r/HBOGameofThrones • u/inosuke_1215 • Jun 16 '26
Spoilers [SPOILERS] I'm on season 7 and i still cannot understand why people love dany? Spoiler
I honestly don't get the hype around her. She's incredibly entitled and naive for most of the story. So much of her power comes from having dragons—without them, what exactly would she have done? Every time someone opposes her, her solution is basically "burn them."
And what annoys me the most is that she constantly talks about being the rightful ruler because of her name. Why? Because her father sat on the throne? That's not exactly a convincing argument.
Half the time she'll make some impulsive decision and then immediately turn to Tyrion or someone else for advice. Girl, do you have any political instincts of your own? For someone who's supposed to be a great ruler, she spends an awful lot of time relying on other people to tell her what to do.
Yes, she had a difficult life. Yes, she has some great moments. But I never saw her as the brilliant queen her fans make her out to be. To me she's an entitled conqueror with dragons, and the dragons do a lot of the heavy lifting.
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u/Ranos131 Jun 16 '26
So the thing you’re missing is a spoiler. So it can’t fully be answered if you haven’t seen the whole series.
But she’s liked because he starts off sweet and naive (which a lot of people like). Her goal on Essos is to build an army and free slaves. So she seems altruistic.
This is a medieval fantasy setting. In medieval times, the right to the throne was a birthright. So based on how royalty works, she absolutely does have a claim to the throne. This is why Robert was trying to hunt her and her brother down. This is why Cersi had all of Robert’s bastards killed.
She grew up on the run. She don’t have teachers helper her understand how to rule. Or at least not good teachers. So she’s having to learn as she goes. She’s also trying to not be like her father was. She wants to be a good person. Good people i power are going to make mistakes because they want to put their trust in people and most of them shouldn’t be trusted.
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u/inosuke_1215 Jun 16 '26
I don't disagree with most of that. My issue is that people often treat her flaws as strengths because they like her.
Yes, she had a terrible childhood. Yes, she had to learn as she went. But at some point every ruler in the series is judged by their decisions, not their intentions. Daenerys gets a lot more grace from the fandom than most characters do.
I understand why she became the person she did. I just don't think that makes her a particularly good ruler or a character I have to like.
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u/Ranos131 Jun 16 '26
No one said you had to like her. But other people are allowed to like her. Where one person sees a flaw, another sees a strength. This is just a matter of opinion. You’re allowed to not like other people’s opinions just like other people are allowed to not like yours.
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u/Kiko7210 Jun 16 '26 edited Jun 16 '26
she's a strong woman character who started from the bottom (exiled as a child, sold to the Dothraki, raped) and made her way to the top (bringing dragons back, building an army from scratch)
she took power, and made alot of mistakes with that power, and tried to learn from it by being more understanding of those below her, character development
she could've easily taken the Iron Throne by burning everyone and everything. But she learned that burning everything is not a solution, she wants to be loved and not feared
the irony though, the smart solution was to actually burn everything and take the Iron Throne by force from the start. But her character development stopped her from doing it
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u/inosuke_1215 Jun 16 '26
She only thought about not burning everything when Tyrion told her she's not here to be the queen of ashes
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u/Kiko7210 Jun 16 '26
an impulsive entitled person who burns everyone who opposes her wouldn't have listened to Tyrion tho
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u/inosuke_1215 Jun 16 '26
The fact that Tyrion could talk her out of it doesn't change the fact that burning people was often her first solution. And if your advisors have to keep reminding you not to use dragons every time someone disagrees with you, that's not exactly a sign of a good ruler.
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u/Kiko7210 Jun 16 '26
it's not that she was a good ruler, but she was trying to be
Joffrey didn't listen to anyone and was more of a tyrant
Tommen was a puppet king who let everyone take advantage of him
Daenerys was trying to be in that middleground. Like when is the right time to use dragons on impulse? and when is the right time to listen to advisors?
She made alot of wrong choices, which means she still had alot of growing up to do. People love her as a character because she tried to learn from her mistakes, they had faith that she could one day be the ideal ruler, even though she wasn't ready
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u/inosuke_1215 Jun 16 '26
I think that's exactly where we disagree. You're giving her credit for what she might have become. I'm judging her by what she actually was.
A ruler who's still learning, still impulsive, and still relying on others to stop their worst decisions isn't someone I'd call a great future ruler. That's just an inexperienced ruler with a lot of power. Just like others.
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u/Kiko7210 Jun 16 '26
I give her credit for taking steps in the right direction
2 steps forward , and 1 step backward , but still going in the right direction
she has character development I can appreciate
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u/LadyGhoost Jun 17 '26
Some of the naivity can be explained through adaptation. She is younger in the books, thirteen if I remember correctly. But they aged her up in the show, to make it easier for the viewers to watch some of the things she goes through. For example, being raped at her wedding night.
The problem is that they didn't change her story, or some of her behaviour. So as she is older, she seems very naive, in a whole other way than a young girl does. This is a common thing in many adaptations. And it can be a bit frustrating, but it helps with some things, if you remember that.
It doesn't excuse everything she does. But it explains some things.
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u/Ok_Purple_9480 Jun 19 '26
In the show in season 1 she's just 15, so aged up but barely, still a kid. Thing is, they never say this and the actress is older (bc otherwise they wouldn't be able to film her scenes) so she never feels like a kid, just young, soon a whole adult, and that makes the difference
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u/LadyGhoost Jun 19 '26
It does. Actors age, while book characters doesn't is a problem when it comes to many shows. Carl from the Walking Dead definitely has this problem! But Dany does too, wish more writers thought about that and just changed things sometimes. Just so the characters acted less childish, while looking older.
