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Daenerys Stormborn - A Re-Read Project Part III: ASoS & ADwD


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ASOS Daenerys V



Summary



Daenerys beholds Meereen, larger than Yunkai and Astapor combined and built with bricks of many colors. Meereen is enclosed by a great wall, with hundreds of defenders to guard it. Daenerys’s huge army consists mostly of freed slaves. They are eating up the surrounding lands, and Daenerys realizes that she must claim the city before the army starves. Aware that storming the walls will cost her a great deal, Daenerys sends Strong Belwas to dispatch the Hero of Meereen. Belwas kills Oznak zo Pahl, but the city still stands strong. Brown Ben Plumm reveals a way into the city through the sewers, and we find out that Dany’s dragons seem to like Brown Ben, and perch on his shoulder when he visits.


Daenerys, however, finds herself drawn to Daario Naharis, and keeps thinking of his blue eyes. Later, she goes off with Arstan and Missandei to visit the camps, and there she is attacked by Mero of Braavos. Arstan injures the Titan’s Bastard with his staff and then the surrounding slaves proceed to kill him. When Dany reaches her pavilion, Jorah is shocked to learn that a squire with a staff could defeat Mero with such ease. Arstan reveals that he is actually a knight, and Jorah finally recognizes him as Barristan the Bold. Barristan apologizes for deceiving her, and swears his sword in her service. Jorah warns her not to accept the man, for he went over to Robert after the Trident. But Barristan reveals that Jorah has spied on her on behalf of Varys and the Small Council in hopes of gaining a royal pardon. Jorah pleads that he did so only at first, but he has been loyal to her since the birth of the dragons. Daenerys, disgusted, dismisses them both. She doesn't want them in her service any more. When she wonders where to send them, she suddenly has an idea.



Observations



  1. Dany has a sort of wounded pride. She feels disturbed at the fact that the Meereenese do not consider her a big enough threat.




  2. Dany notices that her dragons seem to like Brown Ben Plumm, who attributes this to his supposed dragon blood.




  3. Daenerys has some knowledge of Westerosi history, that is, she knows that five Aegons have ruled Westeros. Thus, contrary to popular opinion she is not completely ignorant of Westerosi history.




  4. Another instance of the strong bond between Daenerys and her dragons is shown when the dragons react to her anger about her betrayal.




  5. Dany's false image about knights has been shaterred. In this way, she is very similar to Sansa Stark.




Analysis


In my opinion, Daenerys' penultimate chapter is beginning of the end of the apex of Daenerys' storyline in ASOS. Although there are no striking moments that compare to “Dracarys” or “Mhysa” in this chapter, it is nevertheless quite eventful. In this chapter we come to learn of the true identity of Arstan and Dany learns of Jorah's betrayal.



Westeros



In this chapter, lies a sheer example of Daenerys' increasing feelings of the duty to free the slaves of Slaver's Bay and an increase of passivity in regards to Westeros. It has become increasingly clear at this point that Daenerys' most urgent goal is no longer Westeros.



"As you wish. I say, let this city be. You cannot free every slave in the world, Khaleesi. Your war is in Westeros."

"I have not forgotten Westeros." Dany dreamt of it some nights, this fabled land that she had never seen. "If I let Meereen's old brick walls defeat me so easily, though, how will I ever take the great stone castles of Westeros?"

"As Aegon did," Ser Jorah said, "with fire. By the time we reach the Seven Kingdoms, your dragons will be grown. And we will have siege towers and trebuchets as well, all the things we lack here ... but the way across the Lands of the Long Summer is long and grueling, and there are dangers we cannot know. You stopped at Astapor to buy an army, not to start a war. Save your spears and swords for the Seven Kingdoms, my queen. Leave Meereen to the Meereenese and march west for Pentos."

"Defeated?" said Dany, bristling.


I'm not saying she doesn't want to go to Westeros; she still has the zeal to return to Westeros and take the Iron Throne. However, freeing the slaves now supersedes that goal. This chapter is truly a turning point for Dany: this is the moment when I believe that she decides to make conquering Westeros take a backseat to freeing the slaves. This is a very noble cause, but as we shall see, it does not turn out as she expects (Sorry for jumping ahead).



The Children



Dany had left a trail of corpses behind her when she crossed the red waste. It was a sight she never meant to see again. "No," she said. "I will not march my people off to die." My children. "There must be some way into this city."



