#and i would argue that martin is the protagonist of seasons 4 and 5

[noveratus]

Do you ever think about the symbolism that Martin liked spiders? Like, it makes sense that Jon hated them from a narrative standpoint. It is a foreshadowing of their overall role as the main antagonist and the ones responsible for orchestrating everything. They have been manipulating Jon since he was a child.

And yet Martin likes them.

Do you ever think of why, even though the spider is said to be the only fear aspect with the ability to think, we never really interacted with it? Only Anabelle? Like, the eye is a large part of season 5 as it always watches, always looms over everyone, and yet, we still know very little about the spider by the end of the show. We know more about the unknown and the dark than we know about the spider.

So I once again ask, why does Martin like spiders?

[stop-breaking-my-heart-telltale]

Top 5 Dumbest Things in The Final Season

I’ve played TWDG a lot, and I can confidently say that The Final Season is my favorite installment, and I’d argue that it’s the best of the series in terms of visuals, controls, characters, and storyline... but that doesn’t mean it’s a perfect game by any means. In fact, there are a lot of issues and inconsistencies you could pick out within the story and the arcs of our characters.

But today I don’t wanna tackle the big problems. The issues on today’s list aren’t a big deal and won’t ruin the experience of the game-- they’re minor and just really, really dumb. They’re things that you probably wouldn’t even notice during your first or second playthrough of the game. Honestly, most of these probably could be easily explained with “shhhh, don’t think about it.” 

But I’m thinkin’ about them because they’re dumb. So, here's my Top 5 dumbest things in TFS. Do note that these Top 5′s are all in good fun, and they’re my opinion. Obviously. 

[also, most of the screenshots used here are from @pi-creates​-- if you haven’t checked out Pi’s blog, I highly recommend you do! :D]

5. Doors make no sense. 

The doors in this game are dumb and make little sense. And you might be scoffing like, “Really? Doors?” and to that I say, “YES DOORS OKAY!”

If you’re like me, you like to look at everything in hopes of finding interesting details and maybe an easter egg. If you look at the all the doors after breaking out of the dorm in ep1, they all have different locks which... why? 

Wait, shouldn’t Clem be able to open this one...? The lock is right there on the outside. 

Why are they different? Also, why are the dorms lockable from the outside? Like, okay, I get it-- ya gotta lock up the troubled youth so that they don’t escape. Fine. Cool, I can accept that... except does this mean that someone had to go around and unlock all the dorms every morning before the apocalypse? What if you forgot a door and a handful got stuck in there for the day? What happens if you lock all these children in their rooms and a fire starts??

And don’t you look at me and try to be like “Pfft, there’s not gonna be a fire--” excuse me?? With Aasim hanging around, and Mitch for that matter, you’re gonna tell me that the odds of fire happening are 0%?

Well, y’know, fine. If there’s a fire, then the kids can just escape through the windows... oh wait--

Weeeeeell fuck the troubled youth, I guess. 

But the dorm doors aren’t even the dumbest doors here-- no, no. That would be the god damn basement door that apparently locks from both sides because game’s gotta game and I guess Marlon has the key?? This dumb door makes no sense. 

Again! I feel like this is a safety hazard?? Sure hope no one gets locked down there, otherwise, you’re fucked I guess?? because there’s no way to unlock or open it from the inside?? After Brody dies and Clem’s looking for a way out, you’d think that she should be able to just open the door at the top of the stairs now that she’s inside but nooooo-- game’s gotta game. 

Ugh, dumb doors!

4. Abel’s magic shotgun

Did you guys know that Abel actually has a special shotgun? A magical shotgun, if you will?

It’s true, he does. He uses a shotgun that, when he fires it, the buckshot curves around to hit the target when the plot demands it.

It’s true! And it’s dumb!

I know this, because if you yell for Violet to shoot Lilly in ep2, Abel will throw AJ to the grab, pull the shotgun out of nowhere, and fire at both her and Louis.... but somehow--

--only Louis manages to get hit.

Soooo.... I guess the buckshot swerves around and above Violet to ONLY hit Louis? Like, I know she ducks a bit but I still feel like something should’ve nicked her as well?? At least?? Like, are lesbians immune to shotguns and that’s why nothing hit Violet?? Am I only learning this now??

Not only that, but it only got Louis in the arm?? H-how??

But that’s not all!

After Louis and Violet flee the scene, Clementine and AJ are on the run with Lilly and Abel shooting BEHIND them... sooo...

If Abel was behind them.... how is it that AJ’s shot in the FRONT of his stomach??

