Will Daenerys become greatest ruler of all time?

[SeanF]

On ‎10‎/‎15‎/‎2016 at 4:51 PM, blckp said:

she is only 14 years old yet already accomplished so many things and capable than any ruler westeros had last hundred years

 

as Jorah said

You would not only be respected and feared, you would be loved. Someone who can rule and should rule. Centuries come and go without a person like that coming into the world. There are times when I look at you, and I still can't believe you're real.

That's the Show rather than the books.

I think that she might well turn out to be a truly great ruler;  or a truly terrible one.  Each outcome would be consistent with her story so far.

Or perhaps, she'll never rule at all, but perish, fighting the Others.

[Nictarion]

I'm so sick of the "hell is paved with good intentions" bs that people parrot here over and over. 

Here's a qoute from GRRM that pretty much confirmed that is absolutely  not what he is going for with a character like Dany;

“My own heroes are the dreamers, those men and women who tried to make the world a better place than when they found it, whether in small ways or great ones. Some succeeded, some failed, most had mixed results… but it is the effort that’s heroic, as I see it. Win or lose, I admire those who fight the good fight.” - George R. R. Martin

[TheDemonicStark]

I doubt Dany would be a great ruler. However, she is worshipped as a goddess.

[delspark]

I'm on the side that thinks Dany wouldn't make a good/great ruler. She doesn't go by the line "Think before you act/speak".

She looks only at one side of the coin and forms temporary solutions. Just look at Meereen, she had only thought about freeing the slaves and not how to sustain them from going back to slavery for a living. 

[LordImp]

She will probably be a bad ruler . Jon though could become a great ruler .

[Protagoras]

I am wondering why all these "X will be the bestest ruler" exist, regardless if its about Daenerys, Tyrion, Jon or whoever.

Do people honestly think GRRM will follow the trope and end the series with the good king/queen who is honorable, virtuous, wise, self-sacrificing and understanding and somehow is able to please everyone except those that are moustache-twirling villains? Especially since he was very critical of Tolkiens portrayal of Aragorn "ruling wisely"?

That ruling is hard and you can´t please everyone was a key element in the last book. If Daenerys takes the throne everything won´t just be magically fixed. It will take significantly hard work, she won´t be able to solve everything, there will always exist disagreements in ideology and there will still be people against her that are not actively hating humanity. Will she become a decent ruler, even Westeros top 5? Maybe. Will she beat Jaehaerys? Most likely not. 

[Adam Yozza]

5 hours ago, Greywater-Watch said:

So, compared to Aerys II, Robert and Joffrey I think she is a much more promising ruler.

I disagree. She has the potential to be better than all three, definitely. But, as of this point in time, the only one she exceeds is Joffrey.

Aerys went mad in his later reign; he became cruel and paranoid. But in his earlier years as King he was quite good, especially as an administrator; he left the coffers overflowing with gold. We've already seen Dany fail at stewardship. She allowed every freed man/woman to follow her is a massive host and didn't plan for things like food and disease.

Robert wasn't the best king ever, although in terms of martial he could be considered quite good. But the main plus I see for Robert was that he was able to turn enemies from the rebellion into close friends. With Dany, she doesn't care about their motivations or reasons; they are either loyalists or the 'usurpers dogs'. This discrimination was highlighted when she crucified the Master's without trials to find out if they advocated crucifying the children or not.

(Note, I'm not saying that any of the three are good Kings. I'm arguing that at the moment, they have her beat)

Besides this, the thread isn't about whether Dany could be a good ruler (I think that with a lot of growth she could be pretty good, provided she survives that long). It's about whether she'll be the greatest. To argue this point, you need to compare her not with mediocre to poor kings, but with the other greatest kings: Aegon the Conqueror, Jahaerys I, Daeron II, hell even Daeron I to some extent.

[Golden Eyes]

Dany will be the best ruler because of her life. AIn't no one in the story that has it as bead as she does and still has not burned the city down or some other massive mess.

Sure she is having a tough time in the pyramids now, because she has people against her like all rulers do but she also has support from there and westeros.

