rotting sea cow

In Westeros is a very serious crime and Jorah was about to lose his head for it, unless he joins the NW, something he was unwilling to do at that time. Poaching may get you maimed unless you join the NW. Sandor killed a child who attacked the crown prince, in principle he was acting under orders and is under the protection of the crown. Anyway, Sandor will end in the NW too. Remember, all crimes are erases when a man joins the NW, even the worst, but not all men are giving the chance to go there. Jeor Mormont doesn't know that and one could argue that Dany (as the rightful queen of Westeros) has already pardoned Jorah for his crimes. So, if she ever gets the IT, Jorah doesn't need to join the NW unless he will Jorah will not join the NW right away, there needs to be some evolution, but there is little doubt he will at some point to fight the Others. Why else Dany will give him the promised Valyrian Steel sword forged in dragonfire? There are lot of issues with Jorah as character writing and there is little development until the end of ADWD with some hints of it in the last Tyrion chapter and TWOW ones. Basically Jorah has been us ed as a plot device in Dany's plot without giving him space for development beyond creeping on Dany. The comment made by Jeor is btw foreshadowing where Jorah little arc is heading

You mean this? "Daenerys Targaryen vaulted onto the dragon's back, seized the spear, and ripped it out. The point was half-melted, the iron red-hot, glowing. She flung it aside. Drogon twisted under her, his muscles rippling as he gathered his strength. The air was thick with sand. Dany could not see, she could not breathe, she could not think. The black wings cracked like thunder, and suddenly the scarlet sands were falling away beneath her" mmmmmm. You may be reading too much. Remember Drogon is larger than the other two and Quentyn though he could ride any of them. Quent is not a large man, but certainly bigger than Dany. Well, perhaps the Others can cook up snowstorms, blizzard, and hailstorms at will. But I sure as hell don't think the dragons just have to fly in and save the day. Or rather: This might not be all that easy under any circumstances. The idea that dragons of much use in a snowstorms - never mind whether there are Others out there or not - doesn't strike me as particularly likely. They have to be useful, otherwise humanity is doomed. The whole purpose of the dragons is being the superweapon against the Others. Well, if he wanted to join Dany the thing to do would be to bring those ships to her, no? Hanging out at the Stepstones isn't going to get him to her, especially not if she doesn't go west. The people who want to join Daenerys went to her - or at least seriously considered going to her. Aurane sailed well after the Ironborn invasion of the Reach, meaning that Victarion was well in his way when Aurane took his ships. Certainly, he learned of the mighty fleet of Volantis (300-500 ships) sailing against her. He may well think it was too late. As I said before. The most probable outcome is he joins Aegon, because of the geographical proximity but his dromons are a Chekov gun here to be used at some point, not that he would be killed off-screen and never learn what happened. The reason why I still consider him as a possible Dany's ally is the century old connection between Valeryons and Targaryens and the need that someone commands her fleet. No, it won't be some Essosi captain we never heard off, it won't be anyone aboard the Volantene ships. The captains of these ships are slavers, the sailors are slaves. The later can man the ships but not guide them to battle. So, it must be someone who we have met already and they are not too many competent seamen in the story - Aurane? see above, also he's not fleshed out enough for that role, but still a possibility - Victarion? Nah, the guy is a toast, literally. - Davos? Only possible after the burning of Shireen and that will likely happening late in the story. - Salladhor Saan? Maybe, but the guy seems to be more inclined to recover from his loses than get involved in another adventure with uncertain gain. - Theon & Asha? I'm mostly inclined by this option (not only because the show), mainly because the Iron Fleet at Meeren is supposed to spearhead Dany's fleet and they won't follow a non-ironborn captain. Also, it reinforces their future role as political foes of Euron. The problem are the logistics, they are far away, prisoners of Stannis. Escaping to Torrhen square is hard and anyway it will lead them to Euron controlled waters. Sailing from White Harbors is only possible with Stannis consent, unlikely but not impossible.

