BlackLightning

The fact that Cersei's base of power (both as Cersei Lannister the noblewoman and as the One who Sits the Iron Throne) is poorly explained is a huge plot hole. It's called jumping the shark and it's destroyed other shows just as good as Game of Thrones. To skip over the Westerosi phobia of the Dothraki is a minor plot hole. The only people (Westerosi or not) who have explicitly expressed or shown a deep fear of or talked about the legendary status of the Dothraki to date have been: Randyll Tarly in one scene of season 7, Robert Baratheon in maybe three separate scenes in season 1, Cersei Lannister in one scene season 7 and Jaime Lannister in one scene in season 7. Both the Randyll Tarly and Jaime Lannister scenes happened after the fact that the Dothraki destroyed the armies of the West and the Reach and Cersei had a cold throwaway line about it in the finale. If the Dothraki were as bad as described by Robert Baratheon, people should be running around screaming and cowering in fear. There should have been mass desertions amongst men fighting on the side of the Lannisters and the Tarlys. And it should have been a laughably one-sided battle. Like no Dothraki should have been felled. But it wasn't. So evidently, the showrunners have repeatedly shown that the Dothrakiphobia present in Westeros is not worthy enough to home in on. Yet, they have repeatedly shown that power bases are especially important...particularly for anyone aspiring to take and hold the Iron Throne. If it's not passed down, it has to be earned and fought for. Even if it's passed down or given to you, you have to be diligent enough to keep it. These are the rules of the show. There should be absolutely no reason for Cersei to be on the Iron Throne. Especially not after suffering from such a crushing defeat at the hands of Daenerys. Unless you believe that there is no one to protest or challenge her...which is not true given the nature of the people who live in the city she rules. What was the purpose of Stannis struggling so much? Nobody liked him and he had to struggle to find men to follow him and take what was owed to him under the rules of the Baratheon dynasty. So why does Stannis struggle so much for the bare minimum when Cersei only has to sip on a glass of red wine, smirk and click her heels three times. It's a case of cleaning something that has only been ever-so-slightly used and not cleaning something that is a filthy health hazard.

