Democratic Primaries
Related: About this forumElizabeth Warren: The World Needs Fewer Cersei Lannisters (spoiler alert)
Daenerys Stormborn Targaryen has been my favorite from the first moment she walked through fire. Despite being the daughter of the Mad King and the last rightful Targaryen heir to the Iron Throne (until this week), Dany didnt grow up in the lavish palace walls of the Red Keep. She was born during the chaos of her fathers overthrow, in the last great civil war between the rich and powerful family houses. Dany grew up in exile, wandering the so-called Free Cities of the East many of which werent free at all but propped up by slave markets to serve their masters. When we meet Dany in season one, shes a teenager sold off by her abusive elder brother to beefcake warlord Khal Drogo in order to further his political ambitions. Dany might be a princess by birth, but she wasnt dealt an easy hand.
Dany believes fiercely in her right to rule, but she despises what ruling means in the world shes grown up in. She doesnt want to be a slave owner or a dictator and she definitely doesnt want to become her murderous father. She tells Ser Jorah: Slavery is real. I can end it. I will end it. And I will end those behind it. Before sailing across the sea to Westeros, she frees the enslaved people of Meereen and creates an army that fights because they want to, not because they have to. (Also, she has dragons.)
In the season-eight premiere, our Khaleesi finally arrives at Winterfell with Jon Snow and her army of the Unsullied to save the North, not conquer it. She states her mission clearly in season seven: Im not here to murder. All I want to destroy is the wheel that has rolled over everyone both rich and poor, to the benefit of no one but the Cersei Lannisters of the world. And as much as Dany wants to take on her familys enemies and take back the Iron Throne, she knows that she must first fight the army of the dead that threatens all mankind. This is a revolutionary idea, in Westeros or anywhere else. A queen who declares that she doesnt serve the interests of the rich and powerful? A ruler who doesnt want to control the political system but to break the system as it is known? Its no wonder that the people she meets in Westeros are skeptical. Skeptical, because theyve seen another kind of woman on the Iron Throne: the villain we love to hate, Queen Cersei of Casterly Rock.
https://www.thecut.com/2019/04/elizabeth-warren-review-game-of-thrones-season-8.html
primary today, I would vote for: Undecided
PeeJ52
(1,588 posts)Nice analysis...
primary today, I would vote for: Undecided
Hortensis
(58,785 posts)determined to destroy the elites? Gee, where'd they get that theme in this dangerous era, anyway?
Sounds like the destruction definitely had to be. But what are Dany's plans for a post-destruction world and how well developed and detailed are they? Are they going to establish a democracy similar to ours, has she sworn neither she nor any of her cadre will use their power to fill the offices, and when will the first elections be held?
I'm with Elizabeth in wanting fewer Cerseis, but the thought of Danys in today's world make me nervous as hell also. They don't usually turn out to be what people need, or even what they once thought they would be. We got very lucky. Washington had to refuse requests to become our first dictator, and he did. He was our first president but guarded and established the limitations of the office that government by the people required.
primary today, I would vote for: Joe Biden
PeeJ52
(1,588 posts)primary today, I would vote for: Undecided
Hortensis
(58,785 posts)Surrounded by wights.
primary today, I would vote for: Joe Biden