Daenerys Targaryen A born Leader, but a Terrible Ruler

[OnlyOne]

Before I begin this I want to make one thing clear, this is not intended as a trollpost. I do not intend to offend anyone and I hope to make my points in a clear and organized fashion, without any misogyny or fan worship. I'm just a guy making his first post on a topic I find very interesting, one that I hope you'll be interested in as well. Also this is my first post on this website so if you feel like I could improve my writing in any way feel free to let me know. And with that said lets get started.

Recently having gotten back into the book series I have been reading a number of posts and arguments on Daenerys Targaryens credibility as a ruler. The topic tends to be argued either in one of three ways, the first is in the extreme negative, where posters will comment on Daenerys's naivety as well as her mistakes and often one sided view of justice. This side also tends to comment on her lack of emotional control and listening to her heart as opposed to her mind. The second viewpoint is taken from the extreme positive side in which posters believe that Daenerys's achievements, such as the freeing of the slaves from Astapor, are signs that her greatness has yet to come and will be a beloved monarch. And the third viewpoint is also on the positive side, but from an apologetic standpoint. Posters in this demographic will state that yes Dany has made some mistakes, but that she has learned from these mistakes and will be a stronger ruler for them. Or perhaps less respectfully they will state her age as the cause and use that to excuse her actions.

Now granted each of these arguments have some validity, with examples being easy to pull up support for any argument. Dany is a complicated character, as is the majority of GRRM's characters in this book. This girl started off as a young girl sold off by her brother to a horse lord, and through trial and error rose to become the queen of a city. Such ability does not come without some hardship and emotional strain and has created a character that in the eyes of the viewer you either love or despise. Dany is a testament to GRRM's ability as a writer and in many ways is a reflection of the things we love or hate about a protagonist.

However I do feel that the argument about her being a ruler needs to be more centralized in order to look at her with an unbiased eye. I don't believe she is incompetent as many of my fellow readers do. While she has certainly had help on her journey she has made a number of decisions that have increased her power and made her a force to be reckoned with. Such a situation could not be brought about if she did not posses some measure ability. However I will admit she has made mistakes that if made by other characters made them in the book would cause their downfall. Her actions in the aftermath of Mereneese and trusting Daario are bad mistakes, which may still come to haunt her later on. In essence I will say this, I believe Daenerys is a great leader, but as of now she is a terrible ruler.

Now before you comment on me making a catch 22, just hear me out. I believe that a leader and a ruler while similar in certain functions are two different things entirely. I'll do my best to explain. A leader is a person who, through charisma or ability is able to pull a group of people together in support of them. These individuals can inspire those under them to preform great feats under their direction and can achieve through cooperation what could not be achieved in separation. This definition of a leader is more closely akin to what we have today in the forms of presidents and politicians and is one of the reasons people like Dany. Many of the views she has would be considered modern and added to that with her strong feminine character and backstory, it isn't hard too see why those who follow her love her.

However just become someone is a good leader doesn't neccesarily make someone a good ruler. Now a ruler can have many different styles of ruling in the world, especially in medieval times such as those shown in the ASOFAI. And what may work in one kingdom is not guaranteed to work in another. Balon Greyjoy for example rules in a very serious and strong manner, or as one would say the Ironborn way. While this style of leadership is respected in the Iron Islands, it would never be applicaple in any of the other kingdoms. Regardless however of what style a ruler uses, a ruler at their core is an administrator. A ruler has subjects to whom they are owed alliegance to, but in turn must serve and keep them happy. Many a lord both in fiction as well as in the real world has lost their head due to poor management skills, while intelligent rulers like Tywin are able to form powerful houses, with entire regions owing them loyalty.

And there in lies the crux and the difficulty that Daenerys faces as a leader who has become a ruler. Just like with Robert, it was much easier to conquer a kingdom then it is to rule one. Through the first four books we watched as Dany amassed an army of followers, sacked cities and overthrew slavers. It was exciting both for herself as well as for the reader. But now she has gotten her seat, has gotten her power and the truth is she doesn't know what to do. And s the reader we don't like the chapters because of how boring we find actually ruling; as Dany does as well. Fighting battles and winning glory hold much more appeal than strengthening the economy and dealing with the ails of a city.

Her advisors at best are able to offer decent suggestions from time to time but continuously these decisions keep ending in failure. Some would argue that this is the fault of the Sons of Harpy's or a blunder of her age which can be forgive; but I don't agree. Dany set out to be a ruler of a city, to overthrow a system that had ruled there for centuries or even millennia, and to excuse her for the consequences of that overthrow is foolish. As for the excuses for her age, we live in a modern world with modern views. in ASOIAF teenagers are expected to rule, to marry even to lead men on the battlefield if need be. When you are the ruler of a city, specifically one you yourself overthrew and took over; saying that "I am just a young girl" whenever you make a mistake is not acceptable. Below I list the four traits that rulers in this show have been shown to use, and in them will be examples in which Daenerys does not succeed.

