Game of Thrones Ending Explained, Part 1: The Downfall of Daenerys Targaryen

[00:00] “Who is the greatest threat

[00:09] The finale of Game of Thrones

[00:12] and it hinges on the event

[00:15] the destruction of that bewitching,

[00:20] In a roundabout way, Daenerys Targaryen

[00:23] to break the wheel.

[00:24] “It’s a beautiful dream,

[00:28] You’re not the first person

[00:30] “I’m not going to stop the wheel.

[00:34] I’m going to break the wheel.”

[00:37] Instead of being the savior

[00:40] it turns out she’s the danger

[00:43] but her invasion and death

[00:46] between warring rulers

[00:48] with a new, more enlightened

[00:50] “Sons of kings can be cruel

[00:55] His will never torment us.

[00:57] That is wheel our queen wanted to break.”

[01:06] In this video we’re just going to

[01:08] While her transformation in

[01:12] the groundwork for her

[01:14] can be traced back to

[01:22] The early sparks of her determination

[01:25] finally flame up into

[01:28] with wielding total, unchallenged power

[01:32] And as she ends up

[01:35] becoming the very thing

[01:37] “You’re not here to be

[01:39] “No.”

[01:40] the tragic fate

[01:42] contains the true heart

[01:45] So here’s our take on the deeper moral

[01:49] the downfall of the Dragon Queen

[01:56] “Will you break the wheel with me?”

[02:23] We open with Tyrion walking through

[02:27] forcing himself to stare the consequences

[02:31] Acknowledging that his idealistic dream

[02:35] through the Dragon Queen is dead,

[02:37] he weeps for all that he destroyed

[02:40] as his family’s melody

[02:43] plays one last time.

[02:45] In our first glimpse of Daenerys

[02:52] the cinematography reinforces

[02:56] just as the visuals announced in “the Bells”

[02:59] Now that her raging

[03:02] “You don’t want to wake

[03:04] the world is feeling the pain.

[03:06] “You are liberators!

[03:07] You have freed the people of King’s Landing

[03:12] Daenerys the tyrant is a dark inversion

[03:16] the emancipation she now promises

[03:19] is in fact death.

[03:20] “We will not lay down our spears

[03:23] all the people of the world!”

[03:28] This sequence echoes

[03:31] and it might make us look back

[03:34] to find parallels to Nazi

[03:37] foreshadowing the totalitarian

[03:40] Daenerys’ turn actually is

[03:43] to her character arc.

[03:45] You can watch our video comparing

[03:48] at how the show hinted all along

[03:51] However, the missed opportunity

[03:53] on Dany’s journey

[03:55] her decision to burn King’s Landing

[03:59] on her face.

[04:03] It’s only in the “Inside the Episode”

[04:10] into what glimpsing the Red Keep

[04:13] “I don’t think she decided ahead of time

[04:19] and then she sees the Red Keep,

[04:22] the home that her family built

[04:25] to this country

[04:27] It’s in that moment on

[04:31] where she’s looking at that symbol

[04:35] when she makes the decision

[04:38] This is an incredibly interesting point

[04:42] make it into the script itself --

[04:44] if it had, it may have illuminated

[04:48] Dany makes the choice she does.

[04:50] Along her way Daenerys

[04:53] that she wants to rule

[04:55] and created a utopian

[04:58] as a benevolent freedom fighter --

[04:59] “Together we will leave the world

[05:03] while on a repressed,

[05:06] the Iron Throne is actually a symbol

[05:11] So even though she doesn’t

[05:13] all this time her inner dragon

[05:17] or the promise of change,

[05:19] but by rage and the will to avenge

[05:22] at the hands of her enemies.

[05:23] “When my dragons are grown,

[05:27] what was stolen from me

[05:31] We will lay waste to armies

[05:36] And this duality of the beautiful --

[05:37] sounding rhetoric and

[05:41] coalesces into a dictator

[05:44] because her dreamy story allows her

[05:49] no matter the body count.

[05:51] “I’m here to free

[05:55] That is my destiny,

[05:58] no matter the cost.”

[06:00] Tyrion resigns as Daenerys’ hand,

[06:03] the definition of

[06:06] not to mention that he was about

[06:09] “Take him.”

[06:11] Despite how clear it seems

[06:12] that Daenerys is

[06:14] “I know a killer

[06:16] Jon Snow drags his feet and pays

[06:21] “What's it matter what I'd do?”

[06:24] “It matters more than anything.”

[06:26] So the imprisoned Tyrion persuades Jon

[06:31] through a brief analysis

[06:33] for the Breaker of Chains.

[06:34] “She liberated the people

[06:37] She liberated the people

[06:40] And she'll go on liberating

[06:44] are free and she rules them all.”

[06:47] As Daenerys freed slaves

[06:50] she faced win-wins that allowed her

[06:53] she picked up armies

[06:56] while she got to feel squarely

[06:58] because all the men

[07:01] “When she murdered

[07:03] I'm sure no one

[07:05] After all, they were evil men.

