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Quentyn's arc is preparation for Dany's


Rose of Red Lake

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I believe Quentyn’s arc foreshadows Dany’s. Quentyn and Dany are the heroes of their own story but that does not guarantee that they will survive it. I will use the author’s interviews about the hero’s journey as evidence for this argument. 

I don't think GRRM is playing the hero’s journey straight, a la Joseph Campbell and his ilk. He’s not interested in a story in which hero archetypes live out ancient legends and work through a step-by-step plot based on the same myth. In fact, the author has disavowed an interested in Joseph Campbell as an influence:

“Yet Campbell’s influence persists even now. When George R.R. Martin was asked whether “A Game of Thrones” had been inspired by the ideas of mythologist Joseph Campbell, he answered, “The Campbell that influenced me was John W., not Joseph.” (2018)

(He means John W. Campbell, scifi writer)

A critique of the hero’s journey is found in Quentyn’s plot, which is distilled into this comment from GRRM:

“A writer, even a fantasy writer, has an obligation to tell the truth and the truth is, as we say in Game of Thrones, all men must die…We’ve all read this story a million times when a bunch of heroes set out on adventure and it’s the hero and his best friend and his girlfriend and they go through amazing hair-raising adventures and none of them die. The only ones who die are extras. That’s such a cheat. It doesn’t happen that way. They go into battle and their best friend dies or they get horribly wounded. They lose their leg or death comes at them unexpectedly…

Once you’ve accepted that you have to include death, then you should be honest … and indicate it can strike down anybody at any time. You don’t get to live forever just because you are a cute kid or the hero’s best friend or the hero. Sometimes the hero dies, at least in my books.”

- GRRM, Guardian Interview, 2016

He has “indicated” this with Quentyn and the theme of valar morghulis. Characters will have a belief in their destiny as heroes but that will not protect them. The following passage reads like the author copy and pasted his own interview comments: 

“Not all risks lead to ruin,” he insisted. “This is my duty. My destiny.” You are supposed to be my friend, Gerris. Why must you mock my hopes? I have doubts enough without your throwing oil on the fire of my fear. “This will be my grand adventure.”

“Men die on grand adventures.”

He was not wrong. That was in the stories too. The hero sets out with his friends and companions, faces dangers, comes home triumphant. Only some of his companions don’t return at all. The hero never dies, though. I must be the hero. “ All I need is courage. Would you have Dorne remember me as a failure?”

- Quentyn, ADWD

By having Quentyn die such a horrific death, I think the author is preparing the reader for the kind of novel they are reading. Most people think he critiqued this archetype with Quentyn, and stopped there. I disagree. I think he's preparing the reader for another Quentyn moment down the line. The author has been very clear that he’s basing his story on history, i.e. the War of the Roses, the 100 years war, the Capetian dynasty of France. Dynasties will end, people will die, and good people aren't going to live up to heroic ideals. Consequently he’s not earnestly having his characters undertake the monomythic hero’s journey. Instead he's preparing the reader for these eventual deaths that will most likely hit the characters who think they are the heroes and who believe that they have a special destiny. 

In my view, Dany is the character who currently fits the belief in their "special destiny" more than Jon; she thinks she’s on a hero's journey just like Quentyn. For example:

It is the herald of my coming, she told herself as she gazed up into the night sky with wonder in her heart. The gods have sent it to show me the way.”

- Daenerys, ACOK

In contrast, this is how Jon is shown to react to the comet:

“The morning sky was streaked by thin grey clouds, but the pale red line was there behind them. The black brothers had dubbed the wanderer Mormont’s Torch, saying (only half in jest) that the gods must have sent it to light the old man’s way through the haunted forest.
“The comet’s so bright you can see it by day now,” Sam said, shading his eyes with a fistful of books.
“Never mind about comets, it’s maps the Old Bear wants.”

- Jon, ACOK

Jon doesn't even care. He's more interested in the map to find their way out of the forest! Meanwhile, Dany thinks the gods are sending her signs to direct her, like the heroic archetype. Mormont's crew suggests the same - but notice that they're half joking.

