Cersei versus Daenerys

[Apoplexy]

Dany is nowhere close to being as crazy as Cersei. But that doesn't necessarily make her good at ruling/governing. Personally I think Sansa would be a better choice. She seems to be learning pretty quickly at WF. If she has the right advisors, she could be a great contender.

[lakin1013]

Being forced to choose between Cersei and Dany, then Dany it is.  IRL, I would choose neither.  The one person whose entire arc has brought her full circle to 'see' is Sansa.  She wanted to live at court, eat lemon cakes, and find love with a handsome knight.  The Sansa we have now has learned about artifice, cruelty, and harm, and has an equality and sense of balance about her.  I think Sansa would be a better ruler than either Cersei or Dany.

[Juligen]

Sansa is going to be the queen. She will marry her cousing Aegon Targaryen. Both Jon and Sansa arcs in the books is all about learning ruling and leadership. I think George always wanted them to be his final king and queen.

 

I dont think we will have to choose between Cersei and Dany because both will destroy KL in the end, they wont be ruling anything in the end of this story.

[Ser Gareth]

On ‎6‎/‎17‎/‎2018 at 10:57 PM, prettylongclaw said:

Sansa is going to be the queen. She will marry her cousing Aegon Targaryen. Both Jon and Sansa arcs in the books is all about learning ruling and leadership. I think George always wanted them to be his final king and queen.

 

I dont think we will have to choose between Cersei and Dany because both will destroy KL in the end, they wont be ruling anything in the end of this story.

I personally can't see it.  I have never been able to find the article in recent years but I remember an article where GRRM was talking about Sansa and how perceptive a fan had been about her losing her Starkness and Lady's death being symbolic of that.

I don't really see how Jon and Sansa getting together at the end is bittersweet.

I do agree that the choice won't be Cersei or Dany though.  Cersei is going to die at Jaime's hands for sure and I don't think Dany will make it either.

I have a suspicion that the kingdom of Westeros ends completely.  I have even toyed with the idea that all the major houses of Westeros get wiped out completely and as a result of this Westeros becomes a republic.

Another bittersweet conclusion could be that despite defeating the Others, it transpires humans haven't learned anything and two people crown themselves as King/Queen and almost immediately go to war against each other.  That would be pretty bittersweet.  Especially if they were both fairly positive characters in the books.

[Juligen]

GRRM himself stated that originally (prior to the split of AFFC and ADWD) we were supposed to directly compare Cersei to Dany. And now I clear know why. These two women are mirros for each other, they may have very different up bring and personalities, but when those women are angry or are faced with adversity their reaction  is pretty much identical. Both choose violence. The show was able to do this in a very clever way and present those similarities even better than the books. During seasons 4 and 5, we will see it Daenerys ruling the city of Meereen and how much her behavior mirrors the behavior of Cersei Lannister in Kings Landing.

 

S4E2- Joffrey is poisoned in his own wedding. Cersei, immediately, accuses Tyrion of the murder of her son and orders his arrest.

 

S4E3- Cersei asks Jaime to kill Tyrion, she tells him she doesn’t want a trial because he may escape somehow. Cersei is thirsty for revenge and wants Tyrion dead at all cost. But Jaime refuses to do it.

 

S4E4 – Daenerys takes the city of Meeren and her first decision as a queen is to sentence 163 Great Masters of the city to be crucified. Ser Barristan advices her against it, and tells her to have mercy. She tells him that she will answer injustice with justice. Pay attention to this line because justice will be one of the themes of this season. Daenerys doesn’t asks for a trial, an investigation or cares about the laws of Meereen, she see herself now as the carrier of justice and decides to punish the Masters of Meereen with the same method they used for the children.

 

S4E5 –In Kings Landing Cersei goes to talk to her father, she wants to know what he will do with Tyrion and he tells her that he cant discuss the trial with her but now she is building a strong case against him. Cersei is manipulating witness and making sure Tyrion will be sentence to death.

