By and large, Danaerys Targaryen was one of the greatest TV characters ever made. She starts her journey off as a timid and scared little girl that gets into situations she is too young and naive to deal with properly. However, this slowly changes. She eventually turns into an absolutely incredible leader and beacon of freedom to her people who is so nuanced and detailed that people sympathize with her and support her the entire time.
It should be noted of all the characters that the incompetent writers ruined in the last 2 seasons, none are done worse than Dany. Her entire character and arc are completely disregarded in order to give the fans some cheap shock value and one of the best characters in TV is just gone in favor of some random madness.
1. Watching Viserys Die (Season 1, Episode 6)
Viserys gets the award for being the worst brother in the entire setting. Though he cared for and protected Dany their entire childhood, he really started to let power and the Targaryen madness get to his head, where he sold her off to Drogo and would treat her like trash. However, after she came to her own and became a strong and capable leader, she stopped taking Viserys’ threats and finally stood up to him.
In the scene, a drunk Viserys starts to disrespect her and Drogo in front of everyone, causing Drogo to brutally kill him. This doesn’t elicit sadness from Dany as she said fire can’t kill a dragon. This is a massive moment of change for her as she now knows how she must be in order to become a strong leader.
2. Birth of Dragons (Season 1, Episode 10)
After losing her husband, child and over half of her Khalassar, Danaerys walked into a burning hut with her stone dragon eggs, seemingly killing herself as well in the finale of the first season. However, what happened instead was Dany emerging unscathed and still very much alive. This time, she had 3 baby dragons with her.
This scene was both a figurative and a literal rebirth for her character, as she was now born wielding an ancient and magical power thought to be completely extinct from the world.
3. House of the Undying (Season 2, Episode 10)
Ever since the dragons were born at the end of the first season, we knew that Dany would never go back to the timid and weak girl that she once was. Wielding the dragons that did whatever she bid them to do, she is plagued by Pyat Pree, a warlock who wants to take the dragons for himself. However, she can control them so she cimmands them to burn him alive. This is a great moment not only for Dany, but now the dragons as well.
3. Burning Kraznys (Season 3, Episode 4)
In this scene, we see Danaerys gain one of the most important additions to her entire army and cause. The Unsullied are some of the greatest fighters and armies in the entire world of GOT and Dany knew that she needed a proper army if she was to ever take over Westeros. So, she made a deal with Kraznys for this in place of one of her dragons.
After the exchange is made, Kraznys is surprised to see that Dany spoke High Valyrian the whole time so she was well aware of all the insults he made to her. After becoming the unchallenged master of the Unsullied army, she turned to Kraznys and uttered ‘Dracarys’, causing Drogon to burn him and much of the surrounding area. A great scene that showed that Dany was willing to do anything to win.
4. Mhysa (Season 3, Episode 10)
In one of the most iconic scenes in the entire show, Dany gets lifted up by all the people that she just liberated, surrounded by chants of them calling her ‘Mhysa’ which means mother in their tongue. They all saw Dany as a great liberator who had finally freed them of the torture and unfairness of the Masters.
This is one of the toughest scenes to go back and watch because this showed Dany as the only kind and compassionate ruler in the setting who actually cared for her subjects and was on track to become exactly this. However, the 2 horrible writers of the last season saw to it that this wouldn’t happen.
5. Banishing Jorah (Season 4, Episode 8)
Jorah was Dany’s most trusted advisor and friend in the whole setting and he had been with her since the start of her journey in the Khalasar. He was someone that always looked after her and was a friend to her and offered his help and advice whenever she needed it. However, for much of the time, Jorah was a spy, so Dany had to banish him when she found out, no matter how much it hurt her. She was heartbroken but she is no hypocrite, showing her resolve and dismissing one of her oldest and truest friends.
6. Ordering Daario (Season 4, Episode 7)
Though this is a scene we shouldn’t dwell on for too long, it was a good passing scene that showed us that Dany is no longer a shy and timid girl. She is perfectly capable of having all her needs met and getting all she wants by ordering others around, even if they’re someone as headstrong as Daario, who learns that Dany is the one in charge and learns to take orders from her.
