To go north, you must journey south...

"To go north, you must go south. To reach the west, you must go east. To go forward you must go back, and to touch the light you must pass beneath the shadow."

Asshai, Dany thought. She would have me go to Asshai. "Will the Asshai'i give me an army?" she demanded. "Will there be gold for me in Asshai? Will there be ships? What is there in Asshai that I will not find in Qarth?"

"Truth," said the woman in the mask. And bowing, she faded back into the crowd.

And what do we know that there's in Asshai (specifically in the Shadow Lands): Ghost grass

The Dothraki believe that one day ghost grass will fill the entire world, killing all other types of vegetation, and that is how the world will end.

Doesn't is sound like Others killing people and creating wighs? The (second) Long Night?.

Natives of this place, called Shadow Men, cover their bodies in tattoos and wear red lacquered wooden masks. They are described as "dour and frightening". Some of them practice bloodmagic, using spells that require blood sacrifices.

Spells that require blood sacrifices. Are the Others experiments gone wrong? Craster's sons are (part of the) blood sacrifices to engender them?.

But wait a moment, Asshai and the land beyond The Wall are in opposite sides of the world... or are they?. Look at a map of "the known world", it's not full. We don't know what's more to the North and to the West of the Lands of Always Winter, and we don't know what's more to the South and the East of Asshai.

GRRM said the ASOIAF world was round (though probably smallfolk think it's plain and only knowledgeable people like the masters know/deduce it's round). So how big is the world?. What if southeast to Asshai is not more "unknown world" but somewhere starts the Lands of Always Winter?.

If the hottest place on earth (ecuatorial line) is around Dorne / the Red Waste (which seem the most arid climates of the world in a map), isn't it safe to asume that there's an equivalent of the cold North in the South?. The distance from Dorne to Asshai (in latitude) is the same as the distance from Dorne to The Neck. If we translate this into a map that means that from Mereen there would be around the same distance to the Lands of Always Winter going south-east or north-west. Except going south-east there would be no sea to cross.

But what's a sea when you can fly on a dragon right?. But what about the Unsullied. And what about the Dothraki?:

Yet Vaes Dothrak is large enough to house every man of every khalasar, should all the khals return to the Mother at once. The crones have prophesied that one day that will come to pass, and so Vaes Dothrak must be ready to embrace all its children.

The Stalion Who Mounts The World?. Is that a failed prophecy?. Last time we saw Dany she came in contact with a khalasar, will she unite all the khalasars in one?. If so, how to transport thousands of Dothrakis through a see to Westeros?. Specially having into account that dothrakis don't love sea water precisely. What if they don't need to cross a sea.

What if Quaithe wasn't reciting an obscure prophecy, but a clear indication.

In a single "move" we would fulfill:

- Quaithe "prophecy".

- The Stallion Who Mounts The World prophecy.

- The origin of the Others.

- Dany arriving at Westeros.

I know some/most of the points I've made might have been made by another members, but I justw anted to write this uniting theory.

I am pretty sure this theory has been proposed many times and GRRM said Dany will not "go around the world" and show up way in the North.

I do think Dany will end up at the wall though, and her whole current story is her "going South" to eventually end in the north

Cool idea, though isnt quarth really warm? Shouldnt it by your logic be as cold as the vale?

Cool idea, though isnt quarth really warm? Shouldnt it by your logic be as cold as the vale?

Quarth is basically in the ecuatorial line too, it's practically on the Red Waste...

Doesn't is sound like Others killing people and creating wighs? The (second) Long Night?.

Why would the Dothraki know about the Others invasion, and does this assume that the Others will invade Essos?

Well, see you in 5 years Dany.

I am still of an opinion that going to North (on way or another) is the stupidiest course of action Daenerys can possibly take. She, her dragon(s) and her armies are totally non-suited to even think about the winter, much less going straight through the heart of it.

Why would the Dothraki know about the Others invasion, and does this assume that the Others will invade Essos?

Everyone seems to know about the Others. All prophecies, wherever they come from seem to merge into all the Others/Great Other and Azor Ahai/Prince That Was Promised stuff. Even the most childish tales seem to have roots in "ancient history".

The Others seem to travel South so it's unlikely that will see them in Essos, but the Long Night seems to refer to the end of the world as we know it, and that applies to the whole world, not only Westeros.

I am still of an opinion that going to North (on way or another) is the stupidiest course of action Daenerys can possibly take

At some point or another the Others will be THE enemy and even the fight for the Iron Throne will be secondary. So you think Dany will completely disregard the biggest threat to humanity in history while others like Stannis are already there?. Don't think so.

At some point or another the Others will be THE enemy and even the fight for the Iron Throne will be secondary. So you think Dany will completely disregard the biggest threat to humanity in history while others like Stannis are already there?. Don't think so.

Something about this has always bugged me. GRRM keeps telling us that this is not a cliche fantasy story about good vs evil, and that there are no evil monsters that are the ultimate enemy. So maybe there is more to the Others that we haven't thought of.

At some point or another the Others will be THE enemy and even the fight for the Iron Throne will be secondary. So you think Dany will completely disregard the biggest threat to humanity in history while others like Stannis are already there?. Don't think so.

Well, I do not exactly think that Daenerys or her dragons will be the ones dealing with Others and I won't rather dwell into it here, but even from a purely pragmatical point of view it makes little sense for her going north with the armies she has at her disposal.

She knows nothing of winter, Dothraki know nothing of winter, their horses are not suited for it, Unsullied know nothing of winter, her free men know nothing of winter, dragons hide from a simple rain, they would not fare very well in winter, she would not have enough supplies to last in north with tens of thousands of people, no house in the North would willingly shelter her and even if they would, they would not have enough to supply her either, etc...

Something about this has always bugged me. GRRM keeps telling us that this is not a cliche fantasy story about good vs evil, and that there are no evil monsters that are the ultimate enemy. So maybe there is more to the Others that we haven't thought of.

That's why someone (a POV character) must learn the truth about the Others. My theory is that they come from necromancy spells gone wrong, necromancy in the sense of blood spells in the Shadow Lands or even necromancy like the one Qyburn is using. We'll see that Robert Strong is not too different from an Other/wight?. Under that helmet he never takes off are there bright blue eyes (if he even has a head ofc)?. And we have some indications that all this magic comes from Asshai and people of the area know about this stuff and that's where the myth of the ghost grass comes from. And if someone eventually learns about this, it has to be Dany if only for geographical reasons.