GoT S8E6: Daenerys's Story, Jon's Story
Nov. 18th, 2022 09:32 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
canyonwalkerS8E6 of Game of Thrones is the series finale. Recent episodes had shown Daenerys Targaryen spiraling quickly into madness. She became the same kind of intemperate, cruel tyrant that her father had been. It's especially a tragedy for her (and the whole freakin' world, btw) because for so many seasons she professed wanting to be a different kind of ruler, one who rules by popular assent instead of fear. She wanted to break the "wheel" of power among high houses that crushes commoners. Instead she became that wheel.
So what happened next after the world got a new, terrifying queen?
Jon killed her.
People like Tyrion encouraged Jon to do it, but Jon himself knew it was necessary. Jon had always been guided by a strong moral compass.
He did it for selfless reasons. Jon, whose real name is Aegon VI, heir to House Targaryen and rightful heir to the Iron Throne, could have killed Daenerys to consolidate his claim to power. But he didn't. He didn't want power.
Jon also didn't expect to be free of consequences. Daenerys's last dragon became aware of her death (it's broadly implied there's a magical bond) and found her lying on the floor with Jon standing nearby with a bloody dagger. The dragon squared itself up as if it was going to destroy Jon... but instead it destroyed the Iron Throne, melting it down into a puddle of slag. It's as if the dragon understood why Jon did what he did to protect the world, and instead of stopping his rise to power by killing him, decreed that no one would have such power.
The soldiers loyal to Daenerys were less forgiving than the dragon, alas. They arrested him and wanted to executed him. The new royal— which I'll write about in another blog soon— decreed instead that Jon be sent back to the Night's Watch. The queen's loyalists were satisfied with "a life sentence".
With the hordes of undead defeated, though, and huge hole blasted in the magical wall anyway, what's the purpose of the Night's Watch any longer? Jon meets with old friends at Castle Black, the few who are left anyway, and heads north of the wall with surviving free folk to build a new life there.
So what happened next after the world got a new, terrifying queen?
Jon killed her.
People like Tyrion encouraged Jon to do it, but Jon himself knew it was necessary. Jon had always been guided by a strong moral compass.
He did it for selfless reasons. Jon, whose real name is Aegon VI, heir to House Targaryen and rightful heir to the Iron Throne, could have killed Daenerys to consolidate his claim to power. But he didn't. He didn't want power.
Jon also didn't expect to be free of consequences. Daenerys's last dragon became aware of her death (it's broadly implied there's a magical bond) and found her lying on the floor with Jon standing nearby with a bloody dagger. The dragon squared itself up as if it was going to destroy Jon... but instead it destroyed the Iron Throne, melting it down into a puddle of slag. It's as if the dragon understood why Jon did what he did to protect the world, and instead of stopping his rise to power by killing him, decreed that no one would have such power.
The soldiers loyal to Daenerys were less forgiving than the dragon, alas. They arrested him and wanted to executed him. The new royal— which I'll write about in another blog soon— decreed instead that Jon be sent back to the Night's Watch. The queen's loyalists were satisfied with "a life sentence".
With the hordes of undead defeated, though, and huge hole blasted in the magical wall anyway, what's the purpose of the Night's Watch any longer? Jon meets with old friends at Castle Black, the few who are left anyway, and heads north of the wall with surviving free folk to build a new life there.
