SPOILERS from the book(s) preceding League of Dragons are unmarked.
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His Majesty's Dragon
- The climax of His Majesty's Dragon has two. Napoléon Bonaparte deserves one for having the sense to bypass the British command of the Channel outright via dragon-borne troop carriers while drawing off the experienced formations of the Aerial Corps down to Spain. As a result of it young Temeraire and his captain Laurence end up fighting a battle to fend off the landing that they cannot hope to win... then the former's breath weapon, the aptly named Divine Wind emerges.
- Laurence also gets one a little bit earlier when Hollin informs him Levitas is dying. Laurence goes down to the officers' club, frog-marches Rankin out the door, telling the admiral and other captains that "Captain Rankin begs to be excused", and orders Rankin to give Levitas every bit of praise he's ever deserved before he dies. Then, to cap it all off, he goes to Lenton and tells him he'd rather see a dragon dead than in Rankin's hands, and secures the new captaincy for Hollin, the former harness-tender.
- Lenton deserves a mention as well. He didn't have anything negative to say to Laurence about his actions. He just asked Laurence how it had gone and is in complete agreement about not wanting to give Rankin a dragon.
Throne of Jade
- Early on, Temeraire, Maximus, and Lily shatter an enemy formation with excellent teamwork: Maximus uses his sheer weight to slam through the enemy, who fall to the sides to try and a avoid him...only to be met with the Divine Wind to one side and Lily's deadly acid on the other
- When the sea serpent attacks the transport, Temeraire attacks it (after first trying to reason with it) and manages to kill it in an underwater duel. It's pretty awesome once you consider that dragons are very much creatures of the air, and he willingly tackles it underwater to protect the crew.
- When the Chinese prince's treachery is revealed, Temeraire and Lien begin a pretty epic duel. Temeraire is able to use his greater combat experience and dark coloration to handily take the upper hand against her.
Black Powder War
- Tharkay brings the ferals to help with the war: “I thought myself remarkably clever for the notion until I found myself crossing two continents with them; after the journey we have had, I am inclined to think it an act of grace that we have arrived.” Nice understatement, bucko.
- Laurence and Tharkay butt heads in Black Powder War, with Tharkay engaged in deliberately suspicious behavior out of a long-standing resentment for the way other Englishmen have treated him. Laurence finally confronts him on it, and Tharkay speaks bitterly of the constant racism brought on by his half-breed status. Laurence immediately offers an apology if he personally has given offense, and Tharkay grudgingly admits that Laurence hasn't. It's a manly discussion that begins their unshakeable friendship.
Empire of Ivory
- Lawrence's Screw the Rules, I'm Doing What's Right! decision to bring the cure to France, committing treason and the subsequent Screw the Money, I Have Rules! refusal to seek Napoleon's protection, choosing to return to England where he will, most likely, be hanged. Napoleon himself admires him for it and sends him back with an honour guard."Let the world see that France knows how to treat a man of honour."
- After Laurence and the others emerge from the jungle, they find the British in a fierce battle with the native tribes. Despite being weakened and underweight from his illness, the enemy dragons are still reluctant to close with Maximus, who's pretty much holding them back all on his own.
Victory of Eagles
- Admiral Jane Roland's entrance into the war council, covered in blood after she broke her sword into a French officer's chest.
- Jane again, bitching out Laurence for committing treason when all he had to do was slip the antidote to one of the French officers, instead of barging into Loch Laggan, stealing it, and landing Temeraire smack in the middle of the French lines.
- Temeraire coolly putting down a bully:"My ancestors were scholars in China when his were starving in pits."
- Lien takes out Nelson's entire fleet with one Divine Wind. Not awesome for the British, but badass all the same.
Tongues of Serpents
- Emily Roland holding off an advancing wave of Bunyips while Temeraire is trapped in quicksand and as the hardened convicts and older aviators scatter and run, armed with only a flintlock pistol and a saber.
Crucible of Gold
- Granby finally stands up to Iskierka. Definitely a wonderful moment for our resident Butt-Monkey, who does it with both firmness and sensitivity, and even more satisfying if you're one of the readers that finds her annoying.
- Temeraire manages to duplicate Lien's constructive-interference trick with the Divine Wind... but in air. Which leads to a single wave so powerful you can see it, which killed off five or six of the swarm of lightweights harassing them and scared the rest away.
Blood of Tyrants
- The unyielding samurai code of honor compels Kaneko to commit seppuku if Lawrence will not. Kaneko's young squire Junichiro spirits Lawrence away, saving his master's honor at the cost of his own.
League of Dragons
- Temeraire, Iskierka, and about thirty lightweights holding off hundreds of French dragons until reinforcements arrive, so the Prussian and Russian armies can escape.
- The sudden arrival of the Tswana in the decisive battle against Napoleon, employing a tactic so far unseen in any European theatre of war; without them, the battle would have been a defeat for the coalition, but with their intervention it turns into a rout against Napeoleon.
- Ning's one-dragon assault on Napoleon's mansion, displaying for the first time just what a crossbreed of a Kazilik and a Chinese Celestial is capable of. The answer is a reasonable impersonation of a Night Fury. And this is straight out of the egg.
