#I won't put this in the vs tag since it deals with show content

[hylialeia]

Hello! so i love your blog and i've been reading some of your posts but not all of them so sorry if i missed this question and your answer. I've been reading a lot about asoiaf and different theories and aslmor everyone agrees that daenerys is going mad and that george praised emilia for her job and implied that dany would burn down everything in the books as well. I've been really wary bc i believe george is going to turn her mad or villain as well but i would love to hear your theories and if you believe she's going to be like in the show. thank you!

well first, thank you! I've touched a bit on the "mad queen Dany" theory in the past, though Tumblr's search function is a mess and even if you navigate my asoiaf-meta tag, it's probably pretty far in the back.

that said, I pretty famously detest the mad!Dany theory, not just in that I think it would be a horrible creative choice for Doylist reasons ("woman in power goes insane" is an extremely tired trope and one that I rarely see done well), but also because it flies in the face of ASOIAF's own internal narrative---a narrative I see as being ultimately hopeful, particularly as it relates to characters like Daenerys (heavily associated with compassion, humanity, and heroism).

the show barely factors into my interpretations or predictions for the actual series; GRRM has specified several times on his notablog that the creative decisions made by the showrunners and writers of GOT had a sort of "butterfly effect" on the outcome, resulting in a story that's incredibly different (or "way, way, way, WAY different") from his own. he's always been very professional and respectful about all of it, and complimenting Emilia's performance I think is merely an extension of that; she's an actress who delivered a good performance---mediocre writing and audience disappointment notwithstanding.

Daenerys "burning everything down" in the books I believe refers more to her destruction of the slavers in Essos (which TWOW will no doubt see the dial turned up to 11 on that count), a conflict with Young Griff/Aegon that escalates to disastrous levels, and her literally roasting the army of the dead when she joins the War for the Dawn.

Dany's arc is all about the ups and downs of fire; it's powerful and warm, but also massively destructive. I imagine GRRM wants to show both sides of that before the ultimate showdown, where warmth and light win out against the cold.

#I won't put this in the vs tag since it deals with show content #but yeah basically the whole mad!dany plotline there was bullshit #asoiaf #asoiaf meta #daenerys targaryen #anti got #also always worth mentioning: no matter what happens with dany I feel confident she's the hero of the final battle #which is the fight with the others... not the fight for the throne #ask #anonymous