 

S4E6 – In Meereen Daenerys is ruling and receiving subjects in the Throne room. Hizdahr the son of a very important House and family in Meereen goes to talk to her. He tells her that she crucified his father even tho he was against the practice of killing the children. He doesn’t think its fair to punish a crime with another crime. Daenerys threatens him and tells him that what she did was no crime and he would be wise to remember that. He then asks to, at least, have the right to remove his father from the cross and give him a fair burial ceremony and she agrees with that.

 

In Kings Landing, we have Tyrion’s trial. Cersei has paid many witnesses to speak against her brother. In the recess of the trial Jaime goes to talk to his father and tells him the trial is a farce, he accuses Tywin to wanting to murder Tyrion. His father replies that its not murder, its justice. The audience knows there is not justice in this decision, because we know Tyrion to be innocent.

 

S4E8 – Daenerys finally removes the bodies of the dead Masters from the crosses and In Kings Landing Tyrion asks for a trial by combat.

 

S5E1- An unsullied soldier is murdered in a brothel, by a Son of the Harpy. Ser Barristan tells Daenerys about the incident, she orders the Unsullied to find out who did this and brought him to her.

 

S5E2- Cersei receives news of Myrcella in Dorne. Her daughter necklace is sent to KL in a Vipers box. Cersei tells Jaime that “she will burn cities to the ground if they touch her daughter”.

In Meereen the Son of the Harpy who killed the unsullied is arrested; Mossador wants him to be executed while Ser Barristan advices Daenerys to organize a fair trial, to show to the people of Meereen that she is better than the people that she deposed it. Daenerys agress on the trial. Mossador later decides to kill the Son of the Harpy himself and because of that Daenerys sentences him to death. 

S5E4 – The Sons of the Harpy attack the city and wound Grey Worm and kill Ser Barristan.

 

S5E5 – Daenerys is devastated by Ser Barristan death, so she decides to follow Daario advice. Daenerys arrests the leaders of the great Houses in Meereen and takes them to the dungeons. She burns one man alive and feeds him to her dragons. Once again Dany reactes by anger. She didnt ask for a trail, for an investigation, or for evidence of guilty. She was furious about Ser Barristan death, this death was personal for her, it was a friend, so she needed to have her revenge. She just executed Mossador for murdering a criminal without proper trail and now she is executing an innocent man without proper trial because she is angry at Ser Barristan death.

 

Cersei spent the entire season 4 wanting to kill Tyrion for Joffreys murder but couldn’t do it because, she was stopped by Jaime and her father Tywin. They were able to contain her and didn’t allow her to act on her desires; Daenerys on the other hand crucified 163 noble men, burned an innocent man alive and fed him to her dragons and executed a man for not following the law when she herself only follows the law when she wants. Both women are dangerous, but only one has dragons.

Both women are violent, unfair and vengeful and can be capable of cruel and terrible things once they lose their heads.  Those actions comes from  different places in both women, in Cersei it comes from her selfishness and Daenerys from her impulsiveness, but both cause damage and destruction. The biggest difference between the women is that Dany is genuinely trying to do what good and always feels regretful after those actions. She cares about her people and wants to be a queen, but her temperament and lack of judgment always lets her down, Cersei on the other hand, never once feels remorse. She is just selfish. Both are terrible rulers.

 

I keep telling you, Sansa will be the Queen.

[Lord Stannis-The True King]

14 hours ago, prettylongclaw said:

GRRM himself stated that originally (prior to the split of AFFC and ADWD) we were supposed to directly compare Cersei to Dany. And now I clear know why. These two women are mirros for each other, they may have very different up bring and personalities, but when those women are angry or are faced with adversity their reaction  is pretty much identical. Both choose violence. The show was able to do this in a very clever way and present those similarities even better than the books. During seasons 4 and 5, we will see it Daenerys ruling the city of Meereen and how much her behavior mirrors the behavior of Cersei Lannister in Kings Landing.

