Wheel of Westeros Book Two: Rise of Daenerys Part One

read it on the AO3 at https://ift.tt/2NbU7Qx

by annmcbee

Queen Daenerys suffers a terrible trauma before returning to a city in crisis. Jon Snow prepares a ranging to Hardhome while dealing with the aftermath of his resurrection. A young assassin must escape her trainers before its too late.

Words: 7806, Chapters: 1/1, Language: English

Series: Part 1 of Wheel of Westeros

read it on the AO3 at https://ift.tt/2NbU7Qx

The Fanfic Author’s Guide to Metatext (As Used on Ao3) by Eiiri

Here it is as a PDF available on google drive

Death of the author: Treating the author’s stated interpretation of their own work as merely one opinion among many, rather than the authoritative Word of God.

Disappearance of the author: Treating the context and circumstances of the work’s authorship as entirely irrelevant with respect to its interpretation, as though the work had popped into existence fully formed just moments ago.

Taxidermy of the author: Working backwards from a particular interpretation of the work to draw conclusions about what the context and circumstances of its authorship must have been.

Undeath of the author: Holding the author personally responsible for every possible reading of their work, even ones they could not reasonably have anticipated at the time of its authorship.

Frankenstein’s Monster of the author: Drawing conclusions about authorial intent based on elements that are present only in subsequent adaptations by other authors.

Weekend at Bernie’s of the author: Insisting that the author would personally endorse your interpretation of the work if they happened to be present.

Daenerys and Elizabeth I: Vilified and Slut Shamed

When their enemies are unable to put them in their places through military or political means, women in power often had their reputations targeted with accusations of promiscuity. It’s a way of discrediting them and weakening the outside support they have. Those enemies are counting on the misogynistic values of their culture to work against these women.

Elizabeth I was no exception regardless of the fact that she was surrounded at all times by ladies-in-waiting and servants as well as courtiers and officials. Though she flirted publicly, the public nature of the flirtations proved these weren’t secret affairs she was having, but political positioning, shows of courtly love, or just flirting. Despite the public persona she created as the Virgin Queen, she endured accusations of having lovers as well as illegitimate children.

Daenerys is a woman who rose to power with a quick succession of unlikely victories after being underestimated, which resulted in her enemies far and wide spreading lies about her, especially about her sexuality.

George R. R. Martin didn’t add this long series of lies about Daenerys to the chapters of the characters who are on their way to meet her, just for the fun of it. The intention was clearly to follow the real life pattern of powerful women enduring propaganda that aims at making them appear hypersexual. While Dany has one lover, that affair ends the day she marries and the only other partners she has are her husbands. If she had more, that shouldn’t matter. The point is, they lied that she was incredibly promiscuous and violent in order to turn the rest of the world against her so she would be easier to defeat. But like Elizabeth I, Daenerys isn’t going to be defeated by the force rising against her.

Daenerys - Books vs Show - Sexism and Bad Writing in the show

I wanted to write an in-depth analysis of Dany in the books vs Dany in the show. People usually talk about how the show removed much of Dany’s softness and humor, but I think it goes beyond that. The show has blackwashed Dany and made her more violent and impulsive. The show has also taken away Dany’s agency and cunning, and given it to the male characters around her. In my opinion, the writing of the show has been very bad and sexist, and I believe that these problems started very early in the show, not just in the later seasons.

In this essay, I won’t talk about every change in Dany’s storyline, like the problems with the depiction of the Dothraki culture, the racism in the show or certain changes like how Ser Barristan was supposed to be alive and rule Meereen when Dany is gone. I think all of these changes are worth discussing, but here, I want to focus on the problems with Dany’s characterization.

SEASON 1

This season is the best season in terms of the adaptation of Dany’s character. They show Dany overcoming her brother’s abuse, make it very clear that Drogo raped her and show Dany overcoming that as well, show her getting stronger, adapting to Dothraki culture and becoming a leader in her own right. But there are already some problems.

1) In the books, we have a moment in which Dany orders the khalasar to stay behind, and Viserys becomes outraged that she dared to give orders to him. This also happens in the show, but the outcome is different. In the books, Dany pushes Viserys and orders his horse to be taken away. This is an important moment for a couple of reasons. One, because this is the first time Dany defies Viserys. Two, because it shows Dany growing as a leader. She knows that a man that doesn’t ride is looked down on by the Dothraki, so she takes his horse to humiliate him, and at the same time, the Dothraki grow to respect her more. So this is an important moment that shows Dany using her understanding of Dothraki culture and her wits for political purposes. But in the show, it’s Rakharo that takes Viserys horse.

