#btw this old meta that i read wasn't from an anti it was from dany stans

[rainhadaenerys]

Sometimes I see people talking about Dany being too naive/dumb in trusting Hizdahr. I once read an old Dany meta talking about Dany trusting Hizdahr and saying that this was a terribly bad decision, referring to this:

"How? The Sons of the Harpy have put down their knives, but why? Because the noble Hizdahr asked sweetly? He is one of them, I tell you. That's why they obey him. He may well be the Harpy."

"If there is a Harpy." Skahaz was convinced that somewhere in Meereen the Sons of the Harpy had a highborn overlord, a secret general commanding an army of shadows. Dany did not share his belief. The Brazen Beasts had taken dozens of the Harpy's Sons, and those who had survived their capture had yielded names when questioned sharply … too many names, it seemed to her. It would have been pleasant to think that all the deaths were the work of a single enemy who might be caught and killed, but Dany suspected that the truth was otherwise. My enemies are legion. "Hizdahr zo Loraq is a persuasive man with many friends. And he is wealthy. Perhaps he has bought this peace for us with gold, or convinced the other highborn that our marriage is in their best interests."

"No," she said. "I do not trust these confessions. You've brought me too many of them, all of them worthless."

"Your Radiance—"

"No, I said."

The Shavepate's scowl turned his ugly face even uglier. "A mistake. The Great Master Hizdahr plays Your Worship for a fool. Do you want a serpent in your bed?"

I want Daario in my bed, but I sent him away for the sake of you and yours. "You may continue to watch Hizdahr zo Loraq, but no harm is to come to him. Is that understood?"

"I am not deaf, Magnificence. I will obey." Skahaz drew a parchment scroll from his sleeve. "Your Worship should have a look at this. A list of all the Meereenese ships in the blockade, with their captains. Great Masters all."

Dany studied the scroll. All the ruling families of Meereen were named: Hazkar, Merreq, Quazzar, Zhak, Rhazdar, Ghazeen, Pahl, even Reznak and Loraq. "What am I to do with a list of names?"

"Every man on that list has kin within the city. Sons and brothers, wives and daughters, mothers and fathers. Let my Brazen Beasts seize them. Their lives will win you back those ships."

"If I send the Brazen Beasts into the pyramids, it will mean open war inside the city. I have to trust in Hizdahr. I have to hope for peace." Dany held the parchment above a candle and watched the names go up in flame, while Skahaz glowered at her. - Daenerys V ADWD

The meta seemed to assume that Dany fully trusts Hizdahr and fully believes that he is genuine and bought the peace with gold. And I disagree with this interpretation, because I don't think we can take this one passage in isolation. There are plenty of other passages showing that Dany distrusts Hizdahr and that she does suspect him to be part of the Sons of the Harpy:

If I wed Hizdahr, will that turn Skahaz against me? She trusted Skahaz more than she trusted Hizdahr, but the Shavepate would be a disaster as a king. He was too quick to anger, too slow to forgive. She saw no gain in wedding a man as hated as herself. Hizdahr was well respected, so far as she could see. - Daenerys IV ADWD

~

"I would never make so bold a claim. Men are born to strive and suffer. Our woes only vanish when we die. I can be of help to you, however. I have gold and friends and influence, and the blood of Old Ghis flows in my veins. Though I have never wed, I have two natural children, a boy and a girl, so I can give you heirs. I can reconcile the city to your rule and put an end to this nightly slaughter in the streets."

"Can you?" Dany studied his eyes. "Why should the Sons of the Harpy lay down their knives for you? Are you one of them?"

"No."

"Would you tell me if you were?"

He laughed. "No." - Daenerys IV ADWD

~

"You know more of such men than me, ser." If Bloodbeard might be truly the most dishonorable and greedy of the sellswords, he might be the easiest to sway, but she was loath to go against Ser Barristan's counsel in such matters. "Do as you think best. But do it soon. If Hizdahr's peace should break, I want to be ready. I do not trust the slavers." I do not trust my husband. "They will turn on us at the first sign of weakness." - Daenerys VIII ADWD

Dany constantly says that she doesn't trust Hizdahr. She trusts the Shavepate more than him. She is aware of the possibility that the reason the Sons would lay down they swords for him could very well be because he is one of them (she says this in the chapter BEFORE she even has that conversation with Skahaz), and she is aware that he wouldn't tell her if he was one of the Sons. Later, we see her making preparations for war because, despite having made a peace with Hizdahr's help, she doesn't trust him. So I really don't agree when people say that Dany was naive/dumb or that she trusted Hizdahr, because she clearly didn't trust him. When she tells the Shavepate that Hizdahr might have bought the peace with gold, she is giving him one possibility (because the Shavepate wanted to believe that Hizdahr was guilty and wanted him arrested and tortured, while Dany didn't want to do that because they didn't have any proof that he was guilty), but just because she gives him one idea of how Hizdahr might be innocent, that doesn't mean this is what Dany herself believes or that she trusts Hizdahr. Dany works with Hizdahr not because she trusts him, but because she has to:

"If I send the Brazen Beasts into the pyramids, it will mean open war inside the city. I have to trust in Hizdahr. I have to hope for peace." Dany held the parchment above a candle and watched the names go up in flame, while Skahaz glowered at her. - Daenerys V ADWD

It's not that she trusts Hizdahr, but that she HAS to. She has no military strength to fight an open war inside the city in addition to preparing for a siege and fighting off forces outside. And at this point in the story she doesn't feel like using her dragons is an option, so her course of action here is reasonable considering her options.

That same meta said that Dany made "glaringly bad calls" by "rejecting the Shavepate’s suggestion that Hizdahr is involved with the leaders of the Sons of the Harpy, and believing that the murders were not planned work of an organization, but simply actions of her many enemies." But that's not how I interpret what Dany says. Let's look back at what Dany says:

Skahaz was convinced that somewhere in Meereen the Sons of the Harpy had a highborn overlord, a secret general commanding an army of shadows. Dany did not share his belief. The Brazen Beasts had taken dozens of the Harpy's Sons, and those who had survived their capture had yielded names when questioned sharply … too many names, it seemed to her. It would have been pleasant to think that all the deaths were the work of a single enemy who might be caught and killed, but Dany suspected that the truth was otherwise. My enemies are legion. - Daenerys V ADWD

Dany might be wrong in the sense that it's very possible that the Sons of the Harpy do have a secret overlord commanding them, but I agree with her when she says "It would have been pleasant to think that all the deaths were the work of a single enemy who might be caught and killed, but Dany suspected that the truth was otherwise. My enemies are legion." Slavery is a systemic problem from which thousands of people benefitted. Even if Dany caught the one person who was organizing the Sons of the Harpy, that doesn't mean all of her opposition will go away or that the slavers won't continue fighting and organizing murders. That's more what I believe Dany was thinking here, and I agree with her overall thinking (even if she might be wrong about the existence of an overlord). And anyway, whether Dany believes or not in the existence of this overlord, I don't see why this is such a "glaringly bad call". Even if she did believe in the existence of an overlord, what else is Dany supposed to do here? It's not like she knows or has proof of who this overlord is, it's not like she can do something about it. And Dany doesn't really "reject" the Shavepate's suggestion, she just says she doesn't believe it. I'm pretty sure if Dany was presented with proof that Hizdahr was guilty, she wouldn't just let him go. And the other suggestion from Skahaz that Dany rejected was the suggestion to seize noblemen and start an open war inside the city, so I really don't see how this is such a bad call, given that Dany's goal at that moment was to keep the peace.