I was re-reading some chapters of ADWD and noticed that weird scene in "The Lost Lord" where Harry Strickland, the Captain General of the Golden Company, is holding a war council with all the captain to welcome and counsel the would-be king Aegon VI (aka Young Griff). This is supposed to be a very important meeting, even more if one considers that they may well be discussing the fulfillment of the original mission of the Golden Company. What is the Captain General doing whilst holding that meeting? Treating his feet blisters! Please check the relevant paragraphs, he is even interrupting the discussion to tell his squire to use the proper towel! It is not he was caught by surprise (like Jonos Bracken). Harry and many of his captains (if not all) have access to the relevant information and they were waiting there and there was enough time to call the captains and put some proper shoes. I don't think Harry received the Yunkaii envoys in the bath tube or in the privy, so that scene must have a purpose, but what?

Really, could you please provide textual evidence that Drogon struggled to carry Dany? I just re-read the last Dany's chapter and noticed that she has been flying almost everyday for a while. Well, it seems you are destroying the whole purpose of the existence of dragons in the narrative. If they are neutralized by severe weather, it may well be that the Others will win. He may be in the way or not. We have very limited perspective about him, maybe he is just waiting for more news. The stepstones are an excellent place to await for the next movements and he won't be dead until he uses his dromons, Anyway, I lean towards him joining Aegon but being a Valeryon, he may know a little bit more about Targaryens and dragons. If you look at the pairing of the people coming in that prophesy, it is unlikely it was referring to Aemon. Yeah, it might be, there is change in his characterization, becoming more brutal on-screen, but I'm undecided about the extend of it.

Dothraki are nomad, you' know. Jaqho hasn't built any settlement nearby and unlikely been there for too long You're counting wrong. Rhaego wasn't even in that fire, which Dany lighted for life (first out of three fires, from the Undying prophecies). Lives of three dragons, that hatched on Drogo's funeral pyre, in exchange of three lives, that were burned in that pyre - the stallion, Mirri, Drogo. The stallion wasn't a sacrifice, it did cost nothing. That's why not everyone agrees that the life of Mirri passed to the dragons and instead many insist that Viserys life was also necessary. The eggs needed to be "fertilized". Of course it is possible that Mirri's death was also necessary to the last kick.

Drogo, Mirri and Rhaego where necessary. Others says that Viserys death was also needed, etc. The Dothraki don't keep a hotline with Meeren. Jhaqo's khalasar was likely contacted by the Yunkai to bring down Danenery, they reportedly brought a host of slaves to sell, but Dothraki do things in their own time for their own motives, so there is no guarantee that they will follow the Yunkai and not do something else. I find however interesting that Jhaqo was operating very near of Drogon's lair and if they were hunting a dragon, no rain of arrow preceded the meeting. It looks to me that they knew what they were going to find. Also Khal Pono is also operating in a region of interest, near Volantis and there might have been more sights of a dragon at the Sorrows, besides Tyrion's. I like the idea that the Dosh Khaleen are behind these movements because it can save Dany a lot of time in reuniting the khalasars, speeding up a bit the timeline.

So dragons are useless in winter and particularly against the Others who can unleash severe winter storms and create a cold beyond description? I'm confused now. Why not Dany? There is no indication in either way, although I lean more towards Aegon due to their relative geographical proximity, but someone needs to lead Dany's navy. Aurane is a possibility, Asha+Theon another or even UnVictarion. Apparently, that was the original plan "kranken and crow" instead of "kraken and dark flame" Mmmmm. I haven't considered that, but there is little in his last PoVs that indicates that.

I don't think Rhaego is alive, his death was necessary for the birth of the dragons, so no. However, I wondered myself if Khal Jhaqo was specifically sent by the Dosh Khaleen to bring Dany. The way they approach the dragon makes me to suspect there is more than wanting to kill it. Otherwise arrows should be raining. Maybe there is something amiss in the Dothraki Sea that needs to be righted (ghost grass anyone?)

