Pentos

Pentos is one of the Nine Free Cities of Essos, a prosperous port city on the western coast of the continent, situated on the Bay of Pentos opposite the Stepstones. It is ruled by a prince selected from among its ancient merchant families, a ceremonial figurehead who presides over feasts and processions but whose throat is cut to appease the gods if a crop fails or a war is lost, after which a new prince is chosen from the forty families. The city's wealth derives from trade, and its laws, imposed by a treaty with Braavos a century before the events of the novel, forbid slavery within its walls, though the prohibition is circumvented in practice.

Tyrion's Arrival and Illyrio's Manse

Tyrion Lannister arrives in Pentos as a fugitive, smuggled into the city inside a wine cask by Varys's agents. He is delivered to the manse of Magister Illyrio Mopatis, a grotesquely fat merchant prince with a forked yellow beard and a taste for rich food and wine. Illyrio's estate is a walled compound with gardens, a marble pool, and a cellar stocked with wines from across the known world, including the private stock of Lord Runceford Redwyne. Tyrion is given a bath, clean clothes, and a feather bed, but he remains suspicious of his host, reflecting that "any friend of Varys the Spider is someone I will trust just as far as I can throw him." Illyrio's guards are eunuchs, loyal unto death, and the gates are guarded, making escape difficult.

The Conspiracy and the Dragon Queen

Illyrio reveals to Tyrion that he is part of a grand conspiracy to restore a Targaryen to the Iron Throne. He speaks of Daenerys Targaryen, the dragon queen who has conquered Astapor, Yunkai, and Meereen, and of a plan to send Tyrion and a sellsword named Griff to meet her. Illyrio explains that the Golden Company, a famed free company of exiles, is marching toward Volantis to join the cause. He claims his motives are partly altruistic—a desire to help a sweet young girl regain her birthright—but Tyrion suspects deeper, more profitable ambitions. Illyrio also recounts his long friendship with Varys, the Spider, describing how they met as young men in Pentos and built a network of spies and thieves together.

Departure and Significance

Tyrion departs Pentos by litter, traveling east along the old Valyrian road toward the Rhoyne River. Illyrio accompanies him part of the way, providing provisions and a final farewell feast before handing him over to Griff and his company on the riverboat Shy Maid. Pentos thus functions as the crucial staging ground for the Targaryen restoration plot, a place where the exiled conspirators gather resources, plan their moves, and send their agents eastward to meet Daenerys. The city's wealth and its position as a neutral Free City make it an ideal base for such machinations, and Illyrio's manse serves as a waystation for the key players in the drama.