Does Meereen HAVE to lose the siege?

[marsyao]

Danny would have the support of :

1) her Dragon

2) Victorian's iron fleet

3) The large host of Dothraki

4) And the most important, the favor of the GRRM, the God of the all Gods

There is no way she will loss the battle of Meereen

[Hos the Hostage]

Danny would have the support of :

1) her Dragon

2) Victorian's iron fleet

3) The large host of Dothraki

4) And the most important, the favor of the GRRM, the God of the all Gods

There is no way she will loss the battle of Meereen

I'm not sure about 4

[Lord Lannister]

I'm not sure about 4

Or two once Victarion gets close enough to blow his dragon horn.

[BalerionTheCat]

I'm not sure about 4

I'm not sure about all 4's:

1) She does not command the dragons, they will attack anyone they fancy.

2) Victarion is not her ally. He comes to capture the dragons and enslave her; his logical allies are the Yunkai.

3) She has not yet won the dothraki, last news they didn't like her. Besides they are far away.

4) I'm not sure about 4 either.

[EddardsHead]

I could see Dany losing the battle of Meereen and being forced west, but I expect that she rides back on Drogon and straight conquers Meereen Aegon I style and seriously brings fire and blood.

[Wouter]

After reading sample chapters, I have this gut feeling that one of the two battles must be lost by characters we care about. Right now, Stannis and Dany are going to win in North and Meeren respectively. All the sample chapters have been very promisingly optimistic for our protagonists. I think when the actual book is published, some twist is gonna happen. I don't mind Meereen burning, but Tyrion and Jorah shouldn't get hurt.

Don't forget that Ramsay's letter in ADWD seemingly told us that Stannis lost the battle, and his life. The twist is already build-in, in case Stannis actually wins it (which seems likely from our POV, but right after reading ADWD many thought Stannis to be dead).

[Wouter]

I don't see the Unsullied as totally reliable, no more than the Faith Militant are reliable to the crown, or Selyse's Queen's Men to Stannis. Ultimately they serve a higher power.

If the Unsulled serve a "higher power", then it is probably Dany. I suspect Dany is their (demi)Goddess. A comparison to the (dis)loyalty of the Faith Militant to the crown is entirely misplaced, in my opinion.

[PatrickStormborn]

The battle will be lost, but Dany won't be there.

I'm just gonna put the rest of my answer behind a spoiler tag because it contains TWoW spoilers (along with speculation, of course).

Why Dany isn't returning:

1. Too many characteres are claiming Dany will return to save the day despite having absolutely no reason to think that. It's a classic GRRM misdirection.
   
2. Dany arriving to save the day would undermine the arrival of Victarion and the importance of having Dany leave Meereen.
   
3. She is most likely heading to Vaes Dothrak instead, based on her vision in the House of the Undying.
   
4. The battle is probably already completed by the time Jhaqo finds her with Drogon.
   

Why the battle may be lost:

1. The pale mare + the dragonhorn + the looming arrival of the Volantene Fleet = "let's get the fuck out of here".
   
2. Barristan, by the end of his second POV, thinks everything is going well...
   
3. I'll repeat this: the dragonhorn. Victarion has a dragonhorn. There are two dragons flying around, and the dumbest POV character in the books is about to sound a dragonhorn. It's probably called "the battle of fire" for a reason...
   

Even if the battle is won, what happens next? Do the surviving POV characters stay in Meereen and wait for Dany while she does whatever she has to do in Vaes Dothrak? I doubt it. If it was meant to end ADwD, it's because it essentially ends the Meereenese plot.

[Wouter]

There is no way the slavers are going to win the battle. If the battle would be "lost", it will be "lost" by all because of the Pale Mare/indiscrimate dragon attacks/infighting between factions nominally on the side of Dany.

[marsyao]

I'm not sure about all 4's:

1) She does not command the dragons, they will attack anyone they fancy.

2) Victarion is not her ally. He comes to capture the dragons and enslave her; his logical allies are the Yunkai.

3) She has not yet won the dothraki, last news they didn't like her. Besides they are far away.

4) I'm not sure about 4 either.

1) she will, especially after dothraki has so many livestocks which could be use to guilde the dragon back to Meereen

2) Victarion fancies to take her as his wife, so he would not work with Yunkai, do you forget Danny's fanboy the red priest is with Victarion?

3) She would won back dothraki, now she has a dragon with her, anyting otherwise would be an insult to GGRM's intellegence

4) I am shock anybody is still not sure about this GGRM's famous nonsense

[Monctonvike]

I'm not sure about 4

Win or lose I think she heads East to the shadow lands or to whats left of Valyria. If she ends up being GRRM little darling then she will complete her prohecy and save the day

[PatrickStormborn]

There is no way the slavers are going to win the battle. If the battle would be "lost", it will be "lost" by all because of the Pale Mare/indiscrimate dragon attacks/infighting between factions nominally on the side of Dany.

Agreed. I don't think there'll be a "winner". In fact, Dany's side will probably still come out best. But I don't think things are going to end well for anyone. The battle ends with the POV characters leaving Meereen and Dany having no idea about it, IMO.

[TheNinjaDC]

I thought the point would be everyone does better with Dany gone, winning the battle spectacularly, and more importantly showing Dany her compromising needs to go in favor of fire and blood.

Not saying there will not be a disaster in some form for her side, but I see it as a bitter sweet kind of disaster that keeps the victory from being glorious. Something like the dragon horn makes the dragons go crazy & cause the death of several thousand.