7. Executing a Free Man (Season 5, Episode 2)
This was a scene that not many people agreed with and called Danys decision to execute Mossador a bad one. After giving the permission for an execution of a freed man to be held in public, many of her supporters were left with a bad taste in their mouths because of this. However, this shows that while she is kind and compassionate, she is still a just ruler who holds people accountable to the law.
Should they break these laws, they are liable to face the harsh consequences of this and while this was a very shocking decision for people, it was ultimately justifiable in the end.
8. Riding Drogon (Season 5, Episode 9)
In one of the best episodes for Dany, Dany finally gives many fans what they have been asking for after all this time. When she is in the fighting pit, she comes face to face with a dire assassination plot that sees many of her supporters dead and her almost dead as well as she gets surrounded by the Sons of the Harpy.
However, this all changes when the black beast Drogon enters the fight pit, perhaps sensing the situation and danger that his mother was in. He starts to burn everyone and everything but unfortunately does get stabbed by a spear which Dany eventually removes herself. This leads to Dany then mounting him for the first time and them both flying away.
9. Burning the Khals (Season 6, Episode 4)
After being found by the different Khalasar after escaping the fighting pits with Drogon, Dany is then taken to the Temple of the Dosh Khaleen in Vaes Dothrak. This is because all the widowed wives of dead Khals are taken there to live out the rest of their lives. This is not what Dany wants at all as she will no longer be forced to be trapped or be subservient to others, causing her to burn the whole place down and kill everyone inside, emerging from the ashes and taking over the rest of the Dothraki as her army.
10. Dany vs Masters (Season 6, Episode 9)
This scene is one that is often forgotten by viewers because it is in the same episode as the legendary Battle of the Bastards, but it is still great. After finally rejoining her council, she finds out that the annoying Old Masters of Slaver's Bay are still a thorn in her side and are now attacking her conquered cities, believing her to be dead.
As she joins them, she realizes that no matter how many chances she gives them, they will continue to revolt. This causes her to put a stop to this once and for all, using her dragons to completely decimate their entire fleet, securing her name as the true ruler of the region.
11. Dany vs Jaime (Season 7, Episode 4)
In one of the only good scenes in the entire abysmal seventh season, Jaime Lannisters army has to fight Dany’s army. It is an expertly filmed and very dramatic and tense battle scene that shows Jaime’s army get completely destroyed by a surprise attack from the Dothraki and Drogon with Dany on top.
This shows her to be a great leader as she chooses to fly into battle with her army and she almost single handedly wipes out the Lannister army. This is also a marvelous scene for Jaime as he shows his bravery and leadership in a losing battle, not turning away and taking the battle to the invader.
12. Beyond the Wall (Season 7, Episode 6)
This is yet another scene that shows Dany to be a great and very brave leader. In a move that she absolutely did not have to do, Dany flies north of the Wall in order to help out Jon Snow and his group. She burns thousands of wights and is able to save the entire group from perishing in the snow against the White Walkers.
Unfortunately, this move causes her to lose one of her dragons, Viserion. This dragon is then reanimated and brought into the army of the Night King who then uses him to devastating effect. Still though, a great scene for Dany.
13. Finally getting with Jon (Season 7, Episode 7)
Though this scene isn’t really one that shows Dany being a badass or doing something cool, it is one of her best scenes due to the level of fan service that it gives to the fans. This was a relationship that fans had wanted and speculated at for years and it finally showed the entire Targaryen storyline coming full circle.
14. The Long Night (Season 8, Episode 3)
Though this episode itself was horrible and ruined so many arcs of the show, Dany defending Winterfell was good to see. She used her dragons to great effect and killed thousands of wights, however her true bravery was shown when she was separated from Drogon and was on her own, at one point even picking up a sword to help out Jorah. Her character had still not been ruined at this point and showed how much she loved and cared for people and would do anything to save them, despite being inexperienced with a weapon.
15. The Speech (Season 8, Episode 6)
Of all the scenes in this list, this is easily the worst one. But still, the image of Dany walking out with a dragon's wings behind her was cool and her speech was also good. Basically, this scene is only good if taken out of context and seen on its own. However, we had the unfortunate luck of seeing everything preceding it, so it is why I kind of hate this scene.
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