#vaes dothrak

[agentrouka-blog]

Daenerys says to the Khals: “You are small men. None of you are fit to lead the Dothraki, but I am, so I will.”

So she kills them and burns down their holy place.

And forgive my ignorance (and if I overlooked something), but if those Khals are men who think they can possess women like they possess horses, who rape women because they want to and to prove that they can, and who think that women are just for their pleasure,

Why is what she did so wrong?

And is there any other way Dany could have tried to escape her situation?

Counter question: What about what she does is right?

This is not an "escape plan". Daario and Jorah already offered to help her escape. She rejects that plan. Instead, they will lock the doors or the building from the outside to help her violent coup. When she burns their holy place and murders the khals, it is not out out of necessity, it is a deliberate and serenely executed choice.

And while the show made a ham-fisted point about their sexual violence (over and over, to erase any sympathy for them), Dany's actions are not about that, either.

She doesn't reform their culture in a way that makes it less predatory and more compatible with peace. All she does is replace a collection of several leaders with only herself to gain control over the Dothraki warriors. To serve the conquest plans that match her own preference.

All those women who watch her come out of the inferno also don't really accompany her to Westeros the way they normally would a proper khalasar in Essos. They presumably stay behind in the Dothraki Sea, separated from their men and left to carry on with life alone. So what we're talking about is uprooting and potentially destroying a whole culture for her own political benefit on an entirely different continent. A continent where she will also have to kill in order to take control. The Stallion that Mounts the World.

How is she different from the khals, deep down?

[asoiafreadthru]

A Game of Thrones, Bran III

He lifted his eyes and saw clear across the narrow sea.

To the Free Cities and the green Dothraki sea and beyond, to Vaes Dothrak under its mountain.

To the fabled lands of the Jade Sea.

To Asshai by the Shadow, where dragons stirred beneath the sunrise.

[fandomsbyladymelodrama]

@salzrand​ - annnnnd we’re back <3 Did you miss us?  Well, hopefully not as much as Edmure’s currently missing his luck XD

[atopvisenyashill]

i think the argument that using the orientalism in dany’s chapters as a reason to dislike her character is part of ~stan wars~ or is like, not a valid reason to dislike this arc to be so stupid. i see this about white women saviors allll the time in fandom & i find it really grating esp when it’s coming from white people in fandom. it’s great that You can talk about this in a vacuum but reading a story about a mighty whitey and being told that i’m somehow not serious as an analyst bc often times i cannot stand the racism dany herself feels & is justified in feeling and find myself resenting her for liberating the poor oppressed brown women from the evil raping misogynist men is like, SUCH a privileged ass take i don’t know how otherwise very smart people can’t see they’re making fandom hostile to people of color.

[silasplaskett]

i will never forget the insane disrespect the later seasons of got displayed for like geography and sensible rules of distance and travel times

[kaerinio]

sitting here thinking about the released chapters of t.wow . . . and how, from all the things in westeros coming out about dany, it's this ferocity that seems to persist! ari thinks about how brutal she must be if she allowed her brother and only kin to be killed and how perhaps that was her plan all along, especially if she thought he was going to leave her behind with the dothraki when his time to conquer came. she also mentioned that the first daenerys brought peace to dorne and it seems like the present daenerys wishes to stir war. why am i bringing this up?? not only is it setting up the dany - young griff/alleged aegon faceoff. but it's pointing toward rhaenyra! parallels! every single thing rhaenyra did, whether it was during her time or in historical accounts, has been villainized. the historical accounts, in particular, have been crafted to portray her in a negative light. and it seems like the things coming out about dany have also been crafted to sow distrust and suggest that she's a disruptive and brutal figure, who doesn't seem too far from kinslaying.

[jelmaezmo]

[raventreehall]

a storm of swords dash simulator

🍋ladyjonquil Follow

i don't want to reveal too much but i had a really great day today hawking and riding and received some really exciting news (and maybe a potential marriage offer!) wow wow wow!!! haven't felt like this in so long 🥰

🤡florianthefool Follow

i'm so happy for you my jonquil

🐦littlefinger Follow

thanks for sharing my lady

🏹kissedbyfire Follow

PISSED OFF AT MY BF RN 🤬🤬🤬 NEVER TRUST A SOUTHERNER AND ESPECIALLY NEVER TRUST A CROW!!!!!!!

