What Needs to Be Accomplished

[Lady Rhodes]

17 minutes ago, King Aegon I Targaryen said:

Well, I really cant argue against that. Though that would also make the likes of Arys Oakheart, Garin, Andrey Dalt, and Sylva Santagar the most dangerous men and women in Dorne aswell.  xD  

Yes this is my thoughts as well

also, while reading Dance this morning, I saw a small little line in Arya’s Blind girl chapter that may bridge Jon and Dany - Lysene ship took wildlings from Hardhome to sell as slaves in Lys

[Euron III Greyjoy]

34 minutes ago, Lady Rhodes said:

also, while reading Dance this morning, I saw a small little line in Arya’s Blind girl chapter that may bridge Jon and Dany - Lysene ship took wildlings from Hardhome to sell as slaves in Lys

Yeah, she might find out about the Others from these wildlings aswell. 

[Darth Sidious]

15 hours ago, The Coconut God said:

I'm not sure how much shorter it can get. Sure, the emotional arc is the most important, but there are plot elements that were set up already, and there's the question of pacing to simulate the passage of time. Even if we don't get any PoVs from Camp Dany for their travel from Meereen to Westeros, we still need a good chunk of chapters from other characters to create a sort of "time gap" in between. If we eliminate a number of chapters that were spread out throughout the book, we won't be able to to assign as many consecutive chapters to those characters at a later point in the story.

Let's apply your original question to Dany's campaign, as it was left in ADwD. What needs to be accomplished there? WARNING! There may be some spoilers for you below if you didn't finish ADwD (but then again, the link I gave you earlier had some as well if you read it ).

1. Dany needs to recruit the Dothraki. This would surely take several chapters, 3 at a bare minimum, more likely 4. We need to find out how Khal Jhaqo will receive her, and she made him a promise in AGoT that needs to pay off. Then she needs to get to Vaes Dothrak, which was prophesied, and then all the khalasar must assemble before we find out how exactly she will recruit them. Ideally, this how would be a hint at how loyal we can expect them to be. Is she a goddess to them and they will follow her blindly like the Unsullied, or is there a catch that can create conflicts later? On top of all this, there has to be some sort of threat that creates tension throughout this min-arc, such as a khal or more who would rather slay her dragon and enslave her.

2. A resolution must be achieved in Meereen. While the Battle of Fire itself will likely play out while Dany is doing her thing with the Dothraki, she has to show up at some point and deal with the aftermath, since Meereen is part of her story. We need at least one Dany chapter to settle Meereen, or Slaver's Bay as a whole. I'd say as many as 2 or 3 depending on how things play out, but 1 at the bare minimum. We must learn what is to happen to her loyal freedmen and what Dany's feelings and concerns are towards this. Does she think the freedmen will be able to handle themselves? Does she intend to take them with her? Does she think Meereen is doomed, and if so does she feel responsible? Does she care? Is she going to leave any dissenters behind? Are the freedmen and ghiscari loyalists on board with her decisions, or do they think she's screwing them over? How did this whole anti-slavery arc impacted Dany, what does this say about her character, and how do we, as readers, view her now? A good resolution would touch on most of these questions.

3. How does Dany react to what the other characters have done? This is hard to escape because it's related to the plot. How is Dany going to react to Barristan dethroning Hizdhar? Will she believe he was connected to the Harpy? How will she react when whoever the Harpy was will be revealed to her? How will she react to Quentin's attempt to steal a dragon? Will she understand? Will she think he got what he deserved and throw her bones in the sewers? Will she anticipate that his death might cause her trouble with his family? Will she believe Brown Ben? Will she be happy with the role Skahaz has played? Will she continue her relationship with Daario if he is alive? How will she react if he's dead? How will she receive Tyrion? How will Tyrion earn her trust? How will she receive Victarion if he's still there? What will he do? How will she react if manages to steal a dragon and flees? How will she receive Moqorro and his red god? Will he offer her anything? Will he ask her to go to Volantis, and if so, will she refuse or accept? Will there be any peace deal with Qarth? Will Xaro negotiate it? If so, how will she receive him? How will she react to anything unexpected that might happen to the other characters, such as Missandei and Grey Worm, during the Battle of Fire. These questions don't necessarily need to be answered from Dany's PoV, but they're still part of the Meereen story and they still need to be resolved (mostly) before she moves forward.

