A little analysis of Daenerys Targaryen and why I’ll love her forever
This is a blog mainly dedicated to Tolkien and so it will alwas be, but you guys know that I also love AS0IAF and Martin wrote some characters that, imo, are on par with Tolkien’s.
One of them is one of my all time favourite female characters ever (second only to Varda, Galadriel and Eowyn), namely Daenerys Targaryen.
Long story short:
I know about G0T (the show) long before I watched it. And even though I knew next to nothing about the story and the characters, I knew that this silver-golden haired girl was the image of the show.
I first watched the show and I loved her since ep 1. I fell in love with the world, so I decided to read the books too. I first borrowed them from a friend, and later, I asked my mother to buy them, so I can reread them.
Dany was just - actually even better. I love Emilia Clarke, I think she did and is doing an excellent job, despite the shitty writing in the last 3 seasons. When I first told my brother that Emilia was 22 or 23 in the first season, he was like “Wtf, I thought she was 18!!!”. She really looks a lot younger than she actually is and this is a big yes from my part. She captured Dany’s youth perfectly.
But now, let’s get to the books.
I’ll first start with what I don’t like, because these things are far less than what I like.
Her young age made me uncomfortable when I first read the books because she is just 13 when she is sold into marriage and she first has sex. She is sexually active later on, at the age of 15. I agree that people who first have sex early in their teen years tend to be sexually active later on, so this aspect of her is not unbelievable. Anyway, apart from Drogo, who was her husband and died, she only has sex with Hizdhar, her second husband, and with Daario, whom she loves. And this is not bad. I only wish George would have made her at least 16 in AG0T, and thus, 17-18 in ADWD. It would have been less problematic.
But this is the only thing I disagree with in her characterization.
I love how despite her harsh life and the abuse she suffered in Viserys’ hands, she was still sweet, polite and kind. Unlike other children in the series, she didn’t have a home and nice parents who would educate her, so her education came mainly from herself. I love how brave she was when she was sold into marriage. She had to cope with this traumatic event in her life, so she decided to learn and grow accustomed to the Dothraki lifestyle. She learned to love Drogo and even though I held to my opinion that her love was a result of the Stockholm syndrome, she really managed to make Drogo love, respect and see her as an equal.
She later lost him and her unborn child, which was, again, a very traumatic event. Despite her youth, she was ready to love and raise her child and still dreamt of having a child even after Mirri told her that she would not bear another living child.
*I HATE YOU ALL THAT WISH HER TO DIE IN CHILDBIRTH. DOES ANY OF YOU HAS THE SLIGHTEST IDEA ABOUT HOW TRAUMATIC CAN AN MISCARRIAGE ON AN ABHORTION BE FOR A WOMAN????
Her khalasar survived in the Red Desert thanks to her. She was the one who had her Dothraki built the defence of the ruined city Vaes Tolorro, so her group can stay safe. At the age of just 14-15, she showed a level of intelligence far above a normal child’s. She later dealt with the merchants and prices in Quarth, mainly on her own. At just 15.
*This is why I always try to paint her as a 15 yo kid (hope I succeed). This child-woman, who most likely still had round chicks and most likely still was gangly and fragile, traveled across a desert and dealt with merchants in a wholly foreign city, in a wholly foreign world.
And later on, She decided to conquer three cities, to build her army and also, to put an end to slavery. Imo there is no purpose more noble than the decision to abolish the slavery. Did her conquest caused havoc in Slaver’s Bay and ruined its economy and trade? Sure. But imo her decision to put an end to slavery just deserves all the praise, no matter what.
Also, the plan to aquire the 8000 Unsullied was hers and only hers. The plan for the Siege of Meereen, the decision to use Groleo’s ship as a siege engine, to break the gates. She may not wield a sword herself, but she commands armies and makes plans and she is just a girl of 15.
Despite the problems that she faces during her rule, she keeps her gentle and mercifull nature and only acts mercilessly when she has no other choice, when she has no other solution left to bring the peace. She also said herself that she was willing to put her people’s wishes above her own and she marries Hizdhar to put an end to the murders of the Sons of the Harpy. Also, when Xaro offered her thirteen ships to take her back to Westeros, she chose not to, fearing that the people she set them free would be put back in chains once she would have left Slavers’ Bay.
Beyond this, her character is just so complex and captiviting. She dreams of having a home because she never knew one, she is also curious to learn more about Westeros and her family. She explores her sexuality when she has her first sexual encounter with Irri (@chaos-of-the-abyss and I agreed that she is bisexual, but heteroromantic). She even felt sorry, fearing that her maid might have felt like she was being used as a bed warmer.
Also, for a child who spent her childhood running from one city to another, she prooved she knew enough history and geography, plus several languages. She spoke Common Tongue, High and bastard Valyrian, she also learned Dothraki and Ghiscari. She was highly intelligent.
She was also kind and funny. She never used her harsh childhood as an excuse for her pettiness or cruelty because she has never been cruel without reason.
She decided to lock her dragons and not use her against her enemies, because she didn’t want to risk the lives of many other innocents.
“A queen must listen to all. The highborn and the low, the strong and the weak, the noble and the venal. One voice may speak you false, but in many there is always truth to be found”
A Storm of Swords, Chapter 8, Daenerys I.
She acknowledges that a ruler must listen.
“Why do the gods make kings and queens, if not to protect the ones who can’t protect themselves?”
A Storm of Swords, Chapter 27, Daenerys III.
And she acknowledges that a ruler must first and foremost protect his people. That a ruler must put his people above himself.
And I stan a hero
ALL👏OF👏THIS👏