[07:08] When she crucified hundreds

[07:12] who could argue?

[07:13] They were evil men.”

[07:14] The more absolute power

[07:17] the more she was lauded

[07:21] “Everywhere she goes,

[07:28] Even her closest friends and advisors

[07:32] “Do not walk away from your queen

[07:36] “She bought me from my master

[07:39] “That was good of her.

[07:42] Of course, you’re serving

[07:44] Being hailed as a savior for so long

[07:48] more than anyone.

[07:49] “Do you know what kept my standing

[07:55] Faith.

[07:56] Not in any gods,

[08:02] In myself.”

[08:03] She’s come to believe she is

[08:06] So when she slides into

[08:08] “Children, little children, burned!”

[08:11] “I tried to make peace with Cersei.

[08:15] She used their innocence

[08:17] as a weapon against me.”

[08:18] it becomes easy for her

[08:21] if she did it --

[08:23] “How do you know?

[08:25] How do you know it'll be good?”

[08:29] “Because I know what is good.”

[08:31] When she talks to Jon about deciding

[08:35] “What about everyone else?

[08:38] All the other people

[08:41] “They don't get to choose.”

[08:42] out of context her words sound

[08:46] But if you are the person who has

[08:50] when all those people never imagined

[08:54] you would feel you know better

[08:56] what is best for them.

[08:59] “It's not easy to see something

[09:03] It’s almost impossible to imagine

[09:06] and experiencing the intense worship

[09:09] you have superhuman rights

[09:12] “But when the fire burned out,

[09:19] Do you understand?

[09:25] I'm no ordinary woman.”

[09:27] Many monarchs throughout history

[09:30] based on far less.

[09:31] “I’m the last hope of

[09:34] The greatest dynasty

[09:36] on my shoulders

[09:39] Daenerys once put forward

[09:40] a dazzling vision of

[09:42] "Lannister, Targaryen,

[09:46] they’re all just

[09:48] This one’s on top,

[09:51] and on and on it spins,

[09:55] but in the end she couldn’t

[09:57] of becoming another spoke on it,

[09:59] because feeling like a god on earth

[10:02] “And she grows more powerful

[10:05] that she is good and right.

[10:08] She believes her destiny is

[10:11] If you believed that

[10:15] wouldn't you kill whoever stood

[10:18] In fact, Daenerys’ tale is

[10:20] of the most powerful ruler

[10:24] and perhaps the best, too --

[10:26] that’s why almost everyone

[10:29] “I love her too, not as

[10:38] “I love you.”

[10:41] “It appears you’re not

[10:46] and we the viewers did, too.

[10:48] The tragedy is that it’s

[10:52] Daenerys’ exceptional,

[10:55] that makes her even

[10:58] or indeed than any other ruler

[11:02] The greater the power,

[11:06] to seize control over all people,

[11:10] unless it perfectly obeys,

[11:12] which is a vision of total,

[11:15] exactly the thing Daenerys

[11:17] “Do not become what you have

[11:20] Despite the number of hints

[11:22] that Daenerys would

[11:24] “Where are my dragons?!”

[11:26] Tyrion gets it wrong

[11:28] “Our Queen’s nature

[11:30] The point the story is making isn’t

[11:34] or that her Targaryen coin

[11:37] “You think our house words

[11:39] when we're born

[11:41] Then I'd be fire and blood too.”

[11:44] It’s that ultimately this

[11:47] still couldn’t withstand

[11:52] So it’s because of all

[11:55] is a cautionary tale illustrating

[12:00] if their control is unchecked

[12:03] This commentary on what absolute power

[12:06] is really the whole point

[12:09] “She is no longer

[12:12] “Everyone is mine

[12:16] Daenerys’ story has to end

[12:23] The best way to understand

[12:24] the significance and

[12:26] is to look at one of

[12:29] The Lord of the Rings.

[12:30] The allure of the magical ring

[12:34] more or less impossible

[12:36] and the Throne is this story’s

[12:39] When Daenerys finally

[12:41] she looks almost like Gollum

[12:45] And on a deeper level,

[12:47] of the beautiful elf Galadriel.

[12:49] Frodo offers her the ring --

[12:51] of wielding it justly,

[12:54] “I do not deny that my heart

[12:58] But while Galadriel is tempted

[13:00] as the all-powerful Queen,

[13:02] “All shall love me and despair!”

[13:07] she refuses, understanding

[13:10] if she accepted.

[13:12] “I will diminish and go into the west

[13:18] And as Jon kills Dany,

[13:21] “You are my queen,

[13:27] are a tribute to the underlying

[13:30] that she really is,

[13:31] beneath this monster

[13:33] His words frame the murder as

[13:36] from the Throne’s

[13:39] And the crucial symbolic moment

[13:42] giving every indication

[13:44] on the man who just

[13:46] But instead, he destroys

[13:53] Just as the ring is destroyed

[13:56] where it was forged,

[13:57] the Iron Throne is destroyed

[13:59] which is what Aegon used

[14:02] “Forged in the fiery breath

[14:05] So the finale reveals that,

[14:08] Jon is not the Aragorn

[14:12] “You’re the true king.”

