Battle for Mereen Speculation

[Visual909]

Both have very good potential to advance in the "Game of Thrones" in their respective areas, and both have often had to learn the hard way about the rules. The only difference is Dany has had to learn the hard way about ruling and has an army. While Sansa has had to learn more about the intrigue portion and is mostly on her own at this point. With only Littlefinger to guide her.

[stunningsteve]

I think there is no doubt that the Yunkai and their allies (including the Volantene fleet) will be defeated somehow. However the outcome between the Ironborn and the forces loyal to Dany mainly depends if the Dragonhorn works as intented or not. I doubt that it will work. Either Moquorro plays Vic false by withholding crucial information or there might be something else needed for the horn to work properly, for example some Valyrian chant/spell which simply is not written on the horn. This knowledge might be provided later by the arrving Marwyn. The dragons will still somehow particpate in the battle causing damage on all sides. Drogon was attracted by the noise of fighting and the smell of blood in fighting pit, so it won't last long until Viseryon and Rhaegal react to the fighting of thousands of man outside th wall.

The Ironborn will propably be severely outnumbered and won't have a chance but to surrender on good terms.

Dany will be returning a short time later with a khalasar. Vic will propose to her and promise her the horn and his ships, but I doubt she will accept even if Hizdahr died somehow during the battles. However she will see the importance of him and his fleet and therefore pardon him for trying to steal her dragons and make him new fleet admiral of the combined leftovers of the Iron and Volantene fleet which she will use to sail to Westeros. Vic will accpet that offer more or less content.

Tyrion and Jorah will be pardoned as well for their help with the sellswords.

Barristan might unfortunately belong to the casualties of the battle. The same applies for Daario and Hizdahr, but I rather hope we ( and especially Dany) will get rid of them.

[Cersei of the Kingsguard]

For extra credit, I predict that at some point during the battle Tyrion will come face to face with either Viseryon or Rhaegal. I really want him to get a dragon, but knowing GRRM he may also get eaten - I just think there has been too much foreshadowing of Tyrion and dragons for him not to have some kind of interaction with them.

tyrion has immortality card unlike anyone else

i think is possible for BR to help Tyrion tame a dragon and Bran helps Arya

[jentario]

There are two options, really.

1. Something similar to what you said, with Dany and Drogon saving the day. This route will likely end with Dany obliterating Volantis on her way home.

2. Dany is not returning that fast and still has to meet with the crones or do something at Vaes Dothrak. This will likely result in Meereen tumbling to utter chaos and Victarion snatching away Viserion and Rhaegal (it just to big of a coincidence that Dany has to be away from the city with her favorite dragon and her other two just being released. It's the perfect opening for Victarion to take the two of them and run off, leaving Dany (after she returns to Meereen) in pursuit of her "children" and on the way to Westeros.

Which one is more likely? Well, GRRM's characters' plans always get screwed but this time there are two conflicting plans: Vic- trying to take the dragons for himself- and Dany- trying to hold on to her dragons and not becoming a bed slave to the Iron men.

The horn itself can serve two purposes:

1. Helping Dany control her dragons (this likely requires Vic to die).

2. Snatching away two of Dany's dragons and pulling her out of Meereen and the slaver's bay and eventually to Westeros.

Take your bets.

[Zylathas]

What I think that will happen is as follows.

The battle of mereen starts. Barristan (NOOOO) is killed leaving the defenders leaderless. Tyrion tries to take command of Daenarys forces (this will later alow Daenarys pardonning Tyrion). Victarion is murdered prior to the fight by Euron Greyjoy. (who was somewhere hidden at one of his ships). Euron proceeds to attack Daenarys followers. Destroying mereen and killing most unsullied. Grey Worm and Tyrion are able to retreat with 3000 unsullied and 500 other warriors. Later Daenarys arrives with her Khalasar now following her. But gets captured by Euron even though she has the better numbers.

Euron takes Daenarys back to the Iron isles. Tyrion and Grey Worm will go with their armies to Pentos to call Illyrio Mopantis to justice and after that they would buy ships and travel to westeros. (or would it be wasteros by then?)

[ejhawman]

Lately I am wondering myself how long Dany can, and will, stay among the Dothraki.

In principle, she can spend half the book with them, dealing with Khal Jhaqo, then the Dosh Khaleen, then moving her new khalasar down to Meereen. But how long can the defenders hold there?

Barristan's chapter indicates they repel the Yunkish alliance... at first. The Yunkish fall back to regroup while the Ironmen make themselves comfortable in Meereen, cleaning out the city. Hizdahr is toast; Barristan may survive the battle, only to fall to Victarion later. Within days the Volantenes arrive, sealing up the bay again, but we have word that Martin will have Victarion concoct a plan to deliver a good chunk of the Volantene fleet. After that they wait on Dany.

