Why does no one like Dany?

[littleRickon]

I am surprised no one has brought this up yet.. the biggest reason for me to dislike Dany are

HER DRAGONS

specifically, how she has chosen to ignore them. She calls herself the mother of dragons, blood of the dragon, THE dragon, and she actually gets 3 of them. At that point in the story, it is very hard not to root for her, love her really. (and I still like her character a lot) But then she just doesn't do anything with them. Doesn't train them much, doesn't use them, doesn't display them to make people see her as the dragon. She calls for fire and blood, and when Drogon happens to eat a girl, she decides it's OK to lock all of them away, and she tries to be a harpy instead. This was the most frustrating part for me, and it was that _because_ I like her character. It's like having two guys in a TV show fist-fight, and you stand up and yell at the screen that there is a gun under the bed, just reach out for it, hero, and be done with it!

She can't decide if she wants to be a conqueror or a philanthropist, and this indecision is making me itch. I can't help but think that other characters would have made better use of the last 3 dragons in the world, but I have high hopes for her arc in the next books. It seems she grew a lot in ADWD, and the new Dany will come to a more pragmatic look at the world and decide not only what would be morally best, but what would be achievable and beneficial to her own goals, while still having an intact moral compass.

[lady m]

i dont dislike her, but as she seems to be set up as one of the main protagonist, she is less likeable than other characters.

Actually, I think she's set up as the main human antagonist, and her sympathetic storyline is a result of her being the only person who tells her story. Dragons are presented no where as a positive, and always as the thing that heroes fight or slay. Her abolitionist movement is very high minded till you realize the entire reason for it is because she couldn't afford the Unsullied she was seeking to buy, not some great burning moral crusade even after the horrors she witnessed with the Dothraki.

As for her being Queen of Westeros, that's unlikely. Or it will only be for a brief moment. If she has a positive ending it will be a return to Essos to dedicate her life to restoring and reviving the economy based on something other than human trafficking.

[Blisscraft]

I like Dany. Probably because she begins as a "broken" thing. An orphan, depending upon the kindness of older people with a political agenda. "Sold" to satisfy her brother's desire for an army. She goes from having no voice whatsoever to being one of the characters who is a conduit for the return of magic to a very cynical world. She has no training whatsoever. No education. No mentors without an agenda to use her. Cosequently, she doesn't know whom she can trust. She follows her heart which is often a mistake. She follows vengence which is always a mistake. All of these qualities and events make her interesting, frustrating, and unusual.

The problem with Dany seems to be when readers become too invested in the outcome of the series. The prize seems to be the Iron Throne. To my mind, the Iron Throne is nothing but a symbol of a world that needs to change. WInter is coming. . .and with it is fire and blood.

[lady m]

Daenerys has been very annoying, she changed the slaver's bay which is in an continent that is not her home,

Actually, it is her home. Go read Dany's very first POV chapter, Westeros is a foreign land to her. Essos is what is familiar. Essos has the house with the red door. Essos is home.

[The BlackBear]

Essos is an enormous continent. Saying Bravos and Slavers bay are similar is pretty ridiculous.

I can't pretend to have enjoyed her role in Dance at all, but then GRRM found it frustrating too. For me it all rides on what she does in Dream. The Slavers bay knot needs to be untangled or cut soon, how she deals with it will probably seal my view of her.

[Cas Stark]

She has evolved into an arrogant, impetuous, deeply irresponsible ruler with a serious messiah complex who veers crazily from mercy to revenge and torture, who doesn't listen to advice she doesn't want to hear and who has the worlds top weapons of mass destruction in 3 live dragons, but chooses to ignore them, make no serious attempt to get information on how to train them or control them but locks them up and forgets about them. By the end of Dance, there was not much to admire about her beyond her intermittent impulses to "do good" but, unfortunately those impulses are not matched with good strategy.

[Mladen]

I like Dany. Probably because she begins as a "broken" thing. An orphan, depending upon the kindness of older people with a political agenda. "Sold" to satisfy her brother's desire for an army. She goes from having no voice whatsoever to being one of the characters who is a conduit for the return of magic to a very cynical world. She has no training whatsoever. No education. No mentors without an agenda to use her. Cosequently, she doesn't know whom she can trust. She follows her heart which is often a mistake. She follows vengence which is always a mistake. All of these qualities and events make her interesting, frustrating, and unusual.