Like, I guess Abel could’ve been at an angle when he shot but they only ever show him behind them soo?? Do I just not know how shotguns work? Do they curve to hit people in their front rather than shooting straight forward?? Because what??

On top of that, how is AJ not dead?? I know, I know, protagonist powers and whatnot but?? the boy took a shotgun to the belly?? other characters have survived lesser things??

But y’know, the dumbest part about this is the fact that I can’t take Abel’s magic shotgun for myself after the Ericson crew capture him. I could’ve just finished off every delta member if the shots curve and travel to hit their targets.

Or maybe Abel’s the only one who can harness its power.

Either way, Abel’s dumb shotgun is dumb.

3.You can’t hug Louis and Violet during their romance routes. 

Sigh.... Why?

Y’all know that I’m a clouis shipper, and now lemme tell you a fun story that isn’t actually that fun-- Do you remember when the trailer dropped for ep3? And we got some teaser screenshots, with one of them being a shot of Clementine and Louis hugging? Well, I was excited for a plethora of reasons, and that hug? 

I could not wait for this hug.

Then I got through my first run of ep3 and... no hug? Wait, no hug? Why not? I thought--

Oh. Oh, it turns out... it turns out you can only hug Louis if you don’t romance him. 

Ummmm. Huh. Wha- why?? Do you know how dumb that is?? What dingus who worked on this episode forgot to implement the hug option for the romance route?? Rather, what dingus thought it was a good idea to only give the Louis romance two options outside of doing nothing-- Slap Louis, or kiss him?? Where’s my hug?? Why is Clementine not allowed to comfort her boyfriend with a hug when he’s clearly anxious about everything that’s about to go down?

Look, the smooch is great and all BUT it’s not what Louis needs in this moment, ya dingus. 

I’m sure if I asked Kent for answers about this, he’d do one of two things-- go into a long winded essay about how the lack of hug and slapping him totally makes sense within the context of Louis’ character arc and route because of this and that and this subtle detail here... or he’d give a shrug and say “I dunno, reasons??”

Ugh, okay, well maybe they let you have the choice in Violet’s romance route--

...Why??

Again, if I choose to romance Violet, why am I not allowed to comfort my girlfriend with a hug before we do this rescue mission?? Sure, I can reassure her that I’m not going anywhere, which is definitely a better option for a love interest than, oh I don’t know, slapping. But the HUG!

They could’ve implemented the hug option into the romance routes but they didn’t and that’s incredibly dumb. 

2. Magic tree is magic. 

Know what I don’t like? The dream theory. Y’know, the theory that the overly happy ending we got at the end of TFS was all just a dream in AJ’s head to cope with the devastation of the real ending-- the one where Clementine died.  

Now, I can already hear you scoffing at me once more like, “Dream theories are dumb, CJ.” and this time, I do agree with you. 

However, there’s actually some compelling evidence that could subtly point at this theory, such as the backward graffiti in the dorms that was present in Clementine’s nightmare, or the fact that Clementine is, y’know, alive despite being seconds away from death in the barn...

Oh, and then there’s this fucking magic tree. 

Oh, you know... the tree that magically grows in in ep4! The one with the tire swing! 

Episode 3 vs Episode 4

This tree is dumb and makes no sense. What, did they just... plant a tree there? Did they push the tree up that was on the ground and use some magical wood glue to fix it?? Clementine said that Willy helped her with the tire swing so like... is Willy some sort of tree whisperer?? 

Or is this just further evidence of the dream theory where AJ’s lamenting the fact that Clementine never got to push him on the tire swing back at the train station and now she never will because she’s fucking dead??

I don’t wanna think about it. In fact, I’m pretty sure that’s what the devs would tell me-- “Shhhh... don’t think about it.” 

This tree is dumb! 

1. What even is the greenhouse??

So.... the green house. It’s dumb. And inconsistent, both in the story and actual location of it. 

First of all, as you can see in the concept image above, it should be within the walls of Ericson, yeah? And if you’re like, “Well, it’s CONCEPT art so it might not be totally accurate CJ.” and I say, “Fair enough, let’s look that the actual in-game map the characters use then.”

Look at that-- still within the walls of Ericson, though in a different location than the concept art. Make sense? Sooo....

Where the hell is it?

Because it’s not within Ericson’s walls. No, no--

It is WAAAAY the hell out here! You can see the bell tower in the distance so like... huh? Where are we?? This is a long as walk to the greenhouse! 