There are two primary reasons why Daenerys so desperately wishes to conquer to Meereen:


1. To end slavery in Slaver's Bay


2. Vengeance against the Meereenese/ vengeance against slave masters, in general



Although the aforementioned reasons are inextricably linked I have chosen to separate them because these reasons have related, but nevertheless different, implications. One one hand she wishes to help her 'children' and lead them to safety, but on the other hand she also wants to punish the slavers for their actions against her children. Although not mutually exclusive goals, they both require different attitudes and approaches which will inevitably lead to Daenerys having internal conflict as to how to deal with her situation in Slaver's Bay.



In addition, Meereen is the last-remaining city of slavers in Slaver's Bay and thus is the last standing bastion of slavery. With this in mind, it becomes clear why she is so bent in capturing the city.




Loss of Trust


Was there no one she could trust, no one to keep her safe? "Are all the knights of Westeros so false as you two? Get out, before my dragons roast you both. What does roast liar smell like? As foul as Brown Ben's sewers? Go!


This part of the chapter, IMO, is the saddest. Ever since the House of the Undying, Daenerys has begun to lose trust and no longer trusts those around her. Jorah's betrayal further exacerbates this loss of trust and begins to make her more skeptical and somewhat paranoid. On a positive note, her loss of trust makes her become less idealistic about human nature. Although she is incredibly observant, as shown in AGOT, she is still somewhat naive, somewhat like Sansa Stark. She tends to see mainly the good in those that she cares for, but Jorah's betrayal changes this viewpoint.

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Dany does want to go to Westeros, she still has the zeal to return to Westeros and take the Iron Throne. However, freeing the slaves supersedes that goal. It is important to note that she is not forgetting about Westeros, rather she is trying to follow her moral convictions.

Dany's anger about the Meereenese may seem as if they are born out of a sense of wounded pride, but this is evidently not true.

...

There are two primary reasons why Daenerys so despereately wishes to conquer to Meereen:

  1. To end slavery in Slaver's Bay

  2. Vengeance against the Meereenese/ vengeance against slave masters, in general

One of the legitimate criticisms of Daenerys is that is she not good at long term planning. We can see problems developing in this chapter. There is such a thing as biting off more than you can chew. The queen has done this. She wants to restore Targaryen rule to the Seven Kingdoms. She has a revulsion against the practices in Slaver's Bay and wants to strike forcefully against them. These are understandable goals. Given what she has been taught and what she has observed, they are just goals. Trying to achieve both of them, however, is more than difficult. It may not be possible. This is the case if she wants to create and leave in place a stable replacement for the system in Slaver's Bay when she sails for the west.

"Revulsion" is a proper term to use here. Typically, much of Dany's action is based on emotion. Does she wish to end slavery in Slaver's Bay? I guess so, but she doesn't have a plan to do so. If she did, she would not have just marched away from Yunkai.

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Nice job, TheMysteriousOne



[belwas] shat in their general direction



"I fart in your general direction!"


-Monty Python' and the Holy Grail



A nice little reference there.



Belwas's fight with Oznak zo Pah does seem reminiscent of Bronn's trial by combat with Ser Vardis, and to a degree, Oberyn vs Gregor: discarding armor for mobility against a fully-armored opponent.



The white dragon landed awkwardly with one foot on the man's head and one on his shoulder, shrieked, and flew off again.



Perhaps a sign for Dany not to trust Brown Ben? Plums are associated with treachery and betrayal. Also, does Brown Ben remind anyone of the old sellsword Bennis of the Brown Shield from TSS?



but he [Jorah] was the one who'd said she had to take two husbands. Perhaps I should marry them both and be done with it.



"When you find yourself in bed with an ugly woman, the best thing to do is close your eyes and get on with it," he declared. "Waiting won't make the maid any prettier. Kiss her and be done with it."


"Kiss her?" Ser Barristan repeated, aghast.


"A steel kiss," said Littlefinger.



Foreshadowing Dany marrying two more times, and both her husbands predeceasing her with their deaths resulting from their marriage to her. Hizdahr is her next husband, and Victarion will likely kill him because of this, he thought as much. I think her last husband, possibly Tyrion, will die in ADoS.



Many of the freedmen believed there was good fortune in her touch.



To her freedmen, Dany is divine, a demigoddess so to speak, in no small part due to her dragons along with her victories. Dany shows to follow Margaery's method in condescending to the freedmen in riding out into their camps to greet them. We see this again in ADwD, so Dany knows how to curry their favor.