 

S4E2- Joffrey is poisoned in his own wedding. Cersei, immediately, accuses Tyrion of the murder of her son and orders his arrest.

 

S4E3- Cersei asks Jaime to kill Tyrion, she tells him she doesn’t want a trial because he may escape somehow. Cersei is thirsty for revenge and wants Tyrion dead at all cost. But Jaime refuses to do it.

 

S4E4 – Daenerys takes the city of Meeren and her first decision as a queen is to sentence 163 Great Masters of the city to be crucified. Ser Barristan advices her against it, and tells her to have mercy. She tells him that she will answer injustice with justice. Pay attention to this line because justice will be one of the themes of this season. Daenerys doesn’t asks for a trial, an investigation or cares about the laws of Meereen, she see herself now as the carrier of justice and decides to punish the Masters of Meereen with the same method they used for the children.

 

S4E5 –In Kings Landing Cersei goes to talk to her father, she wants to know what he will do with Tyrion and he tells her that he cant discuss the trial with her but now she is building a strong case against him. Cersei is manipulating witness and making sure Tyrion will be sentence to death.

 

S4E6 – In Meereen Daenerys is ruling and receiving subjects in the Throne room. Hizdahr the son of a very important House and family in Meereen goes to talk to her. He tells her that she crucified his father even tho he was against the practice of killing the children. He doesn’t think its fair to punish a crime with another crime. Daenerys threatens him and tells him that what she did was no crime and he would be wise to remember that. He then asks to, at least, have the right to remove his father from the cross and give him a fair burial ceremony and she agrees with that.

 

In Kings Landing, we have Tyrion’s trial. Cersei has paid many witnesses to speak against her brother. In the recess of the trial Jaime goes to talk to his father and tells him the trial is a farce, he accuses Tywin to wanting to murder Tyrion. His father replies that its not murder, its justice. The audience knows there is not justice in this decision, because we know Tyrion to be innocent.

 

S4E8 – Daenerys finally removes the bodies of the dead Masters from the crosses and In Kings Landing Tyrion asks for a trial by combat.

 

S5E1- An unsullied soldier is murdered in a brothel, by a Son of the Harpy. Ser Barristan tells Daenerys about the incident, she orders the Unsullied to find out who did this and brought him to her.

 

S5E2- Cersei receives news of Myrcella in Dorne. Her daughter necklace is sent to KL in a Vipers box. Cersei tells Jaime that “she will burn cities to the ground if they touch her daughter”.

In Meereen the Son of the Harpy who killed the unsullied is arrested; Mossador wants him to be executed while Ser Barristan advices Daenerys to organize a fair trial, to show to the people of Meereen that she is better than the people that she deposed it. Daenerys agress on the trial. Mossador later decides to kill the Son of the Harpy himself and because of that Daenerys sentences him to death. 

S5E4 – The Sons of the Harpy attack the city and wound Grey Worm and kill Ser Barristan.

 

S5E5 – Daenerys is devastated by Ser Barristan death, so she decides to follow Daario advice. Daenerys arrests the leaders of the great Houses in Meereen and takes them to the dungeons. She burns one man alive and feeds him to her dragons. Once again Dany reactes by anger. She didnt ask for a trail, for an investigation, or for evidence of guilty. She was furious about Ser Barristan death, this death was personal for her, it was a friend, so she needed to have her revenge. She just executed Mossador for murdering a criminal without proper trail and now she is executing an innocent man without proper trial because she is angry at Ser Barristan death.

 

Cersei spent the entire season 4 wanting to kill Tyrion for Joffreys murder but couldn’t do it because, she was stopped by Jaime and her father Tywin. They were able to contain her and didn’t allow her to act on her desires; Daenerys on the other hand crucified 163 noble men, burned an innocent man alive and fed him to her dragons and executed a man for not following the law when she herself only follows the law when she wants. Both women are dangerous, but only one has dragons.

