Lists of all book passages showcasing key elements of Dany’s characterization
Dany’s empathy, compassion, compromises and sacrifices for other people
Dany’s intelligence, thoughtfulness and overall line of reasoning for taking decisions
Dany longing for a home, people to belong to and peace and safety in general
Dany’s actions as Queen of Meereen and the advice she received
Dany being self-critical or at least self-aware
Dany asserting her identity, titles and achievements (to others or herself) and/or moments of pride in general
Dany’s problems in Slaver’s Bay
Dany considering, threatening to take and/or taking violent measures
How prophecies, dreams and magical intuition drive Dany’s story
Dany is (relatively) frugal and modest
Dany’s moments of humor and/or lightheartedness and/or irony and/or being childlike
Dany’s problems and actions in her conquest of the three cities
Dany’s actions in ACOK and AGOT and the advice she receives
Dany telling herself hopeful stories
Dany’s appreciation (and criticism) of the Dothraki and Viserys
What we know that Dany knows of her ancestors, dragonlore and history
As I was rereading ASOIAF, I made it my goal to compile all* the book passages demonstrating either certain key attributes of Daenerys Targaryen (e.g. that she’s compassionate and empathetic) or aspects of hers that are usually overblown (e.g. that she’s violent and ambitious). Doing such a task may seem exaggerated, but I’d argue it’s not, for many, many misconceptions about Dany have become widespread in light of the show’s final season’s events (and even before).
It must be acknowledged that it can be tricky to reference, say, ADWD passages to counter-argument how she was depicted in season eight (which allegedly follows ADOS events). Dany will have had plenty of character development in the span of two books. However, whatever happens to Dany in the next two books, I would argue that there is more than enough material to conclude that her show counterpart was made to fall for flaws that she (for the most part) never had and actions that she (for the most part) would never take.
Another objection to the purpose of these lists is that Game of Thrones is different from A Song of Ice and Fire and should be analyzed on its own, which is a fair point. However, the show is also an adaptation of these books, which begs the questions: why did they change Dany’s character? Why did they overfocus on negative traits of hers or depicted them as negative when they weren’t supposed to be or gave her negative traits that were never hers to begin with? Another fact that undermines the show=/=books argument is that most people think that the show’s ending will be the books’, albeit only in broad strokes and in different circumstances. As a result, people’s perception of Dany is inevitably influenced by the show, which is a shame.
Show!Dany’s downfall in season eight is a great study in how powerful women can be demonized for a variety of reasons. One of the most blatant ones, I would argue, is that, throughout the seasons, the show’s writers downplayed or stripped Dany of almost all the characteristics of her book counterpart (compassion, self-awareness, intelligence, frugalness, lightheartedness, etc) in order to paint her as a regal and stoic Strong Female Character only to have that status turn back against her in the end (i.e., key moments where we were supposed to be awed by her strength, like her burning of the khals, have had their meanings retconned to signal her heel-turn). That’d bothered me in previous seasons, but I never thought they’d use their mischaracterization of her to deliberately portray her in an overly negative light (especially because most of her scenes were designed for us to root for her or see her as triumphant), so I tried not to think much about it. But then, in season eight, she’s no longer determined, she’s ambitious. She no longer takes action, she’s reckless and violent. She no longer cares about her people, she only wants their devotion and compliance. She’s no longer a product of the Westerosi pseufeudalistic system, she’s a tyrant. She’s no longer idealistic, she’s deluded. She doesn’t want to conquer only Westeros, she wants to conquer the entire world. She’s no longer focused, she’s mad. As if the evidence for these accusations didn’t primarily come from material that had already oversimplified Dany to begin with. As if it didn’t come from material whose meaning/significance was retroactively changed to support their writing of her heel-turn. Dany was never just a Strong Female Character in the books, but the show’s writers often reduced her to that aspect so she’d be their feminist icon and then changed it in the last minute so we’d despise her in the end for the very status that once made us be on her side.
I hope these lists can be useful for whoever wants to find book passages to defend Dany’s character in analysis or even conversations.
*Well, at least all the passages that I could find.
Also, people may interpret certain passages differently and then come up with a different collection of passages, so I’m not arguing that this list is completely objective (nor that there could ever be one).
Also, some passages have been cut short according to whether they were, IMO, relevant to the specific topic of the list they’re in, so the context surrounding them may not always be clear (always read the books!). Many of them appear in different lists, sometimes fully cited, sometimes not.
dededos
annaxmalina
discoholicmusic
baratheonpilled
ellievsbear
izzy806
2087
