@@seancomyn4610 think they would have been able to keep it up for the whole show, every scene, when they couldn’t even clear out the coffee cups? Lmfao
@@AlexanderRodriguez-lm1qw I can see this. On one hand, the purple-eyed Valyrians would have been unnerving to look at, which works for them in the books because they're supposed to come off as almost inhuman. but, as a show's main POV, it would have made Daenerys less emotionally attached to the audience. Emilia does a lot of silent acting in GOT, where she doesn't say anything but her eyes convey everything Dany is feeling.
@@newportspapi7174 Later on, yes, but probably not in the beginning where the choice was made. The show almost got canceled because the pilot episode was so bad and they lost a lot of money making it and having to remake it
I think with the tech they have now it would have worked but I’m rewatching the series right now, some of the earlier scenes with CGI look bad. It wouldn’t have aged well.
Finally one other ASOIAF youtuber who acknowledges and talks about the influence of modern mythology in the series - so many of them ignore all of it and focus solely on the text.
Every time I see a Daenerys video my heart sinks and I click against my better judgement, ready to get angry. Very nice to be so positively surprised for once
This guy has actually read the books before the show. You can tell most asoiaf youtubers either haven't read the books at all or watched the show first so that's their foundation.
@@seancomyn4610 i read the books for the first time in the 8th grade, just as the show was at its peak (season 4-5). started watching the show at season 6, was very disappointed at the lack of lady stoneheart, proper bloodraven, and faegon
It doesn't matter what the show did with Dany's character or how her story will end in the book, Daenerys Targaryen is my favorite fictional character in literature.
@@alvertharmer6943 It's hard to explain. Just like sometimes you can't explain why a piece of literature moves you, or a certain song, Daenerys was a character that absolutely captivated me from the beginning.
@@alvertharmer6943Don't forget she is very young and never learned how to rule, and how to lead people. She has to learn to trust people, and which ones to trust, because she needs advisors, but not corrupt ones and ambitious ones: selfless ones. And it's a very difficult task, too. She has to learn everything from scratch, and she is intelligent as she constantly learns from her mistakes. Jon learns how to lead warriors to battle, but Daenerys learns how to rule people and improve societies. Much more people depend on her, and the pressure is heavy on such young shoulders. Wich is much more difficult, and takes much more time.
It's the same for me. When I started watching the show everyone was talking about, I felt the show was OK. But nothing extraordinary. Then her character appeared and started to develop from a lonely fearful child, abused, used and sold, to a strong, clever woman. And I liked the show better. Then I read the books because I wanted to know more about the show and especially about her character, and I LOVED IT, and LOVED even more her character.
It's truly a shame how much time and effort George has spent on the least interesting storyline in the entire series. Can't wait to read 10 more pointless conversations with Jizglob zo Balzac in Winds!
@@rapturescorner5964 the Daenerys vs Young Griff, Dance of the Dragons 2.0 is interesting, I am waiting for the new books for it. And the Northern conspiracy is actually boring for me.
@@aelisif you're excited for things that haven't been published yet, which are largely speculative ideas right now. I'm strictly talking about published works. Meereen is a yawn fest!
I believe Aurane Waters has a pretty good sense of Cersei as a person. Specifically, he knows how passionately she hates the Tyrells and resents Marjorie's and Loras's youth and beauty; He also knows she likes the bearers of good news. I think he made up this story about Loras not only dying slowly and painfully, but also horribly disfigured, because he knew it would put him in Cersei's good graces more than any favor he could grant or quality he could possess.
This could definitely be part of it but Kevan also thinks about loras' wounds during the epilogue so either what he said was true in part or his lies have somehow reached the lord-regent's ears as fact, which I doubt.
Not a ASOIF reader but a fan of deep analysis in general. I can tell that you put a lot of genuine work into this and not just chasing views or fame. Good luck on youtube, hope you grow
Loved this so much. Dany is our Queen now and always and we love her. Breaks my heart what the show did to her because she is such a nuanced character and would never burn innocence. She isn’t the mad queen, she is a savior!