👸🏼daenerys-targaryen-tracker Follow

🐎raeqqo Follow

by the law of the dothraki she must return to vaes dothrak to take her place alongside the crones of the dosh khaleen. it is known.

🐉3heads Follow

shut up and go sack a defenseless city or something

🍁weirwoodzz Follow

hey do you guys remember when theon greyjoy took winterfell last year and killed the stark boys? has anyone heard anything else about that? feel like it kind of just disappeared from the news cycle, what happened to greyjoy?

🪓cerwynnation Follow

lord bolton's bastard killed him

🍁weirwoodzz Follow

oh really? wow. kind of extreme but deserved i guess

💗ramsays-sharpest-blade Follow

Ramsay isn't a bastard, King Joffrey legitimized him two months ago and Lord Roose is going to make him castellan of the Dreadfort soon. He loves his son and trusts his abilities. Plus, Ramsay is being awarded for his efforts in saving Winterfell and putting a stop to the ironborn raids in the North by being betrothed to Arya Stark—would a bastard be granted that honor? I don't think so.

Also, Theon isn't dead, Ramsay is (rightfully) flaying him for his crimes in the dungeons beneath the Dreadfort. Gods, I'd love to see Ramsay thrust the knife under his skin!!!!! 😜

#ramsay bolton #house bolton #our blades are sharp #theon greyjoy

🐐the-goat Follow

i'm boutta come into thome real money real thoon 😈 💎💎💎💎💯

🏰freygirl73 Follow

ughhhh my sister is getting married tmrw and my brothers keep going on about getting revenge on king robb while he's here for the feast... like i just wanted some food :/// iswtg that's the only good thing about my siblings weddings and now they're saying there won't even be any and i'm gonna have to go into hiding before the bedding ceremony or something. why can't my family just be NORMAL

🐟greenfork Follow

TW: Red Wedding, death, violence

A masterpost on what happened at the Twins and what it means for the Northern independence cause, the War of the Five Kings, and the realm in general.

Also a bunch of links on how you can help people affected in the Riverlands.

Keep Reading

🍵bowlobrown Follow

HELL YEAH BROTHER 🦀🦀🦀🦀🦀🦀

🔥heatofdorne Follow

i wanna ***** ********* on ellaria sand's **** and *** ****** then call in oberyn and ***** **** them both until **** *****

🤎pate7534 Follow

🦀🦀🦀🦀🦀🦀🦀

🌊onthesunsetsea Follow

why are there so many crabs on my dash rn

🐺direwolfing Follow

TYWIN LANNISTER IS DEAD 🦀🦀🦀🦀

💙cassssanna Follow

actually i think it's still for king joffrey

🦁lann1sporter Follow

lol i thought it was for robb stark

🥂arborgold Follow

maybe it's for the mountain?

⬛️ freezingmyarseoffonthewall Follow

DOLOROUS EDD LORD COMMANDER 300 AC

⬛️ freezingmyarseoffonthewall Follow

DOLOROUS EDD WILL LEAD US TO VICTORY AGAINST THE OTHERS

🕊️ just-a-humble-sparrow Follow

mother have mercy i was walking by the great sept of baelor (i wanted to pay my respects to our blessed king joffrey) but i was blocked by a knight of the kingsguard—i believe it was one of the kettleblacks, unfortunately i always forget which one has been elevated to the kingsguard—because the queen was keeping vigil over her son, so i prayed outside instead. yet only a few minutes passed when i swear i saw the kingslayer arrive (he seemed to be missing a hand!) and enter. then, and this is the most disturbing part, i swear to the father that i heard noises of fornication coming from inside! i know for a fact that the only other person inside was the queen mother. could the rumors be true? i feel dirty even writing this. i wonder if i should tell my septon.