Oh, and if the weird inconsistent locations weren’t dumb enough, there are different conflicting stories surrounding it, as well! 

First, Marlon says that they had it functional with lots of vegetables, but then it became over grown so they don’t go out there anymore. Then, if you go fishing with Violet and Brody, Vi will tell you she worked in the greenhouse the day the twins were killed last year, which... doesn’t add up? Especially when we actually go there in ep2 and see that Ms. Martin died and became a walker inside, but she died a while ago?? 

Also, how did Ms. Martin get tied up like that? Did she get bit, barricade the doors-- wait, that doesn’t work because how did she barricade the science lab from the inside when there’s a shelf in front of the door?? In fact, shouldn’t the walkers that are inside be students that died?? 

“Sshhhh... don’t think about it.”

Ugh, nothing adds up about this greenhouse and that makes it the dumbest thing in TFS.

---

Honorable Mentions

AJ magically teleporting behind Marlon with the gun. Because plot.

The dumb padlock on the gate Louis/Violet/Tenn climb over in ep4 that they could’ve easily broken

Louis’ jacket that somehow holds Chairles

The padding on Violet’s boot that’s rendered useless because they put it on the leg she doesn’t use to kick walkers away

---

Those are my Top 5 dumbest things in TFS, do you agree or disagree? Do you have anything from this game that’s dumber than what I have listed? Let me know! 

Next week’s T5F Top 5 Characters in ANF Who Would’ve Made Better Love Interests Than Kate

[militant-holy-knight]

Benioff and Weiss Were Always Hacks: You Only Noticed Now

Or why you should be worried for the future Star Wars movies made by them

(Disclaimer: this blogpost contains spoilers for Game of Thrones)

With only two episodes left for the series to reach it’s conclusion and the announcement for future Star Wars movies in the horizon made by David Benioff and D.B. Weiss (henceforth referred to as D&D for simplicity sake), not many fans seem to be excited about it as they should due to the creative choices taken in regards to the final season of Game of Thrones. Speaking as a GoT fan, I used to enjoy the show a lot and I believe it reached it’s peak on Season 4 and started to go went downhill on Season 5. If D&D were in charge from the beginning what happened?

D&D’s job was always to adapt the book series by George R. R. Martin, which means any merit to the show’s writing can be attributed largely to Martin while D&D were only fit for it to make it work into a tv show - which is still laudable in it’s own right because there are things in the books that still wouldn’t translate too well into the show. In any case, they did their job well from Season 1 to Season 4 which adapted the first trilogy in the series. Even though there are still five books in total released at the time, Season 5 is where they started to run out of material to adapt because some storylines didn’t find their proper conclusion and they needed to come up with their own unique deviations.

Season 5 is considered by many fans to be the low point in the series because of it’s extremely low pacing and controversial liberties taken: the biggest ones have to be the Dorne subplot because that meant axing popular book character Arianne Martell, Stannis Baratheon turning irredeemable evil and paying with his life and Sansa’s marriage to Ramsay Snow leading to her rape, which is still a very hot button among the fandom to this day (and understandably so). Season 5 did have some moments like Hardhome which showed the strength of the true villain of the series, the Night King, the leader of the White Walker invasion who brings winter with him. He is the Thanos-like menace who is teased since the very start of the show with the very first scene opening with a White Walker killing some Night Watch’s rangers and warning us about the danger he represents.

Season 6 fixed some of these problems by giving a more dynamic pacing and build it up with the Battle of the Bastards as the climatic encounter instead of something completely anti-climatic like Season 5′s finale where Stannis Baratheon’s forces were liquidated by the Boltons offscreen. But still, it was an entire season wasted to fix another one’s problems and it still had some individual problems. 

And then Season 7 came along and it all went to waste. I wouldn’t say it was as bad as Season 5 because at least shit happened and it wasn’t boring, but it was still full of groan-worthy moments like trying to force some romance between Jon Snow and Daenerys Targaryen which doesn’t work because they have no chemistry and they are related by blood, curing Jorah Mormont who has been infected with a dangerous disease that will turn him into a snow zombie by simply cutting out the infected area, and of course lest we forget the Wight Hunt in Episode 6 “Beyond the Wall” which broke all suspension of disbelief. Lemme sum it up for you what happens in that episode so you can get the idea and let me put up a map so you can get it from reference.

The heroes come up with the idea to capture an Wight and bring it South to convince Cersei to from a truce.

The travel by boat to the Wall from their base on Dragonstone.

After reaching the Wall, they walk into the land beyond it to find a wight.

