Machiavelli saw the basic problem of ruling in exactly these terms. Sansa on the throne as Queen in the North in the Game of Thrones finale. And after Jon rejects her romantic advance, and by implication the possibility that they could marry and unite the realm using both love (of the people for him) and fear (of her army and dragon), she says simply: “Let it be fear.” I have only fear,” referring to the affection that the people of Westeros hold for Jon Snow (who is actually the true heir to the throne, but who doesn’t want to rule). New princes, old problemsĭany confesses her dilemma to Jon privately in terms that echo Machiavelli’s 1513 The Prince, when he discusses the problems a “new prince” faces when conquering a country. While it may be evil, there is a calculated reason for Dany’s decision to rain fire from the sky. But is destroying a city the act of a crazy woman? Not necessarily, says Machiavelli.
Courtesy of HBOĮven her fans were upset that instead of bringing liberation from the cycle of rich oppressing poor (“breaking the wheel” as Dany phrased it), she used her dragon to immolate most of the capital, even after the symbolic tolling of bells that indicates surrender.Īnd since she does this in the wake of losing two of her dragon “children,” her two best friends (Jorah and Missandei), and then being rejected romantically by Jon Snow (who is really a Targaryen and also her nephew), many saw her fiery actions as a response to psychological trauma, and the writers seemed to confirm this in the final episode.Ĭritics pointed out that yet again, we see a powerful woman who simply can’t handle her emotions, and who becomes the “Mad Queen” in a clichéd turn to villainy that can only be explained by her losing her mind. Weiss chose to depict her acts as irrational, tyrannical or insane.ĭany with her dragons in the first season of Game of Thrones. What’s disturbing, however, is that show runners David Benioff and D. This may be disturbing, depending on your view of power politics, but it isn’t unearned (her development had been long signalled), nor is it a sexist reduction of one of the greatest female characters ever to an emotional, irrational, “crazy lady.”ĭany is making the tragic choices that all political leaders face when it comes to using violence to achieve their goals. Much of the case against Dany depends on the supposed insanity that fuelled her destruction of a city, but I offer another perspective - drawn from Renaissance political thinker Niccolo Machiavelli - to explain why Dany is not “mad” at all, but rather an avatar of cold-blooded realpolitik. But what if, instead, Dany is the real heroine of the series, and Jon is the real heel? Such things had been known 400 years ago, in the days before the Doom, but even then, they would’ve cost a kingdom.It’s tempting to go along with this notion of Dany as Mad Queen, and accept the good feelings that accompany the triumph of the righteous Starks. In all the Seven Kingdoms, no man owned a suit of Valyrian steel. Patterns could be seen within the metal, whorls and glyphs and arcane symbols folded into the steel. The scales were edged in red gold, and gleamed and shimmered when they moved. Dark as smoke it was, but Euron wore it as easily as if it was the thinnest silk. When they are lost, the defeat will belong to the four fools who so eagerly accepted my gifts.” Valyrian ArmorĮuron Crow’s Eye stood upon the deck of Silence, clad in a suit of black scale armor like nothing Aeron had ever seen before. The glory of winning those rocks will be mine forever. It is up to the new lords to hold them now. I took them with one hand, and gave them away with the other. Michael Klarfeld ( Klaradox) created our intro video. We are recording a Valar Rereadis episode on it too, so look out for that! Credits Check out our episode on Euron Greyjoy, also with PoorQuentyn, here. Find PoorQuentyn’s transcript of The Winds of Winter: The Forsaken here. We were among the first on the planet to hear this chapter, and it’s safe to say: we’re taken by the “The Forsaken”! It is a truly epic chapter.