"Where shall we go, Your Grace?"


"To hell, to serve King Robert."



I think Barristan and Jorah will unknowingly follow that request in TWoW. As for their betrayals, they both had valid reasons. Barristan served Robert, because Viserys was a child who showed the signs of madness, and Barristan didn't want to endure another Mad King Aerys on the IT. Jorah's reasons were more selfish, but he wanted to return home, like Dany wants to return to Westeros.


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The white dragon landed awkwardly with one foot on the man's head and one on his shoulder, shrieked, and flew off again.

Perhaps a sign for Dany not to trust Brown Ben? Plums are associated with treachery and betrayal. Also, does Brown Ben remind anyone of the old sellsword Bennis of the Brown Shield from TSS?

I think Viserion's attitude here is generally misunderstood, by Dany most of all. Viserion is the most clever dragon and what he liked here is Brown Ben's plan to infiltrate Mereen, not his person. I don't think he has a fondness to BBP, given that the guy is a scum who turns his cloak so easily. We know that Drogon was able to sense deception and treachery in HotU. Why should Viserion sympathize with a turncloak?

I think Ser Bennis of the Brown Shield foreshadows the future betrayal of BBP, given that TSS was released 3 years after ASoS.

but he [Jorah] was the one who'd said she had to take two husbands. Perhaps I should marry them both and be done with it.

"When you find yourself in bed with an ugly woman, the best thing to do is close your eyes and get on with it," he declared. "Waiting won't make the maid any prettier. Kiss her and be done with it."

"Kiss her?" Ser Barristan repeated, aghast.

"A steel kiss," said Littlefinger.

Foreshadowing Dany marrying two more times, and both her husbands predeceasing her with their deaths resulting from their marriage to her. Hizdahr is her next husband, and Victarion will likely kill him because of this, he thought as much. I think her last husband, possibly Tyrion, will die in ADoS.

“When will he be as he was?” Dany demanded.

“When the sun rises in the west and sets in the east,” said Mirri Maz Duur. “When the seas go dry and mountains blow in the wind like leaves. When your womb quickens again, and you bear a living child. Then he will return, and not before."

I think Victarion is the fulfillment of MMD's prophecy about Drogon's return. He will come to Dosh Khaleen on Rhaegal and MMD's prophecy will be fulfilled. Victarion will be Drogo 2.0. However, I don't expect this marriage to go well as both of them have a track record of dead husbands/wives.

If so, maybe Marwyn will be the one to betray Victarion to his death just like his pupil MMD killed Drogo.

I think Dany might have an affair with Tyrion, even a bastard from him but I don’t expect a marriage.

I agree that Victarion will slay a lot of people including Hizdahr, Barristan, Jorah, Daario. However, Drogo killed Viserys and Dany didnot blink. Why should she be angry with Victarion when he solves a lot of her problems and proves to be a dragonrider?

I think Victarion will challenge Barristan for the rulership of Mereen. They will have a fair fight possibly in a trial by seven (which is how the Hammer of the Redgrass Field died – Barristan recalled the Hammer and the Anvil with his Hammerlike charge on the Yunkish Army and the ironborn landing on the shores to act as the Anvil).

Or Victarion will fight against 7 champions of Barristan just like Ser Harras Harlaw defeated 7 champions and took the Greyshield all by himself.

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Many thanks, the Mysterious One.

Marching off, and leaving Meereen behind her wasn't a real option. She needs the city's food supplies. If she marched down the Demon Road, most of her people would die of starvation. They could also face attacks from Meereen and other cities.

But, her earlier actions will come back to haunt her when she stays in Meereen.

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The Mysterious One

One note for your summary, Barristan didn't kill Mero with his staff, he gave him quite the beat down, but it was actually the freed slaves who literally tore the man apart for attacking their "mother". It shows how fiercely loyal they are to Daenerys, and what they will do to those who try to harm her.

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ASOS Daenerys V

Summary

Daenerys beholds Meereen, larger than Yunkai and Astapor combined and built with bricks of many colors. Meereen is enclosed by a great wall, with hundreds of defenders to guard it. Daenerys’s huge army consists mostly of freed slaves. They are eating up the surrounding lands, and Daenerys realizes that she must claim the city before the army starves. Aware that storming the walls will cost her a great deal, Daenerys sends Strong Belwas to dispatch the Hero of Meereen. Belwas kills Oznak zo Pahl, but the city still stands strong. Brown Ben Plumm reveals a way into the city through the sewers, and we find out that Dany’s dragons seem to like Brown Ben, and perch on his shoulder when he visits.

