"The Targaryens have always danced too close to madness. King Jaehaerys once told me that madness and greatness are two sides of the same coin. Every time a Targaryen is born, the gods toss a coin in the air and the world holds its breath to see how it will land."
Barristan Selmy, A Storm of Swords
I haven’t read the A Song of Ice and Fire books, so the Daenerys I know is the one the show has presented to us, but Selmy’s quote is still instructive. It seems like Daenerys’ coin has been spinning on its axis ever since her brother died and left her to carry on the Targaryen name by herself. Considering her family’s history, it’s a heavy cross to bear, and Daenerys has been struggling with the weight more and more.
Daenerys’ Season 1 arc was that of a true-blue hero. A timid girl under the thumb of an abusive, overpowering brother, she frees herself of his hold and becomes what he couldn’t: a leader, a conqueror, a ruler. While Daenerys still has the makings of a queen, she’s got the makings of a madwoman, too. She started off as a compassionate sort of ruler, but we’ve seen her turn over the years into a conqueror willing to sacrifice anyone and anything if it will help her achieve her goals. As her power grows, so does her thirst for more.
The growth of her dragons and the evolution of her power might seem on the surface like parts of a typical hero’s journey, but a running theme throughout Game of Thrones is that those who seek power shouldn’t have it (see Cersei, Euron, and the Boltons). Possession of power does not inherently make one a good leader—it’s the discipline and control of power that does it.
Think about Robert Baratheon, who sought power without understanding the responsibilities that would come with it. He ended up being a slothful, careless king who left chaos in his wake. Or think of Viserys and Joffrey, both of whom felt entitled to power and both of whom shrieked “I am the king!” as if the title were some foolproof armor that allowed them to do as they liked without explanation, justification, or reason. Joffrey used what power he was allowed to exercise for evil, and although Viserys never gained the throne, he likely would have followed suit.
Meanwhile, the likes of Tyrion Lannister and the Starks feel honor-bound to rule, and do so in ways that help the people and inspire loyalty and good faith. While all these people feel entitled to power on some level, what they do with that power demonstrates that they are worthy of it.
Daenerys, on the other hand, began her journey with her heart in the right place, but has turned to violence to achieve her ends. She’s exhibiting a sort of brute force that should terrify rather than impress, and with her predilection for burning people alive, should remind fans of the Mad King.
Daenerys wields her power violently while others choose a more pragmatic, diplomatic approach. This is demonstrated most notably in Season 6’s “Book of the Stranger,” when Tyrion strikes a compromise with the masters to reestablish Daenerys’ influence. Daenerys herself, meanwhile, burns down a Dothraki temple, along with the Dothraki khals inside it, to gain the devotion of their followers. I’m behind Daenerys when it comes to self-defense, but the big khal barbecue is about more than her escaping from Vaes Dothrak, and the destruction of the temple that should raise some red flags. We can debate the pros and cons of the cultures Daenerys gets involved with, but they aren’t her cultures to dismantle.
But dismantle them she does. Take what she did to the fighting pits in Meereen in Season 5. Battles in the fighting pits may have been unseemly, but by stopping them, Daenerys, a stranger to the city, replaced her judgment for that of the people she ruled, abolishing long-held customs in the name of what she deemed right and just. Daenerys plays the savior, and while her heart may be in the right place, her instincts are troublesome.
But even Daenerys’ sense of altruism has diminished considerably of late, and she’s been relying on her reputation rather than a desire to inspire love and loyalty. Tywin once told Joffrey that any man who must say “I am the king” is no true king. Meanwhile, Daenerys’ first course of action is always to intimidate with her endless list of titles, even when they can’t possibly help her, as when she’s brought before Khal Moro in “The Red Woman.” Viserys, Joffrey, Robert, and Stannis all experienced fits of anger in which they declared themselves the dragon, the king, the rightful ruler of the Seven Kingdoms, but proved themselves unworthy of that power. Viserys’ self-interest meant he inspired nothing and no one; Joffrey was a foolish, violent child who was more concerned with the destruction of his enemies than the well-being of his people; Robert enjoyed the luxuries of leadership but avoided the duties; and Stannis ultimately sacrificed his family in his pursuit of power.
It’s true that Daenerys embraces the responsibilities of her role, but unless setting everything on fire is an option, she seldom knows what to do when faced with difficult challenges. She massacred the ruling class in Astapor, for example, but didn’t have the foresight to do what was needed to keep the city from sliding back into slavery after she left. Likewise, after she took over Meereen, the city was at a major crossroads, which she handled badly. Meereen was thriving when she left for Westeros in “The Winds of Winter,” but it’s Tyrion who ensured that, even though his actions brought about the Masters’ attack. As Tyrion points out, the Masters besieged the city because it was succeeding when they needed it to fail. Daenerys herself recognizes the logic behind what Tyrion did and how it’s to her benefit, but she wasn’t able to come to this conclusion herself. She made a mess, and Tyrion cleaned it up.
