Robert vs Viserys

[sweetsunray]

viserys could marry marge, dany could marry quentyn

Hmmm, Dany can't marry Quentyn while being married to Drogo... it's her marriage after all that got Vyserys the 40k Dothraki, in this scenario, no?

[sweetsunray]

Naval interception is far from an exact science when you're dealing with a continent the size of Westeros. Naturally word will cross the Narrow Sea long before the Dothraki arrive, but it's not going to be much of a naval battle. Still, Viserys would face innumerable obstacles.

Firstly, we have the Dothraki and transporting them. Moving 40,000 men is ridiculously difficult. The Golden Company had a quarter of the men and was still scattered all over Cape Wrath. Keep in mind, this is the Golden Company, born and bred and trained for discipline, and used to travel. The Dothraki have never gotten on boats before, and have a superstitious fear of the ocean. The very second Khal Drogo's ship is out of sight, there are going to be mutinies. They rely on their leader for discipline, and if he's not visible on his horse, they're a rabble. I doubt a Dothraki fleet would ever even make it to Westeros before totally imploding. A storm would make it far worse. Regardless, they're going to be scattered.

Secondly, all of these Dothraki have horses. In fact, you're probably going to need multiple horses per Dothraki, as spare mounts seem pretty common for them considering their horses are unarmored and they engage in open arrow-based warfare with them. That's taking the impossibility of the Dothraki traveling, and multiplying it by adding a bunch of animals. More than double the 'cargo' to be transported, taking the original excessive expense and increasing it even further.

Lastly, assuming he was landing in Dorne, Viserys is done. He's got Dorne, and that's it. The Tyrells aren't rising without something to gain, and the Martells aren't going to particularly care for the Tyrells gaining something if that something is Viserys' hand, and the violation of their agreement with Ser Darry. Robert punished the Targaryen loyalists of the Stormlands, so the Dornish Marches are his, and Randyll Tarly is the guy they'll have to meet if they go through the Prince's Pass. And again, their horses aren't going to fare well in the desert, and it will be a lot of marching and regrouping to get them all together and on the move.

It just doesn't work. To raise the wealth required, the Dothraki would need to utterly crash the slave exchange with overflow. Illyrio, as the main money-man behind this whole thing would benefit immensely. He'd provide the fleets, the sailors, handle the slave brokering, and the only Khalassar in recent history large enough to threaten the Free Cities would splinter and die, saving tons in tributes. If the invasion turns into an uncoordinated mess, dothraki would be deposited all up and down the coast of Westeros, pillaging in small, difficult to exterminate bands, adding to the atmosphere of chaos they want.

While I agree with most of what you wrote, one correction - Randyll Tarly is lord of Horn Hill west of the Torrentine (Dayne country). The Prince's Pass leads from Kingsgrave (Manwoody) to Nightsong in the Marches, which is House Caron, which is sworn to SE (Before Blackwater).

[John Suburbs]

"Could Viserys really sweep the seven kingdoms with 40,000 Dothraki screamers?"

"Viserys couldn't sweep a horse's stall with 40,000 brooms."