MovieChat Forums > Game of Thrones (2011) Discussion > What if the Targaryen Madness affects Da...

What if the Targaryen Madness affects Daenerys


Maybe she loses it when one of her Dragons is killed in battle and starts burning people and that causes her alliance to fall apart?

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Something I've been worrying about since Book 2. Yes!

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I don't think so, she hasn't shown any sign of mental instability yet. And don't try to convince me she is crazy, I deal with the mentally ill in real life and know the difference between rough politics and actual crazy.

Look, she's lost her parents, brothers, husband, baby, khal, fiancees, handmaidens,etc., without cracking up, she's tougher than she looks.

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I don't think it's about being tough or machismo/feminismo whatever, insanity in her family is genetic.

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Agree with Otter, I also work with the mentally ill and Dany shows no signs of it. And I'll add that IF they suddenly make her snap and all of a sudden she becomes mentally unstable...it will be hugely disappointing and contrived.

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I don't think King Aerys mental illness just made him snap suddenly, he more than likely progressed into the madness slowly until he was burning and torturing heads of loyal powerful ancient Houses.

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And that's why Dany snapping at this point would be so implausible. I really hope the writers don't throw some implausible "madness" at the last minute.

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Why would her going mad be snapping? Why not gradual? I can see her turning cruel actually, more so than before that is.

Also she doesn't have to be at the final end point of madness by season 8, maybe halfway there.

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We've been watching her for six years now, seeing her turn from a timid girl to a lost young widow to a badass dragon queen, without ever showing any signs of irrationality, paranoia, unstable mood, or any of the other tells of "madness". For her to suddenly start showing signs of mental instability as the show is winding up to a climax would be pretty hard to carry off, without some magical element being involved.

Look, take if from someone who knows from real-life crazy, Dany is not crazy. That doesn't mean you like her or approve of her or her methods, but none of her questionable actions are irrational.

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Oh stop lying. I cannot believe that a professional would use the word "crazy" to describe mental illness. Even a psych tech would use better judgment.

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I always dumb down my language when talking to the clueless.

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No offense, but many posters do see her instability, not just me. And as for your 'background' - this is a fantasy show & honestly this is an anonymous message board, I think we need a more realistic perspective on what we're watching and where we are as fans (internet anonymous).

I'm not trying to offend you btw, I'm just explaining the reality of the situation.

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Oh, I know that lots of people disagree with me, but sometimes I like a good debate about unimportant fandom issues. It takes my mind off real life.

Danyers isn't crazy. She may use harsh tactics in warfare, she may believe in the horrible values of a clan-based primitive society, she may be an asshole or hypocrite or a terrible politician, the GoT staff may be inconsistent when writing for her... but she is not suffering from any form of mental illness found in real life.

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Maybe...


I mean, if we look at our history alone, there have been plenty of brutal people who have committed atrocious things in the name of whatever ideology they believed in, Dany may be just like one of them.

But I can't help but see this descending madness in her, but I guess we will see. No one's opinions are factual anyway until the show/books are over, so we will have to wait and see I guess.

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IMHO Danerys is rather like Tywin Lannister, in that both will use brutal methods and sacrifice the innocent need be. Neither is what we modern people would call "ethical", not with their habit of starting wars to protect what they see as their family's perogatives, but both are capable of some degree of mercy and empathy and will choose less brutal ways of getting their own way if they feel it's an option. Neither is necessarily "good", but neither is crazy. They just live by different standards than ours.

Only Danerys isn't played by such a good actor, and she's not as cool. Or hot, for that matter, Tywin was a devastatingly attractive man.

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I have to say I'm honestly not seeing the basis for the "Daenerys is becoming the mad queen" talk. It's really puzzling me whenever I see people say it. Is it solely because she crucified the slave-owners? Or just because she has waged war (again, mainly on slave-owners)? Or because she wants to win back the Iron Throne? Because if the latter, then that's not new; it's been her theme since episode 1, so it can't be part of a "descent into madness". I'm just not getting it.