Daenerys is the stallion who mounts the world, not Drogon. "Fierce as a storm this prince will be" "As swift as the wind he rides" = "tell khal Drogo he gave me the wind"
Yes, she is definitely the stallion, and I think the Dosh Khaleen already know as well. On a recent reread of A Game of Thrones, I came across this passage: “As swift as the wind he rides, and behind him his khalasar covers the earth, men without number, with arakhs shining in their hands like blades of razor grass. Fierce as a storm this prince will be. His enemies will tremble before him, and their wives will weep tears of blood and rend their flesh in grief. The bells in his hair will sing his coming, and the milk men in the stone tents will fear his name.” *The old woman trembled and looked at Dany almost as if she were afraid.* “The prince is riding, and he shall be the stallion who mounts the world.” It's an ancient prophecy about a prince, yet the old woman is afraid. Her fear likely comes from realizing that the prophecy is actually about Dany, not her son. In the following passage, it seems she must be discussing this with the others: “She heard the old women of the dosh khaleen muttering to each other as they watched, and wondered what they were saying.” The amount of foreshadowing in A Game of Thrones is crazy-it's all right there.
@@user-eo2md6gu8m I love how that line makes it seem like they're afraid of the women "bearing" the stallion, but if you look into it deeper, they're actually afraid OF the woman. Because she is the stallion.
@@3nnik I agree; it’s not until a closer reread that you really notice how she gradually fulfills this role over the course of five books. It also creates a nice parallel with Maester Aemon’s observation that "no one ever looked for a girl." ASOIAF is so steeped in misogyny and patriarchy that the idea of the true prophesied 'stallion' or 'prince' being a girl was never considered. She is, in essence, the subversion of these expectations.
@@user-eo2md6gu8m yesss u just said everything i have to say about dany into words. if only the huge part of the fandom actually understood this lol. but i get it, common sense is lacking these days.
@@3nnik I agree-common sense isn’t so common in this fandom! At this point, they’re just choosing to be dense. Oh well, we won’t be the ones who are disappointed in the end, if there even is one. They love to say that Dany is too obvious, without considering that this might have been GRRM’s intention all along. I mean, this is GRRM we’re talking about. If he wanted the AA/TPTWP to be subtle, he would have structured it like the Stallion Who Mounts the World prophecy.
I don't think Daenerys is ever going to lose a dragon to someone else. Yes, all Targaryen we've seen beside her only bond with one dragons but these Targaryens have never resurrected the dragon they bonded to from stone during a magic ritual. Drogon, Rhaegal and Viserion's hatching is unique, and the bond they have with Daenerys is maternal, not fraternal. All three are bonded to her. I also interpret her dragons as the reincarnations/representations of the three conquerors and all three corresponds to an aspect of herself. Drogon is (Aegon) the conqueror that Daenerys must learn to be, hence why she's at odd with him but must learn to control him. Viserion is (Rhaenys) the lover that she already is and always was, hence why he's the most affectionate with her, and Rhaegal is (Visenya) the protector that she is to the people, hence why Rhaegal always hisses at the people Daenerys meets and doesn't like.
I completely agree! Nothing pisses me off more than when people (including some in this comments section) say Dany will die by the end but then someone else will keep the dragons. It's so incredibly insulting to her character to have someone steal her storyline and achievements, as well as a insult to George's story, when he has so vehemently said (as mentioned in the video) that he purposefully made Daenerys a female heroine to break the standards of male heroes getting all the glory.
@@pedritabs Ikr it is such an insult to her character. Like George RR Martin did not build her up from nothing, have her go through such hardships, pay the price for dragons, just to give everything to a man. It is such an insult. They just want their favourite characters (often male) to have her story arc. It's a shame too because they are great without it.Their love for the favourite characters blinds them to the point they don't pay attention to the structure of the story and the characters role in it. So they try to villainize Dany instead. These individuals also have large followings within the fandom, which only exacerbates the situation.
@@user-eo2md6gu8m Absolutely agree with everything you said! Plus, she, and many other women in the story, is held to an entirely different standard by these people, meanwhile their male counterparts are allowed to course through gray morality, make mistakes and controversial decisions without being villanized like this and accused of "going mad".
