A Truly Messed Up Version of Star-crossed Lovers
A Truly Messed Up Version of Star-crossed Lovers!
In the series Game of Thrones, they depict the relationship of Khal Drogo and Daenerys Targaryen as an epic romance. The problem with this scenario is that their entire relationship began with her being forced into marrying him, and then he rapes her on their wedding night. This is a far cry from any prince charming that I have ever read about. In the book, they make the wedding scene "consensual," and I use the word "consensual" very lightly, seeing as Daenerys is only 14 years old in the book.
The mistake that the show made was making their relationship evolve into a full-blown romance. Georgina Laud made an excellent point in addressing a fan's concerns about their whole relationship feeling like case of Stockholm syndrome. The fan made a valid point in stating that the only thing that changed the night Dany took control when they had sex was how she viewed the situation.https://www.express.co.uk/showbiz/tv-radio/1112441/danerys-targaryen-khal-drogo-relationship-game-of-thrones-season-8-violence-rape. In my opinion, she was making the best out of her situation. If she had not taken control in the bedroom, she would still be a victim of being regularly raped every night.
After their one romantic night together, Dany is entirely in love with Khal Drogo. They are shown cuddling and being very intimate with one another. This displays a mighty colossal character flaw in Dany, showing that just because Drogo is no longer raping her every night, he is now the perfect husband. Later in the show, when she becomes the mother of dragons, she would have burnt a man like Khal Drogo in an instant. Jordana Lipstiz makes 12 very valid points on why Khal Drogo was a complete jerk and not someone we could see Dany with as she progresses throughout the series. Her first point stuck out to me. She points out that the Dothraki, once they would sack a city, would sell the people they conquered into slavery.https://www.bustle.com/articles/174291-12-reasons-khal-drogo-on-game-of-thrones-was-actually-a-jerk Dany becomes known as the breaker of chains and has the masters of Meereen nailed to posts for enslaving the people of Meereen. If this Dany had met a man like Khal Drogo, there is no doubt in my mind that she would have him killed in a similarly gruesome way.
Another issue that I have with the show is that when Dany is with Drogo, all her power comes from her sexuality. If she were not married to Drogo and having his son, she would not have had any respect from the khalasar. The first time the khalasar truly showed her any respect as their Khaleesi was during the ceremony, where she announces the name of her unborn child. This indicates that the only power she has is being able to provide their Khal with an heir. I believe that if she had been unable to provide Khal Drogo with an heir, he would have not been so kind and caring towards her.
I felt that turtle-paced made an excellent point in saying that Drogo saw Dany as more of a status symbol than anything else. It makes sense because when Khal Drogo purchased Dany from Viserys, he was showing that by being a big bad khal, he could have any women that he wanted. For him to be married to a foreign princess, it showed that he was a "big baller" and had cash to blow.https://turtle-paced.tumblr.com/post/175541047867/do-you-think-drogo-lovedcared-for-dany-as-a If you look at Dany from a guy's standpoint she would be the ultimate trophy wife.
She is young and beautiful.
She is a freaking princess.
She is from a foreign country.
She can't even speak his language.
If she can't even speak his language, he has no intention of having long talks with her. When he married her, he was mostly thinking that he could have a hot piece to keep his bed warm at night. At the beginning of the series, that's all he used her for was sex.
The best thing that Khal Drogo ever really did for him and Dany's relationship was to die. If you think about it Dany would have never become the badass Targaryen we all know and love. Leah Flavell makes ten points that really make me realize that if Khal Drogo would have survived she would have never been anything more than his Khaleesi. A huge point is that if Khal Drogo had never died then she would have never had her dragons. Dany's dragons are one of her defining characteristics, and without Drogo's funeral pyre, they would have never even hatched. Without these dragons she would not have her greatest weapon. Not only was Khal Drogo's death, the best thing for Dany, but it was also the best thing for Westeros. Dany's dragons were the biggest asset to defeat the night king and his army of white walkers and wights. The dragons were able to burn massive amounts of wights and without the dragons killing them, there is no way that the forces at Winterfell would have been able to stop them. https://screenrant.com/game-of-thrones-khal-drogo-survived/
All of this goes to show that strong female characters do not need a man in their life to make them great. Daenerys Targaryen truly became a force to be reckoned with when Khal Drogo died. All fans of Game of Thrones should be giving a special thanks to him for not taking care of his wound because if he didn't die, all of Westeros would have been doomed.
Yes, the whole beginning of the relationship between Kahl Drogo and Daenerys Targaryen was crazy at first, the way that it was portrayed in the book compared to the show did make it confusing. In the book, the wedding night was consensual, and then kind of goes downhill and seems more like rape. In the show on the other hand it shows the wedding night being rape, and then they start to get closer and it begins to seem more consensual down the road a way. Its almost as if we can start to see a real bond growing between Kahl and Daenerys. I also like the take you mentioned about the possible “Stockholm syndrome” that might be overcoming Daenerys in this relationship. Daenerys is seeing Kahl as this powerful person that she needs to have. She says that the sex life is brutal, talking about how much pain she is always in and she still started to want him and ended up making him move away from always having sex the same way, and took control while they were in bed. I like the view that you tool on this especially the Stockholm syndrome, I hadn’t really thought about the situation in that way.
ReplyDeleteThat is very interesting Grayson how you compared the love between Danny and Khal Drogo also the way you compared their love from the book and the television serious is very insightful to your agreement. Comparing the book and the television serious really showed how the love between those two characters changed but in a different way. It also helps your agreement able to be seen more clearly because of those two primary sources being used to help support your agreement. Also, I think that using not just your point of view but also a guy’s point of view was a nice touch and helps to get your point across about Danny as a character in both the television serious and the books as well. The way you not only talked about their relation not only after they were married abut compared their character types before they were married and about to have a child really shows that how different the two characters actually are which puts a different prospective to your argument that I never would have thought about.
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