Daenerys, however, finds herself drawn to Daario Naharis, and keeps thinking of his blue eyes. Later, she goes off with Arstan and Missandei to visit the camps, and there she is attacked by Mero of Braavos. Arstan kills the Titan’s Bastard with his staff alone, and when Dany reaches her pavilion, Jorah is shocked to learn that a squire with a staff could defeat Mero with such ease. Arstan reveals that he is actually a knight, and Jorah finally recognizes him as Barristan the Bold. Barristan apologizes for deceiving her, and swears his sword in her service. Jorah warns her not to accept the man, for he went over to Robert after the Trident. But Barristan reveals that Jorah has spied on her on behalf of Varys and the Small Council in hopes of gaining a royal pardon. Jorah pleads that he did so only at first, but he has been loyal to her since the birth of the dragons. Daenerys, disgusted, dismisses them both. She doesn't want them in her service any more. When she wonders where to send them, she suddenly has an idea.

Observations

  1. Dany has a sort of wounded pride. She feels disturbed at the fact that the Meereenese do not consider her a big enough threat.

  2. Dany notices that her dragons seem to like Brown Ben Plumm, who attributes this to his supposed dragon blood.

Daenerys has some knowledge of Westerosi history, that is, she knows that five Aegons have ruled Westeros. Thus, contrary to popular opinion she is not completely ignorant of Westerosi history.

Another instance of the strong bond between Daenerys and her dragons is shown when the dragons react to her anger about her betrayal.

Dany's false image about knights has been shaterred. In this way, she is very similar to Sansa Stark.

Analysis

In my opinion, Daenerys' penultimate chapter is beginning of the end of the apex of Daenerys' storyline in ASOS. Although there are no striking moments that compare to “Dracarys” or “Mhysa” in this chapter, it is nevertheless quite eventful. In this chapter we come to learn of the true identity of Arstan and Dany learns of Jorah's betrayal.

Westeros

In this chapter, lies a sheer example of Daenerys' increasing feelings of the duty to free the slaves of Slaver's Bay and an increase of passivity in regards to Westeros. It has become increasingly clear at this point that Daenerys' most urgent goal is no longer Westeros.

"As you wish. I say, let this city be. You cannot free every slave in the world, Khaleesi. Your war is in Westeros."

"I have not forgotten Westeros." Dany dreamt of it some nights, this fabled land that she had never seen. "If I let Meereen's old brick walls defeat me so easily, though, how will I ever take the great stone castles of Westeros?"

"As Aegon did," Ser Jorah said, "with fire. By the time we reach the Seven Kingdoms, your dragons will be grown. And we will have siege towers and trebuchets as well, all the things we lack here ... but the way across the Lands of the Long Summer is long and grueling, and there are dangers we cannot know. You stopped at Astapor to buy an army, not to start a war. Save your spears and swords for the Seven Kingdoms, my queen. Leave Meereen to the Meereenese and march west for Pentos."

"Defeated?" said Dany, bristling.

I'm not saying she doesn't want to go to Westeros; she still has the zeal to return to Westeros and take the Iron Throne. However, freeing the slaves now supersedes that goal. This chapter is truly a turning point for Dany: this is the moment when I believe that she decides to make conquering Westeros take a backseat to freeing the slaves. This is a very noble cause, but as we shall see, it does not turn out as she expects (Sorry for jumping ahead).

The Children

Dany had left a trail of corpses behind her when she crossed the red waste. It was a sight she never meant to see again. "No," she said. "I will not march my people off to die." My children. "There must be some way into this city."

There are two primary reasons why Daenerys so desperately wishes to conquer to Meereen:

1. To end slavery in Slaver's Bay

2. Vengeance against the Meereenese/ vengeance against slave masters, in general

Although the aforementioned reasons are inextricably linked I have chosen to separate them because these reasons have related, but nevertheless different, implications. One one hand she wishes to help her 'children' and lead them to safety, but on the other hand she also wants to punish the slavers for their actions against her children. Although not mutually exclusive goals, they both require different attitudes and approaches which will inevitably lead to Daenerys having internal conflict as to how to deal with her situation in Slaver's Bay.

In addition, Meereen is the last-remaining city of slavers in Slaver's Bay and thus is the last standing bastion of slavery. With this in mind, it becomes clear why she is so bent in capturing the city.

