On Daenerys’s character development only able to go the way of Evil!Dany.
So I saw a J0nsa (surprise surprise!) post recently that was complaining about how people draw parallels between Jon and Daenerys, especially in Season 1.
The post claimed that Jon and Dany are nothing alike in Season 1 because of their personalities.
Apparently, in Season 1, Dany is a sympathetic character we’re meant to feel sorry for.
Whereas Jon (and Sansa...OF COURSE), are unlikable. Jon is arrogant, thinking himself better than the other boys at The Wall. Sansa too is selfish and absorbed by the idea of becoming Joffrey’s queen.
But then, Jon (and Sansa!) redeem themselves and grow as characters to be kind, humble, sweet, likable. blah blah blah blah blah.
IDK what all the fucking post said but it basically depicted character development in general as being something that can only happen when a character starts off as unlikeable but then later redeems themselves.
However, because Dany started off as a character we were supposed to sympathize with because of her situation, the only way her character can develop from there is to turn evil/a villain. Apparently all that has happened to her has hardened her (slightly true but not in the context they mean) and she can’t be anything more than someone who is bitter and will go mad. \
Just because Dany starts off a victim, doesn’t mean she can only turn into a villain.
This mentality, “logic”, and way of thinking are incredibly dangerous in general and an insult to any and all women who’ve ever been victims in any sense. Sansa herself becomes a victim of Ramsay’s in Season 6. Does this mean she can only turn evil too?? UGH.
And that interpretation of what character development is is actually laughably embarrassing. Like, have the antis never taken a literature class in their entire lives? Do they know people can develop in all kinds of ways from all kinds of events? Dany isn’t even a full adult yet (book or show). Our brains stop developing (can’t think of the right terminology but something like this) when we’re in our mid to late twenties and that’s when we become sort of set in our ways. But even still, people can change if certain things happen to them. This kind of argument is just downright silly.