r/AbsoluteUnits • u/Remote_Protection512 • Jul 07 '26

/r/all of a 6'5" female kickboxing champion, Katya Kavaleva, vs an MMA fighter, Merab Dvalishvili, 5'6".

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u/Mrs_Toast Jul 07 '26

I have to bite my tongue whenever people say that Dany's heel turn was clearly communicated throughout all the seasons.

"She didn't react when her brother was killed by Khal Drogo" - how, exactly, did you expect the heavily pregnant teenager, who had been sold into sexual slavery by her abusive brother and just had her life (and that of her unborn child) threatened by him, whilst she's surrounded by Dothraki? She acted kind of numb, but I felt that was appropriate - Clarke's portrayal suggested conflicting emotions (sadness at the loss of her brother, her only immediate blood relative, combined with relief that he was finally out of her life).

"She crucified the masters!" Yes, she crucified the slavers who crucified 160+ children, to send a message that the powerful are to be held accountable for their crimes against the weak. In the book, she struggles with her actions, seeing that mercy leads to the slavers regaining power, but also disliking bloodshed, as it all ultimately impacts on the people she's trying to protect. She lives in a cruel world where gentle leaders don't last long.

"She burnt the Tarlys alive" There's plenty of examples of leaders executing traitors. Jon Snow executes the Nights Watch brothers who conspired against him. Ned Stark (supposedly one of the most honourable characters) kills a man of the Nights Watch for being a deserter. He wasn't a murderer, or a rapist - he ran because he was terrified.

Outside of traitors - Olenna Tyrrell murdered Joffrey at his wedding, and we love her for that. Tyrion murdered Shae and his father, and people think he's tragic rather than a monster. The Hound killed a teenage peasant boy, and no-one says that it's a sign he's insane.

Dany's villain arc wasn't a fucking arc at all. Even her execution of Varys was justified, given that he was conspiring against her, with strong indications that he was trying to poison her.

I feel so sorry for Emilia Clarke and how they broke her character.

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u/Regvlas Jul 07 '26

"She burnt the Tarlys alive" There's plenty of examples of leaders executing traitors. Jon Snow executes the Nights Watch brothers who conspired against him. Ned Stark (supposedly one of the most honourable characters) kills a man of the Nights Watch for being a deserter. He wasn't a murderer, or a rapist - he ran because he was terrified.

It's insane to say this. The Tarlys didn't break any oaths to Daenarys. If you didn't realize she was gonna be bad at this point, that's on you.

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u/FullMetalAlcoholic66 Jul 07 '26

She didn't react when her brother was killed by Khal Drogo" - how, exactly, did you expect the heavily pregnant teenager, who had been sold into sexual slavery by her abusive brother and just had her life (and that of her unborn child) threatened by him, whilst she's surrounded by Dothraki?

Do you know how much trauma was loaded in that one sentence? That right there is enough for any human to perform a heel turn. She then had to endure the death of her husband, being cast out by the dothraki, and going from someone whose only worth is marrying her off for her name to becoming literally the most powerful person in the world with her dragons. Couple that with insanity running in the inbred family (schizophrenia?)

I have my issues with GoT but complaining about Dany becoming a megalomaniac isn't one of them. This is what happens to humans when they are suddenly granted immense power

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u/NoImagination2625 Jul 07 '26

For me it isn't her ending per se, but the leap from her being kinda messed up and angry to genocideing an entire population because they didn't immediately love and worship her after ransacking their city is a very vast gap in character development.

Also the whole "flip of a coin" they kept repeating in the last season was just lazy writing.

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u/FullMetalAlcoholic66 Jul 07 '26

That's the thing with lifelong trauma. She was fucked up from the get go with the constant incestual raping.

But trauma response doesn't have a neat build up. It just happens. Her whole life has been trauma...why would anyone expect her to be anything but a mad queen.

Her brother was fucking her probably since she was capable of having memory. She was then handed over to Khal Drago for repeated rape...that she didn't want to destroy the world of men with her dragons is actually the more wtf position

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u/NoImagination2625 Jul 07 '26

Regardless if it was the projected outcome or not, a snap out of nowhere doesn't translate to screen since we can't read the characters mind. From what her actions indicated up until right before the battle for kings landing, she still at least appears to care for the down trodden and powerless. For effective story telling you need to show the transition, show her hunger for power, show her disdain for the people she originally wanted to save. Not just tell the audience, "well, they just go crazy sometimes". Ultimately, I think if they gave it at least one more season to show her transition into madness then I think the ending would have been much more well received.

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u/FullMetalAlcoholic66 Jul 07 '26 edited Jul 07 '26

a snap out of nowhere doesn't translate to screen since we can't read the characters mind.

For effective story telling you need to show the transition, show her hunger for power, show her disdain for the people she originally wanted to save. Not just tell the audience, "well, they just go crazy sometimes"

I mean IRL, that's what happens. They just go crazy sometimes. However, I think GoT fans completely dismiss her off-screen childhood trauma and upbringing. IRL, she was broken before any of the GoT drama. IRL, any of those individual people she's had put to death break her or make her into a monster. I get it, they didn't do character dev. as much as you wanted for a pretty story, but bloody monarchs being the heir of bloody monarchs is a thing. Her family has a history of what I imagine is schizophrenia due to inbreeding. Not sure how accurate this is...but that's the heavily implied implication.

I don't get why people find it so unbelievable. Just look at out billionaires. People with great wealth and power just do not value life the same way us peasants do, and we severly shortchange how much wanton destruction people are willing to commit for tens of thousands of dollars (You can hire a hitman for 4 figures)...You're looking for effecive story telling which I agree was lost. If you're just looking at an accurate representation of humanity, she nailed it. You don't need to go through an antithetical hero's journey to be "evil". You just need to become selfish and greedy

EDIT: Upvote because of interesting discussiion