#arereadofdaenerys

[music-of-dragons]

AGOT Dany X

●Summary ○My thoughts

● This chapter opens with Dany preparing Drogo’s pyre. She has Aggo kill a horse for the first layer of brush and bark since Dothraki tradition states that Khals need a mount for the Nightlands. Mirri is bound on the sidelines telling Dany a horse is not enough, she does not have the words to make a spell nor the wisdom to find them because blood magic is not a game for children. ~”You call me maegi as if it were a curse, but all it means is wise. You are a child, with a child’s ignorance. Whatever you mean to do, it will not work. Loose me from these bonds and I will help you.” Dany tells Jhogo she tires of the maegi’s braying and he whips her, she keeps quiet after that.

○ Dany is combining her inner knowledge of magic with the Dothraki traditions, this gives more fuel to the magic that is about to take place. Dany shares a close bond with the Dothraki culture because she found her agency on the Dothraki Sea and because she loved Drogo. Mirri is calling Dany a child, she admits that she punished and sterilized a child in a cruel fashion in order to teach her a lesson. Dany will not allow herself to be fooled by Mirri again and will not trust her words.

● The second layer of the pyre has thicker wood laid in very specific directions, East to West, sunrise to sunset. Drogo's treasures are added to this layer of the pyre except for the bride gifts, Dany means to keep them. Jorah calls Dany “princess” but she tells him what was Viserys’s is hers now, so he calls her Queen. Jorah swears his sword and shield to Dany and begs her not to join Drogo in the pyre. She tells him that she must, that he doesn’t understand. ~”I will not watch you burn.” “Is that what you fear?” Dany kissed him lightly on his broad forehead. “I am not such a child as that, sweet ser.”~ She swears to him that she does not intend to burn.

○ The second of the three layers is laid East to West. Drogo’s treasures are placed on this layer with the directional branches, symbolizing that his life will return when the sun rises in the West and sets in the East as well as the fact that he was Dany’s sun and stars. This is the first time Dany declares herself a Queen in her own right, her power does not derive from someone else, only herself and her name. Daenerys does not intend to burn, she knows that the magic she is putting together will protect her as she hatches her dragons.

● The third level of the pyre is made with woven branches, covered with leaves and twigs which are laid North to South, Ice to Fire, then piled with soft cushions and sleeping silks. The sun had begun to lower when they were through and Dany called the remaining Dothraki around her. There were fewer than a hundred, and Dany wonders how many Aegon started with, although it did not matter. ~”You will be my khalasar,” she told them. “I see the faces of slaves. I free you. Take off your collars. Go if you wish, no one shall harm you. If you stay, it will be as brothers and sisters, husbands and wives. I see the children, women, the wrinkled faces of the aged. I was a child yesterday. Today I am a woman. Tomorrow I will be old. To each of you I say, give me your hands and your hearts, and there will always be a place for you.” After she says this she gives the 3 bride gifts to each of her Khas and names them her Kos/bloodriders, they each gently turn her down but she pays their rejection no mind and thinks to herself that if she looks back she is lost. She names Jorah the first of her Queensguard then enters her tent to bathe. She then moves on and cleans Drogo, begging his forgiveness for her mistakes.

○ Dany has now deliberately placed the branches NESW, which is commonly used in alchemy and ritual magic. Her pyre consists of 3 layers, she is the child of 3, once again connecting her destiny with her magic. Daenerys, for the first time, compares herself to Aegon. This is the beginning of her goals of conquest, the night she becomes a Queen in her own right. Her speech is one of my favorites, her crusade to end slavery starts this night and she takes the freedmen as her people. She acknowledges her personal growth and uses her speech to inspire the remaining Dothraki to be her Khalasar. She must move forward, no matter what the others around her say as she names her bloodriders and continues with the ritual.

● She has Drogo’s body placed on the pyre with his head facing the Mother of Mountains to the NE. She places her eggs on his pyre despite Jorah’s protests. The black beside his heart, the green beside his head, and the cream and gold between his legs. Once she climbs off the pyre Mirri calls her mad, to which she responds, ~”Is it so far from madness to wisdom?” then has her bound to the pyre. She pours the oil on Mirri herself and thanks her for the lesson she had taught her, that only death may pay for life. It was only then that Mirri began to look fearful. Dany waits for the first star to appear, and Jhogo spies the comet first, blood red, fire red, the dragon’s tail. She thinks that she could not have asked for a stronger sign.

○ These placements are VERY strategic. I believe that they give evidence for the 3 heads of the dragon as well as completing the prophecy of Azor Ahai. Drogon, Dany’s mount, is placed beside Drogo’s heart as she is the heart and spirit of the three heads who will bring them together. Viserion is placed between Drogon’s legs, whoever rides Viserion will be her lover and another head of the dragon. Rhaegal is placed besides Drogon’s head, whoever rides Rhaegal will be the strategic mind of the 3 heads. I believe them to be Dany, Jon, and Tyrion. Lightbringer was tempered with Nissa Nissa’s heart and was always warm as she had been warm, Drogon is hatched from Drogo’s heart and he is fire made flesh. Drogon is lightbringer and Daenerys is Azor Ahai, she unintentionally sacrificed her husband to complete the AA/Lightbringer ritual beneath the bleeding star at the end of the long summer. She will wake dragons from stone and be reborn amidst salt (could be the Dothraki SEA or her ~rivulets~ of sweat) and smoke (from the burning pyre) just as she was originally born amidst salt and smoke on Dragonstone. This all happens before we are even introduced to the Azor Ahai prophecy, which was intentional on GRRM's part imo.

● Dany sets the pyre on fire, as she sees Drogo burning part of her wants to rush to him and burn with him, but she waits. The fire beats like great red wings and pushes the Dothraki back while Dany stands her ground. She is the blood of the dragon and the fire is in her. ~She had sensed the truth of it long ago, but the brazier had not been hot enough.~ She steps closer and closer to the flames thinking that Mirri had thought her a child, but children grow and children learn. She sees visions of mythical creatures in the fire as milk flows from her breasts before she sees Drogo mounted on a smoky stallion. He smiles, and the crack of his whip is the cracking of shattering stone, the first egg. She sees the smoking piece of cream and gold egg at her feet and hears the roaring. ~Only death can pay for life.~ The pyre continues to collapse when Dany hears the second cracking, loud and sharp as thunder. She hears Jorah shouting for her. ~The fire is mine. I am Daenerys Stormborn, daughter of dragons, bride of dragons, mother of dragons, don’t you see? Don’t you SEE?~ The pyre collapses around Dany as she steps forward and calls out to her children. She hears the third crack, loud and sharp as the breaking of the world.

○ Dany recognizes that she needs to wait for the sacrifices to be completely burned before she enters the fire or else the magic will not protect her from the flames. She knows she is hatching dragons and calls herself mother of dragons before they even completely hatch. The magic shows her visions in the flames because it is working and she is not burning. Dany hears the dragons as they are hatching and eagerly goes to them, she is confident and unafraid, ready to be the mother of dragons while the Dothraki watch the flames roaring higher and higher.

● When Jorah finds Dany amidst the ruins of the pyre, naked and covered with soot, Viserion and Rhaegal are suckling from her breasts and Drogon is draped around her shoulders. Jorah and the Dothraki fall to their knees at the sight of Dany, unhurt, and nurturing 3 baby dragons. Dany looks at their eyes and sees that they are her people now, hers as they had never been Drogo’s. ~As Daenerys Targaryen rose to her feet, her black hissed, pale smoke venting from its mouth and nostrils. The other two pulled away from her breasts and added their voices to the call, translucent wings unfolding and stirring the air, and for the first time in hundreds of years, the night came alive with the music of dragons.~

○ The Dothraki are stunned by her accomplishment and follow her because of her inner strength, magic, and dragons; unlike Drogo who enslaved and ruled with brute strength and fear. She is suckling the dragons because she is meant to be their mother, she is a child who just lost her own human son and was able to hatch dragons to raise and be a mother to in his place. The story opens with a dance with The Others, and ends with the music of dragons. This is about to be the EPIC Song of Ice and Fire!

Art 1 by Felicia Cano 🥰

Art 2 by Mark Miller, the cover of AGOT graphic novel issue 24! His dragons look exactly as I imagined them, more snake like with large wings!

[music-of-dragons]

ACOK Dany IV

● Summary ○ My thoughts

● The chapter begins with Dany emerging from her palanquin with Drogon on her shoulder, she has arrived at the House of the Undying, aptly called the “Palace of Dust'' for it is ancient and crumbling. Xaro, Jorah, and all of Dany’s bloodriders advise her against entering, but she says that some places even a Khal must walk alone. Pyat Pree emerges from the grove surrounding the house and says that she must enter alone or not at all. Jorah counsels her to remember Mirri Maz Duur, and Dany remarks that she does, for she had knowledge and she was only a maegi. Dany takes Pyat’s arm and he leads her through the grove, once arrived, he tells her that she must do exactly as he says if she values her soul.

○ Daenerys calls herself a Khal and displays her bravery to Jorah and her bloodriders by committing to entering the house, even after Aggo comments that few who enter ever come out. Dany never forgot the lessons Mirri Maz Duur taught her and still respects her for the knowledge she had, even if it was used against her.

● Pyat tells her that she must always take the first door to her right, when she comes upon stairs always go up but never go down. ~”Other doors may open to you. Within, you will see many things that disturb you. Visions of loveliness and visions of horror, wonders and terrors. Sights and sounds of days gone by and days to come and days that never were. Dwellers and servitors may speak to you as you go. Answer or ignore them as you choose, but enter no room until you reach the audience chamber.”~ Dany is offered Shade of the Evening before she enters and drinks as Pyat tells her to, it starts off foul tasting before becoming sweet. With that done, Dany finally enters.

● Immediately upon entering Dany takes the first door to her right, twice she does this each time leading to the same room, she knows she is in the presence of sorcery. When she finally comes upon a room with six passages instead of four she takes the rightmost into a hall with doors only to the left. Drogon flies ahead and crashes, Dany follows him, walking faster as she hears more sounds coming from the doors. She looks in some of the open doors, the first is a woman sprawled naked on the floor with four tiny men crawling all over and ravaging her. Next she came upon a feast of corpses, savagely slaughtered. In a throne above them all was a dead man’s body with an iron-crowned wolf head, he watched her with mute appeal. As she fled from him she saw another door, the room inside was her childhood room with a lemon tree outside the window. As soon as she realized it, Ser Willem Darry entered the room and beckoned her to him. She edged forward, wanting to take his hand with all her heart, but remembered he was dead and turned and ran.

○ Dany follows Drogon down the hall, the dragon is intelligent and keeps her moving forward by lashing his tail on her shoulders when he gets uneasy. The first vision of the woman represents Westeros and the four little men represent the 4 kings currently fighting there; Joffrey, Renly, Stannis, and Robb. They are all lumped together in this vision because in the eyes of the smallfolk, each King is destroying the country they live in for either vengeance or power. The feast of corpses is the Red Wedding and the wolf headed King is Robb, foreshadowing his downfall a book before it happens. The last vision is a trap set for Dany that draws on what she longs for most; home, love, and safety.

● Dany is running down the hall of only left doors while Drogon lashes against her back, still urging her forwards. She comes upon a great pair of bronze doors and looks inside to see the Great Hall in the Red Keep with the dragon skulls looking down upon the Iron Throne. She sees a man upon the throne with long silver-grey hair and dark eyes saying to a man below him, “Let him be the king of ashes.” Drogon shrieks and digs his claws into her skin and she pushes on. Her next pause she sees a man she thinks is Viserys, but is taller with indigo eyes instead of lilac. He says the babe the woman is nursing shall be named Aegon, a name fit for a king. The woman asks if she will make a song for him. ~”He has a song," the man replied. "He is the prince that was promised, and his is the song of ice and fire." He looked up when he said it and his eyes met Dany's, and it seemed as if he saw her standing there beyond the door. "There must be one more," he said, though whether he was speaking to her or the woman in the bed she could not say. "The dragon has three heads.”~ Then he fades away. She comes upon stairs that only descend and knows she cannot take them, the torches begin to gutter out behind her and for a moment terror fills her as she has nowhere to go and Drogon is getting defensive. She realizes that the first door on the right is the last door on the left and flings herself through it. She goes endlessly to the right and to the right until she comes upon a false Pyat Pree who tries to convince her that she was already done and that he will lead her since the Undying will not wait forever, she tells him what he told her at the start, ~“Our little lives are no more than a flicker of a moth’s wing to them.”~ And enters the door to the right.

○ Dany’s vision within the great bronze doors is of her father before giving his pyromancer the order to burn down King’s Landing. He wanted Robert to be King of nothing but ashes and charred bones. I think this may foreshadow that whomever sets off the wildfire, will do so because they are fighting a losing battle. Next Dany sees Rhaegar claiming his son is TPTWP and that his is the Song of Ice and Fire, he looks at Dany when he says that the dragon has three heads and there must be one more. I think this means that Dany is TPTWP meant to bring together the three heads of the dragon to defeat the Ice (Others) with Fire (Dragons). At this point, Dany has no idea what TPTWP or AA prophecy is or what they are about, she only knows the Stallion. I think all three are the same hero, Daenerys. Dany is in a perilous position at the end of the hall of left doors but uses her quick wit to figure out how to escape the coming darkness without breaking the rules Pyat gave her. She also took all of Pyat’s words from the start to heart and used them to outsmart the false Pyat and continue on. She is not only incredibly brave, she is smart and quick witted when she needs to be as well.

