arbor and its neighboring islands into bases for raiding.
Thanks to the reckless intervention of Ser Loras Tyrell, Dragonstone falls, with Stannis's men causing most deaths than Tyrells, and the Redwyne fleet can finally sail back to the Arbor. Meanwhile, Lord Leyton Hightower sends Oldtown's fleet south of out of Whispering Sound under the command of his sons to attack the ironborn fleet in the rear, hoping this will force them to divide their forces between two fronts. Euron and his subordinates are aware of the approach of both fleets, but they seem unconcerned.
A Dance with Dragons[]
| “ | Euron's gifts are poisoned. | „ |
| ~ Thoughts of Victarion Greyjoy |
Euron styles himself King of the Isles and the North. He arranges a forced marriage between Erik Ironmaker and Asha, now back to Deepwood Motte with Robett Glover's wife, not complaining about her marriage with Erik and even admitting it was a smart political move from her uncle. Aeron Damphair is still missing, but his Drowned Men priests claim that he is hiding on Great Wyk and will soon come forth to call down the wrath of the Drowned God on Euron Crow's Eye and his minions. The Lord Steward of the Iron Islands, Erik Ironmaker, is seraching for Aeron by hunting down the Drowned Men for Euron. Tristifer Botley tells Asha he suspects that Euron slit Damphair's throat and that Erik's search is just to make the ironborn believe the priest escaped.
Euron and Victarion never sent reinforcements for Moat Cailin as promised, while the fortress, during the war, has been attacked multiple times by guerrilla attacks from the crannogmen of the Neck. By the time the northern forces led by Ramsay Bolton and Theon Greyjoy arrive to liberate the fortress, the garrison of Moat Cailin has only 67 ironborn, led by the wounded Ralf Kenning. During the siege the Ryswells and Dustins burn the remaining ironborn ships in the Fever River. Forces led by Hother Umber attack the ironmen, but they manage survive 3 northern attacks, much to the northmen surprise. Ramsay sends Reek "disguised" as Theon Greyjoy to offer peace to the ironmen. The garrison has been weakened by poisoned arrows and contaminated water. The cellar's vaults have flooded, so corpses are now left where they fall. All of the ironborn within the Children's Tower have died, save two cannibals eating the corpses, who were then executed by Dagon Codd.
Ralf Kenning is now incapacitated and near death on part of a poisoned arrow. Theon puts him out of his misery by slitting his throat before offering his terms to the leaderless remaining ironborn. Dagon Codd distruts the Boltons and refuses, but Adrack Humble kills him with an axe and accepts to surrender. Before allowing them to travel to the Stony Shore to seek transport, however, Ramsay reneges on the deal and has all 63 of the remaining ironborn flayed alive. King Euron loses Moat Cailin to the northerners and Roose Bolton is finally able to travel back to the north, with his host. Chronologically, these events occur while the ironborn are still preparing their next move and while Stannis is still planning his moves at Castle Black. Euron is not bothered at all by the losses since he plans to take Westeros with the dragons. Later, Asha, is captured by Stannis after liberating Deepwood Motte from the Ironborn, while Dagmer Cleftjaw keeps holding Torrhen's Square along with other Ironmen leaders struggling to hold few castles and smaller towns in the North.
At Volantis, Red Priest, High Priest Benerro warns Jorah Mormont and Tyrion Lannister, he claims that "Daenerys stands in peril. The dark eye has fallen upon her, and the minions of night are plotting her destruction." - this despite Daenerys having 3 growing dragons.
At the Summer Sea, aboard the Selaesori Qhoran, a ship headed to Qarth, the Red Priest Moqorro sees many threats to Daenerys Targaryen in the flames and tells Tyrion Lannister that he has saw in the flames the shadows of many people that are seeking Daenerys. One of them was a tall and twisted thing with one black eye and ten long arms (kraken body), sailing on a sea of blood, who seeks Daenerys more than anyone else. The shadow's description matches with Euron Greyjoy. Moqorro claims the one that casts the most danger is this one who looks like Euron. In her dreams, Daenerys is met by Quaithe, a sorceress from Asshai that she first met in Qarth, and warns her to beware of her many enemies, especially the houses Greyjoy and Martell.