The problem with Dany seems to be when readers become too invested in the outcome of the series. The prize seems to be the Iron Throne. To my mind, the Iron Throne is nothing but a symbol of a world that needs to change. WInter is coming. . .and with it is fire and blood.

I understand your view, but it seems she remains to have that one-dimensional view on things. Either people are good or bad, either they`re allies or enemies. That view may not be wrong, but i politics devil is in the detail. It`s all about small differences between people, and understanding how to play on it. Look for instance, Jon. From his idealized view on NW to him being LC, he has lived and seen a lot. And that changed him, hat changed the way he percieves things. He has learnt a lot, and Dany, despite the fact she has found her courage and strength, still is about `Usurper dogs` and `I am the rightful Queen`. In this latter, she is no different than any other pretender who thins he is God-given to rule Westeros.

And I like your last line... But y friend, winter has come, and fire and blood are a bit late, don`t you think :)

[Manderlay]

Actually, it is her home. Go read Dany's very first POV chapter, Westeros is a foreign land to her. Essos is what is familiar. Essos has the house with the red door. Essos is home.

Well yes you are right when you put it that way Essos has been her home from childhood, what I meant was since she is always saying she is the rightful ruler of westeros, that is her home and where she wants to go in the end and will be her home, but true the house with the red door in Bravos has always been home to her

[LadyMary]

Dany was raised to believe certain things about her past that turn out to be very much distorted by her brother's POV. She will continue to make mistakes and have to learn from them, because she doesn't have all the information she needs to see the big picture.

The whole of ASOIAF shows that its characters are not black and white, but grey. No one is all good or all bad, and it's a brutal world in which even good people must sometimes do things that can be justified but are not "good".

Dany is no different in that regard. She epitomized the old saying that "the road to Hell is paved with good intentions". She tried to end slavery and caused more death and destruction in her wake when the former slaves attempted to be come the slave masters. After a while of dealing with these characters, Dany wants a break but is stuck in a situation where she is surrounded by enemies and loosing her grip on power. Everything she tries to do to keep her "children" safe, ends up having a negative reaction from someone else that leads to tragedy. It's like a house of cards falling apart - similar to what happened when Robb married Jeyne, and when Jon rescued the wildlings, etc.

I like Dany. I think she's relatable as a teenage girl who tried to do something good without thinking it through and making mistakes, and just wanting to escape from it for a while with her boyfriend. She's flawed like everyone else in these books, but that makes her more interesting, not less. I find her story arc in Mereen to be plodding and too slow to resolve, but that's really an issue with the writing and I hope future books will move Dany's story along.

[Toxspecific]

When life gives you dragons, proceed to do the very opposite of what you should be doing with them; lock em' up.

[Nudu]

Because she is too proud. She thinks the whole world belongs to herself. A classic Targaryen feature.

And i don't like dragons in this series. They bring nothing but blood, pain and destruction.

[Blisscraft]

Mladen - We get to Winter in the next book, The Winds of Winter. Also, it seems that Westeros has been pretty full of fire and blood so far without Dany.

[Alayne's Shadow.]

I like Dany. I used to like her more, but I still like her. The thing is, there's some appeal in seeing such a character in her position, as she struggles to make the right choices and do what's best for her people. At the same time, she's not perfect. She's not supposed to be, and If she was, It would be at the very least annoying. She's human. And I don't see her as a main antagonist. Hell, I'm pretty sure Dany's role will be in fighting the Others in some way. She goes at some point to the wall, that's for sure. She might die while there, which I'll personally think It might be the best ending for her. To die as a hero.

[gash]

Well, here's a brief list of the common complaints I've seen of Daenerys. Obviously this list isn't exhaustive, and not everyone is going to agree, but if you want to get inside the head of people who don't like her, it's a good jumping off point;

1. She's hopelessly indecisive in articulating whether she intends to 'fix' Slaver's Bay and the Essosi slave trade, or return to Westeros and rule there. This is currently resulting in a 'dog with two bones dilemma', where she's losing a lot of potential allies in Westeros (Dorne, Aegon and the Golden Company) because she hasn't left Meereen.
   
   
2. Speaking of Meereen, she's doing an absolutely awful job at the moment of administering it, which does not bode well for a potential Queenship of Westeros.
   
   
3. In regards to her abolitionism, she doesn't seem to fully understand the nature of the problem she's fighting, and why sacking a handful of cities isn't going to stop the Essossi slave trade.
   
