Game of Thrones: 15 Saddest Things About Daenerys Targaryen

Game of Thrones was once considered one of the greatest shows ever, but a lackluster last season annoyed fans to no end. However, that doesn’t change the fact that some of the characters were pretty great and one of the best characters was Daenerys Targaryen. Heir to the Targaryen dynasty of Westeros, the Stormborn Mother of Dragons was the Breaker of Chains in Essos before returning to her homeland for some good old-fashioned fire and blood.

Daenerys’s ultimate fate was influenced by the tragedies of his life, ones that defined her as a person and made some of the choices she made seem inevitable. Although her inexplicable transformation into a “Mad Queen” was criticized for not being in sync with the rest of her character arc, it’s not shocking to picture Daenerys as a classic Targaryen. That being said, sometimes it just felt like the cards were stacked against her.

15. Daenerys Thought She Was the Last Targaryen for Years

Her Discovery of Aegon “Jon Snow” Targaryen Only Made It Worse

The Targaryen dynasty was one of the few survivors of the Doom of Valyria, as only their house and their Velaryon vassals escaped the cataclysmic event that ruined the Valyrian Empire. Through Aegon I and his descendants, the Targaryens would conquer the Seven Kingdoms of Westeros and rule for years, their history becoming a tangled web of wars and peace. The family’s tyranny under Daenerys’s unhinged father would drive a rebellion that would wipe out everyone but her and her brother Viserys.

Eventually, her brother’s hubris would get him killed in Game of Thrones season 1, and all that was left of her family — as far as she knew — was her. This depressing turn of events affected her psyche, driving her loneliness and isolation. Ironically, the realization that Jon Snow was a trueborn Targaryen and the heir to the Iron Throne made Daenerys feel even more left out, yet another instance of the sad turns taken by her life.

14. Daenerys’ Brother Viserys Was Consistently Terrible to Her

And Yet, Daenerys Seemed to Love and Care for Him

Thanks to help from Targaryen loyalists, Daenerys and Viserys were able to escape Stannis Baratheon’s fleet before it sacked Dragonstone. Taken to Essos, they would live thanks only to the kindness of others for several years, with Daenerys being only a baby when her father was ousted from the Iron Throne. Game of Thrones‘ Viserys, who was not as even-tempered as his ancestral namesake in House of the Dragon, took his frustrations and anger out on his helpless little sister.

While he could be tender with her, Viserys was pretty abusive and genuinely believed that his birthright gave him the authority to mistreat Daenerys. The one time his sister fought back left him utterly shocked because his arrogance prevented him from even comprehending the concept of resistance. Viserys’ outrageous treatment weighed heavy upon Daenerys, as she loved him as much as she hated him.

13. Daenerys Never Met Her Parents or Her Eldest Brother

Rhaegar’s Presence Would Have Been a Boon for Daenerys

As a consequence of the war that cost her everything, Daenerys never got to meet any of her closest family beyond her brother Viserys. Her mother died shortly after she was born and her father, the reason for the rebellion against the Iron Throne and heir of the more unfortunate parts of the Targaryen legacy, was killed by Jamie Lannister. Her eldest brother, Rhaegar, died on the Trident at the hands of Robert Baratheon, who would subsequently assume the crown.

Daenerys grew up without any kind of healthy familial love, with only the conditional affection and terrible cruelties of Viserys. This lack would affect her throughout her life, especially after fans learned how compassionate and kind-hearted Rhaegar was. If her eldest brother had been in charge of her upbringing, Daenerys may not have gotten to rule Westeros, but she would have at least been traumatized far less.

12. Viserys Used Daenerys as a Bargaining Chip with the Dothraki

Daenerys Must Have Felt Exploited by the Exchange

While it would lead to a briefly happy time in her life, her brother selling her to Khal Drogo for an army was a pretty nightmarish experience for her. Daenerys was a teenager who had grown up on Essos hearing about the savagery of the Dothraki. As a result, she was frightened of them and what would happen on the night of her wedding.

On top of that, one can only imagine how Daenerys felt — being traded to a group of people she knew to be bloodthirsty barbarians for an army. To make her mental condition worse, Viserys literally stated that he would let the “whole tribe f**k [her], all forty thousand men and their horses, too.” Daenerys was smart enough to know she was just a bargaining chip and that must have affected her, even after she developed a romantic bond with Khal Drogo.

11. Daenerys’ Happiness with Khal Drogo Was Destroyed

Daenerys Asked the Wrong Person to Save Her Husband

On the bright side, Daenerys’s marriage to Drogo in Game of Thrones ended up being one of the better aspects of her character arc. Although fans understandably criticized the non-consensual scene between Drogo and Daenerys on their wedding night, they ended up with a loving relationship and Daenerys was happy. She became pregnant and things were seemingly looking up for her. However, that happiness wasn’t to last.

