Learning to lead III: the search for decisive actions, a re-read project of the Daenerys and Jon chapters from ADWD

[Spiderweaves]

Jon has the difficult situation which Dany also finds herself in where he has part of the people he rules (the ones who want to "conserve" what has been) distrust his motives, while he is a giver of hope to others. The first faction will try and work against them, and the second will make demands, will "guilt trip" the leaders and will act as a constant reminder of their rather heavy responsibilities.

Definitely. Any leader is going to have to balance the demands and expectations of various groups if he or she wants to stay in power. Again, though, The Prince* is a set of guidelines for people who have that explicit desire, and I'm not sure Jon fits that description.

By contrast, do people read Dany as being interested in getting and retaining power for power's own sake?

Before I answer, let me take a look at the new chapter overview Lummel posted...

*And at least some people take it seriously: see, for example, hundreds of syllabi for college intro-to-political-science courses. :drunk:

[Chaircat Meow]

*And at least some people take it seriously: see, for example, hundreds of syllabi for college intro-to-political-science courses. :drunk:

It really isn't satire.

[Ragnorak]

When Brown Ben Plumm switched sides she thought of him as a friend-- "would she never have a friend she can trust." She also thinks that somewhere there must be two people she can trust referring to the other two heads of the dragon. After confronting BBP at the feast she decides to try and see if Quentyn is one of those two people she can trust. This is an interesting contrast because there is a heavy "trust no one" theme to her conversation with Selmy. Dany even thinks:

If truth be told, Dany was forgetting how to trust.

BBP references Tyrion as the gift he wanted to buy for Dany. Selmy tells Dany in regards to trying to get sellswords to switch sides:

Though I fear this is not a task for which I am well suited. In King’s Landing work of this sort was left to Lord Littlefinger or the Spider.

This is not just a task that Tyrion is well suited for, but one he is actively engaged in at present (or will be in the very near future.)

Given the multiple two aspects symbolism we see in Dany's chapters and Martin's themes with duality in ruling, is there something to the Tyrion references here? Tyrion has an inherent connection to Dany given the twenty year history between Aerys and Tywin. Tyrion has the dream where he has two heads. Unlike Tywin who clearly represents a purely singular aspect of ruling, Tyrion does not. Looking back on every shortcoming we have identified with Dany as a regent in Westeros i think Tyrion fills in almost every gap.

I'm still going through the chapter again looking to formulate a better connection. I just thought I'd throw it out there and see if anyone has any thoughts.

[Faint]

Given the multiple two aspects symbolism we see in Dany's chapters and Martin's themes with duality in ruling, is there something to the Tyrion references here? Tyrion has an inherent connection to Dany given the twenty year history between Aerys and Tywin. Tyrion has the dream where he has two heads. Unlike Tywin who clearly represents a purely singular aspect of ruling, Tyrion does not. Looking back on every shortcoming we have identified with Dany as a regent in Westeros i think Tyrion fills in almost every gap.

Not to mention, he just happens to share with Daenerys the same circumstances as to the manner of his birth, which I'm sure is just a coincidence. I mean, it isn't as if the three main characters are tied together by one particular thematic connection in the midst of all this talk of the dragon having three heads . . . oh, wait . . .

[tze]

One striking thing about this chapter is its placement: it comes directly after Theon's final chapter, and this highlights a general but crucial distinction between Jon's and Dany's arcs: the weather. We go from a pretty horrendous blizzard in the North to excruciatingly extreme heat in Slaver's Bay. (This distinction has of course been occurring throughout the book, granted.) Jon's last chapter had him grasping for solutions to the greatest problem the North routinely faces: winter is always coming. He doesn't have the option of planting crops, as Dany did. He has to worry about sheltering people from the snow and the cold, while Dany can leave people outside the gates of Meereen without having to worry about them succumbing to the elements. (There are other things for them to worry about, of course, but cold weather isn't one of them.) But while winter seems to have come to Westeros, Slaver's Bay remains a place of eternal summer. I don't recall Dany taking any actions, in this or in past chapters, to prepare for an onslaught of winter. Presumably this is because winter---at least, winter in the Westerosi sense---never really comes to Slaver's Bay. "Winter is coming" is a maxim that the Queen of Meereen does not encounter, one issue that Dany's rulership struggle never has to deal with. So many speak of "a summer that never ends" as a positive thing, but in Slaver's Bay we we see exactly what sort of society an endless summer creates. If Dany had had to worry about winter like Jon does, do we think her actions both in and around Slaver's Bay might have changed?