Okay, now that it's clear that no one really cares about the Tarlys or Cersei, let's get down to the core of the issue. For the record, I think Daenerys will be absolutely ruthless AND frightening by the time she comes to Westeros in the books. In these last two books, Daenerys is going to have more in common with Magneto than Wonder Woman. She's shaping up to be a rather nasty anti-villain (notice how I said anti-villain and not villain, more on that later) Think about it. She's not going to win the unwavering loyalty of the Dothraki by being clever and politically astute. This isn't an area of the world or a culture where Sansa, Cersei, Littlefinger or even Tywin have a chance of being the powerhouses they are or will be. Not only does she have to be tough, clever and fierce but Daenerys has to be a winner and she has to be physically strong...probably moreso given the fact that she is a woman. To anyone who isn't Dothraki or already blindly loyal to her, Daenerys is going to be a nightmare. That's why I think the epilogue of Winds will be an Illyrio POV who is coming face-to-face with the all-new, all-different Daenerys. Can we blame her? When it comes to the whole game of thrones, Daenerys has already "been there, done that, bought a T-shirt." Not only did it almost killed her, it almost destroyed everything she had worked so very hard fort. That's the whole point of Meereen. The whole point of Meereen was to organically get Daenerys to the point where she won't even try to play the game and rule Westeros the way everyone (both the characters and the audience) expect her to rule. If she even bothers with ruling, she'll do it her way on her terms. That's what Daenerys has done since the very beginning of the story -- do the exact opposite of what everyone (both characters and audiences) wants and expects her to do, rock the boat/break the wheel and not give too much of a f*** while doing it. Yeah, it's borderline villainous but it's what I like about her. But more on that later. On top of that, look at who will likely be accompanying Daenerys. If Daenerys has "been there, done that, bought a T-shirt," Tyrion has written books and taught several graduating classes on the subject. While Tyrion loves to play the game, he is not going to be in the mood to play it with kids' gloves on. Tyrion is a borderline sociopolitical genius but he completely low-balled himself the first time around. He won't make that mistake again. Plus, Tyrion has some very old, very personal grievances with the Westerosi nobility. By the time it's time to head to Westeros, Tyrion will be playing for the one-man team known as Team Tyrion: everyone else -- including Daenerys -- is an enemy, a pawn, a doormat or both. Also who is likely to be right at Daenerys' side is Victarion. And anyone who knows anything knows that Victarion and the previous generations of Ironborn don't care anything about titles and thrones. They have a belief system that is almost contrary to everything on the mainland. They just want to reave and raid. They are very similar to the Dothraki in this regard. And then there's the fact that the god they believe in is probably an evil Lovecraftian being of some sorts that will end up f****ng the survivors up after everything is said and done. Now to the core of the issue. An anti-villain is the opposite of an anti-hero. While an anti-hero is someone who fights alongside "the good guys" but has some very questionable, if not villainous, methods that are very different from those his comrades, an anti-villain is someone who antagonizes "the good guys" but has heroic goals and a charismatic, noble character. In light of all of the problems Robert, Littlefinger and Cersei caused and the future problems that Euron, the Others and even Aegon are going to cause, Daenerys is likely to going to feel that setting the entire continent on fire, burning it clean and starting all over is a viable option. And, as scary as that sounds, I don't think it's that bad of an idea...especially if the continent is overrun with a greyscale plague, zombies big and small, ice demons, man-eating spiders, mad scientists, sleazeball war criminals and religious zealots. But this obviously is going to ruffle a lot of feathers. The characters have found themselves in places that they have not earned and it's inorganic. People who are so against Daenerys' execution of defiant backstabbers are sensing that this is where Daenerys is supposed to be but it rings hollow because it's not that big of a deal...because we're talking about defiant backstabbers who willfully aligned themselves with an evil hypocritical wretch of a woman. Who cares if they are executed? Bend the knee and join me or die. That's how everyone operates in this world. From Aegon the Conqueror and his sisters to Ned Stark to Khal Drogo. If they refuse to help me break the wheel, they are part of the wheel and must be broken. The end. Yes, keeping Dickon alive (whatever his wishes) makes political sense. But Daenerys -- at this point of the story -- is supposed to be apolitical. A foil of the Others. Except she's not. So what we have is a jumbled mess of a story. According to what's happened in the show, there's no reason for audiences to be upset with Daenerys. Look at Jon. Jon Snow gives multiple chances to a defiant, disrespectful subordinate...the man is executed. Jon Snow shows mercy to those undeserving and fails to properly deal with signs of mutiny within his ranks...Jon Snow dies. Jon Snow executes the defiant, oathbreaking backstabbers who killed him and threatened the lives of those who actually kept their oaths. Who complains about that? But the showrunners are writing the show (or allowing the show to be written) as if Daenerys has earned her position as the common enemy of everyone south of the Neck who isn't threatened by the Others. As if she poses a enough threat to the status quo to make lords like Randyll Tarly throw in with someone as sketch as Cersei Lannister. Worse, people are buying into it....EVEN THOUGH IT HASN'T EVEN BEEN SHOWN OR TALKED ABOUT. The fact that she has foreign soldiers fighting for her should not matter. Cersei was born in Westeros and has foreign soldiers fighting for her on Westerosi soil. Dany was born on Dragonstone which is a part of Westeros...she would have continued living in Westeros if she was allowed to do so. Dany returning to Westeros to reclaim her birthright is no different from the Starks returning to Winterfell and reclaiming theirs.

Randyll Tarly did not agree. He refused to take the black. Rewatch the episode. He went on a little racist tirade before he was executed. Dickon's life should have been spared yes. But if he insisted on dying (which he did), well.... Joffrey's situation was completely different. Joffrey had suffered a crushing defeat, lost a prized commander and was surrounded by enemies: Robb's Tully-Stark (and, as far as they were concerned, Arryn) coalition to the north and the northwest, Renly and the Tyrells from the southwest, Stannis from the east. To be honest, King Aerys was in a better position than what Joffrey was in and Aerys had half of the Seven Kingdoms rebel against him. Showing mercy was not only noble but it was also was in his best interest that he deal with Ned Stark gently. Joffrey was so much of an idiot that he was incapable of selfishly acting in his own best interest. Apples and oranges.