They find one and send one of their members back to ask reinforcements having to sprint a indeterminate distance.

The team gets surrounded by the Night King’s army in a frozen lake for a indeterminate amount of time.

The allies at the Wall send a raven back to Dragonstone requesting help.

Daenerys summons her dragons to fly to the land beyond the Wall to rescue the heroes.

They are fighting to the last against the advancing horde of the Night King just before Daenerys arrives in a triumphant moment to save them.

And all of this happens like... Within a hour apparently. Several days should have taken place between this exchange but time moves at the speed of the plot, but D&D seem to be relying on emotional torque to get viewers to ignore all internal logic and be mindblown by the crowning moments of awesome. And this is the core issue with their writing.

D&D write their scenes the same way they film sex scenes apparently, hoping that the emotional moments will make the audience be carried over. Thing is... I realized this after thinking up about many moments in the past. Hardhome was one such example in Season 5 to make up for its abhorrent dullness and even Season 6 wasn’t safe from this. For example, remember how Rickon Stark died just so he could provoke Jon Snow to act irrationally and spur him into conflict? Why didn’t Rickon run in zig-zag when Ramsay began firing arrows at him? Why did he run into a straight line? Did these writers not watch Prometheus to learn their lessons from it’s mistakes? This problem was carried over in Season 8 and amplified a lot in the Long Night. Many people pointed out the several military blunders made by the protagonists when fighting against the Night King’s army.

I could talk about the moronic choice to film everything in absolute darkness and make it impossible to see shit.

I could talk about how idiotic it was to waste your cavalry against the enemy bulwark.

I could talk about how they didn’t create trenches with tar or use fire for more effective manner against the undead.

But I’d rather talk about that moment.

Arya killing the Night King.

You know at first I was okay with that because:

I wasn’t being a fan of Jon Snow in a long time.

Arya wasn’t a Mary Sue, had skills that justified her, so I could buy it better.

But the more I thought about it, more I came to the realization that it was a wrong choice all along.

Arya never had any investment in killing the Night King. She was a character defined by a list of people she wanted to kill including the Freys, Cersei, Joffrey and others.

Arya was trained as an assassin yes... But her training in Season 5 and 6 was very lackluster. She spent some time doing menial works, impersonating some people and trying to spill some poison on someone’s drink. She never learned invisibility, teleportation or any other cool shit.

And most importantly... Melisandre predicting that Arya would shut down “blue eyes” way back when they met in Season 3. If she sensed she was always destined to kill the Night King why did she ever support Stannis? Why did she even support Jon Snow? She even referred to him as the Prince that was Promised. Some fans can try to spin this as much as they want, but it breaks the plot retroactively very hard.

The actress herself didn’t think she deserved it

Of course all of these things were ignored by a large part of the fanbase, more specifically the “woke” crowd because YAS QUEEN SLAY. Little did they know that the very next episode would force them to eat a real shit sandwich when “The Last of the Starks” seemed to turn the narrative against Daenerys Targaryen by turning her into the Mad Queen, killing her handmaiden Missandei and setting up Jon to be the next King of Westeros. Not helping matters is that a series of leaks not yet confirmed as of the time of writing were released prior to the episode (but I personally feel they were legitimate due to some specific things but that is not the point) which sent many Daenerys fans into panic mode.

Speaking as someone who really doesn’t like Daenerys Targaryen, I can actually sympathize with them at some level because this shift appears to be very sudden specially now that the authors favored her more until this very moment. Some viewers can argue that there were always signs like her burning the Tarlys for refusing to bend the knee, which I personally took issue with before but it never really came across as the sign of an insane ruler since she offered very valid rebuttals. It all seemed like the plot was tailored to take her side no matter what and I considered Dany a Mary Sue. But just because they seem to be turning her into a villain now, it doesn’t make me hate the story any less.

Now... I spent an inordinate amount of time bitching about Game of Thrones and if you are an Star Wars fan that doesn’t know anything about it, you might be lost to anything I am writing. Well I needed to give an proper context to both GoT and SW fans since those seem to overlap now and give you a warning because Star Wars seems to be more lost now than ever. D&D were never particularly good writers, they were incoherent about continuity, care more about spectacle over substance and seem to share a thing about subverting the audience’s expectations like a certain Ruin Johnson who succeeded in completely ruining a franchise like there was no tomorrow. The key difference between D&D and Ruin is that the duo doesn’t share the same flippant attitude or picking up fights with fans on Twitter - on the contrary, D&D understand the power of fanservice even if it means daggling the metaphorical shining keys in front of the audience. 

