Dany’s Choice

How our interpretations of villainy reveal something about ourselves

I love when my favorite entertainment also gets me to think. Like great literature, poetry, and mythology, great entertainment is like a supersaturated solution full of potential meanings. It absorbs, integrates, and reflects back humanity’s deepest longings, fears, and ideas.

If you’re like me, the past nine years of Game of Thrones has been a rich experience of watching, rewatching, discussing, considering, and debating all manner of perspectives generated by “watching buddies” and the cottage industry of GoT Fandom across the interwebs.

Here I’ll be zooming way in for a close-up on one of the most pivotal moments in the entire series, and invite you to use it as a personality test.

Before I jump in, here’s your obligatory SPOILER WARNING for Game of Thrones, “The Bells” Season 8, Episode 5.

The choice Daenerys makes in this episode carried the most devastating consequences of any decision made by any character to date — not only in sheer body-count and destruction of property but in broken hearts for most, if not all, fans on “Team Dany”. It’s her choice to become the Mad Queen around which my entire exploration revolves.