How would you fix?

[Lady Rhodes]

If this is the arc that was intended all along, how would you have fixed the writing to make this more plausible/believable?

In Season 2, I would have included Dany hearing about the 3 treasons in Qarth.  Then, as the story progressed, she would ruminate on these treasons, like she does in the books. Talking to Barristan, Jorah, Missandei, Grey Worm, Daario, Tyrion, etc.  Slowly, she would ruminate more, growing more paranoid (like she does in Dance).  I think it would make her mood and the tenor of her actions in Westeros more believable. 

[Vanadis]

Varys' betrayal would have to be made into a real betrayal. Perhaps his scheming could be the reason why Missandei is captured.

Let Jon decide not to keep his identity secret, although he promises not to go for the throne. He even proposes, and they are set to be married. But when Varys burns, Jon's affections turn cold, and he breaks off the engagement. They have a quarrel. Dany asks if this means that Jon intends to push his claim after all, and he doesn't give a conclusive answer.

Jamie doesn't need to be a prisoner. Tyrion thinks Jamie is the only one who can talk Cersei into surrendering, and he convinces Dany that this is a good idea. Jamie meets Cersei in a sweet reunion, we might never know whether his feelings for Cersei are true, but she agrees to step down for their baby's sake.

The bells ring.

Cersei tricked Jamie, now that the dragons sit still on a tower or wherever, Cersei's dragon killer machinery is revealed. Rhaegal is killed outside King's Landing.

Dany thinks Tyrion and Jamie betrayed her, that they both in the end chose Cersei over her. She thinks Jon is about to betray her (in her mind), and seeing her dragon dying she finally snaps. If they think they can take the city from her, they're wrong. She'll destroy it before she lets the betrayers have it...

Rhaegal dead, she flies up above the clouds on Drogon, then harasses the dragon killing machines in a guerilla war they're not prepared for. Then, by all means, let her destroy King's Landing. 

In this version, perhaps we could have Jamie killing Cersei. Perhaps to keep their relationship ambiguous it could be viewed as an act of mercy: If Dany captures you now, she'll torture you...

Oh, and no Bronn in this season.

[tallTale]

The bells ring..

Daeny remembers Jorah, how he died for her, and his advice to listen to Tyrion.

She stands down her attack and ends up executing Cersei later in a glorious bonfire.

Next up, the treacherous Starks, who have betrayed her and steadfastly refuse to bend the knee despite her heroically using her vast resources to help them defeat the NK. 

She decides she's had enough and burns down the traitors in Winterfell, killing them all in a wonderfully uneventful battle. 

She parties in Mareen once in while with her boy toy Daario.

Daeny finds out she's pregnant, names her baby girl Daenerys the second, and along with Tyrion, grooms her to be next queen.

The end.

  

[madhikun]

If wishes were fishes. 

 

We find out that when the bells rang, Danerys realizes that Tyrion had tricked her. She remembers that bells mean war and not surrender. One of the Usurper battles was called the Battle of the Bells for goodness sake.

 

The surrendering of Cersei's army was a fake-out, and what would have happened if Danerys entered KL, the old King's green fire would have been set off around the city and the gates probably would have been closed on all her army to keep them inside while they were burned alive. That is the plan that was foiled for Cersei, she planned to give up early so Danerys would feel safe in having won, but Danerys didn't fall for it.

 

After her final betrayal from Tyrion, she decides that no one in KL is trustworthy and burns them all since bells in war means for the citizens to get inside, which means anyone outside is a soldier. 

 

This is revealed, along with her being pregnant finally with Jon Snow's baby. This is all cool but the Lord of the Light decides that Jon Snow has fulfilled his purpose as a Targaryan by bringing the dragons back to Westeros and takes him back. Buh Bye Jon Snow. Now without Jon as a threat to Dany, Sansa cools herself and the child ends up being the bridge to the North and KL. Maybe Dany even sends the baby up to Winterfell to be a ward. Bittersweet, right? 

 

I really wish this would happen, but it won't because we have to have Lannisters 2.0 win. 

[Dragonslack]

Anything really, just any random fanfic. Oh wait, that is what they did.

 

[iprayiam]

I started another thread that hasn't been approved but basically, this is the simplest fix:

Have Dany burn the Red Keep in season 7 after Cersei refuses to help fight the WWs. Cersei didn't add anything to season 8, and the travel from Winterfell in episode 4 to KL was unreasonable pacing, and destroyed any sense of consequence from the WW invasion.

If you instead, bumped that back to the previous Cersei confrontation, Dany could begin her rage and paranoia there, but Jon and others would be forced to keep hope in her because of the WW. That gives season 8 5 episodes to draw out her descent, and give actual justification to Sansa's distrust. As a bonus, we'd have an additional 2 episodes to beef up the confrontation with the WW, and putting it closer to the end would allow it to have the necessary gravity on the plot that was otherwise completely missing.

if they wrapped up the confrontation in ep 5 and Dany was full blown mad by then, she could move immediately toward the IT, and they could end the series on the exact same finale however that may be.

Everything would have grown much more organically giving it a little space, and getting rid of the Cersei nothingburger in S8. The 'surprises' and 'subverted expectations' could have been replaced by real and compelling dramatic tension.

[Bran the Shipper]

Honestly it wouldn't be too hard to fix it, just keep things more ambiguous.

For instance once the bells start to ring, show that the gate into the Red Keep isn't being opened.  Since the surrender requires both the ringing of the bells and the gate being opened it becomes unclear to Dany on whether this is in fact a surrender or a trap.  So then she gets fed up with waiting for the gate to open and flies Drogon directly to the Red Keep and starts to burn it down. 

Don't have her needlessly burn down the entire city.  But have Arya see all of the people who were taken into the Keep get killed and only manages to escape herself because she remembers the passages she used in Season 1.  Have her be badly wounded by the dragon fire (not life threatening but enough to erode Dany's support further).  Still have Grey Worm kill the Lannister soldier and have it unclear as to whether he acted on his own or whether Dany had planned for him to do so.  Have Jon and Tyrion look on in horror knowing that Dany just knowingly killed hundreds of innocent people.

Then have it in the last episode show that Dany is becoming increasingly unstable, but make it unclear as to whether she was going mad and that's why she killed everyone in the Red Keep or whether her killing everyone in the Red Keep was what is now driving her mad.

[Orphalesion]

With the least possible alteration to what we got?

Have Daenerys fly straight to the Red Keep and burn it to the ground with Cersei in it. Then Dany realizes that she has just slaughtered hundreds (thousands?) of innocent people that were seeking shelter there, destroyed the building her ancestors have created and will now always be hated by the people of KL/Westeros.

Still can lead to the ending the Showrunners seem to want, but is, Imho, a little bit less stupid and OOC as far as Daenerys is concerned.
Plus it has the added bonus that the Hound and Arya inadvertently saved that woman and her child they pushed aside to get into the Keep.