If it takes more than about a week for her to return, the Yunkish will renew their attack, perhaps trying to draw the defenders away from the city to get out of range of the dragons. Once she returns, she will presumably be determined to leave, and a new peace can be worked out. There will be some perfunctory description of attempts to set up a government that will keep Meereen free, but none of the major characters will be much concerned with what happens when they turn their backs on the region.

With enough ships, and her forces swelled by Volantene slaves and her various freedmen, Dany will turn toward home. I suspect Vic will get impatient and try to kidnap her and make off before everyone else is ready; which could lead to an interesting diversion toward Mantarys or even Valyria itself.

Possibilities seem to converge again around Volantis. Dealing with politics there sounds about right for the late parts of TWOW, leaving Lys, Myr, Pentos, and ultimately the Others for ADOS.

[Eli Stark]

Why would you want this? Its waaaay out of character, its not the way to get Dany as far as making her a bride, and would destroy the whole fun of Vic. Vic is here to kick in the door and start smacking fools around to make his presence known. If he comes in all respectful of an old man like Selmy or sellswords or a dwarf, it would ruin his entire setup.

Vic v Daario needs to happen, yesterday.

You could be right. In which case it would be bad ass to see Vic coming in trying to bully Dany and have Barristan beat his ass down.

[Veltigar]

It’s a bit longer than I expected and the order of things can sometimes be debatable (e.g. Missandei fate, Marwyn’s arrival, etc.). But this is how I see the Meereen storyline evolve.

1) Barry takes out the slavers, Vic takes out the mercs, Tyrion frees the prisoners. Upon freeing the prisoners Tyrion notices something odd about Daario, but he can’t put his finger on it.

2) General introduction between all the old (barry, the shavepate, Daario, the GG, etc.) and the new (Vic, Tyrion, BBP, tTP and Jorah) players of Meereen somewhere in the royal pyramid.

The gates are opened and both the Ironborn and Tyrions mercs accompany Barry’s man inside for a nice big victory party (in a city full of former bed slaves that shouldn’t be a problem).

3) Information is swapped and hostility between certain individuals commences.

4) Barristan and Tyrion intervene. All the players agree to peacefully work together until Queen Daenerys gets back to the city. They also agree that they now have three major priorities. Firstly find out the Harpy and her sons. Secondly prepare for the Volantine fleet. Thirdly make sure all the troops are safely quartered and that the pale mare can’t spread as easily as it did in the Yunkish camp.

5) Upon leaving the pyramid, each player thinks about how to gain as much advantage as possible and damage the other. Especially, Dany’s suitors will try to damage each other (Victarion vs. Daario. And probably some Jorah in that mix to).

6) A large amount of people get killed inside the city walls. The Sons of the Harpy, realizing that their poster boy (Hizdahr, although he is not their leader) is rotting away in a dungeon and that their chief allies are defeated, start covering their tracks. Amongst those that are killed are a lot of Meereenese and former slaves, as well as newly arrived warriors (who were at the wrong place at the wrong time) but surprisingly no Stormcrows.

7) Victarion decides that he’ll capture the Harpy. He finds an ally in the Shavepate. Together they decide to increase their effort and they start torturing more people.

8) At the same time Tyrion starts using his wit and tries to find out who exactly the Harpy is.

9) Victarion decides that Hizdahr either is the Harpy or holds the key to the Harpy’s identity. So, he decides to ask him some “polite” questions (and thus remove the Queens husband from the play field).

10) At the same time Tyrion comes terribly close to the real Harpy.

11) Victarion attacks Hizdahr prison. He kills the King and tensions rise high between Vic and Barrie.

12) At that time they get word that the Volantine fleet is close by. The players decide to put aside their differences and defend the city.

13) Vic leads the troops at sea, while Barry takes command of the city.

14) The Volantine navy lands and disembarks. The Iron Fleet attacks the ships from the rear while Barrie tries to drive them back into the sea.

15) In stark contrast with the first battle of Meereen, the battle doesn’t go very well for Team Meereen. The Tigers are hardened warriors and there are lots of them. Barrie’s troop are forced back.

16) At that moment a giant Khalesar arrives at the scene and they attack the Volantine army.

17) Dany seated atop Drogon flies over and with dragonfire she burns a few ships.

18) The rest of the fleet lays down their arms after they realize who they are dealing with.

19) Dany summons everyone in the Throne room.

20) Tyrion reveals the identity of the Harpy. The GG gets taken into custody, but the really shocking reveal comes after when Tyrion reveals that Daario is part of the plot.

