NOTE: FOR THE SAKE OF THIS WIKI, THIS PAGE MAINLY ACCEPTED THE VILLAINOUS VERSION OF DAENERYS IN SEASON 8 OF THE TV SERIES.
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| “ | I was born at Dragonstone. Not that I can remember it. We fled before Robert's assassins could find us. Robert was your father's best friend, no? I wonder if your father knew his best friend sent assassins to murder a baby girl in her crib. Not that it matters now, of course. I spent my life in foreign lands. So many men have tried to kill me, I don't remember all their names. I have been sold like a broodmare. I've been chained and betrayed, raped and defiled. Do you know what kept me standing through all those years in exile? Faith. Not in any gods. Not in myths and legends. In myself. In Daenerys Targaryen. The world hadn't seen a dragon in centuries until my children were born. The Dothraki hadn't crossed the sea. Any sea. They did for me. I was born to rule the Seven Kingdoms, and I will. | „ |
| ~ Daenerys Targaryen |
Daenerys Targaryen, also known as The Mother of Dragons and Daenerys Stormborn, is one of the main characters of the HBO series Game of Thrones, the television adaptation of the novel series A Song of Ice and Fire.
Despite starting as a more heroic character from season 2 to season 8, albeit with some questionable actions, years of trauma, loss, fear, and jealousy caused her to descend into madness and vengeance, tragically becoming a villain at the end of the series.
She was portrayed by Emilia Clarke, who also played Qi'ra in Solo: A Star Wars Story.
Biography
Backstory
| “ | I’m the blood of the dragon. | „ |
| ~ Daenerys Targaryen’s most famous line. |
Daenerys is one of the last remaining Targaryens. She is the only daughter of King Aerys II Targaryen, commonly known as the Mad King, and Queen Rhaella Targaryen. She is the younger sister of Prince Rhaegar Targaryen and Viserys Targaryen. Born during Robert's rebellion, she was smuggled across the Narrow sea along with her brother. She was later set to marry Khal Drogo whom she later fell in love with.
| “ | My reign has just begun. | „ |
| ~ Daenerys Targaryen during the Second Siege of Meereen. |
In Season 7, King in the North Jon Snow gives up his crown and bends the knee to Daenerys in the belief she'll make a good queen for the North and Westeros when she vows to help him defeat the Night King, who is threatening to wipe out humanity. However, Jon's decision was met with controversy amongst the North, as the northerners never forgot nor forgave Prince Rhaegar's "abduction" of Lyanna Stark and the brutal deaths of Lord Rickard Stark and his son Brandon at the hands of the Mad King. Because of these, all of the North came to believe that the Targaryens cannot to be trusted.
In addition, all the northern lords were outraged that Jon had bended the knee to Daenerys. Robett Glover, one of the Northern lords, who is angered over having to bend the knee to Daenerys, returns to his seat of Deepwood Motte and would not even bother to support the Stark's in their coming war against the Dead, thus abandoning House Stark all together.
Sansa Stark later confronts Jon Snow over his decision of giving up his crown and reveals to him of Robett Glover's return to Deepwood Motte in protest of bending the knee to Daenerys, which left Jon furious. Though he defends his decision, Sansa angrily demands Jon if he bended the knee to Daenerys to save the North or because he loves her. From the very start of the seventh season and onwards, Sansa has strong reservations of Daenerys as well as being distrustful of her, since her father was responsible for killing her grandfather Rickard and her uncle Brandon.
Having fallen in love with Jon Snow in Season 7 and developing a romantic relationship, Season 8 finds Jon and Daenerys discovering he is the son of Daenerys's late older brother Rhaegar Targaryen with Lyanna Stark, making Jon the heir to the Iron Throne and Daenerys's nephew. Though Daenerys was upset at this, as since she now knows of Jon's true parentage, then this means that he is the true heir to the Iron Throne. Thus, all of her efforts, especially her conquest of Westeros, are wasted for nothing. However, Jon tells her that he doesn't want it and swears Daenerys will always be his queen, Daenerys grows increasingly concerned people will press his claim to her lifelong aspiration for the Iron Throne. Jon tells Daenerys that he must tell his family about his true identity but Daenerys pleads for Jon never to tell them about his identity for fear Jon's sister Sansa Stark will press his claim against Daenerys's and take "what is [hers]". However, Jon believes that his sisters won't betray him and that they can all live together while Daenerys is adamant the only way for that to happen is if Jon keeps his identity secret from everyone, including his family.