As Lummel points out, Dany chooses, apparently ignorantly, to clothe herself in Yunkai's signature color. What sort of message was she inadvertently sending here? Could this be one reason so many highborn were cheering her? (They thought her clothing choice indicated her embrasure of Yunkai?) She doesn't wear the colors of Hizdahr's family (indigo, lilac, and purple, apparently) at all, and I do wonder what the Loraq family thought of that. Again we see her seeking "light and cool" clothes---for someone who prides herself on thriving in heat, she certainly seems to want to avoid heat. It's interesting that she also wears red veils, given the fact that "red veils" seem to have wedding significance in Meereen (as we know that's why Dany wore red veils to her wedding.)

Again we see Dany thinking approvingly of Daario's "fussy old grandsire" insult to Ser Barristan.

It's interesting that the thing that inspires Dany to initially try and leave the pit isn't the man-to-man slaughters nor the animal-to-animal slaughters: it's Barsena Blackhair being killed by the boar. The connections to Robert Baratheon's death are inescapable (and certainly put Barristan's running commentary into perspective, given that he saw Robert getting killed by a boar, a factor Dany never seems to recognize when she metaphorically rolls her eyes at him). What is it about a woman losing to (and getting eaten by) an animal that serves as the last straw? Barsena misjudged this animal's intelligence (she thought she would be able to slowly bleed him until he lost so much strength that she could finish him), and she's not quick enough to avoid his strike. All of Barsena's victories were worthless in this, her one defeat. One defeat was all it took. And she did not lose to a man or a woman---she lost to an animal.

Barsena's strategy kind of reminded me of the battle between the Dothraki and the Unsullied at Quohor; the Dothraki kept charging, even though that strategy kept failing, and the Unsullied were able to bleed them until the Dothraki lost. Odd how this boar seems smarter than that khalasar.

Barsena's fight against the boar also reminded me of Brienne's fight against the bear at Harrenhal. Dany points out that Barsena is not fighting with a wooden sword and also that Barsena fights almost naked; Brienne, by contrast, did fight with a wooden sword, and though stories circulated that she fought naked, we of course know she did not. Interesting that Hizdahr claims Barsena is the "bravest woman [he has] ever seen"---implicitly, he doesn't think of his wife, the woman sitting next to him, as the bravest woman he's ever seen. It also highlights the differences between the fighters of Slaver's Bay and the fighters of Westeros, a difference that will doubtless come into play in the future.

Did anyone else find it odd that "sullen Braavosi" were fighting in Daznak's Pit? Why were they "sullen"? Given that "sullen" is not a term ubiquitously applied to Braavosi, not to mention that Braavosi are the one group in Essos that are definitely not slavers (so Dany has no reason to dislike them, and thus, has no reason to project negative emotions onto them that aren't actually present), what are the implications of these Braavosi's presence in the Pit? Could it be that these Braavosi did not want to be fighting in Daznak's Pit? Were they, perhaps, disgusted with what Meereen had become?

I love how some people fled at the arrival of the dragon (the Pahls, for example) . . . but "more stayed in their seats". Oh, Meereen.

Dany keeps calling the attempted dragonslayer "the hero". Interesting how this man manages to climb onto Drogon's back and stab him in the neck from there. What would Drogon have done to this man if he hadn't stabbed him? Would he still have attacked? Or would someone other than Dany have gotten to ride a dragon?