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Honestly Otter, I never saw Tywin as someone capable of mercy or empathy all that much really. He is one that loves the legacy of his family more than anything (perhaps his dead wife as well) and I see him using all his children as tools to preserve and extend that legacy. And yes, I see his harshness, his cruelty, and his unmerciful-ness as a means to justify the ascendency of his House and family. He is not a noble man yet his cruelty is done only as strategic impulses unlike the Boltons or Ramsey (and unlike Dany, is perhaps even more tempered than hers). And I don't see him having a need for empathy unless as a facade to gain something in return. He like the Feys and that King beyond the wall (my memory is foggy, the one who marries and impregnates his daughters), are not men who honor traditions of honor or nobility, because they are unsentimental and amoral by Westeros standards.

And yes, I don't see Tywin as crazy either, but far from an ethical nobleman of Westeros standards.

But I don't see Dany in him really. Perhaps certain conniving ruthlessness may be compared but I don't see Tywin crucifying all the masters and displaying them on the road as Dany instructed. I have yet to see him as allowing such mass atrocities to happen as she has done in her short reign.

As for the attractiveness of the actors playing Dany or Tywin, lol, I really can't say. Dany had a certain type of attractiveness in the first 2 seasons until she gained some weight (which didn't compliment her) and I can't say I find Tywin attractive either, but he does come across as an intimidating and riveting presence unlike the actress playing Dany.

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Dany is an egomaniac who is unhappy controlling half of essos. She now wants westeros also. Why? Because her crazy evil father was stabbed by Jaime Lannister after brutally killing the Starks and many others. If you see clearly she is just as mad as cersei, if not madder. We will see how she reacts to jons request to help him fight white walkers instead of lannisters. That will tell us a lot

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I think it has started to affect her already. She reminds me of the story of Aerys the Mad King who was benevolent at first though Dany was never benevolent to begin with, lol!

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this exactly. The mad king used to be good before he lost his mind. not sure at what age but maybe a little older than Dany is now.

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He was captured and held prisoner for a time and thereafter was on the express train to Crazytown. I'm sure having a devious and very powerful lord like Tywin Lannister as his Hand contributed to the paranoia that fed the madness.

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I hope it doesn't, but I fear it already has started to. She does have some violent tendencies. And in the books, [spoiler] there was the whole scene where she was hallucinating in the Dothraki Sea, but that could have been due to sickness or something [/spoiler].

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You guys do realize that the Made King most likely went mad because Bran messed with him when he traveled to the past as the Three Eye Raven. We will most likely see a scene this season or next explaining that Bran is the one who turned Aerys mad similar to Hodar.

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lol where do you get that from? Tumblr?

He went mad from too much inbreeding in his family.

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I've seen a fan theory that the three eyed raven drove Aerys insane *, but this is the first time I've seen anyone suggest that Bran did it. All Bran did was see a vision of the past.

* The theory goes that the three eyed raven tried to tell him to use fire against the white walkers, and Aerys went crazy from the voice and visions in his head and the fear of faceless supernatural enemies he was expected to use fire against, so he started using fire against everyone... "Burn them all!"

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That's actually a pretty cool theory. I doubt it's true, but it's interesting, lol.

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interesting theory that could very well be true.

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Could be. The fact that Bran saw the mad king in his visions in the last season suggests that some new information about him may yet be revealed.

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I like this theory. It would be cool to see that the TER made some of the same mistakes (or worse mistakes in this case) that Bran did.

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Jon is also a Targaryen. What are his chances of going mad?

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yeah but he is half Targaryen so the chance of inbreeding defects should be less than Daenerys

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I would not be surprised. I did not like how she treated Varus (sp?) with her nasty interrogation and threats to burn him alive. Not the way to win loyalty. It was obvious that Tyrion was uneasy with her treatment of him as well. I could see her slowly turning mad the more power she gets and the more violence she's able to wreak.

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Yeah the way she threatened to burn Varys alive was creepy and a lot like her father.

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I thought so too! I think Varys has repeatedly shown that his major concern is for the well being of the country. If Tyrion trusts him then Dany should give him a chance. Just attacking him, really for no reason, out of nowhere and threatening him, especially in public....well, if it were me, I'd be rethinking my ultimate loyalties. I think people cut her a lot of slack because she's a beautiful woman, but if she were some homely b*stard like Stannis, she wouldn't go over too well.

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I had this idea that dragonglass causes targaryans to go insane. But I didn't really think about it too deeply.

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