jgclark asked: "To go N, you must go S. To reach the W, you must go E... ...you must pass beneath the shadow." Many have speculated that Dany will reach Westeros by sailing E across the Sunset Sea, which seems quite plausible. What if instead she flew S to reach the N? A rear guard action would catch the others from behind, and, assuming polar regions in this world experience 24 hr nights, she must needs pass through a shadow. Added benefit: no need to fight Weterosi on her way N to meet the others. Thoughts?
I used to think that circumnavigation was a plausible route for her to take as implied by Quaithe’s cryptic instructions. There are several reasons why I don’t anymore. One of them is GRRM saying it’s unlikely we’ll be seeing Asshai, which I always assumed was both the “you must go east” and “pass beneath the shadow” of that prophecy. But that really only speaks to circumnavigating it longitudinally.
The other thing that makes me skeptical is that the story seems to have set up the involvement of a Volantene slave revolt, and she’ll need to go west for that to happen. And that speaks more to your theory. Granted, she could go to Volantis, rally the troops, and…lead them all the way around the world through the wilds of Sothoryos, up around…whatever the heck is on the other side there, and then….through the perpetually frozen, demon-haunted Lands of Always Winter…Heh, the more I write about it, the taller an order it becomes. So I’d rule it out.
