So what's Dany's arrive-in-Westeros plan?

[assjfjgjsgjljljglgjfjsduar]

Yes she doesn't have one yet. But she's going to need one eventually.

So, what makes the most sense for her to do? Land in the capital, trumpets blazing? Go east (if she can, who the hell knows what's in that ocean) until she hits Casterly Rock? Drop by the Vale or Dragonstone? Arrive quietly and build up support in secret? Which families should she approach? Should she engage all of her soldiers immediately? Unleash the dragons or hold onto them?

It seems like a matter of location (where to land), style (balls-out or with some finesse), partnerships (who can she build an alliance with?) and overall strategy (how to proceed once she's arrived).

[The Knight of ...]

She thinks of herself as a female Aegon the Conqueror, so I'd imagine she'd try to echo him by going to King's Landing first. Tyrion might try to get her to go to Casterly Rock though, so he can make his claim and she can get a hold of all that sweet gold.

[Castel]

I imagine it's the same as Aegon's land and offer lands and lordships or fire and blood.

She should strike for King's Landing immediately and demand the surrender of the city, with a couple of dragons it's shouldn't be that difficult. Then simply send out ravens inviting all the lords to come and swear fealty to her and her dragons.

Roast those who don't come.

The biggest problem is making sure that she doesn't get killed by an arrow or something.

[Fire Eater]

If she knew about Aegon, and the truth about his identity than she would land someplace in the pro-Targ territory, possibly the Stormlands so she can contact with Martells, or land in someplace with no prepared army nearby, like Maidenpool or the Vale, which is untouched by the war, and Tyrion has a bone to pick. The dragons should bring some support to her from nearby lords like the clans of Crackclaw Point.

As for Stannis, she could convince him she is AA since she actually woke dragons from stone, and possibly offer him her hand in marriage, saying "If Aegon could take two women to wife why can't you?" to create an alliance.

She should bring the dragons to battle to be seen, as they will raise the morale of her army and decrease the morale of the enemy army. If decides to use them in battle she would be wise to keep them together, since they are still not yet full-grown.

[Lord Ben]

Land in KL, Dragons roast thousands of smallfolk because she spent their formative years fooling around with eunoch armies instead of training them. People forget their petty wars and throw out the Dothraki woman who wants to conquer them depite having never been there before.

[assjfjgjsgjljljglgjfjsduar]

Land in KL, Dragons roast thousands of smallfolk because she spent their formative years fooling around with eunoch armies instead of training them. People forget their petty wars and throw out the Dothraki woman who wants to conquer them depite having never been there before.

That might be hyperbole, but I am intrigued by the idea that she decides to copy Aegon I's model and lands in King's Landing, only for that to fail at first and for her to be repulsed. The idea of something working once and then not necessarily working again is a common theme in the story. I like the idea that lightning doesn't strike twice and that Dany can't rely on Aegon's strategy to work a second time — she has to actually do the work and figure out a plan for herself, because Xeroxing what her ancestor did won't work.

[Stanmore]

It's really difficult to say at this point since there's so many variables. How did she leave things in Meereen? What forces has she managed to bring with her? Does she still have all her dragons? Has she found riders for the other two? How deep into winter is her arrival? How has Aegon's rebellion been faring? What about Stannis? Is the Tyrell-Lanister alliance still holding? Has Dorne or the Vale finally been dragged into war?

I have heard it told that GRRM has said she'll arrive in Westeros in a way no one else has. If that's true it makes following the route of Aegon the Conqueror unlikely. Once we rule out all the ways that people have arrived in Westeros though I’m not sure what's left.

[Winterfellian]

I agree that she will probably think to emulate Aegon the conqueror but it will most certainly depend as who she has as an adviser at the moment. If for example is Tyrion, he wouldn't let her to stumble blindly into King's Landing without any guarantee for westerosi allies. Before ADWD the natural ally would have been Dorne, now am not so sure.

If she makes some kind of alliance with Vyctarion (and as far as I can see he is the only one with the ships to transport all her people and dragons) she might try the Iron Islands. Seeing the bad PR that the Ironmen enjoy this will probably cause more problems specially when Westeros will have such a shiny counterpart as Aegon even if he's a fake.

[Melq]

Danys arrival is something that is going to happen, GRRM set all the conditions in the last book for her. However I am thinking in two scenarios for her arrival:

- Arrival with a huge part of her army, after the battle of "Fire" at Mereen, there are enough ships, Victarion whos main goal is to bring her back willingly or not, and the Volantis and other free cities thousands of ships, all full of slaves that are just waiting for the right moment to start a rebellion.

