The Downfall of Daenerys Targaryen

Game of Thrones is one of the most amazing TV shows I've seen, and it's one of my favorites. One of the reasons the show intrigued me in the first place is because Game of Thrones doesn't necessarily have a censoring moral compass. It shows characters for who they are and doesn't shy away from problematic or controversial aspects.

That’s what makes Game of Thrones THAT much more interesting to me. There are no black and white characters. Each character is a dive into the complexities and realities of humanity, war, love, politics, desperation, family, loyalty, etc. etc.

I love the show because each character isn’t what you expect them to be. I expected to hate Cersei Lannister, and for a while I did, but more than anything, she forced me to think about why I hated her. I was in high school when I started the show and I can say that Cersei Lannister more or less single-handedly got me truly interested in learning about ethics. And the more I thought about her, the more I analyzed all the other characters and just WOW, there’s so much in this show (and the books!) that's just exploring humanity and the many faces it has.

For example, I've always liked Daenerys Targaryen because she was a girl overcoming impossible odds to claim her rightful throne. She's one of the most popular characters, with a huge fan following. Oh, and she also has dragons. She’s badass, strong, independent, intelligent, and all around a very interesting character. She’s inspired me more than once over the course of the four years (I started late!) I’ve been watching the show. She has such an interesting and controversial arc and she’s also such a charismatic character that you can’t help but root for her.

Still, as I watched this last season, something felt weird. I went back and rewatched seasons 5-7 and I realized that Daenerys was going through some major character development—and not the Hero kind.

That's when Daenerys went from 'interesting' to 'fascinating' for me.

I think that she’s George R.R. Martin’s crowning achievement. He took this young, naïve girl and transformed her into this powerful warrior queen while subtly creating this journey where she becomes more callous, dark, and unreasonable, all while she’s wearing this mask of justice and truly believes that what she’s doing is G-O-O-D.

She’s one of the only characters that is so bitterly argued about (and considering other Game of Thrones characters, that’s quite a feat) because there are so many questionable aspects of her story. Yet, she continues to be sure of herself, which makes her arc incredibly inspiring and tragic. We can’t help BUT root for her.

But see, there’s a reason why the attack on the loot train in Field of Fire was told from Jaime and Tyrion’s perspective. We’ve seen Daenerys taking over with fire and blood before, but those were all told mainly from her perspective. And see, what she did wasn’t morally reprehensible either—she was trying to save millions of people from slavery and, frankly, brutal conditions. But that’s the lovely thing about GoT. Nothing is ever that easy. Economic realities, rebellion, complex power structures, and THE REALITY OF WAR turned her righteous mission into a bloodbath, and more or less a failure. While the destruction doesn't drastically change the storyline, Daenerys is still in a position where she is the most powerful and volatile character in the show—simply because she has what equates to a Westerosi nuclear weapon—her dragons—and in her eyes, she has justification to do what she has to in order to reach her goal.

But see, Daenerys also plays into “the end justifies the means” school of thought, and THAT IS DANGEROUS. Throughout this whole sequence, we see bits and pieces of these emerging dark consequences, but the story overall is focused on her as a warrior queen with the power to change the world. ‘Dracarys’ became such a huge hit in pop culture and throughout the fandom. She’s iconic. She’s kickass. She’s strong. She uses her power for what’s right. This transition from Hero to Anti-Villain is so subtle.

What I love about this is that it’s so real. When someone truly believes in their goals and will go to any lengths to achieve it, this “the ends justify the means” rationale comes in and it’s so common in real life. Game of Thrones is a fascinating look into how rationale like this can become toxic and dangerous, slowly but surely.

Fast forward to season seven, we’ve got our girl claiming the Iron Throne as her right and all this talk about taking Westeros back, but I think for the first time in the show, the consequences of her plan are truly unveiled with honest, gritty realism. Field of Fire shows the harsh reality of what Daenerys’ path to the Iron Throne will actually cost not just the other houses, but all of Westeros and millions of civilians.

I don’t think it’s a coincidence that this whole sequence is through the eyes of Jamie “the Kingslayer” Lannister. Fire and blood is exactly what this man has been trying to avoid. We’re meant to see the destruction and chaos through Jamie’s eyes. We’re meant to realize exactly what war with dragons means. Also, we don’t really know much about the Mad King, save that he was paranoid, mad, and was a pyromaniac. But Daenerys? We know her. We’ve seen her grow, change, and evolve into this powerful woman who holds values and tries her best to be just, fair, and embody a queen. This is another example of how Game of Thrones delves into morally grey characters, actions, and the reality of truly seeing all sides of the story.

Daenerys is not evil. She’s not crazy. I don’t believe that she’ll ever be evil or fully go crazy. Daenerys is the character that could’ve been perfect, amazing—the chosen one. She’s fierce, she’s powerful, and she’s just. She’s a shoo-in…until we take a closer look at what she’s paving the road to the Iron Throne with. Fire and blood.