❤️‍🔥stannis-sweep Follow

stannis has literally been telling y'all and you didn't listen 🙄

🏳️ bannerless Follow

is it just me or is lady stoneheart kinda 👀

[slumberingchaos]

A hum was offered as he nodded at her words. He could see that, especially when thinking about the times he had to teach some new recruit his dad decided to throw into his little khalassar. Too haughty and always thinking they were the shit. At least they could put them in their place quickly - a gut punch and a few broken ribs always had the desired effect when getting people in line. A tried and true tradition that even he wasn’t exempt from at first. Teach tho?

He took a moment to look over the short woman, twisting his lips slightly in thought. They’d try to run all over her if because of her size alone. “Adults, eh?” A snort left him, “You’ve got more of my respect on that, Teach… or professor? Anyway. Least you’d know some kids enjoy learnin’. Adults, they can be di—“ he stopped himself quickly, flinching at the glare the older woman sent his way at his near crassness. “-fficult. Always thinkin’ they know better just because they’ve got some age on ‘em.”

Absently he scratched at his beard, filing away her name for later use or so he hoped. He knew that his elder wouldn’t be much longer - a fact he cursed inwardly - but he couldn’t just jump from her job to something off kilter. He could commit on how pretty her name was but even to him that felt a bit cringy with the old follow up of 'pretty name for a pretty girl'. Fuck. Glancing at the older woman he could see his time dwindling down to nothing, her movements of packaging all her purchases slipping away faster than the sand within a hourglass. "I hope that whomever your sharin' those with appreciates it, Fozaki makes the best treats in all of Vaes Dothrak." Fuck...

ルールー As conceited as she knew it would be, she'd been here before. Not this exact spot with this exact male, but a very similar situation in another city, another country, even. Lulu was very quick to locate a good coffee shop and once she had? She tended to stick with it. This wasn't the first time that a man had bought her order for her in the hopes it would turn into a date, or even just an exchange of numbers.

It wasn't that she wasn't interested in dating as a whole, she just didn't think it fair to get involved with someone when she had no plans to stay long term.

❝ I wouldn't know about teaching children as I teach adults, but if my colleagues are anything to go by? Teaching adults is worse. ❞ She'd heard the odd horror story from her peers about when they had taught children of varying ages. The thing with them is that they can be reasoned with, and punishment, in terms of detention and the like, actually served a purpose. With an adult? It was a little more of a minefield. They weren't obligated to return to the class, and some had a real sense of entitlement.

After several beats, and a good deal of them spent pondering whether or not she should introduce herself, Lulu finally decided there was no harm and returned the pleasantry. ❝ Lulu. ❞ No, 'nice to meet you' or even a fully strung sentence. Just straight to the point.

Best to keep things at a distance.

[greenbloods]

i genuinely think the only way we can cover all the dany ground we need to in winds in order for her to actually get to westeros for the long night is for everything to occur offpage through vignettes and whispers. whispers of dany riding drogon to vaes dothrak and bringing the dosh khaleen to heel as per her vision in the house of the undying. whispers of her flying back to slavers' bay at the head of the largest khalasar the world has ever seen. dragons plant no trees. whispers of dragon wings flying past qarth, past yi ti, until they have gone east to touch asshai-beyond-the-shadow. whispers of her dealing with the fallout of the battle of meereen and barristan's kingbreaking and quentyn dying and marwyn and victarion and tyrion finally meeting her (ok maybe we get one pov chapter here from tyrion). whispers of her flying east with the dothraki army on greyjoy ships. whispers of volantis burning. of a strange tattered prince taking pentos. and then finally, finally, after six books, dany arriving in westeros, to young griff taking king's landing and the Others having breached the walls. all that us to finally get back into dany's head and see her pov again.

[agentrouka-blog]

While I don't think Dany is a hero in ASOIAF, it stills icks me when some of her Antis claim that Dany allowed Drogo to kill Viserys. I think Drogo killed Viserys because he threatened to kill Drogo unborn child and Dany in Vaes Dothrak. Dany didn't had a say in it. She already tried to protect Viserys before. I don't think in this situation Dany has any agency.

I agree. Viserys doomed himself and the only thing Dany did in that moment was quit trying to save him from his own self-destruction. There was nothing she could have done to save him, and he gave her every incentive to feel relief at his demise.

