Now, let's talk about the queen she hopes to replace.Įuron Greyjoy ( Pilou Asbæk) and Cersei Lannister ( Lena Headey) in Game of Thrones Season 8, Episode 4: "The Last of the Starks" HBO/Helen Sloan Cersei the Sinisterįrom the very beginning, Cersei Lannister has made no bones about the fact that she'll stop at nothing to keep her power. That choice would come back to bite her, of course, when she finally met Samwell ( John Bradley) and had to tell him of his family's fate, causing him to question out loud her fitness for the Iron Throne.Īll three of the above acts were arguably cruel missteps on her part. However, she also revealed a willingness to rule with fear by flaying Randyll and Dickon Tarly alive to show that there'd be no forgiveness for failure to bend the knee. The burning of the Tarlys: Dany's instinct to retaliate for the sack on Highgarden by razing the loot train was completely on point because the Lannister forces were no match for her dragons and the Dothraki army. That decision caused an immediate riot and seemingly undermined her previous conversation with Ser Barristan about how different she is from her dad. The beheading of Mossador: One instance where Daenerys gave her own advisors some pause about her true nature came along when she decided to behead the former slave Mossador in Meereen after he executed one of the captured Sons of the Harpy without her permission. The Spice King still betrayed her by stealing her dragons, though, and instead of showing him mercy, she locked him and her two-faced handmaid away to starve/suffocate in an empty vault and stole everything of value in Qarth. They were starving and hopeless after the death of Khal Drogo, so he invoked the custom of Sumai to let them in, above the protests of others in The Thirteen. The punishment of Xaro Xhoan Daxos: If not for Xaro Xhoan Daxos ( Nonso Anozie), Daenerys, her dragons, and her ailing khalasar would be but bones in the Red Waste by now. Let's compare notes about who's the real Mad Queen right now.ĭaenerys Targaryen ( Emilia Clarke) on Game of Thrones Season 8, Episode 4: "The Last of the Starks" HBO/Helen Sloan Daenerys the Imperfectĭaenerys is not infallible, of course, and there've been a few key moments when her temper got the better of her, like so: Sure, Daenerys has had a few slips along the way to earning power, but Cersei is positively diabolical. What's worse is that the only person she wants to destroy right now really is a Mad Queen. The fact that her father was a lunatic simply isn't enough, and neither is her unbridled ambition to take the Iron Throne. She is mad, as in angry, right now, but she's also the person who freed slaves and just sacrificed almost everything to save the realms of men, with little thanks to show for it. Throughout the series, Daenerys has become a lot of things - Daenerys Stormborn of House Targaryen, the First of Her Name, Queen of the Andals and the First Men, Protector of the Seven Kingdoms, the Mother of Dragons, the Khaleesi of the Great Grass Sea, the Unburnt, the Breaker of Chains - but she has not become a Mad Queen. Game of Thrones Season 8 Complete Coverage And, there are only two episodes left, and this show is clearly out to destroy her quicker than Drogon can level King's Landing.Īpart from Daenerys' series-long ambition for the Iron Throne, most of these are very recent developments, so Game of Thrones fans would be forgiven for suffering a case of whiplash over this rushed arc. Characters have dropped approximately a dozen unsubtle reminders over the last few seasons that she's the descendant of the Mad King, who wanted to "burn them all".
![game of thrones queen of dragons game of thrones queen of dragons](https://arc-anglerfish-washpost-prod-washpost.s3.amazonaws.com/public/5VN3LKDYAQI6TJ57ZCSDXBHOGE.jpg)
Cersei has turned her people into props to ensure Dany does something unforgivable. Her upper lip has been working overtime with all the snarling she's done over Cersei Lannister ( Lena Headey), whose red threads she's even starting to mirror.
![game of thrones queen of dragons game of thrones queen of dragons](https://bsmedia.business-standard.com/_media/bs/img/article/2019-05/27/full/1558926316-3544.jpg)
Her claim to the Iron Throne, and thus her very identity, has been weakened by the news of Jon Snow ( Kit Harington)'s heritage. She's lost dragons and most of her army by playing nice and helping to save the realms of men, and all she's gotten in return are snide remarks from the Starks.
![game of thrones queen of dragons game of thrones queen of dragons](https://www.denofgeek.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/game-of-thrones-drogon-thomas-schelesny-image-engine-vfx-hbo.jpg)
![game of thrones queen of dragons game of thrones queen of dragons](https://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/qOcAAOSw3Vpfn6AF/s-l400.jpg)
Her most cool-tempered and trusted advisors have been ripped from her and the ones she has left - ahem, Varys ( Conleth Hill) - are already secretly hissing about a better option.