Tattered Prince
The Tattered Prince is the commander of the Windblown, a free company of sellswords. His true name is never revealed; he is known only by his cloak, a ragged garment sewn from strips of cloth of many colors, each strip torn from the surcoat of a man he has slain. He is a Pentoshi nobleman by birth, soft-spoken and sad-eyed, with silver-grey hair and mail. When he was three-and-twenty, the magisters of Pentos chose him to be their new prince, hours after beheading their old prince. Instead of accepting the honor—and the risk of being ritually killed should a crop fail or a war be lost—he buckled on a sword, mounted his favorite horse, and fled to the Disputed Lands, never to return. He rode with the Second Sons, the Iron Shields, and the Maiden's Men before joining with five brothers-in-arms to form the Windblown. Of those six founders, only he survives.
Appearance and Demeanor
The Tattered Prince is an old man, past sixty, yet he still sits straight and tall in the high saddle, and his voice is strong enough to carry to every corner of a field. His hair and mail are silver-grey. His ragged cloak is made of twists of cloth of many colors—blue and grey and purple, red and gold and green, magenta and vermilion and cerulean—all faded by the sun. He is soft-spoken and sad-eyed, but his manner conceals a sharp, calculating mind. He is not given to boasting or bluster; his commands are delivered with a quiet authority that his men respect and fear.
Leadership and the Windblown
The Tattered Prince leads the Windblown with a mixture of discipline and pragmatism. He is known to be ruthless with deserters, having once cut off a man's foot, roasted it, and fed it to him before making him the camp cook. He keeps his own counsel and is not above using deception to achieve his ends. He is a shrewd judge of men and a master of the game of thrones as it is played amongst the free companies. He is not afraid to take risks, but he is also cautious, preferring to keep all roads open. When the Yunkai'i hire the Windblown to fight against Daenerys Targaryen, he sends a group of his Westerosi-born men, including the Dornish prince Quentyn Martell and his companions, on a feigned desertion to infiltrate the dragon queen's forces, a ruse he later reveals to have been his plan from the beginning.
Ambition and the Price of Pentos
The Tattered Prince's ultimate ambition is to return to Pentos, not as its doomed prince, but as its conqueror. This desire is the driving force behind his actions. When Quentyn Martell seeks his help to steal a dragon, the Tattered Prince refuses payment in gold and instead names his price: Pentos itself. He is willing to wait for his prize, suggesting that the city could be his when Daenerys Targaryen eventually marches for Westeros. This single-minded goal reveals a man who has spent a lifetime in exile, nursing a grievance and a plan for a spectacular return. His offer to the Dornishmen is a gamble, but it is one that aligns with his long-held dream.
Narrative Role and Significance
The Tattered Prince serves as a wildcard in the complex political landscape of Slaver's Bay. He is a mercenary leader of considerable skill and cunning, but his personal agenda makes him an unpredictable and dangerous ally. His presence in the story highlights the chaotic and self-interested nature of the sellsword companies that have flocked to the wars in Meereen. He is a figure of mystery and quiet menace, a man whose past is a legend and whose future plans could reshape the fate of a Free City. His ultimate fate is left uncertain, his grand scheme hanging in the balance as the narrative moves toward its climax.
