I really love more of the Free Cities getting built out because it seems like it tells us a bit about what to expect in TWOW and ADOS. We see that the Triarchy together has a huge impact on the Dance. The Free Cities in general do, but especially the Triarchy. It really feels like we’re getting set up and a glimpse into what’s in store later.

The Iron Bank has holds on both House Lannister and Baratheon with those loans. With Varys and Illyrio finally making their plans for Westeros explicit, we’re seeing that Pentos will likely have a hand in the politics—along with their own dynamics considering that the Tattered Prince wants to invade. Barristan has also agreed to those terms, and I’m sure that Daenerys won’t be too pleased about Illyrio supporting a different Targaryen despite his earlier support of her (which she also doubted right from her first chapter).

And then Tyrion has seen how Volantis hopes that Daenerys will swing by and support the slaves. It wouldn’t be surprising if sentiments were similar across the Three Daughters, considering that they also have ratios of more slaves to masters. (Wondering if we could see George pull inspiration from the Haitian Revolution? Obviously not one-to-one but just magpie-ing it.)