I happen to have typed up something just like this a long time ago and your post made me want to go read it. So here it is:
Here's a detailed account of how things are set up at the moment, as I recall. In Meereen, Selmy and the Shavepate just kidnapped Hizdahr and sent Quentyn's two knight buddies to join one of the sellsword companies as double agents in hopes of freeing Daario and Jhogo...Tyrion and Jorah just became sellswords working for Brown Ben Plumm...Victarian - with a badass new burned arm - the dusky woman, and the red priest Moqorro are about to get there with a substantial force, but will have to get through the blockade of Yunkish and Quartheen ships first...the dragons have been fucking around for at least three days now, nesting in pyramids, assumedly eating the occassional child and causing general havoc... huge armies of sellswords are poised to fight in the fields outside the city but no one can say where their loyalties will lie...and Dany is out in the dothraki sea with Drogon and they've just been surrounded by Khal Jhoqo's khalisar...correct?
Meanwhile in Westeros, Aegon and Jon Con landed with the Golden Company and are about to take Storm's End from...who? Oh, and for better or worse Aegon's all about being a commander now, and Jon Con is dying slowly, possibly being driven mad...Littlefinger and Alayne are about to hunker down for winter in some castle proper with Bronze Yohn Royce and a large force of lords from the Eyrie, whose loyalties are split between Royce and Baelish. Also there's the kill Robin/marry Harry plan. The only people who still have an army are the Vale, Dorne, and I suppose the Tyrells. But that's definitely enough....plus you have Euron with a presumably large force basically just being a badass wildcard and doing whatever the hell he wants...
And the Wall which, I couldn't agree more, is fucked. Wildlings hold multiple castles. The Red Priestess and Selyse (and lets not forget Patchface) have a good amount of steel behind them. The Crows themselves seem poised to flip their shit, lash out, and completely fall apart. And of course an army of wights could walk on up whenever they damn feel like it.
So yeah, I think the Wall is fucked and while the Others might not come pouring through right away, this is the turn of events that will set that up. I don't think we'll see Jon Snow for a while, or if we do it will be something very weird and isolated from the main thrust of the story for now. I'm hoping to see a large battle in Meereen through Selmy and Tyrion's perspective. And maybe this is tinfoil, but I could see Dany assuming leadership of this huge new khalisar and rushing back to Meereen as a savior. But maybe I just really want to see a pissed off, fire-breathing dragon flying around with a screaming chick on it's back desecrating a fleet or two of ships. I'd also love to see a full scale battle between a dothraki army and a more traditional army, it just feels like something we never got to see. I think after all that Dany will be set on going to Westeros, so that process will finally get under way. After all this time I just don't see how Martin could spend any less than one whole book with Dany in Westeros. so I could see her possibly making it there by the end of TWOW, maybe even sooner. Though we'll probably spend some time in Ashaii first too, and that will probably be pretty cool. I don't know what the fate of Meereen will be, but I'd guess it won't be good. I don't think we'll lose Tyrion or Jorah, but I could see losing Selmy and Belwas and maybe Victarian. And fuck me, I actually want to see something interesting happen with Daario.
Then there's Aegon. I don't know what will happen there. It will probably involve Varys and the Tyrells and of course Cersei. Maybe the Faith Militant will come into play? I just imagine the last book will have to be mostly about Dragons and Others and maybe gods. So I can't help but think that Aegon is pretty ill fated.
Anyway, those are some thoughts. My main point being I think TWOW will potentially involve a lot of warfare. I also think it will turn out to be one of the darkest books in the series. There's too many things to be hopeful about right now, which seems like the perfect time for Martin to characteristically up the stakes with a few staggering acts of brutality and ego crushing doses of shattered expectations. Besides, it's all in the name. The Winds of Winter, to be followed by A Dream of Spring. It's like The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi. Something at least has got to go right in the end, so first let's see that shit reach it's absolute lowest point. Damn, it's going to be fun.