At the sake of seeming really childish, I want to parallel her to Tai Lung from Kung Fu Panda. Hear me out!

Tai Lung was the villain in Kung Fu Panda. He was this huge, powerful snow-leopard who wanted power and would stop at nothing to get it. He was hugely vilified, and it worked out pretty well with the story since it was a kid's movie, but Tai Lung’s backstory is actually pretty heartbreaking.

He was taken in by Shifu when he was just a baby and brought up as Shifu’s own son. Shifu sees he has a talent for martial arts and begins to train him. Tai Lung spends all this time excelling and working his ass off and everyone praises him for it. He’s smart, powerful, talented, and straight up badass. He seems like a shoo-in for the Dragon Warrior, right? And see, his intentions weren’t bad either. He wanted to become the Dragon Warrior. He had goals, ambitions, and he truly believed that he was the best warrior for the title. He trained hard, he pushed himself, he refused to accept failure. In his eyes, everything he did was justified because he was working towards an honorable and just goal.

But then comes Oogway, the all-knowing turtle.

Oogway sees “darkness in his heart” and refuses to let Tai Lung have the Dragon Warrior scroll. Hearing this, Tai Lung goes nuts, destroying everything in his path to get the scroll, trying to steal it, and ultimately, forever confirming that he— without a doubt—could never be the Dragon Warrior.

See, Daenerys believes she is the rightful heir to the throne. She works her ass off for it. She builds armies, raises dragons, overcomes impossible odds, allies herself with the right people, and sets sail for Westeros, a place that she was told people still cry for a Targaryen on the throne. Everyone around her believes in her and follows her because they buy into her agenda. She gets praise and support from almost everyone surrounding her. She’s in a bubble. When she gets to Westeros, she realizes that this will be an uphill battle for her. She is seen as a foreign invader, a strange queen with the power of dragons in her hands.

Yikes.

When Tyrion’s plan doesn’t work out and things don’t go her way, what does she do? She flies to the Reach and burns everything in sight. The battle itself is surreal, and the damage is horrific.

And see, the thing is, IT’S WAR. It’s hard. It’s gruesome. Things have to be done. It’s WAR. But when you have DRAGONS, essentially a Westerosi nuke, and you use them so freely and easily, that says a lot about how you see the world and the people you’re conquering. She doesn’t really see them anymore.

Yeah, I know, a rather bold statement, but let me back up here. Remember when I said that even with a just cause, the idea that the end justifies the means is a dangerous rationale? THIS IS WHY.

When your end goal justifies anything and everything you do along the way to get there, it erases the weight of the consequences. It erases accountability. I thought it was curious how Dany was rather rude and dismissive of Tyrion this season, and I realized that now that she’s so close to her goal, her rationale is becoming toxic. Tyrion and Varys keep her accountable, but she’s slowly pushing them away. She threatens to burn Varys (albeit, after having him promise to TELL her when she’s out of line, but that entire scene was wrought with threats and tension) and disregards Tyrion more and more. Her accountability is being erased.

So she does things like this. She does things like burning the Tarlys for refusing to bend the knee because it’s a small sacrifice to the end goal of peace and prosperity in Westeros. She floods a field of unknowing soldiers with fire because they were preventing her from her birthright, the Iron Throne. She wants to rush King’s Landing with her dragons (thankfully, Tyrion talked her out of this one) because she believes that she is the only one who can change the world.

And that is what makes the most compelling villains. The ones who believe that they’re genuinely doing the right thing. A lot of my favorite characters are these anti-villains: Light from Death Note, Rodrigo and Cesare Borgia from the Borgias, almost all the villains from Once Upon A Time, Gabriel and Lucifer from Supernatural, Sandman, SCARFACE, Loki, the list goes on and on. To be honest, most Game of Thrones characters fit this mold because it's a show about exploring morally grey characters and situations.

To wrap things up, here are two definitions from the TV Tropes website. Decide for yourself who fits into what.

"An Anti-Villain is the opposite of an Anti-Hero — a villain with heroic goals, personality traits, and/or virtues. Their desired ends are mostly good, but their means of getting there are evil. Alternatively, their desired ends are evil, but far more ethical or moral than most villains, and they thus use fairly benign means to achieve it, and can be heroic on occasion."

"A Hero Antagonist is a character who is an antagonist (that is, they oppose The Protagonist), yet is still technically a hero. They oppose the main character and may not even have Sympathetic P.O.V., but their objectives are things like saving the world, foiling evil plans, helping the helpless, and otherwise working for great justice. A tweaking of the narrative could easily make them a sympathetic protagonist, and thus, a proper example of The Hero."

Daenerys isn't a complete villain, but she fits somewhere between an Anti Villain and Hero Antagonist. This transition being unveiled and the consequences of her actions are going to make season eight of Game of Thrones all the more exciting!