About Last Night

The Internets were aflame with Game of Thrones arguments. If you care about spoilers, piss off.

There was one camp that was extraordinarily pissed that Daenerys turned out to be the villain after all.  They pointed to her many good deeds in Essos, like ending slavery in Slavers' Bay. How could she just snap like that and roast most of a city.

The problem is that the "Mad Queen" has been a story arc that goes back to Season One. There has always been a sort of pyromaniacal bloodlust in Daenerys. A strong steak of tyranny has been a hallmark of her rule.  Executing innocent people has also been a part of her storyline - whether the Lords of Mereen she crucified at random, the person she burned alive in the dragon crypt, even burning the Tarleys was unnecessary. Once her blood is up, she wants to burn things.  Even at the Battle of Winterfell she abandoned the plan to burn stuff.  It was absolutely the right call, but still - given an opportunity, Daenerys will reach for Fire and Blood, just like her house words suggest.

Emilia Clarke is a charismatic actor and there have been parts of Daenerys' storyline that have been inspirational.  It's totally believable why people - from the Unsullied to Dario Naheris to Jorah to Tyrion - have been captivated by her.  But she has always seen herself as a benevolent dictator (in the sense of absolute power that cannot be questioned).

What's more, the idea that one character that we have been rooting for for years turns out to have a fatal flaw, making her a villain, is entirely the point of Game of Thrones. Ambition has always been the fatal flaw. It led Nedd Stark to King's Landing, then Robb Stark, then Joffrey, Maegery, Littlefinger...How many people have tried to scramble up the ladder of power only to destroy themselves in the process?

If you're rooting for a character to sit on the Iron Throne, you're not watching the right show.

Most likely, Jon or Arya will have to kill Daenerys. Maybe Jon winds up on the throne.  Maybe a hapless Gendry (newly legitimized by Daenerys) winds up there under the influence of Arya.  Who knows? Maybe the Seven Kingdoms fall apart, because they simply can't be ruled. 

But the Mad Queen has always been a part of the coming story.  They probably rushed it a bit and sacrificed character development for spectacle. There could have been a few more scenes setting this up, but frankly, I've been rewatching the series and this has always felt like where we were headed.