In the following passage, the warlocks directly mock the hero’s journey, and challenge Dany’s thought process about the comet being a symbol that she is the hero:

“We knew you were to come to us,” the wizard king said. “A thousand years ago we knew, and have been waiting all this time. We sent the comet to show you the way.”
“We have knowledge to share with you,” said a warrior in shining emerald armor, “and magic weapons to arm you with. You have passed every trial. Now come and sit with us, and all your questions shall be answered.”

- Daenerys, ACOK

This is generic hero journey crap, which is a bad sign for Dany! She's associated with this stuff just as much as Quentyn is. Dany has ultimate faith in her destiny and her path. She is acting based on her belief that heroes have to dream bigger and that they must rise above the “everyday” experience of “lesser men”:

“She was khaleesi, she had a strong man and a swift horse, handmaids to serve her, warriors to keep her safe, an honored place in the dosh khaleen awaiting her when she grew old . . . and in her womb grew a son who would one day bestride the world. That should be enough for any woman . . . but not for the dragon. With Viserys gone, Daenerys was the last, the very last. She was the seed of kings and conquerors, and so too the child inside her. She must not forget.”

- Daenerys, AGOT

The dragon references imply that she believes her blood is special, and gives her a special power to avoid death:

“I am as old as the crones in the dosh khaleen and as young as my dragons, Jorah. I have borne a child, burned a khal, and crossed the red waste and the Dothraki sea. Mine is the blood of the dragon.”
“As was your brother’s,” he said stubbornly.
“I am not Viserys.”
“No,” he admitted. “There is more of Rhaegar in you, I think, but even Rhaegar could be slain. Robert proved that on the Trident, with no more than a warhammer. Even dragons can die.”
“Dragons die.” She stood on her toes to kiss him lightly on an unshaven cheek. “But so do dragonslayers.”

- Daenerys, ACOK

This dialogue above is almost exactly the same dialogue between Quentyn and Gerris, with Jorah playing the role of Gerris who warns the “hero” that they could die. Both Quentyn and Daenerys deny that they can because they've traveled so far, they've gone on adventures, they've faced all these trials, ect ect. In both Quentyn and Dany’s belief system, they are the heroes, but the author insists that it would be dishonest to satisfy his characters’ beliefs in their own safety. In short, Daenerys will march forward thinking she's marching to her duty/destiny, but she will die unexpectedly, like Quentyn and her brother Rhaegar. 

 

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Good argumentation.

GRRM is author who mocks and the wishes/ideas of his characters more than once.

You already pointed out Quentyn but a more obvious example is Sansa/ Tyrion: a girl who always dreamt of her fairtale prince and a man who had probably more whores than Valyria had dragons and who looks as handsome as Joffreys inner beauty.

Dany is even one a higher pedestal of beeing the hero than Quentyn: People are telling her right into her face that she is their savior and everybody who opposed her till now had at least one bad attribute (like beeing a slaver). This two things make herself feeling even more untouchable and be the best person that ever lived.

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4 hours ago, Rose of Red Lake said:

I believe Quentyn’s arc foreshadows Dany’s. Quentyn and Dany are the heroes of their own story but that does not guarantee that they will survive it. I will use the author’s interviews about the hero’s journey as evidence for this argument. 

I don't think GRRM is playing the hero’s journey straight, a la Joseph Campbell and his ilk. He’s not interested in a story in which hero archetypes live out ancient legends and work through a step-by-step plot based on the same myth. In fact, the author has disavowed an interested in Joseph Campbell as an influence:

“Yet Campbell’s influence persists even now. When George R.R. Martin was asked whether “A Game of Thrones” had been inspired by the ideas of mythologist Joseph Campbell, he answered, “The Campbell that influenced me was John W., not Joseph.” (2018)

(He means John W. Campbell, scifi writer)

A critique of the hero’s journey is found in Quentyn’s plot, which is distilled into this comment from GRRM:

“A writer, even a fantasy writer, has an obligation to tell the truth and the truth is, as we say in Game of Thrones, all men must die…We’ve all read this story a million times when a bunch of heroes set out on adventure and it’s the hero and his best friend and his girlfriend and they go through amazing hair-raising adventures and none of them die. The only ones who die are extras. That’s such a cheat. It doesn’t happen that way. They go into battle and their best friend dies or they get horribly wounded. They lose their leg or death comes at them unexpectedly…

Once you’ve accepted that you have to include death, then you should be honest … and indicate it can strike down anybody at any time. You don’t get to live forever just because you are a cute kid or the hero’s best friend or the hero. Sometimes the hero dies, at least in my books.”

