Assuming that Dany lands in The Vale...

[joluoto2]

Indeed, and Driftmark... :)

Not sure how much Driftmark will help. Young Lord Monterys might be there (we're not sure if he remained on Driftmark, or if Stannis took him with him to Eastwatch), but most of the Vealryon men are with Stannis.

[The Dragons Hand]

Why would she think that? The Vale fought against the Targaryens during Robert's rebellion. If she lands in the Vale, she'd come fully prepared to fight the Valesmen.

Indeed.

The odds are slim for her landing in the Vale.

[Hodor's Dragon]

I hope she establishes some sort of diplomatic contacts before she lands anywhere. Landing in a place where she is welcomed with open arms is far superior to an amphibious assault.

[joluoto2]

I hope she establishes some sort of diplomatic contacts before she lands anywhere. Landing in a place where she is welcomed with open arms is far superior to an amphibious assault.

She will have problems finding any place that will welcome her with open arms.

[Archmaester Drew]

Not sure how much Driftmark will help. Young Lord Monterys might be there (we're not sure if he remained on Driftmark, or if Stannis took him with him to Eastwatch), but most of the Vealryon men are with Stannis.

Because Driftmark was part of the Valyrian Freehold along with Dragonstone, and it is strategically important if she is going to occupy Dragonstone. :)

[Archmaester Drew]

She will have problems finding any place that will welcome her with open arms.

True, but she will have a large force with her, so... ;)

[Lord Rhaegel Tarly]

Ah, thank you, I've decided to start using my ignore list. Congrats, you're #1!

I meant no disrespect: I simply used a (very bad) metaphor to illustrate the possibility of Tyrion being a key advisor to Dany.

[Wouter]

LF's "three queens" comments to Sansa, spoken after the trade ship "merlin king" returned from Essos, may point to LF being aware of Dany and her power. If he is also aware of "Aegon" and of Varys being behind him, Dany may look a natural claimant for him to support. After all, he would be unlikely to join a Varys/Illyrio project (nor are those likely to not view him as a threat even if he claims to support Aegon), he needs to get rid of Cersei at some point and he has nothing to gain by backing Stannis. If he is not aware Tyrion may have joined Dany as an advisor by then, she could look very interesting as a claimant for him to support and manipulate.

If so, LF could invite Dany to the Vale which would net her a safe landing place and a base for her dragon(s). Or if LF gets deposed or killed beforehand, Sansa and the Vale lords might take over LF's plans if they had learned about those. Dany could be an interesting claimant to support for them as well, provided she would agree beforehand to issue full pardons for the rebellion in exchange for support now.

[RockyRagnarok]

I would put money on Dany landing on Dragon Stone, if she does make her way back to Westeros at all...I'm in the belief she is the Younger and Most Beautiful Queen in Cersi's crazy self fulfilling prophecy, and that Queen Danerys' reign will be short lived...

[Hodor's Dragon]

She will have problems finding any place that will welcome her with open arms.

What makes you think that? Westeros is a chaotic hellhole, and so far as I can tell from the books - which don't actually have lots of folks commenting on Targaryen rule - the Targaryens are not terribly unpopular and have a fair number of continuing loyalists. And even if she doesn't say it, "bend the knee or burn" will be in the backs of people's minds.

I'd say that any house that isn't strongly bound up to one of the contenders would consider her overtures, especially if she starts making promises, and even more so if she uses a carrot and stick approach.

[myhousigilisthehousecat]

Someone's gotta land in the Vale with a Dragon and wreak havoc, that's for sure. There have just been too many mentions about the Eyrie being impregnable- it's going to get decimated, like Harrenhal all over again. I think it's gonna be Tyrion who lands there though, given his previous grudge with the Vale nobility over his imprisonment and his popularity with the mountain clans. Also his dearest wife will greet him with Littlefinger's head on a spike as a welcome-home present. It will be soooo romantic

[Archmaester Drew]

Someone's gotta land in the Vale with a Dragon and wreak havoc, that's for sure. There have just been too many mentions about the Eyrie being impregnable- it's going to get decimated, like Harrenhal all over again. I think it's gonna be Tyrion who lands there though, given his previous grudge with the Vale nobility over his imprisonment and his popularity with the mountain clans. Also his dearest wife will greet him with Littlefinger's head on a spike as a welcome-home present. It will be soooo romantic

I agree that the Eyrie will be assaulted by dragons, eventually, but it seems a poor choice to launch an invasion from. How would they get an army through the mountains with all the snow? :)

[myhousigilisthehousecat]

I agree that the Eyrie will be assaulted by dragons, eventually, but it seems a poor choice to launch an invasion from. How would they get an army through the mountains with all the snow? :)

Maybe not the invasion launching point, but an important stop? They're one of the few north-ish places that has adequate food for winter. Also the mountains make it relatively wight-proof if they get that far south (and I think they will)

[Bright Blue Eyes]

Someone's gotta land in the Vale with a Dragon and wreak havoc, that's for sure. There have just been too many mentions about the Eyrie being impregnable- it's going to get decimated, like Harrenhal all over again. I think it's gonna be Tyrion who lands there though, given his previous grudge with the Vale nobility over his imprisonment and his popularity with the mountain clans. Also his dearest wife will greet him with Littlefinger's head on a spike as a welcome-home present. It will be soooo romantic

Doesn't matter one whiff. The Eyrie is empty and will stay that way until spring.