Euron's brother Victarion departs for Meereen. Though Victarion is known for being loyal to a fault, his hatred for his brother makes him entertain thoughts of trechery. Victarion again remembers that "Euron's gifts are poisoned" when he hears the red priest Moqorro state that those who blow the horn die. He plans to use slaves to blow the Dragon Horn, since if Victarion were to blow it himself, he would die, in order to take Daenerys and her dragons for himself. Euron managed to corrupt and make the ironborn worse, as they now engage in slavery and sorcery, as well as more inhuman torture. Victarion himself started to act like his hated brother, burning people alive or drowning them as sacrifices to R'hllor and the Drowned God, in order to assure himself victory and a successful journey to Slaver's Bay. Victarion and the Red Priest Moqorro are on their way to meet Daenerys.
In fact it is too much suspicious that Euron, who surely knows how much Victarion hates him, would give his brother so much freedom of actin. There are, in fact, subtle hints that Victarion is being manipulated by Euron, in a way he cannot imagine, being already simple-minded on his own: the Red Priest Moqorro warns Victarion that "you come striding through the flames stern and fierce, your great axe dripping blood, blind to the tentacles that grasp you at wrist and neck and ankle, the black strings that make you dance".
Paxter Redwyne and most of his fleet are sailing to the Reach, preparing to fight Euron's fleet and the usurping ironmen. Mace Tyrell is confident he will defeat them. The rest of the fleet remains at Dragonstone and Storm's End.
The Winds of Winter[]
| “ | Godless? Why, Aeron, I am the godliest man ever to raise sail! You serve one god, Damphair, but I have served ten thousand. From Ib to Asshai, when men see my sails, they pray. | „ |
| ~ Euron to Aeron Greyjoy. |
During the journey to Slaver's Bay, Victarion's fleet takes by force every ship they meet and allow the survivors to join them and work as servants. The Iron Fleet arrives during the Second Siege of Meereen and starts fighting on Daenerys' side against the Slaver Alliance.
Winter has come. While Asha and Theon Greyjoy are now captives of Stannis Baratheon in the North, who is now fighting the houses Bolton, Frey, and Manderly. Aeron Greyjoy is still missing, and many think he's been murdered by Euron. Euron and his fleet are still invading the Reach, while the stormlands are being invaded by the Golden Company under a new rival king claiming to be Aegon VI Targaryen.
After the kingsmoot Aeron Greyjoy was captured by Euron's mutes and chained up in the hold of the Silence. Euron had his brother beaten by his mutes and forces him to drink Shade of the Evening and he has numerous nightmarish visions. Aeron remembers how Euron used to sexually abuse him and his brother Urri when they were children. One of the many visions Aeron sees after is forced to drink shade of the evening, is of Euron sitting on the Iron Throne, looking more squid than a human; there are gods of many religions impaled on the swords around the throne and beside him stands a shadow in woman’s form, long and tall and terrible, her hands alive with pale white fire (perhaps Cersei or Daenerys).
Euron and his men take Oakenshield, an island of the Reach who shares the same name with a castle at the Wall. There Euron's lover salt wife, Falia Flowers, feeds Aeron during his imprisonment. Due to Euron's role in humiliating her estranged family and showering her with silk and jewels, Falia is greatly enamored with Euron. Aeron asks her to tell Victarion to rescue him, but she says he has already departed the island. She reveals that she is pregnant with Euron's child and claims Euron will favor her and her sons before his other salt wives and bastard children, as well as that Daenerys Targaryen will be Euron's rock wife and that Falia will be like a sister to Daenerys. Knowing she's a victim of Euron's games, Aeron warns her to flee, saying Euron will hurt her and kill her, but she is unconvinced and refuses, stating Euron loves her and gives her silks and jewels.