- GRRM, Guardian Interview, 2016

He has “indicated” this with Quentyn and the theme of valar morghulis. Characters will have a belief in their destiny as heroes but that will not protect them. The following passage reads like the author copy and pasted his own interview comments: 

“Not all risks lead to ruin,” he insisted. “This is my duty. My destiny.” You are supposed to be my friend, Gerris. Why must you mock my hopes? I have doubts enough without your throwing oil on the fire of my fear. “This will be my grand adventure.”

“Men die on grand adventures.”

He was not wrong. That was in the stories too. The hero sets out with his friends and companions, faces dangers, comes home triumphant. Only some of his companions don’t return at all. The hero never dies, though. I must be the hero. “ All I need is courage. Would you have Dorne remember me as a failure?”

- Quentyn, ADWD

By having Quentyn die such a horrific death, I think the author is preparing the reader for the kind of novel they are reading. Most people think he critiqued this archetype with Quentyn, and stopped there. I disagree. I think he's preparing the reader for another Quentyn moment down the line. The author has been very clear that he’s basing his story on history, i.e. the War of the Roses, the 100 years war, the Capetian dynasty of France. Dynasties will end, people will die, and good people aren't going to live up to heroic ideals. Consequently he’s not earnestly having his characters undertake the monomythic hero’s journey. Instead he's preparing the reader for these eventual deaths that will most likely hit the characters who think they are the heroes and who believe that they have a special destiny. 

In my view, Dany is the character who currently fits the belief in their "special destiny" more than Jon; she thinks she’s on a hero's journey just like Quentyn. For example:

It is the herald of my coming, she told herself as she gazed up into the night sky with wonder in her heart. The gods have sent it to show me the way.”

- Daenerys, ACOK

In contrast, this is how Jon is shown to react to the comet:

“The morning sky was streaked by thin grey clouds, but the pale red line was there behind them. The black brothers had dubbed the wanderer Mormont’s Torch, saying (only half in jest) that the gods must have sent it to light the old man’s way through the haunted forest.
“The comet’s so bright you can see it by day now,” Sam said, shading his eyes with a fistful of books.
“Never mind about comets, it’s maps the Old Bear wants.”

- Jon, ACOK

Jon doesn't even care. He's more interested in the map to find their way out of the forest! Meanwhile, Dany thinks the gods are sending her signs to direct her, like the heroic archetype. Mormont's crew suggests the same - but notice that they're half joking.

In the following passage, the warlocks directly mock the hero’s journey, and challenge Dany’s thought process about the comet being a symbol that she is the hero:

“We knew you were to come to us,” the wizard king said. “A thousand years ago we knew, and have been waiting all this time. We sent the comet to show you the way.”
“We have knowledge to share with you,” said a warrior in shining emerald armor, “and magic weapons to arm you with. You have passed every trial. Now come and sit with us, and all your questions shall be answered.”

- Daenerys, ACOK

This is generic hero journey crap, which is a bad sign for Dany! She's associated with this stuff just as much as Quentyn is. Dany has ultimate faith in her destiny and her path. She is acting based on her belief that heroes have to dream bigger and that they must rise above the “everyday” experience of “lesser men”:

“She was khaleesi, she had a strong man and a swift horse, handmaids to serve her, warriors to keep her safe, an honored place in the dosh khaleen awaiting her when she grew old . . . and in her womb grew a son who would one day bestride the world. That should be enough for any woman . . . but not for the dragon. With Viserys gone, Daenerys was the last, the very last. She was the seed of kings and conquerors, and so too the child inside her. She must not forget.”

