Team Targaryen as Agents of Anti-Slavery Revolution
One of my goals in my re-read project is to display how Team Targaryen’s goals actively align with Dany’s own goals, especially in her political storyline and, more particularly, how they themselves take upon the mantle of anti-slavery and act as anti-slavery agents a result.
In this thread, my hope is to disprove the idea that Dany is acting in this revolution on her own, or that she’s imposing her will upon people who “don’t need/want it”, or that she’s incapable of being a nation-builder, or that she doesn’t empower Essosi freedmen to act on their own political goals. It is further my hope to showcase how Dany’s closest people have an ideology that align with hers.
*I will not include Jorah Mormont in this because he is a slaver, and I do not consider his loyalty to Daenerys to be genuine, as it is borne out of sexualization and his desire to groom and gaslight her.
**I am aware that GRRM has fucked up in his characterization of various Essosi characters. He’s a racist and an orientalist. Please don’t jump onto this post with “but XYZ!!!!!!” because I already know, and I’m South Asian, so I don’t need anyone to harangue me about something that has a real/material impact on my life beyond fictional character discourse, thanks!
***I will not include Dany VII AGOT, in which Dany attempts to save the Lhazareen women from Drogo’s Khalasar, because neither do her people align with her mindset at that point, nor do Dany or her people have actual power to stop oppression early on in her arc.
****This is a thread that I will be adding on to as I move along in my reread project, so please don’t add on to it! I know there are many moments that display what I’m talking about, but I’d like to draw them out myself with my own commentary.
So without further ado, we begin with Dany III ASOS.
Then the Plaza of Punishment blew apart into blood and chaos. The Good Masters were shrieking, stumbling, shoving one another aside and tripping over the fringes of their tokars in their haste. Drogon flew almost lazily at Kraznys, black wings beating. As he gave the slaver another taste of fire, Irri and Jhiqui unchained Viserion and Rhaegal, and suddenly there were three dragons in the air. When Dany turned to look, a third of Astapor’s proud demon-horned warriors were fighting to stay atop their terrified mounts, and another third were fleeing in a bright blaze of shiny copper. One man kept his saddle long enough to draw a sword, but Jhogo’s whip coiled about his neck and cut off his shout. Another lost a hand to Rakharo’s arakh and rode off reeling and spurting blood. Aggo sat calmly notching arrows to his bowstring and sending them at tokars. Silver, gold, or plain, he cared nothing for the fringe. Strong Belwas had his arakh out as well, and he spun it as he charged.
“Spears!” Dany heard one Astapori shout. It was Grazdan, old Grazdan in his tokar heavy with pearls. “Unsullied! Defend us, stop them, defend your masters! Spears! Swords!”
When Rakharo put an arrow through his mouth, the slaves holding his sedan chair broke and ran, dumping him unceremoniously on the ground. The old man crawled to the first rank of eunuchs, his blood pooling on the bricks. The Unsullied did not so much as look down to watch him die. Rank on rank on rank, they stood.
And did not move. The gods have heard my prayer.
“Unsullied!” Dany galloped before them, her silver-gold braid flying behind her, her bell chiming with every stride. “Slay the Good Masters, slay the soldiers, slay every man who wears a tokar or holds a whip, but harm no child under twelve, and strike the chains off every slave you see.” She raised the harpy’s fingers in the air … and then she flung the scourge aside. “Freedom!” she sang out. “Dracarys! Dracarys!”
“Dracarys!” they shouted back, the sweetest word she’d ever heard. “Dracarys! Dracarys!” And all around them slavers ran and sobbed and begged and died, and the dusty air was filled with spears and fire.
Let’s note the actors in this scene, and their various forms of agency.
