I heard a suggestion that the Iron Bank should "win" the Iron Throne. That indeed sounds more interesting than a retread of God Emperor of Dune. Feels like it'd fit right in. A huge amount of infrastructure in Westeros had been broken down and requisitioned for use and outright destroyed during the war, and the economy is in ruins due to war exhaustion and mismanagement. The bank has the resources to rebuild Westeros and their organization would be pretty stable, far more so than the feudal system. Jon prefers to serve, not to rule, and he'd probably be fine becoming a paladin who kept the world going, just like the paladins during the Crusades who were instrumental in handling bank notes as well as being chivalrous. Put Davos, Jaime, Brienne, Bronn, and Gendry in that slot too. The nobility of Westeros would also be more willing to acquiesce to the bank which was indifferent during the war rather than having to suck up years of hatred and bow their head to some guy they personally hate, so that'd smooth over relations as well. A bank takeover would also naturally lead in to a more democratic government over time, so there's you're high note ending.
There are a lot of shows that drag on way too many seasons, and you can tell that they're just running on fumes, and jumped the shark years ago, and it leaves a stink on the series.
Game of Thrones is not one of those shows. This is one of those shows that actually demands many seasons to properly flesh out.
Qyburn isn't a better necromancer than the Night King simply because he created a physically stronger undead (which is debatable, I think a wight giant or Viserion could easily crush the Mountain). The NK simply chose quantity over quality. He doesn't give a shit about strong troops as the true power of his army lies in the sheer numbers, as was displayed perfectly at the Battle of Winterfell, where it was clearly shown just how overwhelming the forces of the undead where, to the point that towards the end of the episode the entire castle was swarmed with wights. Like locusts on a tree.
The Void. A force of infinite hunger. Its whispers have broken the will of dragons... and lured even the titans' own children into madness. Sages and scholars fear the Void. But we understand a truth they do not. That the Void is a power to be harnessed... to be bent by a will strong enough to command it. The Void has shaped us... changed us. But you will become its master. Wield the shadows as a weapon to save our world... and defend the Alliance!
Bullshit. The list of horrible things she went through prior to all of that would be almost twice as long, but she didn’t go full on crazy eyes sociopath before. If anything she had been gaining more composure throughout the show as she matured and consolidated her power. No more shrieking about fire and blood like back in Essos before she learned more about her history.
You’re also an idiot if you think all the people criticizing her “arc” are Team Dany. Bad writing is bad writing regardless of how much you like or dislike a character. I’ve been expecting her to become a villain for years now. They set her up as someone who might go harder on burning prisoners or surrendering soldiers and the like. If they wanted to go with the Targaryen madness angle they could have actually done that by showing signs of developing mental illness (lashing out after a bad week isn’t Targaryen madness).
To recap:
Burning prisoners or surrendering soldiers, really bad but something an angry Dany might do
Massacring 100,000s of defenseless civilians AFTER the battle is over, Hitler levels of evil and not something that was foreshadowed for this character
"When my dragons are grown, we will take back what was stolen from me and destroy those who have wronged me! We will lay waste to armies and burn cities to the ground!"
@Adamas102
I feel sorry for the Dany fanbois
Learn2read kiddo
Unless your argument is that Dany’s actual character “arc” was for her to suddenly go from victorious, mature, experienced ruler and revert back to petulant child from season 2/3
Or is that what you fans of Benioff and Weiss think is considered good writing and “foreshadowing”.
Last edited by Adamas102; 2019-05-14 at 08:01 PM.
In previous seasons her actions were ruthless and violent...against those that deserved it in such a harsh world. And she was "hero-ified" because it gave all the appearances of bringing some sense of justice to a world that sorely needed it. She wasn't killing for the sake of killing..then.
I do not particularly like D&D, or how they will wrap this up in a rushed manner.
GRRM will have Dany go crazy as well. It has always been the intent, and the foreshadowing has been too big to ignore.
I have no issue stating I am a fan of his writing.
It was almost too obvious for her to finally kill civilians.
Except, as we've already provided specific examples to prove, it has been foreshadowed, multiple times, by Daenerys herself.
She either lacked the capacity to act on it before, or allowed cooler heads to prevail and talk her down, but the desire and intent has been clearly there and explicitly stated since mid-way through Season 2, at least.
Edit: I'll also note, this is specific foreshadowing, by Daenerys herself, in her own words. If you move beyond that, her entire family history speaks for itself, and completely supports her strategy, here. She's Aegon the Conqueror's great-great-something-granddaughter. This is exactly what he did, and he's the ancestor she looks up to the most.
Last edited by Endus; 2019-05-14 at 08:40 PM.
She didn't "go crazy", in the show.
Her decision to torch King's Landing to ashes was entirely rational. She had come to realize that the people of Westeros would never love her, as a foreign conqueror, and so to retain control, they would have to fear her. This is how she sends that message.
The problem is that she's always been on the edge of making this kind of decision. Indeed, she arguably has, several times, it's just that her targets were terrible enough on their own merits that the audience chose to overlook her brutal savagery. There have been other times when she was about to make a similar decision, but voices like Tyrion and Varys managed to talk her down. The difference, here, is that she's decided those others are either wrong, or have betrayed her, and so she's going to do exactly what she wants to do.
Which is ensure that no one in Westeros will dare raise a hand against her rule, ever again.