Now on her way to Westeros, we have to wonder if Daenerys will keep the well-being of the common people in mind, as is her custom and stated intent. But if her speech to her khalasar in “Blood of My Blood” is any indication, it seems not, as she states that she’ll rain destruction upon the place if it means her enemies will be destroyed, as long as she’ll end up ruling what’s left:
"Every khal who ever lived chose three blood riders to fight beside him and guard his way. But I am not a khal. I will not choose three blood riders. I choose you all. I will ask more of you than any khal has ever asked of his khalasar! Will you ride the wooden horses across the black salt sea? Will you kill my enemies in their iron suits and tear down their stone houses? Will you give me the Seven Kingdoms, the gift Khal Drogo promised me before the Mother of Mountains? Are you with me? Now and always?"
That is some definite war-mongering. Jack Bender, the director of the episode, addressed the problematic nature of Daenerys’ speech in an interview, saying, “At the end of the scene you should be somewhat roused by her… and a little horrified. She’s not Hitler at Nuremberg, but she’s got the power.” When you start comparing one of your heroes to Hitler, chances are you don’t have much of a hero on your hands.
However, the final two episodes of Season 6 were something of a game-changer for Daenerys, but there’s still plenty of uncertainty left. Where before Daenerys seemed to be spiraling out of control, she’s regained some reason under Tyrion’s influence. His involvement has calmed Daenerys in ways her other advisors hadn’t. Jorah, in love with her as he is, rarely passed judgment on anything she did, unless it threatened his relationship with her. In Season 5, Ser Barristan talked her out of killing the Son of the Harpy without a trial, but at the end of the day he was dedicated to the royal family, and may not have been able to tell members off when they needed it. Tyrion isn’t hindered by such things, and he’s had enough practice in dealing with a temperamental ruler to handle Daenerys properly. He’s able to dissuade her from complete violence in “Battle of the Bastards” and she values him as her Hand, but how long will she be satisfied to follow someone else’s advice over her own ambitions?
Although Tyrion prevailed on Daenerys to do otherwise in “Battle of the Bastards,” her immediate reaction was to rain violence, destruction, and death upon the Masters and their soldiers. Even if we can sympathize with her thirst for vengeance, in this case it’s a foolish pursuit—consider that she would have “set fleets afire” when she was in dire need of ships, which goes to show that she’d rather slaughter her enemies than use them to her advantage. Sure, sometimes you need a good slaughter, but you have to be willing to try diplomacy, too.
This, of course, is where Tyrion comes in hand-y (pun obviously intended). He’s skilled at crafting compromises, and Daenerys needs to be encouraged to go in that direction when the situation calls for it. But at the end of the day, Daenerys will do as Daenerys sees fit; that won’t change just because her most trusted advisor has. The Iron Throne is a temptation that poisons all those who seek it, and Daenerys is no exception: her brother instilled within her this covetousness, this sense of entitlement and the power it brings, and Daenerys has never recovered from his insistence that the Seven Kingdoms belong to the Targaryens.
But this, more than the altruistic hero trope, is what makes Daenerys a compelling character—for all the fanfare surrounding her, we don’t know that she’ll end up the hero and, all things considered, maybe she shouldn’t. Perhaps Daenerys’ story is less about her finding her place and more about finding herself. Perhaps it’s about realizing that her path to the Iron Throne was paved by Viserys and that she no longer has to bend beneath his toxic influence. The moral struggle between her compassion and her burgeoning Targaryen madness may not consciously be on her radar, but it should at least be apparent to the audience.
This is especially relevant when Tyrion talks her out of sacking Meereen, because there is no justification for burning cities to the ground, and doing so would make her no better than her father, no matter how she tries to rationalize it. Daenerys’ fear of becoming the next Mad King (or Queen, as it were) drives her to switch tactics. She doesn’t want to be like her father, like Viserys, and perhaps she will overcome their tainted legacy, but by now she’s caused too much unrepentant damage to be the traditional hero.
Of course, there are few black-and-white characters on Game of Thrones; most everyone is gray, and more real because of it. Daenerys may not be able to claim the title of “hero,” but her struggle between purity and corruption is still part of the archetypal hero’s journey. Whether she’ll be able to maintain control over the madness that peeks out of her more and more each season is as yet unknown. For now, her coin is still spinning, and we’ll have to wait to see where it lands.