Irri and Jhiqui, both survivors of sex slavery and rape, unchain Viserion and Rhaegal of their own volition. Dany did not tell them to do so, or nonverbally prompt them. Instead, Irri and Jhiqui clearly take their cue from Dany whipping Kraznys in the face and then telling Drogon to burn him. So we have two girls, both Dany’s age, with the same connection to sex slavery, who previously tried to normalize the pillaging of the Lhazareen village to Dany, who take ownership in this moment, who act as autonomous agents aligned with Dany’s goals, by unchaining Dany’s other two dragons. Note that there was no need for them to do so because Drogon on his own would have sufficed, and in fact most of the killing in this scene is actually done by the Unsullied or Dany’s bloodriders. I see this unchaining of Rhaegal and Viserion as Irri and Jhiqui taking ownership in the moment as well and being active participants in Dany’s initiation of a revolution. This is important, because the sight of three dragons in the air terrifies the slavers. But it wasn’t Dany who ordered Irri and Jhiqui to unchain them, it was their own decision to do so. They aren’t scared little girls standing helplessly on the sidelines and just watching as their Queen and as men kill; they’re actively participating in this revolution.
Jhogo, Aggo, and Rakharo are incredibly calm in this moment as they kill and fight slavers. Note again that while all three also tried to normalize the pillaging of the Lhazareen village, in this moment they are actively participating in a slave revolt as well. I find it incredibly significant that we have Dothraki bloodriders being agents of ANTI-slavery revolution, despite the fact that young Dothraki men like Jhogo, Aggo, and Rakharo are raised to normalize the Dothraki practice of slavery and pillaging. Like Irri and Jhiqui, and like Dany herself, their attitudes and mentalities have clearly evolved and developed. We even saw that back in AGOT, when before Dany birthed her dragons these three refused to be Dany’s bloodriders, but after she birthed her dragons and came out of the funeral pyre unhurt, they were the first to declare their loyalty to her. Moreover, their actions in this scene are important because they are cutting off slaver sources of regrouping. Jhogo prevents a slaver from grabbing his sword, Rakharo is the one who kills Grazdan, one of the main Astapori slavers present!, and Aggo is aiming his arrows at one of the material symbols of slavery itself: the tokars. So again, instead of standing by the wayside as the Unsullied do all the fighting or leaving the fight to the dragons, or perhaps Jorah or Belwas, these three young men are taking up the charge as well, calmly and swiftly killing slavers and and preventing them from re-taking charge of the situation or running to get more support.
Strong Belwas is a former slave who fought in the fighting pits of Meereen (!). And yet, in spite of all his glories won in the pits (which are also a symbol of slavery), he’s taking up arms AGAINST slavers, on his own volition. He is here to help Dany on the orders of Illyrio, yes, but he wasn’t told to help with a slave rebellion. This is Strong Belwas taking charge on his own and acting autonomously in this moment, making his own decision to help out.
And of course, the Unsullied display their autonomy by (1) not moving when the slavers ask them to help, (2) killing slavers, and (3) echoing Dany’s cries of freedom and dracarys.
So we have Irri, Jhiqui, Strong Belwas, and the Unsullied, all slaves/former slaves, taking charge in this moment and actively empowering themselves and other slaves by helping to kill slaveowners. We have Dothraki bloodriders going against the tradition they were taught to internalize by actively aiding this slave revolt and targeting their killing precisely and calmly (which also goes against the stereotype that Dothraki men are savage and mindless killers). They didn’t wait on the dragons to fight and kill slavers. Dany’s people didn’t wait on the Unsullied to fight and kill slavers either, and this was before they got confirmation that the Unsullied wouldn’t kill them! So like Dany, they showed bravery in this very moment by aligning themselves with her goals and actively empowering this slave revolt.
Hence we have had freedmen/former slaves fighting this slave rebellion from the start. Not only with the Unsullied, a former slave army helping to empower slaves and kill slavers, but with Dany’s people as well. They make active and conscious decisions in this moment to fall on the side of anti-slavery, to aid in Dany’s anti-slavery crusade, to decide that they will put their own lives at risk instead of waiting around for help or confirmation of their safety, and thus this showcases that Dany’s people evolve in their mindsets and mentalities as much as Dany herself does.
