The Meereenese Knot: The Three Arrivals of the Frog Prince (Spoilers Extended)

Background

What is famously known as the Meereenese Knot involved GRRM struggling with writing the different characters that were all traveling to Meereen to Daenerys. One "lesser discussed" aspect of the Knot was that Martin wrote 3 different versions of Quentyn's arrival to Meereen (one long before, one after and one just the day before Daenerys' wedding). I thought it would be interesting to look into these different versions a bit.

If interested: Delayed Chapters: ADWD, Daenerys IX & the Meereenese Knot

The Knot

GRRM has spoken quite a bit about the Meereenese Knot:

The Meerenese Knot related to everyone reaching Dany. There's a series of events that have to occur in Meereen, things that are significant. She has various problems to deal with at the start: dealing with the slavers, threats of war, the Sons of the Harpy, and so on. At the same time, there's all of these characters trying to get to her. So the problem was to figure out who should reach her and in what order, and what events should happen by the time they've reached her. I kept coming up with different answers and I kept having to rewrite different versions and then not being satisfied with the dynamics until I found something that was satisfactory. I thought that solution worked well, but it was not my first choice.

There's a certain time frame of the chronology where you can compare to A Feast for Crows and even A Storm of Swords and figure out when they would reach Meereen and the relative time frames of each departure and each arrival. But that doesn't necessarily lead to the most dramatic story. So you look at it and try and figure out how to do it. I also wanted to get across how difficult and dangerous it was to travel like this. There are many storms that will wreck your ship, there are dangerous lands in between where there are pirates and corsairs, and all that stuff. It's not like hopping on a 747, where you get on and then step off the plane a few hours later. So all of these considerations went into the Meereenese Knot.

and:

Now I can explain things. It was a confluence of many, many factors: lets start with the offer from Xaro to give Dany ships, the refusal of which then leads to Qarth's declaration of war. Then there's the marriage of Daenerys to pacify the city. Then there's the arrival of the Yunkish army at the gates of Meereen, there's the order of arrival of various people going her way (Tyrion, Quentyn, Victarion, Aegon, Marwyn, etc.), and then there's Daario, this dangerous sellsword and the question of whether Dany really wants him or not, there's the plague, there's Drogon's return to Meereen...

All of these things were balls I had thrown up into the air, and they're all linked and chronologically entwined. The return of Drogon to the city was something I explored as happening at different times. For example, I wrote three different versions of Quentyn's arrival at Meereen: one where he arrived long before Dany's marriage, one where he arrived much later, and one where he arrived just the day before the marriage (which is how it ended up being in the novel). And I had to write all three versions to be able to compare and see how these different arrival points affected the stories of the other characters. Including the story of a character who actually hasn't arrived yet -Asshai.com: Interview in Barcelona - 29 July 2012

Quick Notes

It is worth noting that while GRRM had written a portion of the Meereenese storyline with the AFFC chapters this was all Dany/planning for Tyrion's arrival. There was no mention of any Quentyn chapters with the AFFC drafts he wrote in 2003-2004.

It is also worth noting that the missing Quentyn is part of the suspense of the Arriane chapters in AFFC, and any chapters with him in it would have ruined the climax (Fire and Blood).

Long Before the Wedding

Just a guess here but the reason GRRM probably chose to get away from this version was because over time, Dany likely would have seen the logic in marrying Quentyn (as her advisors would have likely encouraged it):

"Would that he had." No one had wanted Daenerys to look with favor on the Dornish prince more than Barristan Selmy. "He came too late, though, and this folly … buying sellswords, loosing two dragons on the city … that was madness and worse than madness. That was treason." -ADWD, The Queen's Hand

Much Later

If Quentyn arrived much later and Dany's wedding had happened, he probably wouldn't have felt the pressure to attempt to ride/bond with a dragon. It is also possible that GRRM would have struggled getting Quentyn (as a member of the Windblown) close enough to Dany at this point in the story.

By choosing the day before Dany's wedding GRRM was able to create tension:

"My marriage need not be the end of all your hopes. I know why you are here."
"For you," said Quentyn, all awkward gallantry.
"No," said Dany. "For fire and blood."

"Affecting the Arrival Points of Different Characters"

We have numerous characters heading to Meereen outside of Quentyn:

• Victarion + Iron Fleet (formerly Euron and likely Aeron as well)
• Tyrion (and Jorah returning)
• Moqorro
• Volantene Fleet
• Young Griff/Griff (decide to invade Westeros instead)

that would be interesting to discuss the arrival points as to do with the different plans for Quentyn

The Character who hasn't Arrived

While it is possible that the character that GRRM mentions who "hasn't arrived yet" is one of the above arriving in TWoW, or even the "Citadel's Man":

The grey sheep will send their man on a galley, I don't doubt. With fair winds I should reach her first."

If interested: "Others Seek Daenerys Too": The Citadel's Man

I would bet he is talking about Marwyn the Mage who will be arriving in Meereen shortly via the swan ship known as the Cinnamon Wind:

"What will you do?" asked Alleras, the Sphinx.

"Get myself to Slaver's Bay, in Aemon's place. The swan ship that delivered Slayer should serve my needs well enough. ... With fair winds I should reach her first."

If interested: All Aboard!: The Journey of the Cinnamon Wind

I have legions of secondary characters, not POVs but nonetheless important to the plot, who also figure in the story: Lady Stoneheart, Young Griff, the Tattered Prince, Penny, Brown Ben Plumm, the Shavepate, Marwyn the Mage, Darkstar, Jeyne Westerling. -SSM, A Winter Garden: 8 July 2012

If interested: The Mage's Arrival in Slaver's Bay & Potential Characters From Marwyn's Past

TLDR: GRRM wrote three versions of Quentyn's arrival in Slaver's Bay. A version where he arrived long before Dany's wedding to Hizdahr, a version where he arrived long after and the version he went with (he arrived the day before). As part of the "Meereenese Knot" he wrote them to see how best to set the arrivals/interactions of different characters to Daenerys' plotline in Meereen.