Game of Thrones - The Case of Boomerang Character Development

So, Game of Thrones has been interesting, eh? While it's been discussed in passing a few times on here, we've never delved deeply into the series. That was with good reason. I wanted to wait until either the series was finished for a full retrospective or time to sit down and properly compare it with A Song of Ice and Fire. However, the past few episodes have been such a startling cavalcade of disappointments that certain things cannot go unpunished. It would take multiple articles to cover them all, but the big one here is Daenerys. The Queen seems to have followed in the footsteps of her father and decided to lay her vengeance upon those that oppose her, which ended with her flying Drogon over King's Landing and torching everyone in sight.

This has, understandably, provoked a few interesting responses and a tidal wave of hate mail which has been directed toward the creators. David Benioff and D. B. Weiss have left some awkward comments in relation to character moments and decisions, which have ranged from lazy plotting to insulting the audience's intelligence. The big ones people keep citing is how they seem to promote "having the good guys act like the bad guys" is some dramatic and innovative twist which no one has tried before, and having the Targaryen side simply forget that the Iron Fleet exists. There are no shortage of ones which could be brought up, and there is even a good break down of why this is a let down found here. This cites creative mindsets and major differences which means that one group of creators could never quite live up to George R. R. Martin's novels.

There are many ways in which this latest move can be analyzed and considered, but the main one which needs to be fully considered is simply this: Daenerys has always had the potential for revenge in her. We had full story arcs covering this and there were multiple occasions where we cheered her on. The big ones were, of course, the fights to liberate Meereen from its slavemasters and her treatment of the rulers. She crucified hundreds of them by the roadside, and one major subject of the story was her learning to temper that rage when needed. The problem is that, with the show coming to a close, the creators have decided to loop back around to a similar song and dance that we have seen before. Worse still, it's a poor replication of that same song and dance.

In a similar manner to how her presumption and use of titles when meeting Jon Snow seemed to pretend that her development in season two had never taken place, this one just outright pretends that she has learned nothing. It doesn't take the time needed to provoke this kind of response, and instead, it is rushing through things to try and force the story to come to a key point that the writers one. It hasn't developed organically or in a semi-logical fashion as some previous events or, worse still, it's trying to ape previous developments to justify this turn. The big one is a character death provoking a harsh response, or slaying a potential ally within her circle for risking turning on her, both of which we saw done in Meereen. As such, this is less the show doing something new so much as spinning its wheels, just as the finale is upon us.

Yet there are other layers to this turn which makes Daenerys' actions feel far more bitter. How many audiences cheered as she burned slavers? How about an enemy fleet, or the Lannister army? What about her breaking her enemies through these same means? Watchers were wholly behind her the entire way and, while extreme, the show always made a point of making it seem justified. Each could be considered a possible step further down a road which made Daenerys' family name so infamous, and her fans were supporting her the entire way. Now, at long last, that rage has been turned upon someone who does not deserve it, and has shown just what she is capable of when given a target which isn't so morally black. When she desires revenge nothing will stop her, and this episode has shown what can come from that. It can make an audience feel far worse as a result of this, as if rooting for her in the first place was a mistake. There's an engaging quality to this which could work, but the rushed delivery and inability to focus upon the idea here means that it just feels vindictive as a result.

Finally, there is also the matter of the throne itself. Seeking the iron throne, fighting for it and approaching it with the desire to claim power has often been a warning in the series. It either warps people beyond recognition or leads to their downfall. Or both. Even if you ignore the war itself, look back at King Robert's tale and how miserable it made him. This could have been a theme again here, as Daenerys was always someone who seemed to be on a knife-edge in terms of whether she would be able to accomplish there, or what would become of her. However, none of that is focused upon the difficulties of governing from that role or even the pressures which can break a person. The ham-fisted delivery means that while the message itself is present, the execution and narrative devices leave it as an incoherent mess.

Even without the other issues surrounding it, this final stage of development ultimately ends up relying too much upon past trends and cannot make use of new ideas. As a result, it just ends up feeling like a hollow finale which is wallowing in nihilism, leaving you with no one that you wish to root for. Once that happens, you have to ask yourself: Why are you still watching it, and is it ever worth watching again? It's probably a question that a lot of us will be asking ourselves in the future, whenever a fan thinks of going back to watch the series from the start once again.