21) Daario tries to carve himself a way out of his predicament. Barrie/Vic/Jorah stop him and cut him to pieces [possible alternative Daario tries to take Dany hostage but ends up killing Missandei].

22) Dany is informed of the different exploits of her old and new allies. She asks them to make preparations for the journey to Volantis.

23) She burns Meereen to the ground to show her people that there is no way back.

24) They take Volantis. Tyrion tells her off Faegon (at which point she decides to pay a visit to Pentos). Vic gets increasingly annoyed at Dany’s refusal to wed him. Marwyn appears.

25) Daenerys at Pentos gets confirmation that Faegon is indeed a fake. Tyrion and Marwyn find out that they share a common interest: Dragons.

26) Vic decides to use the Dragon Horn for real. The Magic horn backfires and the Dusky woman takes him out.

27) As a result of the dragon horn one of the dragons (or both) die/fly off to Euron/freak out and Tyrion and Marwyn need to take risks to calm it/them down (I favor the last option)

28) Tyrion is now considered to be Dany’s top advisor and he officially takes on the post of her hand.

29) Dany’s army lands in the Vale.

[KingHodorTargaryen]

It’s a bit longer than I expected and the order of things can sometimes be debatable (e.g. Missandei fate, Marwyn’s arrival, etc.). But this is how I see the Meereen storyline evolve.

1) Barry takes out the slavers, Vic takes out the mercs, Tyrion frees the prisoners. Upon freeing the prisoners Tyrion notices something odd about Daario, but he can’t put his finger on it.

2) General introduction between all the old (barry, the shavepate, Daario, the GG, etc.) and the new (Vic, Tyrion, BBP, tTP and Jorah) players of Meereen somewhere in the royal pyramid.

The gates are opened and both the Ironborn and Tyrions mercs accompany Barry’s man inside for a nice big victory party (in a city full of former bed slaves that shouldn’t be a problem).

3) Information is swapped and hostility between certain individuals commences.

4) Barristan and Tyrion intervene. All the players agree to peacefully work together until Queen Daenerys gets back to the city. They also agree that they now have three major priorities. Firstly find out the Harpy and her sons. Secondly prepare for the Volantine fleet. Thirdly make sure all the troops are safely quartered and that the pale mare can’t spread as easily as it did in the Yunkish camp.

5) Upon leaving the pyramid, each player thinks about how to gain as much advantage as possible and damage the other. Especially, Dany’s suitors will try to damage each other (Victarion vs. Daario. And probably some Jorah in that mix to).

6) A large amount of people get killed inside the city walls. The Sons of the Harpy, realizing that their poster boy (Hizdahr, although he is not their leader) is rotting away in a dungeon and that their chief allies are defeated, start covering their tracks. Amongst those that are killed are a lot of Meereenese and former slaves, as well as newly arrived warriors (who were at the wrong place at the wrong time) but surprisingly no Stormcrows.

7) Victarion decides that he’ll capture the Harpy. He finds an ally in the Shavepate. Together they decide to increase their effort and they start torturing more people.

8) At the same time Tyrion starts using his wit and tries to find out who exactly the Harpy is.

9) Victarion decides that Hizdahr either is the Harpy or holds the key to the Harpy’s identity. So, he decides to ask him some “polite” questions (and thus remove the Queens husband from the play field).

10) At the same time Tyrion comes terribly close to the real Harpy.

11) Victarion attacks Hizdahr prison. He kills the King and tensions rise high between Vic and Barrie.

12) At that time they get word that the Volantine fleet is close by. The players decide to put aside their differences and defend the city.

13) Vic leads the troops at sea, while Barry takes command of the city.

14) The Volantine navy lands and disembarks. The Iron Fleet attacks the ships from the rear while Barrie tries to drive them back into the sea.

15) In stark contrast with the first battle of Meereen, the battle doesn’t go very well for Team Meereen. The Tigers are hardened warriors and there are lots of them. Barrie’s troop are forced back.

16) At that moment a giant Khalesar arrives at the scene and they attack the Volantine army.

17) Dany seated atop Drogon flies over and with dragonfire she burns a few ships.

18) The rest of the fleet lays down their arms after they realize who they are dealing with.

19) Dany summons everyone in the Throne room.

20) Tyrion reveals the identity of the Harpy. The GG gets taken into custody, but the really shocking reveal comes after when Tyrion reveals that Daario is part of the plot.

21) Daario tries to carve himself a way out of his predicament. Barrie/Vic/Jorah stop him and cut him to pieces [possible alternative Daario tries to take Dany hostage but ends up killing Missandei].

22) Dany is informed of the different exploits of her old and new allies. She asks them to make preparations for the journey to Volantis.

