Daenerys Targaryen is one of the most beloved characters in the Game of Thrones. Her dragons have a slew of fans.
Will she be the one to sit on the Iron Throne? We will soon find out but until then, let’s remeber her journey this far.
- Daenerys Targaryen is a fictional character in George R. R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire series of novels
- As well as the television adaptation, Game of Thrones
- There she is portrayed by English actress Emilia Clarke
- In the novels, she is a prominent point of view character
- She is one of the most popular characters in the series
- And The New York Times cites her as one of the author’s finest creations
- Introduced in 1996’s A Game of Thrones, Daenerys is one of the last two surviving members of the House Targaryen
- Who, until fourteen years before the events of the first novel, had ruled Westeros from the Iron Throne for nearly three hundred years
- She subsequently appeared in A Clash of Kings (1998) and A Storm of Swords (2000)
- Daenerys was one of a few prominent characters not included in 2005’s A Feast for Crows
- But returned in the next novel A Dance with Dragons (2011)
- In the story, Daenerys is a young woman in her early teens living in Essos
- Knowing no other life than one of exile, she remains dependent on her abusive older brother, Viserys
- She is forced to marry Dothraki horselord Khal Drogo in exchange for an army for Viserys
- Who is to return to Westeros and recapture the Iron Throne
- Her brother loses the ability to control her as Daenerys finds herself adapting to life with the khalasar and emerges as strong, confident and courageous
- She becomes the heir of the Targaryen dynasty after her brother’s death
- And plans to reclaim the Iron Throne herself, seeing it as her birthright
- A pregnant Daenerys loses her husband and child
- But soon helps hatch three dragons from their eggs
- Which regard her as their mother
- Providing her with a tactical advantage and prestige
- Over time, she struggles to maintain control of her dragons
- She also acquires an army with which she conquers the cities of Yunkai, Astapor and Meereen
- Determined to end slavery and injustice there
- Despite her strong moral compass, she is capable of dealing ruthlessly with her enemies
- Particularly the slave masters
- After establishing herself as a powerful and relentless ruler, she sails for her homeland of Westeros
- Bent on reclaiming the Seven Kingdoms
- Well received by critics and fans alike, Clarke received Primetime Emmy Award nominations for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series for her performance as Daenerys in the HBO series in 2013, 2015, and 2016
- She has also earned many other nominations and accolades for her portrayal
- Daenerys Targaryen is introduced as the exiled princess of the Targaryen dynasty
- Also called “Stormborn”, she and her brother Viserys were smuggled to Essos during the end of Robert’s Rebellion
- For most of her life, she has been under the care of Viserys
- Whom she fears, as he is abusive to her whenever she displeases him
- Viserys marries Daenerys to the powerful Dothraki warlord Khal Drogo in exchange for his military support in an invasion of Westeros
- Making Daenerys a Khaleesi, a queen of the Dothraki
- During the wedding, exiled knight Ser Jorah Mormont pledges his loyalty to Daenerys
- And her benefactor Ilyrio Mopatis gifts her three petrified dragon eggs
- Daenerys is at first afraid of her new husband
- But after learning the Dothraki language, she begins to understand him and genuinely falls in love with him after learning Drogo is a smart leader and a kind man
- After embracing the Dothraki culture, she becomes stronger and rebels against her brother
- She later becomes pregnant with Drogo’s son
- Who is prophesied by the Dothraki to be the “Stallion Who Mounts the World”
- Viserys grows jealous of Daenerys’s popularity and becomes infuriated with Drogo’s lack of urgency in launching an invasion
- Prompting him to threaten to cut Daenerys’s unborn son from her womb
- Drogo responds by killing Viserys with molten gold
- To which Daenerys declares that he was no dragon, because fire cannot kill a dragon
- After an unsuccessful assassination attempt on behalf of Robert Baratheon, Drogo vows to Daenerys that he will conquer the Seven Kingdoms for her and their unborn son
