Are you one of the many people still wallowing in choler over how the last season of Game of Thrones went down? Are you still saying it “came out of nowhere”? Are you still upset at how your show dropped the ball and let you down? Well, this actually says a lot about you because a) you fell in love with the wrong character, and b) you should’ve seen this coming from a million miles away. And if you didn’t see that ending coming then I think it not only tells a lot about what you value but where you stand politically.
I’ve given this enough time for all the people interested in Game of Thrones to finally have watched all the episodes. And if you’re still behind, then too bad so sad. Get with the program. Daenerys was always awful.
But yes, there are still people complaining about the final season of Game of Thrones. The main point people are making about their distaste for the finale is that Daenerys Targaryen supposedly did a hard heel-turn, abandoning her principles, her people, and her fans. It’s less a complaint about the character and more a complaint about the writers of the show (not the book since the books haven’t wrapped up yet).
But I, for one, saw this twist coming from miles away. I don’t mean to toot my own horn here but not only did I see Daenerys finally reveal her true self but I also saw the ultimate end for the Iron Throne.
It doesn’t stem from pouring over the TV show episodes again and again, looking for clues and Easter eggs. It comes from looking at how certain authors craft their stories and how certain characters represent certain things other than actually having real-world believability.
By that, I mean, certain characters are plot devices. And, in some instances, many characters represent archetypes. Authors are artists and they typically have something to say about the world around them. Sometimes an author just wants to write a fun story; sometimes an author uses their story to examine the world, history, or aspects of the human experience. By doing this, authors will have characters function as narrative roles.
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“I’m old as jam.”
Take the world of Harry Potter for example. When delivering the story of Harry Potter, J.K. Rowling had to explain certain things to move the story along. She mainly did this by using either Hermione Granger or Dumbledore. When something had to be explained, it was typically Hermione or Dumbledore doing the exposition. The reader knew that Hermione or Dumbledore were right because Hermione had either read it in a book or Dumbledore knew it from his age and wisdom. Done. Now the story can move along.
In Game of Thrones this role of character fell on three people: Tyrion, Varys, and Petyr “Little Finger” Baelish.
Varys and Baelish acted as two chess players, moving characters around. Tyrion was smart enough to know this was happening. Tyrion would explain events because, again, he was smart from reading books. Varys and Baelish would explain things because they were the ones that set them into motion.
I knew Varys, Baelish, and Tyrion would never “win” the Game of Thrones because that wasn’t the point of their characters. They were plot devices. Tyrion was in fact a plot device—a very interesting one—but a plot device nonetheless.
But there were other tropes in the series that the viewer (or reader for that matter) could use as clues.
One of my favorites was the use of the Stark direwolves. When I first started reading the books this was the very first thing that piqued my interest.
Out on an expedition, the Starks discover a litter of
direwolf pups. It just so happens that
there are the same number of pups as there are Stark children. Not only that, but there’s a white one—a runt—in
the pack that stood for Ned Stark’s bastard.
Any sharp reader would be able to tell that these direwolves would
represent the path of the Stark children.
Whatever happened to these wolves would ultimately happen to their
master. For example, Sansa’s wolf is
sacrificed by Ned and, in turn, Sansa is sacrificed to the Lannisters; Arya’s
wolf is chased off to be rogue and alone while, in turn, Arya would venture off
by herself to become her own person.
Watching what happens to the direwolves will clue you in to not only
what will happen to the wolves’ masters but also give insight into a particular
character’s development.
It’s an interesting story telling device.
Furthermore, in the case of Game of Thrones, the people vying for the throne represent certain types of despots or tyrants.
That being said, you should’ve known that ANY character wanting to rule over people would never have won the Iron Throne. Every author wants to speak about the times they’re living in. “A Song of Fire and Ice” as well as the TV show “Game of Thrones” is and was a sort of treatise on how people seek power for the sake of power. It’s about warfare not for the sake of ruling land to claim more territory but it’s a personal warfare for prestige, love, and authority.
Never confuse a power-hungry individual’s motives—no matter how noble they may seem—for what lies beneath: a desire to wield power over people. No matter how many slaves Daenerys freed she still wanted domination. She still wanted slaves to be her subjects. Daenerys was always awful.
Daenerys Targaryen was no different than Cersei Lannister, Edmure Tully, or anyone else that aimed for the throne. Daenerys wanted to rule because she felt entitled to the Iron Throne. To me, this is the most dangerous and vile type of ruler, the most hideous type of despot: the type of ruler that feels their power is owed to them.
Daenerys Targaryen justified her desire for power by moral grandstanding. She claimed that she’d liberated people and knew what was best for them. And I feel that she was sincere in that she had good intentions but she had always held her moral superiority as second place to her birthright to the throne.
Daenerys was what is known as an “enlightened despot.” These rulers claim their power for the well-being of their subjects. Enlightened despots may claim that their reign is based on enlightened principles but their beliefs in royal power are similar to regular despots. They believe that they are destined to be a ruler since the moment they were born. This isn’t something I just made up. Catherine the Great, Louis XVI, and Napoleon Bonaparte were all considered “enlightened despots.” They all feel entitled. And, again, remember that no matter how good their intentions were they still sought ascendancy, command, and leadership over people.
