[TV Spoilers] What was Xaro's endgame?

[RoamingRonin]

Perhaps I missed something but it just doesn't make sense that neither Xaro nor Pyat ever thought to capture Dany along with her dragons. Did they ever need her to begin with? If she was so helpless (also: useless) without her dragons, just kill her and claim the dragons. Why offer her an opportunity to get them back?

And just what was Doreah needed for? Did Xaro just want her -- over Dany?

[Sel(l)mysword]

I believe in the show they have pyat pree claiming the dragons will grow stronger with dany's presence. as far as doreah, she was obsessed with dragons (1st season scene in tub with Viserys). Either way all of this is a part of the lost fumble in the game winning drive for this season's potentially redeeming comeback. All of this is erroneous relative to what THOTU was really supposed to mean. IT WAS SUPPOSED TO BE FOR DANY NOT THE STORY!!!!

[Nebmai]

He made a deal with Pyat Pree; Pyat gave him the throne of Qarth Xaro gave Pyat Dany and the dragons.

Doreah was the traitor who helped get the dragons, probably was promised a queenship or some type of good life in return for her assistance. Most likely as the group was assaulted Doreah killed Irri and made sure the dragons were secured and ready for thievery.

[Nebmai]

Remember if their plan had worked Dany and the dragons would of been trapped forever by Pyat.

Also Pyat said his magic was stronger because of the dragons, and the dragons were stronger because of Dany; he thought he would be strongest with Dany AND the dragons in captivity so he made his play.

[Stanmore]

Dany's whole arc this Season has been awful.

Her book arc wasn't action packed, but at least we had character development as she dealt with the realities of politics, and there was a lot of foreshadowing in the house of the undying.

In the show we got plot points that went nowhere, false tension and endless “blood, dragon, Rahhh”

People praise the show because it;'s so “realistic” to steal her dragons; XXD had taken control of the city. He could have captured Dany and had her escorted to the house of the undying by 100 watchmen so his ally Pyat pree could imprison her. Instead, he couldn't even be bothered to spare a single watchman to protect him or his house, and Dany and her tiny Khalasar were able to march in there, take him prisoner and lock him in his own vault. Pretty poor security for the guy who's just crowned himself in a coup...

[Nebmai]

Dany's whole arc this Season has been awful.

Her book arc wasn't action packed, but at least we had character development as she dealt with the realities of politics, and there was a lot of foreshadowing in the house of the undying.

In the show we got plot points that went nowhere, false tension and endless “blood, dragon, Rahhh”

People praise the show because it;'s so “realistic” to steal her dragons; XXD had taken control of the city. He could have captured Dany and had her escorted to the house of the undying by 100 watchmen so his ally Pyat pree could imprison her. Instead, he couldn't even be bothered to spare a single watchman to protect him or his house, and Dany and her tiny Khalasar were able to march in there, take him prisoner and lock him in his own vault. Pretty poor security for the guy who's just crowned himself in a coup...

I think you got turned off the Dany arc early and tuned out on it.

Character development? Early in the season she was either throwing a tantrum or begging and didn't question people's motivations who seemed to help her. End of season dragons ripped off empty vault that was just for show, in a plot that nearly cost her everything.

Foreshadowing in the HoTU? Iron Thrown hall destroyed and in a bilzzard, then she went beyond on The Wall and found the dead there.

Were we watching the same show?

P.S. Xaro was resting easy because he thought all his enemies were dead or captured. They didn't just steal her dragons and kidnap her at the same time because they didn't know they would need to, they didn't think they needed her at all until Pyat realized the dragons would be stronger if she was imprisoned with them.

[Sword in the Morning]

Remember if their plan had worked Dany and the dragons would of been trapped forever by Pyat.

You know, I can't imagine he thought that through very well. Pyat intended to have dragons trapped in the House of the Undying, forever? You mean, he planned on letting them grow to full size inside that building, without having a means of defending himself from them? I mean, they killed him as hatchlings! What did he expect to do with them as adults?

Does he know that keeping them indoors stunts their growth and leads to an early death? What kind of warlock, with the visionary power of the undying at his disposal, who has apparently determined the link between magic and dragons, doesn't know that? It's common friggin' knowledge for people who remember anything about dragons. It's not even that far out of living memory!

