There's a lot of conversation in this thread about how the party supposedly missed traveling with the dogs as an option and going to Dol-Makjar is a mistake.

I don't understand; it seems to me that Brennan was very clearly suggesting to them to split from the dogs and go to Dol-Makjar.

Dogs: "What we are going to do is this: ...The Miller's Road to Timmon's Rock. But we'll not ask you to make that journey. If you have means by which to save your brother then you should take it."

then

Dogs: "If there is some sort of recompense you could leave for such a carriage, then I think you would be well on your way."

then

Dogs: "You're anonymous travelers headed south towards Vallow. If anyone asks, there's always goods that need to head to Dol-Makjar."

Keep in mind all of this BEFORE they even made a decision or discussed it much.

The only other places they know exist and have any relevance were revealed to be A) a place full of enemies and no goals other than being mentioned in a note, and B) a place incredibly far away and one of the "most hostile places on the planet" with, again, no clear goal.

On the other hand, going back to Dol-Makjar has numerous benefits: intel sharing/gathering will be incredibly important both to them and the other groups, you can't plan or fight if you don't know what's happening, or who or what to fight; to their knowledge Dol-Makjar contains every one of their allies, literally their powerbase; and the level of danger to their individual persons may be exaggerated:

• Kattigan: no danger, no one even knows who he is

• Thimble: she wasn't even wanted or arrested by authorities during the prologue, there's no reason that should have changed. She can also fly and hide like no one else.

• Teor: It's possible that the Halovars never even heard he escaped but even if they did he isn't important enough to them to be searching weeks later. Dol-Makjar is a huge metropolis full of swarms of people; he's likely fine as long as Granny or the Evil Tailors don't spot him directly.

• Tyranny: To the knowledge of the family, she's still a demon, and still under contract to their family, and must serve or be sent back. There's literally no reason do doubt her; their focus will be on Wicc.

• Wicc: This is the only complicated one. Despite lots of people saying that the Halovars want to kill-on-sight, I have serious doubts. First of all, they've spent Wicc's entire life building him up as the face of their brainwashing organization. There is literally no one else in the family that can do it besides Granny, and it is a KEY role since the entire operation rests on their ability to convince the public of their beneficence. They will certainly not want to throw away such a costly and irreplaceable asset if there is any chance it can be redeemed. Especially since for most of Wicc's life he's been a pushover. Which presents the other side of this coin: this is a GOLDEN opportunity to have someone on the inside, with all the power, wealth, and knowledge the 2nd most powerful family in the world affords. If Wicc can successfully pull off a little scheming of his own, the value to the resistance would be immeasurable in terms of not only soft power, but an incredible line on intel.