- Daenerys, AGOT

The dragon references imply that she believes her blood is special, and gives her a special power to avoid death:

“I am as old as the crones in the dosh khaleen and as young as my dragons, Jorah. I have borne a child, burned a khal, and crossed the red waste and the Dothraki sea. Mine is the blood of the dragon.”
“As was your brother’s,” he said stubbornly.
“I am not Viserys.”
“No,” he admitted. “There is more of Rhaegar in you, I think, but even Rhaegar could be slain. Robert proved that on the Trident, with no more than a warhammer. Even dragons can die.”
“Dragons die.” She stood on her toes to kiss him lightly on an unshaven cheek. “But so do dragonslayers.”

- Daenerys, ACOK

This dialogue above is almost exactly the same dialogue between Quentyn and Gerris, with Jorah playing the role of Gerris who warns the “hero” that they could die. Both Quentyn and Daenerys deny that they can because they've traveled so far, they've gone on adventures, they've faced all these trials, ect ect. In both Quentyn and Dany’s belief system, they are the heroes, but the author insists that it would be dishonest to satisfy his characters’ beliefs in their own safety. In short, Daenerys will march forward thinking she's marching to her duty/destiny, but she will die unexpectedly, like Quentyn and her brother Rhaegar. 

 

Since Neds death all those years ago I am ready for anything. I still find myself shocked that he died that way.

Could well be the case. I like the analysis.

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But she walked into a funeral pyre and survived, came out the next morning with a bunch of dragons, something no-one else in the world has been able to achieve lately. And now she's riding one, something not seen for decades? Centuries? Whatever it is. She also embraced the sick without fear and survived without issue. She is special, she's proved it. She has good reason to believe in herself in this manner.

I don't know that your framing is necessarily what GRRM is playing at in her arc. I can tell you how it ends, Dany will intend to sacrifice her's and Jon's child to wake a dragon to defeat the Others, Jon catches her before she can and executes her for the intent. Then she second lifes a dragon, waking it from stone and proceeds to save the world in Balerion form.

So I agree she dies unexpectedly, that she is mistaken in the hero's path she will believe she must walk, what her fate heroic fate is. But other points I can't reconcile.

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12 hours ago, chrisdaw said:

But she walked into a funeral pyre and survived, came out the next morning with a bunch of dragons, something no-one else in the world has been able to achieve lately. And now she's riding one, something not seen for decades? Centuries? Whatever it is. She also embraced the sick without fear and survived without issue. She is special, she's proved it. She has good reason to believe in herself in this manner.

She has reason to believe it, but that doesn't mean the author won't undercut it. Every time there's a magical/special/exceptional event there is a corresponding snapback to reality in her arc.

She thinks the Dothraki are too homely for her and that she needs to achieve something greater. Drogo ready to go to Westeros, Viserys is out of her way, and it's a triumphant moment. The next chapter, she confronts what the price of the Iron Throne really means.

The Dothraki are victorious against the Lamb Men and Khal Pono, and Dany finds a godswife to heal Drogo's wounds. Looking good...then it all turns to ashes with the death of her husband and Rhaego.

She hatches dragons, a miraculous moment, then in the next book she's following comets toward a desert where her khalasar withers and dies. 

She successfully conquers several cities and frees slaves. Another cheer-worthy moment. Then reality kicks in, she's got more mouths to feed, she allows them to sell themselves back into slavery, she takes a tax on this (profits from the slave trade), and she can't help them all. 

She thinks "have you ever seen a dragon with the flux?" - an indicator that she believes Targaryens are above "common men" - and ends the book with explosive diarrhea in the Dothraki sea (so yeah, we do see a dragon with the flux). 

She has the most magical storyline but the author will work to make sure that the scales are balanced between fantasy and reality. This means undercutting Targaryen special/magic exceptionalism whenever needed.

12 hours ago, chrisdaw said:

I don't know that your framing is necessarily what GRRM is playing at in her arc. I can tell you how it ends, Dany will intend to sacrifice her's and Jon's child to wake a dragon to defeat the Others, Jon catches her before she can and executes her for the intent. Then she second lifes a dragon, waking it from stone and proceeds to save the world in Balerion form.

