A look back at how Game of Thrones tried to humanize a slaver just to make Daenerys Targaryen into the villain.

The descent into madness storyline is rarely done right. Shows want audiences to witness a character slowly going insane and try to warp our perception of them as a clever trick. However, few have actually executed this correctly. Although shows like Arcane and Hannibal have excellently exhibited how to do this, Game of Thrones is the perfect example of how this trope shouldn’t be done.

The direction that the HBO series took with Daenerys Targaryen’s character in the eighth season continues to disappoint fans, even though six years have passed since its release. Not only did the show try to convince us that she was going insane, but they also executed it in the worst possible way. They villainized a character that desperately needed to be the hero.

With this in mind, here is exactly where the series went wrong in its attempt to create a masterpiece.

Game of Thrones tried to make Daenerys Targaryen a villain in the worst way possible

Daenerys Targaryen’s final storyline stands as one of the most controversial in television history. Game of Thrones spent seven seasons trying to cultivate the perfect ruler; one who was fierce and powerful, but also kind and gentle. After making audiences fall for her, they spilled water over all of their hard work for a rushed madness plot.

This didn’t come out of nowhere, as she first turned into a cold and ruthless ruler, then a mad one. What makes this part of her character all the more frustrating is the fact that it is completely disloyal to the source material. Recently, a fan took to X and criticized the number of changes that were made to her personality in the final season.

They specifically focused on her character’s interactions with Hizdahr and how much they were changed. In an attempt to make Danny seem horrible, they tried to get audiences to empathize with a slaver, and they are still upset about it. Taking it bit by bit, they talked about how both characters were changed to fit the mold the creators had for her character.

They made Hizdahr more human and kinder, even though he was an unfeeling, greedy slaver in the books. On the other hand, Daenerys became cold and cruel, something she never was in the show and the books. They took all the good out of her character and replaced it with someone who was unwilling to conform to other cultures and did not care about the masses.

Emilia Clarke was against making Daenerys a villain

Fans take the show’s betrayal of Daenerys Targaryen very personally. She was supposed to be different than the other rulers who took on the Iron Throne. However, not only did she become similar to them, but her descent into madness made it so much worse. The two people that fans blame for this decision were the creators of the show, David Benioff and Dan Weiss.

It would seem that even Emilia Clarke was against the direction that they were taking with her character. Some time back, the actress revealed that she argued with the creators time and time again to not turn her character into someone unrecognizable.

Saying, “Don’t tell me what to do with my girl,” she did not understand why the Mother of Dragons was turned into an emotionless, rogue dictator. Considering the fact that even Daenerys’ actress wasn’t okay with the decisions made for her character, it is not surprising that fans were as upset as they were.

Even though six years have passed since the release of the eighth season, her arc stands as one of the most controversial decisions in television history, leading to the worst endings of all time.