Interesting that Drogon bleeds black. The last creature we saw literally bleeding black was Gregor Clegane, and that "black blood" was a sign that he'd been poisoned. A single spear thrust was enough to puncture Drogon's scales at the base of his neck, and we know that 1) Drogo, Drogon's namesake, died of an infected wound (a wound which Dany believes was poisoned by MMD), and 2) Gregor Clegane's blood turned black from a poisoned spear wound. Perhaps it's notable that the spear that stabs Drogon is one of the same spears being used to corral the boar that killed Barsena. Was there perhaps something smeared on that spear to drug or poison the boar, something that perhaps is affecting (or will affect) Drogon?

Here's something I find really random and odd: everybody in that pit freaked out at the arrival of the dragon. Everybody, that is . . . except that damn boar! Everybody else in the pit is either running away or freezing in fear, yet the boar just calmly goes on eating Barsena. It doesn't seem to notice or care about the dragon's presence until Drogon literally roasts it---then it gives a scream that "sounded almost human." Is something else going on here? Has the boar been drugged by something? The boar spears, or perhaps Barsena's knife? (It would have made sense for her to drug her knife, given her strategy for wearing the boar down.) I don't see how or why a skinchanger would have been riding that boar (unless Borroq is way more powerful than we know or Bloodraven is way more bored than we know), but something seems off here.

In Westeros the septons spoke of seven hells and seven heavens, but the Seven Kingdoms and their gods were far away. If she died here, Dany wondered, would the horse god of the Dothraki part the grass and claim her for his starry khalasar, so she might ride the nightlands beside her sun-and-stars? Or would the angry gods of Ghis send their harpies to seize her soul and drag her down to torment?

Interesting that Dany thinks of the gods of Westeros as "their gods", not "my gods" or "our gods". Even now, after she's thrown off her tokar.

[Lummel]

*And at least some people take it seriously: see, for example, hundreds of syllabi for college intro-to-political-science courses. :drunk:

The reason I've mentioned the Prince a couple of times is because it frames some good discussion points that are relevant to us quite nicely. I don't see discussion of whether it is or isn't a satire as relevant - it that is somethng you want to discuss take it to the Literature sub-forum or to PMs please.

Given the multiple two aspects symbolism we see in Dany's chapters and Martin's themes with duality in ruling...

ok, sounds interesting - can you give us a bit more on that please? Do you have particular aspects in mind? Or do you feel that institutions like the King and his Hand or the Triarchs of Volantis are a way of capturing this duality? Are you perhaps remembering the old King's two bodies argument?

One striking thing about this chapter is its placement: it comes directly after Theon's final chapter, and this highlights a general but crucial distinction between Jon's and Dany's arcs: the weather. We go from a pretty horrendous blizzard in the North to excruciatingly extreme heat in Slaver's Bay. (This distinction has of course been occurring throughout the book, granted.) Jon's last chapter had him grasping for solutions to the greatest problem the North routinely faces: winter is always coming. He doesn't have the option of planting crops, as Dany did. He has to worry about sheltering people from the snow and the cold, while Dany can leave people outside the gates of Meereen without having to worry about them succumbing to the elements. (There are other things for them to worry about, of course, but cold weather isn't one of them.) But while winter seems to have come to Westeros, Slaver's Bay remains a place of eternal summer. I don't recall Dany taking any actions, in this or in past chapters, to prepare for an onslaught of winter. Presumably this is because winter---at least, winter in the Westerosi sense---never really comes to Slaver's Bay. "Winter is coming" is a maxim that the Queen of Meereen does not encounter, one issue that Dany's rulership struggle never has to deal with. So many speak of "a summer that never ends" as a positive thing, but in Slaver's Bay we we see exactly what sort of society an endless summer creates. If Dany had had to worry about winter like Jon does, do we think her actions both in and around Slaver's Bay might have changed?...