1. Administration: A ruler is first and foremost an administrator. A kings duty is to ensure that the noble lords are ruling the land, paying their taxes and remaining loyal. An administrator aso must find ways to deal with the problems plaguing their respective realms before they become detrimental. Daenerys has not been able to do this in Mereneese, she freed the slaves of the city state but now they're left in a perpetual state of limbo. She has not found a way to replace the economy that was lost due to the abolishment and now many in the city are growing resentful from the poor conditions and the lack of response to the Harpys. For someone who is struggling to control one city, I find it difficult to believe that she will be able to rule seven kingdoms and the infinite number of headaches and situations that arrive from that. That and the fact she has made little to know attempt to learn about the kingdoms she means to rule, as well as the reasons her father was overthrown, shows a bit of arrogance on her end.

2. Firmness: Whether a ruler controls his region through honor, respect or fear those decisions they make must be firm as well as consistent. Stannis is not a man who could inspire men to him nor charm his way to power, but those who do follow him respect him because of his unflinching ways. He hands out punishment and reward in the measure warranted by the action of those under him. And when he commits to something he does not shirk from it, regardless of how tasteless it might be. Daenerys's sense of justice has not been so strict, but more to her own personal whims. When angered she tortured the winesellers family, but then when challenged by the harpies she refused to kill her hostages. While this may have been the ethically right thing to do it has made her look weak in the eyes of her enemies and in some of her commanders. A ruler who is not firm will rule an uneasy kingdom.

3. Alliance making: Perhaps one of the weakest areas Daenerys suffers from is in her ability to make and keep alliances. Not with her own soldiers or close retainers, but with many of the power players in Mereen as well as the other cities. While it is true some of her enemies are responsible for this she has also failed on her own. Instead of instilling her authority in Astapor she left it in a freefall that lead the city to eventually being sacked. The Yunkai offered her ships to get her army to Westeros and she instead sacks it. Many cities are wary of Daenerys because of the Yunkai, but you cant blame all of it on them. When you've made it a policy to destroy instead of deal it tends to make people nervous. Even when Prince Martell comes to Mereen, offering nt just his hand but the entire kingdom of dorne and she refuses it in order to marry Hizhdar. Drone might have been the only kingdom that would have turned to Dany willingly, and with their prince dead this may no longer be the case.

4. Priorities: Daenerys wishes to keep Mereen free and to take over Westeros but this is unlikely. As is her intention to bring over her army of tens of thousands over the sea, the number of ships that would be required for this would be staggering in and of itself. Then there is the act of trying to acclimate her people to Westeros, and area that has been shown to have a much colder climate and if like anything in the real world, will have diseases that her people will not have been exposed to. And all of this while wanting to eliminate the Starks, Baratheons and Lannisters from existence.

A little jumbled I know but my point is this, Daenerys knows what she wants to do but has no idea in how to accomplish said goals. She does not seem to have even an inkling of what step to take, the implications that will come from seeking the destruction of the great houses nor the futility in trying to hold two kingdoms on different continents separated by hundreds of miles of ocean. This combined with her now incapability to control her dragons she is swiftly on her way to disaster, unless someone can help her fix this, and quickly.

I could see her taking throne in a similar way to the marriage problem that arises in the Dragon Age Series. There will be a spoiler in this paragraph for those who haven't played the game. During an event called the landsmeet the two opposing sides, yours and that of Teryn Loghain, are in debate over who to name as Ruler of Ferelden and to lead the armies against the darkspawn. As the player you must decide between either your companion Alistair, a bastard of the former king with a love for justice and ideals, or you must choose the current queen Anora, a cold but practical ruler disdained by the nobles but well liked by the common man. One a leader, the other a ruler. The third but more difficult option is to convince the two to marriage, thus giving Ferelden both a beloved figurehead and a capable ruler.

In essence I don't believe Daenerys will ever be a good ruler, she has drive and charisma but lacks cold logic and the skills to govern a realm. She might be able to win the throne, but I doubt she would keep it for long. But if she was to ally with someone, say a certain disgraced half-man or a northern bastard who've both proven some capacity for the reigns of governing, then she might have a chance. Well just have to wait and see. Thank you all for reading and let me know what you think, have a good one.

Concerning all you have brought forward is precisely the reason the question cannot be answered at this current time. You yourself even grapple with your definitions of a leader vs ruler. I thank you for your interesting post, but you are asking for an answer to a question you haven't been able to define and hence, ask.