Later, Daenerys's fears are proven right when, despite Jon swearing Sansa to secrecy, Sansa tells Daenerys's Hand Tyrion Lannister who tells Daenerys's advisor Varys. Varys, fearing for Daenerys's worsening state of mind, begins plotting against Daenerys to replace her. Meanwhile, the man she loves, Jon, still loves her but is unable to return Daenerys's romantic affections upon finding out the truth of their familial relationship.
After the Battle at Winterfell, in which the Night King, the White Walkers, and their undead Wights, are all destroyed, Daenerys resumes her conquest and sets off to topple Queen Cersei Lannister from the Iron Throne. However, prior to that, as the Battle at Winterfell came to an end, Daenerys lost Ser Jorah Mormont, one of her closest friends, after he succumbed to wounds he had sustained while defending his queen from the dead. Much later, she began to lose more of her close allies; while her dragon Rhaegal is slowly recovering from his wounds, he was suddenly attacked and killed by Euron Greyjoy and his Iron Fleet. The last straw was when Cersei Lannister executes Daenerys' advisor Missandei.
Descent into madness
| “ | Unsullied. All of you were torn from your mothers' arms and raised as slaves. Now... you are liberators! You have freed the people of King's Landing from the grip of a tyrant! But the war is not over. We will not lay down our spears until they we have liberated all the people of the world! From Winterfell to Dorne, from Lannisport to Quarth, from the Summer Isles to the Jade Sea! Women, men and children have suffered too long beneath the wheel. Will you break the wheel with me? | „ |
| ~ Daenerys revealing to the Unsullied her plans of "liberating" the entire world before asking her army if they will join her in "breaking the wheel." |
In the coming days following Missandei's death, Daenerys grows isolated, desolate, distrustful, and even paranoid. All of these factors lead to a decline in Daenerys's mental state where she becomes more unstable and more willing to take "what is [hers]" with "fire and blood", despite Tyrion's counsel to prevent as much bloodshed from civilians as possible. In the Battle of Kings Landing, after the city rings the bells in surrender, Daenerys snaps, apparently succumbing to the infamous "Targaryen madness". While atop her dragon Drogon, she brought destruction throughout King's Landing, massacring tens of thousands of innocent civilians in the process.
In addition, her army and most of her allies also joined in the savage sack of King's Landing due to their own respective reasons; For her commander, Grey Worm, he has been grief-stricken over the execution of Missandei, who is also his lover, and he became consumed with vengeance and a lust for blood, leading him to be one of the main instigator of the slaughter. For the Northmen, they were consumed with an intense hatred for House Lannister after all they had done to them: Joffrey Baratheon's execution of Lord Eddard Stark, the Red Wedding, which resulted in the deaths of Robb Stark, his mother Catelyn and most of their men, the rule of House Bolton, and the Lannisters' refusal to aid the North in their battle against the Dead.
During the ensuing chaos Jon and Tyrion are horrified by the bloodbath and destruction they are witnessing; While Daenerys continued to raze several parts of King's Landing, the Unsullied, Northern and Vale forces acted in the same manner as House Lannister did during the Sack of King's Landing; barbarically slaughtering anyone that stood in their way while also raping any women they come across (though the Unsullied do not rape). Daenerys and Drogon then began attacking the Red Keep, damaging several parts of the castle in the process, which led to the deaths of both Cersei and her brother Jaime Lannister.
the aftermath of the sack following the devastation of King's Landing, Daenerys, after capturing the Red Keep, gives out a speech where she praises her army for "liberating" King's Landing before appointing Grey Worm as her Master of War and commander of all her forces. After further praising her army for "liberating" the people of King's Landing she reveals her plans to "liberate" not only all of Westeros but the entire world "From Winterfell to Dorne, from Lannisport to Quarth, from the Summer Isles to the Jade Sea", all through the same manner they used in King's Landing: fire and blood, thus destroying the "tyrants" of the world, to the distress of Jon and Tyrion.