I don't think there is anything odd about the pig. I'm not an expert on pigs but I believe they aren't as nerverous as horses and do make quite human sounding squells in distress.

Totally agree on the weather and climate. The absolute basic point is that the leader isn't a free agent. Winter is coming is going to determine your immediate tasks and priorities in the North. But that's an interesting point that the climate makes life possible encourages an indifference to others, while the harsh conditions of the north require a certain degree of collectivism and concern for for you subjects?

Something that I forgot to mention is that Drogon's arrival reminds me of the puppet play mention in Kings Landing in AFFC with the lion dominating all the other beasts until a dragon swoops down and eats it. It does seem to be a symbol. The civilised person (ok I use the term losely in referring to King Bob) is defeated by the force of nature, but the smaller beast is in turn defeated by a bigger one. This is the moment too when Daenerys surrenders to the force of her nature and her desire to escape, when she abandons the rational path of peace and marriage with Hizdahr in favour of a wildly irrational act.

Notice how when Drogon is stabbed it and Daenerys both scream together - perhaps we should be thinking of them as we do Jon and Ghost as one person. In which case Daenerys is finally doing the right thing and reuniting with herself.

Utterly minor and probably inconsequential point - the other character just called the hero is the Yunkish guy that Strong Belwas kills in ASOS.

[Bright Blue Eyes]

As Lummel points out, Dany chooses, apparently ignorantly, to clothe herself in Yunkai's signature color. What sort of message was she inadvertently sending here? Could this be one reason so many highborn were cheering her? (They thought her clothing choice indicated her embrasure of Yunkai?) She doesn't wear the colors of Hizdahr's family (indigo, lilac, and purple, apparently) at all, and I do wonder what the Loraq family thought of that. Again we see her seeking "light and cool" clothes---for someone who prides herself on thriving in heat, she certainly seems to want to avoid heat. It's interesting that she also wears red veils, given the fact that "red veils" seem to have wedding significance in Meereen (as we know that's why Dany wore red veils to her wedding.)

Funny fact about the implication of red colour in Mereen society - the Red Graces are the prostitutes. Never got it until you mentioned it, but Dany choosing the sign of a tempel prostitute to wear makes me curious. And it makes me question her marriage ceremony once more.

Are there some Mereenese mentioned wearing red apart form the Red Graces?

[Lummel]

So she's appearing in public to show the world that she's prostituting herself to Yunkai? A good thing then that she throws the clothes off and runs away.

[liberal teapot]

Comparing Dany and Jon here, Dany cannot plant either, she lives in an infertile dustbowl scorched by fire once again. Jon comes out ahead even though his power is just as precarious, through his deal with the Iron bank.

Dany chooses to clothe herself in the colour of cowardice as well, Tze your mention of her avoiding the heat confuses me, just because surely the heavy clothes of the night watch are just as much of a coping strategy, they just aren't mentioned.

Re: Black blood, i wonder if Drogon's blood is poison, and by extension Dany is Poison.

[The guy from the Vale]

Comparing Dany and Jon here, Dany cannot plant either, she lives in an infertile dustbowl scorched by fire once again. Jon comes out ahead even though his power is just as precarious, through his deal with the Iron bank.

Dany chooses to clothe herself in the colour of cowardice as well, Tze your mention of her avoiding the heat confuses me, just because surely the heavy clothes of the night watch are just as much of a coping strategy, they just aren't mentioned.

Re: Black blood, i wonder if Drogon's blood is poison, and by extension Dany is Poison.

I think blood is often referred to as black in the books. Cersei also refers to black blood in relation to Maggy's blood magic prophecy.

Although it could well mean that specifically black blood is, in some way, evil or destructive.

[Budj]

I guess the difference is Jon never claims he is blood of the cold...

[Ragnorak]

The naked woman on the pyramid was supposed to symbolize Dany. The boar killed Barsena, a naked woman, in the way the last Westeros monarch died. I can see this as being intentionally staged.

