Arya may kill Dany?

[Kittyhat]

Honestly, it's my opinion that virtually no cost is too high for what Daenerys is attempting to achieve.

The stakes are simply too high to back down because of cost. It's too important, much more than any one person, or even large numbers of them.

[Stormcatcher]

I probably posted before, but I don't see this happening. Arya's only just entered her apprenticeship, I think. Unless the FM often make their apprentices assassinate high-profile targets in order to be fully inducted, I don't see why they'd pick Arya and not a more experienced assassin. Unless she would somehow have to capitalise on her identity as Arya Stark in order to do it, but I don't see why that would be necessary when the FM can use any face they have to pretend to be anyone.

[Wouter]

People who think that "but Dany can't die before she gets to Westeros!!11" are of the same mold of those who think that there is no way Jon Snow can remain dead. "Then their entire story has been for nothing!!!111" Well, newsflash, both characters have had quite a bit of influence on numerous other characters, and have driven events by their mere existence. If they die, their stories have had purpose still. Valar morghulis.

I think people in your mold place entirely too much faith in their vision of what Martin wants to achieve with those books, apparently seeing it as a way to deconstruct the fantasy genre completely, basically troll his own readers and be rather nihilistic.

Martin is a romantic at heart, and he doesn't write in random shocks for kicks. Both Jon and Dany's stories are going somewhere.

[Lady Lea]

I think people in your mold place entirely too much faith in their vision of what Martin wants to achieve with those books, apparently seeing it as a way to deconstruct the fantasy genre completely, basically troll his own readers and be rather nihilistic.

Martin is a romantic at heart, and he doesn't write in random shocks for kicks. Both Jon and Dany's stories are going somewhere.

Yep. This isn't really a "anyone can die anytime" kind of book. Everyone thought Lost was like that, and guess what, it wasn't. I kept expecting Jack, Sawyer, Kate or Hugo to die at any point and they were still there until the end. It's the same for Jon, Tyrion, Dany, and Arya. They have plot armour.

[CoolGirlsMurderFriend]

She didn't leave Mereen because she couldn't even if she had wanted to. There was a fleet in her bay, an army at her gates, and plague and corruption running rampant through the city she chose to use for "practice". I can't think of a single thing more selfish than considering a hundred thousand or so lives "practice".

She got in over her head, plain and simple. She dug a hole too deep with no plan to get out of it. Everything Dany does is ego driven.

With the situation at its current point, even if she found a way to flee with her entire army the war would just follow her to Westeros. The dummy went to war with the wrong continent :P

[Thor Odinson]

I think people in your mold place entirely too much faith in their vision of what Martin wants to achieve with those books, apparently seeing it as a way to deconstruct the fantasy genre completely, basically troll his own readers and be rather nihilistic.

Martin is a romantic at heart, and he doesn't write in random shocks for kicks. Both Jon and Dany's stories are going somewhere.

Agreed. These books are as successful as they are because Martin understands the fundamentals of storytelling. And killing Danaerys off before she gets to Westeros, after everything she's done, would run completely contrary to the basics of storytelling, as it would make the hundreds of pages which he's devoted to her story meaningless. These events aren't about her advancing other characters, but about her character being advanced. Martin killing her off before she even gets to Westeros would be hack writing, and he's not a hack.

[Errant Bard]

Are you serious?

For Jon, a short list:

Tyrion

Catelyn

Arya

Samwell

Stannis

And Dany:

Tyrion

Victarion

Varys

Quentyn

Eddard

Yes, I'm serious. So, in other words, to justify their PoV not being useless if they died right now, you bring up characters they met at the very beginning or have never met, with whom they didn't have any other interactions, and for whom everything that was expanded upon in the Jon/Dany chapters is highly irrelevant. Good grief.

You know, that way, Jeor Mormont had exactly the same impact, or Rhaegar, or Renly, or Robb, or Benjen, Mance, Tormund. Funny how they didn't need PoV, much less PoV dealing with character development and internal changes that would be totally irrelevant to external political players. If that's how you define a non-useless PoV I don't know when you could see anything as useless. Maybe if Martin wrote something on a peasant of the summer islands? Though I guess you would argue that describing his day to day life, his struggle to catch fishes, his doubts concerning his morals is relevant to the story because sailors of the cinnamon wind are from the Summer Islands.

Together, both characters have moved forward the war for the North, the war against the Others, the game of thrones in King's Landing, the Dornish plot, Arya's misgivings about the Faceless Men, and the Iron Islands plot. About the only thing they don't directly touch is the War of the Five Kings. However, their actions have rippled through most of the cast in a Six Degrees manner, such that the story to this point has been partially been driven by both. They could be written out now without them having been "useless" characters.

Rippled through the cast? There is nothing, so far, that needed a PoV to ripple. The war in the North? Jon did nothing Mormont didn't do, and it has not affected much of anyone. The east? Call Dany a grail and remove her PoV and the ripples are exactly the same. How's that arguing for the use of them having PoV?

[tsunad]

I doubt this will happen, but if Arya is a faceless man, and the faceless men can disguise themselves as someone that's dead (Pate), isn't there a possibility that we're overlooking?

[CoolGirlsMurderFriend]

I doubt this will happen, but if Arya is a faceless man, and the faceless men can disguise themselves as someone that's dead (Pate), isn't there a possibility that we're overlooking?

They have a whole room full of dead people's faces they can use, not to mention glamor, and various other methods. It makes me wonder how many famous/notable faces are in that room...

[Accio Euron]

I agree with most of the people here, I think the final battle, she'll be very important. Whether she lives through that, we won't know until the books come out. I don't know if I can see Arya killing Dany though. That would be a twist of events. Seeing as I like Arya more than Dany at this point, I'd root for her.

[CoolGirlsMurderFriend]

More likely she'll be hired to kill Littlefinger because he's interfering with Varys and Illyrio's plans. That would also buy them the loyalty of house Stark after reuniting her and Sansa.