Upon seeing Tyrion, Daenerys accuses her Hand of treason, as he had secretly freed his brother Jaime. Disgusted over her actions, Tyrion coldly tells her, "I freed my brother, and you slaughtered a city". He resigns from her service by ripping off his Hand of the Queen brooch before throwing it away. Angered by Tyrion's defiance, she orders her Unsullied to taken him prisoner. When Jon Snow visits him, he and the imprisoned Tyrion began to discuss Daenerys. While they love Daenerys in their separate ways, they are devastated by her unnecessary massacre of King's Landing.
Tyrion urges Jon, who struggles with the prospect of betraying the woman he loves, to recognize Daenerys will keep on her path of destruction to reach her goals. Tyrion reveals to Jon that his sisters, Sansa and Arya Stark, won't bend the knee to Daenerys, which will put House Stark in great danger. Though Jon insisted that Sansa and Arya will be loyal to his queen, Tyrion reminds him that the reason why Sansa revealed to him his true parentage is because she doesn't want Daenerys to be queen. He has spent the series defending Westeros and protecting people and that he must do the same now that Daenerys is the biggest threat to the people and have her assassinated to save countless lives. Before Jon leaves, Tyrion insists that he needs to make choice and he has to choose it now.
Death
A rattled Jon initially finds he cannot commit to this task. He then goes to see Daenerys in the ruins of the Great Hall in hopes he can convince her off this path. Daenerys is pleased to finally have reached her lifelong goal and dream of the Iron Throne. Jon confronts Daenerys about the civilian casualties of King's Landing as a result of her massacre but Daenerys defends it was necessary. Jon pleads with Daenerys to forgive the people of King's Landing and make them see they are mistaken about her, that she isn't a tyrant, but Daenerys justifies her actions as being required to build a new world, asserting her knowledge of what's right and what's good.
Daenerys earnestly urges Jon that they can rebuild the world together this way. This caused Jon to realize that Daenerys intends to continue with her actions. After declaring to her that she'll be his queen now and always, they share one last kiss before Jon fatally stabs Daenerys to save Westeros. Daenerys was left stunned by this betrayal before collapsing A grieving Jon catches her and holds Daenerys in his arms as she dies, weeping over her body. Drogon, having sensed that something is amiss, then arrives and finds his mother dead, leaving him anguished and in grief. Jon stands up to face Drogon, ready to meet his death. However, Drogon instead directs his flames to the Iron Throne and destroys the one object his mother is so obsessed with, which led to her own downfall. Thus, with the destruction of the Iron Throne, this "breaks the wheel" that have plagued Westeros for 300 years. Drogon then picks up Daenerys' body and flew off to parts unknown as a grieving Jon watched.
With Daenerys dead, the line of the Dragonkings was broken and the "Targaryen madness" had been stopped once and for all by the last known Targaryen; Jon Snow/Aegon Targaryen, the son of Prince Rhaegar Targaryen and Lady Lyanna Stark. Officially, House Targaryen is now legally extinct. While the bloodline survives in Jon, the vast majority of Westeros remain unaware of his true bloodline as a Targaryen. Because Jon had killed their queen, the Unsullied were outraged over the loss of Daenerys and Jon was imprisoned by Grey Worm for regicide.
Weeks later, during a great council at the Dragonpit, Sansa and Arya want to pardon Jon for his action, though the Unsullied and Yara Greyjoy want Jon dead for killing Daenerys. After Bran Stark was chosen by the lords and ladies of Westeros to be king, he sentences Jon to the Night's Watch for life in order to prevent a war between the Unsullied and the North. Though both parties were not happy with it, they are nevertheless forced to accept it, since Bran wanted peace. Assuming he does not father any children and no other Targaryens are found, the line will finally die out when Jon passes away. However, the bloodline of House Targaryen may also still exist in other various houses; such as House Baratheon, House Velaryon and House Martell.