Both women are violent, unfair and vengeful and can be capable of cruel and terrible things once they lose their heads.  Those actions comes from  different places in both women, in Cersei it comes from her selfishness and Daenerys from her impulsiveness, but both cause damage and destruction. The biggest difference between the women is that Dany is genuinely trying to do what good and always feels regretful after those actions. She cares about her people and wants to be a queen, but her temperament and lack of judgment always lets her down, Cersei on the other hand, never once feels remorse. She is just selfish. Both are terrible rulers.

 

I keep telling you, Sansa will be the Queen.

100% agree with everything you said. And there are way more overt comparisons in season 7 with Danerys Killing off the Tarlys and Cersei killing off the Tyrells. Both of them constantly being advised against violence and both ignoring that advice, both threatening their closest advisors with death. They really are two sides of the same coin. The 7 kingdoms cought between two mad Queens. What a disaster.

Now, I'm not a huge Sansa fan, but I agree with your assessment that of all the female characters right now Sansa is the most qualified to be Queen and would be the best choice. Just as I maintain that Gendry would be the best King (really the only choice as the last Baratheon). That pairing would bring peace to the Kingdoms, and would demonstrate the duty rulers have to their people over their personal desires. Niether character loves the other, it is soley political. He has the birthright and the fighting prowess, she has the political knowledge. Gendry would have to give up his love with Arya (his lyanna) for the sake of the kingdom and  reestablish the alliance between the Baratheons and the Starks. Beautiful symmetry.

[Juligen]

3 hours ago, Lord Stannis-The True King said:

100% agree with everything you said. And there are way more overt comparisons in season 7 with Danerys Killing off the Tarlys and Cersei killing off the Tyrells. Both of them constantly being advised against violence and both ignoring that advice, both threatening their closest advisors with death. They really are two sides of the same coin. The 7 kingdoms cought between two mad Queens. What a disaster.

 

Their entire storyline from season 3 to 7 is identical, I will post later what I wrote, but they are mirrors, we only didnt notice because Danys's terrible actions were always against people we see as villains or immorals. George wrote all Daenerys enemies as absolutely monstrous so that we didnt notice that Dany is actually quite terrible herself. Cersei wants to kill Tyrion, and we love him, so its easier to see that Cersei is evil, but Dany burns alive a ex slave, and we are errr, he was a bad guy, so who cares. But in the end she can be as destructive as Cersei.

 

Just finished my material from season 3 to 7. Their parallel actually starts in season 3, when Cersei is forced to deal with Margaery and the Tyrells, later Dany will have to deal with Hizdarh and the Nobel Houses of Meereen and both women sabotage those alliances and burn to the ground. they never realized that both the Tyrells and The Nobles of Meereen could be great allies. 

 

 

[btfu806]

To me they are two of the most evil characters in the show. So I hope neither of them, for the sake of westeros. 

[goldenmaps]

I don't know if this is relevant, but I think that Cersei reflects Tywin's legacy and that Dany reflects both Viserys and Rhaegar's legacy (reflects Dany's dual nature but neither of her brothers are good rulers).  In my opinion I don't think that either of these legacies are good.  I don't think that Dany is evil or will turn evil but she is impulsive and doesn't think through her actions.  And Dany sometimes embraces violence when its not prudent to do so.  I also think her past actions might haunt her and probably has already hurt her reputation. 

[DisneyDoc2425]

I generally agree with much of what has been already been stated. Cercei is a stone cold psychopathic killer with very few, if any, redeeming personal/social values, which will lead to her demise.  Daenerys is a much more complex and perplexing character as she exhibits a good side with lofty goals of freedom, justice, and compassion for the oppressed, alternating with a bad side exhibiting episodes of intentionally cruel, sadistic killing behaviors. It is difficult to love her 100% because of the bad behaviors while it is difficult to label her a villain 100% due to the good behaviors. As these behaviors are incongruous with one another it is difficult to comprehend how they can co-exist in the same individual. The writers did a great job in formulating her character.

