Hey guys, Pete here. Today's Game of Thrones Season eight bonus video will
discuss Daenerys Targaryen and her story. after episode 4 of season 8 put Daenerys
in a really tough spot I spent my spare time this week reading about her trying
to make sense of where she's headed I've been guessing that she would die
since before the season started primarily because I didn't think George
RR Martin was writing a story about getting the "right" monarch on the throne
at the end beyond that it was hard to figure out how things might unfold and
now's the time to dig a little deeper let's jump in. so who is Daenerys
Targaryen and what is her story is she a hero is she a villain or she a really
good example of one of those gray characters that we've all heard so much
about when people discuss George RR Martin's writing I believe she's clearly
the gray character that's what makes her a great character, but it also makes
things complicated. as far as it goes I've never been a fan of the mad queen
Daenerys theories, but after the last episode it starts to look like a real
possibility I will walk you through my thinking about her story to get us all
on the same page, or not, and then we can decide if we like what George RR Martin
has cooked up. at this point that's why i'm here finding out the endings for the
characters that he told the showrunners about but we'll also look at if they set
things up properly in the show so that it feels right when we find out Daenerys
is one of those characters that have people who really love her and people
who actually hate her and most of the discussions I see about her escalate
quickly her fans point out that she's held to a different standard than other
characters which objectively I believe is true it seems as if people who don't
like Daenerys jump on every little thing that she does while overlooking the same
behavior and other character but people who like her probably have some blind
spots as well I'll address this as we go but wanted to bring it up and let you
know that I'm not a Daenerys hater she's not my favorite player in the game but I
do root for her I've also been hoping against hope that her journey doesn't
involve a trip to the dark side for what it's worth I won't retell Daenerys this
whole story in this video but there are very good reasons to like her as a
character her story has a hard beginning forced to live on the run hiding because
she will always be a threat to the person that sits on the Iron Throne if
she's still alive she's used as a pawn and married off into a culture she knows
nothing about to a man she doesn't know also that her brother can get an army in
return she makes the best of that situation only to lose everything anyway
after she loses her husband and their unborn child she does something truly
miraculous she emerges unburnt from a funeral pyre with three living dragons
this sets off an inspiring journey where she continually draws followers to her
in this period we see that she has good intentions sure she has an end goal of
returning to Westeros to take back the throne but she spends a good deal of
time fighting against the institution of slavery in the east this turns out to be
a perfect setup because slavers aren't sympathetic character even though her
execution isn't without problems she's definitely on the right side of things
trying to improve the lives of other human beings and who doesn't like a
breaker of chains she also gives a moving speech to Tyrion where she talks
about wanting to break the wheel this sounds great at the time because we've
seen that the current system that's in place in Westeros could use some braking
when she gets to Westeros Daenerys sets aside her ambitions to take her army
north to fight against the army of the Dead and no one really seems to give her
much credit for it presently in the story she's lost just about everything
as a result of making that decision and there's much more to like about Daenerys
but the point is if you join Team Daenerys and want to see her realize her
best intentions for the world that clearly makes sense she's inspiring
possibly even empowering and especially when compared to other characters in the
story in positions of power she appears to have a leg up in the caring about
humanity Department in light of all the good things that Daenerys has done why
have some people been saying that she would turn into a mad queen or a villain
for such a long time it's not a new idea and even though I never jumped onboard
that I can't remember a time when people weren't throwing this out there as a
possible end game for Dany's story are people just haters that are holding her
to a different standard because she's a powerful woman I mean there is some of
that going on but I believe there's more baked into her story as a good fictional
character Daenerys has some troubling things about her to balance out her good
intentions for one having never been to Westeros she believes that she would be
its best possible ruler on account of her birthright based on what I've seen
on the Internet this really seems to rub some people the wrong way
and makes them view her as entitled personally I tend to look at this as a
problem with the system that Daenerys inherited as I brought up she tells
Tyrion that she wants to break the wheel and at the time that sounds great but as
things progressed we realized that her ancestor Aegon Targaryen created that
wheel when he conquered Westeros to become the king when she talks about
breaking the wheel she isn't talking about replacing the system that her
family put in place she's talking more about removing the spokes that are the
other families jockeying for power and in essence taking a tighter grip on the
wheel itself that's actually troubling rather than inspiring regardless of its
based on good intentions or not the proverb that absolute power corrupts
absolutely comes to mind here because that's what it's about a person's moral
sense diminishes as their power increases the other thing working
against Daenerys is her dragons in a world where no one else has this type of
weapon even having one like she does at this point in the story is problematic
the main reason I'm making this video is that there's a real chance she might
burn down King's Landing and kill a bunch of innocent people that people
fear her because she has drug on and they should when things don't go her way
she can always resort to the nuclear option and that's dangerous for anyone
who opposes her for me these are the big reasons I never thought her sitting on
the Iron Throne was the ending that was coming
I defaulted to her dying in an act of sacrifice but George RR Martin may have
had a different plan all along we're supposed to like Daenerys for the good
she's done but I don't believe we should be rooting for her
become the absolute ruler of Westeros even if she was the best leader that
there has ever been she wouldn't live forever and we've seen in Westeros as