This moment isn't about Dany failing him. This moment is mainly interesting because what Dany takes mental refuge in during this traumatic display is the idea of the "true dragon", and it gives us a glimpse at what danger there is in a sense of personal invulnerability and exceptionality. Viserys feels safe to indulge in a deeply disrespectful tantrum, because of a legal technicality, because he is bitter and he has suffered, because the feelings of the distasteful business partners he has acquired don't matter to him. Because he has a story in mind for himself, and this is not it.

He is very wrong. And Dany only sees the dragon he isn't, the dragon she is. There is a lesson in there she will have failed to learn down the line.

[asoiafreadthru]

A Game of Thrones, Daenerys I

The old woman washed her long, silver-pale hair and gently combed out the snags, all in silence. The girl scrubbed her back and her feet and told her how lucky she was.

“Drogo is so rich that even his slaves wear golden collars. A hundred thousand men ride in his khalasar, and his palace in Vaes Dothrak has two hundred rooms and doors of solid silver.”

There was more like that, so much more, what a handsome man the khal was, so tall and fierce, fearless in battle, the best rider ever to mount a horse, a demon archer.

They dressed her in the wisps that Magister Illyrio had sent up, and then the gown, a deep plum silk to bring out the violet in her eyes. The girl slid the gilded sandals onto her feet, while the old woman fixed the tiara in her hair, and slid golden bracelets crusted with amethysts around her wrists.

Last of all came the collar, a heavy golden torc emblazoned with ancient Valyrian glyphs.

“Now you look all a princess,” the girl said breathlessly when they were done.

Dany glanced at her image in the silvered looking glass that Illyrio had so thoughtfully provided. A princess, she thought, but she remembered what the girl had said, how Khal Drogo was so rich even his slaves were golden collars.

She felt a sudden chill, and gooseflesh pimpled her bare arms.

[jedimaesteryoda]

When their lord husbands died and a new khal took his place at the front of his riders, with a new khaleesi mounted beside him, they were sent here, to reign over the vast Dothraki nation. Even the mightiest of khals bowed to the wisdom and authority of the dosh khaleen. Still, it gave Dany the shivers to think that one day she might be sent to join them, whether she willed it or no. -AGOT, Daenerys V

A scene from where Daenerys's unborn child Rhaego is declared the Stallion Who Mounts the World. Dothraki society provides much reverence for horses which serve as both their primary mode of transportation as well as a source of leather, milk and meat. They associate themselves with horses.

It makes sense that their society is modeled after horses even along gender lines to some degree. The leaders of the horse herds are always older mares rather than stallions. They decide when the herd moves and where to graze as well as leading them to food, water and shelter. The dosh khaleen themselves dwell at Vaes Dothrak, which has both the lake of the Womb of the World, the largest source of freshwater in the Dothraki Sea and the only permanent shelter of the khalasars. The khals, who are always men, defer to the dosh khaleen, and see them as the true leaders of their people.

"yet Vaes Dothrak is large enough to house every man of every khalasar, should all the khals return to the Mother at once. The crones have prophesied that one day that will come to pass, and so Vaes Dothrak must be ready to embrace all its children." -AGOT, Daenerys IV

However, interestingly enough, no one among the Dothraki including Daenerys even consider the possibility that it is a Mare Who Mounts the World despite the rulers over horse and Dothraki society being female. It is through Daenerys's basic role that is often assigned to Dothraki women, as a mother, that she manages to become the prophecy figure as her child Drogon gives her a clear military advantage over any khal, including allowing her to kill in Vaes Dothrak without violating the taboo against steel and spilling blood.

[fireismine]

DAENERYS TARGARYEN APPRECIATION WEEK 2023

Day 5: Magic and Prophecies → Daenerys Being Resistant to Fire

When the fire died at last and the ground became cool enough to walk upon, Ser Jorah Mormont found her amidst the ashes, surrounded by blackened logs and bits of glowing ember and the burnt bones of man and woman and stallion. She was naked, covered with soot, her clothes turned to ash, her beautiful hair all crisped away … yet she was unhurt. - Daenerys X, A Game of Thrones