For Daenerys it is my perspective that these conflicting behaviors are due to her having OCD (obsessions with entitlement and fire) and a split (multiple) personality disorder which are the prodromal (early warning) signs of her predisposition to becoming psychotic (mad). This is obviously due to many generations of genetic inbreeding in the Targaryen family which has already been manifest by madness in her father (paternal) as well as extended maternal relatives.

Over seasons 6 and 7 overall we have seen the bad side of Daenerys become a little more pronounced and indefensible. She is not mad now but seems to be heading in that direction. At the end of season 7 both these patterns have been overshadowed by a new pattern-“love sickness”. This new pattern is not likely to last long once she becomes aware that Jon (Aegon) is the legitimate heir to the Iron Throne, not her, which I do not feel she is going to accept, no matter if Jon presses the issue or not.

Extreme stress is often the precipitating factor in the emergence of an acute psychotic episode, especially if one is predisposed already. Adding to this extreme stressor are the additional stressors of pregnancy (and delivery) coupled with the losses which will ensue in the future battles, will probably lead to pushing Daenerys over the edge with the emergence of an acute psychotic episode (my best guess is a post-partum psychosis), which will ultimately lead to her demise in some manner. I feel the writers have been not so subtly setting this up throughout the seasons. (On a side I don’t think Jon will survive either. I believe he was resurrected to lead the fight to destroy the Night King and to sire a legacy. Both Daenerys and Jon will live on thru this legacy child which at least will have some diluted Targaryen genes with a Stark component. Maybe a start in the right direction).

The bottom line here is that I would not want Cercei or Daenerys as a Queen, Ruler, or President. Cercei is a psychopath while Daenerys, IMHO, is basically a good, but unstable, person with laudable intentions, who becomes victimized by something she has no control over, her genes. Her degree of culpability is left up to the individual viewer to decide. Again, excellent work by the writers.

[Vhagar's Ghost]

Dany tries to be good and is cruel to those who are cruel to others. Basically if I were any GoT character I'd be Dany because she fits my personality extremely well. I'm surprised more people haven't compared her to Aegon the Conqueror. I don't think she is mad, anymore than Aegon I was.

Cersei on the other hand... selfish, cruel, sadistic, and... er... cruel again. She cares about nothing and no one but herself and is openly cruel and inhuman to others. It's no contest, I rather have Dany instead of Cersei, by a long, long, long shot.

[jcmontea]

On 7/18/2018 at 3:22 PM, Vhagar's Ghost said:

Dany tries to be good and is cruel to those who are cruel to others. Basically if I were any GoT character I'd be Dany because she fits my personality extremely well. I'm surprised more people haven't compared her to Aegon the Conqueror. I don't think she is mad, anymore than Aegon I was.

Cersei on the other hand... selfish, cruel, sadistic, and... er... cruel again. She cares about nothing and no one but herself and is openly cruel and inhuman to others. It's no contest, I rather have Dany instead of Cersei, by a long, long, long shot.

Pretty much. 

Thought Season 7 did a pretty good job describing the differences between the two. 

If Cersei had dragons she would have burned KL to a crisp because as she said:

I don't care about checking my worst impulses.
I don't care about making the world a better place.

And that effectively is the difference between the two. They are both very similar but one tries to check her worst impulses and wants to make the world a better place while the other does not care about the world and indulges her worst impulses because it makes her feel good. 

