Post by lonewolf on May 16, 2019 22:25:52 GMT
While this is technically season 8 related, I wanted to create a new thread to discuss this topic to the exclusion of all others.
I warn you in advance that some of the opinions expressed here could be controversial. You may disagree wholeheartedly with what I have to say, and I completely respect those differing opinions. On the other hand, there are potentially some people out there who will pick up what I’m puttin’ down, and if you are one of those Shady Grey folks, then hey, come on over and take a seat by the fire with me – this post is for you.
Episode 8x05 rocked the ASOIAF/GoT fandom. Not just our little corner of the ‘verse, but both fandoms in their entirety with the coin flipping for Daenerys Targaryen, unveiling the so called ‘Mad Queen’.
I like 'Mad Queen' Dany.
Just hear me out.
I like the fact the story took that turn for Dany’s character.
I hate how it was executed.
The beauty of GRRMs works is that no one is simply black or white; the characters are complicated and driven by so many internal philosophies clashing with external events that push them beyond their limits to reveal hidden facets of their personalities. In this sense, fictional or not, they are fully dimensional people just like us.
Daenerys has always been a character with rich depth, but we always had a sense of her moral compass and how she would react to situations or approach conflict. That is no longer the case; she’s become more of a wildcard.
That makes her far more formidable and interesting.
It's also why I believe it is in fact what GRRM planned from the start. The third ‘twist’ he revealed to D&D when he gave him the outline to his endgame.
Again, hear me out.
It’s not that Dany is ‘mad’. The poor execution of ‘the snap’ is what is perpetuating that impression. What really happened is that after multiple losses, betrayals, and rejections, Dany hit an emotional extreme and became the conqueror she has always been – only this she had no true friends, advisors or allies to appeal to her better nature or curb her wrath and show her another way.
Because they have all died or turned on her.
She’s alone. Under siege. No family to guide her or protect her.
For better or worse, what Daenerys did was what any hardened, thorough general does at a time of war: she ensured that her enemies could not rise up to retaliate after they’d been conquered. She didn’t just want to win the battle, she wanted to win every battle, once and for all.
Did she go too far?
Yes.
But that is exactly what she needed to do to grow.
Daenerys has never fully grasped just how much power she wields, nor has she fully felt the weight of it. She has always compromised, always held herself back in the interest of some sort of ‘greater good’ that never actually manifests despite her many sacrifices. Now she’s given in to the worst part of herself and earned a horrifying, bloody victory at a devastating cost.
She has to face the consequences of that.
She has to face herself, truly, and maybe for the first time ever.
And that, my friends, is how she becomes absolutely fascinating.
Dany is a killer now, a conqueror, a force of nature leaving a river of blood in her wake – but she is not mad. Had GRRM written all of this, taken us into her head to read her thoughts as she took flight over King’s Landing, we probably would have been treated to one of the most heart-wrenching scenes in literature, tearing each one of us apart as we came to understand her feelings and justifications while hating her actions at the same time.
Instead, we got some fancy CG and shitty bells while poor Emilia had to sell a dead weight script entirely through the power of her facial expressions (people who criticize her acting ability can die in a fire, that woman has been knocking everything out of the park this whole season). As has become usual we got style without substance, and something that could have made the entire audience ache in the best possible way was quite literally reduced to ashes.
If Dany is a villain now, I love her as such. It’s a complete shame that she’s about to be ended just as she’s getting started.
I warn you in advance that some of the opinions expressed here could be controversial. You may disagree wholeheartedly with what I have to say, and I completely respect those differing opinions. On the other hand, there are potentially some people out there who will pick up what I’m puttin’ down, and if you are one of those Shady Grey folks, then hey, come on over and take a seat by the fire with me – this post is for you.
Episode 8x05 rocked the ASOIAF/GoT fandom. Not just our little corner of the ‘verse, but both fandoms in their entirety with the coin flipping for Daenerys Targaryen, unveiling the so called ‘Mad Queen’.
I like 'Mad Queen' Dany.
Just hear me out.
I like the fact the story took that turn for Dany’s character.
I hate how it was executed.
The beauty of GRRMs works is that no one is simply black or white; the characters are complicated and driven by so many internal philosophies clashing with external events that push them beyond their limits to reveal hidden facets of their personalities. In this sense, fictional or not, they are fully dimensional people just like us.
Daenerys has always been a character with rich depth, but we always had a sense of her moral compass and how she would react to situations or approach conflict. That is no longer the case; she’s become more of a wildcard.
That makes her far more formidable and interesting.
It's also why I believe it is in fact what GRRM planned from the start. The third ‘twist’ he revealed to D&D when he gave him the outline to his endgame.
Again, hear me out.
It’s not that Dany is ‘mad’. The poor execution of ‘the snap’ is what is perpetuating that impression. What really happened is that after multiple losses, betrayals, and rejections, Dany hit an emotional extreme and became the conqueror she has always been – only this she had no true friends, advisors or allies to appeal to her better nature or curb her wrath and show her another way.
Because they have all died or turned on her.
She’s alone. Under siege. No family to guide her or protect her.
For better or worse, what Daenerys did was what any hardened, thorough general does at a time of war: she ensured that her enemies could not rise up to retaliate after they’d been conquered. She didn’t just want to win the battle, she wanted to win every battle, once and for all.
Did she go too far?
Yes.
But that is exactly what she needed to do to grow.
Daenerys has never fully grasped just how much power she wields, nor has she fully felt the weight of it. She has always compromised, always held herself back in the interest of some sort of ‘greater good’ that never actually manifests despite her many sacrifices. Now she’s given in to the worst part of herself and earned a horrifying, bloody victory at a devastating cost.
She has to face the consequences of that.
She has to face herself, truly, and maybe for the first time ever.
And that, my friends, is how she becomes absolutely fascinating.
Dany is a killer now, a conqueror, a force of nature leaving a river of blood in her wake – but she is not mad. Had GRRM written all of this, taken us into her head to read her thoughts as she took flight over King’s Landing, we probably would have been treated to one of the most heart-wrenching scenes in literature, tearing each one of us apart as we came to understand her feelings and justifications while hating her actions at the same time.
Instead, we got some fancy CG and shitty bells while poor Emilia had to sell a dead weight script entirely through the power of her facial expressions (people who criticize her acting ability can die in a fire, that woman has been knocking everything out of the park this whole season). As has become usual we got style without substance, and something that could have made the entire audience ache in the best possible way was quite literally reduced to ashes.
If Dany is a villain now, I love her as such. It’s a complete shame that she’s about to be ended just as she’s getting started.