- Arrival after being captured in the battle of "Fire" at Mereen by Victarion, I have been thinking of this battle for a while, everything seems set for Dany to win the battle, similar to Stannis siege at KL and we saw how it turned out, that's why I believe this is possible, the Hell Horn might change the odds, the Yunkish might be destroyed but Dany can be easily captured if Victarion can command the dragons.

In both scenarios I think she will go directly to KL because:

-The north will be at War or perhaps suffering with The Others&Winter.

-The Riverlands will be devasted and at war.

-The Westerlands is lacking of some real Lannister leaders, perhaps Euron might attack it too, in the past they could do it and sucess even with Tywin at the Rock, with the Mad Queen, no fleet, the "army" at Riverlands makes Westerlands open for an invasion.

- The Vale (Littlefinger) is well defended, ready for battle, and is waiting for Daenerys to bend the knee.

- The South ( Stormlands, The Reach) is a total mess,Stormlands being attacked by Aegon and Euron at the same time, The Tyrells are not really famous for their Military sucess.

- Dorne is well defended, ready for battle and waiting for either Dany or Aegon to bend the knee.

The conditions are set for her to Land directly at KL, Mace Tyrell and Tarly will flee to protect their lands or Varys can kill them as easily as he did with Pycelle and Kevan , Cersei on her madness wont even notice the arrival it until Dany enters the Throne Room. :cool4:

I believe the Houses will come to her and bend the knee, she has Dragons&Army and its backed up up by Ser Barristan, Lord Tyrion and possibly Lord Baelish.

[Sevumar]

I think it would be best for her to land in friendly territory, if there is any left by the time she gets there. Depending on how things go with Dorne or with Aegon, there may not be any friendly ports. As with most plans in the story, I don't think that we'll end up seeing hers make it very far before her boats are blown off course and events conspire to make carrying out a plan impossible. If she survives the landing, she's going to need to be flexible, smart, and open to alliances if she hopes to carry out any lasting conquests.

We don't know what forces and what transportation Dany will have available to her when she finally departs for Westeros. I imagine those will make a bigger impact on her eventual plans than just about anything else. This is going to be a situation where she's going to have to be willing to listen to her advisers - Barristan, Jorah, and Tyrion, people who know about Westerosi society and warfare. If she pulls the same routine as she did in Meereen, it's going to be a disaster.

[Wyman's Man]

I would land in the Westerlands, without Ser Kevan the Lannisters lack a leader in that area, I believe Daven is in charge and he is capable but with Tyrion she should be able to take Casterly Rock. She should try and make an alliance with the Vale and the North. I believe the Stormlands and Dorne will go to Aegon, setting us up for a confrontation there.

[Melq]

I would land in the Westerlands, without Ser Kevan the Lannisters lack a leader in that area, I believe Daven is in charge and he is capable but with Tyrion she should be able to take Casterly Rock. She should try and make an alliance with the Vale and the North. I believe the Stormlands and Dorne will go to Aegon, setting us up for a confrontation there.

This would be really good, but only possible if Dany is allied with the Ironborn, otherwise its very dangerous to land at Westerlands.

[Howling Mad]

Keep in mind that Daenerys has a very capable miliary advisor in Ser Barristan Selmy. If she listen's to him (big if) then she should be landing with a descent strategy in mind. The key will be accurate military intelligence about the current happenings in Westeros. Its possible that her original plan (e.g. KL) will be shifted (e.g. Vale) based on what's going on when she arrives. It is also possible that Daenerys invasion fleet could be attacked prior to her arrival by Euron's forces or pirates e.g. Salador San. An attack at sea could cost dearly unless she has absolute control of her airborn assets.

[Faint]

There are far too many variables to come up with some sort of intelligent answer to this question. My only thought on this issue is that she must confront both Stannis and Aegon. My instinct tells me that Stannis is the more important foe and will come after Aegon. Once I assume that, I assume that she will land below the Neck.

Beyond that . . .

Well, first let's look at the composition of her potential force and try to make some assumptions:

Dragons: She'll come with one or more dragons, maybe all three. I've no doubt all three will make it to Westeros but am unsure whether they will all come with her.

Ironborn: I'm assuming she is going to be coming with a large force of Ironborn -- that seems certain, one way or another. I suppose an argument can be made that she would only need their ships but, the fact is, the Unsullied are not sailors and she needs to go over water.

