House Greyjoy

House Greyjoy of Pyke claims descent from the Grey King of the Age of Heroes, a legendary figure who ruled the sea itself and took a mermaid for a wife. Their sigil is a golden kraken upon a black field, and their words are "We Do Not Sow," a declaration of their reaving heritage. In A Dance with Dragons, the house is in a state of profound disarray following the death of King Balon Greyjoy, whose fall from a bridge at Pyke during a storm left the Seastone Chair vacant and the Iron Islands without a clear leader.

The Kingsmoot and the Rise of Euron Crow's Eye

The succession crisis is resolved through a kingsmoot on Old Wyk, an ancient tradition where the captains and kings of the ironborn choose their ruler. Balon's daughter, Asha Greyjoy, puts forth her own claim, arguing for a new direction for the islands, but she is outmaneuvered by her uncle, Euron Crow's Eye. Euron, a notorious pirate and sorcerer who had been exiled for many years, returns with a dragon horn and a vision of conquest. He wins the crown by promising to lead the ironborn to glory with dragons, a promise that captivates the assembled captains. The kingsmoot effectively sidelines Asha and her brother Theon, who is a broken captive in the north, and sets the house on a collision course with the rest of Westeros.

The Fractured Paths of Balon's Children

The novel traces the separate, often tragic, journeys of Balon Greyjoy's three surviving children. Asha, having lost the kingsmoot, is forced to flee the Iron Islands to avoid Euron's wrath. She is married against her will to Erik Ironmaker, the Anvil-Breaker, as a political move by Euron to secure his rule. She later takes refuge at Deepwood Motte in the north, only to be captured by Stannis Baratheon's forces. As a prisoner, she is marched south through a brutal winter storm, her fate hanging in the balance as she becomes a pawn in Stannis's campaign against the Boltons. Theon, meanwhile, is a broken creature known as Reek, held captive and tortured by Ramsay Bolton. He is forced to participate in the farce of Ramsay's wedding to a false Arya Stark, a role that deepens his degradation. His eventual, desperate escape from Winterfell with the real Jeyne Poole is a rare act of defiance, but it leaves him a fugitive, delivered to Stannis's camp as a gift.

The Iron Captain's Quest

Balon's brother, Victarion Greyjoy, commands the Iron Fleet and is sent by Euron on a mission to Slaver's Bay to bring Daenerys Targaryen back to Westeros as Euron's bride. Victarion, however, harbors his own ambitions to claim the dragon queen for himself. His journey is marked by brutal storms, the loss of many ships, and the acquisition of a red priest, Moqorro, who heals his poisoned hand and becomes his advisor. Moqorro interprets the flames for Victarion, guiding him toward Meereen and promising him glory. Victarion's fleet grows as he captures slaver ships, and he becomes increasingly convinced that he is favored by both the Drowned God and the Lord of Light. His arrival off the coast of Meereen sets the stage for a direct confrontation with the forces besieging the city, positioning him as a wild card in the struggle for Daenerys's hand and the fate of Slaver's Bay.

The Old Way and the New

The central conflict within House Greyjoy in A Dance with Dragons is the tension between the Old Way of reaving and the need for a new path forward. Asha advocates for a more sustainable future, suggesting the colonization of the largely empty Sea Dragon Point, a plan that is dismissed by her more traditional countrymen. Euron's vision is a return to the Old Way on a grand, apocalyptic scale, using dragons to conquer all of Westeros. Victarion, a staunch traditionalist, is caught between his loyalty to his brother and his own desire for power and a queen. The house's internal divisions mirror the larger theme of a dying culture struggling to adapt to a changing world, with each member of the Greyjoy family embodying a different, often conflicting, response to this crisis. Their individual fates remain unresolved, their futures contingent on the outcomes of the wars in the north and in Slaver's Bay.