23) She burns Meereen to the ground to show her people that there is no way back.

24) They take Volantis. Tyrion tells her off Faegon (at which point she decides to pay a visit to Pentos). Vic gets increasingly annoyed at Dany’s refusal to wed him. Marwyn appears.

25) Daenerys at Pentos gets confirmation that Faegon is indeed a fake. Tyrion and Marwyn find out that they share a common interest: Dragons.

26) Vic decides to use the Dragon Horn for real. The Magic horn backfires and the Dusky woman takes him out.

27) As a result of the dragon horn one of the dragons (or both) die/fly off to Euron/freak out and Tyrion and Marwyn need to take risks to calm it/them down (I favor the last option)

28) Tyrion is now considered to be Dany’s top advisor and he officially takes on the post of her hand.

29) Dany’s army lands in the Vale.

How is it you keep writing Winds of Winter almost exactly?

[aryagonnakill]

It’s a bit longer than I expected and the order of things can sometimes be debatable (e.g. Missandei fate, Marwyn’s arrival, etc.). But this is how I see the Meereen storyline evolve.

1) Barry takes out the slavers, Vic takes out the mercs, Tyrion frees the prisoners. Upon freeing the prisoners Tyrion notices something odd about Daario, but he can’t put his finger on it.

2) General introduction between all the old (barry, the shavepate, Daario, the GG, etc.) and the new (Vic, Tyrion, BBP, tTP and Jorah) players of Meereen somewhere in the royal pyramid.

The gates are opened and both the Ironborn and Tyrions mercs accompany Barry’s man inside for a nice big victory party (in a city full of former bed slaves that shouldn’t be a problem).

3) Information is swapped and hostility between certain individuals commences.

4) Barristan and Tyrion intervene. All the players agree to peacefully work together until Queen Daenerys gets back to the city. They also agree that they now have three major priorities. Firstly find out the Harpy and her sons. Secondly prepare for the Volantine fleet. Thirdly make sure all the troops are safely quartered and that the pale mare can’t spread as easily as it did in the Yunkish camp.

5) Upon leaving the pyramid, each player thinks about how to gain as much advantage as possible and damage the other. Especially, Dany’s suitors will try to damage each other (Victarion vs. Daario. And probably some Jorah in that mix to).

6) A large amount of people get killed inside the city walls. The Sons of the Harpy, realizing that their poster boy (Hizdahr, although he is not their leader) is rotting away in a dungeon and that their chief allies are defeated, start covering their tracks. Amongst those that are killed are a lot of Meereenese and former slaves, as well as newly arrived warriors (who were at the wrong place at the wrong time) but surprisingly no Stormcrows.

7) Victarion decides that he’ll capture the Harpy. He finds an ally in the Shavepate. Together they decide to increase their effort and they start torturing more people.

8) At the same time Tyrion starts using his wit and tries to find out who exactly the Harpy is.

9) Victarion decides that Hizdahr either is the Harpy or holds the key to the Harpy’s identity. So, he decides to ask him some “polite” questions (and thus remove the Queens husband from the play field).

10) At the same time Tyrion comes terribly close to the real Harpy.

11) Victarion attacks Hizdahr prison. He kills the King and tensions rise high between Vic and Barrie.

12) At that time they get word that the Volantine fleet is close by. The players decide to put aside their differences and defend the city.

13) Vic leads the troops at sea, while Barry takes command of the city.

14) The Volantine navy lands and disembarks. The Iron Fleet attacks the ships from the rear while Barrie tries to drive them back into the sea.

15) In stark contrast with the first battle of Meereen, the battle doesn’t go very well for Team Meereen. The Tigers are hardened warriors and there are lots of them. Barrie’s troop are forced back.

16) At that moment a giant Khalesar arrives at the scene and they attack the Volantine army.

17) Dany seated atop Drogon flies over and with dragonfire she burns a few ships.

18) The rest of the fleet lays down their arms after they realize who they are dealing with.

19) Dany summons everyone in the Throne room.

20) Tyrion reveals the identity of the Harpy. The GG gets taken into custody, but the really shocking reveal comes after when Tyrion reveals that Daario is part of the plot.

21) Daario tries to carve himself a way out of his predicament. Barrie/Vic/Jorah stop him and cut him to pieces [possible alternative Daario tries to take Dany hostage but ends up killing Missandei].

22) Dany is informed of the different exploits of her old and new allies. She asks them to make preparations for the journey to Volantis.

23) She burns Meereen to the ground to show her people that there is no way back.

24) They take Volantis. Tyrion tells her off Faegon (at which point she decides to pay a visit to Pentos). Vic gets increasingly annoyed at Dany’s refusal to wed him. Marwyn appears.