   
4. The lack of understanding on how to end slavery is getting a huge amount of people killed.
   
   
5. The fact that she's unique amongst the major characters in having no other POV critically examine her means that the narrative will not emphasis some of the very tyrannical and bloodthirsty things that she does.
   
   
6. She's still too beholden to Viserys view of Westeros; and is rather naive in how much of a monster her father was.
   

all i read there is inexperience and some naivety from dany - which you would expect from a what, 15 year old girl? can't see any reason to hate her for that...

[Cas Stark]

I like Dany. I used to like her more, but I still like her. The thing is, there's some appeal in seeing such a character in her position, as she struggles to make the right choices and do what's best for her people. At the same time, she's not perfect. She's not supposed to be, and If she was, It would be at the very least annoying. She's human. And I don't see her as a main antagonist. Hell, I'm pretty sure Dany's role will be in fighting the Others in some way. She goes at some point to the wall, that's for sure. She might die while there, which I'll personally think It might be the best ending for her. To die as a hero.

Other characters struggle to make the right choices as well when leadership is thrust upon them, like Jon Snow and Robb Stark, but they don't condone torture of little girls or mass revenge killings. To me the difference between Dany and Jon Snow is that while they are both in difficult situations, he is making good choices, often taking the harder way because he knows its right...while Dany is lounging around on her throne veering from extreme to extreme because she doesn't have the patience needed.

[Sir Noone Sword Of The Day]

I like her, though she is typically arrogant and will not accept the true nature of her father or why the 'usurper and his dogs' rebelled.

[Alayne's Shadow.]

Other characters struggle to make the right choices as well when leadership is thrust upon them, like Jon Snow and Robb Stark, but they don't condone torture of little girls or mass revenge killings. To me the difference between Dany and Jon Snow is that while they are both in difficult situations, he is making good choices, often taking the harder way because he knows its right...while Dany is lounging around on her throne veering from extreme to extreme because she doesn't have the patience needed.

That's different kinds of leaderships in two very different enviroments. And truth be told, these kids (Robb, Dany and Jon), all got themselves almost killed. Jon alienated all his friends, Robb slept with Jeyne Westerling. They've also done awful decisions. That's gotta count for something. Robb died because of his own terrible lack of compromise to his own cause (Or he would have married the Frey girl), and Jon's understandable, but still oath-breaking decision. I think Daenerys has the patience, but she needs to be tutored in the ways of ruling, like both characters above were.

[Aelos]

but it seems she remains to have that one-dimensional view on things. Either people are good or bad, either they`re allies or enemies.

It's actually a funny thing that most people that have commented on this thread seems to have a similar one-dimensional view. ;)

Daenerys is credited to have all the nasty Targaryen features and her actions are seen as those of an adult. Though we also see a very troubled upbringing by the Beggar King and how see attracts men who want something of her, making her naturally paranoid. Her closest companion 'desires' her and all the others want her dead for who she is or for her dragons.

I just hope that all those people have misjudged her and she'll end up coming to the aid of those that fight for the living on the back of an immense Drogon. (the newly dubbed 'The Black Dread')

[Where Went Whent]

Every Decision Dany has ever made falls in any of these three categories: crap, crap, crap. Oh I forgot, I wrote 'crap' thrice, that's cos 'crap' the appropriate definition for Dany's mindset.

"I am only a girl... I might be naive..." ah spare me. Stop treating your dragons like children cos they are not, they are beasts and they are dangerous, and next time you go fancying a man, do not go for a blue bearded one.

[Cas Stark]

That's different kinds of leaderships in two very different enviroments. And truth be told, these kids (Robb, Dany and Jon), all got themselves almost killed. Jon alienated all his friends, Robb slept with Jeyne Westerling. They've also done awful decisions. That's gotta count for something. Robb died because of his own terrible lack of compromise to his own cause (Or he would have married the Frey girl), and Jon's understandable, but still oath-breaking decision. I think Daenerys has the patience, but she needs to be tutored in the ways of ruling, like both characters above were.

That seems like its making an excuse for her, because I'm not really talking about "bad" decisions per se, as everyone in power has made them in the series, but about how easily cruelty comes to her when she loses patience with compassion, and this is not something that is seen with Jon Snow or Robb Stark, Jon Snow in particular puts himself at extreme risk over his refusal to condone cruelty. You would never see Robb agree its okay to torture some guy's daughter to get info. out of him, this is something that the Roose Bolton's and the Tywin Lannisters do.