Characters on Game of Thrones are no strangers to betrayal, with allegiances and enemies changing so regularly it’s often hard to keep track. For years, fans of the HBO series have speculated that Daenerys Targaryen would eventually become a villain just like her father, the Mad King Aerys. The first two episodes hint that the Mother of Dragons could turn on Jon Snow and the Starks.
In early April, before Season 8 even premiered, Redditor nanoelite theorised that Daenerys will be the series villain, explaining: “Both the show and the book series seek to portray a fantasy setting in realistic terms, clearly displaying the grim aspects of medieval life, the brutality of warfare, and the grey morality of its characters. That’s why I don’t think that either the Night King (a supernatural entity with absolutely no characterisation) or Cersei (a comically evil despot) will be the big bads. Both characters are too easy to root against, and having a clear conflict between good and evil doesn’t seem in line with what we have seen from the first seven seasons.”
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The Redditor went on to note that Daenerys makes a more compelling villain than Cersei because she’s so powerful.
“Daenerys is just more of the same, believing her way is the only way, refusing to compromise, and slaughtering dissidents, only she has dragons and a moral banner to rally armies behind. But the road to hell is paved with good intentions, and ultimate power will ultimately corrupt Daenerys. Setting her up as the final villain would be a much more moving, and fitting, ending to the show, instead of having the power couple team up to kill the zombie army and the comic villain. ”
Game of Thrones has always been a show that intentionally blurs the lines between good and evil to heighten the stakes. Turning one of the protagonists audiences have been rooting for since the beginning would be a fitting end to its final season, but we’ll have to wait and see for this one.
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