It's complicated because in the books—so, in these clips adapted from the books—Daenerys is the character that burns King's Landing by pure spite, but the show in seasons 5 and 6 transformed her into a Good Compassionate Spirit who Cares about the People, and then in season 7 and 8 they gave clues for this "twist" but they never went far enough
I definitely sympathize with this point of view. But I think they played fair. I think having the love of the common folk was intoxicating for Daenerys. It was not her primary drive, to be clear, but it was a powerful intoxicant. Upon arriving in Westeros, that was just not a thing anymore. It was made abundantly clear to her that she could not win these people's hearts. I think she deeply believes in freeing slaves, but there are no slaves to free in Westeros. So she's left with her core drive: conquering for House Targaryen.
when Daenerys is ruthless it's because she's a conqueror, yes, she kills her enemies. But she's conquered in this episode when she decides to murder her people and destroy the legacy of her family by burning these towers.
It was indeed a bit much. But I think she wants this victory to be so decisive, and she wants to be feared, and she wants this moment in history to never be forgotten.
The opening scene with Daenerys berating Jaime rang just a bit false. Maybe it's being done as a political show, but she seems a little too sincere about things she doesn't really believe, as far as I know. Doesn't she actually believe Jaime was right to slay the mad king? Why does she cite her monstrous brother as a reference there? Daenerys has plenty of reason to distrust Jaime, of course, but I don't think that was expressed properly.
LOL. This is
perfect. *chef's kiss*
It's almost like the mad king having gone mad was not Daenerys's primary concern.
In terms of predictions, think of it this way. How does one take down Daenerys, who has a loyal army of Unsullied and Dothraki... and a dragon? Solution: Bran wargs into the dragon and roasts the army. Jon, meanwhile, becomes the queenslayer.
(Who kills the dragon? Maybe Bronn!)
I have no idea how Arya plays into this, but it seems unlikely that they'll have her emerge from the shadows again. I suppose she could wear Greyworm's face. Really though, for this finale to have maximum power, I feel like it has to be Jon.