● She comes upon open doors of ebony and weirwood, inside are wizards and women fashioned in surpassing extravagance. Everything about them is perfect and the music is the most beautiful Dany has ever heard. They say they are the Undying of Qarth and beckon her to join them, they say they sent her the comet and wish to arm her with magical weapons for she has passed every trial. She takes a step forward but Drogon flies from her shoulder and begins to bite at the door she entered through. One wizard calls him a willful beast and offers to teach her dragonspeak, but doubt seizes her. Behind the door she entered, hidden, is a smaller door to the right. She enters into a chamber awash in gloom.

○ Daenerys is almost fooled by the young and beautiful sorcerors at the table, but Drogon helps keep her mind focused. She knows that the “Undying” are too tempting and the music too sweet. She follows Drogon’s instincts and finds the true chamber of the Undying.

● In the murky indigo chamber a heart floats above the table, the Undying sit unseeing across from each other, blue from head to toe. She sits at the table and asks for their wisdom, noticing that none of them breathe. ~"I have come for the gift of truth," Dany said. "In the long hall, the things I saw . . . were they true visions, or lies? Past things, or things to come? What did they mean?"

. . . the shape of shadows . . . morrows not yet made . . . drink from the cup of ice . . . drink from the cup of fire . . .

. . . mother of dragons . . . child of three . . .

“Three?" She did not understand.

. . . three heads has the dragon . . . the ghost chorus yammered inside her skull with never a lip moving, never a breath stirring the still blue air. . . . mother of dragons . . . child of storm . . . The whispers became a swirling song. . . . three fires must you light . . . one for life and one for death and one to love . . . Her own heart was beating in unison to the one that floated before her, blue and corrupt . . . three mounts must you ride . . . one to bed and one to dread and one to love . . . The voices were growing louder, she realized, and it seemed her heart was slowing, and even her breath. . . . three treasons will you know . . . once for blood and once for gold and once for love . . .~

○ So far, Dany’s chapters are the ONLY chapters to mention the title of the series and it directly correlates to her destiny, she is the fire in a Song of Ice and Fire! Daenerys is finally called the child of three, everything important in Dany’s life has and will come in threes. She must find the other two heads of the dragon to complete the three heads of the dragon. I personally think that the fire for life was the birth of the dragons, the fire for death could possibly be the HotU or one that has not yet happened in the book, then the third will not be FOR love, but TO love. Whatever her third fire is will lead her to love. The first mount is Dany’s silver who is connected to Drogo and her being “bedded”, the second is Drogon whom Daenerys grows to fear the power of in ADWD before finally facing her fears and taming him by the end, the third mount she will either love or lead her TO her love along with the third fire. I think the treason for blood is Mirri Maz Duur whom Dany trusted until she killed her unborn son for vengeance. I don’t think the second treason has happened yet and neither has the third, but I could be wrong.

● ~"I don't . . . " Her voice was no more than a whisper, almost as faint as theirs. What was happening to her? "I don't understand," she said, more loudly. Why was it so hard to talk here? "Help me. Show me."

. . . help her . . . the whispers mocked. . . . show her . . .

Then phantoms shivered through the murk, images in indigo. Viserys screamed as the molten gold ran down his cheeks and filled his mouth. A tall lord with copper skin and silver-gold hair stood beneath the banner of a fiery stallion, a burning city behind him. Rubies flew like drops of blood from the chest of a dying prince, and he sank to his knees in the water and with his last breath murmured a woman's name. . . . mother of dragons, daughter of death . . . Glowing like sunset, a red sword was raised in the hand of a blue-eyed king who cast no shadow. A cloth dragon swayed on poles amidst a cheering crowd. From a smoking tower, a great stone beast took wing, breathing shadow fire. . . . mother of dragons, slayer of lies . . . Her silver was trotting through the grass, to a darkling stream beneath a sea of stars. A corpse stood at the prow of a ship, eyes bright in his dead face, grey lips smiling sadly. A blue flower grew from a chink in a wall of ice, and filled the air with sweetness. . . . mother of dragons, bride of fire . . .~

○ Daenerys is slowly having her life force sucked away by the Undying but she doesn’t realize it yet. She sees Viserys dying, grown up Rhaego, and Rhaegar dying then she is called “Daughter of Death”. I think it means that all 3 of these men had to die/never come to be in order for Daenerys to become who she was meant to be, Azor Ahai. She sees Stannis, the cloth dragon, then the great stone beast and is called “Slayer of Lies”. Her vision recognizes Stannis as a king so that is not the lie she must slay regarding him, it’s that he is Azor Ahai because she actually is. The cloth dragon is heavily believed to be Young Griff/fAegon posing as a true Targaryen when he is actually a Blackfyre or descended from Valyria is some other way. I believe that the great stone beast will be an illusion by Melisandre in order to make Stannis appear as Azor Ahai by waking a dragon from stone and using Shireen as a sacrifice for it. Dany next sees her silver beneath a sea of stars, a corpse with bright eyes on the prow of a ship, then a blue flower growing from a chink in a wall of ice and is called “Bride of Fire”. The first vision refers to Drogo being her first husband, married to her and her cause. The corpse has not yet been revealed but it could be dead Hizdaar tied to Euron’s ship, Euron himself, or Maester Aemon; he may have been blind but he was wise hence bright eyes and he dies on the ship on his way to see Dany. He may not be a husband but he is metaphorically married to her cause and believes that she is Azor Ahai. Blue roses are not only associated with Lyanna, they are associated with Ned keeping her secret that Jon is the son of Rhaegar. The blue flower represents Jon growing from a boy to a man at the wall, then she interprets the air as sweet foreshadowing a positive relationship. Jon will be her third and final husband.

● ~Faster and faster the visions came, one after the other, until it seemed as if the very air had come alive. Shadows whirled and danced inside a tent, boneless and terrible. A little girl ran barefoot toward a big house with a red door. Mirri Maz Duur shrieked in the flames, a dragon bursting from her brow. Behind a silver horse the bloody corpse of a naked man bounced and dragged. A white lion ran through grass taller than a man. Beneath the Mother of Mountains, a line of naked crones crept from a great lake and knelt shivering before her, their grey heads bowed. Ten thousand slaves lifted bloodstained hands as she raced by on her silver, riding like the wind. "Mother!" they cried. "Mother, mother!" They were reaching for her, touching her, tugging at her cloak, the hem of her skirt, her foot, her leg, her breast. They wanted her, needed her, the fire, the life, and Dany gasped and opened her arms to give herself to them . . .~

○ She sees the dancing shadows from Mirri’s ritual, herself as a child running towards the house with the red door, Mirri being exchanged for a dragon, the wineseller who tried to poison her tied to her horse, the white lion Drogo slew for her that she wears, the Dosh Khaleen emerging from the Womb of the World and praising her as The Stallion, the slaves that she will eventually free lifting bloodstained hands (think weirwood leaves) calling her “mother” and tugging at her, she’s subconsciously realizing that they want her fire and life, but it’s not the slaves she is giving herself to!

● The visions are ripped away as Dany realizes that the Undying are all around her trying to feast on her life and power, she cannot move and her heart has nearly stopped until Drogon shrieks and flaps his wings around her head. Suddenly he breathes fire and the Undying are burning all around her as he attacks the corrupted heart, ripping and burning it. The Undying are burning along with their heart while Dany’s heart is racing where it was once slowing. She bulls through the burning husks and calls Drogon to her as she reaches the exit. She runs on a writhing floor in a serpentine hall but keeps her feet and makes it to the final door, she spills out into sunlight. Pyat draws a knife and tries to attack her but Drogon flies at his face and Rhakaro attacks him with his whip, Jorah kneels down beside her.

○ The Undying know that Daenerys has invaluable magic within her, they want that power to keep living and to grow more powerful themselves. I think they are creatures that feed not only on life force, but on the magical imbalance of the world that is created when they prevent someone powerful from reaching their destiny; they snuff it out and feed on what could have been. Drogon is a flying scaly attack fire kitten and I’m proud👏of👏him👏 This chapter really shows just how important Drogon is for Dany and how strong their connection is, she would not have made it out of the House of the Undying without him.

Was this long af? Yes. Is this my favorite chapter in all of ASOIAF? YES.

Art 1 by Stefano Carta

Art 2 by Baldi Konijn

Art 3 by Lauren K Cannon

Art 4 by Mel Rubi

[music-of-dragons]

Dany ACOK I

● The chapter begins with Dany and her withering Khalasar in the Red Waste. She is following what the Dothraki named the “bleeding star” because with dangers in every direction, it is the only way left to them. Dany’s dragons are mere hatchlings who are vulnerable to anyone, the only three in the world, and Jorah tells her people will want them. ~”They are mine.” she said fiercely. They had been born from her faith and her need, given life by the deaths of her husband and unborn son and the maegi Mirri Maz Duur. Dany had walked into the flames as they came forth, and they had drunk milk from her swollen breasts. “No man will take them from me while I live.” Dany is given the titles Unburnt and Mother of Dragons by the Dothraki, titles she earned. Her people are weak, so Dany tells herself she must be their strength.

○ Dany initially took the star as a herald of her coming and told herself the Gods sent it to show her the way, however, she knows that she has no other path open to her without endangering her people, herself, and her dragons. She treks the red waste and looks to the comet for hope. After the traumatic event with Mirri Maz Duur and the loss of her husband and son, Dany is fiercely protective of her dragons. She bonded with them as a mother bonds with human children by breastfeeding them the night they hatched. All of GRRM’s imagery regarding Dany has been related to motherhood so far and there is a lot more coming. Dany does not take titles for herself, they are given to her by her people because in their eyes she earned them. She knows that she must show no fear and have absolute resolve to keep up the spirits of her people now that she is a leader in her own right.

● Dany’s handmaid Doreah takes a fever in the Red Waste, Dany is urged to leave her behind since she cannot ride, but Dany refuses. She holds Doreah, cooling her brow with a damp cloth and giving her water from her own skin until she dies in her arms. Only then does she permit the Khalasar to move on. Dany converses with Jorah about their path, they are certainly doomed if they turn back so they must continue on. Dany thinks to herself that she must be Ser Jorah’s strength too and kisses his cheek to see him smile since his injuries had been wearing on him. ~A knight he may be, but I am the blood of the dragon.~ Dany looks to the comet and despairs that it is mocking her hopes until her outriders come back with news that they had found a city. Dany wants to rush to the city, but she thinks better of it and sends Aggo to learn its name and the kind of welcome they should expect. The city is empty and Dany’s handmaids believe it is to be shunned, but Dany leads them to it herself.

○ Daenerys is a compassionate person, she refused to leave behind Doreah and cared for her until she died because she felt she owed it to her for helping Dany win over Khal Drogo, she cares for her people no matter their status in the Khalasar. She realizes that Jorah is weary and gets his spirits back up by kissing his cheek, she tells herself she is blood of the dragon so that she can be strong for him and her people. She is their guidance when they are feeling hopeless, this is a quality any good leader should have. Although Dany wants to rush to the city, she acts as a leader and chooses to put safety first by having Aggo size up the city before they approach. Despite her handmaids and the Dothraki being superstitious of the dead city, Daenerys puts their survival and need first by leading them to the “haunted” city herself, showing them that she is not afraid.

● After Dany sets the example of fearlessness to her people, she sends men out to search the ruins. One returns with small, withered figs and her Khalasar feeds on them happily. Further searches brought more fruit, cold water, and sun bleached bones. Irri tells Dany that they must not stay in the city long due to ghosts. ~”I fear no ghosts. Dragons are more powerful than ghosts.” And figs are more important.~

○ Dany refuses to put superstition over pragmatism. She knows that feeding her people and allowing them to rest is more important than the threat of restless spirits, even if it makes them uneasy. Again, Dany references being a dragon to show her strength and put her people at ease in a time of uncertainty.

● Dany reflects on how helpful the city could be to her people, to wake up in the same place with cold water and fruit to eat while their horses gain back their strength. While her handmaids are giving Dany a sand bath, they remark that her hair is coming back. She thinks to herself that she should grow her hair out and wear it braided like Drogo did to remind her people that his strength lives in her now. Jorah enters her tent and offers her a peach, which she accepts and savors. She tells Jorah that her handmaids think there are ghosts and Jorah remarks that they carry ghosts with them always. ~Yes, she thought. Viserys, Khal Drogo, my son Rhaego, they are with me always.~ Then Jorah tells Dany about his past wives.

○ Daenerys thinks that staying in the city would be beneficial, to live a life there with her Khalasar, but it could not be so. She would be choosing her personal desire for leisure over what would be best for herself and her people. The peach Jorah offers her symbolizes that. “The peach represents… Well… It’s pleasure. It’s tasting the juices of life.” -GRRM on the peach Renly offered to Stannis. Dany does savor and enjoy the peach, but she knows that she cannot remain in the dead city, there is more out there to find. Dany wanting to grow out her hair and braid it shows how as a leader, she adapts to what her people view as strength. To gain and keep their respect she will partake in their traditions, she is one with her people, not separate from them. Dany still mourns for Viserys just as she does her husband and son, she doesn’t look back on him in a negative light even though she has all the reason to. She even names one of her dragons after him.

● The next morning Daenerys sends out her three bloodriders in three different directions to find out where to go next. Days pass and each of her bloodrider return. Rakharo found nothing but more waste between them and the shore of the sea; she then gives him charge of a dozen men to begin uplifting the stone plaza to find fertile dirt beneath for planting. Aggo found much of the same besides two abandoned cities much like the one they currently reside in, she gives him charge of repairing the gates to defend her people from whatever may come.