Danaerys can speak several languages and has lived with the low born people and been a slave herself. All she wants to do is go home and be a kid again but she knows she cant do that for herself so she will make the world better for other people who do. She sacrifices alot. She aint going crazy at teh end of the books. No she is finding her dragon ballz.

[Greywater-Watch]

1 hour ago, Adam Yozza said:

Besides this, the thread isn't about whether Dany could be a good ruler (I think that with a lot of growth she could be pretty good, provided she survives that long). It's about whether she'll be the greatest. To argue this point, you need to compare her not with mediocre to poor kings, but with the other greatest kings: Aegon the Conqueror, Jahaerys I, Daeron II, hell even Daeron I to some extent.

You have a point there, I admit.

[Bironic]

Yes she will become the GROAT (Greatest Ruler Of All Time), with her ascension to the throne the summer that never ends begins and nobles and smallfolk alike will live happily ever after...

Barristan once said to her that there is no knight without peers, and as an extension to the rule there is no ruler without peers.

She can do good though.

 

[Gertrude]

On 10/15/2016 at 3:27 PM, El Guapo said:

The Dany that ruled Meereen was not a good Queen. The Dany that emerged after he ephiany at the end of ADWD has the potential to be a great Queen.

This. And she's only 16, so ... not ready to call it either way just yet. The biggest point in her favor (aside from dragons :p) is that she has empathy and wants to be a good ruler and protect her people. I know, I know - the path to hell is paved with good intentions. However, I do think that's kind of a big deal. Without it, you get Joffreys on the throne. So yeah - right now she has the potential to be great.

eta: hmm, now that I am thinking a little bit more, it's hard to define what qualities make someone great. What we see and what others see is often different. From what we know of Egg, he had all the good intentions in the world and should have been a good ruler. He empathized with the smallfolk and protected them through laws and provided for them. The nobles didn't like that, so it was rather contentious in that way. The land wasn't peaceful due to uprisings, and the political marriages he arranged for his children caused him lots of trouble (because the kids broke the betrothals). Aegon the V isn't remembered as a great king and his most important quality IMO was the protection of the smallfolk, which is what I'm praising Dany for. That didn't work out so well for him in the history books. It's actually quite a lot like Mereen - small folk call Dany Mysa, nobles hate her guts.

Here's hoping that Dany's mix of empathy and new dragon-like resolve will be a good mix to get shit done and do some real good. That is, of course, if she actual ends up in a position to do so.

[Gertrude]

8 hours ago, LordImp said:

She will probably be a bad ruler . Jon though could become a great ruler .

I'm interested in what you see as the difference between the two. I think they both have good leadership qualities, but have serious flaws that they need to work on before it translates into actual good leadership.

[Hodor the Articulate]

With all this talk body counts, I'm thinking the Great Other will be the greatest ruler of all time. I mean, he's bringing people back from the dead (sorta). No other ruler can boast a negative body count.

[ThePrinceThatKnewNothing]

People are going for the obvious and saying that Jon and Tyrion would make great leaders without acknowledging their faults. And this is of course because of their love of Jon and Tyrion. That's the beauty of these three protagonists, they all have their faults and have all equally made huge mistakes, but come towards the end of ADwD they've come towards the end of their education and we'll see a different side to them in TWoW

[Lord Vance II]

Short answer, no. 

Dany's biggest problem is that every problem looks like a nail and she has the biggest hammer in the world. 

I think a lot of people don't consider the vast difference between the smallfolk of Essos and Westeros. In Essos, she's a savior come to free them from millennia of bondage. She's worshipped like a god and (on the surface) the smallfolk have everything to gain from her conquest. 

She has nothing to offer the Westerosi smallfolk but fire and blood. They're as free as they're ever going to be. She's coming with a whos-who of terrifying allies and if she makes a full-on invasion the bloodshed will make the War of 5 Kings look like a skirmish. As has been said many times, the smallfolk of Westeros could care less who's on the throne if there crops are good and children are healthy. She won't help that. 

