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Um, where did this Yunkai Slave Army come from all of a sudden?


SerHodor

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So I am reading ADWD currently, and am on the "Windblown" chapter, around page 350 or so.



We learn that the Yunkai have laid seige to Astapor, and are now marching to Mereen.



Through the eyes of Quentyn and his Dorne companions, we learn about all the different commanders (Girl General, Little Pigeon, etc.).



We learn that in addition to the hired sellswords, the Yunkai have a large slave army still.



But, my queston is... didn't Dany recently free all of the slaves there? Where did these slaves come from? And aren't the majority of slaves from Yunkai bed slaves????




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Slave people inhabit nearly all of slavers bay. They are not just limited to Yunkai. I'm sure you would have no problem finding slaves in slavers bay.



The true answer is that Martin sucks at writing Essos and/or doesn't care. Just ignore it really, the only characters in Essos that are important are the Westerosi characters.


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But, my queston is... didn't Dany recently free all of the slaves there? Where did these slaves come from? And aren't the majority of slaves from Yunkai bed slaves????

Yeah, I wish Martin had explained where they came from (it wouldn't have taken much). That way we wouldn't have to try to come up with our own explanations. But, that being said, I don't have much trouble with simply thinking the vast majority of slaves that Dany freed pretty quickly became slaves again after she left. I mean, if she's not there to protect them and "enforce" their freedom then I doubt they would remain free for very long. :dunno:

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Yunkai hired sellsword companies, first to help them conquer Astapor, then to help them with their fight against Meereen. When Astapor fell, a lot of people were still inside the city. It is highly likely that those former slaves became slaves once more. The former slaves who were fast enough, are now below the walls of Meereen, sick with the pale mare.



With Yunkai are the legions of New Ghis. As New Ghis hadn't been attacked previously, they still had fresh armies.


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As far as the legions actually belonging to Yunkai (as opposed to their allies and the free companies), I think it's reasonable to assume that the bulk of the men that weren't in Yunkai all along were simply purchased from the other slave cities. I don't feel like it's a weak point or laziness by Martin, as some have stated above; I think that it just isn't terribly important to the overall plot to enumerate where they came from.



Like others, I'm hungry to learn more about the people and lands of Essos in general. But I can also understand why Martin doesn't go into detail in that regard, as the story is quite long and ambitious as it is. Hence the Essos chapters focus on the Westerosi characters that are in Essos, because the overall plot of the story centers on Westeros. So I don't have any problem with Martin's treatment of Essos.


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Of course, there's this quote from the Tyrion chapter where he arrives at Volantis with Haldon, that explains some





“Three,” Qavo allowed, “against thrice three thousand enemies. Grazdan mo Eraz was not the only envoy sent out from the Yellow City. When the Wise Masters move against Meereen, the legions of New Ghis will fight beside them. Tolosi. Elyrians. Even the Dothraki.”


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A close reading of the Slaver's Bay should show the intricacies he's made crafting it. There is a lot there, but since we have only one POV, it doesn't come off as layered as the WotFK did.

Nah, not really.

A close reading would suggest that Slavers bay is a mish mash of oriental stereotypes with twisted bits thrown in and absolutely no effort going into thinking about it. The people there all fall into 3 categories: helpless slave people, savage barbarians , stupid+evil slavers. That's about it.

Up to book 3 it was good because we could enjoy Dany pwning the crap out of stupid slave people. But the entire thing tanked during ADWD because the characters are all stupid and evil, and we KNOW that Essos is just a filler that anyway doesn't matter. Dany needs to hang around with important people like Tyrion, Jorah etc. not with the scum of the earth ( dothraki, slaves, eunuch babykillers, Daario.. )

I skip all Essos chapters on rereads. I find that I don't miss anything.

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