○ Dany is once again thinking pragmatically about her situation. Sending riders to find what lay ahead of them is smart and efficient since she is not willing to put her people through blind suffering again. As each of her riders return, she begins trying to bring the dead city to life. These moments show how Dany thinks through and takes advantage of the situations she finds herself in. She knows that where grass grows between stone cracks there is fertile soil beneath to plant for a long term stay. She knows that the city was dead for a reason and has the gates fortified for protection so that whatever befell the people before would not happen to her people. Vaes Tolorro perfectly illustrates Dany’s leadership qualities on a small scale.

● Jhogo returns after several days with three strangers on top of camels. He tells her he has seen the great city of Qarth and that the three people he brought with him wished to see her with his own eyes. They introduce themselves as Pyat Pree, Xaro Xhoan Daxos, and Quaithe of the Shadow. Quaithe says they come seeking dragons, and Dany tells them to look no more for they have found them.

○ The three strangers arriving on camelback after Daenerys is "reborn" and after she leads her people through the desert is very obviously a messianic allusion, imo. The next step for Dany is learning how to navigate falsities and see through illusions! This is a transition arc for Dany, going from frightened young girl to powerful liberator requires building blocks 😄

First art by Lauren K. Cannon, it's GORGEOUS

Second art is a sketch by me 😄

[music-of-dragons]

AGOT Dany VIII

●This chapter opens with dry, harsh weather, and a relentless sun. Drogo is unresponsive to the bloodflies circling him and when Dany touches his arm, he falls from his horse. Dany is quick to scramble from her horse and go to his side. His bloodriders whom had been riding just behind them approach. They are shocked to see that Drogo has fallen from his horse as Dany quickly commands them to not speak of it, tell the Khalasar to stop due to her pregnancy, to bring Drogo's tent, and to bring Mirri Maz Durr. Between each command Quotho tells Daenerys that she is not to command him, a mere Khaleesi. It's not until she brings up Drogo's roth that he reins up his horse and goes to get MMD. The tent is set up and Dany and her handmaids drag Drogo inside.

○ Dany knows that a Khal who cannot ride is no Khal. She refuses to hear speak of Drogo dying and is in heavy denial about how bad his state is. She still has to use Drogo's name to be respected, and she is reminded time and time again in this chapter just how little she truly means, the illusion of power crumbling all around her.

● When Dany's eyes are suddenly full of tears, she turns away and thinks about how many saw Khal Drogo, as there are no secrets in the Khalasar. She then thinks to herself that she must not despair and stubbornly orders a bath to be prepared for him. She is trying her hardest to be strong, for the moment. Ser Jorah enters the tent and peels back the patch on Drogo's chest, the smell that emits from the wound is thick and sickly sweet, his chest black and glistening with corruption. Dany sees this and begs the Gods to not let it be so. When Jorah suggests they leave since Drogo is good as dead, Dany begins to despair and rationalize staying because she carries his heir. Jorah explains that the Khalasar will devout itself after Drogo is dead and her baby would be given to the dogs. She begins crying, not understanding why someone would do such a thing to a baby, until she remembers poor baby Aegon.

○ I think these moments of Dany despairing over Drogo, not understanding and crying over the possibility of her baby meeting such a terrible fate, are reminders that Dany is only 14 years old. She was sold off as a glorified sex slave, developed Stockholm syndrome to cope with her life, and still views her abuser as her shield. She refuses to leave him.

● MMD finally appears inside the tent along with Haggo and Qotho, when they see Drogo's wound wound they curse Mirri and begin punching and kicking her. Dany screams at them to stop, she still refuses to have her harmed. When the bloodriders leave, Mirri remarks that Dany has saved her once again, then Dany begs Mirri to save Drogo. Mirri sharply replies, "You do not ask a slave, you tell her." Then checks out Drogo, concluding that he is too far gone. ~Her words were a knife through Dany's breast. What had she ever done to make the gods so cruel? She had finally found a safe place, had finally tasted love and hope. She was finally going home. And now to lose it all… "No," she pleaded. "Save him, and I will free you, I swear it. You must know a way… some magic, some…"~

○ Dany refuses to accept her dire situation, and in her despair doesn't realize that Mirri is not her friend or interested in truly helping her. She is still rightfully angry about her people and treatment at the hands of the Khalasar. When Dany brings up freeing her in exchange for Drogo's life, freeing a woman who had once been free, Mirri finally suggests performing dark magic. She knows what the outcome will be for Dany, this is why she does what she does. Vengeance. For her people and for herself. Mirri does not stop at killing the man truly responsible, she wants to make Dany suffer out of spite.

● When Mirri brings up that only death may pay for life, she reassures Dany that it is not her death. She then calls for his Stallion and tells Dany that his blood is needed, Dany is thankful that the horse is all it will take. Mirri suddenly has a ritual knife in her hands to cut the throat of the horse and Dany has no clue where it comes from.

○ I think Mirri had the dagger all along, hoping to get the chance to use her magic for vengeance. Meanwhile, Dany is past the point of caring what the others think, she's desperate to hold on to the best part of her life in years. I think it's sad that Drogo and her life with the Dothraki are the best parts of Dany's entire life, especially considering how it began and the brutal reality she has been forced to face because of it.

● Mirri tosses a powder into the flames that fills Dany with fear and Mirri tells her that no one must enter the tent. She assures her that no one will and when she leaves the tent, all eyes of the Khalasar are on her. Drogo's bloodriders clash with Dany's Khas and Jorah, Mirri's wailing makes Dany shiver. Then, as Dany feels Rhaego kicking wildly inside her, she feels a sharp pain and wetness on her thighs. She screams but no one seems to hear her. A stone flies and catches Dany in the shoulder as she weeps that the price is too high. Cohollo brings a knife to her throat as she tries to crawl toward the tent and she screams for her baby. Cohollo is killed by Aggo before he can kill Dany. As Mirri's wails escalate to sound like a funeral dirge, Dany feels the breath leave her. When Jorah lifts her up she feels Rhaego like knives inside her, someone suggests that Jorah take her to the maegi because no birthing women will assist her. Dany cannot even make a sound to let him know to not enter the tent, all she can do is watch in terror as the shapes draw closer, and Jorah enters the tent.

○ I fully believe that Mirri's ritual and Dany's birth go hand in hand. As Mirri begins to sing, Dany feels Rhaego kicking wildly and her water breaks. When Mirri's voice escalates, Dany is suffering in an eerie silence as she feels Rhaego's kicks turn to knives inside her. The only sound she managed was a long wail of pain. Mirri mislead Dany into thinking the horse was all she needed to bring back Drogo, when all along Mirri needed something more. This is what she truly meant by ~"only death may pay for life." She always meant to sacrifice Rhaego, he who would have become the Stallion and ransacked the world as Drogo had ransacked her village. Killing Drogo was all MMD needed to do to prevent the Stallion from coming to fruition, Dany and Rhaego only have power so long as Drogo does. That, however, was not enough for the maegi. Mirri's choice is exactly what will lead to the Stallion prophecy coming true. As is classic George prophecies are fickle and come to light in unexpected ways, they are not meant to be figured out by the characters, they are not so straightforward. Mirri was certain that Rhaego was the Stallion and that killing him would end the prophecy before it began, but I believe even the wise maegi was wrong. Dany is the Stallion, killing her son will only allow her to become who she is meant to be later on in the story.

Art by Victor Manuel Leza Moreno!

[music-of-dragons]

ACOK Dany III

● Summary ○ My thoughts

● This chapter opens with Daenerys climbing into a palanquin with Xaro after a disappointing audience with The Pureborn. Dany thinks that they never saw her as a Queen, just a horse girl with a curious pet. The Pureborn did not listen to her pleas for ships and soldiers, they only came to see the dragon on her shoulder, nothing more. She drinks wine that tastes of pomegranates and converses with Xaro about the events of her audience. He had given her gifts to bribe the Qartheen and found ways to bring more gold and gifts to her from every person who sought to see her dragons. From the Tourmaline Brotherhood she received a crown in the shape of a three headed dragon with ivory, jade, and onyx heads. She sold whatever else she received to make up for the bribes she gave to The Pureborn but refused to give up her crown. ~”Viserys sold my mother’s crown, and men called him a beggar. I shall keep this one, so men will call me a queen.” And so she did, though the weight of it made her neck ache.~

○ I think The Qartheen teach Dany an important lesson; she may have dragons and they are a wonder, but she needs to make herself known as more than her dragons. Just having them will not give her what she wants, she has to use her intelligence and charisma to get what she wants and learn to use the dragons to her advantage and not just for show. I’m definitely not saying Dany feels entitled to everything just because she has dragons, I’m just saying that as the first dragon owner in over a century and only being fifteen years old at that, she has a lot to learn. She’s realizing that her dragons overshadow her as a person and she needs to grow beyond them. This is the purpose of her ACOK arc; learning that she can’t depend on others, how to be a leader, the role she plays in the universe (despite not being fully aware she is given the clues), and also finally deciding what goals she has for the future. Heavy is the heart that wears the crown, and I think the weight of a crown symbolizes the duty a ruler has to their people. Robb’s crown never rested easy on his head, and Dany’s makes her neck ache.

● Dany lifts the goblet to drink the pomegranate wine and Rhaegal hisses at it. Xaro offers to take her on his pleasure barge to seek finer wine. She refuses and says that the best wine comes from the Arbor and that they should seek it in a war ship and not a pleasure barge. Xaro replies that the perils of trade have him growing poorer by the instant. Dany tells him to give her ships and she will make him rich again, to which he asks her to marry him and comments on her beauty. Dany has already put together that Xaro is gay and does not truly desire her. She tells him that nothing will sway her from Westeros, wishing she was as certain as she sounded. She says she will seek help elsewhere such as the Brotherhood or the Guild of Spicers, perhaps even the Warlocks. Xaro sharply tells her that they will only give her lies and flattery, the Warlocks will give her nothing, while he has given her his home, heart, and ~pomegranates~.

○ Pomegranates are definitely being used to symbolize a trap here, Dany knows that Xaro is trying to lead her astray and outwit her in conversation, but she doesn't allow it. Dany still hasn’t completely decided if Westeros is her true goal, she still only wants a home and happiness, but she is trying her hand to see how far she can go with the goal her brother passed down to her before possibly giving up on it.

● When the palanquin stops, Jhogo tells Dany it’s because of a firemage, he pulls Dany onto his horse so that she may see. Dany notices cutpurses among the gathered crowd as the firemage creates a ladder to climb out of flame. Jhogo calls it a fine trick, then Quaithe is there telling him and Dany that it is no trick. She says that his power has grown all because of Daenerys, and she laughs at that, asking how she could possibly be the cause of it. Quaithe says she is the Mother of Dragons, then tells her that she must leave the city soon or never be permitted to leave. ~”To go north you must journey south. To reach the west you must go east. To go forwards you must go back, and to touch the light you must pass beneath the shadow.”~ Dany interprets Quaithe’s prophecy as leading her to Asshai, and Quaithe tells her she will find truth there.

○ Daenerys does not see herself as important enough to bring magic back into the world, she laughs when Quaithe tells her the power of the firemage is because of her. Quaithe’s prophecy is cryptic, but some of it makes sense within the whole story so far. Daenerys has to complete her journey in the East before she can reach Westeros, she has to go back to the Dothraki Sea and retrace her steps from there before moving on. She will (possibly) eventually travel to Asshai to learns the “truth” which I think would be the prophecies she’s involved in (Azor Ahai, The Prince that was Promised, The Stallion, etc) and her purpose of defeating the Others. She will land in the Southern areas of Westeros and make her way up North to defeat the Others after gathering the armies she needs throughout the land.

● Once back in her wing of Xaro’s castle, Dany feeds her dragon and thinks to herself that she must train them or else they would lay waste to her kingdom, but she does not know how to train a dragon. Jorah enters her chambers and offers her counsel about leaving Qarth and traveling further East. He lets her know that the Qartheen have a wedding tradition where the spouses ask one thing of each other and that must be given, Xaro would surely ask for a dragon. She brings up asking for help from Illyrio but Jorah reminds her that he sold her off to Khal Drogo along with her brother, he is no true friend. Dany knows this, but also knows that his help would be beneficial. Jorah tells Dany that she must win over Westerosi lords before she invades to be successful, and Dany asks how she is meant to do that if she takes his advice and goes further East. He says that he does not know, only that the longer she stays in one place the more danger she and her dragons will be in. She finally decides that on the morrow, she will visit the House of the Undying.

○ Daenerys knows that untrained dragons have the ability to wreak havoc on people, but she just doesn’t know how to train them yet despite wanting to. Xaro tried to trap Dany in a loveless marriage and into giving him a dragon, but she knew better than to fall for his false flattery. She also recognized that potential allies can be trusted from a distance and that their allegiance can benefit her cause even if there is mistrust, risks must be taken to achieve her goals.

Figurine found on Entertainment Earth! It's sold out but it's gorgeous 😍

[music-of-dragons]

Loose key for organization:

● Summary ○ My Thoughts

AGOT Dany VI

● This chapter opens with Dany and Khal Drogo in their tent. They had just gotten done enjoying themselves when Drogo brings up that the Stallion does not need an iron chair. She tells him that the Stallion will ride to the ends of the Earth, and Drogo replies that the Earth ends at the sea. He then tells her he's going to hunt, and Dany thinks that if he is successful, he may hear her out.

○ After the death of Viserys, Dany feels it is her responsibility as the last Targaryen to take back her home. She wants her son to sit on the Iron Throne, not herself.

● ~Her body felt so fat and ungainly now that she welcomed the help of their strong arms and deft hands, whereas before she had often been uncomfortable with the way they fussed and fluttered about her.~

○ Dany was uncomfortable being doted on by her handmaids, as someone who grew up mostly in the streets of cities, she had never gotten used to servants helping her enough to be used to them or completely comfortable.