I think she will be taken aback when the Westerosi smallfolk don't flock to her like they did in Essos. And I think it will be the last straw that sends her down the path of Targaryan madness. 

Also, she's terrible about not considering consequences. Just look at the debacle in Slavers Bay. Admittedly, the initial takeover of Astapor seems like it went as well as it could have. Otherwise her admirable desire to give these people freedom has resulted in millions with nothing to do. No real employment, no real tangible future and cities with shattered economies. It will take decades for Slaver's bay to recover. But none of this was considered because she was hellbent on being "the breaker of chains." 

And I don't think her rule, if it even happens, will last. She wouldn't be THE WORST ever, but in her greater legend her rule will be a footnote. Plus the likelihood that she will leave no heir, opening the door to more violence. 

[Darth Sidious]

On 10/15/2016 at 11:51 AM, blckp said:

she is only 14 years old yet already accomplished so many things and capable than any ruler westeros had last hundred years

Meereen is a training ground.  Dany is about to accomplish the greatest accomplishment that world has ever seen: ending the slave trade in Essos.  If she can accomplish that, beating the white walkers should be less difficult.  The pale mare is all about learning to make decisions when there are no good options, a very realistic scenario.  Many people will die regardless of the decisions you make.  I think she will come out of Slaver's Bay, ready to become the greatest ruler that world has ever known.  Slavery is the greatest evil being committed by man in their world and it has to stop. 

[Rippounet]

On 17/10/2016 at 3:56 PM, Adam Yozza said:

Aerys went mad in his later reign; he became cruel and paranoid. But in his earlier years as King he was quite good, especially as an administrator; he left the coffers overflowing with gold. We've already seen Dany fail at stewardship. She allowed every freed man/woman to follow her is a massive host and didn't plan for things like food and disease.

Robert wasn't the best king ever, although in terms of martial he could be considered quite good. But the main plus I see for Robert was that he was able to turn enemies from the rebellion into close friends. With Dany, she doesn't care about their motivations or reasons; they are either loyalists or the 'usurpers dogs'. This discrimination was highlighted when she crucified the Master's without trials to find out if they advocated crucifying the children or not.

I'd argue this is factually incorrect. According to the World book, from the start Aerys had crazy dreams (and crazy talk) that never translated into actions, and the good administrator was really Tywin. As for Dany not caring about others' motivations or reasons, she changed that in ADwD by marrying Hizdahr and allowing the reopening of the fighting pits.

Right now, I think she may already be a better ruler than both Aerys and Robert, if only because unlike them she doesn't have many other people to rely on.

And this is what many here forget. So far, Dany has become what she is on her own. With the right advisors she can become a great ruler.

[Goldhands]

Why do people think Robert was such a bad king? He simply did not care and allowed others (Jon Arryn, Ned) to do what they think is best for the realm, because he trusted them and knew they were better rulers than he is. That doesn't make him a bad king. His only mistake was that he didn't recognize Cersei's scheming but other people neither did (or at least not until it was too late).

[YOVMO]

On 10/15/2016 at 11:51 AM, blckp said:

she is only 14 years old yet already accomplished so many things and capable than any ruler westeros had last hundred years

 

as Jorah said

You would not only be respected and feared, you would be loved. Someone who can rule and should rule. Centuries come and go without a person like that coming into the world. There are times when I look at you, and I still can't believe you're real.

More likely she will make the best corpse ever. She is a narcissist and a lunatic who has no business directing people to the bathroom let alone sitting a throne 

[YOVMO]

On 10/17/2016 at 0:47 PM, Bironic said:

Yes she will become the GROAT (Greatest Ruler Of All Time), with her ascension to the throne the summer that never ends begins and nobles and smallfolk alike will live happily ever after...

Barristan once said to her that there is no knight without peers, and as an extension to the rule there is no ruler without peers.

She can do good though.

 

And then fireworks will go off and the children of the forest will be dancing around while the force ghosts of Ned, Robert and Jon Arryn (played by Hayden Christensen) look on with pride and dragons fly around the sky and everyone gets their medals and rewards and right after than i purchase  a large caliber gun and shoot myself in the head