[sennahoj]

I liked Dany's arc on the show, especially the finale, but I am still puzzled by Xaro. How can he believe to rule in Qarth in anything but name only, when he arranges for three dragons to get into Pyat Pree's hands? Now, I thought Xaro was smart, and it strikes me as very naive to think that Pyat would honour their alliance when he has weapons of mass destruction and increased magical abilities at his disposal.

Therefore, one could argue, Xaro wanted the dragons for himself eventually, after letting them grow in the House of the Undying. Doreah, who has a connection to the dragons on the show, would still be useful then, and Dany would of course join forces with Xaro once he frees her and her dragons from Pyat's clutches. Then Xaro would have two wives and three dragons to boot, and rule Qarth and everything around.

That might not sound too smart to the objective observer, but as the endgame of a very ambitious man with delusions of greatness, not too far-fetched.

[kephv]

I think I vaguely remember Ducksauce telling a story about how he came from nothing and then gained a few gold pieces by whoring himself to dock workers who then made him rich and gave him a ridiculous name.

I believe his endgame, since he came from nothing, was to one day have everything, like he had at the beginning of the season -- only he really didn't, obviously, because it's all just an illusion, the secret of which he can't give away without the Alliance frowning on him. So, I believe he then set out to actually have everything, for real this time -- only he forgot to fill up his vault once he took the city, so his guards left him when he ran out of fake gold to give them, allowing Dany and her remaining four elder Dothraki to infiltrate his palace and steal what little real gold he had left. Does that make sense? Probably not but the writers didn't do a much better job of trying, so why should I?

[sennahoj]

I wonder whether the imprisonment in the vault will be the end of Xaro on the show or whether he will return later as in the books. Personally, I don't think he will.

[Mediumjon Umber]

Weren't Dany and her khalasaar staying at XXD's? So breaking in would not be a problem as they're already there...

As for the guards: when the dragons were stolen I didn't see bodies of any armed guards (I might be wrong however), only dead servants and dothrakis. And when Pyat Pree killed the thirteen there weren't any guards there right? I didn't see any guards during the feast earlier in the season either. Maybe Qarth up til now was so civilized that personal guards were unnecessary. My two cents.

Still, if I was the newly selfproclaimed King of Qarth, I would have hired some guards to have around me, even if I was a huge black man with hands like hams.

Then there is the possibility that Dany took XXD's manse by force, even though we didn't see that particular scene. IMO, this is the most possible answer, because it's the show's signum not to show us most of the awesome battles :P

[Ser_not_appearing_yet]

I liked Dany's arc on the show, especially the finale, but I am still puzzled by Xaro. How can he believe to rule in Qarth in anything but name only, when he arranges for three dragons to get into Pyat Pree's hands? Now, I thought Xaro was smart, and it strikes me as very naive to think that Pyat would honour their alliance when he has weapons of mass destruction and increased magical abilities at his disposal.

Therefore, one could argue, Xaro wanted the dragons for himself eventually, after letting them grow in the House of the Undying. Doreah, who has a connection to the dragons on the show, would still be useful then, and Dany would of course join forces with Xaro once he frees her and her dragons from Pyat's clutches. Then Xaro would have two wives and three dragons to boot, and rule Qarth and everything around.

That might not sound too smart to the objective observer, but as the endgame of a very ambitious man with delusions of greatness, not too far-fetched.

Yeah, that does seem careless of him. He does at one point mention skepticism of magic, so it would make sense if he remained not intimidated by the warlocks... but thats hard to justify with the killing of the 13.

I guess he didn't have much choice, to get what he wanted he had to deal with Pree. He was kinda forced into this relationship.

[Greywolf2375]

You know, I can't imagine he thought that through very well. Pyat intended to have dragons trapped in the House of the Undying, forever? You mean, he planned on letting them grow to full size inside that building, without having a means of defending himself from them? I mean, they killed him as hatchlings! What did he expect to do with them as adults?

Does he know that keeping them indoors stunts their growth and leads to an early death? What kind of warlock, with the visionary power of the undying at his disposal, who has apparently determined the link between magic and dragons, doesn't know that? It's common friggin' knowledge for people who remember anything about dragons. It's not even that far out of living memory!

yes and no. I agree with you, but I am hoping that the way that would have been dealt with is that the room they are in - and the building - obviously was not in KL...nor in the North. So through his warlock-y powers of replication he can make the room the size it needs to be to fit them.

