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When you’re trying to sneak up on someone and they know..

It seems to be the in thing now for Game of Thrones fans to hate Daenerys. Considering she is one of the main protagonists of the series and arguably one of the most popular characters, the Silver Queen seems to get her fair share of hate from fandom hipsters just lately. Why? Well, some of it is understandable. I’ll admit I’m bias; Dany is my favourite character in the series and one of my favourite characters of all time. However even I’ll admit that the writing for her in the show hasn’t been great for the past two seasons. David and Dan give her all the big speeches and epic dragon moments, sure, but not nearly enough moral dilemmas and character development that humanizes her character. In the books, Daenerys faces many difficult choices whilst maintaining rule of Meereen, and all of these choices come with consequences. Does this make her a bad ruler? Is she truly just a self-entited Mary Sue who isn’t fit to sit on the Iron Throne or breathe in the direction of golden boy Jon Snow?

OF COURSE NOT. 

George RR Martin has said himself that what he finds interesting to write is the moral choices and dilemmas of kings and queens, critiquing Lord of the Rings for it’s abrupt ending with Aragorn “ruling wisely” for a hundred years. 

“Ruling is hard. This was maybe my answer to Tolkien, whom, as much as I admire him, I do quibble with. Lord of the Rings had a very medieval philosophy: that if the king was a good man, the land would prosper. We look at real history and it’s not that simple. Tolkien can say that Aragorn became king and reigned for a hundred years, and he was wise and good. But Tolkien doesn’t ask the question: What was Aragorn’s tax policy? Did he maintain a standing army? What did he do in times of flood and famine? And what about all these orcs? By the end of the war, Sauron is gone but all of the orcs aren’t gone – they’re in the mountains. Did Aragorn pursue a policy of systematic genocide and kill them? Even the little baby orcs, in their little orc cradles?”

It’s unfair to say Daenerys is a bad ruler. It’s unfair to say Jon is a good ruler. It’s unfair to put any of these complex and wonderfully written characters in a bland black and white box of good and bad when that is not the case, not in the real world or the fantasy world crafted by George RR Martin.  

Remember Stannis Baratheon? Alive in the books and dead in the show, the stoic and stern character managed to develop quite a fanbase from Game of Thrones viewers during his time on-air. Stannis was a hard-faced man who was quoted as not having the love of the people that his brother Renly had, however fan favourite Ned Stark himself acknowledged him as the rightful heir to the Seven Kingdoms. I even found myself warming up to Stannis eventually, after watching multiple touching scenes between him and his daughter Shireen, who he genuinely seemed to love despite having a few problems expressing his feelings. Stannis had epic moments such as turning his army North and helping out Jon Snow and the Night’s Watch at the last minute and quickly developed the nickname ‘Stannis the Mannis’ among fans.

And somehow, Daenerys suddenly became hated, villainous and a bunch of other stuff that people really should think twice about before writing in a YouTube comment. 

I’m not saying people aren’t entitled to dislike her, because everyone is entitled to their opinion and you can like and dislike whatever fictional character you want. 

But wow, I know the comments section isn’t exactly the nicest place, but the verbal abuse towards a character who’d spent the last three seasons establishing her own power and autonomy and freeing slaves was downright disgusting. And yeah, it’s very hard not to bring gender into the discussion when there’s a shit ton of sexist remarks towards a female character being tossed around. A lot of vocal fans expressed their desire for Stannis the Mannis to rule instead of Dany, because apparently a strong woman is nothing more than a “smug, self-entitled bitch.” Remember that we’ve seen Stannis physically assault Melisandre before in the series (although granted she isn’t exactly the most sympathetic character).

And then wow, these people had nothing to say when Stannis burnt his own daughter alive at the stake so as he had more of a chance to defeat the Boltons and make his way towards the Iron Throne of Westeros. 