Later, Euron visits Aeron again and the latter curses him, stating if Euron kills him he will be a kinslayer. Euron mocks his faith, laughs, and confesses to the astonished Aeron he has already killed three of his brothers and the gods had not cursed him yet: as a child he first killed Harlon, later in life Euron slew his half brother Robin and Euron finally admits he could not kill Balon personally, but he was still killed on his orders. Euron taunts Aeron, reminding him about the experiences of sexual abuse with him and Urrigon. He keeps torturing psychologically his brother: the shade of the evening gave Aeron terrifying disturbing visions and hallucinations that almost broke him to the point of making him questioning his faith in the Drowned God. plays with his brother's mind and fears, and admits he does not intend to hold the Shields. It was all strategy: attacking them opened the Mander to their raiding ships, and giving them away allows Euron to appear open handed. The ironborn will remember his victory taking the islands, but will blame their loss on the new ironborn Houses that try to hold them instead of their king. Euron explains to Aeron that the red comet happened back in the begin of Autumn, caused by the return of the dragons and magic in the west, signs the end of times and the world as they know it: the world will be broken and destroyed, then Euron claims he will remake it as the new only God to replace the old. He offers Aeron the chance to be his priest, who refuses. Aeron dares Euron to kill him, but Euron refuses, saying enigmatically that he needs Aeron alive at present.
Later Paxter Redwyne is coming with the Redwyne Fleet, simultaneously with the Hightower fleet sailing to destroy Euron at the Arbor. Aeron is brought up from the hold of the Silence as Euron sails to meet the Redwyne Fleet to a castle island near the Arbor. Several of Euron's lieutenants; the Red Oarsman, Left-Hand Lucas Codd, Torwold Browntooth, Rogin Salt-Beard, Jon Myre and Stonehand are all present at the castle hall feasting as a dozen bodies of the castles former occupants hang from the rafters. All take turns mocking Aeron.
Euron has cast aside the driftwood crown and had a new one forged, the new crown is iron, the points fashioned to look like shark teeth. Aeron is shocked to see Euron also wearing a Valyrian armor made of actual Valyrian steel, something that no one else in the Seven kingdoms possesses and that such armor would be worth a kingdoms fortune. The revelation dawns on Aeron that Euron has indeed been to the infamous ruins of Valyria, which Aeron believes has driven Euron mad (at least madder than before, if he believes that). Euron reveals other prisoners, who are captured and tortured priests from the Faith of the Seven, a Red Priest, Warlocks of Qarth. Euron "stole" their faiths. Aeron does his best to maintain his faith, but the torture and abuse slowly takes its toll. Euron orders Aeron tied naked to the prow of the Silence as he sails to meet the Redwyne Fleet. Not wanting his brother to be alone, Euron has his now pregnant lover Falia Flowers tied next to Aeron, naked, bloody tears on her face, her tongue cut out.
Euron is currently preparing to attack Oldtown, one of the greatest cities of Westeros. It is believed he might planning to defeat the Redwyne and Hightower fleets with sorcery, by sacrifing Aeron, Falia and the other priests and warlocks to make his spell. As of now, Westeros is in deep crisis, unprepared for winter, and facing a war between 4 monarchs - Euron, Tommen, Stannis, and Aegon - with Daenerys planning to join as well. Euron's real ultimate goal still remains unclear.
Game of Thrones[]
In season 1, Tyrion Lannister tells Theon Greyjoy about his memories of witnessing the Raid on Lannisport back during the Greyjoy Rebellion, commanded by Euron. Tyrion says the raid was caused by Theon's uncles, hinting that Aeron Greyjoy was in command as well (unless Victarion existed in the TV series as well, but died or disappeared). Later Lord Eddard Stark reminds Lord Renly Baratheon how the Iron Fleet could only be destroyed by Lord Stannis Baratheon, who gave Euron his only life defeat.