[Starkz]

On 6/7/2018 at 1:44 PM, Lucius Lovejoy said:

Hey @LadyNoOne, I am not characterizing her as a villain and would not - I thought that was a possible path for her until ADWD when you see her personally tending to the people with the pale mare and deciding to stay put in Essos to try to resolve things in Slavers Bay rather than taking the navy offered to her and invading Westeros.  One could characterize her anti-slavery stance as not being altruistic and simply a product of Daenerys living out a personal revenge fantasy, but that is another discussion entirely.  Clearly on the show she is being positioned as heroic and caring, but the writing is so poor that it is hard to justify it.  Her and her supporters always talk about breaking the wheel but never talk about what that means - an end to feudalism?  A free market capitalist society?  A communist society where Daenerys decides all?  Stealing land from the nobles and giving to the small folk?  None of her ruling policies beyond "no slavery" (already not a problem in Westeros) are ever actually detailed.  And it would be really ironic if her policy was one of land and wealth redistribution, particularly since her whole modus operandi is taking back the 7 kingdoms and all authority since that once belonged to her family with no consideration as to whether that it is a "fair" or good system in the first place.  I don't think she is bad per se, not at all, but I don't understand her goals beyond acquiring total authority and using threat of mass violence as a means to achieve it.  In that regard she is the same as Cersei, only with dragons instead of wildfire.  Cersei has explicitly stated and shown she would use her authority solely for personal gain and for the advancement of her children, whereas we are led to believe Daenerys would be more magnamous (probably not moreso than Robert Baratheon) but we don't actually know what Daenerys' plans are.

Jon would not make a good king, I think he was a fine LC of the NW but failed miserably in the show as KitN, and wouldn't have even had that opportunity if not for the Knights of the Vale saving the day.  As for his Targaryen heritage, I believe planetos would be much better off without Dragons and with Targaryens being no more or less special than other families.  So I'll stick with Arya for queen!

What would be your ideal vision for Westeros' political/economic structure and who would lead it?

What? How did Jon fail miserably as KiTN? He did like one thing which was pardon the other houses that fought against him and got Dany’s support and dragonglass for the war. How is that miserably failing?

[WolfOfWinter]

Cersei. Not because she's a better person (though I don't see much difference between the two in the show), but because she's been written to be smart. Dany's rule in Meereen, however whitewashed in the show, was disastrous and showed a complete lack of skills in anything pertaining to ruling. She wasn't good at strategy, long-term thinking, administration, diplomacy etc. She even failed miserably at appeasing the very people who worshipped her. The show literally spelled out to the audience that she's a conqueror and not a ruler.

In season eight alone, she allied herself with Yara and Theon, a usurper and a child murderer, and the Sand Snakes, usurpers and child murderers, betraying her own ideals and integrity. She burned down wagons full of food which everyone depended on, insulted one of her most powerful potential allies upon meeting him (having him be met by armed Dothraki), held him captive for weeks or months (though this was downplayed for the cutesy-factor), almost went ahead and burned down the capital of Westeros, showed no understanding of customs and cultures, burned two high lords alive while insisting she was there to save them from Mad Queen Daenerys, became partly responsible for giving the NK a dragon and the weapon to cross the Wall and inadvertently revealed that she was down one dragon because she wanted to measure dicks with Cersei. Hell, when Tyrion brought up her infertility and the subsequent chaos that would ensue should she die, her immediate reaction was to accuse him of being a traitor, revealing how truly little she has thought things through. The sheer scale of destruction that Dany can cause is unmatched by anyone else.

Again, Cersei isn't a good person and doesn't care much about the average Westerosi, but show!Cersei is competent and understands Westeros in ways that Dany doesn't even pretend to. She's operating the exact same way she did in Meereen despite the disastrous results.

[Lucius Lovejoy]

On 7/23/2018 at 2:24 PM, Starkz said:

What? How did Jon fail miserably as KiTN? He did like one thing which was pardon the other houses that fought against him and got Dany’s support and dragonglass for the war. How is that miserably failing?

Abandoning your kingdom for a few months with an imminent threat looming, then laying down your crown because a pretty girl batted eyes at you, while risking your life multiple times on the dumbest ideas ever (wight hunt, dragon pit meeting)... these are not the things successful kings do.

