Tini

Doran told Arianne that she would've been more than Viserys' queen consort - she was to be his equal on the Iron Throne. Yet he didn't teach her to rule. That is more than an error on his part. It's stupid, really, really stupid. And if he didn't trust her to keep secrets, he should've at least tried to teach her. But he didn't. As you said: he didn't prepare her for her role as Princess of Dorne, he didn't prepare her for anything else. In that respect Doran is worse than Tywin Lannister - Tywin didn't teach Cersei anything, either. But at least Tywin told his daughter that he expected her to become queen of Westeros. It seems Doran lost track of time, lost track of his plans as well. And while he made plans, he never followed through on them. He excpected others to do that for him, and had the gall to blame them if they didn't work as expected.

Tears? I don't think Aeron will die. Or rather, what is dead may never die. He will die, and come back again. Just like Lady Stoneheart. Maybe that accounts for the change in his eyes. I don't agree that the woman in the vision is Cersei. Cersei doesn't fit. I agree that Cersei may be stupid or desperate enough to consider marriage to Euron. But why would Euron consider marriage to Cersei? What can Cersei offer him that he cannot take by force? Nothing. Cersei is weak. Not only is her grip on the Iron Throne and Westeros tenuous. She is inherently weak due to her character traits, her character flaws. Euron despises weakness - and we know what he does to weak, defenseless people. He killed helpless Harlon by pinching his nose shut. He sexually abused Aeron and Urrigon. There is Victarion's wife. And, in this chapter, Falia. I don't wish that on anyone - not even Cersei. Whatever use Euron may have for Cersei, he would have none for Tommen and Myrcella - execpt as sacrifices. In which case Cersei might lose her remaining children to Euron, and would long for death soon after. Aeron might then fill the role of Valonqar - and the beautiful younger queen Cersei is so afraid of, and the woman with the long shadow in Aeron's vision, might turn out to be be one and the same. For Cersei is neither of them. Obviously she isn't the queen who will replace her from Maggy the Frog's prophesy. But she is not the woman from Aeron's vision, either: she doesn't possess a a long shadow. If the long shadow stands for influencing things from afar, Cersei just isn't skilled at it. Cersei always was in the shadows but never knew how to use them. Quite unlike Olenna Tyrell who casts a long shadow which Lady Olenna then skillfully hides in the shadows. Cersei hates shadows, she wants a place in the sun - and always, always she was overshadowed by someone with a large shadow. Hence, no shadow of her own. She grew up in Tywin's shadow. In Jaime's shadow, too, as he was the heir, a boy. She lived in Robert's and Joffrey's shadows. She was determined that little Tommen would not steal her place in the sun - only to end up in Kevan Lannister's shadow. These shadows are now gone because their owners are dead (Tywin, Robert, Joffrey, Kevan), or because she removed them (Jaime). Some still loom (the High Septon, Tyrion). But there is at least one shadow she cannot remove: Maggy the Frog's shadow, that prophesy which has haunted her life ever since she killed Melara. Cersei will not get her place in the sun. Who that woman in the vision is? I don't know. It could be Daenerys if Aeron is the corpse at the prow of a ship from her vision. Plus, Euron intends to marry her. Her very existence set things in motion in Westeros despite the fact that no one knows what she looks like - which might explain the form she takes in Aeron's vision. For all other women with long shadows (the Sand snakes, for example) the question is the same as for Cersei: what do they offer that he cannot otherwise obtain?

I don't think anything will change in the short-term if the dragons get caught. Whoever catches them will need to train them to understand and obey orders. Victarion's horn might facilitate catching the dragons, I doubt it'll replace training. Whoever catches the dragons will have to find a safe place where they can train them. The situation in Meereen will get resolved without the help of dragons.

I suspect that only dragons without riders are susceptible to be bound by horns.

It means that someone realized there is a greater threat than the threat to Margaery.

Demanding Dorne's support by virtue of his blood ties is the plan. But Daenerys has blood ties to Dorne, too, even though they are not as strong as his own. And Doran Martell offered her an alliance. If conflict arises between Daenerys and Aegon, Aegon might marry Arianne to make absolutely sure that Dorne will stand with him. If Aegon can't marry Daenerys, Arianne is the next best match. No one expects that she will turn into Ramsay or the White Walkers - people expect her to turn into her father, Aerys the Mad. She won't do that, either. The end of ADWD, for me, doesn't imply that she suffers from the Targaryen taint. It implies that she has broken the self-imposed chains that tied her to Mereen. It was about time she reevaluated her Mereen experience. She needs a fresh approach to breaking the Harpy's hold, or she must move on according to her original plans. It seems she is about to do both.