Loss of Trust

Was there no one she could trust, no one to keep her safe? "Are all the knights of Westeros so false as you two? Get out, before my dragons roast you both. What does roast liar smell like? As foul as Brown Ben's sewers? Go!

This part of the chapter, IMO, is the saddest. Ever since the House of the Undying, Daenerys has begun to lose trust and no longer trusts those around her. Jorah's betrayal further exacerbates this loss of trust and begins to make her more skeptical and somewhat paranoid. On a positive note, her loss of trust makes her become less idealistic about human nature. Although she is incredibly observant, as shown in AGOT, she is still somewhat naive, somewhat like Sansa Stark. She tends to see mainly the good in those that she cares for, but Jorah's betrayal changes this viewpoint.

Excellent! Thank you TMO! :thumbsup:

In this chapter we see Dany once again display some true cunning. Once she decides to send someone to dispatch the Hero of Meereen, she chooses wisely who to send. By sending Belwas she insures two things if he losses the battle she would only loose her least valuable fighter and the she deprives the Meereenese of a "true" victory as he is a former slaver and not a true warrior as the others are. However, if she wins then she demoralizes the Meereenese by winning and having the victor be a former slave.

In my opinion Dany had no choice but to take Meereen. In order to feed and care for the large and growing group of freedmen who are following her she needed the supplies Meereen had. If she had chosen to continue on her journey it would have been a repeat at a greater scale of what happened in the Red Waste. Also, it's worth noting that the Master were itching for a fight with Dany, why else would the crucify 167 slave children on the way to Meereen with the hands pointing towards Meereen.

As for the betrayals, two things to note. One, we learn that Varys has been keeping tab on the Targaryens from the start. Two, neither Ser Jorah nor Barristan where truly truthful to Dany when confessing their betrayals. Ser Jorah was informing on Dany as recently as Qarth (even if he was telling Illyrio he was stooping, he still let Illyrio know where Dany was). Barristan of course was also disguised because he wanted to make sure that Dany had not inherited the Targaryen madness.

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I agree. Drogo's arrival was a catalyst and actually helped Dany to re-evaluate her situation.

Which she needed to do, she had allowed the slaver too many concession which would have only led to the return of slavery (eventually). She had lost sight of what she was fighting for and why she was fighting for it.

Maybe I'm being a little too positive but I do find it interesting that the last words Dany says in her last ADWD is "to go forward, I must go back" and then she encounters the Dothraki. The Dothraki are the main root of slavery in Essos as the are the providers of the "goods". If they stop providing the goods then it becomes harder for the Masters of Slaver's Bay to gain more slaves.

Nice job, TheMysteriousOne

[belwas] shat in their general direction

"I fart in your general direction!"

-Monty Python' and the Holy Grail

A nice little reference there.

:lol: Good catch.

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ASOS Daenerys V

Loss of Trust

Was there no one she could trust, no one to keep her safe? "Are all the knights of Westeros so false as you two? Get out, before my dragons roast you both. What does roast liar smell like? As foul as Brown Ben's sewers? Go!

This part of the chapter, IMO, is the saddest. Ever since the House of the Undying, Daenerys has begun to lose trust and no longer trusts those around

her. Jorah's betrayal further exacerbates this loss of trust and begins to make her more skeptical and somewhat paranoid. On a positive note, her loss of trust makes her become less idealistic about human nature. Although she is incredibly observant, as shown in AGOT, she is still somewhat naive, somewhat like Sansa Stark. She tends to see mainly the good in those that she cares for, but Jorah's betrayal changes this viewpoint.

This makes it all the more odd that that she should then trust the Green Grace, later on in Meereen. The Green Grace may have been one of the people in the main plaza, begging for mercy, after Dany captured the city. She almost

certainly had relatives among those who were crucified, or died when the city was taken. Dany ought to realise that she has no reason to like her.

Ser Barristan will make it back into her good books. She trusts Daario, up to a point, although she's also dismayed by his brutality. She trusts Missandei fully.

This leads on to Dany's loneliness. In the next chapter, she'll wonder "were all gods as lonely as she was.". She doesn't really have any friends, apart from Missandei -and there, the relationship is more like Missandei being an adopted daughter. Irri and Jhiqi are too servile to be true friends. Daario is a lover, Ser Barristan is an adviser. Perhaps that's the reason she trusts the Green Grace too much; she likes her company.

