With only two novels remaining in Martin’s book series, a vital factor to consider is the amount of time left to tell the remainder of the story. A Feast for Crows and A Dance with Dragons introduced several new players to the board, be it Aegon, the Dornish, or the Greyjoy uncles, and one of the priorities of The Winds of Winter will likely be to weed out who’s “endgame” and who isn’t. There will be a select few characters left as serious contenders for the Iron Throne in A Dream of Spring, and many who are red herrings.
Why Daenerys May Need To Marry In The Winds Of Winter
Daenerys’ Conquest Of Westeros Will Benefit From A Marriage Alliance
Marriage has always been a part of Daenerys Targaryen’s story in A Song of Ice & Fire, with her earliest chapters showing her unlikely romance form with her first husband, Khal Drogo. Dany has a powerful family name to support her political standing, but in order to conquer the Seven Kingdoms of Westeros, she’ll need allies with armies. She has the Unsullied and multiple sellsword companies, but she’ll likely need more to take the Iron Throne. The Dothraki forces are another likely candidate, like in the show, but she’s likely to want a Westerosi ally.
Marrying a Westerosi lord has commonly been considered a possibility for Daenerys, as there are multiple available that could provide her with military forces. It’s also important to note that she’s currently married to Hizdahr zo Loraq, though the fallout of the situation with the locusts in A Dance with Dragons could have him out of the way before she even returns to Meereen. Not to mention, no one in their right mind would be satisfied after waiting over a decade for The Winds of Winter for Daenerys’ final partner to be Hizdahr zo Loraq.
The Winds Of Winter Is Too Early For Daenerys To Marry Jon Snow
Jon & Daenerys Might Not Even Meet In The Next Book
The prospect of Daenerys and Jon Snow forming a romantic bond has been on readers’ minds for decades, and it was fulfilled in Game of Thrones. Even if Jon is a Targaryen in secret, he and Dany wedding and saving the world would be the perfect summation of the series’ title, with Jon representing ice and Dany representing fire. George R.R. Martin’s stories are famously grim, but they’re also romanticized in a way that suggests this could certainly be a possibility. That being said, The Winds of Winter seems too soon for it.
The major component of Daenerys and Jon getting married is that Daenerys is currently in the wilderness with Drogon and the lovely Khal Jhaqo, and Jon is… well, Jon is dead. Both of these situations are enormous barriers for The Winds of Winter to overcome before these characters can even resume their current situations. Daenerys has to return to Meereen and then sail to Westeros, and Jon has some situations to handle in the North. For them to progress through those things, somehow travel to each other, meet, fall in love, and get married in one book would be madness.
A Song Of Ice & Fire Has Set Up Daenerys Marrying Euron Greyjoy
Dany’s Dreams Suggest Euron Is In Her Future
Circling back around to the subject of “endgame.” Jon Snow and Daenerys seem like endgame characters, and they’ll probably both be around in A Dream of Spring. With that in mind, Daenerys could squeeze in one more marriage before then, potentially with someone who’s already sent out feelers as a potential suitor: Euron Greyjoy. Euron notably wanted to marry Dany in Game of Thrones, then went after Cersei when Theon and Yara beat him to it. He’s also going after Dany in the books, though there are different circumstances to consider.
First, Theon and Asha aren’t sailing to Daenerys in the book series; Euron sent his brother, Victarion, to court her on his behalf. Daenerys needs to somehow obtain a fleet as she does in the show, and having it be from Theon and Yara was a simplistic and decently compelling way to unite a few “good guy” characters. Since that isn’t happening, her sailing to Westeros with Victarion’s fleet is a distinct possibility. She also dreamed in A Dance with Dragons of being romantic with a man with blue, bruised lips, with Euron being described the same way in Feast.
There’s one major complication here, which is that Dance revealed Victarion’s plan to snatch up Daenerys for himself. He’s there with the fleet and dragonbinder, so he could attempt to make a play. The only problem with his plan is that he’s a complete idiot, and there’s almost no way he’ll be able to pull a fast one on Euron. Since Euron isn’t present, Daenerys could marry Victarion and keep him as a puppet to face off with his brother, but it seems more narratively engaging for her to pursue the more volatile, dangerous path by actually marrying Euron.
Daenerys Has To Be Very Wary Of Euron – And A Marriage Could Backfire
Euron Isn’t The Nicest Guy Available
Daenerys has dealt with some tough guys before, but no one quite as dangerous as Euron Greyjoy. Euron has an enormous fleet, but what makes him so terrifying (as opposed to his television counterpart) is that he’s developed a fascination for dark magic. He’s accompanied by warlocks from Qarth and has even acquired dragonbinder, a horn that can allegedly be blown to seize control of dragons. He certainly intends to use this on Dany’s dragons, taking one for himself, but there’s even more than just the possibility of her losing a dragon.
Fans have theorized the possibility that Euron Greyjoy isn’t just here for power but rather is planning a devastating, Lovecraftian-like event against Westeros. Ideas swirling around the subject suggest he could blow the Horn of Joramun to knock down the Wall, summon a kraken from the seas, or all sorts of other absolutely insane ideas. More simply, he could sacrifice Daenerys or just kill her and take her dragons. It’s hard to see Euron as an endgame villain, especially with his role in Game of Thrones, so perhaps he’ll be her antagonist to vanquish in Winds.