● Dany summons Jorah and asks him to help her convince Khal Drogo to go West once Rhaego is born. ~ Home? The word made her feel sad. Ser Jorah had his Bear Island, but what was home to her? A few tales, names recited as solemnly as the words of a prayer, the fading memory of a red door… was Vaes Dothrak to be her home forever? When she looked at the crones of the Dosh Khaleen, was she looking at her future?~

○ Dany not only wants to give her son his birthright, she wants to go home. She believes that she will find her home in Westeros, in King's Landing and the Red Keep. Now that her brother is dead, she is taking up the restoration of the Targaryen name for herself and for her son. For home, for happiness, and for safety.

● Ser Jorah sees how sad Daenerys is and informs her that a caravan arrived at the Western Market, he asks if she'd like to visit and she happily says yes! On the way, Dany wistfully thinks that were she not blood of the dragon she could have a home in Vaes Dothrak, as a Khaleesi, with an honored place among the Dosh Khaleen and her son bestriding the world. However, she is the last dragon as well as her son, and she feels that she mustn't forget (because the usurper sure won't, hence the next events). Jorah dips to find the captain and grab any letters he might have for him and Dany. She offers to accompany him but he tells her to not trouble herself. She thought it was curious that he seemed to not want her company but brushed it off as him maybe wanting to find a woman to bed afterward.

○ HUH. I WONDER WHY 😑

● Dany finds a woman grilling sausages that were her favorite from visiting the markets in Pentos as a child. Her and her brother couldn't afford much besides the sausages or honeyfingers on occasion. She excitedly buys one for herself then insists her handmaids and her Khas partake as well.

○ Dany buys gifts for her handmaids and guards simply because she can. She wanted to happily remember enjoying the food from her childhood with those she cares about.

● Quaro likes his sausage so much he has another, then Rakharo outdoes him by eating 3 more and belching loudly. This makes Dany laugh, and Irri says this; "You have not laughed since your brother the Khal Rhaggat was crowned by Drogo, it is good to see, Khaleesi."

○ Dany mourned for her brother and did not laugh for a long time after his death. Just… poor Dany 😭 I feel so bad for her. This goes to show that her brother's death affected her heavily, and I'm tired of people saying that she didn't care or wanted it to happen. This next paragraph is one of my favorites, it really shows who Dany is as a person!

● ~ She did take a dozen flasks of scented oils, the perfumes of her childhood; she had only to close her eyes and sniff them and she could see the big house with the red door once more. When Doreah looked longingly at a fertility charm at a magician's booth, Dany took that too and gave it to the handmaid, thinking that now she should find something for Irri and Jhiqui as well.~

○ Dany once again buying gifts for those she cares about. Her handmaids are slaves to the Khalasar, but she treats them like they are human and considers them her friends. She's so kind hearted and good natured, I just love her ❤

● Dany comes upon a wine merchant, whom initially took her for Dothraki. When she informs him that she is of Westeros, Doreah steps forward and announces her as Daenerys Targaryen. This is the moment that the wine merchant offers her a vintage cask. Dany thinks that she'd love to gift it to Khal Drogo (Dany loves giving gifts as a sign of affection) and drink it together, since he's grown a taste for it. He hands over the cask and Aggo takes it to put in her litter, until Jorah shows up and tells him to put it down. We all know what happens next, Jorah has the merchant pour him a cup then tells him to drink it instead. By this point, Dany is very aware that something is wrong, she sees the sweat on the merchant's brow, and commands him to drink. He throws the wine cask at Dany who screams "NO" as she almost falls on her stomach, but Doreah grabs her arm and wrenches her back so that she lands on her legs. Dany was terrified of harming Rhaego inside her. The merchant is caught by Jhogo's whip and apprehended. While in the litter on the way back, Dany thinks to herself that she was not only fearful for her life, but for Rhaego's. Jorah tells her that Robert Baratheon is offering a lordship to any man who kills either Viserys or her. She was half sobbing, obviously overwhelmed by what just happened and the fact that her brother is actually dead, but when Jorah told her that her child was in danger, she changed. ~"No. He cannot have my son." She says. Dany decides that she will not shiver in fear of the usurper, he had woken the dragon with that. She finds herself looking at her eggs and telling Jorah to light the brazier.

○ This is interesting to me because just like Dany's dragon dreams, her unconscious magic seems to "activate" when she's scared or needs strength. She's VERY close here, definitely on the right track to hatching dragons, just not quite yet. She even asks herself if it was madness that seized her then, or old wisdom buried in her blood, and I definitely think it's the latter. She places the eggs of the hot coals but alas, nothing happens.

● Once Drogo comes back with the white lion slung over a packhorse, he tells Dany he will make a cloak of it's skin for her. Dany tells him what happened in the market. He gifts Jhogo and Jorah for saving Dany and catching the wine merchant. Then, he proclaims that he will give his son the Iron chair his mother's father sat upon, he will conquer the 7 Kingdoms for his son. Drogo had no interest in the 7 kingdoms before his Khaeesi and son were almost poisoned for Dany's name being Targaryen. They set out from Vaes Dothrak and Dany has the wine merchant chained to her silver. Drogo DID say that since he ran from her, he should run after her instead 🤣

○ Overall, this chapter is showing that even if Dany had no interest in the Iron Throne, she would always be a threat to Robert Baratheon for her name. His attempt to take her life is exactly what led Khal Drogo to setting his sights on the 7 kingdoms. By trying to end her ~possible~ conquest before it began, he only ensured it would happen (for a time lol). I also just love the market scenes. Dany is having fun and gifting her friends for the first time since Viserys's death, she deserved SOME happiness, if only for a short time 😩 And from here it only gets worse!

Art by Marc Simonetti 🥰 Daenerys and Jorah in the market

[music-of-dragons]

AGOT Dany IX

● Summary ○My thoughts

● ~Wings shadowed her fever dreams~

○ I believe that this entire sequence of dreams is leading up to Dany not only waking the dragons from their stone eggs, but waking the dragon within herself as well. Drogon is also referred to as the "winged shadow".

● ~"You don't want to wake the dragon, do you?"~

○ Dany was conditioned to be afraid of this line, she lived in fear of Viserys most of her life. She is afraid of "waking his dragon".

● ~She was walking down a long hall beneath high stone arches. She could not look behind her. There was a door ahead of her, tiny with distance, but even from afar, she saw that it was painted red. She walked faster, her bare feet left bloody footprints on the stone.~

○ After Dany has these dreams, she begins to use the phrase “if I look back I am lost”. For some reason, she cannot look behind her. I believe it is because she cannot dwell on her pain lest she fall victim to it and does not wake the dragon. The red door that symbolizes love, safety, and happiness for Dany is far ahead of her, it’s her deepest desire making an appearance in her dream, a goal to reach for. Her bare feet leaving bloody footprints is representative of the loss and pain she has experienced on the Dothraki Sea; her brother, her husband, and while she does not quite know it yet, her son.

● ~”You don’t want to wake the dragon do you?”

She saw sunlight on the Dothraki sea, the living plain, rich with the smells of earth and death. Wind stirred the grasses, and they rippled like water. Drogo held her in strong arms, and his hand stroked at her s*x and opened her and woke that sweet wetness that was his alone, and the stars smiled down on them, stars in the daylight sky. “Home,” she whispered as he entered her and filled her with his seed, but suddenly the stars were gone, and across the blue sky swept the great wings, and the world took flame.~

○ Viserys echoes again because he followed her to the Dothraki sea. Dany’s dream is showing her where she felt safest, on the Dothraki sea and in the arms of Drogo. She sees stars in the daylight sky, referencing Drogo as her “sun and stars”. Dany calls this “home”, but she is wrong. As soon as she says this the wings sweep across the sky and her world takes flame. This is showing that not only is Dany wrong about where her true home lies, it is all about to go up in flames with Drogo’s funeral pyre to hatch the dragons.

●~”...don’t want to wake the dragon, do you?”

Ser Jorah’s face was drawn and sorrowful. “Rhaegar was the last dragon,” he told her. He warmed translucent hands over a glowing brazier where stone eggs smoldered red as coals. One moment he was there and the next he was fading, his flesh colorless, less substantial than the wind. “The last dragon,” he whispered, thin as a wisp, and was gone. She felt the dark behind her, and the red door seemed farther away than ever.~

○ Viserys’s threat is starting to sound more like an actual question than a threat. Jorah was the one who told Dany that Rhaegar was the last dragon, he influences her heavily. I think his fading away symbolizes how his influence will slowly dim as Dany becomes more independent and grows into her own power. He was wrong about Rhaegar being the last dragon, his mistake fades with him as Dany realizes that SHE is actually the last dragon. Dany now knows why she cannot look back, there is darkness behind her, and with that darkness the red door seems further away than ever.

●~"...don't want to wake the dragon, do you?"

Viserys stood before her, screaming. “The dragon does not beg, slut. You do not command the dragon. I am the dragon, and I will be crowned.” The molten gold trickled down his face like wax, burning deep channels in his flesh. “I am the dragon and I will be crowned!” he shrieked, and his fingers snapped like snakes, biting at her nipples, pinching, twisting, even as his eyes burst and ran like jelly down seared and blackened cheeks.”

"...don't want to wake the dragon..."

The red door was so far ahead of her, and she could feel the icy breath behind, sweeping up on her. If it caught her she would die a death that was more than death,”~

○ Viserys's threat shifts from a question to a statement after a "summary" of what Dany's relationship with him was. He was abusive, power hungry, and obsessed with being a dragon to his last breath. The darkness behind her becomes icy. I think it not only symbolizes the darkness consuming Rhaego brought forth by MMD, but the Others as well. They enslave the bodies of the dead and I'm certain their souls are trapped in their bodies, forced into a hivemind, that's the death worse than death.

● ~"...don't want to wake the dragon…"

She could feel the heat inside her, a terrible burning in her womb. Her son was tall and proud, with Drogo’s copper skin and her own silver-gold hair, violet eyes shaped like almonds. And he smiled for her and began to lift his hand toward hers, but when he opened his mouth the fire poured out. She saw his heart burning through his chest, and in an instant he was gone, consumed like a moth by a candle, turned to ash. She wept for her child, the promise of a sweet mouth on her breast, but her tears turned to steam as they touched her skin.~

○ The fire in Dany can be a few things; Rhaego being consumed by the dark magic as she births him, her own inner fire as she is waking the dragon, or symbolism for her exchanging Rhaego to birth the dragons; fire made flesh. Perhaps all 3. Rhaego may have some Nissa Nissa symbolism here, his heart burned through his chest. The fire in Dany is burning so hot that her tears turned to steam on her skin.

● ~"...want to wake the dragon…"

Ghosts lined the hallway, dressed in the faded raiment of kings. In their hands were swords of pale fire. They had hair of silver and hair of gold and hair of platinum white, and their eyes were opal and amethyst, tourmaline and jade. "Faster,” they cried, “faster, faster.” She raced, her feet melting the stone wherever they touched. “Faster!” the ghosts cried as one, and she screamed and threw herself forward. A great knife of pain ripped down her back, and she felt her skin tear open and smelled the stench of burning blood and saw the shadow of wings. And Daenerys Targaryen flew.”~

○ Viserys's words have evolved from threat, to question, to statement, to suggestion. The ghosts who line the hallways seem to be past Targaryen Kings given their hair, they could also be alluding to the gemstone emperors from the Empire of the Dawn given their eyes! They hold swords of pale fire just like Jaime dreams of holding with Brienne, and they are similar to the swords of the Others. I think this implies that through many years and many Kings, the true purpose of the Valyrian/Targaryen line is to deal with the second coming of the Others. The time of the Others is drawing near and Dany is being urged to wake the dragon and go "home". As the fire rises in her and the dragon awakens, she is melting the stone beneath her feet where she once bled. She needs this strength to birth the dragons. The dragon in her is ripping it's way out and leading her to her destiny.

●~The door loomed before her, the red door, so close, so close, the hall was a blur around her, the cold receding behind. And now the stone was gone and she flew across the Dothraki sea, high and higher, the green rippling beneath, and all that lived and breathed fled in terror from the shadow of her wings. She could smell home, she could see it, there, just beyond that door, green fields and great stone houses and arms to keep her warm, there. She threw open the door.

"...the dragon…"

And saw her brother Rhaegar, mounted on a stallion as black as his armor. Fire glimmered red through the narrow eye slit of his helm. “The last dragon,” Ser Jorah’s voice whispered faintly. “The last, the last.” Dany lifted his polished black visor. The face within was her own. After that, for a long time, there was only the pain, the fire within her, and the whisperings of stars.~

○ Daenerys waking her dragon saves her from the cold darkness. She's back in the Dothraki Sea flying (to go forward, she must go back, last chapter of ADWD 😉) towards the red door. She sees and smells "home" and describes Westeros, finding love there. Her waking the dragon and finally flying is what will bring her home. When she finally throws open the door, she sees who she believes to be Rhaegar, but it is actually herself. SHE is the last dragon, and it is her duty to carry on what Rhaegar started, SHE is Azor Ahai come again to defeat The Others (more details upcoming in my last chapter analysis for AGOT). I think the whispering of stars is forwshadowing Quaithe, whom speaks to Dany through the stars in ADWD.

○ I want to mention an important aspect of Dany’s character that has not been specifically stated yet. She is called the “child of three” in the House of the Undying and 3 plays a HUGE role in her story. In this chapter, it takes Dany 3 times to wake from her fever dreams. I want to shoutout @oadara for their "The Three Stages of Dany's Life" meta! It helped me put together this analysis and gave me a new perspective!