Now this is turning to the other side of the gender argument, and here I’m going to address another of GoT’s most popular characters, Jon Snow. Jon is one of my favourite characters in the series, as he’s incredibly realistic and goes against the macho-man mould of Stannis the Mannis. Why? Well in the first few Jon chapters in A Game of Thrones, we see him cry. That might not seem like a big deal and some may think he was just being a whiny cry-baby, but this straight away dispels the notion that men don’t cry or express emotional weakness. Jon is very conflicted and shows hurt at being scorned by Lady Catelyn (who openly tells him she wishes he had died when he tries to comfort her) and shows emotional turmoil openly when being confronted by Tyrion Lannister before they depart for the Wall. Jon Snow is not the pinnacle of male expectations; he shows emotion, he makes mistakes, he falls in love with a wilding girl and betrays his brothers, he leads his army into a trap during the battle of the bastards whilst trying to save his brother Rickon. 

He is every bit as well-written and compelling as Daenerys and does not deserve to be pitted against her and glorified when they both have far too much in common. 

I’ve acknowledged Dany’s negatives. She’s young, she’s inexperienced, she’s not been written that well in the show as of late. But why do I think she is such a great character? She’s been running since the moment she was born and spent her entire childhood fleeing from Robert Baratheon’s hired knives, the only home she ever knew (the house with the red door in Braavos) a constant source of longing for her throughout the series. She was abused by her brother, the only family she had left and the only connection to Westeros she had. Everything she knows about the Starks and the Baratheons and the Targaryen dynasty itself comes from Viserys, someone who made her afraid and timid, physically and mentally abused her, was shown sexually abusing her in the show (twisting her nipples) and, it was revealed by Illyrio to Tyrion, intended to rape the night before her wedding to Khal Drogo. And let’s not forget that her Dothraki wedding was not consensual; Viserys sold her to Drogo for an army and told her he would let the entire khalasar and their horses rape her for the Iron Throne. Daenerys was every bit the abused victim that Sansa was in King’s Landing, perhaps more so, and like Sansa both characters grew throughout the series and found their strength. 

Daenerys grew strong during her time with Drogo, embracing the Dothraki way and her power as khaleesi. She finally broke free from the fear of her brother, although still maintaining love for him enough to name a dragon after him to do what he could not. She started over again in Qarth with only a few bloodriders and her infant dragons at her side and grew to be a powerful conqueror liberating the slaves of Astapor, Yunkai and Meereen. 

Dany’s story is well-known. It’s a rag to riches story of a princess in exile, concluding in season six with the epic shot of her finally going home with her dragons and her army. 

(Remember when Viserys told her they were going home with an army? LOL, she was but he wasn’t.)

Game of Thrones is full of morally complex characters that span across the entire spectrum of good and evil. Cersei is manipulative and cruel, but loves her children fiercely. Jaime pushed a little boy out of a window to try and kill him, but betrayed his own king and carried the moniker ‘Kingslayer’ for years in order to protect the people of King’s Landing. Catelyn loved her children but could never show love to Jon Snow. Ned Stark kept a promise to his late sister but lied to his wife. Arya is a hurt and traumatized child who has become a murderer. 

Daenerys makes mistakes, has multiple flaws, but that’s what makes her character realistic and interesting. If she’s a good person can she be a good ruler? Can she really “plant trees” as she so wants to whilst embracing the dragon?

And let’s face it, is there even going to be an Iron Throne when all is said and done? The white walkers are marching on the Wall and Daenerys and Jon may need to help each other in the War for the Dawn more than they’ll need to squabble over an uncomfortable chair. Both could be two heads of the dragon, Azor Ahai and The Prince That Was Promised in their own right. 

I’m not saying fans shouldn’t dislike Daenerys because I have no right to dictate who people should and shouldn’t root for. Everyone is entitled to their own opinion and to root for the character that means the most to them. But come on, let’s all be respectable and keep the comments section as friendly as possible; it’s fiction and it’s not worth sending death threats and derogatory remarks over fiction. 

This blind dog has it’s own guide dog, dogs are great. This made my heart happy. Remarkable. 17/10 for both