[14:13] he’s Frodo,

[14:14] “You are the shield

[14:18] the suffering ring-bearer.

[14:19] He’s the only one who can bear

[14:22] being the closest to the throne --

[14:24] as symbolized by the fact

[14:27] “You're Aegon Targaryen,

[14:31] while not falling into

[14:33] “You are a ringbearer, Frodo.

[14:36] To bear a ring of power is to be alone.”

[14:40] As many predicted, Jon is

[14:43] it’s just that the Night King

[14:46] he was destined to

[14:48] Daenerys was that darkness.

[14:49] “It’s a terrible thing I’m asking.

[14:53] It’s also the right thing.”

[14:56] Martin has said this is

[14:58] these two people represent

[15:02] versus slow-moving,

[15:05] We’ve seen countless parallels

[15:07] foreshadowing how deeply

[15:10] In Season 7, fire and ice are

[15:13] and fall in love,

[15:14] but in the end

[15:16] they are so interlinked is

[15:20] “This is our reason.

[15:22] It has been from the beginning,

[15:24] since you were a little boy

[15:26] and I was a little girl

[15:31] This story of an over-powerful fire

[15:34] an equal-and-opposite ice

[15:38] “Love is the death of duty.”

[15:41] “Sometimes, duty is

[15:45] And Game of Thrones has

[15:47] as the moral underlying

[15:50] of this story of

[15:52] Dany’s prophecy in

[15:54] is very directly realized.

[15:56] What appeared to be snow

[15:59] the falling debris of

[16:01] and this Queen of the Ashes is

[16:03] close enough to touch

[16:05] but she never gets to sit on it.

[16:07] In the vision, she walks out

[16:09] and meets her deceased husband

[16:11] just as in this future,

[16:12] Jon Snow (who’s so linked

[16:16] sends her to join her dead.

[16:17] We might also note that

[16:19] this ending from the start

[16:21] “If the Targaryen girl convinces

[16:25] and the Dothraki horde crosses

[16:30] we won't be able to stop them.”

[16:33] (even though Ned Stark

[16:36] and even Sam’s dad Randall Tarly

[16:39] to bend the knee.

[16:40] “You, on the other hand,

[16:45] and chose to support

[16:50] Drogon takes his mother’s body --

[16:54] which implies he’s probably

[16:56] to the Targaryen ancestral home

[16:58] “For thousands of years the Valyrians

[17:03] at almost anything.”

[17:05] or possibly bringing her to

[17:08] where the dragon eggs are

[17:09] “Dragons’ eggs, Daenerys.

[17:10] From the Shadow Lands beyond Asshai.”

[17:14] Drogon’s behavior in this scene --

[17:17] that it was the throne

[17:20] reminds us that dragons are not

[17:24] they seem to be

[17:26] They are actually very wise,

[17:30] “Dragons are intelligent.

[17:33] More intelligent than men

[17:34] according to some maesters.”

[17:35] Bran’s later comment

[17:37] “Perhaps I can find him.”

[17:39] suggests that the Raven

[17:41] a deeper understanding

[17:44] While it’s tempting to paint

[17:47] as the Mad Queen

[17:49] by her bloodline to

[17:51] as she passes out of this world

[17:54] she was in the very first episode:

[17:58] the victim of a cruel world.

[18:00] “I would let his whole tribe f*** you,

[18:06] if that’s what it took.”

[18:08] Actress Emilia Clarke

[18:10] for her performance

[18:12] she tried to draw out

[18:13] inside this woman,

[18:15] who began as innocent and naive,

[18:19] “I imagined a mountain of swords

[18:23] So many fallen enemies,

[18:25] of Aegon's feet.”

[18:26] Daenerys’ endpoint sadly takes away

[18:30] empowering symbol of the strong woman

[18:33] to become a beacon of hope

[18:35] “You’re a dragon.

[18:36] Be a dragon.”

[18:39] It raises questions of why female

[18:43] so often tend to go crazy

[18:46] And out of context, the image

[18:49] while they're locked in

[18:51] framed as a noble deed,

[18:53] to be sending out

[18:55] But beyond the disappointment many feel

[19:00] “Shameful.”

[19:02] and the disjointedness of

[19:05] Dany's ending is the destination

[19:08] was always heading toward.

[19:10] Her inability to escape the cycle

[19:14] that has consumed her people

[19:16] makes her the last casualty

[19:19] that her death

[19:21] So Daenerys Stormborn of

[19:24] First of Her Name, the Unburnt,

[19:29] Khaleesi of the Great Grass Sea,

[19:32] and Mother of Dragons can finally

[19:36] to her list:

[20:27] of

[20:43] the Wheel.

[20:48] “We break the wheel together.”