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Shaunodon said:



(Anyone not bothered/perplexed by Daenerys's sudden character direction, feel free to ignore all this please. Sorry it's so long)

So while watching a GoT video completely unrelated to Daenerys, this scene decided to pop up in the compilation. As I'm pretty sure I mentioned before, there's several examples all throughout the series of Dany showing slips in her mental stability, but this scene (from season 2) felt like a very powerful one.

Her themes are very consistent with what's been shown lately:

  • Obssession with regaining her 'birthright' of the Iron Throne, being the 'rightful' queen, her "take what's mine" attitude
  • Her general sense of entitlement
  • Fascination and total belief in her own destiny and it's story, as quoted by Varys and further talked about between him and Tyrion in the last episode
  • Impatient and demanding attitude, thinking everyone should be serving her when she deems necessary as their Queen. Just like not allowing the Northern troops any time to rest, and the impatience that she can't wait any longer to reclaim her 'birthright' (even knowing by this point that it's not hers), even mentioning how Cersei can "still call herself Queen" (enraged by someone else having "what's mine")
  • The (not so) subtle threat at the end of this scene, that she'll do whatever, and spill however much blood necessary to get "what's mine"

Let's not try and pretend they haven't thought this out from the very beginning. Those points don't even mention:

  • Character acting --erratic changes in facial expression
  • Camera shots --her speaking from a lower position both metaphorically and literally, then later trying to rise up the steps to intimidate and speak down to him, even though she's still in a lower position (metaphorically and physically)
  • Soundtrack --once her demeanor changes and she walks up to The Spice King, a heavy tune suddnely starts filling the background, giving an uneasy feeling that something dark is starting to rise beneath the surface

What's great about this, is that it's easy to believe when you're first watching that she's just a young girl who we sympathise with, and after what she's been through still trying to learn the ways of the world and mature into a good leader. People innevitably get behind her as she manages to keep creating miracles, meanwhile also freeing a lot of people along the way and being seen as their saviour, vindicating her self-righteous personality and making us see her as a force for good.
Yet when you actually go back knowing all that we do now and having seen her character evolve, her true nature comes into stark contrast. Even though she may genuinely want to be a force of good, those thoughts quickly become irrelevant when it comes to what her heart truly desires.

I came here to say something similar. GoT/ASOIAF has always had morally grey characters and Dany is no exception.

In hindsight, Dany has always been this way, it's just we're now seeing her wrath being aimed at people we have also been conditioned to care about and without her adoring entourage reinforcing her own perspective.