Drogo was wounded fighting a fellow Dothraki who was assaulting captured women. The wound festered and he got sepsis, leaving him weakened and at the doors of death. Even the Dothraki were prepared to abandon Drogo because he was no longer fit to ride. Daenerys then made the mistake of going to a witch for help, oblivious to the fact that Mirri Maz Duur would exact vengeance for her slavery. As a result, this move cost her both Drogo and her unborn child.

10. Daenerys Barely Survived Multiple Assassination Attempts

Many People Wanted Daenerys Killed Because She Was a Political Threat

As one of the two surviving Targaryen heirs in Game of Thrones, Viserys and Daenerys suffered great hardships during their childhoods. On top of that, Varys had convinced King Robert to send an assassin after Daenerys, especially with Viserys’ death leaving her and her unborn son the only claimants to the Iron Throne. A merchant in a market offers Daenerys a flagon of wine, intending to poison her, but Jorah Mormont gets in the way of that happening.

At Astapor, Daenerys agrees to buy the Unsullied and teaches the elites of Slaver’s Bay a much-needed lesson. Before this could happen, however, the Warlocks of Qarth attempt an assassination through an innocent-looking child, who gives her a ball and suggests she should unlock it. Barristan Selmy saves Daenerys in the nick of time — the ball contained a manticore, one of the most poisonous creatures in the world. With constant threats to her life, Daenerys would have been on edge for much of her character arc.

9. Daenerys Was Betrayed by Her Trusted Advisor Jorah Mormont

Despite His Banishment, Jorah Would Later Prove His Worth to Her

After marrying Khal Drogo, Daenerys was joined by Jorah Mormont, a Westerosi exiled for participating in the banned slave trade. Unbeknownst to her, Jorah was reporting her movements and locations back to Robert Baratheon in the vain hope of being allowed to go home. However, he soon fell in love with her and stopped responding to letters from Westeros.

For a time, she depended on him for everything and it seemed like Jorah was going to become one of the most important advisors in Daenerys’ retinue. However, when the ex-Kingsguard Barristan Selmy joined her, he immediately identified Jorag as a traitor to her. This betrayal had a profound effect on Daenerys — she trusted Jorah like no other and knowing that he sold her out shattered her. Daenerys promptly banished him from her presence with a broken heart.

8. Daenerys Was Vilified for Trying to Fix Slavery

The Targaryen’s Meereenese Reign Was Unnecessarily Violent

Daenerys would end up sacking the cities of Slavers Bay in Game of Thrones, finally making a home in the city of Mereen and becoming the Dragon Queen of Slavers Bay. However, her reign in Mereen was as ineffectual as her ancestor Aegon II’s reign in Westeros was, not to mention just as violent. All the Breaker of Chains wanted, though, was for people to be free and equal.

And yet, Daenerys was vilified for shattering the conventions of slavery, a noble endeavor even if it had serious consequences on the economy of Slaver’s Bay. While things in the show were different than in the books, they turned out the same, affecting Daenerys deeply. Being denied the authority to set people free would put more callouses on her soul and drive her even further down a dark road, one that would end in her utter destruction.

7. Daenerys Was Forced to Keep Her Dragons Chained

It Was the Only Way for Daenerys to Truly Protect the Meereenese

Daenerys always had a maternal bond with her three dragons ever since they emerged from Drogo’s funeral pyre perched on her body in Game of Thrones‘ first season. She couldn’t tolerate the idea of caging them, even when necessity demanded it. When Pyat Pree captures her and chains her dragons, she calmly orders them to burn him alive. Similarly, Kraznys was incinerated when he arrogantly assumed that he could enslave Drogon.

Unfortunately, a peasant of Meereen reveals that her dragons had been burning and eating people in the countryside, including small children. This was during the dragons’ “adolescent period,” so to speak, making it difficult for Daenerys to control them easily. As a result, she had no choice but to personally lock Viserion and Rhaegal in the Meeren catacombs, replete with massive chains and heavy iron collars. She must have been at least a bit relieved that Drogon escaped this ignominious fate.

6. Daenerys Was Humiliated by the Khals in Vaes Dothrak

Daenerys Permitted the Mockery to Complete Her Plan

Given her appearance, gender, and broken legacy, Daenerys has endured more than most characters in Game of Thrones. She could never stop fighting for what she believed was hers, or risk losing everything. Season 1 Daenerys was an innocent child in comparison to Season 6, where she’s captured by Khal Moro’s Dothraki khalasar and technically imprisoned in the Temple of the Dosh Khaleen along with all the other Khaleesi widows.