Unsullied: Here it gets more tricky. Does Daenerys take the Unsullied with her or does she leave them to safeguard whatever peace she's made in Slaver's Bay? Or does she leave the Dothraki to that end? Well, I'm going to assume she is at least taking some with her, a great deal actually.

Dothraki: I feel the Dothraki, along with their aversion to water, are simply not meant to go to Westeros. But I'm willing to listen to arguments to the contrary.

So there we are . . . where would Daenerys land a fleet of fifty or more ships carrying Ironborn and Unsullied with no alliances to speak of?

I'm kind of stuck on that point.

Here's another issue to think about: What would Daenerys assume about Aegon at this point? She already has enough reason to think him a fake and it looks like she is going to run into Tyrion and Moqorro soon. So where does that leave her?

[tze]

Well, from the perspective of someone like Dany, who we know enjoys symbolism . . . where better to land than the Usurper's home base? Smash Storm's End, the place she'll probably assume to be the heart of Baratheon power (and if Aegon's already taken it, then she can symbolically smash two Usurpers for the price of one!), then on to King's Landing.

She keeps pointing out that nickname of hers: Daenerys Stormborn. Could this perhaps be relevant to what happens to her when she lands? I'm reminded of the wise words of Ser Courtnay Penrose: "Bring on your storm, my lord--and recall, if you do, the name of this castle." I think she'll try to land her forces at Storm's End, probably against the strong advice of any Westerosi advisors she has left by that point, and her ignorance about Westerosi history and geography will come back to bite her. We know Storm's End overlooks the very aptly named Shipbreaker Bay. Much has been made of the Dothraki's fear of the sea, and Shipbreaker Bay would be their worst nightmare come true. I would not be surprised one bit if Dany decides to assault Storm's End, and at least a good portion of her ships end up getting smashed to pieces with all their forces drowned. The Stormborn/Storm's End dichotomy seems like the sort of thing that should have some future relevance to Dany's conquest, and certainly not in a positive way for her.

[assjfjgjsgjljljglgjfjsduar]

^ Interesting idea and a nice change of pace from the idea that she'll automatically choose to arrive in King's Landing. Also, I have to admit that I'm tickled by the idea of her trying to take Storm's End "from the usurpers" when no one's really cared about the damn place since Renly died. And Shipbreaker Bay just has a lovely ring to it.

[Faint]

It seems like a matter of location (where to land), style (balls-out or with some finesse), partnerships (who can she build an alliance with?) and overall strategy (how to proceed once she's arrived).

Well, I did have this thought: GRRM would not write a second sea battle in King's Landing to mirror the one he already wrote in ACoK. Even with dragons, it would just be somewhat of a repeat.

So I'm actually willing to dismiss King's Landing as a possibility from the get-go.

[Melq]

Keep in mind that Daenerys has a very capable miliary advisor in Ser Barristan Selmy. If she listen's to him (big if) then she should be landing with a descent strategy in mind. The key will be accurate military intelligence about the current happenings in Westeros. Its possible that her original plan (e.g. KL) will be shifted (e.g. Vale) based on what's going on when she arrives. It is also possible that Daenerys invasion fleet could be attacked prior to her arrival by Euron's forces or pirates e.g. Salador San. An attack at sea could cost dearly unless she has absolute control of her airborn assets.

Ser Barristan&Lord Tyrion can advise her to arrive at KL too, we know that Blackwater bay has no defense fleet, and its partially destroyed and probably non rebuilt by Cersei.

Why arrive outside walls to take KL if you can arrive inside by the sea? :)

[assjfjgjsgjljljglgjfjsduar]

Well, I did have this thought: GRRM would not write a second sea battle in King's Landing to mirror the one he already wrote in ACoK. Even with dragons, it would just be somewhat of a repeat. So I'm actually willing to dismiss King's Landing as a possibility from the get-go.

I actually agree. I think King's Landing is going to be ground zero for an eventual apocalypse — namely, someone unleashes all of that wildfire — but now is not the time.

[Wyman's Man]

I think Dorne is out of the question with the reception Prince Quentyn got in Meereen. The Vale's knights have not left their home and the Vale is well defended. Of course Dany has the "nuclear" option that is Dragons that could easily roast Littlefinger alive in the Eyrie. But I believe the Westerlands, depleted of Lannister forces would be the best point of landing. I'm still confused about the Ironborn story, of course Victarian arriving in Meereen with all those ships will be beneficial. But I don't know if Dany will make an alliance with either Victarian or Euron. The dragon horn and Euron are the big unknowns going into TWOW.