Did Dany Make The Right Choice By Spurning Quentin For Hizdhar?

[Arland]

Dany was right in not accepting Quentin's offer, especially at the moment it was made.

She will have a potential ally far far away, but no ships or food to get there with her freedman and war on her steps.

People keep being fixated on her AGOT goal to reach Westeros and forget her late ASOS goal, which was to be a good Queen and take care of her subjects. It is quite clear, all trough ADWD that the task of taking care of her Mereen subjects takes priority over her Westerosi plans. That is actually her attempt to learn from her mistakes in Astapour - she knows she cannot just "leave", she has to take responsibility and deal in "nation building" .

It is a right moral choice. Westeros WILL wait for her. Mereen wont. She is not ready for Westeros - her dragons are not ready, she doesn't have sufficient knowledge and training, her army is not ready. She can afford to wait before she goes to Westeros, even if we the readers want her to get there faster . For us it is a place where most of people we care for reside. Not for her.

That is not to say that whole idea to appease Mereneese by marring Hizdarr was a good one in the first place. I wholeheartedly support her goal of pacifying Mereen, but appeasement was a wrong way to do it. If she would have been a little bit less honorable she could use Quentin's approach as an excuse to walk out on Hizdarr ...

P.S People blaming Dany for not offering Quentin alliance without marriage amaze me, because that is exactly what she did in the following Quentin chapter.

[Moon-Pale Maiden]

However, I think it's well past time that Dany got her fuzzy bottom out of Slaver's Bay and on to Westeros. She never should have married Hizdar, even for the sake of making peace, and locking the dragons down was a HUGE mistake. She had no way to know that the child was actually a victim of Drogon's. She simply wouldn't ever think of the idea that one of the Sons of the Harpy went out, found and killed the child, then paid the father off to burn the body, bring the bones to court and claim the dragon did it. Tyrion would've in a flat minute, but none of the people around Dany right now are devious enough to consider that possibility.

It seems that ever since she banished Jorah, no one is pushing her to go to Westeros. While he was counselling her, he continually reminded her of her goals; suggesting she take ships, avoid unnecessary entanglements, etc. Barristan has been a kingsguard too long. He is too accustomed to simply obeying the wishes of his king/queen and not questioning her ruling choices. Everyone else around her is from Essos, and cares little for her original goal. Casting away Jorah was a terrible mistake.

[MDT]

Well, as the 0 ships and supplies Quentin brings her don't really help with her main problem, namely getting her people somehow to Westeros without loosing 90% due to starvation, honoring the existing marriage contract is at least the better of those two presented options.

[Brienne Of Bombay]

Wanting peace in Mereen was right in a way. So going ahead with the marriage to Hizdahr was right IMO. And Dany didn't completely dismiss Quentyn so I guess she did see the merit in a Dornish alliance. Things didn't go according to plan clearly. But I think she was right in marrying Hizdahr.

[Not a kneeler]

Quentyn was too late, way to late. Once Dany decided to stay in Meereen and rule, she lost her vision of returning to Westeros. When Quentyn showed up she was already in the marriage pact with Hizdahr, in fact one day from the wedding. if he were more attractive she may have backed out, ala Robb. We have to remember, though, that she saw herself at this point, as savior to her people. And that meant the marriage alliance with Hizdahr. Not until she was adrift on the Dothraki Sea did she realize that the Meereenese were not her people and that she needed to set her sights on Westeros. Perhaps that is what Quaithe has been tellng her all along.

Agreeing to marry Hizdahr was the only choice she could make as long as she thought of the Meereenese as her people and backing out would have been dishonorable. Now that she knows that the meereenese are not her people she will have to make other choices unless those choices are made for her.

[Frey Pentos]

Dany doesn't need Dorne to win the IT. Dorne will probably back her anyway. Marriage to Quentyn would have been a hasty decision that she would come to regret.

[WardenOfTheNorth]

Dany doesn't need Dorne to win the IT. Dorne will probably back her anyway. Marriage to Quentyn would have been a hasty decision that she would come to regret.

Why would Dorne back her other than fear of her dragons? I think they might be encouraged to not fight Dany, but sit it out again if they find out what happened to Quentyn. And you are right, she does not need Dorne, but think of it like this...who else would support her in Westeros? Before the Tyrells gained so much power in KL, they were a potential ally, but no more. Maybe the Ironborn.

[SeanF]

What choice did Dany have? She'd got engaged to Hizdahr for the sake of peace, and he'd delivered his end of the bargain.

She doesn't want to leave Mereen in chaos.

And what, effectively, was Quentyn offering her? The opportunity to undergo an extremely hazardous sea voyage, without much in the way of a navy or soldiers, in order to land in the weakest of the seven kingdoms.

[Kosh Naranek]

I think Dany blundered in many ways on her road to Mereen. She allowed herself to be bogged down in a region that she initially had no intention of staying in.

I applaud her attempts to end the slave trade. However, her actions make me facepalm quite a bit.

I loved it when she turned on the slavers, but I groaned over the lack of planning. She made the decision overnight. It was a pivotal decision that derailed what she had been saying was her central purpose - to return to Westeros and reclaim the Iron Throne.