I just can't see it. I don't think Dany will have another kid. The last time Dany "sacrificed" a child (debatable that was the case) it was so she could cheat death, not so she could save the world. Dragons destroy. Dothraki destroy. People and towns. And I'm certain that this is the side she will land on. And I doubt Jon will be a kinslayer. 

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23 hours ago, Rose of Red Lake said:

I believe Quentyn’s arc foreshadows Dany’s. Quentyn and Dany are the heroes of their own story but that does not guarantee that they will survive it. I will use the author’s interviews about the hero’s journey as evidence for this argument. 

I don't think GRRM is playing the hero’s journey straight, a la Joseph Campbell and his ilk. He’s not interested in a story in which hero archetypes live out ancient legends and work through a step-by-step plot based on the same myth. In fact, the author has disavowed an interested in Joseph Campbell as an influence:

“Yet Campbell’s influence persists even now. When George R.R. Martin was asked whether “A Game of Thrones” had been inspired by the ideas of mythologist Joseph Campbell, he answered, “The Campbell that influenced me was John W., not Joseph.” (2018)

(He means John W. Campbell, scifi writer)

A critique of the hero’s journey is found in Quentyn’s plot, which is distilled into this comment from GRRM:

“A writer, even a fantasy writer, has an obligation to tell the truth and the truth is, as we say in Game of Thrones, all men must die…We’ve all read this story a million times when a bunch of heroes set out on adventure and it’s the hero and his best friend and his girlfriend and they go through amazing hair-raising adventures and none of them die. The only ones who die are extras. That’s such a cheat. It doesn’t happen that way. They go into battle and their best friend dies or they get horribly wounded. They lose their leg or death comes at them unexpectedly…

Once you’ve accepted that you have to include death, then you should be honest … and indicate it can strike down anybody at any time. You don’t get to live forever just because you are a cute kid or the hero’s best friend or the hero. Sometimes the hero dies, at least in my books.”

- GRRM, Guardian Interview, 2016

He has “indicated” this with Quentyn and the theme of valar morghulis. Characters will have a belief in their destiny as heroes but that will not protect them. The following passage reads like the author copy and pasted his own interview comments: 

“Not all risks lead to ruin,” he insisted. “This is my duty. My destiny.” You are supposed to be my friend, Gerris. Why must you mock my hopes? I have doubts enough without your throwing oil on the fire of my fear. “This will be my grand adventure.”

“Men die on grand adventures.”

He was not wrong. That was in the stories too. The hero sets out with his friends and companions, faces dangers, comes home triumphant. Only some of his companions don’t return at all. The hero never dies, though. I must be the hero. “ All I need is courage. Would you have Dorne remember me as a failure?”

- Quentyn, ADWD

By having Quentyn die such a horrific death, I think the author is preparing the reader for the kind of novel they are reading. Most people think he critiqued this archetype with Quentyn, and stopped there. I disagree. I think he's preparing the reader for another Quentyn moment down the line. The author has been very clear that he’s basing his story on history, i.e. the War of the Roses, the 100 years war, the Capetian dynasty of France. Dynasties will end, people will die, and good people aren't going to live up to heroic ideals. Consequently he’s not earnestly having his characters undertake the monomythic hero’s journey. Instead he's preparing the reader for these eventual deaths that will most likely hit the characters who think they are the heroes and who believe that they have a special destiny. 

In my view, Dany is the character who currently fits the belief in their "special destiny" more than Jon; she thinks she’s on a hero's journey just like Quentyn. For example:

It is the herald of my coming, she told herself as she gazed up into the night sky with wonder in her heart. The gods have sent it to show me the way.”

- Daenerys, ACOK

In contrast, this is how Jon is shown to react to the comet:

“The morning sky was streaked by thin grey clouds, but the pale red line was there behind them. The black brothers had dubbed the wanderer Mormont’s Torch, saying (only half in jest) that the gods must have sent it to light the old man’s way through the haunted forest.
“The comet’s so bright you can see it by day now,” Sam said, shading his eyes with a fistful of books.
“Never mind about comets, it’s maps the Old Bear wants.”