2) Another change in the first season are Dany’s final scenes. In the books, Dany gives Aggo, Jhogo and Rakharo a bow, a whip and an arakh, and asks them to be her bloodriders. This is important because it shows Dany’s defiance of the patriarchy, because only a khal can lead the Dothraki and name bloodriders, but the show cuts this scene. They also changed Dany’s last speech to the Dothraki. In the show, this is what she says:

Meanwhile, in the books, Dany never says that their enemies would die screaming in her speech. She says this is an earlier scene, in which, she swears revenge for a girl that Mago had raped and murdered:

But in her speech, Dany never says that:

If I’m going to be honest, I don’t truly mind these changes in season 1. I still think they made a very good job with Dany’s adaptation this season. But I think these changes already give us hints of what will happen to Dany’s character in the following seasons. Not showing Dany taking Viserys horse and not showing her asking Aggo, Jhogo and Rakharo to be her bloodriders are changes that I wouldn’t mind in isolation. In the case of Rakharo taking Viserys’ horse, it’s actually a good change to give Dothraki characters more characterization than they have in the book (but it’s all for nothing, because the show kills them off for no reason in season 2). But they are the beginning of the tendency that the show has of stripping Dany of her agency and giving her actions to the male characters around her. And I understand the motivation of merging Dany’s two speeches into one, to cut screentime. This is another change that I wouldn’t mind, but this change already hinted that they would transform Dany’s character into a more violent character than she is in the books.

SEASON 2

This season, the problems really begin, and the blackwashing and sexism begin in full force.

1) The first scene is one when they are crossing the desert. In the books, Dany thinks:

But in the show, what do we get? Dany is slouching and looking frightened, and Jorah is the one that needs to remind her that she needs to be her people’s strength To make it even worse, Dany tells Jorah that he is her strength:

They completely erase Dany’s strength and leadership in this moment, and give it to a male character.

2) When she gets to Qarth, once again, we see them starting to handle Dany’s character as someone whose only ability is to scream at people. In the books, Dany is received in Qarth because people are curious about her dragons. But in the show, in order to create unnecessary drama, they have the Qartheen refuse Dany’s entrance, and she shouts:

This is a far cry from what book Daenerys is actually thinking when she’s in Qarth:

She’s definitely not thinking about burning cities to the ground. I understand that show Dany needs to enter the city or else she and her people will die. So I don’t think there’s anything wrong with show Dany resorting to threats in this scene. But this scene is just another step in distancing show Dany and book Dany, and making show Dany more violent.

Keep reading

A good analysis explaining how the show’s Daenerys is a completely different character... and meant to portray the irrational, ruthless madwoman... the Jezebel who must be corralled by men, rather than the intelligent, prudent and autonomous young queen we see in the books. (Of course the show’s failure lies in the fact we loved that biyatch anyway...)

Why Fire and Ice aren't (always) equal

Hmm, maybe this post will be a bit controversial?

I began to write this loosely inspired by this post by @onionjulius comparing Cat and Ned and giving us lots of reasons as to why the former gets more flack than the latter. Like with Cat/Ned, I think Dany/Jon is another pair of characters with a similar moral stance and similar roles in the narrative who nevertheless are treated differently by the audience, with, of course, the female character being judged on a much more negative light (nevermind Shame of Thrones’s influence on this). And I think a lot (but not all, of course) of why that happens has to do with the different treatment that they receive in the books. (Some things are incidental, some things GRRM could’ve indeed done better) As I wrote the post, I also felt the need to point out double standards in the reception of Dany’s versus Jon’s storylines and also talk about their thematic messages rather than just exhibit how they’re differently structured. That’s most explicit in the second section.

I’ve discussed this issue with both @rainhadaenerys and @onionjulius at length, so I’m adding their ideas to my own and crediting them when it needs be.

I also want to make it clear that this is not about who suffered more or who is smarter or who is better in any way. This is just about the ways in which I feel GRRM’s writing favored Jon over Dany, but it doesn’t mean I don’t love her character and storyline all the same.

Keep reading

A good analysis of Martin’s writing favoring Jon as a protagonist over Daenerys that explains why some characterize her as an antagonist instead, despite their stories being remarkably similar.