- However, during their journey Drogo becomes comatose due to an infected wound incurred during a fight with one of his men
- Daenerys is forced to seek the help of healer Mirri Maz Duur to save his life using blood magic
- Mirri tricks Daenerys by using her unborn son’s life as a sacrifice to heal Drogo but leave him in a permanent catatonic state
- Forcing Daenerys to end her husband’s life
- Daenerys punishes Mirri by having her tied to Drogo’s funeral pyre
- She also lays the three dragon eggs onto Drogo’s body and steps into the fire herself
- At daybreak, after the fire is burned down, Daenerys emerges with three baby dragons
- Whom she names Drogon, Rhaegal, and Viserion
- Daenerys and the remnants of Drogo’s khalasar wander the Red Waste before being accepted into the city of Qarth
- She is hosted by merchant Xaro Xhoan Daxos, a member of Qarth’s ruling council the Thirteen
- Daenerys tries to appeal to the Thirteen to support her invasion of Westeros, without success
- She returns to Xaro’s manse to find half of her men and servants killed and her dragons gone
- Meeting with the Thirteen again to ask for their help in retrieving her dragons
- The warlock Pyat Pree claims responsibility and declares that her dragons are being kept in his temple, the House of the Undying
- Daenerys travels to the temple, but Pree’s magic separates her from Jorah and leaves her chained with her dragon
- Daenerys orders her dragons to immolate Pree
- Daenerys then confronts Xaro, who had conspired with Pree and Daenerys’s servant Doreah to seize control of Qarth
- Daenerys has Xaro and Doreah sealed in Xaro’s vault
- And has her remaining loyalists raid his manse
- Using the funds to buy a ship
- Daenerys travels to Astapor, a city in Slaver’s Bay
- As she arrives, the warlocks of Qarth attempt to assassinate her
- But are thwarted by Ser Barristan Selmy, who was Kingsguard to Aerys Targaryen
- Daenerys accepts him into her service
- Daenerys negotiates with Astapori slaver Kraznys mo Nakloz to purchase an army of Unsullied, elite eunuch soldiers, in exchange for Drogon
- Also obtaining the services of Kraznys’s translator Missandei
- Upon the completion of the transaction, she has Drogon burn Kraznys alive and orders the Unsullied to sack the city
- Kill Astapor’s masters and free its slaves
- Daenerys and her army then march on the neighbouring slave city of Yunkai
- Who hire the sellsword company the Second Sons to defend the city
- The commanders of the Second Sons order their lieutenant, Daario Naharis, to kill Daenerys
- However, he is smitten by her beauty and instead brings her the heads of his superiors, pledging the Second Sons’ allegiance
- Daario, Jorah, and the Unsullied commander Grey Worm infiltrate Yunkai
- Opening the gates for the Targaryen army to conquer the city
- Daenerys is received by Yunkai’s freed slaves, who hail her as their “mhysa” (mother)
- Daenerys marches on the last city in Slaver’s Bay, Meereen, and seizes control of the city by instigating a slave revolt
- She decides to execute 163 Meereenese masters as “justice” for 163 slave children crucified on the road to Meereen
- After becoming aware that her council in Astapor has been overthrown and that Yunkai has reverted to slavery, Daenerys decides to stay in Meereen to practice ruling
- She also begins a sexual relationship with Daario
- After discovering that Jorah was previously spying on her on House Baratheon’s behalf
- She is enraged and orders him exiled from the city
- Daenerys is later horrified to discover that Drogon has killed a farmer’s child
- Although Drogon is unable to be captured, she has Rhaegal and Viserion locked up in Meereen’s catacombs
- Daenerys faces a new threat to her rule in the form of the Sons of the Harpy
- A resistance movement made of agitated former masters
- Her popularity with the freedmen also begins to wane after she publicly executes one of her councillors, Mossador, for killing a captive Son
- After the Sons kill Ser Barristan, Daenerys decides that she will attempt to restore peace by reopening Meereen’s fighting pits and taking the Meereenese noble Hizdhar zo Loraq as her husband
- While attending a gladiator demonstration, she is confronted by Jorah
- Who has brought her the fugitive Tyrion Lannister to appease her
- Daenerys accepts Tyrion onto her council, but orders Jorah exiled again