25) Daenerys at Pentos gets confirmation that Faegon is indeed a fake. Tyrion and Marwyn find out that they share a common interest: Dragons.

26) Vic decides to use the Dragon Horn for real. The Magic horn backfires and the Dusky woman takes him out.

27) As a result of the dragon horn one of the dragons (or both) die/fly off to Euron/freak out and Tyrion and Marwyn need to take risks to calm it/them down (I favor the last option)

28) Tyrion is now considered to be Dany’s top advisor and he officially takes on the post of her hand.

29) Dany’s army lands in the Vale.

I can't see everyone surviving the battle of Mereen. However that is not to say that I have any idea who is going to die. If I had a guess I would say Victarion by Moqorro's hand/ his own. I could also see Barristan dying of course, but I feel he has another part to play. But Vic brought ships and the dragonhorn, the idea I am interesting in seeing is Tyrion + Dragonhorn. Surely he will be tempted.

[Veltigar]

How is it you keep writing Winds of Winter almost exactly?

Well, I certainly hope that some of my predictions turn out to be true. I make my predictions with the following tools:

1) GRRM has confirmed certain things that are going to happen in tWoW and aDoS. We know we’re going to get a Dance of Dragons (thus Faegons true identity needs to be revealed to Dany and Faegon has to build up a powerbase strong enough to pose a credible threat to Dany), we know that we’re going to see Casterley Rock and Highgarden, we know that we’re getting more info on the lands of always winter, we know that Bronn and Hot Pie are going to return. We know that before the end several more people will sit the IT before the eventual King/Queen seats himself on it. There might be more that I don’t recall.

2) The preview chapters are telling in certain ways

Theons sample chapter for instance gives us all the clues to determine that the author of the Pink Letter is actually Ramsay, who fell for a trick devised by Stannis

3) All the excellent theories out there. Of course if you adhere to other theories than I do, you’ll find a lot of my predictions rubbish (e.g. I believe that Jaime is the Valonqar. If you believe otherwise you won’t like my Jaime-Cersei predictions. Another one: if you believe in the ridiculous Jojenpaste theory you won’t like my Bran prediction).

On top of these three tools I always keep the following things in mind:

4) A lot of (POV-) characters need to die. So, the body count is quite high in most of my theories.

5) Early to mid WoW is about as widespread as this series is going to get geographically. Storylines need to start merging.

6) Expect the unexpected. One of the great strengths of GRRM work is that he’s able to take you unaware, and in stark contrast with lesser writers, his surprises actually make sense (e.g. the RW: in hindsight is was so obvious). For instance that’s why I think the Blackfish is going to turn up in the Neck. It’s an option you might overlook at first, but if he ends up there it will make perfect sense.

7) GRRM tries to put a spin on things we have already seen in previous installments (e.g. JS revival. We have already seen so many revivals by fire that it would be very boring to just see Mel resurrect him. That’s why I believe that Mell will resurrect his body, but that Bran will guide his spirit back in his body.)

[Veltigar]

I can't see everyone surviving the battle of Mereen. However that is not to say that I have any idea who is going to die. If I had a guess I would say Victarion by Moqorro's hand/ his own. I could also see Barristan dying of course, but I feel he has another part to play. But Vic brought ships and the dragonhorn, the idea I am interesting in seeing is Tyrion + Dragonhorn. Surely he will be tempted.

The thing is that the battle for Meereen isn't as dangerous as it looks. The Yunkishmen are pretty weak imo. Their mercs hate each other and some are actively in the process of switching sides. Their allies suffer from the Pale Mare and their own soldiers are glorified houseslaves. And their commanders are idiotic. I would be highly surprised if anyone of note dies. And my personal prime suspect for Vics murder is the Dusky Woman.

[Skrubbeltrang]

I've been doing a bit of reading here and I hit upon a theory of how the battle for Mereen might pan out.

1) We know Barristan Selmy attacks the Yunkai and Ghiscari legions, but is the weaker of the two sides.

2) The Ironborn arrive, turning the tide against the Yunkai.

-here follows my speculation-

3) The huge Volantyne fleet arrives behind the Ironborn, turning the tide back in Yunkai's favour.

4) Dany arrives on Drogon, supported by Khal Pono and his khalisaar (how could she win him over? She might promise him the riches of Yunkai - she does want vengeance against the slavers after all). Viseryon and Rhaegal join them in decimating the Volantyne fleet. This turns the tide back against the Yunkai.

5) Victorion has the dragon horn blown - it gets the attention of the dragons - but I suspect this will result in him getting torched/eaten.

