The Prince of Thorns

⛓Found⛓

MEEREEN GREAT PYRAMID SEASIDE - DAY

A ship is entering the harbor. Tyrion, Varys, Missandei, and Grey Worm are standing on the shore watching its approach.

GREY WORM: "You invite the enemy into our city?"

TYRION: "I did. As a clever man once told me, "We make peace with our enemies, not our friends."

Tyrion begins walking away. The others follow.

GREY WORM: "I don't make peace with the queen's enemies. I kill the queen's enemies."

TYRION: "Yes, that's the military approach. And how has that worked here in Meereen? I represent the diplomatic approach."

Tyrion and Varys begin ascending the stairs to the Great Pyramid.

MISSANDEI: "Our queen tried to make peace with the Masters and they tried to murder her."

Tyrion and Varys turn back to face Missandei and Grey Worm.

TYRION: "We enter these negotiations with open eyes. Trust me. My own recent experience with slavery has taught me the horrors of that institution."

MISSANDEI: "How many days were you a slave?"

Tyrion stammers.

TYRION: "Long enough to know."

MISSANDEI: "Not long enough to understand."

Tyrion and Varys proceed up the steps. Missandei and Grey Worm follow.

MEEREEN - COUNCIL CHAMBER

Tyrion, Varys, Missandei, and Grey Worm are sitting in attendance with the three masters, Yezzan Zo Qaggaz, Razdal Mo Eraz, and Belicho Paenymion.

YEZZAN: "I bought this dwarf for a single gold honor. And somehow, you've risen to the top of the Great Pyramid of Meereen. It's most impressive."

TYRION: "And now you speak for the Good Masters of Astapor. Here's to reversals of fortune."

RAZDAL: "We came here to meet the queen and instead we're greeted by a dwarf and a eunuch."

TYRION: "Let's make this simple, shall we? Tell me what you want."

BELICHO: "We want you to leave Slaver's Bay. Take your dragons and your mercenaries and go."

TYRION: "Queen Daenerys won't stay in Meereen forever. Her path takes her westward."

RAZDAL: "When we last met, I offered her ships so she could return to Westeros where she belongs. She refused them."

MISSANDEI: "She refused them because hundreds of thousands of men, women, and children still lived in chains."

RAZDAL: "As they have since the dawn of time."

GREY WORM: "Not anymore."

YEZZAN: "You think you're a free man now? You still follow orders. Just because your master has silver hair and tits doesn't mean she's not a master."

TYRION: "Friends, friends, friends, please."

Grey Worm stares intently at Yezzan.

TYRION: "There have always been those with wealth and power and those with nothing. That is the way of the world. I'm not here to change the way of the world."

YEZZAN: "Slavery is the way of our world."

TYRION: "You don't need slaves to make money. There haven't been slaves in Westeros for hundreds of years and I grew up richer than any of you. But our queen recognizes that she erred by abolishing slavery without providing a new system to replace it. So here is the queen's proposal. Slavery will never return to Meereen but she will give the other cities of Slaver's Bay time to adjust to the new order."

YEZZAN: "What does that mean?"

TYRION: "Instead of abolishing slavery overnight, we will give you seven years to end the practice."

The masters look at each other.

TYRION: "Slaveholders will be compensated for their losses, of course, at fair prices. In exchange, you will cut off your support for the Sons of the Harpy."

YEZZAN: "We do not support the Sons of the Harpy."

TYRION: "Fine, fine, but you will cut it off all the same. I do hope you accept, my friends. You will not receive a better offer."

He picks up a bell from the table beside him and rings it.

TYRION: "Let us sail on the tide of freedom instead of being drowned by it. And as a parting gift to our honored guests..."

Three women enter. Each one sits in the lap of one of the masters.

TYRION: "Give freedom a chance. See if it doesn't taste every bit as good as what came before."

He exits. Varys, Missandei, and Grey Worm follow.