The only proof she's not mad

[Old-Growth]

Dany staying in Meereen was one of her best decisions yet.

I agree, but the time to go west is rapidly approaching. Those dragons may make the difference in a new war for the dawn. They will likely not do well in the cold, but snow may not ground them in the way that rain did to Rhaenys' dragon at Storms End. The most important use, I suspect, will be scouting and coordinating forces. If they can be kept airborne, they can move much faster than the Others and Wights which should be of value in the struggle.

The primary reason for staying is to try to make sure that the slaves she set free stay free, or so it says here :) And of course, transport for her people at this point is problematic at best. If the Golden Company feared to take the demon road, then it is probably a bad idea for her to take her people on the same road going in the other direction.

[Ser No One]

I'm convinced the simple fact that she's even considering that she might be turning mad is evidence enough that she won't turn mad. I don't believe Aerys thought himself mad.

Her behavior in the last chapter is simply her having an epiphany. She needs to assume her own personality instead of letting people tell her what to do. She's going to drop her floppy ears and live by her family's words. She might have realized by now that if she wants to eradicate slavery, she'll most probably have to burn whole cities to the ground.

Her whole slave-freeing journey in Essos wasn't madness. It was only an ideal, which she hoped to achieve without really thinking about it. It was also the best way not to lose support in Westeros by being seen as a slaver. It wasn't completely stupid but she clearly didn't think it through.

[Morienthar]

Bobert would have punched the guy himself.But he wouldn't kill him.

Neither would Stannis or Renly or Robb.

[The Holy Goat]

I've never considered Daenerys mad. On my latest read I did notice some mayor flaws though: self-entitlement, arrogance, spite, incapability when it comes to ruling etc. She's not mad though, not yet, she's just not as incredible and awesome as she likes to view herself.

[Batman]

You spot in Tywin Lannisters face? You're fucked. He was a fine hand and not mad.

My point is this proves nothing.

[Jon's Queen Consort]

so she is not insane because she didn't killed enough peoples?

[The Bastard of Summer]

I'll grant her that she is not batshit crazy, yet. She will be a bit more unsavory when she returns to Mereen with Vicki and crew. If she does not wind up crazy she will be Maegor cruel. Not towards the kids though, cause you know Dany loves the kids. She just doesn't mind making orphans out of them.

Edited for spelling*

All hail Danaerys Targaryen Breaker of chains and maker of Orphans!

[echidna]

There's a reasonable if not obvious reason for Dany hearing voices and seeing things ... but most people seem to only want to suggest that Starks and the Reeds and wildlings can warg and green see.

It's not as though she has any magical creatures nearby or magical ability... [ end sarcasm ] :devil:

What makes her behaviour with Drogon any different to the closeness between Jon and his direwolf? Or her behaviour any more changable than someone else with personal magic (not burning etc) say Bran?

P.S. she also doesn't have anyone to train her or explain the magics.

[TalalOfDorne]

I dont think shes crazy or mad.

[David Selig]

So many people here have no clue what being mad means, it's a bit disturbing really.

[King Aerys the Just]

I think she may well end up going mad one day, but she clearly isn't at the moment. Considering the very harsh challenges heaped upon her followed by being granted huge power I think she has done a good job of staying level headed. Compare her to real life historical conquerors and she stands out as very sane and reasonable.

[C0bR]

Mad? No (not yet)

paranoid?

traumatized?

arrogant and ignorant?

entitled?

naive and foolish?

yes

And those things can grew into madness, just as it was in the case of Aerys. I am not saying they will, but they can.

[GoldenFleece]

There's a reasonable if not obvious reason for Dany hearing voices and seeing things ... but most people seem to only want to suggest that Starks and the Reeds and wildlings can warg and green see.

It's not as though she has any magical creatures nearby or magical ability... [ end sarcasm ] :devil:

What makes her behaviour with Drogon any different to the closeness between Jon and his direwolf? Or her behaviour any more changable than someone else with personal magic (not burning etc) say Bran?

P.S. she also doesn't have anyone to train her or explain the magics.

There is some magic about her, just like the Stark children. Her magic however is completely undefined as for yet.

I am one of the few ones who think she is immune against flames (not heat), flames. No-one yet has given me a logical reason why Dany's hair was in flames in the Pit and yet no burns to her head, face and scalp despite having a flamethrower (Drogon) aimed at her.

Anyhow she is not mad, I recently re-read ADWD with the purpose of looking out for any hints of madness. Other than tripping out on some freaky berries in the last chapter, I cant see any evidence for it.

[JeepCSC]

Dany gambled that she could hatch the dragon eggs and remain unburnt when she walked into the fire. In our world, that would be an absurd thing to do. But, in a world where magic really does work, it isn't. Of course, if it hadn't worked, we would probably conclude that it was evidence of madness.

Dany certainly takes great pride in being a Targaryen, but pretty well all royals and nobles take the same pride in their birth.

Dany's cruelty is different to that of her brother and father. They were cruel to people who offended them. She's willing to forgive insults. She's cruel to people who she considers unjust.

She gambled that she would be able to do something no one in history has been able to do (as far as she or we know). That is madness. She may have also been suicidal, but I tend to think it was more madness. The fact that it worked does not diminish the fact that the actual act was mad. I don't get the sense she is proud to be a Targ, I get the sense that she feels being a Targ makes her untouchable. That and her dragons, which she feels are almost one and the same with her name. Tyrion is the only one that comes close to relying on the family name so much, and he uses it to get people arrested and to save his life by arming clans. He doesn't set out to end society as Westeros knows it simply because he is the blood of the Lion and the lion rules through clawing and blood and fears nothing and will do what is best for his people no matter the consequences because he won't look back because lions never look back.