In season 6 Euron Greyjoy returns to the Iron Islands following the War of the Five Kings, introduced in Season 6's second episode "Home". He arrives during a violent storm. Euron confronts his brother, King Balon, on a rope bridge between the two of Pyke's towers, as buffed by wind and rain. Balon orders Euron to step aside for "his king", not knowing who the hooded figure is. Euron sarcastically asks Balon if he hasn't done that in the past years. Balon says he assumed Euron would be dead by now, rotting under some foreign sea. Euron responds with the Ironborn traditional words: "What is dead may never die". When Balon accuses Euron of mocking the Drowned God, he retorts that he is the Drowned God: from Oldtown to Qarth, whenever man see his sails, they pray. Balon mocks Euron for losing his senses during a storm in such a manner that his crew had to tie him to the mast to stop him from jumping overboard. Euron outright claims that he is the storm, taunting his brother that he is old and that it's time to move aside and let another one rule. Realizing that Euron has come to kill him, Balon attacks him with a knife, slashing his left cheek, but Euron overpowers him and throws him off the bridge to his death.
Euron later appears at the kingsmoot, just as his niece, Yara (TV series counterpart of Asha), is about to win and interrupts, making his own claim. He confronts Yara for claiming the Seastone Chair despite being a woman and mocks his nephew, Theon, for attacking Winterfell and becoming a eunuch. Yara, in turn, accuses him of murdering Balon and threatens to execute him when she becomes Queen. Euron admits murdering Balon and claims that his brother led the ironborn in two lost wars and apologizes to the Iron Captains for not killing him earlier, at which they nod and murmur. Theon points out that while Euron was raiding across the Known World, Yara was in the Iron Islands and planning to return them to their former glory, to which she states that she will rebuilt the Iron Fleet into the largest fleet the world has ever seen. Euron counters that in his travels, he found out about Daenerys Targaryen, who owns a large army and three large dragons, hates the lords of Westeros as much as the ironborn, and has no husband or ships, and that he is going to build the great Iron Fleet, intends to sail to Slaver's Bay and persuade Daenerys to help the ironborn take the Seven Kingdoms. Therefore, Euron is elected as the new King of the Iron Islands.
Later, Euron is baptized by being drowned into the sea by his brother, Aeron Greyjoy, while reciting a prayer. When he stops breathing, he is dragged out of the sea back into the ashore and awakes, coughing and spitting water. Euron is crowned King of the Iron Islands by Aeron, who places a driftwood crown on his head, and acclaimed by his new subjects. Euron's first order as King is to seek Yara and Theon to kill them, but finds out they had fleed the islands with their loyalists in the Iron Fleet's best ships. Then, Euron orders every ironborn to chop down every three and start building thousands ships to conquer Westeros.
As Yara and Theon have reached Meereen and made an alliance with Daenerys Targaryen before him and are now sailing to Westeros to join the war, Euron is invited to King's Landing by Queen Cersei Lannister in order to form an alliance. Euron then counters her with his own proposal and agrees to help Cersei to crush the rebellion in exchange for her marriage. Cersei initially declines, since he doesn't trust Euron. He then departs and promises to return with a priceless gift that would win over her heart.
During his departure, Euron unleashes a massive naval assault on Yara's fleet, who is currently escorting Ellaria Sand and the Dornish back to Sunspear on Daenerys' orders. Although Yara's ironborn manages to resist, they are overwhelmed by Euron's men, who destroy Yara's fleet. Amidst the chaos, Euron kills both Obara and Nymeria Sand while the rest of his men capture Ellaria and Tyene Sand. Yara engages Euron in combat, but loses, with the latter taking her hostage. Euron gleefully taunts Theon to attack him if he wants her sister back, but Theon, recalling the trauma suffered with Ramsay Bolton, panics as he watches Yara's men getting brutally slaughtered and mutilated by Euron's, and jumps overboard. Euron laughs at Theon's cowardice, and departs from the wreckage with Yara, Ellaria and Tyene as his prisoners. During the aftermath of the battle, Euron's men recruited the remaining Yara loyalists by cutting out their tongues.