She did dig in her heels and try to right the wrongs she saw, but she did so with very little planning and a total lack of proper advisement. She had two old Westerosi knights in her train along with Dothraki, sellswords and sailors. None of those individuals had the knowledge to understand the social and political ramifications of her actions.

War is easy. Peace is harder.

I think she did right in honoring her marriage contract, but her manner of refusal is what rankles. She laughed in his face. I lay that down to her ignorance of Westeros in general and her own lack of knowledge of her own family. (A deficiency that she does not seem to want to remedy.)

Quentyn was on a secret mission. You don't send an envoy with a hundred ships if you want the operation to remain mum. I think she should have taken the time to understand what Dorne could offer her. I do not think she did that.

Marrying H was good for her strategy in Mereen on the face of it. However, that marriage forced her to compromise her principles and led her and the people down an even more slippery slope.

Now plague and attackers abound. She is no closer to Westeros than book 1. (And, if she does gain a Westerosi ally it seems it will the twice damned Iron Born.)

So, she will be landing in Westeros (if she ever does) with sellswords, Dothraki, a former slave army and the most hated reavers in Westeros.

...and she does not have the support of Dorne, a principality on the continent that she keeps saying she wants to be on.

Perhaps she will find a way to turn things around in Mereen. Things look very bleak indeed.

[King Zee]

It was a goodshort term decision wich will have bad long term results for her. . . like all of her decisions.

She doesnt understand that fixing mereen will take decades. there is no silver bullet solution.

[JoeA]

I don't know if she was wrong or right, but the decision made me question whether she really had a long-term plan for going to the 7 kingdoms.

[JoeA]

It was a goodshort term decision wich will have bad long term results for her. . . like all of her decisions.

She doesnt understand that fixing mereen will take decades. there is no silver bullet solution.

Yes!

[The Mother of The Others]

relying on Quaithe to size up the future for her has shriveled Dan's own powers of prediction. She should have seen that Quent was a valuable part of the puzzle of world domination and should have kept him around and made him feel valued as an ally and a member of her posse. If they arrived together in Dorne with an alliance agreed upon it'd be as if he'd succeeded in his mission even without the silly betrothal. That long term boon was what got lost in the shuffle just because she wanted to bring a quick end to the awkwardness of dealing with Quentyn. Embrace that awkwardness, baby! Draw it out! That's the dance of coalition building!

[Pod The Impaler]

relying on Quaithe to size up the future for her has shriveled Dan's own powers of prediction. She should have seen that Quent was a valuable part of the puzzle of world domination and should have kept him around and made him feel valued as an ally and a member of her posse. If they arrived together in Dorne with an alliance agreed upon it'd be as if he'd succeeded in his mission even without the silly betrothal. That long term boon was what got lost in the shuffle just because she wanted to bring a quick end to the awkwardness of dealing with Quentyn. Embrace that awkwardness, baby! Draw it out! That's the dance of coalition building!

You're not alone in thinking that Quaithe's predictions have got Dany tying herself in knots. The sword with no hilt - helpful and unhelpful at the same time.

[Faint]

Can thirty thousand Dornish spears, ten thousand Unsullied, and three not fully grown or tamed dragons conquer Westeros?

I say no, not even close.

[Frey Pentos]

Why would Dorne back her other than fear of her dragons?

They were Targ loyalists and hate the Tyrells and Lannisters. Once Aegon is exposed as a fake they will support her. She didn't need to tie herself to them to get their eventual support.

[Real Heir of Bear Island]

Can thirty thousand Dornish spears, ten thousand Unsullied, and three not fully grown or tamed dragons conquer Westeros?

I say no, not even close.

I guess it depends on the battle plan and how many more houses they could have won to their casue. You have to think those old loyal Targ houses would have ran to Dany. The Lannisters have the throne, but there's a boy sitting it with his crazy mom making decisions. The Lannister strength has been greatly depleated and is spread thin along the Riverlands. Stannis is freezing his ass off at the Wall and then Winterfell. Iron Islanders' are reaping havoc on one coast and Aegon and his boys on another. The only ones who could realistically match such a force are the already spread thin Tyrells and the Vale, who is still neutral.

[Frey Pentos]

Can thirty thousand Dornish spears, ten thousand Unsullied, and three not fully grown or tamed dragons conquer Westeros?

I say no, not even close.

Plus all the Houses that will come to her banner.

[Faint]

I might agree with the argument that she did not need to marry Quentyn to gain the support of Dorne if Aegon did not exist, but that is not the reality of the situation. Moreover, it will be nearly impossible to prove that Aegon is fake, as it will be to prove that he is real. There simply isn't going to be a definitive way to go about doing that.

[Lord Bronn Stokeworth]

They were Targ loyalists and hate the Tyrells and Lannisters. Once Aegon is exposed as a fake they will support her. She didn't need to tie herself to them to get their eventual support.

Why? The Martells don't love the Targs. They supported them because Elia was queen. Then, after she died, the Targs became a tool for their vengeance. Qunetyn's death and how it is presented will play a big part. I could see them supporting Aegon even after he is proved to be a fake simply because it supports their goal.