“Dracarys”
By: Nadine Batchelor-Hunt
Tags: Game of Thrones

After years of build up, there are just two episodes left of Game of Thrones. It’s explored themes of family, love, betrayal, existential threats, short term geo-politics, and so much more. The parallels with the Army of the Dead and climate change tell us a lot about the way short-term conflicts interfere with tackling a threat to humanity. Game of Thrones has been somewhat of a social phenomenon, and it is unlikely anything will match it any time soon in terms of hype and anticipation. But there is one character that everyone is talking about, and hotly anticipating what she is going to do next — and that is Daenerys.

She has been my favourite character to watch throughout Game of Thrones, as is the case for many people. Her journey has been the hardest by far out of all of the characters in the show. She was alone in the world, with no family, and had to fight to survive against impossible odds.

All she’s ever known is cruelty, inhumanity, and violence, yet still managed to retain significant levels of compassion, love, and humanity. As she states in season 7:

“I spent my life in foreign lands. So many men have tried to kill me, I don’t remember all their names. I have been sold like a broodmare. I’ve been chained and betrayed, raped and defiled. Do you know what kept me standing, through all those years in exile? Faith. Not in any god, not in myths and legends. In myself. In Daenerys Targaryen. The world hadn’t seen a dragon in centuries, until my children were born. The Dothraki hadn’t crossed the sea, any sea. They did for me. I was born to rule the Seven Kingdoms, and I will.” “The Queen’s Justice”, Season 7, Episode 3

There’s been a great deal of outrage about the fact that Daenerys is descending into “madness” like her father, and that it is likely going to result in “Fire and Blood” before she finally goes down fighting. However, this should not be a surprise, and it’s also important to remember that it will not be senseless “madness”. First of all, any character in the show put in her circumstances — let alone Daenerys — would have reacted with fury. After the deaths of most of her loved ones, her predisposition for “Fire and Blood”, and her experiences of ruling elsewhere, this endgame for Daenerys has been foreshadowed from the off.

Daenerys storyline begins with her abusive brother, Viserys, describing how he would let people rape her if it would bring him the Seven Kingdoms. They both dream of going home, to the Westeros, a land which has been romanticised to them. Helpless, and after being sold to Khal Drogo by her brother, being raped, falling in love, losing her tyrannical brother (but only known relative), losing a child, and losing husband in a tiny space of time, she manages to rebuild herself. Following her intuition, she rises from the ashes with her dragons, and she slowly self-actualises. She became the monarch no-one would have thought she could be from the fearful young woman in episode 1 of season 1. Since the beginning when she finally begins to stand up to Viserys, we have seen hints of the anger and complexity of Daenerys’ character.

By season 2, Daenerys is well on her way to becoming to woman she is now. Whilst ridiculed at the time, Daenerys’ perspective on who she is and what she was is clear from the beginning. She believes that the Seven Kingdoms belong to her and, like her brother, she will take it — no matter the cost. It could be argued that she’s developed a god-complex which, under the circumstances in which she had to survive, is unsurprising.

After relying on herself exclusively, she slowly began to surround herself with people she trusted. Jorah being the first, who betrayed her but later redeemed himself. Despite Jorah’s redemption arc, it taught her a lot about trust and to be suspicious of everyone. Later, Ser Barristan Selmy, a character who’s involvement in this season, I think, would have been invaluable to keep Daenerys balanced if he had survived. Then, of course, there’s Missandei, Daenerys’ best friend and advisor. Grey Worm, who has unwavering respect and loyalty to Daenerys, has always stood by her side providing military advice. The Dothraki, an incredibly violent and quite frankly terrible people, also rallied around Daenerys and respected her boundaries on raping and pillaging which she enforced upon them. She gathers Tyrion and Varys as advisors, who have become increasingly duplicitous and untrustworthy by this point in the season. Later on Jon, who is frankly quite useless.

She has broken chains, freed cities, saved men, women, and children from tyrants and all the while dreamed of going home. The most important part of all of this, however, is that she did all of this in Essos. Whilst there, she partook in many things which Westerosi people like Tyrion, Jon, or Varys would see as utterly barbaric. From crucifying over one hundred slave masters, to feeding political opponents to dragons, these were demonstrations of power which were necessary and successful in that setting. In Essos fighting against the odds for survival, respect, and power was within a completely different geo-political structure than in the Westeros; “Fire and Blood” got the job done. However, Daenerys’ manner of thinking and style of governance is somewhat incongruous in a Westerosi universe. We see Daenerys continuing her rhetoric and style of governance but now in a context that is uncomfortable for all to watch. She is also no longer the underestimated young woman fighting for respect and for what is hers; when she arrived to the Westeros she was a powerful monarch with a fearsome army and three dragons — whilst making threats that were once futile, they were now terrifyingly possible.

After the deaths of Viserion and Rhaegal, the only true family she had, and now Jorah, Missandei, and swaths of her beloved Dothraki and Unsullied, Daenerys is about to explode. Not only has she lost them, but she’s lost the man she loves, Jon, due to yet more unnecessary geo-political feuding, whilst also discovering she has another relative. As Sansa plots her downfall, and her allies turn away from her, thankless, and grow cold, there is only one way this is going to end. Born with the Targaryen propensity for anger, which she somewhat managed to control with the help of others, she has nothing to lose. She has sacrificed almost everything for a continent which will never love or respect her. Unlike Essos, it is not a land that needs liberation in the form of chains being broken, and therefore it is beyond her understanding.

Her brother taught her fire and blood. Her husband taught her violence. Her “trusted” advisors, Tyrion and Varys, urged her to practice moderation, but moderation was not what has lead to her victories prior to returning home to the Westeros. And, now, that misplaced trust is ultimately going to result in her complete betrayal. Her hostile reception in Winterfell undoubtably and unnecessarily contributed to her alienation, and Jon should have done more to help her. With the loss of Viserion, Rhaegal, Jorah, and now Missandei, Daenerys has lost everything but Grey Worm and Drogon. Both she and Grey Worm are only familiar with power in the form of violence, and have both lost everything for a land that does not care about them.

Missandei’s last words, “Dracarys” were the confirmation that Daenerys and her forces need to take matters into their own hand. As Cersei had brilliantly illustrated, compassion and temperance will not win this war.

So, Olenna Tyrell’s words in season 7 were completely accurate, then. Daenerys should have followed her instincts, and dealt with the Westeros with “Fire and Blood” — but it’s likely now too late. I no longer care about what happens to a continent of people that backstab and betray the person that rescued them, including the Starks. All the matters is now is to wait and watch Daenerys go down swinging and burn them all.

cover photo credit: HBO