4. What is Dany's new goal? Like the previous point, this doesn't need to take a chapter on its own, but it needs to be established (and there are only so many things that can happen in a single chapter if we want it to be coherent). We know she has embraced "fire and blood", and that might be expanded upon in her Dothraki chapters, but that's more a way of dealing with things than a goal in itself. She settles things in Slaver's Bay, how and why does she move forward? Does head for Westeros? Does she continue to abolish slavery in the Free Cities? Does she do both (the Free Cities are on her way after all)? What or who motivates her?

5. What about Volantis? ADwD established a lot of things about Volantis. There is a Volantene army headed for Meereen. Which side is it going to fight on? What impact will that have on Dany? What motives do the red priests of Volantis have? Do they want anything specific for their town, or do they just want to follow Dany wherever she goes? And what about the Widow of the Waterfront? Will she play a part? She told Jorah to tell Dany that they are waiting for her. Does it matter who will win their elections? Are all the detailed descriptions of Volantis and its surroundings and the things we learned about its people and culture meant to set up the place for some action in TWoW, or is it just empty world building?

6. What about Pentos? Pentos has been a part of the story from the start. Will it play a bigger par? Will we revisit Illyrio's manse? Will the foreshadowing about it being vulnerable to the Dothraki pay off? Is the Tattered Prince important, or is he just a red herring? What's gonna happen to him?

7. How will Dany react to Aegon? First of all, she needs to find out about him. Will Tyrion tell her? Will he be painted as genuine or as fake? What will Dany believe? Will she care? Will she rush to his aid, like Tyrion thought? Tyrion's cocksuredness when he said that, her reaction to Quentin and her new awakening as more than a savior makes me think she won't. However, will she rush to challenge him? Will she, on the contrary, be motivated to stay on Essos and expand her empire there, now that another Targaryen with a better claim has already gone to Westeros? Does she need to go to Pentos to find out who he is? Does Tatters know? If she does go to Westeros, how will they initiate contact? Will they parlay first? Will Dany plan to marry him? Will she threaten him with fire and blood? Will she claim he is illegitimate from the start, like Stannis did when starting his war? How long would a war last? How does it segue into the plot with Jon and the Others?

8. How will Dany react to Euron? He has a means to control dragons, a Valyrian armor and a powerful fleet. Will he challenge Dany's crossing? If so, there needs to be an arc about the conflict with him before establishing her arrival. Will there be a dance of dragons with Euron? Will they even communicate? Will Victarion warn her about him? How much of her forces will he cost her? Will the Dothraki keep following her if she gets them killed at sea and starts losing dragons in battle? Will Euron still be a thing afterwards, or will she kill him during the crossing? If the former, what part will he play? Will, on the contrary, Euron start as an ally and love interest for Dany? If so, how long will it take for their relationship to be established? What will they do together? What will break them apart? Will it cost her anything? Again, how will Euron be defeated?

9. How will Dany interact with the lords of Westeros? How will her conquest be set up? Will she attempt to win any alliances, or will she just attack and ask for submissions? Will we see Dany taking a stance relative to some of the houses we care about, big and small? Will we see some of these lords come to Dany to offer allegiance? Will there be a political fight for supporters with Aegon? Will there be scenes with messengers from Dorne, from the Vale, from the Riverlands, from the Reach? Will Dany visit any of these places? Will Tyrion be sent to the Westerlands to rally people to Dany's cause? What situation will the North be in when she arrives? How will her relationship with Jon play out? How many chapters would it take to deal with so many scattershot locations? Will she fight some of these houses? Will they stand a chance? What will she do with those she defeats?

10. What about the Others? As the series's Chekhov's gun, they have to take a meaningful part of the story, unless George cheats and they dn't show up until the epilogue. Will that happen? If not, how will the war with them play out? How will Dany learn about them? What will she think and how will it affect her priorities? Will she needs convincing to fight them? Will it cost her the crown or her dragons? Will she be alive for the resolution?

 

As you can see, these are a hell of a lot of plot lines and minor arcs, and I kind of skimmed them there at the end because I grew tired typing. I do not think there is room for all of these in two books, even with convergences. Something has to give. I think Westeros is the better choice, because the story would stay true to the plot lines established in ADwD, and the "loss" can be framed as a huge series-defining twist and turn into a win (unless fans are really hung on her fighting for the Iron Throne).