6) In any case, I think Dany will "win" the battle, but lose Mereen (probably because of dragon caused collateral damage), and this will be the catalyst for her unsullied (+Khal Pono khalisaar?) to head west - presumably through Valyria. There is too much land between her and Westeros for her not to have at least one more delay somewhere in Essos. I think the plan is for her to arrive in Westeros by the end of TWOW.

For extra credit, I predict that at some point during the battle Tyrion will come face to face with either Viseryon or Rhaegal. I really want him to get a dragon, but knowing GRRM he may also get eaten - I just think there has been too much foreshadowing of Tyrion and dragons for him not to have some kind of interaction with them.

MikeL - I think that your theory is great. I think it's the most logical way for Dany's storyline to progress. I agree that she should make it to Westeros by the end of TWOW with an important pit stop in Valyria...

[ejhawman]

It’s a bit longer than I expected and the order of things can sometimes be debatable (e.g. Missandei fate, Marwyn’s arrival, etc.). But this is how I see the Meereen storyline evolve.

1) Barry takes out the slavers, Vic takes out the mercs, Tyrion frees the prisoners. Upon freeing the prisoners Tyrion notices something odd about Daario, but he can’t put his finger on it.

2) General introduction between all the old (barry, the shavepate, Daario, the GG, etc.) and the new (Vic, Tyrion, BBP, tTP and Jorah) players of Meereen somewhere in the royal pyramid.

The gates are opened and both the Ironborn and Tyrions mercs accompany Barry’s man inside for a nice big victory party (in a city full of former bed slaves that shouldn’t be a problem).

3) Information is swapped and hostility between certain individuals commences.

4) Barristan and Tyrion intervene. All the players agree to peacefully work together until Queen Daenerys gets back to the city. They also agree that they now have three major priorities. Firstly find out the Harpy and her sons. Secondly prepare for the Volantine fleet. Thirdly make sure all the troops are safely quartered and that the pale mare can’t spread as easily as it did in the Yunkish camp.

5) Upon leaving the pyramid, each player thinks about how to gain as much advantage as possible and damage the other. Especially, Dany’s suitors will try to damage each other (Victarion vs. Daario. And probably some Jorah in that mix to).

6) A large amount of people get killed inside the city walls. The Sons of the Harpy, realizing that their poster boy (Hizdahr, although he is not their leader) is rotting away in a dungeon and that their chief allies are defeated, start covering their tracks. Amongst those that are killed are a lot of Meereenese and former slaves, as well as newly arrived warriors (who were at the wrong place at the wrong time) but surprisingly no Stormcrows.

7) Victarion decides that he’ll capture the Harpy. He finds an ally in the Shavepate. Together they decide to increase their effort and they start torturing more people.

8) At the same time Tyrion starts using his wit and tries to find out who exactly the Harpy is.

9) Victarion decides that Hizdahr either is the Harpy or holds the key to the Harpy’s identity. So, he decides to ask him some “polite” questions (and thus remove the Queens husband from the play field).

10) At the same time Tyrion comes terribly close to the real Harpy.

11) Victarion attacks Hizdahr prison. He kills the King and tensions rise high between Vic and Barrie.

12) At that time they get word that the Volantine fleet is close by. The players decide to put aside their differences and defend the city.

13) Vic leads the troops at sea, while Barry takes command of the city.

14) The Volantine navy lands and disembarks. The Iron Fleet attacks the ships from the rear while Barrie tries to drive them back into the sea.

15) In stark contrast with the first battle of Meereen, the battle doesn’t go very well for Team Meereen. The Tigers are hardened warriors and there are lots of them. Barrie’s troop are forced back.

16) At that moment a giant Khalesar arrives at the scene and they attack the Volantine army.

17) Dany seated atop Drogon flies over and with dragonfire she burns a few ships.

18) The rest of the fleet lays down their arms after they realize who they are dealing with.

19) Dany summons everyone in the Throne room.

20) Tyrion reveals the identity of the Harpy. The GG gets taken into custody, but the really shocking reveal comes after when Tyrion reveals that Daario is part of the plot.

21) Daario tries to carve himself a way out of his predicament. Barrie/Vic/Jorah stop him and cut him to pieces [possible alternative Daario tries to take Dany hostage but ends up killing Missandei].

22) Dany is informed of the different exploits of her old and new allies. She asks them to make preparations for the journey to Volantis.

23) She burns Meereen to the ground to show her people that there is no way back.

24) They take Volantis. Tyrion tells her off Faegon (at which point she decides to pay a visit to Pentos). Vic gets increasingly annoyed at Dany’s refusal to wed him. Marwyn appears.

25) Daenerys at Pentos gets confirmation that Faegon is indeed a fake. Tyrion and Marwyn find out that they share a common interest: Dragons.

