(Spoilers Main) Certain Character Stories

Edric Storm is not simply in Essos, he is in Lys, which is a ticking bomb of a location.

Lys would have joined Volantis to fight with Slaver’s Bay against Dany if they weren’t already in an on-going conflict with Myr and Tyrosh. They are obviously suffering losses from Dany’s anti-slavery actions, that’s why they are trying to make up by enslaving Westerosi now, some sold to them by Euron, others Wildings that Jon was trying to save not knowing the real purpose of the two ships that had come up North. This last act pissed off the anti-slavery Braavos because to transport the slaves, they had to cross through Braavos’ jurisdiction. One of the two ships presumably made it to Lys, the other was captured by Braavosi fleet.

In addition to that, slightly to their west, Aurane Waters has decided to crown himself “Lord of the Waters” after stealing Cersei’s newly constructed fleet under her nose. And furthermore in the west, there are kraken sightings, probably result of Euron’s actions, though this is speculative, this particular tidbit known to us from Arianne’s chapters in TWOW, and the released chapters aren’t in order and/or lack a lot of context. It’s likely to be because of Euron, because we have a lot of setup for that, but it’s still isn’t absolutely sure. But things are happening at that particular region and Aurane would not be there if GRRM didn’t want him there precisely; he has a role to play.

Further speculations, but a lot less clear than the paragraphs above: there will be elections in Braavos because the current Sealord is dying, and we might get a Sealord that will want to expand Braavosi jurisdiction, by benefiting from Dany’s exploits in the East, to trap Lys into succumbing to their power. Like I said, Lys is in a horrible position right now, making use of that is what intelligent political players should do, and Braavos has a world-renown intelligence agency who have been implied to bring the doom of Valyria; the Faceless Men. It’s not clear who the new Sealord will be, but Arya has been paying close attention to keyholders in Mercy, they are the ones who elect the Sealord. It looks like the Faceless Men are eager to bring another doom-like event to end slavery, and are ready to rig the elections in favor of a Sealord who favors them back.

/r/asoiaf Thread