Game of Thrones, Season 8 (spoilers allowed)

I thought it was a weird moment, too. She could have just flown up and killed Cersei. Instead, she burns the entire city. Had she seen Grey Worm fall or something like that, I could see that being the point she snaps totally. But as it is, all that happened was she looked at a building.

 

Albert Burneko came up with what I think is a much better way to get to Mad Queen than the one D&D came up with.

https://theconcourse.deadspin.com/a-better-way-game-of-thrones-could-have-arrived-at-this-1834720538

 

Oh, hell, she was ready to go back and burn the cities of Slavers Bay when she found out the slavers had taken back over there. Not the slavers, the cities. This ain’t sudden.

 

What examples do we have of Dany being murderous just to be murderous?

 

That seems very derivative of...dammit, I can't quite place the story. But basically the good side wins, is all prepared to be magnanimous, and then a loved one -- in this case, the dragon -- is killed by an enemy who won't surrender, prompting the end of the truce and the lashing out. What damn movie was that?

 

I'm not sure there is one, but there are times she might have been more murderous than was necessary. For example, she didn't have to burn the Randyll and Dickon Tarly, but she decided to make an example of men who wouldn't bend the knee.

Of course, what she did in last night's episode is far worse than anything we've seen from Dany in the past. Though we saw seeds of it coming, that was a turn for the character. As I suggested earlier, it is a turn that seems to be based on losses that not only stripped her of one of her "children" and two people she loved, but also challenged her actual identity.

 

You Might’ve Missed This Character Trying to Poison Dany on Last Night’s Game of Thrones

I completely forgot to bring up the idea that Varys didn't just talk treason. He actually tried to have Dany poisoned.

 

How about: "What would you sacrifice for the thing you most want?"

For Eddard, it was his honor, and he sacrificed his life for it.
For Dany, it was the Iron Throne, and she sacrificed her morality for it.

 

I've only watched this season, but regardless of character development or arch or whatever, it seems beyond insane to level a city that you hope to rule after you've already won the war. There were lots of ways for her to rule by fear without killing everybody. She has a dragon. She could have killed the soldiers in red capes if she wanted to appear wobbly. She didn't have to kill a bunch of civilians.

And as far as the "mad" storyline... wouldn't it have been cooler if she'd become Queen, sat on the big metal throne, and then the show ends with her very obviously about to be the worst ruler yet? And then we see some hint of a future rival, and we're about to do it all over again? Same as it ever was is a pretty powerful message when you're talking about power itself.

 

She's looking to rule over more than just this city, so the message is being sent to the rest of the Seven Kingdoms, not just the people of King's Landing. But I agree she could've done it without killing the civilians, but that was part of her message: Seek comfort in her enemies and you become her enemy.

And I still think there's a chance we see her sitting on the throne at the end of next week, madness and all.

 

I think the show will almost certainly end with some hint of the next rival to the throne.... Its as if the entire message is Dany said she was gonna break the wheel but she’s just another spoke in it.

 

Right, I get that. I just think there's something cooler about the true madness not being revealed until the very end. Now we know already that she's bonkers and so does everybody else. I'm assuming someone tries to kill her next week to save the world from her tyranny, but if they succeed, that seems like a happier ending than this show is meant to have. I would rather the throne itself be the thing that makes her snap.

Again, I say this as someone with only a cursory knowledge of everything. But tactically, what she did last night still makes no sense to me. There are ways to rule by fear that don't involve burning your future capital (?) to the ground.