[Northbound3.0]

Doesn't matter one whiff. The Eyrie is empty and will stay that way until spring.

....what, you mean like they left the castle for the impending winter? :-)

[The Mother of The Others]

Fanfic of the scenario?

1) Stormy lands in Vale

2) the Vale Lords' instinctive reaction is to fend off invasions, so they don't side with Stormy.

3) Pete instantly begins playing both sides so he can thrive no matter who wins.

4) Tyrion makes use of the fact he's the "husband of the Vale."

5) Ultimately, the mountain clans are brought in on the side of Tyrion/Sansa/Daenerys to tip the balance and overthrow the Lords.

6) Peter is

• ousted? Or ...
  
• retreats to Riverrun where he's later dealt with more deservedly by Cat. Or
  
• his tongue wins in a duel with Tyrion's and it's the imp who's forced to flee from Stormy's sight--with a dragon, ala "3 betrayals."
  

[Veltigar]

The Vale just makes the most sense from a strategic PoV:

1) She can't land directly in front of KL, because by the time she gets there Faegon will probably have the capital firmly in his hand. As well as a pretty sizeable chunk of the Crownlands

2) The westcoast of Westeros is out of the question

3) The North and Dorne are to far removed from the main action. The North furthermore has a more hostile climate and Dorne will likely support Faegon

4) The Stormlands. Besides the fact that it's an incredibly poor choice to land there, it's also firmly in Faegon's hand.

5) Cracklaw Point is poor terrain for a landing.

6) This leaves the Vale and a tiny speck of land right underneath it for Dany to land.

The Vale is the best suited place of the two because of:

1) The Vale has yet to declare for anyone in the war. Their forces our still untapped. It is important for Dany to get local lords and knights on her side, otherwise people will view her as a foreign occupier. The Vale has the best forces left, so it's important for her to get them on her side.

2) The Vale offers the best landingsplace. Gulltown is a good sized port and during RR, the Graftons were Targaryen loyalists. They might be willing to throw their lot in with the Targs yet again.

3) The Vale is fertile and hasn't suffered any real damage yet. She needs the supplies from the Vale to feed her army.

4) Once she has landed in the Vale, it will be very hard to get her out for Faegon. The place is a bit of a fortress. At the same time, the Vale borders the Riverlands and the Crownlands, two places that will probably see a lot of fighting in the second Dance.

5) Personal business. Tyrion still has accounts to settle with LF, so that might spur him on to advice Dany to land there. For Dany it would also be a good way to link her with the glorious Targaryen past, since the situation appears to resemble the situation of the Vale during Aegon's conquest. The lord is a young boy and the Vale is ruled by a regent.

[myhousigilisthehousecat]

Doesn't matter one whiff. The Eyrie is empty and will stay that way until spring.

That was the plan, but those tend to get changed around. What with the mountain clans, lords declarant, or wights, I wouldn't be too surprised if they have to go back up there earlier than they'd like. If some dragon-y folk do come to an empty frozen castle, then they can easily take it, snack on its ample grain stores, and use it as a safe base camp while wreaking havoc on the rest of the Vale. Suddenly the knights of the Vale will have to take back their own impregnable castle. It will be a mess.

[Hodor's Dragon]

That was the plan, but those tend to get changed around. What with the mountain clans, lords declarant, or wights, I wouldn't be too surprised if they have to go back up there earlier than they'd like. If some dragon-y folk do come to an empty frozen castle, then they can easily take it, snack on its ample grain stores, and use it as a safe base camp while wreaking havoc on the rest of the Vale. Suddenly the knights of the Vale will have to take back their own impregnable castle. It will be a mess.

I tend to doubt it will be even possible to return to the Eyrie during winter. Sure, dragons can land up there, but I don't think you will be able to get there on foot.

[The Mother of The Others]

The westcoast of Westeros is out of the question

The Vale has yet to declare for anyone in the war. Their forces our still untapped. It is important for Dany to get local lords and knights on her side, otherwise people will view her as a foreign occupier. The Vale has the best forces left, so it's important for her to get them on her side.

The other way to go on that first point is to say the westcoast will be rendered open for easy landing and conquest by Euron's ongoing success at softening up the region, and it'd make sense for Danny to first stop in the Iron Islands to resolve the "Iron Strife" plotline, and then land on the continent with a changed Ironborn. (Maybe with an Ironborn host filled with misgivings about what just went down, too, which would set the stage for them to welcome Theon back at the end as a way of returning to sanity.)

As for the Vale's pristine condition, that makes it a good Dresden location for Danny to demonstrate what she can do by bombing it. Like, what if it's about to side with Aegon and cement his crown and authority, and then Danny lands and tears up the joint and makes Aegon's new alliance worthless because she just stomped it, and then she says to him that he's welcome to keep his engagement to Sansa because the dragonqueen don't want nothin to do wit him. Or what you said. They'd make a good ally too. But it'd be more gut-wrenching if they somehow totally wasted their advantage as the last intact kingdom and allowed themselves to get bloodied stupidly. So I'm thinking that's the way it might go. It'd be nice, though, if they were able to end this conflict just by throwing their support behind someone worthy and it stuck. (That'd leave the problem of Pete being a part of it, though he could perhaps be taken care of separately, more privately.)