I totally agree with ALL OF YOU! Everything ALL OF YOU said, is everything I have felt about Daenerys, the books, the shows and fandom reactions!!! DAENERYS is the best character I have ever encountered before! She is completely different than all the males and females characters of ASOIF. Maybe that is why some fans don't like her: they are taken aback by her. She is not a damsel in distress like most female characters in the books. She is not a conniving, manipulative character like Cersei and Olenna. She is not cruel and selfish like Cersei. She is not a lady that flirts to achieve her goals through men like Maergery. She is not a fighting lady like Arya and Brienne.... And in these people's mind a female character can only have one or all of these traits. Naive, or mean, or selfish, or manipulative. She is neither. She is reagal, but lived in misery and was used and abused. She is strong, but is not a battle worn warrior. She is gentle, but not naive or weak. She is a good strategist, but is not conniving and false. She faces men and gains their loyalty with her inner strength and her clever mind. She was a fearful child, and became a strong leader. What other character achieved all this on her own? What other character has all of these qualities?
And as I have already said on many other discussions. You are right that Daenerys and her dragons are unlike any other Targaryen before her. The birth of her dragons are different from any other. She is bonded to THREE dragons. She is A MOTHER TO THEM. She is the only real, full blooded Targaryen left against the world. She is a conqueror and a queen, but unlike Aegon AND his sisters/wife, she IS ALONE. She is THE THREE HEADED DRAGON all by herself with Drogon, Vyserion, and Rhaegal. They actually don't need anyone else. All four of them could conquer and change the world, but it would take them much longer alone. So an army is always welcome 😅 But yes, she is even more powerful than Aegon The Conqueror who has always been considered the most powerful Targaryen.
Amazing video essay, i like that you treat dany like a complex person with alot of compassion. empathy and heroism, while acknowledging her faults. instead of the blackwashed/ sabotaged charter that david and dan turned her into in the tvshow and gave her good traits to Tyrion. The number of people, even books fans, who fall for tyrions white washed tv show characterisation and and Danys more unlikable more black washed tv characterisation and alow that to color how the view them in the books is astounding.
also the fact that emilia clark asked d&d that she wanted to bring more humanity more warmth to the character ,d&d always refused and told her don't smile just sit striiaght daenaeyrs is not funny
I am so happy not be the only one to notice how in the show they gave Tyrion all the strategies and ideas Daenerys had in the books! In the show they made her appear as a clueless woman lead by a clever hand of the queen! And in the books she is nothing as such.
The bittersweet ending of ASOIAF will be that, for all that has happened in the personal lives of our POV characters, nothing systematic will has changed. “'The common people pray for rain, healthy children, and a summer that never ends,' Ser Jorah told her. 'It is no matter to them if the high lords play their game of thrones, so long as they are left in peace. ' He gave a shrug. 'They never are.‘
It could be argued that Jorah is the betrayal for love because he betrayed her for the love of his home, only when his love for her overshadowed the love for his home did he become truly loyal.
I thought in the same manner as you concerning Dany’s ending. Sacrificing herself for the protection of those she loves seems right, and it could feel bittersweet.
I hope that someday, HBO will remake game of thrones, and this will be its ending: all dragons die in the great war. Decades later, a young king sits on the iron throne and holds a court to hear the progress of rebuilding the Westeros. After that he goes to a chamber, and an old woman stands on the balcony. She turns around - it is the aged Emilia Clark playing the dowager queen Daenerys.
That would be my dream ending. But I wonder where the bitter part would be; perhaps it is her outliving her true loves, family, and friends and living in solitude.
@@fivegingers7329 the bitter sweet part will be she is so lonely in the world - her dragons are all dead, as well as Jon Snow, and everyone accompanied her in her Journey. She is so tired after fighting all her life, and she is ready to leave this world behind to the new generation - the end of the age of heroes, myths, and legends, like Elves leaving the middle earth in the end of Lord of the rings. I still feel that Jon Snow will be the tragic hero, cos he is so righteous, courageous, and uncompromising. He is the copy of ned stark and rhaegar Targaryen. He is too good and pure for this world where everyone is grey.
@@fivegingers7329 and I don’t think that the bitter sweet can work if Jon Snow survive the great war, because all the stark children will survive, so Jon Snow will have all his family around him. Daenerys, on the other, will lose everyone she knows, cos there is no way that dothraki and unsullied can integrate into a peaceful westeros. These legendary warriors will either die in the great war, or so few of them survives and they will go back to essos and becomes the legends of the past.