Dany wearing Yunkai colors is interesting. She wore a blue tokar to meet the GG because the green one was damaged and needed mending. Dany wanted to meet the GG as equals but is damaged and needs mending so she ends up wearing subservient blue. Dany's choices have led her to handing the city over to the Yunkai so she wears their colors. Casting them off does not bode well for the Yunkai. I need to look up her past tokar color choices.

ETA Great catch with the Red Graces being the temple prostitutes Bright Blue Eyes. That's one more blatantly symbolic color choice.

ok, sounds interesting - can you give us a bit more on that please? Do you have particular aspects in mind? Or do you feel that institutions like the King and his Hand or the Triarchs of Volantis are a way of capturing this duality? Are you perhaps remembering the old King's two bodies argument?

That has possibilities but I was thinking about the Ned vs Tywin polarity that is frequently handled by two seperate people such as Doran/Oberyn. Even the King/King's Hand offices suggest needing two people as two aspects to rule. Tyrion is bought last chapter by the person who makes Dany wish she had someone like Tyrion to do exactly what Tyrion ends up doing for her. Tyrion shows up in this chapter as well and Dany saves him. Is there a theme that perhaps Dany needs a balancing aspect to rule as Doran does? Tyrion was Hand and the Aerys/Tywin connection is there as well. I was wondering if this is a stand alone or new connection or if there are themes throughout Dany's story that reinforce it. Her internal dual nature struggle is there but I don't have any solid ideas yet. Tyrion doing what her current advisors can't seems important though.

[assjfjgjsgjljljglgjfjsduar]

The reason I've mentioned the Prince a couple of times is because it frames some good discussion points that are relevant to us quite nicely. I don't see discussion of whether it is or isn't a satire as relevant - it that is somethng you want to discuss take it to the Literature sub-forum or to PMs please.

I think it's relevant if a person is going to use it to back up various assertions about leadership and power dynamics. If it is satire, the entire premise changes.

[Lummel]

...That has possibilities but I was thinking about the Ned vs Tywin polarity that is frequently handled by two seperate people such as Doran/Oberyn. Even the King/King's Hand offices suggest needing two people as two aspects to rule. Tyrion is brought last chapter by the person who makes Dany wish she had someone like Tyrion to do exactly what Tyrion ends up doing for her. Tyrion shows up in this chapter as well and Dany saves him. Is there a theme that perhaps Dany needs a balancing aspect to rule as Doran does? Tyrion was Hand and the Aerys/Tywin connection is there as well. I was wondering if this is a stand alone or new connection or if there are themes throughout Dany's story that reinforce it. Her internal dual nature struggle is there but I don't have any solid ideas yet. Tyrion doing what her current advisors can't seems important though.

I like the idea of Daenerys as the grass to Tyrion's snake. Interestingly that runs counter to the idea of a single supreme leader and suggests that effective leadership is about teamwork among people with complimentary skills. Which takes us back to the advisors, mentors and officers that both have. Barristan again here pointing out his own limitations underlines that as a problem they both face.

I think it's relevant if a person is going to use it to back up various assertions about leadership and power dynamics. If it is satire, the entire premise changes.

yes, there's an argument there that if GRRM was of the opinion that the Prince was a satire that it is a dig at Tywin having him as the man closest to the prince who is feared rather than loved. Although I think Tywin is more nuanced than Machiavelli's description.

[Bushido]

He is not indebted to Melisandre because he NEVER ASKED HER explicitly to get his sister. What part of this is confusing?

Not just that but Melisandre stressed that her action is a gift from her...and her god. No debt there.

[PatrickStormborn]

Great analysis, Lummel! Daenerys IX is probably my favourite chapter of the entire series, although it was also the chapter where I decided that Ser Barristan truly was a lousy person. Daenerys and Drogon screaming as one gave me chills; it's clear that she's no warg, but her connection to the dragons cannot be ignored. Whilst reading ADWD I admit that I lost faith in Daenerys (although she was still my favourite character because I was also losing faith in all of my other favourites), but her taming of Drogon and rescuing him from certain death just drew me right back in. The scene still feels incredibly cathartic for me, even on later readings.

