What are your thoughts on Daenerys authorising the torture of the wine seller's children?
First of all, how do you know his daughters are children? From the context it seems like they are running the wineshop with him. Secondly, authorise torture? Are you kidding me? What Cersei did in AFFC with Margery’s singer to break him and get him to lie about Margaery’s infidelity or what both the Starks (with Theon) & Lannisters did when they authorised Boltons to have their way knowing full well about their skinning rituals, that was “authorising” torture. What Tywin does when he sets the Mountain on people, that’s “authorising” torture.
But sure, you wanna dance? Let’s dance! Among the vast number of politically sensitive topics that George tackles in his world, the ineffectiveness of torture is one of them and George explores it brilliantly several times throughout the series. Interestingly, even in the medieval world, Dany’s storlyline is the only one where a conclusion is drawn that torture is ineffective.
Let’s look at what you’re talking about…There have been a series of murders, including Missandei’s brothers, by the Sons of Harpy, some by crossbows & stones and two of the Unsullied were poisoned at a wineshop they frequent daily. So this was indeed a premeditated murder where someone observed their behaviour and possibly bribed the wineseller to do it.
“How many dead?”Reznak wrung his hands. “N-nine, Magnificence. Foul work it was, and wicked. A dreadful night, dreadful.”Nine. The word was a dagger in her heart. Every night the shadow war was waged anew beneath the stepped pyramids of Meereen. Every morn the sun rose upon fresh corpses, with harpies drawn in blood on the bricks beside them. Any freedman who became too prosperous or too outspoken was marked for death. Nine in one night, though … That frightened her.
“Eladon Goldenhair and Loyal Spear were poisoned at a wineshop where they were accustomed to stop each night upon upon their rounds.”
Now it’s often brought up that Dany should respect their “culture and ways” when it comes to the fighting pits. Now here she respects the investigation protocols of Meereen and hands them over for questioning to their government’s version of FBI:
“Your servants have arrested the owner of the wineshop and his daughters. They plead their ignorance and beg for mercy.”They all plead ignorance and beg for mercy. “Give them to the Shavepate. Skahaz, keep each apart from the others and put them to the question.”“It will be done, Your Worship. Would you have me question them sweetly, or sharply?”“Sweetly, to begin. Hear what tales they tell and what names they give you. It may be they had no part in this.”
Now this guy basically asks her, “Good cop or Bad cop?” and Dany first tells him, “Good Cop”. Here’s where the scene turns, the leader of Yunkish freedmen was also killed. Think a terrorist kills a major political figure who represents the most oppressed group in the midst of their freedom struggle. Now this is a major incident.
“Three freedmen, murdered in their homes,” the Shavepate said. “A moneylender, a cobbler, and the harpist Rylona Rhee. They cut her fingers off before they killed her.”The queen flinched. Rylona Rhee had played the harp as sweetly as the Maiden. When she had been a slave in Yunkai, she had played for every highborn family in the city. In Meereen she had become a leader amongst the Yunkish freedmen, their voice in Dany’s councils. “We have no captives but this wineseller?”“None, this one grieves to confess. We beg your pardon.”Mercy, thought Dany. They will have the dragon’s mercy. “Skahaz, I have changed my mind. Question the man sharply.”
Now all she really tells him is, “Question them sharply” or “Bad Cop”. Now if the head of FBI or something gets the green light from the President to question a suspect in a major political incident “sharply”. Then that’s not “authorising torture” if torture is a standard practice with the FBI. At this point, the only thing the President is in the loop for is, the investigation and the answers they are getting. But here’s where her story diverges from the real world where torture is still a standard practice even after the head of states are made aware of it. She later has this conversation with Hizdahr:
“Why should the Sons of the Harpy lay down their knives for you? Are you one of them?”“No.”“Would you tell me if you were?”He laughed. “No.”“The Shavepate has ways of finding the truth.”“I do not doubt that Skahaz would soon have me confessing. A day with him, and I will be one of the Harpy’s Sons. Two days, and I will be the Harpy. Three, and it will turn out I slew your father too, back in the Sunset Kingdoms when I was yet a boy. Then he will impale me on a stake and you can watch me die … but afterward the killings will go on.” Hizdahr leaned closer. “Or you can marry me and let me try to stop them.”
Now here is where she gets an insight into how things really work in Meereen by a Meereenese and from this point onward she instantly stops letting Shavepate lead investigations his way and ignores most of his advice on how to retaliate or deal with hostages or almost anything at all. Like I said, the only storyline where George thoroughly explores the subject of torture and the leader in question actually learns the lesson we are until this day hoping the heads of some of the most successful first world countries would understand. But congratulations on missing the entire point of this story!