Daenery's Night(mare) of Marriage

Daenerys’s Night(mare) of Marriage

Wow! What a way to start off a series, from a 7-year-old being pushed from a ledge to a 13-year-old being sold by her brother, Game of Thrones definitely breaks the envelope.

            As most series do, the books are different then the episodes or movies. But in Game of Thrones, the difference between the scene under the sun and stars between Daenerys and Khal Drogo was drastically different between the book and episode. The creators of the show decided to change the scene that was originally supposed to be portrayed as consensual sex and interpreted it as a rape instead. The book shows it as a consensual sex appealing to Daenerys’s pleasure, while the show displays it as rape. With all the controversy surrounding this decision, the TV show made the situation seem even more realistic.

Let’s just think about this, would you want to marry someone days after you were just sold to them against your will? If your answer is yes, I am concerned for your sanity. In my opinion, it is extremely unlikely that a newly aged teenager is going to willing have sex with a late 20 to early 30-year-old man that she barely knows. While in the book this age difference is described in more detail, the show only displayed about an 8-year difference in age. Dany was 22 and Drogo was 30. Again, this is a bit more accepting and understanding as Dany would be above the age of 18 and would be able to give consent, while in the book it would be considered rape because of the age difference. This is why the age difference in the book between Drogo and Dany only made the circumstances worse.

As the House of the Direwolves discusses, the book version shows an unrealistic transformation of Dany. “She felt like a child once more, only thirteen and all alone, not ready for what was about to happen to her…” this would soon turn into a sex scene where Drogo began to explore Dany’s body. In this case, Dany even gave Drogo a “yes” as he was asking permission to continue the exploring. This is such a big flip in thoughts in today’s society for a very young child bride.

Also, just consider how Daenerys was at the beginning of Game of Thrones; she was very weak, shy, and she did everything her brother wanted. This ties into the abuse that Viserys put her through, she was mentally, sexually, and physically abused by him. Using his power over her, Viserys needed Daenerys to be the piece that solidified the alliance with the Dothraki, so he would have receive an army to take him back to his homeland, King’s Landing, where he had been exiled from. Daenerys’s own brother treated her as if she was an object, not a young girl.

As if Dany had a choice, she transitioned from the abuse of her brother to her newly wedded husband. It is just as if she did not know any different, it was just a change in who had ownership of her, as Amanda Rodrigues recognizes. Also, in both the book and the show, Drogo comes in everyday after working and rapes Dany as she cries from how sore she is. With this being said, it would make much more sense that it started off as a rape and was not going back and forth. If it were to go from consensual sex to rape while they were married, it suggests that if you are married, sex is just supposed to happen, not be considered rape or consensual. With all of these circumstances, it is CRAZY to think that Dany would want to have sex with Kahl Drago. There is no way that should she could enjoy it as her life had just been sold away.

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            As shown in the GIF above, well if the GIF would actually move. It shows Viserys asserting his dominance against his shy sister and shoving a sword up to her throat saying, “Do you hear me?” This scenario shows Dany was too scared to stand up to anyone because she was so shy and weak. Her personality forced her to be walked all over, but also because the fact that she was a woman. The sexual assault showed how she was powerless, but overtime Dany was able to overcome this and gain power and confidence in herself.

On top of it, as Morgn Ladimore, makes a good point, “Aside from her being a child, and children can’t truly consent to relations with adults, she is in no position to refuse Drago.” If Dany were to try and say no or push the Khal off of her, he could easily overpower her in terms of his strength as well as authority. 

Looking at the outcome of this rape scene, I think that it awoke the woman inside of her. Within the few episodes following this situation, she started to display her dominance and bring out the warrior inside of her. I believe that if it would have been portrayed as consensual sex that it would not bring out the dragon like qualities inside of her. She would have never had the courage to use her own sexuality to get Drago to look at her committing these acts if it was not for the original rape and her handmaid’s encouragements/teachings. She went from being forced to do whatever her brother and Drogo wanted her to, to being able to hold her own. It was first shown when she was able to take vengeance and kill Viserys for all the disrespect that had targeted towards her, before and after Dany’s marriage. Additionally, after Drogo’s death Dany was still able to some command with the Dothraki, however, it was not the same way she did before. Even though she was told after her husband’s last breath she would have no authority, she went against this and continued to have some control.

            With the meaning of the event being altered, it caused the plot line to be screwed up. With the event being portrayed as a rape, the following episodes would show that Dany was falling in love with Drago, her rapist. Dany went from being on the verge of suicide, as Morgn Ladimore discussed in her blog post, because of the pain she felt every night after being raped in the tent.  Even though the original rape makes more sense, it would mess up the plotline. Dany falling in love with Drago, her former rapist, is what presents the issue. No matter which way the event would have went, there would have been an issue based on society’s definition of consensual sex.

            To round things up, the rape scene following the wedding of the Khal and the Khaleesi made it easier for the audience to relate to, going from one abusive relationship to another is not uncommon among individuals this day in age. This moment makes Daenerys more relatable to women because it shows that those who were victims of abuse can turn it into something good. Dany takes her terrible childhood (background of abuse) and turns it into a story of triumph and shows it as an uplifting event. All in all, going from the rape to how powerful Dany is now with three dragons and an army, she was able to show a great amount of growth and the audience can relate to this.

            Although watching the rape on the HBO episode was not the easiest on the eyes, it represented the situation well. Also, the most powerful part of these events was how much stronger she became throughout the first three seasons. Lastly, Dany can be seen as a figure of feministic empowerment from her tremendous growth from the initial rape scene.

 

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