[Lucius Lovejoy]

21 hours ago, WolfOfWinter said:

Cersei. Not because she's a better person (though I don't see much difference between the two in the show), but because she's been written to be smart. Dany's rule in Meereen, however whitewashed in the show, was disastrous and showed a complete lack of skills in anything pertaining to ruling. She wasn't good at strategy, long-term thinking, administration, diplomacy etc. She even failed miserably at appeasing the very people who worshipped her. The show literally spelled out to the audience that she's a conqueror and not a ruler.

In season eight alone, she allied herself with Yara and Theon, a usurper and a child murderer, and the Sand Snakes, usurpers and child murderers, betraying her own ideals and integrity. She burned down wagons full of food which everyone depended on, insulted one of her most powerful potential allies upon meeting him (having him be met by armed Dothraki), held him captive for weeks or months (though this was downplayed for the cutesy-factor), almost went ahead and burned down the capital of Westeros, showed no understanding of customs and cultures, burned two high lords alive while insisting she was there to save them from Mad Queen Daenerys, became partly responsible for giving the NK a dragon and the weapon to cross the Wall and inadvertently revealed that she was down one dragon because she wanted to measure dicks with Cersei. Hell, when Tyrion brought up her infertility and the subsequent chaos that would ensue should she die, her immediate reaction was to accuse him of being a traitor, revealing how truly little she has thought things through. The sheer scale of destruction that Dany can cause is unmatched by anyone else.

Again, Cersei isn't a good person and doesn't care much about the average Westerosi, but show!Cersei is competent and understands Westeros in ways that Dany doesn't even pretend to. She's operating the exact same way she did in Meereen despite the disastrous results.

Fantastic post!

[jcmontea]

On 7/23/2018 at 5:19 PM, WolfOfWinter said:

Cersei. Not because she's a better person (though I don't see much difference between the two in the show), but because she's been written to be smart. Dany's rule in Meereen, however whitewashed in the show, was disastrous and showed a complete lack of skills in anything pertaining to ruling. She wasn't good at strategy, long-term thinking, administration, diplomacy etc. She even failed miserably at appeasing the very people who worshipped her. The show literally spelled out to the audience that she's a conqueror and not a ruler.

In season eight alone, she allied herself with Yara and Theon, a usurper and a child murderer, and the Sand Snakes, usurpers and child murderers, betraying her own ideals and integrity. She burned down wagons full of food which everyone depended on, insulted one of her most powerful potential allies upon meeting him (having him be met by armed Dothraki), held him captive for weeks or months (though this was downplayed for the cutesy-factor), almost went ahead and burned down the capital of Westeros, showed no understanding of customs and cultures, burned two high lords alive while insisting she was there to save them from Mad Queen Daenerys, became partly responsible for giving the NK a dragon and the weapon to cross the Wall and inadvertently revealed that she was down one dragon because she wanted to measure dicks with Cersei. Hell, when Tyrion brought up her infertility and the subsequent chaos that would ensue should she die, her immediate reaction was to accuse him of being a traitor, revealing how truly little she has thought things through. The sheer scale of destruction that Dany can cause is unmatched by anyone else.

Again, Cersei isn't a good person and doesn't care much about the average Westerosi, but show!Cersei is competent and understands Westeros in ways that Dany doesn't even pretend to. She's operating the exact same way she did in Meereen despite the disastrous results.

The funny thing about this post is it ignores the fact that Cersei’s attempt at rulling collapsed just like Dany’s in Season 5 and under much much less stressful conditions. Dany was trying to reorient an entire society. Cersei had much more modest goals and everything collapsed on her. 

So is Cersei a better ruler just because of what she did in Season 7? 

Tough to say. I think its clear that had it not been for the intervention of the white walkers Cersei’s goose was cooked.