spoilers for episode 5 of Game of Thrones.
Valar Doharis.
My friends, I must regretfully confirm, he is the one, but he is not willing. He sees the madness in her, yet he will not sway his devotion. The wall has fallen for the dragon, but he will still serve the realm, willingly or not.
The golden hand has left winterfell. Death travels with the hound to King's Landing.
My little bird is being watched, the dragon will not eat. I have failed and the wheel turns ever onwards
The lioness has filled her keep with the sheep, but the sons of the harpy wait among them, when her pride falls, the golden hand will steal her away. Death comes to the mountain in vain.
What is dead must burn and then the Bells must be rung, only then will the unsullied enter the keep. The dragon will die by dragon's fire. The wall will become the shield for the realm.
Valar Margulas.
--
Danaerys catefully rolled the letter back up and tossed it into the fire.
"It is as you have said." she said to Grey worm, "they will understand only fire."
"She spoke truly." said Greyworm, the storm of emotion never broke the surface of his expression. "She saw what they were doing, even at the end, she served you."
Danaerys looked away, into the darkness of the room.
"And we have both lost everything."
"Naharis still waits for you."
Danaerys shook her head.
"Jorah died defending me from a horde of the dead. My betrayors never die, only those I love. There is no going back, after all that have sacraficed themselves for us. Varys has conspired with my enemies and laid a trap for us, and those I trust will march us into it."
She paced restlessly, and Greyworm clasped his hands behind him, as he waited. "I will break this wheel even if I must burn them all, and begin anew."
Grey Worm told her, "what of the imp?"
She turned.
"His brother outsmarted him, his sister betrayed him." Danarys replied, "now his sister has ignored him, no doubt his brother will fail him." She sighed. "I will give him one final chance, because he did reveal Varys, but if you see their signal, you will attack." she met his gaze, "Jon cannot falter, they will kill him for it. Wait for the signal but do not let him falter. Too many have given their lives for me." said Danaerys, "My husband, my children, my dearest friends.""
She sank into the chair with the weight of many years.
"They will hate you, he will hate you." Greyworm warned her, "They will see only your fire. He will not love you after that."
"Love hides betrayal, in life or in death." Danaerys said, she looked up at Grey Worm. "Fire is mercy, in life and death. Twice I was reborn in fire.Those creatures we fought in the north, were slaves in death."
Grey worm sank to one knee before her.
"We were born as slaves." Grey Worm told her in Astapori Valarian, "You gave us our lives. You are the breaker of chains."
"And you offered them back with love." she said placing both hands on his shoulders. She rested her head against his, sharing a monent of grief, and gratitude. "Rise, my dearest friend."
He stood in silence as she picked up a worn leather collar.
"This was all she brought with her across the narrow sea" Danaerys said, "her only posession."
Greyworm took it and studied it silently, then he tossed into the fire.
The moment passed between them, and then there were footsteps in the hall. Jon had arrived
"It's alright Torgo Nudho." she said, let me speak with him."
Varys was seemingly writing all day, and there were some things that seemed odd in the battle of Kings Landing, so while the writers are clearly writing Danaerys as descending into madness, I wanted to imagine a different scenario, one where she was true to herself the whole way through and instead it is the world around her that is mad.
So there was a trap. The Iron Fleet was to be destroyed, and the golden company would fall, the gates would be breached, but the people would be incited to surrender.
Jamie would persuade Cersei to retreat while the mountain fought the hound. Arya would try to save the hound but an asassin could not kill the mountain and she would die with the hound.
The towers near the keep were full of wildfire. Drogan would have landed on one and been blown up. The Starks and the unsullied marched deeper into the keep under truce they would have been attacked by sons of the harpy and city would fall to chaos with the Lannisters and the Starks caught in the middle.
All the kings would fall paving the way for Varys' conspirators to set up their new order. The Lannisters would be all but wiped out, and Winterfell too distant to matter.