We don't know what Aurane Waters cares or not, but these dromons should be put in use at some point of the story, otherwise why bother? But I think there might be the answer to your question. Flying island to island through the Stepstones should be possible for the dragons and their riders with the navy following close. No need of long distance flies. I actually think the horn will not work as advertised, but who knows? Maybe I'm wrong and Euron gets his dragon that way, although I'm pretty sure what he gets is that "great stone beast breathing shadow fire", whatever is that Victarion is a toast, literally. Either he falls to the temptation and blow the horn himself, and burns from inside, or Rhaegal roast him, or Moqorro himself does it. What Moqorro wants is to forestall Euron, he doesn't care about Victarion. I'd love to see the Demon Road, Maybe I'll get that wish.

I agree. There should be several chapters before those, which should run in parallel with the second half of the ADWD timeline. In particular we should see Davos (a lot of time passed since we last saw him at White Harbor), maybe Bran (also lot of time has passed) and Sam (we need world building there). Sansa's chapter should be also in between, since no news of Stannis battle nor of the events in the Stormlands have reached the Vale, yet.

They aren't that large yet. Drogon must be bull-sized and the other two about the size of a horse. Even if they grow larger by the time Dany crosses the narrow sea, the big Aurane Waters dromons may be of help here, which can easily carry elephants or larger creatures. The issue is controlling them so they do not burn the ships. It is reasonable to think that Dany is by now in full control of Drogon, so as long as she stays nearby, he is able to fly several times per day and the dragon has enough to eat (roasting meat in a ship is a problem though), probably he would be fine inside the big holds. The same may apply to Viserion which seems to be the less dangerous of the dragons. Tyrion (and Ben) will need to work hard to tame him so he behaves reasonably. The question remains about Rhaegal... Is he (she?) going to be stolen by Euron's horn? In that case he will fly to Westeros in his own. Otherwise we need a rider and there seems to be none. May the horn be of help here? or some magic by Marwin or Moqorro? That is a reasonable assumption during their march through Essos. The dragon riders need to slow down to keep the pace of ground forces. Even Dothraki are slower than dragons, so there is no much problem here.

???

Well, there are many PoV who would be fascinating and could contribute with world building and character development but also you don't want to give too much information about the plot. Given the relative lack of external characterization of Daenerys and certain laziness in the whole Essos plot, where Dany has spent six books, a lot of the one-off PoV would be in Essos in this exercise. AGOT: Drogo after learning his child with Dany is the Stallion who mounts the World, or after the Dany assassination attempt. ACOK: Jorah or some Dothraki during the crossing of the Red Waste or Xaro after HOTU ASOS: Jorah during the sack of Mereen. AFFC: Gendry to learn more about TBWB ADWD: Missandei or Grey Worm

Queenmaker is an Arianne's chapter, it is either the Kingbreaker or the Queen's Hand. Yes, Dany has elephants but not many (something like a three or so). The New Ghis have about a hundred and the Qartheen Camel Cavalry has an unspecified strength. Both of them should create havoc if properly used. Thinking about it, the New Ghis contingent strikes me as the most solid of the forces against Dany, but as noted they put two divisions at the other side of the river. Anyway, the defection of the Windblown and Second Sons and the landing of the Ironborn put them in a very weak position and this should also have an effect in the moral of the troops. We need to wait TWOW to learn more about the disposition of the remaining forces, but your map is really good.

"Run, you stupid cunt," Ser Clayton shouted. "Run warn the king. Lord Bolton is upon us." A brute he might have been, but Suggs did not want for courage. Sword in hand, he strode through the snow, putting himself between the riders and the king's tower, its beacon glimmering behind him like the orange eye of some strange god. "Who goes there? Halt! Halt!" ADWD - The Sacrifice Stannis is Sauron