~

It took Dany half the morning to climb down. By the time she reached the bottom she was winded. Her muscles ached, and she felt as if she had the beginnings of a fever. The rocks had scraped her hands raw. They are better than they were, though, she decided as she picked at a broken blister. Her skin was pink and tender, and a pale milky fluid was leaking from her cracked palms, but her burns were healing. - Daenerys X, A Dance with Dragons

~

Only the birth of her dragons amidst the fire and smoke of Khal Drogo’s funeral pyre had spared Dany herself from being dragged back to Vaes Dothrak to live out the remainder of her days amongst the crones of the dosh khaleen. The fire burned away my hair, but elsewise it did not touch me. It had been the same in Daznak’s Pit. - Daenerys X, A Dance with Dragons

[diamondperfumes]

Culture is a central aspect of Dany's arc. As such, it is a central feature of interpretations of her character, whether such interpretations are positive or negative.

The majority of ASOIAF fans dislike Dany's relationship with culture. What I find interesting, however, is that ASOIAF fans end up rejecting Dany's place in every culture she's part of.

Dany was born on Dragonstone, and immediately fled to Braavos when Rhaella died. When Viserys and Daenerys were forced to leave the Sealord's Manse, they traveled through the Free Cities: Lys, Myr, Tyrosh. Dany speaks Valyrian with a Tyroshi accent/dialect. Six months before the events of AGOT, Viserys and Daenerys land up in Illyrio's manse in Pentos.

Dany unequivocally adopts Dothraki culture as her own. She worships the Dothraki Horse God, speaks Dothraki fluently, wears the hrakkar when she wants to be comfortable, prefers her Dothraki riding leathers, painted vest, and medallion belt to the Meereenese tokar (and wears such an outfit when she wants to project strength), wears bells in her hair, considers Dothraki funeral rites for her own eventual death, loves horse riding, and sees herself as part of the Dothraki land. She is a Khaleesi of her own Khalasar, and also foreshadowed to be the Stallion who Mounts the World.

Dany spends time in Qarth, recovering from the perils of the Red Waste, figuring her leadership style out as a beggar queen, before she is kicked out of the city. There she meets Quaithe, who recurs as an ambiguous guide and mentor in her arc. She also receives various prophecies from the Undying, before they try to devour her. Xaro becomes an ally, and then enemy, and she learns important lessons from him. She gets her three-headed dragon crown, wrought in jade, ivory, and onyx, from the Pureborn of Qarth.

Dany conquers Slaver's Bay, moving from Astapor, to Yunkai, to Meereen, before ruling Meereen as Queen. She tries to free slaves and abolish slavery in each city. She wears the Meereenese tokar, speaks Ghiscari in court, marries Hizdahr zo Loraq in the Meereenese fashion, re-opens the fighting pits, trains her child hostages as cupbearers, and tries to be the "queen of rabbits." The bulk of the exploration of her leadership style and ideology is in Slaver's Bay.

Dany wants to reconquer Westeros on behalf of the Targaryen dynasty, and idealizes Westeros as a beautiful land. She names the habitat Drogon carves out for himself as Dragonstone.

Dany longs for the house with the red door and lemon tree. The two places she admits to being happiest in are Braavos (the house with the red door) and the Dothraki Sea. She once wanted to be a sailor. She has dreams of living a simple life with Daario. She also wants to be queen.

Dany speaks Ghiscari, High Valyrian, Tyroshi Valyrian (and likely other Valyrian dialects, like Pentoshi Valyrian), the Common Tongue, and Dothraki. She worships both the Faith of the Seven and the Dothraki Horse God. She has a connection to R'hllorism. She's lived in various Free Cities, the Dothraki Sea, Qarth, and Meereen. She's been through the Red Waste, Vaes Dothrak, Astapor, and Yunkai.

ASOIAF fans reject every one of Dany's relationships to these locations and cultures.

She is considered entitled, and imperialistic, for wanting to reconquer Westeros. Most theories of her dying center around the futility of conquest, the violence of House Targaryen, the selfishness of holding on to its name, the fact of her exile, and even that she is "foreign" to the land and culture. Many point out that she doesn't know "anything" about Westeros, that her father was Aerys II, that her family are "oppressive conquerors," and that her family lost the throne. Some will come up with convoluted reasons to claim that Jon Snow or Young Griff are ahead of her in the line of succession (so the throne belongs to a Targaryen, just not her). She won't "respect" Northern independence, Dornish independence, Ironborn independence, etc.

