Jaime Lannister in season 2...

[Asha—Not Yara!]

Ah, I had blended the two books together. I thought in book 2 Dany gets the Unsullied and book 3 focused on her other battles taking over the other cities, but apparently it's not until book 3 when that happens. They still might be able to make it work, but I'm inclined to agree they probably won't attempt that. Still, Dany's storyline is a bit dull in book 2 except for the House of Undying. I wonder they could spice it up some more. I'm curious to see what events they will change in the books to streamline things a bit more.

[Anya, Vengeance Demon]

I'm not sure that it would necessarily hurt the show too much in the long run if Daenerys just has a little dull storyline for season two. My sense of the story is going is that Dany really has something like a three-book arc from the time that she arrives in Qarth to the time that she eventually leaves for Westeros, so really the Qarth stuff is boring in the same way that the first visit to Craster's keep isn't terribly dramatic, but it's important to establish nonetheless.

It's worth noting that Xaro is declaring war on Dany in the ADWD spoiler chapters, while Pyat Pree is what ultimately alerts Euron to Daenerys and her dragons; so while we don't exactly how the Meereenese Knot will resolve, we can be pretty sure that the Qarth material will look more relevant from a better vantage point.

[Loras]

Depending on the material that we get for Dany in ADWD some of the plot material from S3 could be pushed into S2. At the beginning of Dany's arc in S2, she loses most of Drogo's khalasar. This event occurs mainly off stage in the book, but if it were to occur on screen then it would get a dramatic counterpoint to the point where she gains the army of the unsullied.

It would also give Dany a more prominent arc through the season, as first she struggles with few men, then Xaro offers her an army for the dragons, then she gains her own army by liberating the unsullied in Astapor.

I would agree that Dany does have to spend a significant amount of time in Qarth during S2, hopefully the writers will be able to come up with something exciting!

[Anya, Vengeance Demon]

Depending on the material that we get for Dany in ADWD some of the plot material from S3 could be pushed into S2. At the beginning of Dany's arc in S2, she loses most of Drogo's khalasar. This event occurs mainly off stage in the book, but if it were to occur on screen then it would get a dramatic counterpoint to the point where she gains the army of the unsullied.

Actually, this happens before the end of A Game of Thrones, so unless you want to push the birth of the dragons into season two as well, that wouldn't really work.

In any case, it doesn't really alleviate the dramatic problem with moving the coup in Astapor forward to the end of season two: that the big dramatic climax of season two would involve a lot of new characters and a new setting, and would have the effect of making the sojourn in Qarth look more pointless, not less.

[Loras]

You have the moments and days after the birth of the dragons when some of Drogo's khalasar break away. So providing that the season ends with the birth of the dragons, it doesn't seem unlikely to suppose that the breakdown of the khalasar could occur afterwards - ie the opener of season 2.

I don't know, I mean I can't see the producers lingering in Vaes Torollo for a long time - 2 episodes max. Providing that the second season gets 12 episodes and not 10, I don't think it's unreasonable to have Dany go to both Qarth and Astapor. And if it was made clear that both Xaro and Pree want revenge, then the Qarth plot is not useless - also the visions in the House of the Undying are very important.

Think how many places Catelyn will have covered by the end of Thrones - winterfell, king's landing, the riverlands, moat cailin, and the twins. All of these places have a different feel to them when compared to each other. I see no problem with Dany going to 3 different places.

Also it gives longer to cement the problems in Mereen that will be integral to seasons 4 & 5.

[Padraig]

You have the moments and days after the birth of the dragons when some of Drogo's khalasar break away.

No. Drogo's khalasar breaks up before the birth of the dragons. Its the birth of the dragons that keeps what remains together. The new khal's would have seized the dragons if they had still been around.

How the producers decide to handle S3 will influence what they do in S2. If they want to push most everything in aSoS into a 12 episode S3 then they might decide to try to push some of Dany's aSoS stuff into S2. Given them more space. OTOH, if they have more time available for S3 than 12 episodes then cutting the whole of the Astapor thread from S3 will just mean that Dany doesn't have a lot of time in that season instead of S2.

Its more of a arc if she deals with the 3 Slave cities in 1 season but I wouldn't mind if she decides to go to Astapor at the end of S2. Saves people thinking she is finally on the way back to Westeros.