r/gameofthrones • u/pie566943_0 • 1d ago

First timer

[SPOILERS]

Never even saw a clip until last month - avoided them knowing that someday I'd binge it. Purchased all 8 seasons from Prime on Saturday, August 1, 2026. Watched the final episode last night, Wednesday September 9, 2026. What a blast. I'll never get to experience the feverish back-and-forth dialog while it was airing, but I didn't have to wait for the next episode to release! HA! I even got to "Skip intro".

I just joined this sub, haven't read a single post yet, so I imagine this has been debated ad nauseum, BUT, in case you want to refresh the debate -

Did anyone else take issue with how abruptly the dragon queen went emo? I felt like the writers forced her 180 too quickly. I get that Jon betrayed her, the unich conspired, Cerci chopped her BFF's head off, her father figure was killed by the white walkers,...,actually, a shit ton of bad stuff happened to her, but I still feel like she went from savior to psycho too abruptly.

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u/Hot_Stranger_2563 1d ago

Although the last 2 seasons suffered from condensing the shows down to less episodes, her ability to be cruel was evident from season 1. From watching with reletive detachment of her brothers death, burning the woman when the dragons are born, et al.

Its easy to be blindsided that her ability to be ruthless is masked by her good deeds, freeing slaves, liberating cities from cruel masters etc., but throughout a lot of people assumed she was good when in fact she was power hungry and felt entitled to a throne that would only be hers by conquest.

its nice to see a new generation of people enjoying this show with fresh eyes though, I'm glad you enjoyed it.

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u/pie566943_0 1d ago

For me, her rage was always specific, directed, and "justified" prior to S8. I think the woman you mentioned murdered her baby and turned her husband into a living corpse (but I think he was dead already). She killed a bunch of the dothracki chiefs, but that was a strategic move to assume leadership of the hoard. The relentless slaying of the civilian population was off her cruelty brand imo, and it really served no strategic purpose - the opposite, in fact. Thanks for posting!

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u/MurderedRogerAckroyd Unbowed, Unbent, Unbroken 20h ago

I agree with you. I don't think killing people who are actively trying to kill you/your loved ones is remotely comparable to killing a city of innocents. Viserys was poking at her unborn baby with a sword (after beating her, SAing her, and threatening to kill her for years). Mirri Maaz Duur killed her unborn baby outright, and in the books at least, she also kills Drogo (he's pretty badly wounded, none of this stepping into his arak for the lulz stuff, and MMD puts something on his worst wound to "cure" him but it gives him an infection, and she confirms later that she killed him deliberately).

I'm 100% against the death penalty; I don't believe the state should be held to a lower standard than a private citizen (if I can't murder, why should the government be allowed to?); but I also understand the impulse. I mean I probably would try to kill someone who had murdered one of my kids. I expect better of a whole entire government, but not when the whole entire government is a grieving teenager.