David Pierdomenico
Major Spoilers for Season 8, Episode 5
There’s perhaps no greater outrage than that of fans on the internet who are displeased by the creative decisions of their favorite films or TV series. We need look no further than the fan petition to remove The Last Jedi from continuity for evidence that fandoms can be quite loud and vehement in their distaste. The final season of Game of Thrones has also been met with a similar sense of dissatisfaction among many viewers. And while many of their perceived issues are very valid points (rushing the pacing and not having the Northern threat be the true climax of the series), one that’s been thrown around this last week is that Daenerys’ massacre of King’s Landing was completely out of character…except that it wasn’t. If we go back and observe her actions from the very beginning of the series, we see that she has had a lot in common with her father, the Mad King, from the very beginning…
Ever the Pyromaniac
Jaime Lannister once described Dany’s father, the Mad King Aerys II with, “He loved to watch people burn, the way their skin blackened and blistered and melted off their bones. He burned lords he didn’t like. He burned Hands who disobeyed him. He burned anyone who was against him.” As much as Dany proclaimed that she was not her father, she displayed her first similarity with him early in the series.
In Season 1, Episode 6 “The Golden Crown”, we see Khal Drogo brutally murder Dany’s brother Viserys by pouring liquid hot gold over his head, thus giving him the crown he so obnoxiously demanded. As this happens, Dany doesn’t seem to be all that bothered. Granted, her brother was nothing but cruel and dismissive of her, even prostituting her to the Dothraki to win the Iron Throne, but she seemed almost fascinated by watching his flesh burn and melt. In that brief moment, we saw glimpse of her own pyromania that she would later adopt as her primary method of killing people (just like her father).
Impulsive and Quick to Act
Time and time again, Dany has demonstrated that she’s the personality type to be quick to anger and lash out when she’s upset. Upon taking Meereen, the first thing she did was crucify thousands of slave owners and completely change the dynamic and culture of the city by outlawing the fighting pits. To be fair, she was genuinely trying to a do a good thing by getting rid of slavery and the barbarism that the fighting pits promoted. But the issues was in how she did it. Rather than really think it out or find some way to gradually make the changes, she went straight for mass execution, which ultimately led to the Sons of the Harpy mounting an insurgency against her.
As time went on, her tendency to be impulsive only grew with her ego. After the fall of Dorne and Highgarden, she carried out her infamous Loot Train Attack against the Lannister army. And while this was certainly satisfying to watch, Tyrion desperately tried to talk her out of it, stating that putting herself at risk really wasn’t the wisest option. But she would have none of it. Even after she decimated their army, she insisted on burning both Randyll and Dickon Tarly (again, despite Tyrion advising her not to). By this point, it was clear that she was getting some cathartic pleasure out of executing people via burning them alive, much like her father.
Antithesis to the Lannisters
In many ways, the Targaryen and Lannister (specifically Tywin and Season 7-8 Cersei) families represent two sides of the same pivotal coin. The former represents a hot-heated impulsive approach, while the latter demonstrates a tendency to be rational, calculated, and efficient. Everything Tywin Lannister ever did, no matter how brutal or cruel, served a purpose. He took no personal enjoyment out of massacring House Reyne, or plotting out the Red Wedding, rather he saw these actions as necessary evils for the good of his House Lannister. He was a true Machiavellian!
As Season 6 ended, and we saw Cersei take the Iron Throne, and Dany begin sailing to Westeros, a conflict between two queens began to play out. And while many believed that Cersei fit the role of Mad Queen better, she had become more and more like her father in Seasons 7 and 8. Her whole scheme of letting her enemies deal with the Army of the Dead while solidifying her own armies and position was brilliant. As was utilizing the Golden Company and the Iron Fleet. Sure she didn’t really care for the well-being of the common people (and neither did Tywin for that matter), but her overall goal of stability would have coincidentally benefited those people far more than a Targaryen leader who burned people on a whim.
So as we look back on all the events that have led us here, can we really say that we were surprised by Dany’s actions? Can we really say that it was out of her character? For the past 8 seasons, it seems abundantly clear that her primary character flaw is that she’s nowhere near as merciful as she claims to be.
David Pierdomenico is a former History/English Teacher, and a current HR Professional. His dorky passion is an absolute love of film, especially horror and comic book. He is also the author of horror novels Kushtaka and Veritas, and the founder of Halloween Year-Round.
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