D and D had multiple 10 episode seasons to get it done. Lucas did it in three movies.
D and D had multiple 10 episode seasons to get it done. Lucas did it in three movies.
Anakin has a clear motive, and a logical progression from naive to evil.
Danny just decides to lose her shit one day.
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Danerys going crazy should have been set up YEARS in advance. She spends the first 7 seasons doing everything she can to avoid needless suffering and talking about how she's going to "break the wheel."
Then, over the course of only 3-4 episodes in Season 8, D & D flip her switch from "good" to "evil" like the Krusty the Clown doll and she slaughters an entire city. This is not "character growth." This contradicts everything we've been shown about her character.
Honestly a huge amount of people overlooked the red flags with Danerys, because reasons. The final flip to full on crazy was poorly done, but there was a history of violent and cruel outbursts.
Let Kahl Drogo violently kill her brother. Burned Mirri Maaz Durr alive. Crucified the slave masters of Meereen. Burned the horse lords alive.
I think the difference is those are portrayed in a way where you're still supposed to be rooting for her. Every one of those people, as brutally as they were killed, were monumental assholes. And instead of letting the viewer grapple with the fact that they're on the side of a sadistic monster torturing someone to death, to explore the dangers of prioritizing vengeance over justice, the story just moves on. There's a lot they could have done to bring the consequences of Dany's shortsighted rage into perspective, really give the viewer several moments of "yeah, I see why she did it in the heat of the moment, but damn, that's fucked up". Then, her subsequent heel turn would feel like the logical conclusion of her arc.
Then just give her time to be the main antagonist for a bit. What's the point of spending a series long arc setting up a powerful villain if she's not actually given any screentime as the villain?
She also had the dragons burn the unsullied makers, and some Westeros knights, an was talked down from a handful of bad ideas she wanted to do.
Did she really have an option with Drogo? What else would you propose she do there?
True but each of those times her violent outburst felt grounded. Character A does a very bad thing to Danerys, and she reacts. It made sense to her character. Kings landing didn't, because the people of Kings Landing cheered her arrival. Cersci was not popular and about to fall anyway, Danerys could have had what she wanted, Westeros and the love of the people.
To make her turn work Cersci needed to fall before Danerys got to Westeros and someone likable is on the Iron throne. Now the people want to hold onto their new monarch who saved them from Cersci or have Cersci turn likable. She had a rough start but through experience becomes a good leader only to have Denarys dethrone her. Something other than RING THE BELLS.
It only feels grounded because you get her pov and the other side is obviously bad (according to her), so they totally deserved it. She showed up to several cities, murdered the fuck out of them, took what she wanted and left. Yes the turn to full on evil was handled poorly, but all the signs were there before hand. Tyrion's speech after the fact said as much.
If they were extremely accomplished at one thing, it was throwing away almost a decade worth of character and story development for basically every surviving character in the show, which is honestly impressive
Might not be character growth... could be tumor in the brain growth.
The probable crazy switch for Dany in the books is fAegon. She's all busy in Mereen, meanwhile fAegon is out there taking Westeros from Cersei and fixing stuff.
When she finally gets her shit together and goes to Westeros along with the Iron Fleet and Mr. Cthullu, the liberator card doesn't work because no one needs to be liberated so she goes nuts. All the pride, violence and idolatry in her arc makes sense.
In the show she was just replacing Cersei. No one likes Cersei, she'd still be a liberator. We'd need Jon unseating Cersei while trying to unite Westeros before Dany arrived for it to make sense. All we got as a trigger was a scene where she was sad because the members of the patriarchal society she just arrived in with three giant fire lizards don't want to drink with her.