26) Vic decides to use the Dragon Horn for real. The Magic horn backfires and the Dusky woman takes him out.

27) As a result of the dragon horn one of the dragons (or both) die/fly off to Euron/freak out and Tyrion and Marwyn need to take risks to calm it/them down (I favor the last option)

28) Tyrion is now considered to be Dany’s top advisor and he officially takes on the post of her hand.

29) Dany’s army lands in the Vale.

You had me up to point 20. I don't see Daario involved in the Sons. He seems more likely to me to be killed by Vic or not survive Tyrion's attempt to free the hostages.

I don't know why everyone wants to believe the dusky woman is Euron in disguise or some such. An agent of Euron's, surely, but she can tell him little since she has no way to pass messages back to him until she gets to a major city (is there raven service between Volantis and any location in Westeros? Perhaps Volantis and Meereen?) I say she is only keeping an eye on Vic, has no instructions to kill him. Likely she gets left behind at some point.

Burning Meereen to the ground also seems a bit much. Leave it behind, with Skahaz in charge, or a council of his new men. Vic & co. may have already wiped out the families in the pyramids when she arrives.

Otherwise, plausible.

[Brother Walfrid]

For the thousandth time Dany is not fireproof, she is mortal, and therefore would die if she blew the horn, at least according to Moqorro's reading.

Whatever else she is, she is not a mortal man

[Veltigar]

You had me up to point 20. I don't see Daario involved in the Sons. He seems more likely to me to be killed by Vic or not survive Tyrion's attempt to free the hostages.

I’m pretty sure he’ll survive Tyrions attempt to free him. The main reason why I believe he won’t just be killed by Vic to end his storyline is that Daario’s whole character was conceived with only one goal and that is to make us doubt Daenerys (like FaB over at WIC stated “He’s the fake gangsta rapper you can’t believe you found Dany with”).

Personally, I think GRRM failed to make that goal compelling (he overdid Daario. Blue beard, golden tooth, Swag and lady shaped handles for his blades? Just to fucking much) at the moment. I think that if he’s in league with the Harpy Daario might win back some of his initial credibility and then in hindsight the whole storyline would be a little more compelling.

I also think that it’s not really out of character for Daario to behave in that way. He’s obviously power hungry (see Meereen RW plan) and he’s not afraid to change side/make a bold move (like decapitating two fellow captains and offering their heads to his employers enemy). And since he can’t gain anything more by staying on Dany’s side (she chose her people over him by marrying Hizdahr), it’s obvious that he should try and make a move and change sides again.

One final argument, in ADWD we had to read through to the whole “50 shades of Daario” crap. If Daario dies by Vics hands without having betrayed Dany in the slightest than changes are that for a big part of tWoW we’ll have to read through “50 shades of mourning about Daario”. I don’t think I could survive that.

I don't know why everyone wants to believe the dusky woman is Euron in disguise or some such. An agent of Euron's, surely, but she can tell him little since she has no way to pass messages back to him until she gets to a major city (is there raven service between Volantis and any location in Westeros? Perhaps Volantis and Meereen?) I say she is only keeping an eye on Vic, has no instructions to kill him. Likely she gets left behind at some point.

I have never implied that Euron is the Dusky Woman (that’s about as crackpot as it gets). But I think she is much more than “just an agent” of Euron. I believe that the Dusky Woman is either a FM (the one that threw Balon of the bridge to be more precise) or a Maegi and that she an Euron have a sort of pact together and this will lead to her killing Vic.

1) In ADWD when Moqorro enters Vics cabine before healing his hand he says “"Your death is with us now, my lord." At that moment the only people in the room where Victarion (not the type to commit suicide), Moqorro (the usual suspect) and the Dusky Woman. The same Dusky Woman who, moments ago, hissed at Moqorro because she knew what he was and what he could do (blow her cover).

2) "Have you seen these others in your fires?" he asked, warily.

"Only their shadows," Moqorro said. "One most of all. A tall and twisted thing with one black eye and ten long arms, sailing on a sea of blood."

=> This is obviously about Euron, signifying that his role in this story will be a lot bigger than we expected. So, he’ll be around for a little while longer which almost automatically means that Vics days are numbered.

But of course we’ll have to wait until tWoW to get our answers so feel free to disagree with me.

Burning Meereen to the ground also seems a bit much. Leave it behind, with Skahaz in charge, or a council of his new men. Vic & co. may have already wiped out the families in the pyramids when she arrives.

This point isn’t really essential in any way to my major points but allow me to demonstrate why I think she would burn Meereen (while keeping the rest of my predictions and the text in mind).

1) She already left a council behind in Astapor. That didn’t work out did it?