Of course, there are alternatives. He might chop up the Essos plot lines and use either Aegon or the stolen dragon as a motivating factor for her to leave. The Volantene can just join her with the red priests taking the city off-screen, and Tatters can just tell Dany what Illyrio's plot was and die, to spare her the trip to Pentos. Abandoning Meereen can be framed either as "they'll be fine" or as Dany becoming more selfish.

The hardest thing to swallow for me would be the Dothraki following her across the Poison Water without Dany proving herself in any way, like a bunch of mindless units from an RTS game, but I guess that's a matter of opinion and taste. George can probably get away with giving Dany a second convenient army who follows her blindly with no strings attached.

Another interesting option would be to remove Dany and Jon as PoV characters and tell their stories from other people's perspectives from now on. He could probably gain a lot of page space by cutting characterization and inner thoughts from the two main chars. It might even be cool not to know what Jon is thinking post-resurrection, but I still think this would be cheating.

Those are way too many plot points for one character to resolve.  Euron will have to be resolved by another character.  Say Asha.  The two queens fighting might be Cersei and Arrianne if Dorne sides with Aegon.  And the little brother being Aegon.   The issue for Dany to resolve in Slaver's Bay is the need to stop slavery.  That is enough fight for one person for an entire life time.  

[The Coconut God]

11 hours ago, Lady Rhodes said:

@The Coconut God no worries! This is my second read of Dance. Nothing spoiled!

i have actually thought about this in a similar format to what you have suggested. A key thing, I think, is that once some plot lines converge, we gain more page per narrative arc. I know Martin has said that Tyrion and Dany are still apart for a large portion of the book. Let’s take Dance, though, as an example. It is 1040 pages. Split that in half - 520. (I realize this may differ depending on edition but it should be similar.) Tyrion has twelve chapters and Daenerys had ten. If we assume that the word and chapter count will be similar and that they meet halfway,  that would be 11 chapters within 520 pages telling the same narrative arc. And this doesn’t count other characters that may be introduced! So I think there will be a lot of pages to tell a lot of things. 

As far as Dany accomplishing things, I think it will go (assuming ten chapters):

1) capture and travel to Vaes Dothrak

2)arrival at Vaes dothrak 

3) meeting with dish khaleen

4) escape from Vaes Dothrak

5) return to meereen

At this point, I think most chapters are going to be from others perspectives and then we will have Dany ones interspersed.

I agree that converging characters will help to some degree, I just don't think that it's enough. The War of the Five Kings also had a lot of PoVs and it still covered approximately two books and a half. There are 7-8 chapters in AGoT, ~52 in ACoK and 37 in ASoS all tied into this conflict. If Dany arrives to Westeros 3/4 into TWoW, there is just barely enough room for ONE conflict of that magnitude, and that's if absolutely everything ties into it immediately, There is no room to give similar depth to both her conquest AND the final battle with the Others. And I didn't even count all the set-up with Ned's arc in AGoT, the attempt on Bran's life, Tyrion's kidnapping, etc., nor the aftermath with the Purple Wedding and Tywin's death.

On the other hand, the conflict in Slaver's Bay is already ~33 chapters deep, plus however many are needed to resolve the conflict in TWoW. The previews hint at at least 6 before the Battle of Fire is even concluded, so this number can go up to 45 or even 50 before all is said and done in Meereen. 55 easily if Volantis gets its own mini-arc. The Conquest of Essos already has the ball rolling to be as complex as the Wot5K. It only needs to fit ~60 chapters in 2 books (10-20 of which are already set) instead of 90+ in one book and a half.

[Lady Rhodes]

5 minutes ago, The Coconut God said:

I agree that converging characters will help to some degree, I just don't think that it's enough. The War of the Five Kings also had a lot of PoVs and it still covered approximately two books and a half. There are 7-8 chapters in AGoT, ~52 in ACoK and 37 in ASoS all tied into this conflict. If Dany arrives to Westeros 3/4 into TWoW, there is just barely enough room for ONE conflict of that magnitude, and that's if absolutely everything ties into it immediately, There is no room to give similar depth to both her conquest AND the final battle with the Others. And I didn't even count all the set-up with Ned's arc in AGoT, the attempt on Bran's life, Tyrion's kidnapping, etc., nor the aftermath with the Purple Wedding and Tywin's death.