- At the reopening of the fighting pits, Jorah saves Daenerys’s life by killing a Son of the Harpy trying to assassinate her
- The Sons then launch a massive attack, killing Hizdhar and many other Meereenese noblemen and freedmen
- As the Sons corner Daenerys and her councillors, Drogon appears and kills or scares off most of the Sons
- As the Unsullied begin to overwhelm the Sons, some begin throwing spears at Drogon, prompting Daenerys to climb onto his back and order him to fly away
- Drogon eventually leaves her in the Dothraki Sea, where she is captured by a khalasar
- Daenerys is taken to Khal Moro, the leader of the Dothraki horde
- Learning that she is the widow of Khal Drogo, Moro tells her she must live out her days among the widows of the Dosh Khaleen in Vaes Dothrak
- Once there, Daenerys is told that she is to be judged by the khals for defying tradition and going out into the world following Drogo’s death
- During the meeting with the khals, Daenerys declares that only she has enough ambition to lead the Dothraki
- When the outraged khals threaten to gang-rape her, Daenerys sets fire to the temple, killing everyone inside but emerging unscathed
- Awed, the Dothraki accept her as their Khaleesi
- After discovering that Jorah, who had followed her to Vaes Dothrak with Daario, is infected with the terminal disease greyscale, Daenerys orders him to find a cure and return to her services
- Before marching on Meereen with Drogon, Daario and the Dothraki
- Daenerys returns to Meereen to find it under siege by the joint fleets of Yunkai, Astapor, and Volantis
- Who have reneged on an agreement with Tyrion to free their slaves and are trying to reclaim the city
- Daenerys deploys all three of her dragons, burning most of the slaver fleet and seizing the ships that survive
- The slavers agree to surrender
- Soon after, Theon and Yara Greyjoy arrive to offer the Iron Fleet in exchange for Daenerys giving the Iron Islands their independence
- And installing Yara as queen of the Iron Islands over their uncle Euron, who had been planning to marry Daenerys
- Daenerys agrees to Theon and Yara’s alliance
- Varys, meanwhile, secures the support of Ellaria Sand and Olenna Tyrell
- Who have lost family members to the Lannisters and want vengeance
- Daenerys leaves Daario and the Second Sons in Meereen to keep the peace, names Tyrion Lannister as Hand of the Queen
- And sets sail for Westeros at last
- Daenerys arrives at the island fortress of Dragonstone, the ancient Targaryen stronghold once held by the late Stannis Baratheon, and finds it abandoned
- She sends the Unsullied to take Casterly Rock, and her Greyjoy fleet, along with ships from Dorne, to blockade King’s Landing
- The Lannister forces, however, have left Casterly Rock and seized Highgarden and its wealth
- And Euron Greyjoy overcomes Yara Greyjoy’s ships
- In an effort to gain allies, Daenerys summons the newly named King in the North, Jon Snow, to pledge his fealty to her
- Jon refuses, insisting that the White Walkers and their wight army present a more immediate threat than the Lannisters
- Receiving word of Highgarden’s fall, Daenerys leads Drogon and the Dothraki to decimate the Lannister caravan
- Drogon is injured by a ballista designed specifically to wound dragons, but Daenerys is victorious
- The remaining forces submit to her after she commands the dragon to roast a resistant Randyll and Dickon Tarly alive
- Jon and a cured Jorah lead an expedition beyond the Wall to capture a wight
- Which they will use to convince Cersei Lannister, the self-declared Queen of Westeros, that the threat is real
- They are saved from the army of the dead by Daenerys and her dragons
- But the Night King kills Viserion with an ice spear
- A distraught Daenerys vows to Jon that she will help fight the White Walkers
- And Jon accepts her as his queen
- The pair and their retainers bring a wight to King’s Landing to convince Cersei of the threat beyond the Wall
- Cersei ultimately agrees to a truce, and to aid in the fight against the undead army
- While secretly plotting to betray them
- Jon and Daenerys finally succumb to their growing feelings for each other and have sex
- Unaware that they are related by blood
- Neither of them are aware that the Night King has revived Viserion as wight
- And breaches the Wall with dragonfire
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