In one of the most shocking Game of Thrones twists yet, heroine Daenerys Targaryen ignored the tolling bells of surrender in King’s Landing and spit fire into the streets. Some believe the moment felt wrong and rendered Dany’s character arc worthless, while others felt that Dany’s turn was foreshadowed pretty well throughout the previous seven seasons.
Before I begin, a caveat: I am enjoying the show’s eighth season. While, yes, it feels a bit rushed at times, every episode has been visually stunning and the majority of the storylines feel like they are reaching either logical or satisfying endings. More episodes and a bit more fleshing out would be nice, but I made my piece with the shortened seasons years ago when they were first announced. But I feel that Daenerys’ story has been heading down this dark road for years and the shouts of “too rushed!” and lamentations of her character development are a bit shortsighted.
Throughout the show, Dany has always had a strong sense of justice that covers a tendency towards violence. What could be seen as dark acts are hidden behind “badass” moments, as the recipients of her violence have usually been people who have done horrible things. Mirri Maz Duur, who initiated the deaths of Khal Drogo and his son with Dany, and Kraznys mo Nakloz, who bought and sold slaves in Astapor to build his Unsullied army, are two earlier recipients of Dany’s justice. These two undoubtedly deserved their deaths; the witch stole Dany’s family from her (though provided her three dragons) and the slaver committed one of humanity’s greatest atrocities (though provided her loyal allies and an army). A normal execution was not in the cards for either of them, though.
Daenerys is a Targaryen. Their words are “Fire and Blood”. Fire and blood are a means to an end for her. That’s what she grew up learning and the idea of this being her destiny ultimately consumes her. Violence and destruction were always synonymous with House Targaryen. Her brother, Viserys, ensured that she knew the history and reputation of her family. Despite this dark conditioning, Dany appeared to grow up with a gentle heart, while Viserys was consumed by the idea of avenging his ancestors and taking what was rightfully his. These same ideas were present in Dany, but it was not until near the end of season one that it was clear she had the blood of the dragon. Dany’s first acts of justice lay the groundwork for her character going forward: dark moments framed as justice, displaying the underlying madness and will to do whatever it takes. Daenerys’ future is dotted with these acts of justice against people who have done terrible things, but her idea of justice is often wrapped up in…fire and blood.
Daenerys has always been fighting for the right things, but the way she has gone about it signaled the latent darkness inside of her. When she is denied entry to the city of Qarth, she is still reeling from the loss of Drogo, their son, and Rakharo, one of her loyal bloodriders. Her grief and desperation, combined with her frustration at the manner of her denial leads her to lash out at the Thirteen. She tells them that when her dragons are fully grown, she will take back her throne and destroy those who have wronged her. She threatens to burn cities to the ground and lay waste to armies, with Qarth being first in line if they turned her away. The acts she carries out on King’s Landing are clearly foreshadowed here. Ser Jorah Mormont, her closest advisor, is physically uncomfortable in the background of this speech and the Spice King refers to her as a true Targaryen. She threatens an entire city with fire and blood for what one group of people has done to her. Her plan is to destroy the entire city and kill its citizens because the Thirteen denied her entry.
Over the years, Dany has lost the ability to separate the one from the whole. The enemy has always been Westeros; the great houses who stole her family’s throne, the men who killed her parents, the cities who supported the Usurper. In Dany’s warped sense of reality, King’s Landing is Cersei and Cersei is King’s Landing. House Lannister is Cersei, the Iron Throne is Cersei, it’s all Cersei to her. Destroying the city hurts Cersei, killing innocents hurts Cersei, tearing down the Red Keep hurts Cersei (ironically, in the end, this one is true). This is what drives the moment she snaps; she can hear the bells and feel the potential surrender coming, but she cannot take her eyes of the Red Keep. That is where her true lifelong enemy lies and the poisonous thoughts she was fed growing up take hold in her torn mind. The look on her face signals that she knows what is right, but it does not match with what she was always told was right.
Later, after Daenerys and her army have taken the city of Meereen, she has every master in the city rounded up and crucified. It is an act of justice, undoubtedly, as she is mirroring the masters act of cruelty. The masters counted the miles from Yunkai to Meereen by nailing a child slave to a post every mile. Ser Barristan Selmy councils her to answer injustice with mercy, but Dany chooses to answer injustice with justice. The crucifixion of the children has clouded Dany’s sense of rationality. The allies of the masters eventually rise up against Dany because of the harshness of her punishment. The masters deserved justice and she delivered it, but there were other ways to go about it. Later, Daenerys attempts to subdue the revolts in Meereen by rounding up the heads of the city’s great families and burning one alive at random to force the others to bend to her will and curb the attacks by the Sons of the Harpy. Fire and blood is once again used as a force and the random selection of the man she burns is a dangerous precedent to set. Making examples of potentially innocent people is another sign of her underlying darkness and wins her no friends in the city.
Once she arrives in Westeros, Dany uses fire and blood as a weapon almost immediately. Her attack on the Lannister supply train is a fair move in war, but she chooses to burn Randyll and Dickon Tarly after the battle. Two men who happened to be on the wrong side of the fight are burned alive in front of the soldiers they were commanding. Executing them is entirely fair; they chose to die rather than bend the knee. Dany did give them the option to surrender, but they refused. They could have been taken as prisoners or executed privately in a standard way, but showing the power of fire and blood is once again Dany’s instinct.
Viewers have usually been able to look past the darkness of Dany’s sense of justice because of how beloved she is as a character, but she’s burned so many enemies and threatened to burn cities to the ground so many times. She has never had the ability to actually do it until now and now that she can, she could not resist the temptation. The temptation also comes with the rapid losses Dany is being dealt. Losing Ser Jorah, Rhaegal, and Missandei all so close to each other, while also dealing with the potential claim that Jon Snow has to her throne, has stolen her appetite and given her sleepless nights. She is suffering alone and struggling to bring herself to see rationality. The pleas of Tyrion Lannister are acknowledged but ultimately unheard. Dany has also been betrayed too many times to truly believe that the city would surrender and Cersei would lay down her arms. She has lost so much of her trust in Tyrion that she cannot be certain that the Lannister soldiers would really surrender. Jon could believe it as he watched it unfold on the ground, but Dany could no longer believe it and did what she was always told would be her destiny.
In the end, there is plenty of evidence to support the dark path of Daenerys Targaryen. It is a tragic arc, which is exactly what it’s supposed to be. We are not supposed to be happy with her decisions and a show like this that has challenged our thoughts on character and narrative should not have a completely happy ending. All that should matter is if the path fits its destination. Ultimately, I cannot convince you, dear reader, that it is a fitting story. To me, Daenerys has ended up right where she was going to be. All I hope to provide is some food for thought as the greatest television spectacle of our generation comes to a close.
A Storm of Sports 