On the other hand, the conflict in Slaver's Bay is already ~33 chapters deep, plus however many are needed to resolve the conflict in TWoW. The previews hint at at least 6 before the Battle of Fire is even concluded, so this number can go up to 45 or even 50 before all is said and done in Meereen. 55 easily if Volantis gets its own mini-arc. The Conquest of Essos already has the ball rolling to be as complex as the Wot5K. It only needs to fit ~60 chapters in 2 books (10-20 of which are already set) instead of 90+ in one book and a half.

Fair points. Something will have to happen that merges things in an unexpected yet meaningful and authentic manner

[The Coconut God]

35 minutes ago, Silver Bullet 1985 said:

Those are way too many plot points for one character to resolve.  Euron will have to be resolved by another character.  Say Asha.  The two queens fighting might be Cersei and Arrianne if Dorne sides with Aegon.  And the little brother being Aegon.   The issue for Dany to resolve in Slaver's Bay is the need to stop slavery.  That is enough fight for one person for an entire life time.  

I agree, although I vote for Sansa being captured by Euron at sea and the valonqar being Victarion! 

12 minutes ago, Lady Rhodes said:

Fair points. Something will have to happen that merges things in an unexpected yet meaningful and authentic manner

That's the essence of it. I will always argue for the Exodus because it's my theory and I want to make it more popular, but the truth is I would be happy with any solution as long as the story remains solid.

[Three-Fingered Pete]

1 hour ago, Lady Rhodes said:

Fair points. Something will have to happen that merges things in an unexpected yet meaningful and authentic manner

 

I've said it before and I'll say it again. There is only one thing that can believably cut out all the extraneous arcs we have to juggle and that thing is:

So let's get those dragons doing something other than eating Meereen out of house and home!

[Annalee]

3 hours ago, Silver Bullet 1985 said:

Those are way too many plot points for one character to resolve.  Euron will have to be resolved by another character.  Say Asha.  The two queens fighting might be Cersei and Arrianne if Dorne sides with Aegon.  And the little brother being Aegon.   The issue for Dany to resolve in Slaver's Bay is the need to stop slavery.  That is enough fight for one person for an entire life time.  

I agree.  This is what I concluded from what GRRM said in the following interview.

https://www.theguardian.com/books/2018/nov/10/game-of-thrones-george-rr-martin-the-winds-of-winter-interview

 

[Lady Rhodes]

1 hour ago, Trefayne said:

 

I've said it before and I'll say it again. There is only one thing that can believably cut out all the extraneous arcs we have to juggle and that thing is:

So let's get those dragons doing something other than eating Meereen out of house and home!

Haha I don’t doubt that fire would certainly eliminate arcs fairly quickly. If @King Aegon I Targaryen And mine’s unintentional discovery yet interesting theory that Darkstar knows about Jon proves true, that is a very quick way to intertwine those arcs in an unexpected matter. If Dany rescues wildings from slavery, that is a good way to get her intertwined with Jon. I think Oldtown and the Faceless Men arcs will converge which may mean it is Arya who faces Euron. LoTs to think about but I think we are closer than we realize. Just a few dominos need to fall. 

[Annalee]

3 hours ago, Lady Rhodes said:

Fair points. Something will have to happen that merges things in an unexpected yet meaningful and authentic manner

Merging and trimming.  Trimming is just as useful of a literary tool.  So say Jon dies and never comes back.  That is a very effective and deliciously dramatic way to trim his plot point.  One that I can get on board with.  Ancillary plot lines like the Brotherhood, Sansa & LF, Samwell Tarly, Euron Greyjoy, can also be trimmed very neatly with a few timely deaths.  For example, the Brotherhood story includes Jaime and Brienne.  It can be closed out in one chapter with the deaths of LSH, Jaime, Pod, and Brienne.

[Lady Rhodes]

18 hours ago, Annalee said:

Merging and trimming.  Trimming is just as useful of a literary tool.  So say Jon dies and never comes back.  That is a very effective and deliciously dramatic way to trim his plot point.  One that I can get on board with.  Ancillary plot lines like the Brotherhood, Sansa & LF, Samwell Tarly, Euron Greyjoy, can also be trimmed very neatly with a few timely deaths.  For example, the Brotherhood story includes Jaime and Brienne.  It can be closed out in one chapter with the deaths of LSH, Jaime, Pod, and Brienne.