● Dany wakes the first time to the taste of ashes. The tent is covered in shadows and she sees ashes from the brazier floating up to the smokehole of the tent. She is delirious, has no idea why she is in so much pain, and is searching for the only thing in the world that matters to her; but she cannot remember what. Jorah and her handmaids find her on the ground, crawling toward her dragon eggs. Jorah carries her back to bed and MMD gives her a potion that sends her back to sleep

○ I think that Dany waking to ashes and shadows is symbolic of the first stage of her life. Dany comes into the world with her family already dead besides her brother. She had no sense of agency and she was not her own person due to growing up in the shadow of Viserys, then later she was in the shadow of Khal Drogo since he held the true power in their relationship. Dany being delirious and searching for something she does not know is symbolic of how she had no path on her own. She had been pushed along by Viserys, then by Drogo, and now she must find her own path. Dany subconsciously knows that her dragon eggs give her strength so while she is searching, she makes her way to them.

● The second time Dany wakes, she’s in darkness. She hears the tent flapping like wings outside and does not attempt to rise. Her handmaids bring her warm and flat water which drinks eagerly then asks for more. She tells Irri that she has been sick but does not know for how long, Irri just replies “long”. MMD returns with Jhiqui and instead of water, gives her wine. As Dany is drifting off to sleep again, she asks for a dragon egg to hold.

○ I think Dany waking and not attempting to move is symbolic of her future complacency while in Meereen. She is given warm water instead of cold water and accepts it eagerly. She hears the tent flapping like wings in the dark which is symbolic of how she traps her dragons in the dark as well as her closing off her own “inner dragon” for the sake of a false peace. Dany drifting off and asking for a dragon egg is her slowly ending her complacency and embracing -quite literally- the dragon again, which is how ADWD ends.

● Dany wakes the third time and golden sunlight is pouring through the smokehole instead of ashes drifting out of it. She is clutching Viserion’s egg and covered in a sheen of sweat which she calls “dragondew”. She traces along the whorls of gold on the eggs and feels something stretch inside it, but she is no longer frightened, her fear was burned away. She sits up and feels a deep ache between her thighs, however, she feels strong. She then asks for water, cold as her handmaid can find it, and dates as well.

○ Dany waking to golden sunlight may symbolize the good she will do or experience after she’s back in touch with her inner dragon. At the end of ADWD she realizes that she’s allowed people to walk all over her and she, as well as her people, has suffered too long due to her complacency. She feels strong enough to sit up = accomplish her goals. She asks for cold water, no longer accepting warm and flat water = no longer settling for less. She asks for dates, and just like pomegranates, they hold symbolism. Dates symbolize life, fertility, and fecundity: After Dany is back in touch with her dragon and accomplishing her goals, no longer settling for less, she will find/bring life, fertility, and abundance. I think she may even have a child or become pregnant for the third and final time (Rhaego, her misscariage in ADWD, #3) with her third and final husband (Drogo, Hizdahr, #3).

● Dany is asking for Ser Jorah, a warm bath, MMD, then as she is standing she suddenly remembers Khal Drogo. She is told the Khal lives but her handmaids will not elaborate, she catches Irri before she leaves and asks her about Khal Drogo, then remembers her son and asks about him as well. Irri tells her he did not live and Dany thinks that she had already known from the time she dreamt him burning before her and her tears turning to steam. She does not cry because the grief has been burned out of her. She feels Rhaego receding from her as if he had never been.

○ Whatever is pushing Dany forward through her journey; the dragon, R’hollor, destiny, all three or something else, is blocking Daenerys from being stuck in grief and despair. Dany does not consciously choose to forget Drogo and Rhaego, but she must move on from them to continue, which is where “If I look back, I am lost” comes from, and also explains why she mourns for Rhaego in her dreams but not while awake.

● Jorah and MMD appear and Dany is standing over the eggs. She can feel the heat of them but when she asks Ser Jorah he feels only cold stone. When she asks him about how her son died, he says that he never lived. MMD finishes for him, telling her the child was born monstrous like a dragon, filled with graveworms, and had been dead for years. Dany realizes as soon as MMD says “monstrous” that the maegi was stronger than Jorah, crueler, and infinitely more dangerous. Dany rationalizes that Jorah carrying her into the tent is what killed Rhaego, his life was exchanged for Drogo’s, even though she thought that MMD had meant the horse with “only death can pay for life”. It was the darkness sweeping up behind her in her dream. MMD says that was a lie Dany told herself, Dany says the price was paid over and over and to show her what she bought with her son’s life.

○ Dany is now aware that the dragons are alive, she can feel their heat while no other can because she has woken her inner dragon and feels a stronger connection to them after MMD’s ritual. Rhaego being filled with graveworms and his flesh falling from his skin is very directly caused by the dark magic that consumed his life. MMD always meant to exchange Rhaego’s life for Drogo’s, she says that the stallion was never enough, Dany’s labor escalated as her ritual did and MMD knew that she would be back in the tent to give birth, thus giving her the life she needed to complete the ritual. She wants to make Dany feel bad, as if she is responsible for everything bad that has happened. Dany, having heightened senses and having grown wiser from her dragon dreams, knows how dangerous MMD is now when before she trusted her out of ignorance.

● On the way to Khal Drogo, Dany learns of Eroeh’s, the first girl she had saved, terrible fate. She vows vengeance upon Mago and Khal Jhaqo, she will treat them as they treated Eroeh. She brings up her titles -once again- because she is angered by the suffering of innocents and she needs to show her followers that she is strong and intimidating enough to avenge her. Dany is shown Khal Drogo in a vegetable state and MMD tells her he will be as he once was “when the sun rises in the West and sets in the East etc. etc. and when your womb quickens again and you bear a living child”. Dany is anguished at this, she tells MMD she spoke for her, she saved her. MMD lists all the terrible things that befell her because of Drogo’s Khalasar and asks Dany what she saved. “Your life.” And MMD tells her to “see what life is worth when all the rest is gone”. Dany has Mirri bound hand and foot and Mirri is smiling at her, as if they shared a secret. Dany thinks that she could have her head in one word, but if life is worthless, what was death?

○ When Dany tells MMD that she saved her, it’s not out of arrogance or Dany expecting her to be on her knees and grateful, it’s because she is a child who does not understand why SHE was punished for crimes she did not commit. Everything that MMD lists was done by Drogo and his riders, not Dany. She had no part in her husband’s crimes but was punished for them anyway. Dany does not have MMD killed because she finally has all the pieces to hatch the dragons due to MMD’s lessons. She is learning.

● Dany bathes Drogo’s lifeless body then takes him out beneath the stars, just like their first time together and the night they made Rhaego, to try and rouse him with sexual acts, memories, and stories. When dawn breaks and Drogo remains the same, she realizes that he is lost to her and grabs a pillow from their tent. She recites Mirri’s words and hears the darkness crying that he shall never return to her, then pushes the pillow over his face to kill him.

○ Dany tries to use her love as a power to bring him back, telling herself that there are older spells and magics even a maegi could not learn in Asshai, however, this fails. Dany is at least realizing that she is capable of magic just as MMD is. She finally accepts that Drogo is gone, and ends his life that is not a life.

First art by Paul Youll 🥰

Second art by Victor Manuel Leza Moreno 😍

[music-of-dragons]

ASOS Dany I

● Summary ○ My thoughts

● This chapter opens with Daenerys aboard the Balerion, watching her dragons chase each other and feeling as happy as she could ever remember being. The ship had met a squall six days into the voyage that terrified the Dothraki, but Daenerys was not frightened because her name was Stormborn, given for her birth amidst a storm far greater than the squall. Dany remembers telling her brother how fine she thought being a sailor would be, but he had hurt her and screamed at her for it. She still misses her brother for who he used to be, the brother that let her creep into his bed while he told her stories of the Seven Kingdoms. Dany had won over the captain of the ship since her dragons had consumed the rats and his sailors loved to watch them fly, they took pride in “their” dragons, but not so much as Dany.

○ Daenerys still longs for a simple life, she is happy sailing the ocean and watching her dragons. She had wanted to be a sailor but Viserys quickly crushed that dream so she feels immense happiness on this journey. Dany still mourns for him and finds herself missing him despite everything he had done to her. I hate seeing people say that Dany wanted him dead or that she flat out stopped caring about him, that’s not true. Dany was born on Dragonstone, a volcanic island that SMOKES and smells of sulfur and brimstone, during one of the greatest storms Westeros had ever seen, the SEA raged outside and smashed her father’s fleet. Dany was born amidst smoke and salt (a ham??), just reiterating the Azor Ahai imagery.

● Jorah strikes up a conversation with Dany about dragons. Jorah lets her know that dragons live beyond men but doesn’t know exactly how long since Targaryen dragons were bred for war and that was how they died. It is no easy thing to kill a dragon, but it can be done. Arstan joins in the conversation and says that Balerion lived to be 200 years old and that dragons never stop growing so long as they have food and freedom. Arstan mentions that he had the honor of meeting Aerys and Dany asks if he was good and gentle, to which Arstan replies that he was at times, but harsh to those he thought his enemies. Arstan mentions Viserys as “prince” in passing to which Dany corrects him with “King”. She asks Arstan about Rhaegar being a warrior, he hesitates, and she replies that he may speak freely to her. He tells her that words do not win battles, and that Rhaegar was bookish until he read a passage that pushed him to want to become a warrior, then Arstan excuses himself to assist Belwas.

○ Dany learns important information in the conversation; dragons can live to 200 years, they never stop growing so long as they have food and freedom (no walls or chains), and that her father was not as good and gentle a man as she thought given the look on Arstan’s face (this is the first step to her learning his true character). I love that even after Viserys’s death she refuses to have his name dishonored or titled incorrectly. She never sought to rob Viserys of kingship and although he never ruled, he was her king. I think it says a lot about Dany’s character that she still misses Viserys and respects him even after she is free from his abuses when most im her position would curse him.

● Once Arstan leaves, Jorah advises Dany to take his words well salted. ~“A queen must listen to all," she reminded him. "The highborn and the low, the strong and the weak, the noble and the venal. One voice may speak you false, but in many there is always truth to be found." She had read that in a book.~ A wind picks up and Dany is thankful to be moving fast again. She ponders her future arrival in Westeros and thinks to herself that it will be a beautiful sight to behold. Later that night Dany is naked in bed, her handmaids are in bed with her because they all sleep together. Jorah knocks on the door and Dany pulls up the covers then invites him in, sending her handmaids away so that they may speak in private. Dany shows him that she is training her dragons by tossing a piece of meat in the air for them and saying “dracarys” to which Drogon sears and consumes it. Jorah suggests to her that Artstan and Belwas may be the betrayers forewarned by the Undying, but Dany brushes this off since Arstan saved her life. He keeps trying to convince her to mistrust them and to be more weary of Illyrio. "It seems to me that a queen who trusts no one is as foolish as a queen who trusts everyone. Every man I take into my service is a risk, I understand that, but how am I to win the Seven Kingdoms without such risks? Am I to conquer Westeros with one exile knight and three Dothraki bloodriders?" Jorah finally tells her to set course for Slaver’s Bay to purchase Unsullied, that she can return to Illyrio in her own time to test his loyalty.

○ Dany loves to read books and takes the wisdom she learns from them to heart, her quote shows just the kind of Queen she is going to be; one who listens to all and draws her own conclusions with the information presented to her. Dany has a habit of idealizing Westeros, but she can’t be blamed for that since she grew up hearing only glorified tales of it from Viserys. She also has no idea just how ravaged by the War of the Five Kings the country is, it will be heartbreaking for her to see the country she wishes to rule destroyed and the smallfolk suffering. Daenerys, with no solid knowledge on how to train dragons, is very clever to begin associating “dracarys” with searing meat for the dragons, they are already highly responsive to the word. Dany knows that Jorah’s suspicions come from a place of caring, but she finds his obstinacy rightfully troubling. She knows that she cannot mistrust everyone and depend on him and her bloodriders alone, her quote is very wise and very true. Despite not having a formal education, Dany is naturally a leader with good sense and reads to educate herself often, an excellent quality of her character.

● Jorah tells Dany the story of the Three Thousand to convince her that the Unsullied are worth it, she can return to Illyrio but with a thousand swords at her back instead one one. She finds wisdom in his words but asks how she is to purchase them, he tells her that the trade of the ships would be enough. She says that they belong to Illyrio and despite being a friend of House Targaryen she shouldn’t steal from him, but Jorah convinces her that a true ally would lend her his wealth or else he is Xaro with four chins. She questions if her captains would change course, what Arstan and Belwas would do, and Jorah urges her to find out. Dany excitedly agrees to Jorah’s proposal and jumps up, forgetting her nakedness before Jorah and grabbing clothes from her bunk. Dany doesn’t have time to react when Jorah grabs her and kisses her. When it ends she covers herself and says that he should not have done that, she is his Queen, not his woman. He tells her she should take him as a husband, and the chapter ends.

○ Daenerys is unsure of Jorah’s councel, but recognizes that having a small army at her back would give her more protection and more power upon returning to Illyrio. This also gives her the opportunity to test the loyalty of Illyrio, her captains, Arstan, and Belwas which would put Jorah’s suspicions as well as her own to rest. Dany knows that Jorah desires her, but this is the first time that he acted on his desires and he did so without her consent. He crossed her boundaries, and it sets her on edge to be around him afterward. This is the beginning of Dany realizing just how clouded Jorah is by his own desire for her and how it can lead to his judgement being biased. She does care about him, but if he is to be her advisor he must give her helpful councel that will assist in her goals, not his personal motive to win her heart.

