Game of Thrones (HBO) TV Show • Page 620

The contradiction here relies on what could've made Dany a great character in the end but ended up ruining her character, which is that, yes, she righteously freed slaves and did so based on some kind of principled opposition to slavery and empathy for all peoples, but in the end did leave them to be ruled by...Daario? and possibly get further fucked over if his government proved unstable. She left because her primary goal wasn't to free any slaves, it was always to rule westeros, clearly even at the possible expense of the slaves she freed. I would buy, possibly, given competent character development, that given the unambiguous choice between cruelty to regular people and giving up on the iron throne, she would choose the former and rule, but it just doesn't work unless that choice is perfectly clear. "Colonizer" is a silly word in this context though because "colonialism" is the result of the historically specific development of our world, and describes a specific set of practices that don't and probably couldn't happen on Planetos under its economic system. I mean its sort of incongruent that Dany could colonize Essos and her ancestors could colonize Westeros. These, especially Aegon's invasion, were just wars of conquest, just like the actual Norman Invasion of England that Aegon's is based on.

 

Yeah, the term "colonizer" is definitely dependent on seeing it through our world's lens but since the piece was written by a Black woman, I get why it was used and it didn't bother me because I got her point.

At the end of the day, the whole show is a great argument for why we probably all need some kind of therapy due to generational trauma.

 

"DAENERYS WAS ALWAYS A NARCISSISTIC, POWER-HUNGRY COLONIZER"

wow she really is like Hillary Clinton

 

Lol I was about to say "no he's Ser Illyn Payne's son"....I had no idea. Rodrik's been in everything I feel like.

 

this is v true

 

I mean

 

In light of how a lot of the storylines ended up playing out, I think the show is also a good argument for why more perspectives are needed in writer's rooms and as showrunners.

 

I have no idea what your “piece” is, unless you were the author of that article.

 

I don't want to put words in anyone's mouth, but I'm pretty sure she meant 'peace'. Unless this is a joke, then just ignore me.

 

I agree that her turn was jarring more because of how rushed the story became, and not necessarily because it was completely out of character. It's true that on the surface freeing slaves as she did seems like a noble gesture, and in some ways it was. However, most of Dany's actions were always done in order to advance her ultimate goal of returning to Westeros and taking the throne. But, the show always chose to portray her and her actions in an entirely positive light, and I think that's a huge part of why we as the audience (and apparently even Emilia Clarke herself) were somewhat shocked when we got to the penultimate episode.

Having her burn everyone in King's Landing seems like the kind of horrific thing that Martin might pen, so I'm fully expecting that to be one of the beats which also occurs in the books. However, I don't think it'll be as jarring there because we'll get more character development leading up to it.

 

I disagree with this. For one, the Daario thing is definitely just lazy writing — the implication we’re meant to be left with when she leaves it to Daario is clearly “The major conflict has now been solved, things are good now, and I’m leaving it in the hands of one of the people I trust the most to maintain that peace.” Whether it’s a *bad* decision or not doesn’t reflect whether Dany meant for it be lol

But anyway, the entire time she was in the East, her stated goal was Westeros, but up until the second Yara and Theon arrive, she really doesn’t take advantage of her chances to actually go there. When she learns that the slave masters had retaken the other cities, she decides to hold off on what would have been a slam dunk of a conquest in order to take on the much more difficult challenge of ensuring that slavery stays dead. Like, that right there is a clear, concise answer to your “cruelty to regular people [ie willingly let slavery continue] vs the iron throne” hypo

 

(Yes I was just poking fun lol)

 

Like I said, just ignore me. I'm on a LOT of cold meds.

 

Glad y'all sorted this out. Yes, I meant peace, and I was referring to my tacit endorsement of what was written in the article (for pedantry's sake).

 

So when Tyrion said he loved Dany but not as successfully as Jon, was he confirming he was in love with her? Did I ask this already? I was reminded of it again today

 

He seemed pretty disappointed when Dany and Jon went to have sexytime on the ship

 

I always saw Tyrion being pretty much over any sexual or romantic love after he killed Shae

 

I took it as he loved her in a different, non-romantic way but not as successfully as Jon loved her in his romantic way.

 

I also think he struggled with his love for her (which like the others in here I didn't read as romantic, exactly) more than Jon did. Jon was kinda all in until shortly before he got all stabby and Tyrion tried really hard to be (RIP Varys) but I feel like he just had so many demons it was never that simple for him.

Jon Snow loved his auntie. REALLY loved her.

 

That’s another thread that needed more time. Based on what was dramatized I don’t buy Jon Snow not immediately confronting Dany over what she did, her actions taking precedent over how much he loves her. He’s the most completely moral character on the show and he defends war crimes that he recognized on the battlefield as war crimes.

 

Idk, you're not wrong at ALL but I sort of chalked that one up to him always wanting to see the best in people. I feel like that would've been such a complex thing to grapple with; I could see him trying to rationalize it for a minute. Especially if he was in shock, which anyone would've been.

Definitely rushed though.

 

I’m blanking off the top of my head on any specific instances but I feel like any other instance where someone he knows/cares about breaches his moral ideals he attempts to stand up for what he believes to be right. The show kind of tries to paint him as being in denial, I feel like, and doesn’t really even address any of his love for her from when he rebukes her pre-battle through the very last seconds before he stabs her. Without the time to really dive into how complex a situation it is for him, it just can’t land.

 

You could absolutely be right, for whatever reason my brain is blanking on examples of that as well (in either direction) so if someone else has some on deck, that'd be great

I'm just saying, shock-based denial *would* be fair (not trying to excuse the writing, which was undoubtedly weak this season and there's a lot that didn't quite land as a result). I'm not sure he'd witnessed someone he loved do something THAT atrocious firsthand before.