As we come close to Game of Thrones conclusion, I have a feeling that nobody will truly come out satisfied with it should the story take the direction that we are really dreading. I’ve seen interviews about how Emilia Clarke sounds really sad and deflated, seemed like she was really disappointed with how the show ended. Whatever happens, the blame can be laid on the feet of Benioff and Weiss for their frankly baffling creative decisions. This season has been disappointing through and through with two or three episodes being needlessly long and filler to booth and to make matters worse, it was supposed to end earlier than 10 episodes. Why did they need to rush it and yet fill the series with so much dead air?

Now can you imagine a Star Wars movie made by them? With all these things I listed? The next trilogy is already dated, we don't know if it's D&D or Ruin Johnson yet. We are talking about a couple of writers that have no sense of realistic scale, continuity or logic, but rely on cheap emotional tricks to have the audience invested until they begin thinking about it. I would laugh until I was sick if this season turns everyone against those two fuckwads that Disney changes their mind about putting them in charge. If the world was a just place, this is what would happen at least.

[allaboardtheloonyexpress]

In Defense of Meereen, Part 3: Daenerys Targaryen, the Dark Side of Fantasy

(Oh, PS, I am going to be using a few clips from the show to illustrate my point. I think the show did a good job adapting the books from Seasons 1-4. And even in Seasons 5&6 they get a few key points. But I still think the show is now about fanservice, not being true to Martin’s themes.)

Once, there was a young boy, the last of an ancient family line. His family largely being murdered by his enemies, he ran off into the desert and gained magical powers. Because he had these magical powers, and he was a prophesied savior, this boy gained an army, slew his enemies, and regained his throne. That boy’s name was Paul Atreides, and he is the protagonist of Dune, an early sci-fi book that in my opinion is just as much fantasy as it is sci-fi, and I am using him to make a point.

In many ways, readers will recognize several traits of Daenerys in his story. In many ways, Daenerys is a cliche fantasy protagonist. She:

a) Is the last member of a long, famous line that founded the Kingdom. (The Targaryens)

b) Is incredibly beautiful, and has many various love interests (Khal Drogo, Daario Naharis)

c) Takes up a noble Crusade (the War against slavery)

d) Has magical powers or a weapon that has been lost for years, and was key to her family’s rise to power (Dragons)

e) Is the prophesied Messiah that a nearby religion says will save the world (She is Azor Ahai Reborn, as prophesied by the Red Faith)

So am I saying George RR Martin is unoriginal? No. What I am saying is that George RR Martin is George RR Martin created a cocktail of fantasy hero cliches, and showed the horrible dark side of each trope.

Trope #1: Her Magical, “Noble” Line

If you don’t know, Daenerys is the last (known and definite) descendant of House Targaryen. They, in turn, are the last of the Dragonlords, the magical lords of Valyria, who created a great Empire across Essos. I personally am reminded of the Numenoreans, the ancestors of Aragorn from The Lord of the Rings. But frankly, the Valyrians remind me less of Aragorn and more of Sauron!

Reminders of Valyrian atrocities are spread across the series. The Free City of Braavos was specifically founded by runaway slaves from Valyria. The Dornish people are the descendants of people who fled from the Rhoyne River region in order to escape Valyrian enslavement. (I should also mention this was a possible reason the Andals fled to Westeros.) Sure, the Valyrians created a great civilization, but it was on the backs of slaves! I would argue that in many ways, the Valyrians were worse than the Masters of Meereen! (At least the Masters don’t seem to declare aggressive war on their neighbors!)

And even in Westeros, the obsession by the Targaryens with their line led to crazy inbreeding, and I do mean crazy. The saying went, “When a Targaryen is born, the gods flip a coin to see if they will be brilliant or mad.”

My point is that the Targaryens come from a powerful line, but in no way a good one. This continues in Westeros, where for every great Targaryen, there is a psychopath! For every Aegon I, a Maegor the Cruel! Not to mention her own father. Remember him?

What I think we forget is that if Daenerys wins, we are giving Westeros back to the Targaryens, whose words are aptly, “Fire and Blood”. That is a fate that I wouldn’t wish on Russia, and I am mad at Russia right now.

Trope #2: The Most Beautiful Woman In the World

A common note people make about Daenerys is her beauty. One of the ways that Daenerys gains power is at times, powerful men will fall in love with her and join her out of love. (Ser Jorah, Drogo, Daario, etc) But what is important is which men she falls in love with in turn. And homegirl has a type. Let’s list her choice in men:

1. Khal Drogo- Hot, but he is a slaver who attacks the peaceful Lhazareen and pours molten gold on Viserys’ head. And remember this?