Art 1 by Veronica V. Jones 😄

Art 2 by Gary Gianni 🥰

I've been working a lot lately so sadly I lost my streak of a chapter a day for Dany month 😩 Still continuing my reread and analysis though!

[music-of-dragons]

AGOT Dany VII

● This chapter starts with Dany riding among the defeated Lhazareen and watching as the Dothraki finish off and taunt the survivors. Dany pities them because she remembers what it was like to be terrified and helpless. Khal Drogo attacked the town because Khal Ogo had attacked it first and was still there, Jorah tells Dany that Drogo slew Ogo and his son, a victory. Dany notices a girl her age being raped by riders. She is saddened by this, but reminds herself that she is the blood of the dragon to give herself strength and to harden her heart.

● Jorah tells Dany that there may be as many as 10 thousand captives. ~Slaves, Dany thought. Khal Drogo would drive them downriver to one of the towns on Slaver's Bay. She wanted to cry, but she told herself that she must be strong. This is war, this is what it looks like, this is the price of the Iron Throne.~

○ Dany is trying to convince herself that this is the price for the Iron Throne, she's hurt by what she's seeing and what is about to happen. She's able to convince herself that she will accept this price... -for all of 30 seconds- then she decides it is too much.

● ~Dany's hand clenched around the reins, and she turned the sliver's head. "Make them stop," she commanded Ser Jorah. "Khaleesi?" The knight sounded perplexed. "You heard my words," she said. "Stop them." She spoke to her Khas in the harsh accents of Dothraki. "Jhogo, Quaro, you will aid Ser Jorah. I want no rape." Her khas offers to cut out the girl's tongue so that she will not wail and Dany says that she will not have her harmed and claims her. "Do as I command you, or Khal Drogo will know the reason why."

○ Dany is making a daring move here, going against Dothraki customers to protect this girl and others soon. She has to bring up Khal Drogo's name because her power isn't her own, it's derived from Drogo. Dany only has power so long as he allows it, she's completely dependent on him not being like other Khals. He could share her with his bloodriders if he wanted and she'd be powerless to stop it. She has to work within his whims.

● Each woman that she comes upon being raped, Dany commands her Khas and Jorah to save them. One of them is a thick, flat nosed woman of 40 years who blesses her in the common tongue. Jorah tells her that she cannot claim them all, and she responds ~"I am Khaleesi, Heir to the Seven Kingdoms, the blood of the dragon," Dany reminded him. "It is not for you to tell me what I cannot do."~

○ I think this line is very important. Dany brings up her titles, including blood of the dragon, and becomes more commanding in order to protect the women, she will not be questioned.

● When Dany comes upon Khal Drogo, an angry rider comes up and tells Drogo what Dany did. When Drogo asks her for the truth she explains, then ~"It pleases me to hold them safe," Dany said, wondering if she had dared too much.~ Dany's worried that she won't be able to completely protect the women from the harsh treatment of the riders, so she then offers an alternative of letting the riders marry the women and treat them gently, if they must mount them. To give them a place in the Khalasar instead of just keeping them as slaves to be brutalized.

○ Dany is trying to work within the established system to save the women without overstepping the boundries of the Khalasar.

● One of Drogo's bloodriders laughs at her, "Does the horse breed with sheep?" He thinks himself superior to the lamb men, and that reminds Dany of Viserys, so she angrily turns on him and says, "The dragon feeds on horse and sheep alike."

○ Again, Dany brings up being a dragon when her interest is in protecting others. This is the beginning of her draconic identity being that of protecting the weak and downtrodden.

● Khal Drogo feels that her fierce attitude is from her being pregnant with his son, so he allows her to claim the women.

○ I noticed that he didn't let Dany keep the women safe because of her alone, but because he believes his son is influencing her. This is yet again showing that Dany has no true power, it is derived from Drogo and her pregnancy.

● Next up Dany is realizing how injured Drogo is, he's missing a nipple and his breast is a flap of skin hanging off his chest. Dany tells Jhogo to seek out their healers, but the 40 year old woman who she saved earlier speaks up and says she could help the Khal. The riders call her an evil maegi, but Dany, being the young naive girl that she is, feels like she can trust the old woman.

○ I think that since Dany never had a mother figure, she's more likely to trust aged women even if they mean her harm, like the Green Grace upcoming in ADWD.

● Drogo agrees to be healed by the Maegi, when Haggo offers to carry him, Drogo claims he needs no man's help. "I am no man," she whispered, "so you may lean on me."

○ I just LOVE how Dany uses herself being a woman here to help Drogo. Dany is very aware of gender roles and how they affect her but she uses it to her advantage in surprising ways, especially later in the books.

● Quotho threatens Mirri Maz Durr if she hurts the Khal. ~"She will do no harm." Dany felt she could trust this old, plain-faced woman with her flat nose; she had saved her from the hard hands of her rapers, after all.~

○ 😬😬😬 Lordy she has no idea this girl is NAIVE. It's not her fault, she had never come across such brutality and never knew any victims. Dany herself is a victim who was able to turn her situation into a more positive one so her experience differs greatly. Dany DID do all she could to help the women from her position of power, but the lesson Mirri is about to teach her is as harsh as it is important. It's not enough to be an active bystander if the system that pushes the people into this treatment is still in place. It's not enough to work within the system, despite good intentions, because it must be dismantled to truly help people.

● Mirri Maz Durr chose to use a healing paste that burned with instructions that Khal Drogo would never follow. She told him to recite the prayers she gave him for 10 days and 10 nights, no drinking wine or milk of the poppy. He claims he spits on pain and drinks as he likes, Mirri says nothing.

○ Now, I fully believe that Mirri knew that the Khal would not listen to her instructions, which is why she chose the healing spell she did. If she didn't already know that a Khal would never listen to a sheep woman, she definitely knew from their exchanges outside and Drogo straight up telling her he wouldn't obey. Why would the woman help the man who just burned down her village and enslaved her people? Mirri is a wise woman who wants vengeance, and I honestly don't care that she set up Drogo's death. He committed severe wrongs against her people and countless others before that. Any way of life that is built upon the suffering of others must be ended, and this is one of the lessons Mirri teaches Dany that leads her down the path of liberation.

● Dany ASKS if Mirri would attend her birth, only if she wanted. Khal Drogo says, ~"You don't ask a slave, you tell her."~

○ Her and Drogo view MMD very differently. This exchange is a very direct parallel between someone who respects people as humans, and a slaver. Dany respects Mirri's autonomy and trusts in her wisdom, Khal Drogo thinks himself better than her; a mere slave to be commanded. This, as well as how Dany treats her handmaids and saves the women, are baby steps towards her becoming a revolutionary. She is still naive, but not for long 😔

● The chapter ends with Khal Drogo telling his men to burn Mirri's temple, she is gathering jars and bottles while one of Drogo's riders tells her, as the Khal fares, so will she. She replies that the Great Shepherd guards his flock.

○ This chapter is setting up the beginning of the end for Drogo, and also Dany's eventual character development into a mother, protector, and liberator! I love this chapter because it shows a lot of who Dany is. She's willing to risk angering the Khalasar and many riders just to save those they deem not worth saving. She takes no sh*t from those who taunt her or try to talk her out of helping the women. She worked within the system to protect them and claimed the women so that they may not be harmed again. Dany is only 14, she isn't entirely wrong to think that she saved them, but she isn't entirely right either. These women are still traumatized from their experience and they don't know whether to trust or fear her. They don't know that Dany only has so much power to help them, and Dany doesn't completely understand that to truly save them she must demolish the system that brought them to where they are in the first place. This is a very grey and nuanced situation, just how George likes em, but what matters is that Dany did what she could.

Art by Ted Nasmith! He's one of my favorite ASOIAF artists ❤

[music-of-dragons]

Here's part three!

Loose Key for organization:

● Summary ○ My thoughts

AGOT Dany III

● This chapter begins with Dany looking out over the Dothraki Sea with Jorah by her side, he is explaining the types of grass that grow. ~"Down in the Shadow Lands beyond Asshai, they say there are oceans of ghost grass, taller than a man on horseback with stalks as pale as milkglass. It murders all other grass and glows in the dark with the spirits of the damned. The Dothraki claim that someday ghost grass will cover the entire world, and then all life will end." That thought gave Dany the shivers.~

○ The description of the ghost grass and the Dothraki prophecy are very similar to that of the Others and the Long Night. Directly after this imagery Dany shivers, which is associated with being cold or frightened. I believe that the Stallion prophecy is the Dothraki version of Azor Ahai. 

● Dany is enjoying the beauty of the day when the rest of the Khalasar begin to approach, Viserys with them. Dany, slowly learning to embrace her own agency and power, tells Jorah to command the Khalasar to stop so that she could ride ahead and not hear Viserys's complaints.

 

● Dany reflects on her first days with the Khalasar and how tough they had been. Khal Drogo ignored her during sex and she would cry from the pain, she was racked with saddle sores and blistered hands. Dany decided that she would rather kill herself than continue on, until she had a dragon dream. Viserys is not in the dream this time, only her and the dragon. "It's scales were black as night, wet and slick with blood. Her blood, Dany sensed.~

○ Just as Dany's thighs were slick with blood in her first dragon dream, the dragon is now covered in her blood. This is more birth imagery! Babies are born covered in their mother's blood, so Dany will birth the dragons, and her blood/sacrifice will be needed for the ritual. Viserys disappearing from the first dream then not appearing in this dream is a sign that Viserys will have to be gone/die in order for Dany to become who she is meant to be and hatch the dragons. When the dragon breathes flame at her, she feels no pain. Her body is cleansed by the fire and it helps her feel stronger and more fierce, this bled into her reality.

● Dany noticeably changed after her dream, her handmaid even asked if she had gotten sick. ~"I was, she answered, standing over the dragon's eggs that Illyrio had given her when she wed. She touched one, the largest of the three, running her hand lightly over the shell. Black and scarlet, she thought, like the dragon in my dream."~ The egg felt warm to Dany, though she dismissed it. 

● Dany feels that her horse knows her moods and that they share a single mind, Irri may be teaching her Dothraki riding but the silver is her true teacher. 

○ This connection that Dany feels with her silver, I believe, has some magic involved. It may also be foreshadowing her warg-like connection with Drogon. Dany thinks to herself that she had never loved anything so much.

● Dany, still reflecting, thinks about how she began to appreciate the beauty of the world around her; her soreness after riding was welcomed, her nights with Drogo were more pleasurable, and every day she is eager to mount her silver and ride ahead.

○This is a direct result of her dragon dreams and coping mechanisms. She is slowly growing from a meek little girl to a strong young woman, she is handling the Dothraki lifestyle better than her "dragon" brother.

●Dany makes it to the bottom of the ridge and hears Viserys shrieking at Ser Jorah, so she plunges deeper into the grass. Dany feels a sudden urge to feel the soil between her toes because she feels happy and at peace in the grass. She dismounts and is removing her boots when Viserys is on her, rearing his horse, screaming. Viserys tells her to look at herself, dressed in Dothraki clothing and Viserys dressed in soiled city silks and ringmail. 

○ This difference between the two of them is important. Dany's ability to adapt to the culture around her is what allows her to survive, while Viserys separates himself from those he deems beneath him and it will eventually lead to his downfall. This is humility vs superiority at its finest. Dany is making the most of a situation her own brother placed her in, doing everything he commanded of her, yet he is enraged by her power as a Khaleesi. 

● Viserys makes a grab for Dany's chest and twists at her breasts but she pushes him away, this is the first time she has stuck up for herself, and she knows that Viserys will hurt her badly for it. Before Viserys can continue, Jhogo's whip coils around his neck and saves Dany from further harm. Despite all that he's done to her Dany refuses to have him harmed. She thinks to herself that he looks pitiful on the ground, sobbing and sucking in breath. ~He had always been a pitiful thing. Why had she never seen that before? There was a hollow place inside her where her fear had been.~

○ Dany is no longer taking Viserys's abuses lying down. She is finally coming to realize that Viserys was never truly a man to fear, his power over her was an illusion that he created by conditioning Dany with abuse and "waking the dragon". However, despite all this, Dany still loves her brother which will be demonstrated by her actions and thoughts later. 

○ Dany commands Jorah to take his horse, she has learned more of Dothraki ways and knew that taking his horse would shame him in the Khalasar. He would walk with the women and slaves instead of mounted. She literally gets him off his high horse! 

●Viserys commands Jorah to kill the Dothraki dogs and hurt Dany. He looks at her with her bare feet and oiled hair, then at Viserys in his soiled silks and ringmail, and decides ~"He shall walk, Khaleesi."~

● Dany and Jorah have an important conversation about Viserys and the Smallfolk. When she becomes afraid because of what she did to Viserys, he tells her Rhaegar was the last dragon and that Viserys was less than the shadow of a snake. The smallfolk don't care who sits the Iron Throne, they just want to be left in peace. Dany is shaken by his words, but she hears the truth in them. He even gets her to admit that Viserys would not be a good king. When asked about home, Dany envisions Westeros and Dragonstone, all with red doors. 

○That is what Dany desires most; a home with safety and comfort like the house Ser Willem raised her in. She believes that she will find that home in Westeros.

● She admits to Jorah that she knows Viserys would never take them home, even with an army. Later, Dany has a mini vision after seeing a dusty finger of light touch her eggs, a thousand droplets of scarlet flame, she blinks and they are gone.

○ This, again, is her subconscious leading her to the magic needed to hatch the eggs. Dany feels the eggs and they are warm, but she convinces herself they were warmed by the sun. She knows that the stone eggs shouldn't be alive with heat and is trying to rationalize it by continuously making excuses because she's not ready to hatch them, not just yet.