history that things can go bad quickly when the wrong person sits on the throne
this has to be in the back of the mind of the guy who wrote this story in my
opinion based on the fact that we've seen Moore's over this throne and we've
seen people do unspeakable things in pursuit of it that has to be in the back
of our mind that maybe the throne is the actual problem maybe the idea of the
throne itself and the way it corrupts people is something that we should
really be concerned about and and even if we really like a character maybe it's
not a great idea for anyone to sit on that throne so there's good things about
Daenerys and she has problems built in after episode four we saw that she has
basically lost everything and she's holding on to her claim to the throne
like it's all she has left as viewers I think we all realized that her heart is
in the right place that she's doing things coming from a place of good
intentions but we can also see that it looks like she's past the point of no
return when it comes to the throne based on the string of unfortunate events that
season 8 has laid in front of her it's a tragic situation and there really isn't
any other way to view it in the show she's facing a decision against a
formidable foe Cersei has set things up in a way the Dany is damned if she
attacks King's Landing and we think in her mind she believes she's damned if
she doesn't since I've never had high hopes of her becoming the ruler of
Westeros at the end it's not completely unthinkable to me that she might turn
and give in to her darkest impulses here still I have been resistant to this idea
so the question is has that properly been set up considering I just made a
video a few days ago where I said I didn't think she would go mad Queen I
guess you could say for me I don't think so at the same time people have had this
idea for a long time so there is some groundwork for it it doesn't come out of
the blue after taking a look at this throughout
the week I think it comes down to how you interpret the clues in the books
anyway based on how you feel about Daenerys it could go either way her
worrying about becoming like her father could be an indication that she won't do
that she won't go down that path or it could be there to let us know that it's
possible the Targaryen line is filled with incestuous marriages and there are
complications that come along with that I think most book readers agree that
she'll probably burn down King's Landing under different circumstances but
there's a difference in that idea because there would be a chance for her
to learn from that mistake and turn things around in the show the potential
burning of King's Landing is tied in with her endgame directly and it makes
me wonder if they set up a dark turn in the show properly for me as a viewer and
a fan the one real criticism I have of the last two seasons of Game of Thrones
is that too much happens off screen that leaves us scrambling to make sense of
the events we see happen it just feels rushed it's felt that way
since they shortened the seasons and and I don't think that you can overlook that
if you've been a fan of the show since the beginning
technically the seeds have been planted for her quest for the throne to go badly
there are several examples of times when she threatens to destroy her enemies if
they get in her way in season six she told Tyrion that she would crucify the
master set their fleets of fire kill every last one of their soldiers and
return their cities to the dirt of course Tyrion talks are out of it and we
don't really care that much since they're slavers but this is just one
example of many because she is a grey character most of us overlook these
impulses in favor of the good that she'd done when I go back and look at it I see
these things are there but what I see in folding in front of me in season 8 still
feels abrupt I'm just a fan not a TV critic and I believe everyone deserves
to have their own experience when it comes to watching something they care
about I'll leave it up to you to decide if you think they've laid the groundwork
necessary and say that if you didn't see it coming I understand that however
let's not forget that we're watching the show that featured the guy we thought
was the hero in the first season and also gave us the
red wedding in conclusion Daenerys is a very gray
character that has always had a problematic if not tragic trajectory the
thing that she's after may be her undoing and that's a sad proposition in
light of the good that she's done since this story is probably not about
restoring the rightful monarch to rule over Westeros
there's always probably been something else planned for her this may not be
what you were hoping for but it doesn't make it a bad story either
even if she turns into the mad queen and loses it under the weight of everything
that she's lost she is much more than a mad Queen and always will be she's made
her mark at the very least I think she would deserve a place in the history
books as the Targaryen who could have conquered Westeros but instead made the
right decision to help save humanity from the existential threat of the white
Walkers am I saying there's no way things can turn around through Daenerys of
course not I don't know how it's going to end I just feel like however we got
here it feels like we're at her end that leads me to question what it is she's
been doing how we're supposed to feel about that and it makes it a lot harder
to see any sort of happy ending coming about in the end of her story if she
dies let's hope the good thing she's done are not forgotten and if she
descends into madness let's observe that as the tragedy that it is no matter what
happens I think we can all agree that she's a fantastic character and for that
I'll reserve judgment until after I see how her story ends before I decide how I
feel about it I have faith in George RR Martin's
writing so I think it will make sense in the end but what do you think let me
know how you feel about the character how you think her story will end how you
feel about what she's been through what she's done do you think she gets a bad
rap from fans it's funny because I don't think John will sit on the throne either
so I never really take a side in that argument that seems to go on forever I
don't think there is a right marnik so John fans hate that when I say that he
won't sit on the throne and Daenerys fans hate when I say that I don't think
Daenerys will sit on the throne but it's not really about the characters
it's about the throne itself and don't you see that as a problem let me know in
the comments what you think please like the video if you enjoyed it please
subscribe to my channel if you haven't already we've only got two more weeks
really excited to see what's gonna happen I don't know how I feel about any
of it but it is going to happen so let's watch
it together thanks for watching I will talk to you soon