I'd love to post more but sadly I've been completely put off from posting. I've just caught up with the last ten pages, and I hate to say it but the thread has become what I feared it would, with a certain poster managing to start on argument on almost every page, which is incredibly frustrating at the best of times, but even more so when you're reading them in succession. I've also noticed that a lot of posters whose posts I adore have stopped contributing (I wonder why, hmm), which saddens me. And, to be perfectly honest, I'm finding it hard to even want to visit the board now, particularly as I was greeted with a rather rude private message.

I apologise for further derailing the thread, but I just can't take it any more. If anyone has anything to say to me, please PM me as I feel bad as it is for bringing this back up. I'd rather not receive another nasty message though, so try and keep it civil this time.

[Spiderweaves]

Interesting that Dany thinks of the gods of Westeros as "their gods", not "my gods" or "our gods".

Her reflections on religion got my attention, too. She's not sure which set of gods--if any--would respond to her in a moment of crisis, and, to me, that suggests how split between cultures she feels in general. She can't imagine more than one culture's god rescuing her at the same time. A leader could choose to make this kind of diverse background a strength, but Dany doesn't seem to have gotten there yet. She hasn't found a coherent self to inhabit.

Drogon seems to represent the wild, untamed, id-like part of her self in this chapter. He arrives when she is outraged at what she's seen in the pits, and he carries her away from the scene (at her request). Frustrated by what she has allowed to happen in Meereen, and discontent about the state of her reign, she and her dragon fly away from it.

Going forward, I think she needs to find ways to control her inner dragon.

[Winterfellian]

Thanks for the great review Lummel!

There is a point in this chapter where Dany thinks to herself: One step then another...but where is it that am going? This is reminiscent of Jon's: Is that (the Iron Throne) whom I serve now?

I think this is a good point for comparing and contrasting where they stand now that their archs are ending because it shows where their confusions and doubts relied the most.

While Dany has seen to lost focus of her first objective Jon hasn't but at the same time their actions are running the risk of being perceived as working for the wrong side (the slavers and the Iron Throne)

To expand more on my first point, Dany finally acknowledges to herself just how lost she is, which as a reader is something I realize a while back. Like I wrote above somehow amidst the floppy ears and the graces and Quaithe's prophecies she lost the sight of initial goal- To bring freedom and the semblance of equality to slavers Bay for the SLAVES. The imagery of her former enemies calling her mother is proof of this. In a way it reminds me of Jaime's line: ''That boy had wanted to become Ser Arthur Dayne, but someplace along the way he had become the smiling knight instead''. Dany had wanted to become the mother of slaves and someplace along the way she ended up becoming the mother and wife of former slavers.

Jon on the other side not only did not lost sight of his objective, but rather gave a global meaning to it. For him the ''realms of men'' ceased to include only those south of the wall but the ones north of it as well. Without setting up to it he ended up becoming the bridge (a fragile one at that) between 2 different cultures, which is something that Dany tried to do when she married Hizdahr.

As for their actions, they are both submitted to a wrong perception. We know that neither is Jon working for the Iron Throne nor has Dany been working for the Yunkai and yet people are perceiving it this way. How are their actions responsible for this? Looking back is very difficult to pinpoint an specific action so I thought it better to compare them with 2 instances in their last inmediate chapters to understand how could this have happen:

- Tycho directly told Jon he thought of him as working for the IT. I thought it interesting that while Jon second guessed himself about this he didn't denied it aloud to Tycho. This is in parallel to many of Jon's actions in this book. While in his mind he knows that what he's doing is for the better good he fails to communicate it aloud (like in the case of the loan from the IB), efficiently or to a crowd willing to listen. All of this things combined contribute to leave many of his best decisions open to criticism which in turn results in a bad perception of his actions. Am not saying this is entirely Jon's fault but that what I listed above are moments where I feel he might have erred.