○ Irri hops in the bath with Dany, she has no problem bathing with her and is very close with her handmaids. She never treats them harshly even though they are slaves of the Khalasar.

○ In the next chapter, Dany is called "Moon of my Life'' by Drogo while she calls him "My Sun and Stars". The story that Doreah tells Dany while bathing consists of the moon wandering too close to the sun and cracking, pouring out dragons, then they drink the fire of the sun. I think this story is a hint that Dany, the moon, will hatch dragons herself, and they will be given life by Drogo, the sun. 

● Dany spends time with Doreah learning to pleasure Khal Drogo. She takes him beneath the stars for all to see ~For the Dothraki believed that all things of importance in a man's life must be done beneath the open sky.~ It is Dany's 14th nameday when Jhiqui tells her she is with child. ~"I know."~ Dany tells her.

○ Dany has finally completely adapted to the life of the Dothraki and is more comfortable, brave, and happy than she ever has been. She has agency and power so long as Drogo allows it, and her relationship with him has improved. She isn't suffering in the shadow of her brother any longer. 

Dany IV up next!

Art by Ted Nasmith

[music-of-dragons]

For #Danymonth2021 I will be posting a Dany chapter analysis each day. She has 31 total chapters and there are 31 days in October! I'll try my best to keep up since this is a project I've wanted to do for a long time. I meant to start yesterday but I'm already off to a late start so 2 chapters are going up today!

Loose key for some organization:

●Summary ○My thoughts

AGOT Dany I

●The chapter starts with Viserys telling Dany to caress the fabric of the dress she is to wear to impress Drogo. The fabric is so fine that Dany is frightened by it so she pulls her hand away and asks if it really belongs to her. ~She could not remember wearing anything so soft.~ 

○Dany has had a life of hardship, from the moment Ser Willem Darry died she had lived on the streets, hopping from one place to the next until people began to shun the last Targaryens as beggars and lost causes. Such finery is so foreign to her that she is frightened by it. 

○Dany is 13 but still more grounded in reality than Viserys. She knows that the kindness of Illyrio shouldn't come as freely as it does and that the throne is merely a dream. 

●~ For a moment she wished that she could be out there with them, barefoot and breathless and dressed in tatters, with no past and no future no feast to attend at Khal Drogo's manse.~

○Dany desires a simple life, free of the responsibility and shadow of her elder brother, this is a recurring theme throughout the books. 

●~Viserys lived for that day.  All that Daenerys wanted back was the big house with the red door, the lemon tree outside her window, the childhood she had never known.~

●Illyrio's "servants” come to prepare Dany for the feast. Dany already recognizes the humanity of them and observes their attitudes and mannerisms. She also recognizes that these "servants" are slaves, even though there are no slaves in the free cities.

○Dany is familiar with the unbalanced system that forces people into indentured servitude from her first chapter. She listens to the younger slave girl speak and takes her words to heart; she tells Dany that Drogo's slaves wear golden collars and Dany dons a golden collar at the feast. This is a direct reference to the situation Dany is in; she's a glorified sex slave being sold off to a barbarian by her own brother. That's how much she means to Viserys. 

○Dany mistrusts Illyrio's words about the smallfolk crying out for their true King, just as she mistrusts everything about Illyrio. For a 13 year old, Dany is wise. Her life forced her to mature faster to survive and to be weary of superfluous kindness.

●Dany tears up when Viserys hurts her for wanting to go home and not be Drogo's queen. ~She brushed away unfallen tears with the back of her hand.~ Viserys commands her to smile and stand up straight. ~Daenerys smiled, and stood up straight.~

○Daenerys is at the mercy of Viserys, she does everything he commands her to do to avoid pain and suffering, even if that means pain and suffering. She's so broken down and meek in the beginning; her story is truly that of an underdog rising up through experience and sheer force of will. 

I'll be using the tag #ARereadOfDaenerys to compile these analyses together on my blog!

[music-of-dragons]

Loose Key for some organinaztion:

●Summary ○My thoughts

AGOT Dany II

●~"He can have her tomorrow if he likes," her brother said. He glanced over at Dany, and she lowered her eyes. "So long as he pays the price."~

○Another moment showcasing how subdued Daenerys is in the presence of her brother. I think these moments are important to note as Dany grows braver and stronger. She's being sold off as a broodmare and all she can do is obey and appease the men pulling her strings. 

●~There are no more dragons, Dany thought, staring at her brother, though she did not dare to say it aloud. Yet that night she dreamt of one.~

●Dany's first dragon dream comes before she weds Khal Drogo, when she is scared and nervous. These dragon dreams come when Dany is in need of strength and direction.

○Viserys is kicking a naked Dany in her dream, screaming that she's woken the dragon. ~Her thighs were slick with blood.~ This line has very specific imagery indicating birth. Right after this she hears a hideous ripping sound and the crackling of a great fire. These are the first clues to hatching the dragons. In order to have strength to overcome and birth the dragons, a great fire is needed. The dragon turns to stare at her and she awakes shaking. 

●~Dany had never felt so alone as she did seated in the midst of that vast horde.~ At the wedding, Dany is seated high above everyone else with Khal Drogo next to her, this makes her feel lonely and disconnected.

○The seeds of the kind of ruler she will be are already being planted. Dany does not like to be above others, she prefers to be among her people or level with them. While Dany is seated and not eating due to her nervousness, she is telling herself "I am blood of the dragon, I am Daenerys Stormborn, Princess of Dragonstone, of the blood and seed of Aegon the Conqueror." These words give Dany strength, she uses them for confidence when she is feeling low.

○Jorah gifts Dany with books and she thanks him with all her heart. These books will come in handy for Dany later in the series, she eventually reads them and learns to be a better ruler from them. 

○Dany is finally given the dragon eggs! ~"The eons have turned them to STONE, yet they still burn bright with beauty."~ That'll be important later!

●Drogo gifts Dany her silver, she nervously sits in the saddle until Jorah tells her to ride. The moment Dany ushers the silver with her knees, she forgets to be afraid. ~Or perhaps it was for the first time ever.~ Dany immediately takes to her horse, she leaps a firepit with ease and says ~"Tell Khal Drogo that he has given me the wind."~

○Dany is already beginning to adapt to Dothraki ways and her connection to her silver is strong, her words make Khal Drogo smile. I fully believe that Dany, being of Valyrian descent, has a stronger than normal connection to her silver just as she will have a strong connection with Drogon. 

●Once Dany and Drogo are prepared to leave, Viserys digs his fingers into her legs and threatens her, she's afraid once again. ~She felt like a child once more, only thirteen and all alone, not ready for what was about to happen to her.~ The entire ride she keeps telling herself that she is blood of the dragon, she is terrified and trying to cope.

●Dany cries when they make it to the spot, but Khal Drogo is gentle with her. She helps him remove the bells from his hair and undoes his braid. He waits until she says yes before they go any further. 

○George had said that what happened between them was consensual, but Dany was in a no win situation. The marriage had to be consummated and there was no getting out of it. She was terrified and inexperienced, forced into this situation by the one who was supposed to protect her. This scene is just depressing to me, and I know she does come to love him but before there is good there is bad. Things are about to get even more rough for her, but her resilience is inspiring. 

Dany III up next!

[music-of-dragons]

ACOK Dany V

● Summary ○ My Thoughts

● This chapter opens with Irri presenting Dany with a Qartheen gown which she turns away because she is going to the docks. Daenerys knows that the Qartheen view her as a savage so she dresses in Dothraki garb. Jhiqui places a bell in her braid for burning the Undying and Daenerys accepts it because she knows the Dothraki will esteem her more for her victory. As she rides to the docks she notices the distasteful looks of the Qartheen, Jorah would have rather had her in a palanquin but she was done reclining on cushions and having her movement done for her. She needs to find a ship to flee the city that grew to love her less and less since the Undying perished, Pyat Pree has gathered warlocks to work ill on her and strange events are taking place suggesting the return of more magic. Zaro once again asks Dany to marry him, she refuses and he tells her to go.

○ Daenerys is done dressing up and playing a role she does not desire for the Qartheen, she will no longer be a beggar to them. She proudly wears her Dothraki clothing and the bell in her hair even though they think of her as a savage, she does not care, she is one with her people. Constantly being carried in a palanquin had made Dany feel lazy but riding her own horse she feels like she is actually going somewhere and leading. Daenerys knows that accepting Xaro’s proposal would mean giving up a dragon so she refuses him, she will not risk or give up her most valuable assets. I think the beginning of this chapter perfectly sets up Dany’s ASOS arc. She is now unapologetically herself and will not take any crap from those who wish her ill, she has learned from Qarth that acting and begging will only go so far and that her goals must be achieved through force of will.

● Before Daenerys decided to take to the docks to leave, she had asked one last favor of Xaro, a ship. He says that for one dragon she will have 10 of his finest ships. "How many ships do you own, Xaro?"

"Eighty-three, if one does not count my pleasure barge."

"And your colleagues in the Thirteen?"

"Among us all, perhaps a thousand."

"And the Spicers and the Tourmaline Brotherhood?"

"Their trifling fleets are of no account."

"Even so," she said, "tell me."

"Twelve or thirteen hundred for the Spicers. No more than eight hundred for the Brotherhood."

"And the Asshai'i, the Braavosi, the Summer Islanders, the Ibbenese, and all the other peoples who sail the great salt sea, how many ships do they have? All together?"

"Many and more," he said irritably. "What does this matter?"

"I am trying to set a price on one of the three living dragons in the world." Dany smiled at him sweetly. "it seems to me that one-third of all the ships in the world would be fair."

Xaro quit speaking to her after that, and each day his servant brought her cooler and cooler messages. He told her she must leave his house, that he was done feeding her and her people, and that he wanted the gifts that he had given her back, Dany reflects that she is thankful that she did not marry him.

○ This exchange between Dany and Xaro is very telling of her intelligence. She would not let Xaro outsmart her or trick her into entering an unequal bargain. She equated one of the three living dragons in the whole world to a third of the ships in the whole world, and showed Xaro just how stubborn and astute she is. Dany finally realized that Qarth is a city that promises more than it gives and successfully navigated the false superfluousness to overcome it’s trap. I think that Qarth’s placement in the middle of the Red Waste in all it’s grandeur is meant to mimic a mirage in the desert, too good to be true.

● Dany muses on her visions in the House of the Undying, she asks Ser Jorah if he knows what “The dragon has three heads” means. He tells her that the Targaryen sigil is a three headed dragon which she knows, and that they represent Aegon, Visenya, and Rhaenys. They go back and forth about the Undying and he asks her what a mummer’s dragon is, to which she replies it is a cloth dragon on poles used to give the heroes something to fight. She tells him she saw Rhaegar and that he mentioned his son was the Prince that was Promised and his is the song of Ice and Fire, Jorah does not know the song. She says that she went to the warlocks seeking answers but was only left with more questions.

○ I think Jorah telling Dany that the three headed dragon represents the conquerors tips her off that she needs to seek out two other dragon riders to join her cause; her and two others will complete the three heads of the dragon and fulfill their destiny together. I don’t think that Dany’s line about the mummer’s dragon was placed for no reason. The upcoming mummer’s dragon (fAegon) will be a villain that the hero (Daenerys) must fight either through war or by staking her own claim and winning his supporters as her own. While in the House of the Undying, Daenerys is told to drink from the cup of ice and from the cup of fire. She has the dragons (fire) capable of defeating the Others (ice), and this directly correlates to the Song of Ice and fire. Her chapters are the only chapters that mention the song of ice and fire because it wasn’t Rhaegar’s, Aegon’s, or the result of Rhaegar’s (theoretically) careful planning to produce the promised prince, it has been Daenerys’s song all along. I’ve seen people say that Daenerys begins to view herself as a goddess or that she begins to believe in her ultimate destiny because of the undying, but the text says otherwise. Daenerys is baffled by what the Undying showed her and cannot understand what the visions meant. All she can do is muse and question, she accepts nothing as a certainty other than Mirri Maz Duur being the betrayal for blood. She is still clueless about just how important her destiny is and how it extends beyond the Iron Throne and King’s Landing.

● Daenerys and Jorah seek passage from many ships, all of which the sailor’s refuse her passage due to her dragons, her Dothraki, or they just asked for payments beyond what she had to give. Eventually, Jorah tells Dany that they are being followed and leads her to a brass-seller’s booth. He loudly tells Dany to observe the shine of a brass platter and angles it so that she can see the fat brown man and the tall older man with a staff standing behind them. She goes back and forth loudly with the seller to conceal the whispers between her and Jorah. She suspects the men are either hired knives from Westeros or creatures sent by the warlocks. She turns away from the seller as he whittles down the price of the platter more and more, she is still loudly turning him down while she sneaks a glance at the men. She thinks to herself that only fools would stare so openly if they meant her harm. The seller continues to step in front of the them and thrusts the platter in their faces, giving them view of the men behind them.

○ Daenerys strategically covers up the whispers of her and Jorah by making a show with the seller. She knows that he is desperate to sell the platter and uses that to her advantage by haggling and getting him to follower her as a distraction for the followers. The entire exchange is just hilarious on top of showing off Dany’s skill at being covert in creative ways.