- Jon, ACOK

Jon doesn't even care. He's more interested in the map to find their way out of the forest! Meanwhile, Dany thinks the gods are sending her signs to direct her, like the heroic archetype. Mormont's crew suggests the same - but notice that they're half joking.

In the following passage, the warlocks directly mock the hero’s journey, and challenge Dany’s thought process about the comet being a symbol that she is the hero:

“We knew you were to come to us,” the wizard king said. “A thousand years ago we knew, and have been waiting all this time. We sent the comet to show you the way.”
“We have knowledge to share with you,” said a warrior in shining emerald armor, “and magic weapons to arm you with. You have passed every trial. Now come and sit with us, and all your questions shall be answered.”

- Daenerys, ACOK

This is generic hero journey crap, which is a bad sign for Dany! She's associated with this stuff just as much as Quentyn is. Dany has ultimate faith in her destiny and her path. She is acting based on her belief that heroes have to dream bigger and that they must rise above the “everyday” experience of “lesser men”:

“She was khaleesi, she had a strong man and a swift horse, handmaids to serve her, warriors to keep her safe, an honored place in the dosh khaleen awaiting her when she grew old . . . and in her womb grew a son who would one day bestride the world. That should be enough for any woman . . . but not for the dragon. With Viserys gone, Daenerys was the last, the very last. She was the seed of kings and conquerors, and so too the child inside her. She must not forget.”

- Daenerys, AGOT

The dragon references imply that she believes her blood is special, and gives her a special power to avoid death:

“I am as old as the crones in the dosh khaleen and as young as my dragons, Jorah. I have borne a child, burned a khal, and crossed the red waste and the Dothraki sea. Mine is the blood of the dragon.”
“As was your brother’s,” he said stubbornly.
“I am not Viserys.”
“No,” he admitted. “There is more of Rhaegar in you, I think, but even Rhaegar could be slain. Robert proved that on the Trident, with no more than a warhammer. Even dragons can die.”
“Dragons die.” She stood on her toes to kiss him lightly on an unshaven cheek. “But so do dragonslayers.”

- Daenerys, ACOK

This dialogue above is almost exactly the same dialogue between Quentyn and Gerris, with Jorah playing the role of Gerris who warns the “hero” that they could die. Both Quentyn and Daenerys deny that they can because they've traveled so far, they've gone on adventures, they've faced all these trials, ect ect. In both Quentyn and Dany’s belief system, they are the heroes, but the author insists that it would be dishonest to satisfy his characters’ beliefs in their own safety. In short, Daenerys will march forward thinking she's marching to her duty/destiny, but she will die unexpectedly, like Quentyn and her brother Rhaegar. 

 

I agree. Daenerys will die. The author hinted as much at the very beginning

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3 hours ago, Rose of Red Lake said:

Every time there's a magical/special/exceptional event there is a corresponding snapback to reality in her arc

she's a desert-wandering Moses without the itchy beard.   (Well, she has ....Hizdar?)   Hmmm, Moses didn't get to enjoy the promised land.  Maybe the promised prince is similar.  She gets us to the threshold but can't cross the finish line herself, held back by entanglement in the consequences of her actions.  

Is the cure for her ailments this simple: to fight only magical opponents all the time?  Against them she's racking up wins.  Just clear her schedule of all realism problems and you're off to the races.   Sounds laughable but may be workable:  Danny, inject more magic into your problem solving!    A big dragon display for the crones could get them to issue in changes to the Dothraki, so the horsemen shepherd Essosi society instead of being only a force of chaos and destruction (as someone above labeled Danny's forces).  Get Marwyn to proove himself by working the Harpy problem.  

- - - - -

Quote

She is special, she's proved it.

Chris I've noticed you've branded yourself as a guy with very specific detailed visions of the future.  Decisive!   

