Daenerys Targaryen hasn’t played the game of thrones for eight seasons just to be dismissed for being “a foreign woman.”
For many seasons there’s been a lot of talk amongst Game of Thrones fans about Daenerys Targaryen’s sanity. As the daughter of the Mad King, there’s always been speculation that she’d turn out like her father. It’s not just a viewer mentality either. Daenerys herself has fought hard to not follow in Aerys Targaryen’s footsteps.
She’s fought hard to temper the madness that runs through her blood. Unfortunately for Daenerys, the Targaryen bloodline is tainted with chaotic energy, and an eventual outburst is unavoidable. With that in mind, Dany has done well to direct that ‘fire and blood’ rage toward dangerous people, immoral people, people who have unjustifiably wronged others.
Despite her propensity for good, Daenerys’ actions and motives are constantly questioned by the people in the North. They’ve deemed her untrustworthy, an opinion based on nothing other than the fact that she isn’t from the North. They assume she’ll become a ‘Mad Queen’ like her father. At this point, the only reason she will be is because she’s been pushed too far. Try as she has to prevent herself from becoming that way, the circumstances and the people around her aren’t giving her much choice. By not extending an olive branch, they’ll awaken the dragon that’s been tempered for all these years.
Though Daenerys has made questionable decisions over the seasons, most of which include her propensity to ‘take what is hers with fire and blood,’ that doesn’t automatically make her a tyrant, or psychotic, or incapable of rational thought. In fact, after everything Daenerys has gone through, after how far her innate madness has been pushed, it shouldn’t be a surprise if Dany lights up King’s Landing, with nary a thought to whatever consequences will befall afterwards.
Daenerys is young
It’s easy to forget how young Daenerys actually is, when the actress who plays her is currently 32 years old. You don’t look at Daenerys and think of a young 20-something, but in season 8, she’s only 23 years old. Not only is she probably not fully matured (how many of you would say you were mature at 23?), but her formative teenaged years were hardly average.
Daenerys is only 17 years old when Game of Thrones begins, a mere teenager. Imagine being forced to marry a stranger, at 17, who doesn’t even speak the same language as you, and subsequently being raped on your wedding night.
Her rapist ends up becoming her lover, only for him to die before the season’s over. She also gets pregnant, but ultimately loses her baby. Somewhere along the lines, she also loses her brother (though an argument can be made she was better off without Viserys). Of course, we can’t forget that after all this, she also walks into a raging fire, only to emerge unscathed, clutching three baby dragons. That’s all in one season. No 17-year-old can endure all of that and remain ‘sane.’
Despite it all, Daenerys never lost sight of the ambition she’s been fed for who knows how long: that the Iron Throne is her family’s by right, and she deserves to rule from it. It’s likely Viserys had pumped Dany with dreams of ruling Westeros all her life, telling her stories of how the evil Robert Baratheon stole the throne from their father, killing their entire family.
If a young person has been told their entire life that they’re special, that they deserve to rule a kingdom, why wouldn’t they believe it? Moreover, if that same child ‘birthed’ dragons after not dying in a blaze that should have incinerated her, isn’t it justifiable to truly believe you’re something special? Every young person thinks they’re invincible, and as far as Daenerys Targaryen is concerned, she is.
Acting impulsively and destructively is what most young, immature, people do. Add that to the fact that Daenerys has been empowered by dragons, armies of people following her, and surviving near-death experiences, and it’s not hard to imagine why she feels her own quick solution is often the best one.
Daenerys’ life mission is over because she doesn’t have a penis
As stated above, Daenerys Targaryen has spent her whole life being told she’s worthy and entitled to the Iron Throne. As such, the most formative years of her life have been spent trying to reach that goal. Everything she’s done and endured has been to further her mission to rule Westeros, like her birthright dictates.
Imagine working your life to achieve something, only for it to be snatched away by someone who doesn’t even want it simply because they have a cock. Game of Thrones even fully admits it, when Varys bluntly states, “Cocks are important, I’m afraid.” Yet Daenerys is criticized for being angry about it, angry that what she’s worked so hard for, that which she’s prepared for, will be taken away by someone less qualified just because he’s a man.
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It’s true Jon Snow is the rightful heir to the Iron Throne, but Jon doesn’t want it. It’s presumed Jon will have the throne over Daenerys simply because the people like him more, even though they’ve made no attempts to get to know her. Daenerys has not survived all that she has just to be sidelined by a man who didn’t even know who he was until a few days ago. Few people on Game of Thrones have been through as much as Daenerys has, and none of them have come close to ruling cities and people the way Daenerys has. If Daenerys has truly reached her breaking point after being shafted by the people in the West so harshly, it’d be hard to blame her.
Daenerys has been left with few allies or friends
As someone as young as she is, as someone who has experienced high highs and low lows like she has, it’s hard to imagine how she could have done it without support. Over the seasons, Daenerys has had many foes, but she’s also had trusted friends and allies. Unfortunately, they’ve almost all ended up dead, or they were foes posed as friends who also ended up dead.
Drogo, Barristan Selmy, Jorah Mormont, both human and dragon babies, just to name a few, have all died during the eight seasons of Game of Thrones. Now Missandei, her most trusted advisor, and best friend, has been executed right before her eyes. After losing so many people close to you, is it really unjustified for Daenerys to have lost all sensibility at this point?
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Aside from having lost almost all of her trusted companions, Daenerys has been having difficulty gaining new allies since moving west. Apparently the Northerners don’t and won’t trust Daenerys because she’s from the east. She’s an outsider who’s killed people. Somehow it doesn’t seem to matter that she’s freed slaves, and killed terrible people. No, the Northerners will continue not trusting Daenerys alongside the Wildings, the people they used to hate, the outsiders who killed their own, Northern, people.
The hypocrisy couldn’t be more apparent than in Jon’s conversation with Arya. Arya states that they did in fact need Daenerys’ allegiance to win the war against the White Walkers, but she still doesn’t trust Daenerys. Jon counters that Arya doesn’t really know her yet, to which Arya replies, “I’ll never know her. She’s not one of us.” This is the same girl who ended the episode riding off with the Hound, the man who killed her best friend. The Hound was not ‘one of them,’ yet after getting to know him, she befriended him.
This conversation between Jon and Arya continues, where Jon says, “If you only trust the people you grew up with, you won’t make many allies.” Arya retorts that she doesn’t need many allies. Not five sentences ago Arya was saying they needed Dany as an ally to defeat the Night King. The hypocrisy in the North is infuriating, the refusal to attempt to get to know Daenerys just because of where she’s from, or rather, not from.
The North’s mistrust of Daenerys is even more nonsensical when you consider all that Daenerys has done for them. She abandoned her mission of winning the Iron Throne to help the North defeat the White Walkers, willing to risk her own army, greatly diminishing her chances of defeating Cersei. All she got in return was continued ostracizing, and zero appreciation for her contribution to their victory.
Daenerys is alone. She has little to nothing left to lose, having lost most of her companions, and being surrounded by hateful hypocrites who refuse to try and understand her goals and rationale. If Daenerys wants to attack guns blazing, you can’t blame her. She’s done wonders to quell the madness that runs through her blood, only ever directing it to those who deserve it. But with few left to help her, moreover, with many left to instigate her, it’s hardly her fault at this point for choosing violence.