Certainly, trimming is a valid technique and was used quite copiously in Storm! But the trimming has to be for valid reasons that enhance the story. Trimming for the sake of “I have too many plot threads!” Will only leave us dissatisfied.

back to the main topic though! To be accomplished- what do we think the main topic of Dream is going to be about? We can deduce what will happen in winds if we think about that, too.

[The Lord of the Crossing]

A Dream of Spring.  The title says it all.  The struggle to survive while hoping for the arrival of spring.  Few people will stay in the ice zones of Westeros.  The southern areas of Dorne and the Crownlands might escape the brutal winters though.  

The common folk will escape the winter and cross over to Essos.  They will spend the time covered by the book looking towards home and wondering when the ice will thaw.  The nobles are tied to their lands.  Land is the source of power and status for these people.  And they will die huddled in their castles.  Daenerys will continue her war against slavery.  The Volantene slaves will revolt against their masters.  

[Nevets]

On 11/24/2018 at 7:24 AM, The Coconut God said:

I agree that converging characters will help to some degree, I just don't think that it's enough. The War of the Five Kings also had a lot of PoVs and it still covered approximately two books and a half. There are 7-8 chapters in AGoT, ~52 in ACoK and 37 in ASoS all tied into this conflict. If Dany arrives to Westeros 3/4 into TWoW, there is just barely enough room for ONE conflict of that magnitude, and that's if absolutely everything ties into it immediately, There is no room to give similar depth to both her conquest AND the final battle with the Others. And I didn't even count all the set-up with Ned's arc in AGoT, the attempt on Bran's life, Tyrion's kidnapping, etc., nor the aftermath with the Purple Wedding and Tywin's death.

On the other hand, the conflict in Slaver's Bay is already ~33 chapters deep, plus however many are needed to resolve the conflict in TWoW. The previews hint at at least 6 before the Battle of Fire is even concluded, so this number can go up to 45 or even 50 before all is said and done in Meereen. 55 easily if Volantis gets its own mini-arc. The Conquest of Essos already has the ball rolling to be as complex as the Wot5K. It only needs to fit ~60 chapters in 2 books (10-20 of which are already set) instead of 90+ in one book and a half.

The Northern story line has 30 chapters in ADWD (plus 1 from AFFC), and the KL/Riverlands story (which is essentially the wrap-up of the War of the 5 Kings) has 28 in the last two books.  Which puts them on a similar level of importance.  And they both contain more main characters than east Essos.

I'm not necessarily suggesting that she deliberately abandons Meereen (although she could).  Two solutions would be for Tyrion to sort things out in Meereen, leaving her free to go to Westeros, or, the Volantenes crush the opposition, effectively leaving her no choice.  Wiping out slavery overall is way beyond what she will be able to accomplish, and I think she is aware of that.

[Nevets]

On 11/24/2018 at 7:24 AM, The Coconut God said:

I agree that converging characters will help to some degree, I just don't think that it's enough. The War of the Five Kings also had a lot of PoVs and it still covered approximately two books and a half. There are 7-8 chapters in AGoT, ~52 in ACoK and 37 in ASoS all tied into this conflict. If Dany arrives to Westeros 3/4 into TWoW, there is just barely enough room for ONE conflict of that magnitude, and that's if absolutely everything ties into it immediately, There is no room to give similar depth to both her conquest AND the final battle with the Others. And I didn't even count all the set-up with Ned's arc in AGoT, the attempt on Bran's life, Tyrion's kidnapping, etc., nor the aftermath with the Purple Wedding and Tywin's death.

There isn't going to be anything of that magnitude.  The War of the 5 Kings was a multi-sided conflict that lasted for over a year.  Anything with Dany is going to be her and her allies vs. everybody else, and will likely end comparatively quickly.  And that's assuming that there is a real fight.  If the Lannisters are gone, by whatever means, there might not really be anyone to oppose her, except probably Euron, and he's so bad I expect everybody would be against him.  And evenif the Lannisters are still around, I don't see a conflict lasting all that long.  And I don't see Jon actually fighting her, unless things go really badly.

[The Coconut God]

5 hours ago, Nevets said:

The Northern story line has 30 chapters in ADWD (plus 1 from AFFC), and the KL/Riverlands story (which is essentially the wrap-up of the War of the 5 Kings) has 28 in the last two books.  Which puts them on a similar level of importance.  And they both contain more main characters than east Essos.

The 33 chapters are just from ASoS and ADwD, it can easily baloon to 50 with the minimum that needs to be done in TWoW.

