Game of Thrones: 10 Ways We All Saw Daenerys Targaryen’s Ending Coming

Despite Game of Thrones’ whirlwind of complex characters and storylines, Daenerys Targaryen stood out as a beacon of hope to many fans watching the show. It didn’t matter that various Houses were trying to claim the Iron Throne, or that White Walkers were descending on the wall: Daenerys was coming to liberate the oppressed and take back what was rightfully hers.

That’s why when showrunners David Benioff and D.B. Weiss made the decision to make her go mad in the show’s final season, audiences were understandably confused and disappointed. However, while it might have felt like a rushed, last-minute decision, there were many hints throughout the series that this would be the Mother of Dragons’ fate. Here are 10 ways audiences knew Daenerys would go mad.

She Threatened to “Burn Cities to the Ground” as Early as Season 2

To say that Daenerys had somewhat of a short fuse is an understatement. Despite wanting to prove herself different from other Targaryens before her, she was quick to threaten fire and blood. Daenerys first makes this threat as early as season two, when she arrives outside Qarth with her khalasar. When they are denied entry, Daenerys promises them that when her dragons are fully grown, they “will lay waste to armies and burn cities to the ground,” starting with Qarth.

Just two episodes later, Daenerys loses control of her anger once more when the Spice King shows a lack of faith in her. After denying her ships to sail to Westeros, Daenerys’ patience wears thin, and she expresses that the Iron Throne is her birthright. She claims that, with fire and blood, she will take back what is hers. Despite believing herself to be a strong leader, she lacks any ability to negotiate with other powerful leaders. She’s unable to think about why others aren’t willing to help her cause, and instead expects to be treated like a God, ultimately leading to her burning Kings Landing to the ground in the final season.

She Displayed Narcissistic Traits

Not only could Daenerys’ conviction of her own power and sanctity be viewed as narcissistic, but also her motion to liberate the world from tyrants. Throughout the show, Daenerys believes it is her destiny to conquer the world, and that in doing so, the world would view her as a liberator from tyrannical rule. She views herself as a savior for saving the women from the Dothraki and freeing the Unsullied, but the only thing she truly wanted was a powerful army. Even though she promises the Unsullied could be free men if they didn’t want to serve her, it’s likely she would have burned them all if they chose freedom based on her actions later down the line.

Additionally, she expected everyone to love her, and when they didn’t, she wanted them to fear her. When she arrives in Westeros in season seven, she expects the entire continent to admire her. This rejection pushes her further into her dark thoughts, because she believed for so long that she was entitled to their loyalty. It also pushes her to become envious of Jon Snow, who is loved by many, unable to see that his selflessness and democratic approaches are major contributors of that.

Her Support of the Dothraki

While Daenerys didn’t have a good relationship with the other Khals, she wasn’t exactly opposed to Dothraki behavior. While she pushes for them to stop raping and slaughtering women at the start of the show, her tone changes to their violent ways after she is betrayed by Mirri. Even when Qarth refuses to allow them entry into their city, she glosses over the fact that they are known for their savage behavior and takes their denial as a personal insult instead. Despite initially making out she is disturbed by their ways, she comes to use it to her benefit when it comes to taking over Kings Landing in the final season, allowing them to proceed with as much violence as they pleased as long as she got the Iron Throne.

Madness Was in Her Genes

A known fact about the Targaryen bloodline is that it carries the trait of insanity. While some of them have turned into great rulers, others were fueled by violence and bloodshed. As Cersei Lannister states in season two, “every time a Targaryen is born, the Gods flip a coin.” It’s believed that the Targaryens madness was caused by generations worth of inbreeding, as they deemed it important to keep their bloodline pure. It’s no surprise that a family tree riddled with abhorrent kings and deformed babies would potentially result in a mad queen, especially since Daenerys’ mother and father were also siblings.

Her Viewponts Were Outdated in Westeros

Daenerys’ plans to liberate the world from tyrants works best in Essos, because they were still behind in their ways. Her grand plan to break the wheel and create a new world doesn’t merge well with the complex political landscape of Westeros. Daenerys didn’t bother to understand the continent that she believed she was destined to rule, imposing her own beliefs onto it instead. She was incredibly ignorant of Westeros’ traditions and allegiances.

Daenerys didn’t comprehend that a continent like Westeros, one that had banned slavery six thousand years prior, would have a complicated governance and diplomacy. She also didn’t have the patience to want to learn either, refusing to compromise and negotiate with others. Unlike Essos, Westeros could not be so easily conquered or reshaped. Daenerys had nothing new to offer them besides fear, leaving the people to view her as just another tyrant.

She Was a Hypocrite

Throughout Game of Thrones, Daenerys did many things that were hypocritical. Firstly, Daenerys absolutely hated the slavers, and the way they instilled fear into the slaves to make them serve them. However, Daenerys has always done this. Anytime she didn’t get what she wanted, she threatened to kill thousands and burn cities to the ground. She always wanted to avoid bloodshed, unlike her father, and yet it was her resolution to every conflict she had.

Additionally, despite her mission being liberation, it’s only when it’s on her terms. For example, when Sansa wants the North to become independent, Daenerys is against this. This is because she cares more about control than she does the freedom of others, further making her the mad tyrant that she swore she wasn’t.

She Chose a Lannister as Her Hand

The decision by the showrunners to make Tyrion Lannister the hand of the queen was no coincidence. Tywin Lannister served as the hand of Daenerys’ father throughout his reign until he started to notice he was mad, leading him to betray him. As Game of Thrones came to a close, Tyrion himself began to realize that Daenerys was no different, going behind her back constantly to ensure the safety of the continent and his loved ones. While Daenerys’ decision to appoint Tyrion seemed as though she was willing to put their families’ feuds behind them, it was ultimately doomed from the start.

Sansa’s Distrust of Her

Throughout Game of Thrones, Sansa had traumatic ordeals with leaders such as Joffrey, Cersei, and Ramsay Bolton. She had to exist alongside some of the most evil people of Westeros, so it’s shocking that Jon Snow didn’t take her concerns about Daenerys seriously. Sansa’s distrust of Daenerys said a lot of Daenery’s true nature, as unlike the men around her who were infatuated by her, Sansa could see who she truly was deep down. She knew that Daenerys would never give the North independence, and she knew that Jon being revealed as Aegon Targaryen also wouldn’t go down well with The Mad Queen.

She Refused to Show Mercy

A major thing about Daenerys is that she was completely unable to show mercy to those who crossed her, just like her father. Despite realizing what the Dothraki were doing to women was wrong, she brutally killed Mirri for enacting her revenge, rather than attempting to understand why she did it. Additionally, she subjects the slavers to over 100 days of crucifixion for what they had done, and even had to be reasoned with by Tyrion when she wanted to burn them all alive for rebelling.

When the Tarlys refuse to bend the knee to her, rather than imprisoning them, she burns them alive. She also does the same to Varys, after she finds out that he has betrayed her. She refuses to understand other points of view, and believes that if they are against her, then they must die. This type of savagery isn’t what Westeros needed, and made her no different from her father or any of the other antagonists on the show.

She Never Took Responsibility For Her Failures

After Daenerys began getting herself more titles, she became more arrogant. Despite this, she still relied on characters such as Tyrion, Varys and Jon to guide her through her pursuit of the Iron Throne. However, every time they suggest something, she doesn’t allow them to question her authority. Then, when they adapt their plans to her liking, and they go wrong, instead of taking some accountability for it, she instead blames everyone else. Even when she destroys Kings Landing and murders thousands of innocent people, she places the blame on Cersei, rather than the fact that she chose to do that despite them surrendering.