The Wasted Potential of Dany's Madness: GoT Could Use More Cruelty
Game of Thrones shocked audiences everywhere during the eighth season when Daenerys Targaryen showed her true colours and went berserk, murdering thousands of innocent people in King's Landing.
Some eagle-eyed fans pointed out that all the signs of her madness were always there, but just went unnoticed for far too long because she was small, blonde, attractive, and seemed a victim when we first met her.
The first sign of her darkness was when she watched her brother die at the hands of her husband, Khal Drogo. She was utterly emotionless and did not react the way a normal person would. Then she burns Mirri Maz Duur alive on the funeral pyre of her beloved Khal after Duur curses him and kills their unborn child.
After buying The Unsullied from Kraznys mo Nakloz, she commanded her largest dragon, Drogon, to burn him alive, and then had her newly acquired Unsullied slaughter all the slave masters. After dealing with Meereen, she had the slave masters of that city crucified. And then she burned all the Khals alive in Vaes Dorthrak when they insisted that she followed their laws and become a Dosh Khaleen.
We cheered her on when she burned her enemies because it felt like she was doing the right thing, not allowing herself to be mistreated any longer. We felt she was justified in the above responses and actions of staggering brutality because her targets were set up as bad people. And we were all seduced by the power of her growing dragons, wanting to see a stunning Targaryen victory.
Well, we got that victory, but it was very short-lived. Jon Snow, realising Dany had gone mad, killed her to save the Seven Kingdoms from what would have been a cruel and tyrannical rule.
But fans are not happy with this development. While most people seem to have recovered from the shock of seeing Dany burn King's Landing, now the mood has turned to feel like we did not get to see her be vicious enough…
Fans have taken to Reddit to express what they feel is "wasted potential" for a truly evil character. Blame has been squared on the show wrapping so quickly, with the rumour being that George R. R. Martin wanted another two seasons and thus it was forced to wind up far sooner than expected.
The feeling on Reddit is that we should have gotten to see Dany rule as "Mad Queen" and be given far more insight into her cruelty. While there is no denying that her slaughter of all those innocents in King's Landing was despicable, fans believe it was over all too quickly.
They further think that Dany met her end too soon and that we have been deprived of what could have been some truly great viewing.
Finally, they highlight that her brutality had been steadily building since her brother's death and that she should have been given more of an opportunity to display it; after securing the rule of the Seven Kingdoms. Dany was clearly mad, but fans lament just how much madder she could have gotten had she been given the chance.