In truth, most of the main protagonists are lonely. Most true friends are found in one's immediate family, and not always then.

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Thank you Mysterious One for the analysis. :)


Paper Weaver quote;

I think Viserion's attitude here is generally misunderstood, by Dany most of all. Viserion is the most clever dragon and what he liked here is Brown Ben's plan to infiltrate Mereen, not his person. I don't think he has a fondness to BBP, given that the guy is a scum who turns his cloak so easily. We know that Drogon was able to sense deception and treachery in HotU. Why should Viserion sympathize with a turncloak?

See I disagree with you on this, Viserion likes BBP because he shares so much blood with Dany. He is the only person the Dragons have ever met who shares blood with Dany, and they immediately show that they like him, they cuddle up to him twice IIRC. It is quite possible that Ossifer Plumm had Ben with a straight up Targ Princess, we dont know which one, but it could have easily been an off shoot of Rhae or Daella, Mantarys or Valarr Targaryen , there are possibilities as well for the mother in characters we have not yet learned the names of. But if his mother was a Targ and Tyrion suggests he has 2 Targ family members, which means there was Targ on his fathers side as well....... I dont see how anyone could argue that this is not the reason the Dragons like him. It is spelled out fairly clearly if you ask me. And BBP's Targ ancestry is mentioned at least 3 times in DwD, I think that mixed with the dragons 'liking him' is what GRRM would call a 'blatant hint'.

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Great analysis TMO, I'll comment more fully a bit later.



In addition to the reasons you mentioned of why Dany stayed in Meereen, I'd also like to add that she stayed there also in search of a "home", especially after the betrayal of the only man she trusted she wanted a "home"


This is evident from Dany search for the house with the red door after her conquest and also in ADWD :



You are a queen, her bear said. In Westeros. “It is such a long way,” she complained. “I was tired,

Jorah. I was weary of war. I wanted to rest, to laugh, to plant trees and see them grow. I am only a

young girl.”


So even though its not mentioned in this chapter, Dany subconsciously wanted a "home", more specifically the home she never had and it was one of her reasons for staying in Meereen, this also shows us that Dany's quest for the IT is not really what she wants, its just a duty she feels she must do.

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Many thanks, the Mysterious One.

1. Marching off, and leaving Meereen behind her wasn't a real option. She needs the city's food supplies. If she marched down the Demon Road, most of her people would die of starvation.

2. They could also face attacks from Meereen and other cities.

But, her earlier actions will come back to haunt her when she stays in Meereen.

1. Absolutely true. Not everyone sees this though. I have argued the point on other threads. Bypassing Meereen would invite disaster. One strange point that occurs in the text--Dany and Jorah argue about feeding her freedmen. He says, "They must feed themselves or starve." This seems absolutely nutty to me. The two are talking about the former slaves who chose not to remain in Astapor and those the queen took from Yunkai, right? At this point, I want to scream, "You two idiots are fighting a war! Don't you give a damn about your army? The Unsullied are tough guys, but they are not made out of brick. They need food and water. If you go marching out into the unknown, how do you know there will be enough for them? You do not have secure lines of supply. You do not have any lines of communication. You do not have any friends." According to Mormont, It's already the case that "The slaves are weak from the march." Surely, even the Unsullied aren't as strong as they once were. Of course, if Jorah's "slaves" include the Unsullied, then he is making my point for me. Despite this, he recommends marching on.

Two things seem clear to me:

a. Martin is not a military man.

b. The assertion that Dany habitually ignores the good advice or her lieutenants is not well founded. She often follows this advice when it is, in fact, good. In this case it was poor. She made the right choice, not entirely for good reasons, but the right choice nevertheless.

2. The default assumption should be that they would face such attacks. Leaving your enemies in fortified positions behind you while you march through unknown territory is poor strategy. This just underlines the assertion I made above: Dany got poor advice. She could not be sure what her enemies would do, but it is safest to assume the worst. Furthermore, her gut feeling about being "defeated" is the right sort of feeling to have. The Meereenese are clearly defiant. If she marches away, it's likely they will be emboldened. Put yourself in Dany's place. It has now been established that you can be defeated by a scorched earth policy. Why wouldn't enemies in front of you use this policy? And your people will have stripped bare the land behind you. The result?

You're screwed.

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Dany's previous two chapters have seen triumph after triumph and generally things working out for her.



This chapter marks a change of pace, as several things happen to shake her up.



