Isle of Cedars

The Isle of Cedars is a haunted remnant of the Valyrian Freehold's destruction, a place where the past's violence is etched into the landscape and the present's desperation is laid bare. For Victarion Greyjoy, it becomes the proving ground where his fleet's losses are counted, his own mortality is confronted, and a new, dangerous ally is forged.

Geography and History

The Isle of Cedars lies in the Summer Sea, a location that once supported the thriving cities of Velos and Ghozai. When the Doom came to Valyria, a wall of water three hundred feet high descended on the island, drowning hundreds of thousands and leaving only a handful of survivors. The palaces of cedar and pink marble that had made Velos famous vanished in a heartbeat, and the ancient brick walls and stepped pyramids of Ghozai suffered the same fate. By the time of the narrative, the island is a place of twisted trees, queer bright flowers, and shattered statues, its forests teeming with monkeys and its shores offering little but the ruins of a drowned civilization. Victarion Greyjoy, who chooses the island as the meeting point for his divided fleet, finds the hunting good but the atmosphere oppressive; his dreams there are dark and disturbing, and he wakes one morning with his mouth full of blood, taking it as a sign from the Drowned God that he must not linger.

The Iron Fleet's Rendezvous

Victarion had split his fleet of ninety-nine ships into three squadrons to cross the seas, ordering them to join up again off the southern tip of the Isle of Cedars. The storms that plagued the voyage scattered the ships badly; only forty-five of his own vessels arrived, along with fourteen of Ralf the Limper's and nine of Red Ralf Stonehouse's, for a total of fifty-four. To this number he added nine prizes taken on the seas, but the captured ships were cogs and fishing boats, not warships, and poor substitutes for the lost vessels of the Iron Fleet. Victarion waits for days, hoping for more stragglers, but the delays gnaw at him. The last ship to appear is Grief, arriving alone at daybreak with her black sails stark against the pale pink skies. The captain of Grief, a small, hairy man called the Vole, brings with him a prisoner: Moqorro, a red priest of R'hllor, whom his crew fished from the sea after his ship went down. Moqorro claims to have seen Victarion's death in the nightfires and offers to heal the festering wound on the captain's hand, a wound that has turned green and black and refuses to heal. Victarion, desperate and suspicious, accepts the priest's service, and Moqorro's subsequent ritual—involving a blade, a brazier, and terrible pain—leaves the captain's hand charred but stronger than before.

The Monkeys and the Boars

The island is overrun with monkeys, which Victarion forbids his men from bringing aboard ship, yet half the fleet becomes infested with them anyway. The creatures swing from spar to spar, chattering and flinging dung, and their antics amuse the crew but infuriate the captain. The boars are another matter: the biggest, blackest boars any of the ironborn have ever seen, along with plenty of squealing piglets in the brush, bold creatures that have no fear of man. The larders of the Iron Fleet fill with smoked hams, salted pork, and bacon from these hunts. The island also holds horrors lurking amongst the broken palaces and shattered statues of drowned Velos, and Victarion's dreams there are dark and disturbing, reinforcing his sense that the place is cursed.

Narrative Significance

The Isle of Cedars functions as a threshold between the long, storm-wracked voyage from Westeros and the final approach to Slaver's Bay. It is where Victarion takes stock of his diminished strength—fifty-four ships instead of ninety-nine—and where he makes the crucial decision to accept Moqorro's aid, a choice that binds him to the red god's fire magic and sets him on a collision course with the dragon queen. The island's ruined, haunted character mirrors the ironborn captain's own corroding body and mind, and the monkeys' chaotic presence underscores the disorder that has plagued his expedition. When the fleet finally departs, it leaves behind the Shark for repairs and sails with fifty-three ships, heading for Meereen and the confrontation that will define Victarion's fate.