She is considered violent, tyrannical, and a threat to Westeros because of her connection to the Dothraki. She is accused of being an enabler of slavery and rape for being Drogo's wife, and then a she-Khal. The stallion who mounts the world prophecy is used as "proof" that she will go mad, or that she will burn Westeros to the ground in her conquest. She is accused of romanticizing Dothraki culture. She's blamed for what happens to the women of the Lhazarene village, particularly Mirri. Phrases such as "she is a white woman whose arc is propped up by the suffering of women of color/characters of color" are usually located here.

Dany is accused of not really caring about slavery because "she didn't do anything about it in Qarth," and stayed in Xaro's manse as a guest.

At the same time, Dany is seen as a white/Westerosi character "imposing her foreign/Western values" upon Essos. She is accused of "trying to civilize" Dothraki culture and "appropriating/mimicking" it. The phrase "white man's burden" is usually thrown around here. She's accused of raping Irri, her arc being built on Irri and Jhiqui's suffering, and the Dothraki being painted as "savage" for her own trauma. She is mocked as naive and ignorant for not appreciating the beauty of Qarth and wanting to return to Westeros in spite of being there, accused of being unfair toward Xaro in expecting an alliance from him, accused of being a cultural imperialist for burning down the House of the Undying.

Her time in Slaver's Bay receives the lion's share of the critique. She ruins its political economy. She destroys the region. She profits from slavery while claiming to be antislavery. She causes the freedmen to face poverty, violence, murder, rape, and suffering. She doesn't do enough against rapists and looters. She chooses fire and blood over the Meereenese peace, which is seen as a negative. She colonizes Slaver's Bay. She is like the US in Afghanistan or Iraq––invading for selfish reasons and then leaving, causing a rightwing insurgency to grow. She commits war crimes by torturing the wineseller's daughters and crucifying 163 Great Masters of Meereen, leaders of the city.

Yet the irony of this is captured in how people criticize her presence in Meereen: she is accused of ruining the city as an imperialist and is then criticized for wanting to sail away to conquer Westeros. So essentially, she has no place in Meereen, but she is also a bad person for wanting to leave it for Westeros.

As a Targaryen, and a Valyrian in general, her presence is seen as oppressive to both Westeros and Essos. Westeros because of the Targaryen conquest, Essos because of the legacy of the Valyrian Freehold. She's criticized for being "allies" with Illyrio Mopatis, a slaveowner, and people theorize that Braavos will hate her for being a Valyrian with dragons. Yet she is also criticized for not resettling in the house with the red door (presumably in Braavos, no?) and instead wanting to conquer Westeros. She is "too stupid" to appreciate how "beautiful and advanced" Essos is, and too focused on idealizing Westeros, but she is also too Westerosi/white/foreign to Essos.

In other words, for ASOIAF fans, Dany does not deserve to belong to any culture. Seeking a place in Westeros means that she is entitled, selfish, privileged, and oppressive. Being a Dothraki Khaleesi means that she simultaneously romanticizes slavery and is trying to civilize brown people. Conquering Slaver's Bay is an act of imperialism from a Western tyrant seeking resources, but leaving Slaver's Bay is an act of imperialism from a Western tyrant fleeing a war they started. Staying in Qarth means that she romanticizes slavery, but not fitting in there and idealizing Westeros means she is like an American tourist in the Global South, who cannot appreciate the real value of where she is in favor of a backwater Global North (Westeros). Being Valyrian means she is inherently responsible for slavery, and thus does not belong in Braavos or Westeros, but if she lives in Qarth, the Free Cities, or conquers Slaver's Bay to abolish slavery, she is trying to make Old Valyria rise again. She ruined Meereen and will burn Volantis, but she will also burn King's Landing and maybe even Sunspear.