Exactly. His plan is no longer on track. Dany isn't there but two dragons are. He won't sit down and wait for Dany's return. He doesn't know where to start looking for her. He isn't a patient man. He has a horn that can control dragons. It might even call back Drogon (and by extension, bring back Dany). He won't wait, he'll use it immediately.

Victarion might not wait for Dany's return. He doesn't strike me as someone who'd wait for the return of someone who may be dead already. And he'd need a really good reason not to use the horn immediately on the dragons present in Meereen. He wouldn't want it to look as if he needs Dany's permission to tame a dragon. Maybe he'll try using the horn to call back Drogon to Meereen, or use the horn on Drogon after Dany returns. A distinct possibility if Dany refuses to go along with his plans.

Only the second point actually matters: he doesn't know if he is the horn's master. The fact that he has chosen slaves/serfs to blow the horn indicates that he intends to use the horn. Victarion will not blow the horn himself, so it doesn't matter if there are dragons near. He can have it blown as often as he considers necessary. And I doubt that wooden ships play any part in his reasoning - at least not until the dragons start burning them - in which case he would try to make them stop using the horn.

Yes, she receives sustenance from R'hllor. That does not prove anything one way or another. That statement may apply to Beric Dondarrion and Catelyn Stark as well who are/were both undead. Who are undead because of power attributed to R'hllor. I don't think the fact that she is always warm shows that something happened to her that enables her to see visions in the fire. That seems to be an ability that comes with practice. Thoros of Myr consults the flames, Stannis does. Others do as well, not all of them Red Priests. She may still be "human" but she is not "normal". If she were normal by any standard in Westeros she would not take care to hide the differences from her surroundings. She reminds herself to eat so that people don't notice she doesn't starve otherwise. So she eats food she doesn't need at a time when starvation is threatening the people around her. Food that might keep other people from starving. That is thoughtless at best. I don't hate her. I don't like her, either.

There is no indication that she cannot count very high. It is more likely that she used "years beyond count" to mean "more years than she cares to remember" if she is just a regular human being. Which she is not, as is indicated by her statement that she doesn't need food.

Why shouldn't I? You have discussed why everybody else does not fit the pattern. So you must have considered them as well. The Undying seem devoid of humanity as if it eroded away over time. Maybe they are missing it as they seem to hunger for life. And they have a mission, too: they preserve and pass on knowledge. Their knowledge no longer means anything to them if it ever did. Empty as their existence may seem, they hang on to it with fierce determination. It is possible that Brienne died but I will be very surprised if that is the case. There is nobody present who could would bring her back from the dead. UnCat could probably bring her back, but she would most likely die in the act, as Beric Dondarrion died when he brought her back. And UnCat is not ready yet to give up her (un)life, she burns with the desire to fulfill her mission. Thoros might be able to bring Briennce back. He seemed to harbor doubts about his ability, though, and he really has no reason to bring her back. He is not happy with the direction in which UnCat is taking the BWB, so why would he bring back Brienne as a pawn of UnCat's revenge?

Maybe, maybe not. What about the Undying? Don't they fit the description?

These words may apply to Brienne, but Brienne has a legitimate excuse to look worse for wear, given that she had a part of her face bitten off, got hanged, and is now about to betray a man she admires in order to save an innocent boy - which betrays all her ideals. So I think she may still be alive. I think there are at least two others who fit the bill: Melisandre and Victarion. Victarion's hand was miraculously "cured" by a Red Priest. We don't know what was done to him, exactly, but we know that it must have been extremely painful indeed. And he came back with something that no longer seems to be a human hand. It is hard to tell if he came back less human or more focused on his mission, he was always focused, and never a nice human being to begin with. Melisandre has shown us glimpses of a past as a slave girl but we don't know if she is just suppressing those memories. They might be (unwanted) reminders of the person she was before she died. She doesn't need to eat like a normal, living human being as R'hllor provides all she needs. Her looks might all be glamour. And she seems certainly focused on her mission.

He was alive when Brienne left. He might still die before she returns. I hope that both Pod and Ser Hyle survive.