Of course! You're exactly right! It's not like the Freys didn't break faith with the Baratheon king to swear allegiance to the Stark king or anything...only to ditch the Stark king for the Baratheon king all over again just because the Stark king didn't do what the Freys wanted him to do. Who would do such a thing?! You forgot about Janos Slynt. Someone who was specifically told to do something (twice!) by his superior, publicly refused to do it in the most disrespectful way possible and then challenged said superior to do something about it. In any case, the common denominator between Jon executing men, Ned executing men and Robb executing men is that the men that they executed betrayed their station, broke the law and acted out of turn. Aegon the Conqueror made his enemies bend the knee even though his war wasn't won yet. And how many kings and lords did he kill? How many was he prepared to kill?

Fine. Let's judge the action on its own merits. There is nothing wrong with executing traitors after giving them a chance to make amends and work for you. And yes they were traitors because they swore oaths to Daenerys and Olenna Tyrell first. Not only were they traitors, they were also insolent, foolish and disrespectful. They were executed because they preferred to be executed. That's all there is to it.

Randyll Tarly did not agree. He refused to take the black. Rewatch the episode. He went on a little racist tirade before he was executed. Dickon's life should have been spared yes. But if he insisted on dying (which he did), well.... Joffrey's situation was completely different. Joffrey had suffered a crushing defeat, lost a prized commander and was surrounded by enemies: Robb's Tully-Stark (and, as far as they were concerned, Arryn) coalition to the north and the northwest, Renly and the Tyrells from the southwest, Stannis from the east. To be honest, King Aerys was in a better position than what Joffrey was in and Aerys had half of the Seven Kingdoms rebel against him. Showing mercy was not only noble but it was also was in his best interest that he deal with Ned Stark gently. Joffrey was so much of an idiot that he was incapable of selfishly acting in his own best interest. Apples and oranges.

Okay now I KNOW you don't know what you're talking about. Cersei is the biggest hypocrite on the entire gotdayum show. Is Aegon the Conquerer mad even though he set Harrenhal on fire with the entire Hoare family and their army inside? Littlefinger was begging for his life when his throat was opened and he bled out on the floor? Are the Starks worst than Cersei? Why do you care so much about the Tarlys? They were problematic and they refused to change. What was she supposed to do? It's the same situation as Jon's execution of Janos Slynt.

Yeah because the Freys are such fantastic paragons of loyalty, honor and duty. Why not? If he back out of vowing to be Olenna's man, why can't he just back out of being Cersei's? If a man can turn his back on a widowed bereaved old woman (whose family had all been killed in awfully convenient accident) that he has personally known for decades, then that volumes have been spoken on the character of that man. More than that, at the time Randyll Tarly made his decision, he -- as a Tyrell bannerman -- was still on the winning side. In fact, if Tarly had done the right thing and stood strong, then the war would've gone entirely different. You're being silly. Dany gave the Tarlys multiple chances to bend the knee. The fact that she didn't have them killed or left to rot in a dungeon says a lot about her character. Daddy Tarly made it worse by daring her to execute him and by publicly disparaging and denigrating her soldiers to her face. At this point, she has no choice but to execute him.. Why do you care so much about the Tarlys? Randyll Tarly is a horrible person and Dickon Tarly basically committed suicide. Jon, Ned and Robb have all executed people who did less than what Randyll Tarly did.

I saw and still see nothing wrong with Daenerys' execution of the Tarlys. Randyll Tarly made a vow to Olenna Tyrell, his liege. He then betrayed his liege for the likes of Cersei Lannister...and he had known Olenna Tyrell for what? 40-50 years? And then he made several racist comments towards Daenerys' men. And then he refused to bend the knee or take the black. Janos Slynt did less than Randyll Tarly did...yet when Jon executed him, no one blinked an eye. Dickon Tarly made a dumb decision. There was no need for him to do what he did. In fact, I hate Randyll Tarly even more for allowing his son (his "favorite" son at that) to join him in his execution. There was absolutely nothing wrong with what Daenerys did. A lot of other people (Tywin, Littlefinger, Lysa,, Cersei, Aerys, etc.) would not have asked. A dragonglass spear with a detachable spearhead. The detachable spearhead can be used as a dagger.