If I ask ASOIAF fans what culture she belongs to, or which continent she should be part of, doubtless I will get multiple answers. But those answers will end up contradicting themselves. The reality is that these are not scattered rejections––the people rejecting Dany's place in each culture will, at different times, reject all the places Dany occupies in said cultures. Someone who on one day says Dany is a backwater white person who can't appreciate the beauty of Qarth will on the next day claim that she is reviving the violence of the Targaryen dynasty upon Dorne and the North by planning to invade Westeros. Someone who will wax lyrical about how she is a white woman whose arc is built on the suffering of women of color, and thus that she is a Nazi, or white supremacist, will on another day call her a rape enabling slave profiteer for being Drogo's wife and a Khaleesi.

Perhaps this is the natural conclusion of a character who is intentionally written as stateless and homeless. A nomad, an exile, a diasporic teenage girl, who longs for various "homes" and has different ideas of "home" in her head. But what does it say about ASOIAF fans that they reject her relationship with every culture? They don't want her in Essos or Westeros. We don't know what's west of Westeros, as we never hear the outcome of Elissa Farman's voyage. Doubtless the same fears people have of Dany living and thriving in Essos or Westeros would apply to any lands west of Westeros too. So where do they want her? There is an answer to this, which only a few ASOIAF fans are honest enough to admit: that Dany should have died in childbirth, or on the journey to Braavos, or on the Dothraki Sea, as Illyrio intended. Sadly, most ASOIAF fans are not brave enough to admit that their rejection of Dany's various cultural "places" is actually just a disguise for their dissatisfaction at her existence in the narrative.

(Whether or not that dissatisfaction is merited, whether or not it is motivated by genuine, "progressive" literary reasons, is another conversation. ASOIAF fans are indeed free to be upset about her presence as a character, or to theorize that she will be a villain because of her cultural statelessness. Right now, though, this post focuses on the question of "what culture could Dany be a part of without being a threat." The answer, for most ASOIAF fans, seems to be that Dany, child of storm, was born a threat to the entire world of ice and fire).

[daenerystargaryen06]

Can you talk about Dany's and khal drogo's relationship? Apparently, her falling in "love" with khal drogo (who is a barbaric rapist and slaver) is a sign that she will go mad.

Dany and Khal Drogo's relationship is a very complicated matter, but her falling in love with Drogo does not make her 'mad'.

Dany, when first wed to Drogo, was his bridal slave. She recognizes this herself within her chapters. She is 13, being sold by her own brother to a man much older than she is and more frightening, and she is obviously afraid of the marriage and Drogo as she is now considered his property and he is allowed to do whatever he wishes to her. She is powerless against him.

"The old woman washed her long, silver-pale hair and gently combed out the snags, all in silence. The girl scrubbed her back and her feet and told her how lucky she was. "Drogo is so rich that even his slaves wear golden collars. A hundred thousand men ride in his khalasar, and his palace in Vaes Dothrak has two hundred rooms and doors of solid silver." There was more like that, so much more, what a handsome man the khal was, so tall and fierce, fearless in battle, the best rider ever to mount a horse, a demon archer. Daenerys said nothing. She had always assumed that she would wed Viserys when she came of age. For centuries the Targaryens had married brother to sister, since Aegon the Conqueror had taken his sisters to bride. The line must be kept pure, Viserys had told her a thousand times; theirs was the kingsblood, the golden blood of old Valyria, the blood of the dragon. Dragons did not mate with the beasts of the field, and Targaryens did not mingle their blood with that of lesser men. Yet now Viserys schemed to sell her to a stranger, a barbarian... When she was clean, the slaves helped her from the water and toweled her dry. The girl brushed her hair until it shone like molten silver, while the old woman anointed her with the spiceflower perfume of the Dothraki plains, a dab on each wrist, behind her ears, on the tips of her breasts, and one last one, cool on her lips, down there between her legs. They dressed her in the wisps that Magister Illyrio had sent up, and then the gown, a deep plum silk to bring out the violet in her eyes. The girl slid the gilded sandals onto her feet, while the old woman fixed the tiara in her hair, and slid golden bracelets crusted with amethysts around her wrists. Last of all came the collar, a heavy golden torc emblazoned with ancient Valyrian glyphs." -A Game of Thrones - Daenerys I