That or a "don't think about that because it didn't happen that way so we don't need a plausible reasoning".

YMMV.

[Reposado]

P.S. Xaro was resting easy because he thought all his enemies were dead or captured. They didn't just steal her dragons and kidnap her at the same time because they didn't know they would need to, they didn't think they needed her at all until Pyat realized the dragons would be stronger if she was imprisoned with them.

I don't care how many enemies are believed to be kicking around, noone is storming the red keep with ten men. silently.

he just killed eleven powerful men. no one was going to step up in those organizations and take control? everyone just meekly agrees that xaro is king now? there is no king of qarth. just killing a few traders and proclaiming it doesn't mean anyone is going to listen. especially when you have no arms.

power resides when men believe it does. when xaro starts going on about being king in the streets of qarth the common reaction would be to roll your eyes "ok buddy, i'm the high septon"

[sennahoj]

I don't care how many enemies are believed to be kicking around, noone is storming the red keep with ten men. silently.

if 20 Ironmen can storm Winterfell, 10 Dothraki can storm Xaro's mansion.

[Reposado]

if 20 Ironmen can storm Winterfell, 10 Dothraki can storm Xaro's mansion.

that was at least explained. most of the north's men were at war, the rest were tricked into leaving.

[Greywater Reed]

You can account the lack of guards to hubris, easily.

[TheEvilKing]

What was Xaro's endgame?

To bang Doreah.

And he succeeded mightily.

[Stanmore]

I think you got turned off the Dany arc early and tuned out on it.

Character development? Early in the season she was either throwing a tantrum or begging and didn't question people's motivations who seemed to help her. End of season dragons ripped off empty vault that was just for show, in a plot that nearly cost her everything.

Foreshadowing in the HoTU? Iron Thrown hall destroyed and in a bilzzard, then she went beyond on The Wall and found the dead there.

Were we watching the same show?

P.S. Xaro was resting easy because he thought all his enemies were dead or captured. They didn't just steal her dragons and kidnap her at the same time because they didn't know they would need to, they didn't think they needed her at all until Pyat realized the dragons would be stronger if she was imprisoned with them.

She whined and bitched at the start of the season, and she whined and bitched at the end. Her character went nowhere.

A single scene of the red keep covered in snow hardly told us anything new. The Starks have been warning us that "winter is coming" from day one. This just rammed it down our throats without any degree of subtlety. The scene with Drogo was just fanservice for the Jason Momoa fans and the short time she spent at the wall was devoid of any symbolic imagery whatsoever. Compare that the the wealth of visions and prophecies we get in the book. It's pathetic.

In regards to Xaro; any man who stages a coup and then takes no steps to secure his own safety deserves everything he gets. You can't suddenly set yourself up as king and not expect any sort of backlash. There's always going to be someone ready to seize power for themselves.

[RoamingRonin]

He made a deal with Pyat Pree; Pyat gave him the throne of Qarth Xaro gave Pyat Dany and the dragons.

Doreah was the traitor who helped get the dragons, probably was promised a queenship or some type of good life in return for her assistance. Most likely as the group was assaulted Doreah killed Irri and made sure the dragons were secured and ready for thievery.

I can't imagine Doreah having had a part in the coupe. Wasn't Dany staying on property he owned? Why would he need Doreah to do anything?

She whined and bitched at the start of the season, and she whined and bitched at the end. Her character went nowhere.

A single scene of the red keep covered in snow hardly told us anything new. The Starks have been warning us that "winter is coming" from day one. This just rammed it down our throats without any degree of subtlety. The scene with Drogo was just fanservice for the Jason Momoa fans and the short time she spent at the wall was devoid of any symbolic imagery whatsoever. Compare that the the wealth of visions and prophecies we get in the book. It's pathetic.

In regards to Xaro; any man who stages a coup and then takes no steps to secure his own safety deserves everything he gets. You can't suddenly set yourself up as king and not expect any sort of backlash. There's always going to be someone ready to seize power for themselves.

Exactly my point! It's like he planned everything right up to claiming the title of King and then dropped the ball. I'm surprised Dany was the first to get to him. The whole coupe just makes Qarth seem like it wasn't that great of a city after all. Maybe that was the point... but that doesn't make sense either. It was definitely a place of wealth and power.