In defense of Daenerys’ spiral into madness
I see a lot of people upset and disappointed in Daenerys’ ending last night not because they stan her blindly and want her to be the badass queen, but (rightfully) because they believe this sets a dangerous, mysoginystic precedent that teaches us no woman can be powerful or strive to be powerful without it blowing up in her face. It kind of reads as a cautionary tale that says women in places of absolute power, of agency and control, will eventually go insane because well, they’re women. I have also read it interpreted as saying that the only possible ending for a woman who has been abused, raped, sold into slavery, and tossed to the side is for her to go insane. Because trauma damages the inherent worth of women, apparently.
these are all valid concerns, because d&d are not known for being the most capable writers and to be honest, this ending WAS tinged with mysoginy and poorly executed. but if these concerns are true for you, then yall should turn to Sansa Stark.
Sansa is the proof that this show doesn’t always shit on women. If you really think in this show a woman that’s been through hell and back is cursed by the writers to have a trauma porn ending, then look at Sansa and realize that SHE is the direct parallel to Daenerys, with a completely opposite outcome.
and married against her will
She has been beaten and sold off like cattle
And yet, she has come out the other end a good person, a brilliant strategist and a dedicated Queen. She vows to always defend her people, and she has shown resilience at every turn of the story.
She hasn’t come out unscathed, but she is proof women who are traumatized do not always become evil, or go insane or start abusing their power.
She has a lot of power, as Lady of Winterfell, as the last hope for the North, as the link with the Tullys of her family. She used to be a spoiled child who dreamt of becoming Queen, but now that she’s seen what power can do to people she no longer wishes to be Queen for the sake of being Queen. She wants to be the leader of her House, and to protect the people that have pledged to defend her and her family because that’s what a kind leader does. She’s stared cruelty dead in the face and has chosen to respond “I will answer cruelty with mercy.”
If that means becoming Queen, then so be it. She doesn’t claim to be the leader all people want and cheer, she just wants to see justice be served and keep the North safe.
Want more examples of women not getting corrupted by their past? Take a look at Arya.
All these, powerful women that have suffered at the expense of men and of other people who wish to see them fail. All with similar backgrounds to Daenerys’. And yet, they have not turned out to be mad. Because power IS corruptible, specially when it’s the only end and the only mean you seek. Which is what Daenerys did.
But do not pretend that her ending was something made purely out of spite and hatred for powerful women, because it isn’t. Daenerys had a lot of opportunities to turn the other way, to realize with great power such as the one the dragons gave her, you need to be held accountable and you need to be responsible for that power. D&D are not the great writers they believe by any means, and all the female characters have suffered at their expense because they do not know or do not care about how to write women. But not everything is black and white, and some of the most important and iconic characters in the show ARE women. Women who do not go fucking batshit crazy when things have not gone the way they planned.
So yeah, if you’re angry about Daenerys’ ending, that’s valid and you are allowed to grieve the characters you love. But you need to face the truth and accept that not everything you don’t agree with about a story comes from a place of bigotry or mysoginy. Daenerys was always going to end up like her father. Not because she’s a woman with power, but because she only cared about the power her name brought her, and what that could get her. Delusions of grandeur always come at great expense. If you want to turn this mysoginystic views around, then support Sansa Stark, and support Arya and their ending, because they are strong women who will live to see the end of the game of thrones.
2087
gummygunk
stormborns
snowghoul
blakekathryn
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