5 hours ago, Nevets said:

I'm not necessarily suggesting that she deliberately abandons Meereen (although she could).  Two solutions would be for Tyrion to sort things out in Meereen, leaving her free to go to Westeros, or, the Volantenes crush the opposition, effectively leaving her no choice.  Wiping out slavery overall is way beyond what she will be able to accomplish, and I think she is aware of that.

If she loses in Slaver's Bay, then why would the Dothraki still follow her? They value strength. Even if Meereen is completely obliterated, she still has the strength to punish her enemies for it, and there are plenty more slaves to be freed in Qarth, Volantis and the other Ghiscari cities.

You say this is impossible to accomplish, but when she started she only had 8.000 unsullied, of which only 5.000 were battle tested, and three tiny pet dragons. With this force she could only hold one city at a time, which is why Yunkai was able to operate freely and organize a large coalition against her while she was stuck ruling Meereen. Now she could have as many as 100.000 savage, battle tested Dothraki screamers and at least one dragon she can ride in battle. She could easily attack and hold multiple cities at a time and freeze land trade (and sea trade, if some of the Ironborn stick with her) for anyone who doesn't submit to her rule. It is positively tinfoil to think she wouldn't be able to handle the slavers after unifying the Dothraki.

As for winning and leaving, I linked to a reddit thread on the first page about the territories she would control on Essos after various stages of the story. If you don't want to read it, you can just check the map directly and consider everything circled with green and red (minus Pentos) would be what she controls after uniting the Dothraki and defeating her current enemies in Slaver's Bay. If you don't want to check it, I'll just tell you it's 3/4 of the continent. Why would she abandon an empire that size? Why not get the other 1/4 and smack the 5 remaining cities that still have slaves before rushing over to Westeros? Can you think of any reason that is not a thinly veiled plot device? Because I'm having a hard time doing that.

1 hour ago, Nevets said:

There isn't going to be anything of that magnitude.  The War of the 5 Kings was a multi-sided conflict that lasted for over a year.  Anything with Dany is going to be her and her allies vs. everybody else, and will likely end comparatively quickly.  And that's assuming that there is a real fight.  If the Lannisters are gone, by whatever means, there might not really be anyone to oppose her, except probably Euron, and he's so bad I expect everybody would be against him.  And evenif the Lannisters are still around, I don't see a conflict lasting all that long.  And I don't see Jon actually fighting her, unless things go really badly.

That's not an argument in favor of her going to Westeros... What you describe is a simplistic, short, unsatisfying arc, divorced from everything its main protagonist has done so far, which fans may think they need, but once they'll actually have they'll be inevitably disappointed with. The conquest of Essos on the other hand, which already has ~50 chapters set in, would only need 45 more over a book and a half to reach the same complexity as the Wot5K, leaving a comfortable ~100 chapters for the Fall of Westeros, with the Exodus itself overlapping with both story lines.

[Lady Rhodes]

18 hours ago, The Coconut God said:

The 33 chapters are just from ASoS and ADwD, it can easily baloon to 50 with the minimum that needs to be done in TWoW.

If she loses in Slaver's Bay, then why would the Dothraki still follow her? They value strength. Even if Meereen is completely obliterated, she still has the strength to punish her enemies for it, and there are plenty more slaves to be freed in Qarth, Volantis and the other Ghiscari cities.

You say this is impossible to accomplish, but when she started she only had 8.000 unsullied, of which only 5.000 were battle tested, and three tiny pet dragons. With this force she could only hold one city at a time, which is why Yunkai was able to operate freely and organize a large coalition against her while she was stuck ruling Meereen. Now she could have as many as 100.000 savage, battle tested Dothraki screamers and at least one dragon she can ride in battle. She could easily attack and hold multiple cities at a time and freeze land trade (and sea trade, if some of the Ironborn stick with her) for anyone who doesn't submit to her rule. It is positively tinfoil to think she wouldn't be able to handle the slavers after unifying the Dothraki.

As for winning and leaving, I linked to a reddit thread on the first page about the territories she would control on Essos after various stages of the story. If you don't want to read it, you can just check the map directly and consider everything circled with green and red (minus Pentos) would be what she controls after uniting the Dothraki and defeating her current enemies in Slaver's Bay. If you don't want to check it, I'll just tell you it's 3/4 of the continent. Why would she abandon an empire that size? Why not get the other 1/4 and smack the 5 remaining cities that still have slaves before rushing over to Westeros? Can you think of any reason that is not a thinly veiled plot device? Because I'm having a hard time doing that.