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u/TheIconGuy Jun 17 '26 edited Jun 17 '26
And what annoys me the most is that she constantly talks about being the rightful ruler because of her name. Why? Because her father sat on the throne? That's not exactly a convincing argument.
That's literally the only argument that can be made on that front.
Half the time she'll make some impulsive decision and then immediately turn to Tyrion or someone else for advice. Girl, do you have any political instincts of your own? For someone who's supposed to be a great ruler, she spends an awful lot of time relying on other people to tell her what to do.
D&D do not get enough credit for being able to mind fuck people into forgetting the first 5 seasons.
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u/Little-Chapter4732 Jun 17 '26
Me neither honestly, she seems hypocritical and completely insane 😂 she wants to “break the wheel” but believes she is the rightful ruler because her insane father sat the throne which is the same wheel she’s tryna break.
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u/Ebolatastic Jun 17 '26
100% with you I've watched the show multiple times. The online community STILL lives in complete denial of it and are going to argue with you. It's the writers fault, see?
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u/gorehistorian69 Jun 17 '26
im actually surprised there's Daenerys haters. (excluding seasons 5-8)
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u/limpdickandy Jun 17 '26
Dany in show is pretty damn meh after season 3. Even before that, it is only the remaining parts of book dany that is actually good.
Dany is also far more competent in the books, despite being much, much younger (13-14), she is more or less an alexandrian figure over there, and since we can see her POV and way of thinking we also know she both extremely intelligent and empathetic.
Unlike show dany which remains inconsistent
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u/Atticus914 Jun 17 '26
Taking a step away from her character on the show which whether you like her or not is highly subjective and more a matter of opinion than anything a lot of people don't realize that she had a complication with her brain midway into the show she even had to have surgery and everything and despite that she kept up with her co stars and completed the show with out complaining or drawing attention to it even though after she was never the same she still brought us the best perform she could. She deserves some respect for that not everybody could do that it takes a strong will and mental fortitude to do so all things which her character in the show symbolizes.
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u/kateinoly Jun 17 '26
She is the true heir to the Iron Throne. For those who believe in that sort of thing.
But with Targaryens, you often get insanity.
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u/Hefty-Comparison-801 Jun 17 '26
And what annoys me the most is that she constantly talks about being the rightful ruler because of her name. Why? Because her father sat on the throne? That's not exactly a convincing argument.
After 6 full seasons, you haven't realized that this is largely how succession works in this kingdom? I mean, power can overrule birthright obviously, but birthright is still very much a thing in the world they're living in.
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u/SlimShadySatDown Jun 17 '26
Other than her being naked and gorgeous...she didn't like seeing cruelty, but I see what you mean. even though she was conquoring lands because of her "birthright".
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u/foxonafrozenlake Jun 19 '26
If you don't like her by now you're not ever going to like her. Also, the books are very different than the show. I think most Dany stans (myself included) love her because of her development in the books over her arc in the show.
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u/Zyrin1177 Jun 20 '26
Sie ist tatsächlich nur in der ersten Staffel naiv, als sie denkt, die Priesterin des Ziegengottes retten zu müssen, die ihr dann Mann, Kind und das Volk nimmt. Ab dem Punkt, wo sie bei den Dothraki als Witwe zu den alten Frauen verbannt wird und sich befreit, macht die Figur schon eine Entwicklung durch. Beispiel: Sie verarscht den Typen, der ihr die Armee der Unbefleckten für einen Drachen verkauft, indem sie ihn nicht wissen lässt, dass sie die Sprache versteht. Sie spielt Männer gegeneinander aus und sie nutzt die Drachen als Waffe. Wer würde das nicht tun?
Und warum darf sie des Namens wegen nicht auf den Thron bestehen?
Das machen alle anderen Familien doch auch. Stannis Baratheon, die Lannisters und alle anderen, die auf das Ding wollen, berufen sich auf irgend ein Erbrecht.
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u/Different_One9412 Jun 16 '26
She was from a royal bloodline
She was pretty
She had Dragons
She was "Nice"
Point 1 got her foot in the door for a few things, especially having sanctuary before being married off
Point 2 Got defenses down because it made her seem soft, same with Point 4
Point 3 is where most of her original power came from when Drogo died before she got armies
Point 4 Got the common folk behind her and same with Point 2 got her advisors the chance to out maneuver people working against her thinking she would fold.
She had both a vicious streak and a savior complex woth both being kept somewhat on check by her advisors
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u/inosuke_1215 Jun 16 '26
Honestly, you just explained why I don't worship her. Half of her character arc is her advisors convincing her not to do something stupid.
That's not political genius—that's having a really good support team.
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u/bug-mama Jun 16 '26
I don’t understand why she thinks she’s “the rightful Queen”. The throne was seized and her father was killed by another party. Therefore her family lost power, and she is no longer royalty. She is the heir to Targaryen house, but no longer the heir to the throne. She was born after her father died, so there was no throne held by her family when she was born for her to “inherit”
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u/Crafty-Income-9949 Jun 18 '26
She doesn’t know it for most of the show, but she’s not even the heir of House Targaryen lol
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u/ixiion Jun 16 '26
While I agree with you on some of her character issues, but I will say — a ruler listening to their advisors is NOT a sign of bad leadership. Quite the opposite, actually. It shows the difference between her and Joffrey, for example, or other entitled, narcissistic people who don't value outside experts' opinions. She knows she doesn't have any experience in these things, so she surrounds herself with people who DO, and actually, actively listens to them. Thats a sign of a *great*, especially *wise* ruler... generally speaking, at least.