Notable Victims
- Khal Drogo - Smothered to death with a pillow to mercifully put an end to his catatonic state.
- Mirri Maz Duur - Burned alive for her part in the deaths of Khal Drogo and Rhaego as well as to sacrifice her life to hatch the dragon eggs.
- Pyat Pree - Ordered; burned alive by her dragons.
- Xaro Xhoan Daxos and Doreah - Ordered; locked in a vault and left to die for betraying her.
- Kraznys mo Nakloz - Ordered; burned alive by Drogon.
- Khalar Vezhven - Burned alive in their temple when Daenerys pushes over braziers and the door is locked from the outside.
- Lord Randyll Tarly and Dickon Tarly - Ordered; burned alive by Drogon.
- Lord Varys - Ordered; burned alive for treason by Drogon.
Trivia
- Game of Thrones fans and the public named Daenerys the "Mad Queen" after that she burned King's Landing with her dragon. In a way, these actions fulfilled her father's last order before his death years before to "burn them all!", with her attack also detonating the remaining caches of wildfire that her father desired to use.
- The actions of Daenerys in The Bells episode received notable backlash against the writers from both fans and critics alike. This is similar to the backlash received for Stannis Baratheon's actions near the end of Season 5.
- It is implied that Daenerys's feelings of abandonment, despair, combined with the grief and loss she experienced since arriving in Westeros, ultimately lead to Daenerys's fall from grace in which her sanity breaks. However, since many other characters in the series experienced significant grief and loss as well but did not turn dark as a result (and Daenerys herself had already experienced significant loss and very dire situations before this point but did not lose her sanity), many fans feel that her character had not been developed to the massive turn that happened in the final 2 episodes of Season 8, even if her fall had been foreshadowed throughout the series.
- During The Bells, her decision to burn everything, including the common folk, also contradicts all her previous efforts throughout the series to save and free the innocents with no good justification or development.
- Another factor used to explain her downfall is the Targaryen Madness, due to the extensive inbreeding of the house. The madness has surfaced at different speeds, on different Targaryens, so it's plausible that the difficult circumstances she was experiencing in Westeros triggered her madness, while others who had also suffered, managed to keep their sanity. Although this may be a possible explanation, many fans view it negatively because it reduces her character to her lineage, turning her into a tragic hero destined to become a villain despite her previous choices and her effort to be a fair and good ruler, making all her previous struggle and development pointless.
- This version of Daenerys is portrayed more as a modern person rather than a medieval one, as in Season 7 she claims to have always only believed in herself and not in any gods. This differs from her book counterpart, where the majority of characters believe their respective gods to be real, and Daenerys in the novels regularly prays to the Seven. Whenever something bad or terrible happens to her, her closed ones, or her people, Daenerys' novel counterpart begs the Seven Gods to help her and believes they are punishing her for her sins and she is being humbled by their wrath.
- Actress Emilia Clarke states in an interview that she was so shocked about her character abrupt turn that after reading the script she walked out her house aimless for five hours and called her mother for advice.[1]
- On a related note, Emilia Clarke shared the fans' sentiment regarding Daenerys deserving a better fate as during Dreamit Con, she felt her character should remain with Jon, going to their family and correct their issues.[2]
- Despite surviving as one of the protagonists of the series, Daenerys later become an antagonist for the rest of the series in the final season.
- In addition, she is also the final character to die in the Game of Thrones TV series and the only named character to die in the final episode, The Iron Throne.
- The fact that Bran Stark became king meant that her ambition to "break the wheel" failed, with the destruction of the symbolic Iron Throne not meaning any change to the system. Although, since Bran is immortal, then the cycle had certainly changed to a degree.
References
External Links
- Daenerys Targaryen on the Heroes Wiki - For Daenerys in the novels and the first seven seasons and the first half of Season 8 of TV series
- Daenerys Targaryen on the A Wiki of Ice and Fire
- Daenerys Targaryen on the Wiki of Westeros