"Dany looked at Khal Drogo. His face was hard and cruel, his eyes as cold and dark as onyx. Her brother hurt her sometimes, when she woke the dragon, but he did not frighten her the way this man frightened her. "I don't want to be his queen," she heard herself say in a small, thin voice. "Please, please, Viserys, I don't want to, I want to go home." -A Game of Thrones - Daenerys I

Now there is the difference between the show and the books for their wedding night. In the books, Dany had said yes to Drogo when he first coerces her into sex with him. However, in the show, she obviously did not consent and was crying as he pushed her down. I feel the show had a better handle of that scene; as it was clearly very much r*pe, even if Dany did say yes within the books- she was still a child of 13 and Drogo was much older than her and had more power over her as well.

After that, Drogo continues to r*pe Dany in the books until she wishes to end her own life, and only her dragon dreams provide her the strength to keep going. Still, Dany is powerless against Drogo, and only lessens her pain when she learns how to "please" him through Doreah. She is still considered his property.

Dany only begins to really "fall" for Drogo when she becomes pregnant with his child. This is only after Drogo begins to treat her gently and value her more. Still, she remains powerless to him. After Viserys had died and she considers herself the last living heir for her family, Drogo refuses to fight to get her the Iron Throne or even sail to Westeros. He only agrees to do this after the wine merchant tries to poison Dany and Rhaego, and this is only because Drogo saw this as someone trying to harm what he considers his property/wife and son.

When Drogo raids the Lhazareen, Dany is appalled by the violence. She tries to harden her heart to it, but in the end she can't turn away from it, and saves as many women she can by taking them as 'hers'. This was a daring move that even Dany acknowledges. When she speaks to Drogo, she wonders if she stepped too far out of line with him for her actions.

"It pleases me to hold them safe," Dany said, wondering if she had dared too much. "If your warriors would mount these women, let them take them gently and keep them for wives. Give them places in the khalasar and let them bear you sons." -A Game of Thrones - Daenerys VII

When Drogo dies and Mirri Maz Duur's blood magic and ritual take place, Dany is still powerless. She can only give commands to Drogo's men by threatening that Drogo would hear of them defying her. Even still, Drogo's men did not respect her, threatened her, and nearly killed her. Drogo was the one who gave Daenerys a position of power within the Khalasar, but even still it was very little and she still was powerless if Drogo did not agree with what she wanted; everything was up to Drogo and his decisions. Dany relied on him for protection and safety as he was the only man who could provide her such things when she was wed to him. And as it was shown, once Drogo began his downward spiral leading to his death, that safety and protection was immediately gone. Dany feared for him dying because he was the only one she knew that "loved" her and protected her.

Dany's "love" for Drogo was her adapting to her situation and doing all she could to keep herself alive and safe. It was a matter of Stockholm Syndrome. It was either Drogo or death for her. She was his bridal slave, his property, and he was the only powerful figure during that time that could provide for her and keep her safe. In her mind, it was love, but it was twisted and only came about because of her circumstances. Dany herself acknowledges the fact that she was Drogo's slave within the show when she liberates the people of Yunkai.

Dany's "love" for Drogo does not mean at all she will go mad. She was 13 in the books and 16/17 in the show when she was wed to him. She was a frightened child forced into a marriage to a man many viewed as a "barbarian" and "savage". It was either conform to her situation and endear to Drogo, or die. She would not have made it as far as she did if she hadn't adapted. To her, it might've been love, but Drogo was the man she was forcefully wed to and stuck with for the rest of her life as far as she knew. For her it was either make the best of it and continue on or lose her life. It was all about her survival from there on out, and Drogo was the only man she saw as being her protector for that.

Many Dany antis love to pick apart her situation with Drogo and turn it into a false narrative for their hate. The situation with Drogo and Mirri Maz Duur is always used to vilify her and make an excuse for her apparently being "mad" or terrible. They ignore the situation Dany was in and the logistics of it. She had no power, she was a child, and she was Drogo's property. Yet they love to say she did have power, when her only power came from Drogo and even then she was afraid of stepping too far with him. This was a matter of life or death for Dany. It's not 'madness' that she, a child, was conforming to her circumstances as best she could to keep herself alive.

Thanks for the ask! :)