● Dany tells Jorah to pay the man for the platter before he kills himself and turns around intending to face the stalkers. She thinks to herself that the blood of the dragon will not be herded through the bazaar by an old man and a fat eunuch before a Qartheen man stepped in her path. He gives her an ornate jewel box which she accepts and opens. Inside is a jeweled scarab that she thinks will help pay for her passage before she hears the man say “I am so sorry” and the scarab unfolds with a hiss. The box is suddenly flying through the air and her hand is in pain, the crowd is shouting and fleeing around her. She sees the old man drive the butt of his staff into the ground while Jorah attacks the eunuch. The old man calls her “your grace” and begs her pardon, asking if her hand is broken. Her bloodriders are on him before he can continue, but she tells them to release him since he saved her from the manticore. She helps the brass merchant to his feet and gives him a silver for his trouble since the manticore briefly landed on him. She learns that the two men were sent by Illyrio, they didn’t recognize her since they expected someone more regal. They are there with three ships to bring her to Illyrio, she renames them Vhagar, Meraxes, and Balerion to let everyone know the dragons are returned.

○ Dany narrowly escapes another assassination attempt with the help of Arstan Whitebeard, and in all the chaos, the first thing she does is approach the brass seller rolling on the ground. She asks if he was stung then pays him a silver for all the haggling and the manticore. She cares about this random brass seller enough to check on him and feels responsible for his fright enough to pay him for it. This shows how Daenerys cares about the people around her and is aware of how her presence affects their lives. Even if she does not personally know them or gain anything from their favor, she still helps. Dany is finally on the move again!

Art by Sarah K. Diesel 😍

[music-of-dragons]

ACOK Dany II

● Summary ○ My Thoughts

● Daenerys and her Khalasar arrive in Qarth to a grand welcome. There are three thick walls that encircle the city; the first is a 30 ft red sandstone wall with depictions of animals, land and sea, snakes, wolves of the Red Waste. The second is a 40 ft grey granite wall with depictions of war, sword and shield, babes being butchered, pyres for the dead. The third and innermost wall is a 50 ft black marble with depictions of pleasure and love that make Dany blush. The city itself is fantastically colored with tall towers, elaborate carved fountains, gemstones everywhere. The Qartheen themselves are tall and pale, each extravagantly dressed as a lord or lady in silk and beads. ~How savage we must seem to these Qartheen.~

○ I think that the three walls of Qarth are symbolism for Dany’s journey similar to her three awakening in AGOT. The first wall depicts animals of the world, symbolizing the travels of Dany throughout the books and her time on the Dothraki Sea and Red Waste. The second wall depicting war is Dany’s life after Qarth, fighting righteous wars to end slavery and later against The Others, hardship, loss. The third wall with depictions of men and women in pleasure and lust is what I think Dany will eventually find with her third husband; peace, love, pleasure, and happiness. Dany knows how worn and drab her and her people must look to the Qartheen, but she thinks to herself, ~how savage WE must seem~. Dany does not separate herself from her people, they are one Khalasar.

● Pyat Pree and Xaro Xhoan Daxos set right to showering Dany with flattery. Xaro offers to buy her anything she sees in the market while Pyat tells her that Qarth itself is hers. Dany quickly rebutts that she only desires the red castle at King’s Landing or swords and ships to take her there. Pyat reassures her that she will have what she desires and that she should come to the House of the Undying while Xaro claims that a warlock’s house is built on bones and lies. ~”Then why do men lower their voices when they speak of the warlocks of Qarth? All across the East their power and wisdom are revered.” Xaro says they were once great, but no longer. He gives her an entire wing of his castle to stay in while he explains that on the morrow all of Qarth will come to pay her homage. ~All the great of Qarth will come to see my dragons, Dany thought.~ Quaithe only tells Dany to beware of all because her dragons are power, which people lust for.

○ Daenerys does not let the flattery of Pyat and Xaro get the best of her, she keeps her mind on her goal and does not let them distract her. I think Dany was quite clever to bring up how the warlocks of Qarth are spoken of to Xaro, she’s calling him out on the “mine is bigger than yours” squabble that him and Pyat are playing to impress not her, but the “Mother of Dragons”. Dany realizes that it is not her that Qarth is interested in, just her dragons. I fully believe that Viserys would have fallen for their flattery had he lived, but just like Dany was suspicious of Illyrio, she remains suspicious of the Qartheen and their superfluous generosity.

● Once left alone in the castle, Dany immediately sets to work. She tells her bloodriders that they will keep their own watch while in Qarth, no one enters her wing without her leave, then commands them to take men and women to the parts of Qarth left unseen. She commands Jorah to go to the docks for tidings from Westeros since he has more languages than the Dothraki and they don’t trust sailors. Once the men had gone, she entered the cool pool to bathe and reflect on her next steps. ~The Dothraki sacked cities and plundered kingdoms, they did not rule them. Dany had no wish to reduce King’s Landing to a blackened ruin full of unquiet ghosts. She had supped enough on tears. I want to make my kingdom beautiful, to fill it with fat men and pretty maids and laughing children. I want my people to smile when they see me ride by, the way Viserys said they smiled for my father. But before she could do that she must conquer.~

○ Daenerys is wary of the Qartheen because she is familiar with this falseness. She remembers Mirri Maz Duur and her treachery, she remembers mistrusting Illyrio. She efficiently sends out scouts to find the secrets of Qarth that Pyat and Xaro did not want her to see and recognizes that Jorah is the best man to send to the docks because of his experience. I love the quote of Dany thinking about conquering Westeros, she does not want to destroy what she believes will become her home (what destiny is pushing her towards) because she knows firsthand what it is like to suffer and does not want others to suffer as she had, however, in order to rule she must conquer. The duality of wanting peace and needing to conquer is very much a theme in ADWD that makes its first appearance here.

● ~Viserys had believed that that the realm would rise for its rightful king… but Viserys had been a fool, and fools believe in foolish things.~ Once she leaves the pool she reflects on her purpose in Qarth. ~The Bleeding Star led me to Qarth for a purpose. Here I will find what I need, if I have the strength to take what is offered, and the wisdom to avoid the traps and snares. If the gods mean for me to conquer, they will provide, they will send me a sign, and if not… if not...~

○ Daenerys knows that the smallfolk of Westeros do not care who sits on the Throne so long as they are left in peace, Jorah taught her that. She will not allow herself to go down the path of Viserys and thinks of him as an example to not follow. Daeners does not feel entitled to conquer Westeros immediately, she feels she must earn it through hard work and intelligence. She must grow strong and learn more before she will allow herself to go home, however much she longs for it.

● Ser Jorah returns with the captain of the Cinnamon Wind who bears great news for her. He tells her King Robert is dead and his young son sits the Iron Throne while his brothers and “allies” fight amongst themselves. Daenerys is pleased with the news since she had lived in the shadow of the usurper and everything he took from her for so long. She tells him that he has brought her a precious gift to which he replies he has been amply repaid by seeing the dragons. She promises him great reward when she comes into her father’s throne and sends him on his way with well wishes. Jorah counsels that she should not reveal her plans but Dany does not care if it is spread. ~”Before the Seven Kingdoms were like my Drogo’s Khalasar, a hundred thousand made as one by his strength. Now they fly to pieces, even as the Khalasar did after my Khal lay dead.”~ She knows that she still needs to build strength, alliances, and armies, but Robert’s death will still work to her advantage. Jorah tells her that even dragons can die, to which she replies, “Dragons die. But so do dragonslayers.”

○ Daenerys understands that the death of Robert Baratheon will splinter the Seven Kingdoms and that unity is stronger than division. Now that he is dead, she doesn't care if news of her plans to conquest Westeros are spread around because she is far from the only one vying for the Throne. She is now able to gather allies in all the mess that is Westeros through the tales of her plans and soon enough people begin to root for the Dragon Queen and drink toasts to her health (although she personally doesn’t let herself believe it lest she end up like Viserys) in Westeros by AFFC.

Art by Richard Hescox!

[music-of-dragons]

AGOT Dany V

I love this chapter, but it's so sad...

Loose Key for organization:

● Summary ○My Thoughts

● Chapter 5 opens with Drogo setting the Stallion heart before her, it's time for the heart eating ritual 🤢

○ Dany once again thinks to herself that she is the blood of the dragon to give herself strength when feeling uncertain.

● Dany must eat all of the heart and retch up nothing or else the omens for her child will be less favorable. She completely finishes the heart and proclaims that a prince rides inside her in her best Dothraki.

○ Dany is becoming more familiar with the language and appealed to their culture to garner support for her unborn son! She practiced the phrase for days, she is dedicated.

● Khal Drogo himself is tense as they wait in silence for the prophecy of the crone.

~"I have seen his face, and heard the THUNDER of his hooves...as swift as THE WIND he rides, and behind him his khalasar covers THE EARTH, men without number, with arakhs shining in their hands like blades of razor grass. FIERCE as A STORM this prince will be. His enemies will tremble before him, and their wives will weep tears of blood and rend their flesh in grief. The BELLS in his hair will sing his coming, and the MILK MEN in the STONE TENTS will fear his name."~

○ This is the prophecy of the Stallion who Mounts the World, and I believe that the Stallion is actually Daenerys. The prophecy has some very specific imagery which I capitalized for emphasis. So first off, THUNDER, FIERCE AS A STORM, Daenerys's given name is Daenerys STORMBORN for the great storm she was born in that smashed the Targaryen Fleet and held off the Usurper's knives. Second, swift as THE WIND can have 2 meanings. Dany called her silver the wind when she was gifted her, she will also eventually become a dragonrider who flies on the wind. Third, Dany wears bells in her hair long after the death of Khal Drogo, her handmaids add them after each victory, so Dany's coming may very well be sung by the bells in her hair. Fourth, the MILK MEN in their STONE TENTS are the people of Westeros, Dany has plans to conquer Westeros. Once word spreads of Daenerys Targaryen coming to conquer Westeros with her dragons, her name will be feared. The Stallion prophecy will come to pass, so if not Rhaego, who? His mother. The crones sensed it but assumed it was her son cause patriarchy. She will grow from broodmare, to Stallion.

●After the heart eating ritual, Dany, Drogo, and a procession of Dothraki walk to the Womb of the World. Dany bathes in the small lake while the crones watch her and murmur among themselves, then she emerges dripping and shivering.

○ I think the womb of the world will come into importance later in the story, when Dany is decreed the Stallion, but that's for another chapter.

● After the events at the womb of the world, everyone returns to Khal Drogo's hall. There are many foods and drinks being cooked and served, and one of those foods mentioned, is a pomegranate! Dany thinks to herself that she knows no arakhs will clash this night due to the sacred laws and customs of Vaes Dothrak forbidding steel and bloodshed. Dany invites Jorah to sit and talk with her. She learns from him that Viserys tried to steal her dragon eggs.

~Dany had not known, had not even suspected. "Then… he should have them. He does not need to steal them. He had only ask. He is my brother… and my true king."

"He is your brother," Ser Jorah acknowledged.

"You do not understand, ser," she said. "My mother died giving me birth, and my father and my brother Rhaegar even before that. I would never have known so much as their names if Viserys had not been there to tell me. He was the only one left. The only one. He is all I have."

○ I think Dany's response to the news of Viserys trying to steal from her is very telling of her character. She never stopped loving Viserys despite everything he did to her. He is her only living family and she feels that she owes him so much for protecting her, raising her, and telling her the stories of Westeros. It wasn't until this next moment that everything truly came crashing down.

● Viserys comes striding in looking a mess, drunk, overly confident… and wearing a longsword on his belt. The Dothraki are already throwing curses and angry mutterings are all around, the music dies. He has broken their sacred law. Khal Drogo exacerbates his fickle state by telling him his place is with the lowest of the low, furthest from the fires. Drogo says in the common tongue, ~"Is place… for Sorefoot King. A cart! Bring cart for Khal Raggat!" And the hall erupts in laughter. Viserys tussles with Jorah before he is knocked to the floor, then finally draws his blade.

●~Dany gave a wordless cry of terror. She knew what a drawn sword meant here, even if her brother did not.~ Dany is terrified for Viserys, she knows that what he did means death. She BEGS him to put the sword away, to join her on her cushions, she offers him food and drink and even her dragon eggs, so long as he puts away the sword. Viserys turns the blade on Dany, pricking her stomach with the end of the sword. He threatens to cut out Drogo's "foal" and leave it for him. ~Viserys was weeping, she saw; weeping and laughing, both at the same time, this man who had once been her brother.~

○ That last line is so depressing. Dany never stopped thinking of Viserys as her brother until the moment he threatened her son. Dany loves and values Rhaego over anything else, she found happiness and purpose in her pregnancy. When the one who was supposed to love and protect her threatens to kill who she loves most in the world, she could no longer tolerate his abuses, and could no longer see him as her brother. It's heartbreaking for her.

● ~Viserys smiled and lowered his sword. That was the saddest thing, the thing that TORE at her afterward...the way he smiled.~

○ There is no doubt that Dany mourned her brother after his death, no doubt. She mourned for the brother he used to be, not the man he became.

●The next moment has Drogo holding Dany as his men sieze Viserys. By this point, she only refers to him as "the man who had been her brother". She describes Drogo not even looking at "the man". When Jorah tells her to turn away, she say no, and folds her arms over her stomach protectively. Viserys gets his golden crown after screaming that he was THE DRAGON and that no one could harm him. ~He was no dragon, Dany thought, curiously calm. Fire cannot kill a dragon.~

○ Dany's lime about Viserys not being a dragon is an abuse victim coming to terms with the death of her abuser. Viserys struck terror into her heart from the time she was a child by telling her she "woke the dragon" and hurting her. She feared him, she was meek and submissive because of him, she bent to the whims of others who saw her as nothing because of him. When that image finally crumbles before her, she is in shock. She had just gone from pride and happiness, to terror for the life of her brother, terror again for the life of her own child and body, to withdrawn acceptance of the situation at hand. Viserys was never a dragon in the way that he used it. A dragon by blood, but not in character. That's what Dany meant.

Art by Ted Nasmith!

[music-of-dragons]

Just a heads up

shaylen-ryder -> Music-of-Dragons