Blood Sacrifices in TWOW (Stannis & Euron)

Similar to previous events in history, both Stannis and Euron are going to try and summon some type of fantastical beast to aid their cause. I this post I wanted to compare/contrast them as for some reason they get discussed almost entirely separate.

Background

We have seen numerous characters try and summon/hatch/raise dragons since they died out and most of them were utter failures:

"He is always with the red woman, and . . . he is not in his right mind, I fear. This talk of a stone dragon . . . madness, I tell you, sheer madness. Did we learn nothing from Aerion Brightfire, from the nine mages, from the alchemists? Did we learn nothing from Summerhall? No good has ever come from these dreams of dragons. -ASOS, Davos III

and:

The look Stannis gave her was dark. "Nine mages crossed the sea to hatch Aegon the Third's cache of eggs. Baelor the Blessed prayed over his for half a year. Aegon the Fourth built dragons of wood and iron. Aerion Brightflame drank wildfire to transform himself. The mages failed, King Baelor's prayers went unanswered, the wooden dragons burned, and Prince Aerion died screaming."-ASOS, Davos V

If interested: The Tragedy of Summerhall

We also know that blood magic is the most powerful type of magic (and that all magic has a cost/only death can pay for life):

"Bloodmagic is the darkest kind of sorcery. Some say it is the most powerful as well." -AFFC, Cersei VIII

and:

This is bloodmagic, lady. Only death may pay for life." -AGOT, Daenerys VIII

and:

Melisandre put her hand on the king's arm. "The Lord of Light cherishes the innocent. There is no sacrifice more precious. From his king's blood and his untainted fire, a dragon shall be born. -ASOS, Davos V

And aside from Summerhall (and Dany's ritual) the other events seemingly lack something that both Euron and Stannis are prepared to do (ritually sacrifice innocents).

The Sacrifice(s)

While we do not know if they will work we can confirm they will at least be attempted, due to the Forsaken as well as this quote from GRRM:

It wasn't easy for me. I didn't want to give away my books. It's not easy to talk about the end of my books. Every character has a different end. I told them who would be on the Iron Throne, and I told them some big twists like Hodor and 'hold the door,' and Stannis's decision to burn his daughter. We didn't get to everybody by any means. Especially the minor characters, who may have very different endings." -SSM, Screenrant Article: 10 October 2020

If interested: The Cost: The Buildup to Stannis' Ultimate Sacrifice

Let's look at the components of their sacrifices (please note that there isn't an exact formula like in some other fantasy novels, I am just noting what has appeared in previous versions.

Sacrifice

While Stannis may have a few minor sacrifices leading up to a major one with Shireen (similar to Edric Storm), Euron seems hellbent on creating a massive blood sacrifice. Please note that previous sacrifices have aided (Alester Florent) characters:

• Euron - Redwyne Fleet/Ironborn/Falia Flowers
• Stannis - Shireen, Gilly's Baby, Patchface etc.

Kingsblood

While the exact power of kingsblood is debatable, numerous characters in world seem to note its power (Mel, Maester Aemon, etc.)

• Euron - Falia Flower's bastard & Aeron Greyjoy
• Stannis - Shireen Baratheon & potentially Jon Snow's body (also potential to sacrifice Gilly's baby, Gerrick Kingsblood, etc.)

Element

While we have seen blood sacrifices to the Old Gods/Drowned God, the element involved here is likely fire (although it should be noted that Stannis could recognize the power of the Old Gods)

• Euron - Fire
• Stannis - Fire

Vessel

Whereas at Summerhall we know they tried with 7 eggs, and Dany had 3, what is the vessel or "stone" they mean to awaken dragon(s) from?

• Euron - Previously had at least one dragon egg, could have more, but its possible that the blood of the battle draws krakens to the surface
• Stannis -The stone dragons on Dragonstone are initially implicated, but more likely answer would be Shireen's greyscale or less likely (Stannis finding a dragon egg)

Spells/Holy Persons

• Euron - Warlocks/Prophets from different religions
• Stannis - Similar to Mirri Maz Duur, Mel could know some spells

Goal

• Euron - Summon something (likeliest answer is kraken(s), but I've read theories ranging from a dragon, firewyrm, Cthulhu like creature, sea dragon (Nagga), Deep Ones, etc.)
• Stannis - Wake the stone dragon

Success

• Euron - I know some people think he is a red herring, but I would argue that GRRM has been building Euron up for quite awhile (since ACOK at least) as a major villain and I think he survives at least to threaten Oldtown (and the Man in the High Castle - unless he involves him the battle)
• Stannis - There are plenty of theories about Mel using this sacrifice to resurrect/glamour (ala Alys Rivers) the Cannibal's corpse (argued to be on Skagos) but imo Shireen's sacrifice has the unintended consequence of resurrecting Jon Snow (wake = resurrect, dragon = Jon, stone = death/greyscale - only death can pay for life/sorcery is like a sword with a broken hilt, there is no safe way to grasp it)

TLDR: Both Euron and Stannis are going to perform ritual sacrifices in order to try and acquire some type of beast (stone dragon, etc.) Not only are their rituals extremely similar, I think they both will be successful (in one way or another).