After eight seasons of power struggles, the one of a kind fantasy series Game of Thrones concluded with a new ruler and in the process, left viewers with a massively divided reaction regarding the fate of Daenerys Targaryen.

For those of you who haven’t watched the series finale yet (there can’t be many of you) consider this your spoiler warning in regards to the conclusion.

Daenerys Targaryen – or possibly known as Daenerys Stormborn of the House Targaryen, First of Her Name, the Unburnt, Queen of Mereen, Queen of the Andals, the Rhoynar and the First Men, Khaleesi of the Great Grass Sea, Breaker of Chains, and Mother of Dragons – was dealt a disappointing conclusion to her remarkable storyline after eight long years. So why do we believe that The Mother of Dragons ending wasn’t handled very well?

Daenerys proved she wasn’t her father

From the very beginning of Game of Thrones, Daenerys was a tragic character who spent her years of freedom trying to bring justice to the Seven Kingdoms and honor to House Targaryen. In her complicated family tree, the Targaryen’s didn’t have a well-respected reputation after her father was dubbed the Mad King who was later slain by Jaime Lannister during his feared reign. Aerys (her father) was known as an insane man with extreme paranoia and a dedication to keeping his bloodline in-tact, making everyone concerned about House Targaryen. The insanity was seemingly passed on to his son and middle child Viserys, who was shown to be both abusive and domineering towards Daenerys until she witnessed his death when Dany’s compassion to the Dothraki earned her their respect.

Though his eldest son Rhaegar Targaryen would have eventually become king, he was killed in battle years prior to the series and of course is more known now for being the father to Jon Snow. Unlike Aerys, Rhaegar had a passion for music, romance, and peaceful attributes of life despite being labeled as a formidable warrior. Because not every Targaryen is certifiably “mad”, the series spent every season assuring us that Dany wasn’t as cruel as her father, as others in her family had shown signs of polarizing personality aspects early on in their lives. She garnered praise from nearly everyone she met for being a ruler that strived to do better – which is why she gained such a noteworthy following of comrades to begin with.

Of course there are several scenes that have since been discussed showcasing Daenerys in her darker moments, but it isn’t justifiable to compare her reaction to the death of her abusive brother to “foreshadowing her insanity.” Even the moments that Dany was more threatening towards her foes, it needs to be reminded that the series is literally set in a world where war, death and sometimes reckless decisions have been acted on by all. If there was going to be a storyline showcasing Daenerys descend into the darkness, it certainly required more than four episodes to undo, as the the series spent almost the entire time reminding us that she was a figure of compassion, justice and morality that only seemed to evolve for the greater good.

Khaleesi fell victim to negative tropes that changed the entire narrative

One of the most unfortunate parts of the unusual transition for the Targaryen queen is that she was involved in not one, but several plot points that solely existed to change public opinion of her. For example, the pure focus of Daenerys killing women and children was a ploy at making her appear as an unforgivable tyrant. Typically in GOT, there are instances with rape, gruesome violence, and pure acts of evil that almost always connected to the prominent female characters in this world. Dany, Sansa, and Talisa are just three of the characters we’ve witnessed the most heinous acts and crimes done to (or Oberyn, but even his death was used to plug the murder and rape of women and children too.) and now our female protagonist is characterized to contribute to something she detested her entire existence.  

In this final season, it felt like they just wanted to introduce a surprise villain after the night king and Cersei were defeated, so they began to strip Dany of her closest allies including two dragons, Missandei, and Jorah. It made it a reason for the story to drastically shift to “Dany is crazy, she’s lost people and is a classic Targaryen.” To myself and many others, that does not receive a genuine pass. As a leader, she’s witnessed murder, slavery, torture and sexual violence so frequently that it almost feels like they make the one powerful female character unable to deal with the emotional turmoil despite her doing just that for her entire narrative – and during several occasions, she’s even faced it alone!

To make matters more disheartening, she becomes lovesick with her nephew Jon Snow. We do realize that the Targaryen lineage has seen incest occur, but even after the reveal, they made her into a lovesick puppy who literally (and I mean literally) begged Jon Snow to love her. After eight seasons, to see a strong female protagonist fall victim to the painfully obvious cliches while Jon resisted her bizarre advances was like we the viewers were getting stabbed by Jon as well. Every scene they interacted comes off as Jon treating her with kid gloves instead of understanding her perspective on sharing the truth about his blood, putting him on a morally superior level than a woman who has prepared for this moment from the beginning of the series. Just as she predicts, it only causes more problems and leads to men discussing how Daenerys should be handled. Yes, our mother of dragons has her fate left in the hands of Tyrion (who strangled his significant other mind you) and Jon, because they think she’s essentially getting an ego they can’t control.

As Jon approaches Daenerys, the Stark and Targaryen descendant thinks it’s better to just kill her quickly without any chance of redemption instead of possibly having a conversation with the person he was supposedly loyal to. To top that scenarios off, it’s only an interest to him after another man advises his decisions whom had already been imprisoned for problematic choices of his own. Because Jon Snow and Tyrion (both killers in their own right) decide she’s a threat, the fate of the only female character to obtain her individual power and respect has been tossed aside to more male-driven anxiety about an “emotional female” stigma. We don’t even receive a scene from her POV once it’s decided she’s a villain, and the focus shifts to the men who will eventually return to powerful roles and received recognitions as heroes for stopping Dany. Don’t even get me started on the unnecessary and forced feud she partakes in with Sansa…

There was a necessary responsibility that feels disregarded

By going through with this rushed characterization of Daenerys, it continues the sometimes unfortunate trend of disregarding any real genuine character growth of the series. There have always been a few cringeworthy portrayals of situations in the GOT, but there was typically a glimmer of hope left for a chance to fight back, overcome your ancestor’s expectations, or liberate yourself from trauma. By killing Dany, it encompasses a shock-value ending that mirrors those in her family she tremendously deviated from.

This isn’t just another person stating Dany shouldn’t have died either, because sometimes a character’s story can come full circle and end with a fitting death such as Breaking Bad or True Blood. Though in this choice, it didn’t feel like it aided any storytelling other than an unfortunate representation of how women in power are often dealt with. Obviously a writer has the ability to create their own narration as they see fit, but when you have a massive platform such as GOT and want to conclude something, it would be nice to absorb some aspect of humanity that doesn’t have to come at the expense of tarnishing one of the best fictional characters in television or further perpetuate negative stereotypes.

At her core, Daenerys spent a majority of the time being an MVP in Game of Thrones and felt like an empowering figure that shunned traditional expectations. In the end, the real tragedy is that she was built up only to be torn down due to a lack of awareness, and the possible fear of completing a story that felt so crucial to the series overall success. Daenerys may be gone, but the impact she (and her dragons) have left on millions of viewers will be remembered for her strengths and the astonishing contributions she has made to pop culture.