Euron returns to King's Landing and is hailed as a hero for destroying Yara's fleet. He then brings Ellaria and Tyene to Cersei as the gift he promised. Cersei, impressed by Euron's capability, promises to reward him for his efforts by marrying him but only after the war has ended. Euron and Jaime have a brief discussion. Jaime mentions to Euron that if the decides to betray the Iron Throne, the people of King's Landing will be happy to see his head on spike. Euron counters Jaime's argument by mentioning that they only like severed heads as a whole before asking whether Cersei likes it rough or gentle. Euron then departs, having Yara chained as his personal pet. After leaving King's Landing, Euron sets sail west of Casterly Rock and with the help of the Iron Fleet, ambushes and destroys the remaining ships of Daenerys' fleet while the Unsullied are stranded.
Later Euron sailed his Iron Fleet back to King's Landing and took part at the parley in the Dragonpit with Daenerys and Jon Snow. He sits with Cersei, Jaime, and Hand of the Queen Qyburn. When Tyrion tries to begin the discussion, Euron interrupts him and taunts his nephew Theon. He warns that if Theon doesn't submit to him, he will kill Yara. Then he goes on provoking Tyrion and trying to raise obstilities. Euron's outbursts cause a silence between the rest of the attendants and Jaime and Cersei tell Euron to sit down or leave. The undead Ser Gregor Clegane prepares for a fight, but Euron decides to stay. After Sandor Clegane releases a wight from north of the Wall, Euron watches Jon Snow's demonstration on how to destroy it. He walks up to the wight and says to Cersei that out of the things he has ever seen, this is the only thing that truly terrifies him, and that he plans to sail home to the Iron Islands with the Iron Fleet. Before leaving, he advises Daenerys Targaryen to do the same on Dragonstone so that they are the only ones left after winter ends.
However, Cersei later privately reveals to Jaime that she and Euron had planned for the latter to pretend to abandon Cersei's cause (not that anyone dared to attack his fleet anyway) in front of both Daenerys, so that everyone would think he sailed back home (possibly explaining Euron's sudden act towards Tyrion and Theon, with Euron staying longer to make it seem more real). Euron is actually on his way to Essos to harbor the Golden Company to fight for Cersei, while they let the North and the Targaryens deal with the army of the dead alone.
In Season 8, Euron returns to King's Landing with the Golden Company. Cersei is so impressed she asks him what he wants in return, and he mentions he wants to spend the night with her, which request Cersei grants, albeit after noting that she would have lesser men killed for making such a request. He later returns to his flagship The Silence, where he has Yara tied up in the brig. He sits down with her and mockingly pretends to be friendly, even offering her water. He then mentions that the reason he keeps her alive or didn't cut out her tongue is because he would have nobody else to talk to on his ship, given that his entire crew are mutes. After he leaves Theon boards the ship and resques Yara, who sets out to take the Iron Islands back from Euron.
In Episode 4 Euron's fleet ambushes the Targaeryen fleet on their way to Kingsport. Using the new and improved Scorpions designed by Qyburn, they manage to kill Daenerys 's dragon Rhaegon and destroy several ships, killing men of Daenerys's troops and taking her advisor Missandei prisoner. He is present when the assembled Targaryen armies (Unsullied, Dothraki and Northmen) besiege King's Landing and attempt a parlay, and witnesses Gregor Clegane's beheading of Missandei.
In Episode 5 Daenerys launches a surpise attack on Euron's fleet using the sun as cover. His men are unable to shoot down the fast flying Drogon and he torches Euron's fleet, including the silence, destroying it utterly. Euron escapes by jumping overboard.
Euron later manages to drift to land where he encounters Jaime Lannister, and the two of them engage in combat, Euron not knowing (or caring) that Jaime came to save Cersei. Euron initially has the upper hand and inflicts several serious and potentially fatal wounds, but Jaime defeats him by stabbing him in the stomach with his sword. Defiant to the end, Euron mocks Jaime for having slept with Cersei and having successfully killed the Kingslayer before succumbing to his wounds.