- Dany and her choices of floppy ears. I have not much to say in this regard because many posters above already commented on her chose for Yunkai colors on this chapter. I remember in her wedding chapter Butterbumps made a great observation about how she chose to dress herself as a proper Mereen bride instead of appearing in Dothraki garment and how if what she wanted was to bridge herself to unify Mereen another garment that reflected herself as Daenerys Stormborn might have been better suited to her purposes. In essence that the entire thing was a mistaken case of floppy ear use in a bad way. Is the same case here. She has been wearing the floppy ears for so long she got what she wanted: to become the queen of rabbits or at least to be perceived as one.

[Lummel]

Yes religion is a big difference between the two. Jon is pretty firm I think in his alligence to the old gods (or is he just continuing the forms of The Ned's observance?). Daenerys seems to be a true Braavosi - all gods exist for her, although she doesn't seem to have an exclusive relationship with any. Does she actually pray at any point in the series? I don't remember.

On the other hand there have been a couple of points when it seems as though Daenerys is regarded as divine - by the freed slaves caling out to her as Mother and by the unsullied (or maybe I'm reading to much into it), if Jon is the Corn King and due to be reborn as a divine or semi-divine figure then maybe this is another point of connection?

I like the Drogon as Id idea which I feel parallels the role the direwolves have with their Starks often mirroring their emotional state in a stronger form, but I also like the idea of Daario as Daenerys' Id representing her basic desires. Decisions, decisions.

[brashcandy]

Great analysis Lummel :) These final chapters really help to display Dany's dramatic reconnection with her essential self - the Dragon- and the final break from the kind of stagnant separation she's endured in her quest to rule. This chapter does a good job IMO of underlining what it is that fuels Daenerys. She may not have the constant reminder that winter is coming to act as as a driving force for change - the external impetus that challenges Jon, but there's instead a very internal compulsion that is no less as strong and compelling, relating to her ability to empathise with the oppression others endure.

The bricks will soon be baking in the sun, thought Dany. Down on the sands, the fighters will feel the heat through the soles of their sandals.

I think it's significant that this concern, not for self but for others, is what opens the chapter and even when she is choosing the light clothes to bear the heat of the day, her thoughts naturally turn to the fighters again:

The red sands will burn the soles of those about to die.

Indeed, the repetition of this imagery contributes to the trance-like quality in this chapter. Dany is going through the motions, but her internal turmoil and dissatisfaction with what she has been made to settle for is growing. She wears the red veil which will conceal the blood splatters, but her attempt to distance herself was always already falling apart , and in the arena we see the actual process of disrobement in order to recover that true self.

When she spies Drogon and runs onto the sand to rescue him, she achieves that elemental unity with her people once again and finally with Drogon. No longer is she simply imagining what the fighters will have to feel, but she's become one of them, experiencing the hot sand between her toes, in a fight of life and death with her dragon:

The world seemed to slow as she cleared a parapet. When she landed in the pit she lost a sandal. Running, she could feel the sand between her toes, hot and rough. Ser Barristan was calling after her. Strong Belwas was still vomiting. She ran faster.

When she looks at Drogon she can see herself in his eyes, and knows that she cannot look away. The denial of self that resulted in her symbolic stagnation would now cause literal death.

I am looking into hell, but I dare not look away. She had never been so certain of anything. If I run from him he will burn me and devour me.

She finally confronts the truth of her connection to Drogon - "he is made of fire and so am I" - giving her a burst of confidence to mount Drogon, and depart the pits. Her connection with the animal results in a kind of erotic transcendence:

Dany could feel the heat of him between her thighs. Her heart felt as if it were about to burst.Yes, she thought, yes, now, now, do it, do it, take me, take me, FLY!

This is the true power and pleasure Dany has been longing for throughout her time in Meereen.