Who is my favorite Game of Thrones character? That is a really tough choice, for one the books and the series like to kill off really great characters right when you get used to them. And seeing as how I have read all the books multiple times and seen all the episodes multiple times, it is fair to say that I am fairly attached to several characters in the series. But my favorite above the others would have to Daenerys Targaryen. Why is she my favorite? Well besides the fact that she is one of the most beautiful women in all the realms whether in Westeros or Essos, it is what Danny (As she is affectionately known by her fans) has come to represent that makes her incredible. In the books Danny is a really just a teenage girl who has gone through more hardship in her lifetime then most of us can understand. First her father was an insane king, and her brother Viserys seemed to also inherit his father's insanity. Not only that, but she had to flee as a child to a land that was not her own and live in exile. Also she was basically sold into marriage by her brother in order for him to obtain an army to take back to Westeros in order to defeat the "usurper" king. She did not really have an idea of herself worth at the time and saw herself as an object. But slowly, through her relationship and marriage to Khal Drogo, Danny began to see that she was more than just an object to be bartered for, and she began to grow into a strong and confident woman. Finally she stood up to her brother, and became the Khalessi that the reader knew she was. But again hardship reared its ugly head into Danny's life when she was betrayed by a witch and lost the lives of both her unborn son and her husband basically became a vegetable. She made hard choices, choices that many of us would balk at, but she did it for the betterment of her people and that is just in season one.
Lets not forget that Danny is also the mother of freakin' dragons. In the world that these characters inhabit, dragons have been extinct for a couple centuries, and here she is, walking into her husband's funeral pyre and coming out not only unscathed, but with three dragons. No wonder people flock to her, no wonder people follow such a dynamic leader. Even into the dessert people followed her. To the slave cities of Astapor, Yunkai and Meereen they followed her. Through her actions she has become the breaker of chains, the symbol of freedom to many. They call her mother and with good reason. To people who for generations know nothing but bondage and suffering, for a high born woman to come in and tell them that they no longer have to follow the whims of their masters, that they can throw off their collars and fight for their very existence, its a very powerful image. The fact that she can inspire so many is incredible. In a world where back stabbing and betrayal is an everyday occurrence is reassuring. Danny has had several opportunities to leave Essos, but she remains, because those are her people now. As she calls them, her children. Frankly there is no better source of hono, dignity or freedom in all the books of A Song of Ice and Fire then Daenerys. She has wandered away from the image of her mad father Aerys, she has taken an incredible journey of not only becoming the queen of the people, but also self discovery, and we rejoice in her discovery of herself. With characters like Cersei, and Melisandre in the series Danny is a breath of fresh air. Not to mention that Emilia Clarke does an incredible job of portraying Daenerys as well, there is no one else I can see bringing this character to life like she does, no one who can embody all the things that Daenerys represents like she does. So while I could have chosen Tyrion or Jon Snow as my favorites and given just as good reasons, I think that Daenerys goes a bit beyond what they do and really gives the reader and the audience a positive character they can rely on. Lets just hope that George R. R. Martin keeps her around for a while, cause I have a feeling if he doesn't, then he would have a lot of angry fans on his hands.
Log in to comment