Daenerys does what queens do, and stumbles along the way
ANALYSIS | Fans are finally getting to see her in action in Westeros


A lot to unpack from this episode of “Game of Thrones,” but I’m going to focus on Daenerys primarily because the fans are finally getting to see her in action in Westeros.
And what will she do now that she’s here?
“I will do what queens do. I will rule,” Daenerys said in one of her most memorable lines on the show a few seasons back.
In “Stormborn,” we finally got an inkling of what that may look like. Let the games begin, with Daenerys in Dragonstone, Jon Snow as King of the North, and Cersei ruling “three kingdoms at best” from Kings Landing.
With Dany now in play, she has to decide whether she’s going to be a Cersei-like unforgiving leader, or someone whose leadership philosophy is more like the hopelessly idealistic Ned Stark.
My first thought was that Dany handled Varys with unexpected tact. Varys has never shown himself to be especially loyal to those he’s served, and she calls him out on it:
“If he dislikes one monarch, he conspired to crown the next one. What kind of servant is that?” Dany tells him.
Varys (after giving a little more of his backstory), refuses to grant her blind allegiance.
“You wish to know where my true loyalties lie? Not with any king or queen, but with the people,” he answers her.
What does Dany require from him instead? Honesty.
“Swear this to me, Varys. If you ever think I’m failing the people, you won’t conspire behind my back. You’ll look me in the eye as you have done today, and you’ll tell me how I’m failing them.”
“I swear it, my queen.”
“And I swear this if you ever betray me, I’ll burn you alive.”
This exchange is perfect because it tells the audience that Dany won’t be like Cersei, who demands absolute obedience from her advisers. She demands honesty not obedience, and I’m certain we’ll see this tested by the end of the season.
The second illuminating Daenerys scene is in the strategy room, with her allies Tyrion, Ellaria Sand, Yara Greyjoy, and Olenna Tyrell as key players.
This would be another instance where what the showrunners were trying to show differs from what was actually depicted.
In the “Inside the Game of Thrones” interview with D.B. Weiss, he pats himself on the back with for this scene:
“I don’t think they’re that many situations in film or television where you see four women sitting around a table discussing power and strategy and war,” Weiss said.
Interesting that he frames it that way, because in this scene Tyrion has most of the dialogue. It was more like Tyrion was presenting his plan and others came on board rather than a back-and-forth discussion among rulers.
Daenerys refuses to take Yara and Ellaria’s advice about attacking King’s Landing.
“I’m grateful Lady Oleanna for your council, I’m grateful to all of you,” Dany responds. “But you have chosen to follow me. We will not attack King’s Landing.”
“Then how do you intend to take the Iron Throne? By asking nicely?” Lady Oleanna asks her.
“We will lay siege to the capital, surrounding the city on all sides. Cersei will have the Iron Throne, but no food for her army or the people,” Dany responds.
“But we won’t use the Dothraki or the unsullied,” Tyrion said.
Tyrion then proceeds to lay out his plan in great detail, some of which is below:
“The Unsullied will have another objective. For decades, House Lannister has been the true power in Westeros. And the seat of that power is Casterly Rock. Grey Worm and the Unsullied will sail for the Rock and take it.”
[significant looks around the room]
“Do I have your support?” Dany said.
“You have mine,” Yara answered.
“Dorne is with you your grace,” Ellaria responds.
“Thank you all.”
So in this exchange, Dany has pretty much two lines while Tyrion lays out the steps with significantly more dialogue. Tyrion is certainly one of my favorite characters in the show, and I’m always thrilled to hear Peter Dinklage, but it’s a little disingenuous to characterize the scene as an example of women taking charge and discussing strategy when they were barely given any lines.
In any case, we can still parse from that scene some of Daenerys’ strategy, and that is not to burn down everything in her path on her way to the throne:
“I am not here to be queen of the ashes,” she tells her allies, echoing a line earlier said by Tyrion.
While Tyrion knows King’s Landing’s inner workings, his advice proves by the end of the episode to backfire. Of course, no one on Dany’s side could have known that Euron Greyjoy would intercept his niece’s ships, but it certainly did not end well for Dany. She will need the alliance with the north more than ever by next week’s episode.
And will she take Tyrion’s advice next time? Or will she think about what Lady Oleanna had to say to her about Tyrion?
“He’s a clever man, your Hand. I’ve known a great many clever men. I’ve outlived them all. You know why? I ignored them. The lords of Westeros are sheep. Are you a sheep? No. You’re a dragon. Be a dragon.”