With that, Daenerys had always exhibited herself as an entitled little snot.
At least when Cersei wanted to hold power she was transparent about it. She wanted power simply because she was a power-hungry person. She never claimed that it was owed to her by birthright. She knew her children were bastards and not fathered by Robert Baratheon but she didn’t care. Other rulers claimed their own thrones because they’d done so by conquering the region. At least those people put work into it.
I couldn’t stand Daenerys since season 2 when she really started to exhibit her belief that she was owed the Iron Throne because she was simply a Targaryen.
Cersei Lannister once said that when a Targaryen is born that the gods flip a coin. Will it be a kind a gentle ruler or will it be a maniac?
Go back and watch Daeny’s reaction when Khal Drogo dumped melted gold over her brother’s head. Yes, Viserys was a terrible person but her non-reaction to his death comes into play in other places.
Daenerys began to favor immediate execution and eventually began to favor execution by burning people alive. This was the “mad king” Aerys Targaryen’s preferred method of dispatching “justice.” When an ex-slave disobeyed her he doesn’t get life in prison, he’s immediately put to death. When people don’t bend the knee to Daenerys, they’re set on fire. When Varys betrays her he’s set on fire. When slavers are unseated, they’re crucified and set on fire. When she claims that she’ll return to a city to rule over it she says she’ll do so by setting it all on fire.
She often said that “I will take what is mine with fire and
with blood.”
I mean, I would’ve said, “I will take what is mine with reasonable ideas and
sound philosophy.” But that’s just me
and maybe that’s due to me not feeling like an empowered child.
So, ask yourself why Daenerys wanted to rule the Iron Throne. Was it because she genuinely wanted what’s best for people or was it due to entitlement? Over and over again she said she was owed the Iron Throne and every act she did was to build followers to support her army and to amass supporters.
And if the direwolves represent what will happen to the Stark children what do the dragons represent for Daenerys?
In the book and on the show she has three dragons, each named after an important figure in her life: two named after her brothers, one after her dead husband. What happens to these dragons when they become too big? She chains them up and keeps them locked away. She’s hiding the most violent parts of herself. Is this a metaphor for what’s going on with her own inner conflict?
Uhhhh, yeah.
Finally, she unleashes them when it’s time to do business and then what happens to them? The dragon named after her abusive brother is taken by the Night King and made to fight against her; the second dragon named after her other brother is killed; the last dragon, who’s named after her husband that died of sickness and morbid intervention, is all that’s left. All she has left is that piece of her that was born from the influence of Khal Drogo.
You think that course of events with deliberate? You think the author and the writers of the show knew what they were doing?
At the end of season 2, Daenerys has a premonition of herself walking in the Iron Throne chamber. It’s been destroyed and snow is falling on the ground. Just before she touches the throne she hears her dragons calling to her. She stops just before she touches the throne and leaves to that dragon’s call.
This is all being spelled out for you, people!
Basically, you should’ve seen certain characters in Game of Thrones as metaphors for different types of rulership. Any one of these people seeking power would not gain the Iron Throne. The only way to usher in a new era is to do away with Kings and Queens.
In the end, I really thought that the show was going to have everyone confess that having Kings and Queen rule over the lands would be immoral, unwise, and foolish. I thought that George R.R. Martin was going to lay out a case for a democratic republic where the people elected officials to govern for short periods of time. This, however, was shot down…but not entirely.
Essentially what happens is that an “electoral college” is put into place. Bran would reside in the time between the individual lands could settle on who would represent them in the future. But basically, there would be no more Iron Throne. Ultimately, I was right in saying that the people in each region would have a say into how their government is run. Then, something like a city council would form.
Not to get too political here but I really think if you’re the type of person who wanted to see Daenerys win the Iron Throne then you’re probably a bleeding heart Liberal who secretly wants a large government and hand over control of your own life. On the flip side, if you’re like me and said that anyone seeking the Iron Throne didn’t deserve the Iron Throne and that people were smart enough to make decisions for themselves, you’re probably a Libertarian. And yet, if you were one of the many people that thought Jon Snow should have the Iron Throne because you liked the idea of an outsider taking control to institute a smaller government, you’re probably a Conservative.
I thought the ending of the show and the reaction it got was extremely interesting. Because, of course, who are the ones bitching and complaining about it? The ones that wanted Daenerys to come out on top. You don’t see anyone kvetching about Jon Snow. You don’t see any crying over Tyrion. The huge bulk of complaints come from the people that were so invested in the trials and tribulations of an entitled platinum blonde that they couldn’t see just how terrible she really was from the beginning. People are actually complaining that they named their kids after Daenerys only to eventually see that she made a “heel turn.”
If you named your kid Daenerys after a character on a TV show and didn’t foresee where this character was headed, you are a fucking dummy.
It just goes to show, if you didn’t see Daenerys Targaryen as the awful, miserable, entitled despot that she really was then you either weren’t paying attention or you secretly are the type of person who wants to be ruled over.
Fuck Daenerys Targaryen. I’m glad she’s dead.