If you can’t watch this, Drogo promises to burn Westeros to the ground and enslave errbody. That is not the kind of man you want ruling the Seven Kingdoms.

2. Daario- Also hot, but he murdered his co-captains to be with Daenerys. What kind of man murders his co-workers to impress a beautiful woman? Perhaps the kind that advocates another Red Wedding?

I should point out that in the books, he suggests to do this at her wedding. That should set off alarm bells for anybody.

My point is that Daenerys likes psychopaths, the kind that would be terrible rulers of Westeros. Forget her marrying Jon Snow. She would be more likely attracted to Ramsay. (Well, not really. She only likes men who are horrible to other people, not her.) All men fall in love with Daenerys, but she does not love them. Most people look at Victarion Greyjoy and think she can’t possibly fall for him. But why not? He’s exactly what she likes.

Trope #3: Her Noble Crusade

I dealt with this in Part 2, but suffice it to say that she demonstrates how this can go horribly wrong. She doesn’t rule well, can’t make alliances for shit, and irresponsibly runs off onto her dragon. This is what happens when an irresponsible teenager tries to make massive change in the world. (It also has eerie shades of her father, who had tendencies to try grand projects but never finish before he went mad.)

Trope #4: Her Dragons

Her dragons are not a good reason for her to claim the throne. They are murderous creatures that open the fifth book by eating a small child. Many think they will give her the right to rule because they will allow her to defeat the White Walkers. But humanity beat the White Walkers before without dragons. Why do they need them now?

Moreover, the Dragons, I would argue, represent absolute, unchecked, power. And it is all well and good to think Jon Snow or Daenerys (for now) would handle dragons well. But what about him?

Or God forbid, him?

The thing is, we don’t have to imagine it. We already had this song and dance under Maegor the Cruel.

An absolute sociopath, Maegor was nigh-impossible to defeat because he had a huge dragon. If it hadn’t been for Jaehaerys and Alysanne, he would have reigned until he died. And the thing is, there will be another crazy and/or evil king. The Targaryens are famous for it. So tell me this, are you willing to give Daenerys the throne, knowing another Aerys will be around in at most one hundred years, with a dragon waiting for him?

Trope #5: Our Prophesied Savior

But the thing that really worries me is Daenerys’ ties to the Red God. Admittedly, so far she has admitted she has no love of the Red God. (She was actually disturbed by their dichotomous thinking.) That is to her credit. What disturbs me is that she has quite a fanbase among the Red Priests. This, by the way, is one thing I think the show understood, as shown by Kinvara.

Throughout the books, George RR Martin makes a point of displaying religious violence. The Sparrows are violence caused by the Faith of the Seven. The Ironborn are partly motivated by the Drowned God saying, “Thou shalt steal and thou shalt kill”. (Although that is more of a justification than a commandment for stealing.) And the faith of the Red God is always tied to violence. Tyrion Lannister famously quotes, upon seeing the Red Priest Benerro preaching that Daenerys is Azor Ahai reborn:

Give me priests who are fat, corrupt and cynical...the sort who like to sit on soft satin cushions, nibble sweetmeats, and diddle little boys. It’s the ones who believe in gods who make the trouble. (A Dance With Dragons, Tyrion VII)

The question overall is why this part of the story is here. Well, it is a common fantasy cliche for the hero of the story to be a prophesied savior of some sort. (Like Paul Atreides, who is the “Mahdi” of the Fremen.) And in these stories, the people are always right, and the protagonist is a good guy. But historically, there have also been less heroic messiahs, who have brought about horrific violence. These are people like Simon Bar Kokhba, Hong Xiuquan (the Taiping Rebellion), or Muhammad Ahmad bin Abd Allah in Sudan. (Interestingly, he was also a “Mahdi.”) Also, Paul Atreides should be noted to cause horrific death himself. The difference is in the Dune books there is less focus on this.

What my point is is that in each case, Daenerys is your cliche fantasy hero. She is almost Mary Sue-ish in that way. But only if she actually was the hero. What George RR Martin is showing us is that we value the wrong things in a hero, almost in a fascist way. And in the end, she will not be the hero. She will be a terror.

Thanks for sticking around for my long essay. Coming up next, why the Hunger Games (in-universe) were a terrible idea to begin with, and why the entire series is actually an excellent parable on Machiavelli! Happy MLK Day!