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In Game of Thrones S08E04,

Dany accompanies a few ships of unsullied on their way to King's Landing. While Jon and his army go by land, Dany has time for a detour to Dragonstone. To my understanding, Dragonstone has been deserted since they mined all the dragon glass and went north. In S08E04, they did nothing in Dragonstone except discussing the ambush led by Euron Greyjoy.

What did they want to achieve in Dragonstone in the first place?

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    So they could get ambushed by an improbable fleet arriving there through indetectable and mysterious ways with impossible weapons in order to save a plot that has painted itself into a corner.
    – Stian
    Commented May 9, 2019 at 12:04
  • 2
    It's nice! Best spelunking in Westeros.
    – Paul D. Waite
    Commented May 9, 2019 at 22:18
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    @StianYttervik You're absolutely right, except I don't know that they saved any plot by sacrificing logic that way. Not sure they gained anything except drama, upset, and panic by showing themselves capable of doing sudden things that kill characters but don't even make any sense.
    – Dronz
    Commented May 10, 2019 at 6:49
  • Why go to base camp when you want to summit?
    – Möoz
    Commented May 15, 2019 at 5:49

1 Answer 1

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Dragonstone is a port-island sitting in the mouth of the Blackwater Bay. If you want to sail on King's Landing, it is a strategically valuable position, since you can control what ships go in and out of King's Landing. If you wish to lay siege on the city, you need to close off its access to the sea. For that, Dragonstone is the perfect base.

See here for a map of Westeros, and Blackwater Bay in particular.

Secondly, Dragonstone used to be the seat of the Targaryens, even since before the conquest. It was the first place Daenerys landed on her way to Westeros. She might also be drawn back there for emotional reasons.

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    If you want to sail on King's Landing, it is a strategically valuable position - it must have been fairly obvious then that either Dragonstone was taken by the Lannisters in the meantime or they were planning an ambush. Varys or Tyrion should have easily anticipated this. This is really bugging me from a writing perspective.
    – Ian
    Commented May 9, 2019 at 6:43
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    +1 because that's historically what Dragonstone's been used for but with the Ironfleet controlling the tides and vulnerability of meagre Targaryen fleet I doubt Dany was more concerned with a blockade at that moment. Oh wait she forgot all about it
    – Aegon
    Commented May 9, 2019 at 6:43
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    Also, in the GoT boardgame, the key to taking KL is getting a hold on dragonstone first :)
    – JAD
    Commented May 9, 2019 at 6:48
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    @Ian Didn't you watch the Inside the Episode? Dany "kind of forgot about the Iron Fleet", so it all makes sense, just like everything else this season.
    – Nuclear Hoagie
    Commented May 9, 2019 at 13:07
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    @NuclearWang "Nobody expects the Spanish..err... Iron Fleet."
    – Ian
    Commented May 9, 2019 at 13:08

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