2) I don’t think Dany would want someone as the Shavepate to rule the city. She might use him herself but the Shavepate doesn’t seem like the guy who could rule a city in a way that Dany would be comfortable with.

3) Slavers bay has a long, bloody history. A history that is subject to a steady decline (the slave trade was the only real moneymaker there and still the cities were declining). Now Astapor is destroyed, Yunkai will not be allowed to recover yet again and Meereen isn’t doing great either. Dany has a chance to dish out a finishing blow to one of the most repulsive cultures in that entire universe, would she let that go? In fact it’s probably more merciful to put the city to the torch. We all know that Slavers Bay is going to go down the drain anyway. The Slave Trade was the only thing that kept those cities a float. And the slave trade is never coming back.

4) The burning of Meereen would be very symbolic. Think about it, burning Meereen would bring Dany in contact with:

a) The Valyrian Empire. She, the last descendant of Old Valyria, destroys the last remnants of Old Ghis. Thus symbolizing the fact that she’s destined for great things (IIRC the real golden era of Valyria commenced after they bested Old Ghis and claimed dominance over the region).

B) Queen Nymeria. Nymeria is known best as the greatest Warrior Queen (I mean she was Arya’s hero so that means that even in the North tales of her achievement were told) that Westeros ever knew. But as we see in Tyrions ADWD chapters she was much more than that. Not just a shrewd politician and commander but also a savior to her people. All things that would appeal to Dany.

C) The Red Priests. If Moqorro and Tyrion tell her about that fact that the Red Priests think she is AA reborn they might advise her to symbolize that in some way. And what better way to do that than sacrifice an entire city to the flames?

d) The new Dany. I think that the old Dany died in the Dothraki Sea. I think that the Dany that returns from the Dothraki Sea will be a wholly different person and ruler than the ineffective, masochistic, frightened little girl that used to rule Meereen (and who had an incredible amount of luck). Putting Meereen to the torch would be a rite of passage for her.

5) It would show her people that there is no way back. That they need to fight until the bitter end to get to their new promised land Westeros.

+ I think that I speak for most of the fans when I say that MEEREEN NEEDS TO BURN FOR WHAT IS HAS DONE TO US READERS. It would make so many people so happy to see that city go down.

[Victarion Chainbreaker]

I don't see Victarion blowing the horn (or his subordinates by proxy) unless he was forced to.

Remember, his goal is not to steal the dragons: when he decided to defy Euron he vows to take the most beautiful woman in the world as his queen, not to take the dragons his brother planned to take. Also, his chapter was titled 'The Iron Suitor,' not 'The Iron Dragon Thief.' Victarion is coming to woo Dany, not take her dragons.

A lot has been said about Victarion's lack of intelligence (even by GRRM,) but I can't believe he would think that stealing Dany's dragons would be a good way to convince Dany to marry him.

The only way I can see Victarion blowing the horn is if Dany still isn't back and a Volanteen fleet 6x the size of the Iron fleet is baring down on them.

[Ser Luke.]

tyrion has immortality card unlike anyone else

Yeah, if anyone has had plot armor this entire series, it's been him. I wouldn't mind if he got eaten, he's been acting like a whiny bitch lately, but I just can't see Martin killing off his favorite character like that.

[KingHodorTargaryen]

Here's a little crackpot theory here that kinda has to do with this thread. Where is the missing third of the Iron Fleet? Vic lost about 35 ships (weren't they in a group as well?) and doesn't know where they are. Are they going to be showing up later? I think they either: A. Show up after the Battle for Mereen, B. Show up en route to Westeros, or C. Are on their way back to Westeros to Euron. The reason I think this is Euron has a lot of cunning and was able to sever Nute the Barber from Vic. Could he have convinced one of the Vic's men to take the portion back as he knew Vic would be forced to split them? Maybe this is crackpot, just throwing it out there.

[Tharvot]

From the first book, its made pretty obvious that a khalasar follows the strong. Hard to show a bigger sign of strength than a 20 foot long fire-breathing dragon.

Whatever way that encounter between Dany and the khalasar goes, I think its safe to bet that Dany will be heading back to Mereen with an army of horseriders and a big, angry dragon. Chances are that the Yunkish get burned.

Prospects aren't looking good for Victarion and the horn...that just reeks of a trap to me.

I am willing to guess that Barristan lives along with Tyrion and Mormont dies saving Dany's life somehow. Daario is as good as dead.

Between the Harpies killing her followers, an assassination attempt by her new husband, and all the other crap Dany has had to deal with in Mereen, I think she is just going to be over the place and will be more than happy to leave asap. Tyrion's knowledge of Aegon will be the catalyst that gets the ball rolling in that direction for Dany (and he may also be the reason why they go north first as I suspect they will).