Khal Drogo and Daenerys Targaryen- Love Story or Stockholm Syndrome?

Let me preface this with, I love both Khal Drogo and Daenerys as characters. I think they both have unique personalities and of all the plot lines you have to keep straight during the first season, theirs is the easiest and most entertaining (it may also help that Jason Momoa is pretty easy on the eyes). 

So now that I have shown you a lovely photo of Jason Momoa killing it as Khal Drogo- lets get to the part you may not like. He’s trash for the first part of season one. I know I know I just told you that I love his charcter but you can blame the adaption from book to the small screen for this statement. Khal Drogo bought Daenerys…he bought her. I think its hard to come back from that but arranged marriages still happen in todays time so while that part is horrible, I can kinda see it being reddemable based solely on the fact that it was the “norm” of society. The rape scene in the show though…trash. I just want to know how many women were helping make the adaption and were like ‘yeah this is totally fine, I’m sure it’ll be fine’…like who made that choice? Because it was a terrible one. The book recalling their first night together was much different as Khal Drogo was much more gentle with Daenery’s and that was not portrayed by the shopw at all. You lose so much of the humanity that Khal Drogo has but lets start from the beginning and how the real trouble starts with Daenery’s brother.

 

Viserys Targaryen…what a jerk. A blog written under the screen name of GoodQueenAly isn’t far off in her statement that Viserys was probably on of the most hated characaters of the first few episodes of Game of Thrones. He was cocky and rude and the entitlement of that one was unparrelled. The entire reason Daenerys was married to Drogo to even begin with was because Viserys wanted the Dothraki to claim the throne from Robert. That’s a whole other plot line that I do not want to get into because if you tried to have it all make sense, you’d have to write twice as much as even George R.R. Martin because there are way too many connecting pieces. Anywho, lets get back on track. Viserys wasn’t around for very long but he made himself very hated in the limited screen time he did have. He was incredibly rude and expected everyone to do what he said, when he said, and how he said. He failed to realize that the Dothraki didn’t give a damn about who his dad was, they cared who Daenerys and Drogo were as they were the leaders. If it weren’t for his sister, Viserys would have died much faster than he did because the Dothraki were not a fan of him. He sold Daenerys for an army, which is incredibly crappy thing to do but it’s even worse if you consider that at this point, that’s the only family he has. With Viserys choosing to sell Daenerys, it automatically sets up the scene for how Drogo considers her property because she was honestly traded between the men like most people would barter catlle... which is horrifying and disgusting in its own right. I will say when it comes to Viserys I am just glad that the Dothraki didn’t put up with his bullshit and put him in his place.

That photo is included for two reasons: 1) It shows that the Dothraki really didn’t care that Viserys was a supposed king somewhere and 2) it’s a moment of him getting what he deserves because of being a jerk to everyone.

Now that I have framed everything, here is the real question. Should the rape scene have been included in the show at all or was it an unnecessary change from the book that didn’t need to happen? It shouldn’t have happened. I don’t understand how it even got past the producers because it was ridiculous. It created so many issues and Game of Thrones is already a highly problematic series based on its morals and its depiction of women. And you’re gonna make it even more problematic by adding a rape scene? I understand needing shock value but the actual story has more than enough to keep the audience engagged and entertained.

 

I feel like my biggest issue is how this scene differs from the book. As I said earlier, the marriage was arranged so it is questionable how consenual the entire experince could be but that was already made clear in a scene where Daenerys straight up told her brother that she didn’t want to marry Drogo at all. It was made clear in multiple ways that she was not consenting to the marriage and was not happy at all with the arrangement. As stated in an article by Georgina Laud she already faced sexual abuse from her own brother in a disturbing scene where he fondled her to comment on how grown she had become. The fact that she didn’t have body autonimy when it came to her brother was disturbing. These scenes are perfect examples of why an extra rape scene wasn’t necessary.

 It could be argued that they added this scene to show how truly animalistic the Dothraki are but that also doesn’t stand based on the fact that other scenes show how gruesome and rough the Dothraki were. When Daenerys is first meeting Drogo, it is explained that the braids in his hair are from those he has killed in battle. Also, you see how they treat women at her wedding prior to her scene of rape. Men killed each other at her wedding fighting over some woman and the way they had intercourse was also rough, but it was much truer to the book.

 

My biggest issue is how her rape and trauma are simply swept under the rug to create a love story concerning her and Drogo. As Kathryn Lindsay points out in her article, it isn’t until season seven that Daenerys even begins to talk about it. This makes it seem less probelmatic but it creates issues when you consider she wasn’t given a voice to speak on it for six seasons.

That later scene shows that the event had a major impact on her and made her become who she was. This is also an unsatisfying why to bring the rape back up based on the fact that it isn’t calling out the rapist at all, it is being used as a way to show she is stronger.

 

Overall, the scene was problematic and not necessary for the story that was being told. It was done in poor taste and had no real influence on the plot. It was used as shock value and sexual assault isn’t something to be used in TV for views. It is a real thing that happens to countless people and creates real trauma, it was not okay for the show to use it in such a disrespectful manner.

Sources Used

https://www.refinery29.com/en-us/2017/07/165887/game-of-thrones-daenerys-khal-drogo-rape

 

https://warsandpoliticsoficeandfire.wordpress.com/2015/10/31/the-dragons-shadow-viserys-targaryen/

 

https://www.express.co.uk/showbiz/tv-radio/1112441/danerys-targaryen-khal-drogo-relationship-game-of-thrones-season-8-violence-rape

 

Photo Sources

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Khal_Drogo

https://gameofthrones.fandom.com/wiki/Viserys_Targaryen

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