I agree Daenerys has elevated herself with real signs of specialness.  In Martin World, does that special quality give her immunity from suffering a "Tywin style" death?  (A random groaner or laughing stock death).   I think not.  So we must guard our queen carefully against ignominious death.   Because wouldn't  it be great if she lived long enough to face off against some equally special opposition!   That'd help to pay off the Ice & Fire concept , as we'd get to see those special forces in play , importantly, since they need to...accomplish.....something historic....before our ice & fire heroes die from a sex- related injury or from trapped gas.)

 

Re: the topic title, 

doesn't Aegon's attack steal Danny's thunder moreso than it paves the way for Danny to perform a smooth repeat invasion?   He's drawing to himself all the remaining good will of Targ loyalists, depriving Danny of any honeymoon period with Westeros she may have had.   Now, if Aegon succeeds people will say he did all the heavy lifting so why should the crown go to her?  And if Aegon squanders this opportunity and  implodes people will say to Danny "Oh Hell No we already got 'burned' once by supporting a Targ, we're not really hot to trot for round two. "   So what Aegon is really "preparing" for Danny is a cold reception, and for her invasion to follow a different trajectory.

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5 hours ago, Rose of Red Lake said:

I just can't see it. I don't think Dany will have another kid. The last time Dany "sacrificed" a child (debatable that was the case) it was so she could cheat death, not so she could save the world. Dragons destroy. Dothraki destroy. People and towns. And I'm certain that this is the side she will land on. And I doubt Jon will be a kinslayer. 

As GRRM has Tyrion word it, Dany is before all else a saviour.

Quote

You are the last of her line, and this Mother of Dragons, this Breaker of Chains, is above all a rescuer. The girl who drowned the slaver cities in blood rather than leave strangers to their chains can scarcely abandon her own brother's son in his hour of peril.

She can't help herself.

Dany won't have another child like Jon won't ever father a bastard. Its is very straight forward negative foreshadowing.

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Dany is without a doubt special. The Undying say so. Quaithe says so. Aemon says so. The chief red priest says so. The dragons say so. The ancient prophecies align well.

Still... I do believe some characters are merely shadows of the big guns, and my nightmare scenario is that Dany's arc is just preparation for Jon. It's possible, because I'm expecting Dany to die at some point - the death of the primary AA character would be incredibly dramatic, so it can happen; why wouldn't it?

Even so, death doesn't have to be the end. Jon as 'died' already. I see them as dragons on opposite sides of the cyvasse board; the parallels can continue.

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Quentyn and Daenerys have very, very little in common.  Daenerys is the main character in the story.  Quentyn is just a plot device within her plot.  And yes, anybody can end up dead.  But there is nothing at all to say Daenerys has a higher probability of ending up dead any more than, say, Jon Snow.  Jon is already dead.  The faceless men will be chasing Arya's tail.  Quentyn got charbecued because he took a gamble and lost.  He wanted so badly to please dear dad and it led him to dabble with dragons.  This also should serve as a warning to would-be dragon thieves.  It's not enough to have a drop of Valyrian blood to bond with a dragon.  Quentyn had Targaryen in his lineage and he ended up on the wrong end of a blowtorch.  

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  • 2 weeks later...

The entire narrative in Dany's head is basically one out of traditional fantasy: her family, the rightful kings, once ruled Westeros until one day the Usurper and his dogs overthrew them with Jaime Lannister breaking his vows by killing his king and the Usurper slaying her great, noble brother, Rhaegar, who died for the woman he loved. Daenerys, the rightful Queen of Westeros and the only Targaryen heir left, is destined to reclaim her family's throne from the usurpers and put things to right in her troubled kingdom. 

There is one person who could destroy that narrative: Jon Snow. Daenerys would learn that her father murdered Lord Rickard and Brandon, and then called for the heads of Ned and Robert. Jaime killed her father to stop him from burning down KL. The Usurper's dog, Ned Stark, actually raised the Targaryen heir in hiding, protecting him from the Usurper. She learns that the Usurper and his dogs were completely justified in rebelling against her father, and that she isn't rightful heir to the Targaryen dynasty, someone else is. The whole story she lived her life by is just one big lie. 

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