Say what you want about the way Game of Thrones ended, but the show had always foreshadowed some of the climactic events, including Daenerys Targaryen torching the city of King's Landing.
Daenerys always had a violent streak about her, and she would act before she thought. Many a time, she viewed herself as perfect and refused to listen to her advisors when they told her that her actions were too harsh. This was a woman who loved praise and fed on people lifting her up as a queen and savior.
Allowing Drogo to kill her brother in Game of Thrones season 1
Now, we all cheered when Viserys Targaryen ended up with his golden crown in Game of Thrones season 1, but it also showed us how unfeeling Daenerys could become when she she needed to be.
Daenerys had been raised knowing that her brother was the rightful King of Westeros. He was the eldest child, and a boy. Of course he would be king. But Daenerys got a taste for power after marrying her husband Khal Drogo, and began to see that she would make a far better ruler than the whiny, spiteful Viserys; most anyone would.
When Viserys threatened to kill her unborn child, it was the last straw. Daenerys watched impassive as her husband killed her brother. After what Viserys had done, it was easy to see her point of view, but the fact that she was able to disconnect at all was a sign of things to come.
The vision in the House of the Undying in Game of Thrones season 2
We can also take a look at Game of Thrones season 2, when Daenerys was trapped in the House of the Undying. She has a vision of the Iron Throne Room in the Red Keep. It's in ruins, and is blanketed with what we thought at the time was snow. It turned out that it was ash.
The series always hinted that Dany would never make it to the Iron Throne. She would always be the Queen of the Ashes. When her dragons were fully grown, she said they would “lay waste to the armies and burn cities to the ground!” It sounded empowering at the time, and it was. It was also very dangerous.
Crucifying of Great Masters in Game of Thrones season 4
The fourth season was when we really started to see signs of the type of queen Daenerys would be, and it was clear that she was willing to enact violent vengeance. After seeing 163 slave children crucified on the way to Meereen, she decided to crucify 163 slave owners in retaliation.
As with Viserys' death, it was easy to sympathize with Daenerys' point of view here; after all, the Great Masters had done horrible things. But there was nuance that was lost, with Daenerys even crucifying some masters who had spoken out against the decision to kill the children. Those details didn’t matter to her. It wasn’t surprising then to see that she didn’t care about the innocent people of King’s Landing in the final season. Again, she judged everyone guilty and meted out the justice she saw fit.
Later in the fourth season, Daenerys feeds a few Great Masters to her dragons after the Sons of the Harpy kill Barristan Selmy, again without determining their guilt or innocence. Daenerys tried to be just, but she was always willing to rule as a dictator.
Burning everyone at Vaes Dothrak in Game of Thrones season 6
In Game of Thrones season 6, Daenerys finds herself at Vaes Dothrak, which is where the widowed wives of Dothraki khals are sent to live out the rest of their lives. However, she had responsibilities elsewhere and had to find a way to escape.
While the mass burning of the Khals was the quickest way to get out, and while they had threatened her beforehand, Daenerys once again went with the most violent option. The look on Dany’s face made it clear that she thoguht her liberation was worth it, and maybe it was. This was yet another time we can see things from her point of view, but this pattern would soon recur in a different way when she reached the Seven Kingdoms.
Pushing away all of her advisors throughout Game of Thrones
There was only one voice Daenerys would consistently listen to: Jorah Mormont. She believed that he did want the best for her, and she showed kindness when she learned the truth about his betrayal, opting to banish him rather than kill him.
However, everyone else faced her wrath. She would ignore the words of her advisors time and time again; even Tyrion told her that attacking King’s Landing and overthrowing Cersei by direct force would be a bad idea. When she learned that Varys was working against her, she had him executed and did not consider what may have made him turn his cloak, meaning she couldn't learn from it.
The loss of Jorah in the Battle of Winterfell and then of Missandei led to Daenerys looking for revenge rather than justice. At this point, she was fully ready to turn to the "burn them all" solution, and we should have paid more attention to the warning signs in the earlier seasons.
Game of Thrones is available to stream on HBO Max.
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