Daeny has always presented herself as benevolent and fair. That’s been the MO from the start of her quest. Her problem has always been her temperament and intolerance. Her death penalty policy was scary to begin with. The more reason she has to be angry, the more she’ll fiend for ashes. Not getting any, no food, insecurity about her popularity with the people, witnessing the execution of her best friend, the death of her friend zone guy, death of her dragon, betrayals, etc. She’s had plenty of reason in this season alone to go crazy. A lot happened at once. That probably has more to do with the shortened season as each of those stressors only got a scene or two each to get established even a little bit. Emilia Clarke had very little screen time to portray her character’s stress and deterioration her benevolence. The war room was not the best setting to foreshadow her turn. Her being more stern and stubborn in the war room is to be expected in there. All we really got was a scowling face after the beheading of her best friend. Daeny’s intolerance grew more powerful than her quest for equality. The end became justifiable no matter the means, and that’s probably gonna kill her. Like a politician promising things during the campaign, yet the actions in office are contradictory.
What I liked: -The action was some of the best of the series -Dany going rogue (in theory) -Tyrion and Jamie's farewell -Dollar store Jack Sparrow vs Jamie (in theory) -Clegane Bowl -Qyburn's death (best in a LONG time, a perfect combination of wtf and lol) -Varys being ultimately proven right -Jamie's bittersweet failed redemption arc What I didn't like: -Dany going rogue (in execution... her motivations not being set up properly... how's about you have the town surrender and a late/unnecessary scorpion bolt kills Rheagal ... then Dany goes HAM) -Dollar store Jack Sparrow vs Jamie (in execution... the fight was kinda lazy and dumb and far too convenient) -Scorpions going from the most deadly weapon on earth to basically useless at the drop of a hat -Jon continuing to be an idiot Mixed feelings: -Arya suddenly "listening" to Sandor and not being part of his conclusion -Golden company not mattering (lolz) -Wtf a horse? -Cersei's end (kind of anticlimactic but I appreciated the reunion with Jamie)
Let me clear: I like the show. Let's put that as a baseline. Otherwise I wouldn't be here talking about it lol. Anyway, most interesting thing about last night's episode is what it says about society. A lot of people in my "watch group" (we don't watch together but we talk about it) and a lot of people on social media are all for Dany still and say "Good, burn them all!" What does it say about society today damn.
Just looking at the earlier comments of why the dragons weren't this effective at any other point, or last week's comments of how the smallish army (with the dragon in the background) didn't look all that threatening and no wonder Cersei didn't surrender on site. Was anybody expecting to go to war that day? Right then/there? Sure, she could have flown from behind and burned them all... but she (and them) weren't expecting to have to do that. One dragon wasn't even battle ready, and ultimately was an easier target because of it. I could buy that her losing a dragon, and not wanting to risk losing her only one left as a reason for her retreating. Again, if any of that was enough to convince an audience that this would be possibly more of a battle than initially expected, the show-runners did what they intended to do.
Agree with all of this. Qyburn's death was great. I think I chuckled out loud for real. On Jamie, the only problem with his arc I have is that he didn't seem to really struggle enough with what was happening. When he said he never cared for the innocents in King's Landing that's weak. We know it's not true because we know why he's the Kingslayer. Still, I'm glad where he ended up. I know a lot of people wanted him to end up redeemed but I'm glad in the end he wasn't a hero. [/QUOTE]
I could see some advocating for a re-boot of society. Its not like King's Landing was some haven of sorts... it was an overcrowded city full of impoverished and desolate. (But no, we shouldn't just eliminate innocents... not advocating for that... just playing devil's advocate that she not only wanted to wipe the slate clean of all enemies, but she also had no singular attachment to the city or people who didn't love her, that was worthy of changing her mind).
Uh, Dany showed plenty of signs over the seasons that she was perfectly willing to kill innocents "for the greater good" (italics mine). She usually had someone rein her in. The problem is, without GRRM's guiding texts, and the last two seasons drastically cut short and all attention concentrated on the money shots, you didn't get time to watch her devolve. And even if you did, the producers, God "bless" their limited attention span, would probably think more signs of madness would give away what she was going to do. Which we mostly expected anyway.
I am going to disagree. This falls on the writers. I know some of you hate hearing about the book readers, but even the casual fan is sorely disappointed once the original source material evaporated. Danaerys has not always been fair and benevolent. Throughout the books, she has become much less tolerant and forgiving of her enemies. The show, whether its the writers or acting, has done a poor job of conveying that. All she does is walk around mumbling "I am Danaerys Targarian, mother of dragons, blah blah blah". I suspect the directors never conveyed that she would become the mad queen until the final season, so she had no chance to build that side of her.
we never actually saw jamie and cersi die. the writers went full walking dead a while ago so at this point i wouldnt be shocked if they survived.
i have to admit, pretty disappointing episode. we got to witness 30 mins of buildings come crashing down. awesome arya went all the way to king's landing to run through the city. golden company and especially its captain were garbage. dany didn't even need an army. Drogon did pretty much everything Tyrion went from the masterful mind to a softy full of endless hope
It says that if it's not them or their family burning, it is alright. There is enough selfishness out there and not enough compassion.
Pyrotechniques make great Television but I see nothing but ashes in terms of emotions.......Jaime and Arya who are trying. In awe of the visuals but nothing else much......
I agree I would have liked to see more development/struggle for ALL characters, but Jamie turned out to be truly in love with Cersei, and that was enough of an explanation for me. Love makes people do crazy/dumb things. His character arc was parts glorious and parts tragic, and that's fine by me.
I like hearing from the book readers! I haven’t read them myself, so it’s cool to see the differences. The key word is “presented” herself as fair and benevolent. In past seasons, Daeny’s war room convos showed her quick trigger finger. But there was always someone to reel her in and convince her to take the more life-efficient approach. For example, Ser Barristan telling her about her father killing innocents when he felt they revolted against him. Ser Jorah was her one constant. Her Jiminy Cricket. He died in her arms. She may have been more tolerant as the series progressed, but that’s because of her council. Her mind always defaulted to the aggressive, intolerant approach. The ones who kept her level-headed are dead. She’s left with enablers Jon and Tyrion. Look what happened. It also didn’t help that when she did show tolerance, bad things happened. And she blamed the council for poor advice. Instead of threatening their position by firing them, Daeny threatens to burn them with fire haha. The girl’s bloodthirsty by nature
You could say her character development was all an Act....she is what she was at the beginning. A slave/lowling trying to rise thru the ranks and kill everyone. She still had that chip on her shoulder the entire time. There was nothing to develop and nothing to descent unto.
