tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9200860591450872337.post5957111997672498429..comments2023-10-24T17:15:07.560+02:00Comments on A Dance with Dragons re-read project: Daenerys VStefan Sassehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03504751435668017553noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9200860591450872337.post-65143911540912822262011-07-24T18:15:27.130+02:002011-07-24T18:15:27.130+02:00Not wrong.Not wrong.Stefan Sassehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03504751435668017553noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9200860591450872337.post-68311611398995199282011-07-24T18:14:27.946+02:002011-07-24T18:14:27.946+02:00This is the chapter where Dany "buys in"...This is the chapter where Dany "buys in" to the idea that she must marry Hizdahr. The idea was proposed in the previous chapter but, knowing Dany, it's hard to imagine her marrying him until she's really in a corner. The chapter shows the external threats escalating, the spectre of the Astapor disaster hanging over Meereen in Dany's mind, and Hizdahr's proven ability to stop the Harpy killings, leading to her declaration that she needs Hizdahr. It could've been handled in a few sentences in another chapter but I think it's more effective to show how her mounting despair and lack of options lead her to this decision.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9200860591450872337.post-55927277249153781692011-07-24T17:24:00.310+02:002011-07-24T17:24:00.310+02:00I was a bit too polemic for my own good here. It&#...I was a bit too polemic for my own good here. It's the specific storyline in this chapter that seems like a repetition of known patterns, not her story arc in general. I have well understood what that's about, just this peculiar chapter seems one of those that could have been streamlined in order to get a more fast paced story.Stefan Sassehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03504751435668017553noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9200860591450872337.post-90930069072460958712011-07-24T17:15:08.007+02:002011-07-24T17:15:08.007+02:00This will come up more in later chapters, but I do...This will come up more in later chapters, but I don't at all think GRRM's theme for the arc is "Silly Dany tried to do the right thing, trusted the wrong people, and they betrayed her" -- I don't think Dany's plotline is at all like Ned's. Ned merely had to deal with scheming at court. <br /><br />Dany's challenge is that she wants to (1) bring peace to Meereen and avoid being a "butcher queen" (while facing an insurgency and defending against external threats), and (2) maintain her own power, achieve large-scale societal reform, and change the world. She reluctantly decides to prioritize the first set of goals over the second. But this isn't because she's a naive fool -- her decisions to share power with Hizdahr, reopen the fighting pits, and compromise with the Yunkai'i on slavery policy are in fact what is needed for peace. <br /><br />But when peace is achieved, Dany realizes that peace is not what she wanted after all (this becomes clear in Dany VIII and IX). This is also Daario's purpose in the story -- Hizdahr represents the imperfect realities of the political compromises necessary for peace, while Daario represents what Dany truly wants to do -- rule, conquer, get what she wants.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com