Using the help of another widow named Ornela, Daenerys manages to get away long enough to craft a plan with Daario and Jorah. Before she could set fire to all the Khals and seize control of the Dothraki, however, Daenerys was made to suffer many insults aimed at her person. By mocking Khal Moro’s pathetic attempts at conquest, Daenerys riled him enough to descriptively threaten her with gang rape. Although she reacted quite nonchalantly, everything she felt likely had an impact on her emotional stability.

5. Daenerys Watched Two of Her Children Die Horribly

Rhaegal and Viserion Were Both Taken from Daenerys

Daenerys never had human children, but she had her beloved dragons — Rhaegal, Viserion, and Drogon. They were the closest she had to offspring and she loved them more than anything. After coming to Westeros, however, Daenerys had to watch two of her babies die. Viserion was killed beyond the Wall and resurrected by the Night King, so she had to watch him die twice.

Meanwhile, Rhaegal was killed by Euron Greyjoy during an attack on the Iron Fleet, leaving Drogon as her only surviving child. Watching children die is an unbearably painful moment for any parent, and this tragedy would harden Daenerys’ already toughened heart even more. She felt like she was losing the entire life she had built for herself, one child at a time. The losses of Viserion and Rhaegal were among the last straws that Daenerys could bear before snapping.

4. Daenerys Wasn’t Lauded Upon Her Return to Westeros

She Deserved to Be Praised for Her Numerous Accomplishments

Daenerys would return to Westeros and begin to strike some pretty powerful blows against the Lannister dynasty, garnering the help of Dorne and other allies across the continent. With the help of her dragons and armies from Essos, she was able to help save the North from the Night King’s powerful onslaught. Despite literally saving the world, the people of Westeros loved their homegrown heroes more than her.

Daenerys had been told by Jorah, Tyrion, and Varys that she would be welcomed by the people of Westeros as a returning hero but instead, she was treated as an also-ran. This was a blow that she would never recover from, compounded by Jon Snow’s true legacy and Cersei’s multiple betrayals. Daenerys deserved praise for her many victories, but looking at her as an outsider made her feel like one.

3. Daenerys Was Forced to Watch Missandei’s Execution

Daenerys’ Constrained Anger Finally Spills Over

Back in Essos, Daenerys saved Missandei and made the young woman her translator. Throughout all the trials and tribulations of her time in the East, Missandei was by her side and was her greatest supporter in Westeros, not to mention one of the few people to never betray her. Daenerys loved Missandei like the close friend and confidante she was, making her death an impassable turning point in the rapidly deteriorating life of the Targaryen.

Daenerys could only watch helplessly as Queen Cersei Lannister, who refused to abandon her regal legacy, ordered the Mountain to execute Missandei. The rage on Daenerys’ face is clearly visible as her beloved friend’s head falls to the ground. This indicates a changing of the tides that would soon cause far more destruction than anything seen on Game of Thrones.

2. Daenerys Lost the Trust of Both Varys and Tyrion

After This Point, Daenerys’ Moral Compass Was Beyond Recovery

Unsurprisingly, Varys was the first to express doubts about Daenerys’ temperament as a leader and future Queen. He warned the Hand of the Queen that she could easily go the way of her father, but Tyrion was arguably too besotted with Daenerys to see her as a villain. Tyrion betrayed his closest ally Varys to Daenerys, dooming the only person in Westeros who truly wanted to see the realm and its common folk prosper beyond the petty claims of Kings and Queens.

Tyrion only realized his folly after Daenerys’ destruction of King’s Landing, shocking whatever love he had for her out of him. He implicitly accused her of genocide before discarding the brooch designating him as the Hand of the Queen. In a short period, Daenerys had lost her two most important advisors, men who would have done anything to see her on the Iron Throne — if only she hadn’t lost her moral compass. It seemed that things couldn’t possibly get sadder for Daenerys, but they did.

1. Daenerys Was Betrayed and Killed by Her Own Paramour

Jon Snow Had no Choice Because Daenerys Didn’t Even Feel Guilty

Daenerys and her nephew Jon Snow embarked on a whirlwind romance in the closing seasons of Game of Thrones, the most Targaryen thing either of them had done, but they had no idea about their blood connection at the time. Their relationship seemed to have potential, and Jon even agreed to abandon any Targaryen claims he might have to the Iron Throne in her favor. Unfortunately, Daenerys gradually became more and more like her “Mad King” father.

Following the outcome of King’s Landing, Tyrion argued that there was only one way to ensure the breaking of the wheel. Despite his undying love for her, Jon chose the peace and sanctity of the realm over his Queen. Daenerys genuinely thought that she was the only one with the right to decide what “good” meant, leaving Jon no choice but to stab her. This final betrayal puts the tragedy of her life into focus — one where every happiness was taken from her and all of her love inevitably led to pain.