That's not an argument in favor of her going to Westeros... What you describe is a simplistic, short, unsatisfying arc, divorced from everything its main protagonist has done so far, which fans may think they need, but once they'll actually have they'll be inevitably disappointed with. The conquest of Essos on the other hand, which already has ~50 chapters set in, would only need 45 more over a book and a half to reach the same complexity as the Wot5K, leaving a comfortable ~100 chapters for the Fall of Westeros, with the Exodus itself overlapping with both story lines.

I completely agree. We would be ultimately unhappy

[The Mother of The Others]

We'll get the end of slavery.   Volantis events will be remembered by everyone for hundreds of years.   So you won't need that many chapters, none covering the changeover years to a new economy.  Just the clear example of why they' ll have to put down their whips, heavy hinting of the future to come, a couple remote slavers seen leaving their facility in the night and wondering what crop they could get to grow in that soil.  Hemp?  No.  Too dry.  ....Has anyone suggested Hemp?

[The Commentator]

On 11/25/2018 at 9:11 AM, The Lord of the Crossing said:

A Dream of Spring.  The title says it all.  The struggle to survive while hoping for the arrival of spring.  Few people will stay in the ice zones of Westeros.  The southern areas of Dorne and the Crownlands might escape the brutal winters though.  

The common folk will escape the winter and cross over to Essos.  They will spend the time covered by the book looking towards home and wondering when the ice will thaw.  The nobles are tied to their lands.  Land is the source of power and status for these people.  And they will die huddled in their castles.  Daenerys will continue her war against slavery.  The Volantene slaves will revolt against their masters.  

 

19 hours ago, The Coconut God said:

The 33 chapters are just from ASoS and ADwD, it can easily baloon to 50 with the minimum that needs to be done in TWoW.

If she loses in Slaver's Bay, then why would the Dothraki still follow her? They value strength. Even if Meereen is completely obliterated, she still has the strength to punish her enemies for it, and there are plenty more slaves to be freed in Qarth, Volantis and the other Ghiscari cities.

You say this is impossible to accomplish, but when she started she only had 8.000 unsullied, of which only 5.000 were battle tested, and three tiny pet dragons. With this force she could only hold one city at a time, which is why Yunkai was able to operate freely and organize a large coalition against her while she was stuck ruling Meereen. Now she could have as many as 100.000 savage, battle tested Dothraki screamers and at least one dragon she can ride in battle. She could easily attack and hold multiple cities at a time and freeze land trade (and sea trade, if some of the Ironborn stick with her) for anyone who doesn't submit to her rule. It is positively tinfoil to think she wouldn't be able to handle the slavers after unifying the Dothraki.

As for winning and leaving, I linked to a reddit thread on the first page about the territories she would control on Essos after various stages of the story. If you don't want to read it, you can just check the map directly and consider everything circled with green and red (minus Pentos) would be what she controls after uniting the Dothraki and defeating her current enemies in Slaver's Bay. If you don't want to check it, I'll just tell you it's 3/4 of the continent. Why would she abandon an empire that size? Why not get the other 1/4 and smack the 5 remaining cities that still have slaves before rushing over to Westeros? Can you think of any reason that is not a thinly veiled plot device? Because I'm having a hard time doing that.

That's not an argument in favor of her going to Westeros... What you describe is a simplistic, short, unsatisfying arc, divorced from everything its main protagonist has done so far, which fans may think they need, but once they'll actually have they'll be inevitably disappointed with. The conquest of Essos on the other hand, which already has ~50 chapters set in, would only need 45 more over a book and a half to reach the same complexity as the Wot5K, leaving a comfortable ~100 chapters for the Fall of Westeros, with the Exodus itself overlapping with both story lines.

She who controls the Dothraki khalasars controls Essos.  

On 11/24/2018 at 9:07 AM, Silver Bullet 1985 said:

Those are way too many plot points for one character to resolve.  Euron will have to be resolved by another character.  Say Asha.  The two queens fighting might be Cersei and Arrianne if Dorne sides with Aegon.  And the little brother being Aegon.   The issue for Dany to resolve in Slaver's Bay is the need to stop slavery.  That is enough fight for one person for an entire life time.  

Stop slavery.  And build an empire.  Awesome.