For one thing the consequences of her previous actions begin to catch up with her. The horde of freedmen creates several problems that need to be addressed and in the end they dictate Dany's future course as they make the conquest of Meereen imperative. Meereen itself is a much tougher nut to crack than Yunkai. Yunkai's approach was much more ceremonial. They deployed their army to strut about and attempted to bribe Dany in order to avoid a direct confrontation. In the face of a commander that is fundamentally inimical to them, their approach proved itself quite stupid. Dany had the much superior army and in the end they had nothing to offer her that she could not take herself. They also treated Dany as just another warlord passing through, ignoring her revulsion for their practices and her determination to end them.


Meereen on the other hand is a much tougher nut to crack. They treat Dany as an existential threat and have pulled all the stops to make a long and bitter fight out of it. They have retreated behind their walls, deprived Dany of any resource that would allow her to besiege them for any period of time and are defying her to her face.



On a more personal level Dany comes close to dying in the midst of her devoted followers by a defeated enemy that has had the patience to hide and wait for her. Her salvation leads to a number of revelations that cause rifts in her closest circle, as it is revealed that the one person she had trusted most turns out to be spying on her and her more recent savior approached her under false pretenses. Dany finds one solution to both her problems.


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Parwan, I imagine that Ser Jorah is arguing, in effect, to ditch the freed slaves, and live off the land as they march Westwards. That might work. They might well find enough supplies on the way to feed 8,000 Unsullied. They would be abandoning the freedmen to death or re-enslavement, however.


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Parwan, I imagine that Ser Jorah is arguing, in effect, to ditch the freed slaves, and live off the land as they march Westwards. That might work. They might well find enough supplies on the way to feed 8,000 Unsullied. They would be abandoning the freedmen to death or re-enslavement, however.

Yes I think that is her main problem, she freed the slaves and they willingly followed her. I think she does the right thing by not abandoning them. Every decision she makes at this point, people will die. from here until the end of DwD she is often faced with choosing the lesser of 2 evils.

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Yes I think that is her main problem, she freed the slaves and they willingly followed her. I think she does the right thing by not abandoning them. Every decision she makes at this point, people will die. from here until the end of DwD she is often faced with choosing the lesser of 2 evils.

Thinking through the logistics, I think she could have got the Unsullied and the sellswords through to Volantis. Xenophon's Anabasis, Young Cato's march up the North African coast, the Crusaders' march through Anatolia, are all evidence that an army can march through very harsh terrain, so long as they're well-prepared, well-led, and go swiftly. Dany could have confiscated the freed

slaves' livestock, plundered the countryside around Meereen, and been on her way. Cities along the way could have been sacked, threatened, or bought off. Almost certainly, that's what Ser Jorah had in mind.

But, it would have meant abandoning the freed slaves. They would have died like flies along the way. There's no way they could be fed or protected. And,

that would have made the decisions she took in the last two chapters pretty pointless.

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Thinking through the logistics, I think she could have got the Unsullied and the sellswords through to Volantis. Xenophon's Anabasis, Young Cato's march up the North African coast, the Crusaders' march through Anatolia, are all evidence that an army can march through very harsh terrain, so long as they're well-prepared, well-led, and go swiftly. Dany could have confiscated the freed

slaves' livestock, plundered the countryside around Meereen, and been on her way. Cities along the way could have been sacked, threatened, or bought off. Almost certainly, that's what Ser Jorah had in mind.

But, it would have meant abandoning the freed slaves. They would have died like flies along the way. There's no way they could be fed or protected. And,

that would have made the decisions she took in the last two chapters pretty pointless.

Exactly. I think, so far, the route she chose has caused less deaths. Excluding the pale mare (which is hardly Dany's doing).

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Exactly. I think, so far, the route she chose has caused less deaths. Excluding the pale mare (which is hardly Dany's doing).

My scenario is the one that Ilyrio, Jon Con, Varys, Tyrion all expect from her. The Volantenes probably wouldn't be thrilled at the idea of 8,000 Unsullied and 1,000 sellswords on their territory, but no doubt, they'd have offered her swift passage to Westeros with the Golden Company.

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The Mysterious One

One note for your summary, Barristan didn't kill Mero with his staff, he gave him quite the beat down, but it was actually the freed slaves who literally tore the man apart for attacking their "mother". It shows how fiercely loyal they are to Daenerys, and what they will do to those who try to harm her.

Thanks, I've edited it.

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