Board Thread:Questions and Answers/@comment-4923787-20131005001125

In my Timeline, I'm going to have the Byzantines survive.

First off, I'd like to know which would make its survival easier:

-John II Komnenos dies a naturals death later on, allowing the Reconquest of the Central Highlands  of Anatolia.

-Manuel I Komnenos scouts out Myriokephalon, and decides to send a larger force to distract the  Seljuks at Philomelion, while sending the remainder with seige engines to take Iconium.

-Fourth Crusade goes to Egypt as planned.

Second, if they survive the Mongol Invasions, could the Byzantines restablish protectorates in the Levant, Syria, Mesopotamia, and colonize Egypt, in a process of a couple centuries?

Third, since the former centres of Arab control have been captured, could a state in the Arabian Peninsula re-form the Caliphate? 