Nope. Dany dies in TWOW trying to save her Nephew who had married Lady Sansa Stark to remain King of the North ... and had told her that he has no interest in the Throne and he only cares for the North & his wife. GRRM approved the Season 2 House of Undying visions where Dany takes the thorne in winter then dies north of the well. Season 6 was all about setting up Jon to marry Sansa ... revealing Tyrion is Day's bastard Brother ... getting Arya to kill Cersei with her bare hands & Jaime's face ... and ... for Dany to easily take the Throne in winter then die north of the wall ... leaving Tyrion Targaryen with his dragon Viserion to take the Throne for Season 8. But George did not want Season 7 & 8 to spoil TWOW & ADOS ... and so D&D deliberately went crazy with the writing where none of it will be in the books .. including Dany going made queenl, getting it on with her nephew who then kills her. The Azor Ahai is not one person ... but the Three Heads of the Dragon (dany, tyrion, jon). All three take the throne & die but together they save the living from the dead. And Queen Sansa rules the new Westeros Dany, Tyrion & Jon built & saved ... very pregnant with a dragion egg from Viserion. Drogon, Rhaegal & Viserion ... also die ... with their riders.
In Romania we have a legend about a stone mason named Manole who set out to build the most beautiful monastery close to one of our major rivers. Six times he tried, six times his work came tumbling down during the night. He was told (by whom, I do not remember) that the only way for this project to work is if he sacrifices his wife by walling her into the masonry. (In other versions, he's supposed to do this to any female that 1st brings food to the construction crew. It happens to be his wife.). And in this story, the sacrifice isn't even willing on the woman's part, with her weeping and wailing while the wall goes up around her. Compared to this, Azor Ahai's case is not anything to be indignant about, given the whole "her love and her courage went into the steel" aspect. Problem is, he's a hero in the classical, tragic sense, not the modern, moralizing, "everything's going to be mostly ok" sense, and people don't bother making the distinction.
@@KaiHung-wv3ul Indeed it does. The story has variations all over Europe, so I wouldn't be surprised if it actually is the inspiration for what old Bran pulled off.
@@KaiHung-wv3ul And there's also a historical parallel with the Black Dinner in Scotland from whence the Red Wedding is derived: A king named Alexander, who sat the Moldavian throne with backing from Poland and the Ottomans, being a sort of protectorate at the time, gets deposed, then reinstated following a brief interlude. He calls all the nobles who had sided with the usurper (called The Despot, bc he was that bad, apparently) to a feast, promising amnesty and such. He has them all slaughtered as they eat and piles their heads into a pyramid. This in 1564.
Her end story is hinted in the house of the undying where the end point of her prophesied journey is her giving her fire (life) to the heart of winter for her children (people) to survive and drogon beside her burning the others who hungers to feed on dany’s fire and sacrifice is a major theme that she goes through since the first chapter and her end based on the undying names is to be “The Mother “ not the mother of dragons
Damn Chris ! I think your channel is one of my best discoveries this year. Your HotD breakdowns were so welcome each week, your series on Targaryen kings is brilliant (Viserys II, one of the best !) but this - this tops everything. This the best analysis I've seen about Dany and the future of the story. D&D butchered our queen but I believe we'll find again the sense of awe and glory she so often sparked off in the novels. She is destined to great things but I fear her suffering will be too.
I've alaways thought Dany's ending might be her sacrificing herself by flying on drogon into the heart of winter in the northest North in a suicide mission, but that might be TOO heroic.