[TheMysteriousOne]

She gambled that she would be able to do something no one in history has been able to do (as far as she or we know). That is madness. She may have also been suicidal, but I tend to think it was more madness. The fact that it worked does not diminish the fact that the actual act was mad. I don't get the sense she is proud to be a Targ, I get the sense that she feels being a Targ makes her untouchable. That and her dragons, which she feels are almost one and the same with her name. Tyrion is the only one that comes close to relying on the family name so much, and he uses it to get people arrested and to save his life by arming clans. He doesn't set out to end society as Westeros knows it simply because he is the blood of the Lion and the lion rules through clawing and blood and fears nothing and will do what is best for his people no matter the consequences because he won't look back because lions never look back.

Such bs. Every noble in Westeros who is proud of their heritage does what Dany does. Even the Starks.

[yomi]

I actually wouldn't call her stepping into the flames a gamble, or if so, then a very safe one where she could have stopped gambling as soon as she would have started losing with only little losses.

If she would have stepped onto the pyre and then lit it, then yeah, it would have been a risky gamble. But she was slowly going into the fire, it burned the Maegi, it was unbearable hot for the other people, it smolderd her vest, but it only made her sweat, it wasn't causing her any pain, wasn't harming her, so why should she stop going closer and closer to the fire? If it had started to hurt her and she would have continued going, yeah that would have been crazy, but that was not the case. And I for one believe that she would have turned back had the fire started to hurt her before she would have been to badly burned, she just never had a reason for it, because the flames didn't harm her.

And that she explains her not being hurt by the flames by being blood of the dragon... well I don't have a better explanation for it either. Do you?

On her not killing a man who spit on her, yes, that's not mad either. I even think, killing him would have been more a sign of weakness than not killing him... having to kill people who spit on you to show that you are king / queen is pretty much on the same level like having to say "I'm king / queen!" all the time...

Sure, Dany makes mistakes. She is a young, inexperienced child in a diffcult situation who hasn't much good advise, feels a bit to responsible and entitled and makes some rash decisions. But she isn't mad and she isn't bad.

[David Selig]

She gambled that she would be able to do something no one in history has been able to do (as far as she or we know). That is madness. She may have also been suicidal, but I tend to think it was more madness. The fact that it worked does not diminish the fact that the actual act was mad.

She went a bit into the flames and they weren't hurting her. So why not give it a try?

If she had gone into the flames, started burning but kept going in, that would've been mad. But that's not what happened.

[JeepCSC]

I'm sorry, the argument is now that she could have gotten out of the blazing inferno if she really started burning? The mad act isn't mad if you pull back once you realize the mad act could kill you? She had conviction that she could do something no one had ever done. She is Aerion Brightflame except she succeeded. As everyone that witnessed it agreed, it was madness and/or suicide that managed to work for reasons Daenerys doesn't know.

As far as her side venture in conquering and ruling a land not her own (for noble reasons I'll grant, but delusions need not be evil), well. If Tyrion had done that with the second sons, all the while muttering he is of the lion and a lion eats harpies and so shall he, and he botched so completely but said it did not matter because the lion doesnt look back and the lion fears nothing and so on, well, he'd be seen as delusional. Joffrey is seen as delusional for less reasons. He differs in that he is also a sociopath.

[Dany Girl]

She gambled that she would be able to do something no one in history has been able to do (as far as she or we know). That is madness. She may have also been suicidal, but I tend to think it was more madness. The fact that it worked does not diminish the fact that the actual act was mad. I don't get the sense she is proud to be a Targ, I get the sense that she feels being a Targ makes her untouchable. That and her dragons, which she feels are almost one and the same with her name. Tyrion is the only one that comes close to relying on the family name so much, and he uses it to get people arrested and to save his life by arming clans. He doesn't set out to end society as Westeros knows it simply because he is the blood of the Lion and the lion rules through clawing and blood and fears nothing and will do what is best for his people no matter the consequences because he won't look back because lions never look back.

you're forgetting the fact that she's been being pulled to the eggs for quite some time. Putting them in the braiser was one example. She's had a connection to them. Saying her following that psychic connection into the flames is akin to saying Bran us mad for following his visions into the far north where Others and wights roam. That is no more logical than stepping into flames for Dany. Plus, she's not aiming to end Westeros society, she's trying to restore it. Robert is the one that set out to change a 300 year old dynasty. Her ideals are actually quite in line with Westeros ideals about bravery and honesty. Westeros has become a stinking hole of crap in reality, only in stories does true nobility and valor stand. Sure, there are a few people that live up to the standards of what a knight/Lord/Lady should be, but painfully few. If she can get help return them to the old ways, is that bad? Westeros needs some change or this Game is going to destroy everything. Also, the changes she's made in the societies she's had effect in are in line with Westeros laws. No slavery. No raping women after war, but this one isn't followed in Westeros besides from Stannis who castrates rapists.

in fact, it amazes me when people praise Stannis for his sense of right/wrong but bash Dany for hers when they're actually quite similar. Their methods of enacting punishment for law breakers is different, but Stannis is much older (old enough to be her father) and has been raised in a household with a strong Lord as his father to learn from. Dany has to learn on her own.

[JeepCSC]

Not changing Westeros, changing Essos. As for why we treat her differently than, say, Bran is because we see what is driving Bran. We know of others in society that have dreams like Bran. Dany's povs don't give us glimpses into what she sees if she sees anything, so her actions look spontaneous ( and reckless).