Thread by @RowanKaiser

ugh, all right, a little Game of Thrones ~discourse~ for y'all. Bear in mind that this I haven't seen tonight's episode so this is very general and not about specific decisions or portrayals on the evening.

What's up with Jon and Dany?

Jon and Dany have been the traditional heroic fantasy protagonists from the beginning of the story. Both are long-lost heirs, start from low points, have magical adventures, build their way into power to save the world and win the throne. They are Luke Skywalker or Aragorn

In many ways, the story of Game of Thrones is that it begins as a simple story, Martin realizes he wants to make it complex and be about Cersei and Stannis and Margaery and Sansa and Littlefinger etc. But in the end...it's Jon and Dany.

But there are two of them. And using the fact that there are two of them, Martin could explore the differences in leadership, what being "worthy" means, and so forth.

The fifth book, which roughly corresponds to the fifth season of the show, directly explores this, with Jon as Lord Commander and Dany ruling Meereen.

Now, Jon Snow has led something of a charmed life. He's the hero! He fights well and fucks well and has a mysterious secret past and so on. Heroes in fantasy are leaders from the front, though. They don't make long-term plans.

Jon, however, as Lord Commander, is democratically elected, not because of his blood (although obvs he has privilege) but because of what he has shown.

Jon has a long-term plan. He is the only leader in Westeros to recognize the Others' threat.

As Lord Commander of the Night's Watch, Jon attempts to be a good man, in giving aid to refugees from the Boltons, and attempts to save the kingdom, in recruiting the Wildlings to help defend the Wall.

He is *the only person in power in Westeros to act in a way that isn't merely for his personal or family gain or dumb tradition or ancient grudge.*

And for that, he gets betrayed and stabbed in the back and left for dead

Meanwhile, Dany, while ruling Meereen, is stuck with two basic choices: violence or compromise. Fuck Daario, or make a go of it with Hizdahr. Let the dragons run wild, or chain them up for the good of the people.

in the Pit, when the Sons of the Harpy are making their big coup attempt, she makes her choice. Perhaps it is the only choice she has, but she chooses fire and violence and death and power.

This is the thing that the books were pointing at, that Jon had chosen to work for the good of Westeros and Dany had chosen herself. In bits and pieces, yes, but that idea was still there, and is the one of the few things that holds the mess that is book 5 together.

But the show...the show totally fucks this up. Just, a monumental thematic clusterfuck.

Jon and Dany's problems in Season 5 are presented not as political divides that they much bridge, but "some people are big old jerks to the heroes." and they both resolve the same way, with the heroes kicking the ass of the villains.

So the show is left with a situation where "people" love and support Jon for no apparent reason, but are skeptical of Dany for no apparent reason.

Because they fucked up an essential season by just being cruel and shoving six plotlines into one. Because they hired actors who can't show interiority, and forgot to write them with any kind of internal monologue or doubt.

This is a core fuckup of Game of Thrones, this is part of why I think Season 5 is the worst season, why I think the ending is going to be a mess, and why I think Jon killing Dany is the only hope I have for any macro-level entertainment anymore.