If GRRM made Dany die like a reborn Nissa Nissa to facilitate Jon being Azor Ahai reborn, I'd genuinely burn all my ASOIAF books. I don't think he will since he's written the entire series with the underlying message of the subversion of the male-centred fantasy epic but sometimes I get nervous since so many people try and argue Jon being the main hero after GOT. Another woman dying to service a man's plotline is not what this series has promised - Dany is the one who will end the long night!! Personally I hope Jon is the new Night's King or something but I guess them doing it together isn't an awful prospect
Your video is incredible, I had never considered Daenarys to be the third of the Targaryen dynasty. I believe that Dany will die along with her dragons, if the white walkers die in that war there will be no more magic, Dany'll have finished her mission 🥹🥹🥹 But at least she won't be the HBO's Nazi Leader she will be the hero the Leader of that Dragon trinity
But there is still magic with the children of the forest, the green seers, the three eyed raven, the Whall.... There was magic before Drogon, Vyserion and Rhaegal's birth. Magic is just more potent since their birth. So it will not disappear at their death
But doesn’t this basically confirm that Faegon is a Blackfyre or at least not who he says he is. Since Martyn wanted Dany to be the Targaryen hero of this story, not her son or brothers, so wouldn’t adding Faegon to the story kinda go against that
I was watching your other videos so hyped for this one so imagine my surprise when I was watching the Westeros video when I saw this the first five seconds. I thought this was another video when I saw the thumbnail in the end but once I realized it I was like "YESSSS. YESSSS" Also the Danu connection instantly took me back to LML
I think Dany and Drogon will end up Asshai. Doing what...I don't know. If we go by the idea that the original dragon riders are from Asshai, then it makes sense for Dany to go there to seek whatever truth Quaithe was talking about. Maybe she'll become the new Quaithe guarding Targaryens from afar. I dunno. I still don't see how Bran will be 'King'. An important player, maybe, but nobody is going to make him King. Maybe he'll just achieve what the weirwood net and old gods want....which I have no clue.
I can't say how much I love this video. Dany is one of the most epic female characters ever written. If she dies, she should die a heroic death, or there is no hope in the world. Also, in a minority, I believe Tyrion is a Targaryen. I think he is the son of the Mad King. That is why Tywin hates him so much. "You are no son of mine!" Tyrion has an affinity for dragons. The dragon skeletons in the Red Keep include smaller, stunted dragons at the end of the line. He uses fire to win a battle. And I quote from Jon's second chapter in AGOT: "When he opened the door, the light from within threw his shadow clear across the yard, and just for a moment Tyrion Lannister stood tall as a king." Drogon for Dany, Reaghal for Jon, Viseryon for Tyrion. The poetic logic demands Dany to die saving the world, Drogon melting the Iron Throne, and the Seven Kingdoms to spli once again. The Iron Throne is a symbol of the evil that power brings upon the powerful. Those who sit on it become mad, corrupted or cursed with bad luck. So Dany will never win the Iron Throne. It was forged by dragon fire, and it must be destroyed by dragon fire, probably on Dany's orders. The whole point is breaking the Wheel, and that cannot be done if, after all the sound and fury, the status quo remains the same. But that is poetic logic and my own fanfiction. I have no idea what Mr. Martin will do.🙂
except thats just fan fiction...I can't help but ask you to stop pretending otherwise. George won't even GO to their writing rooms when he's in the area.
@@Trathien- @MagicSecretsandMysteries the Targeryan's were to be regarded closer to gods than men as fire and blood explains in great detail. Laws were changed, famous septons and septa's were sent all over the realm to make proclamation's to the small folk to convince them that their family incest should and would be allowed in westeros as they were not first men, roynar nor andals but a race and a people from an entirely different culture.
can we talk about how weird it is that theres so much fanart and official art sexualising a 13 year old Dany and the fact that her sex scenes as a 13 year old in the books are essentially CP?
I think the bittersweetness will be the definitive extinction of dragons and magic. Rationally, they are too dangerous and the world would never be safe with them around. But, as it's a fantasy series, the death of the fantastic is always a bit sad.
I wonder - how many of us dreamers have been caught up in the web of one GRRM? I for one, have enjoyed this perspective and I am appreciative of your efforts to renew my imagination.
I have a theory we know that Daemon blackfyre was in love with the second Denarys and that’s one reason he started the rebellion against Daeron ii if Aegon is a blackfyre he could start a war against danys husband a war for love so that could explain the betrayed for love prophecy
I think that Daenerys is Azor Ahai. I think there’s no question about it honestly. Also, I don’t believe Daenerys will ever have children. I think she’ll be pregnant but die. She is the LAST dragon. Her dreams say as much in A Game of Thrones.
