Palace of Love

The Palace of Love, called by the Rhoynar the Palace of Love but for a thousand years known as the Palace of Sorrow, is the vast, ruined palace of the festival city Chroyane, situated on the Upper Rhoyne within the fog-bound region called the Sorrows. Once the most beautiful and richest city on the river, it was destroyed in the wars between the Rhoynar and Valyria, and its ruins now lie desolate, overgrown, and haunted by the stone men—victims of the greyscale curse. The palace is a key landmark during Tyrion Lannister's journey downriver with the company of Griff and Young Griff, and its appearance triggers in Tyrion a profound memory of his lost wife Tysha and his father's murder.

Location and Description

The Palace of Love is a colossal ruin rising from the river, appearing as a massive, humped shape that Tyrion first takes for a hill or a colossal rock overgrown with moss and ferns. As the Shy Maid draws nearer, the shape resolves into a rotted wooden keep beside the water, slender spires (some snapped off like broken spears), roofless towers, and graceful buttresses, delicate arches, fluted columns, terraces, and bowers—all ruined, desolate, and fallen. The grey moss grows thickly, covering fallen stones in great mounds and bearding all the towers, while black vines creep in and out of windows, through doors and over archways, up the sides of high stone walls. The fog conceals three-quarters of the palace, but what is glimpsed is enough for Tyrion to know that this island fastness had been ten times the size of the Red Keep once and a hundred times more beautiful.

History and Significance

The Palace of Love was the Rhoynar name for the palace of Chroyane, the festival city where the streets were made of water and the houses made of gold. It was destroyed during the wars between the Rhoynar and the Valyrian dragonlords, when the waters rose and drowned the conquerors. The palace is now part of the Sorrows, a region of fog and decay where the stone men—those afflicted with the mortal form of greyscale—wander. The Bridge of Dream, a broken bridge where stone men shuffle aimlessly, connects the palace to the river's western bank. The palace's appearance triggers in Tyrion a painful memory of Tysha, his brief wife, and of his father's murder, as he reflects on the laughter and love that once filled the palace's gardens and halls.

Narrative Role

The Palace of Love serves as a pivotal landmark in Tyrion's journey, marking his entry into the most dangerous part of the Rhoyne. Its ruined beauty and tragic history mirror Tyrion's own sense of loss and despair. The palace's appearance also prompts the revelation of Young Griff's true identity as Aegon Targaryen, as the company passes through the Sorrows and encounters the stone men. The palace's name, the Palace of Sorrow, resonates with Tyrion's personal grief, and the fog and decay of the Sorrows reflect the moral and emotional decay of the world he inhabits.