Spoilers for all eight seasons of the Game of Thrones television series. Daenerys Targaryen’s journey begins with a life controlled by other people and ends with her claiming the right to rule through devastating force. Along the way, she becomes a leader who frees the enslaved and gathers followers—but the story’s central tension is whether liberation is her purpose, or also a path to power.
Which Daenerys story is this?
This article follows Daenerys as portrayed by Emilia Clarke in HBO’s Game of Thrones, whose television story runs from Season 1 through Season 8. Daenerys is also a major point-of-view character in George R. R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire novels, but the books and television series are distinct continuities; events in the show should not be treated as the novels’ settled outcome. A Wiki of Ice and Fire’s character entry identifies both versions.
How does Daenerys change over the series?
Exile and dependence
At the start, Daenerys is an exiled Targaryen whose future is shaped by her brother Viserys. He treats her as a means to regain political power, arranging her marriage to Khal Drogo. Her inherited claim to Westeros gives her an idea of home and destiny, but initially she has little control over how that claim is pursued.
Self-possession and authority
As the story progresses, Daenerys makes more decisions for herself, gathers followers, and accepts the responsibilities of leadership. Emilia Clarke’s early interviews describe her approach to playing a character who is inexperienced but develops a stronger sense of purpose. Clarke told Westeros.org: “Like Dany I have a moral compass but I definitely feel that it’s weird how much our lives echo one another.” That is the actor’s perspective on the role, not a definitive account of every choice Daenerys makes.
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Her dragons become part of her identity and political authority, while the people who follow her give her power beyond her family name. Those sources of influence help her act independently—but also raise the stakes of how she uses force and loyalty.
Liberation and the claim to rule
Daenerys presents herself as a liberator, seeking to free people from enslavement and oppressive rulers. At the same time, she intends to claim the Iron Throne. Those aims can overlap—she may believe her rule will bring justice—but they are not identical. Clarke described Daenerys as wanting to get home, reach people, and exercise power in a 2017 TIME interview. The tension between what Daenerys wants to accomplish and the authority she wants to wield becomes increasingly important to her story.
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- st of the fiefdoms that owe allegiance to King Robert Baratheon in far-off King's Landing. There Eddard Stark of Winterfell rules in Robert's name. There his family dwells in peace and comfort: his proud wife, Catelyn; his sons Robb, Brandon, and Rickon; his daughters Sansa and Arya; and his bastard son, Jon Snow.
- Far to the north, behind the towering Wall, lie savage Wildings and worse--unnatural things relegated to myth during the centuries-long summer, but proving all too real and all too deadly in the turning of the season. Yet a more immediate threat lurks to the south, where Jon Arryn, the Hand of the King, has died under mysterious circumstances.
- Now Robert is riding north to Winterfell, bringing his queen, the lovely but cold Cersei, his son, the cruel, vainglorious Prince Joffrey, and the queen's brothers Jaime and Tyrion of the powerful and wealthy House Lannister--the first a swordsman without equal, the second a dwarf whose stunted stature belies a brilliant mind. All are heading for Winterfell and a fateful encounter that will change the course of kingdoms.
Why does Daenerys destroy King’s Landing?
In the television finale, Daenerys attacks King’s Landing after the city has surrendered, killing civilians as well as combatants. She then presents her rule as the beginning of a wider campaign of liberation. These events are plot facts; what they mean for the character’s development, and whether the transition to them feels persuasive, remain matters of interpretation.
One prominent interpretation comes from Clarke herself. In a post-finale interview with The New Yorker, she compared Daenerys’s story to Lawrence of Arabia, describing a figure brought in as a savior whose relationship with power changes. Clarke said: “Well, fundamentally, he’s brought in as a savior. He goes in and fights for the people, but then, ultimately, it’s a story about how power corrupts absolutely.” She also said, “If you don’t agree with your character, then you shouldn’t take the job.” These remarks explain Clarke’s reading and performance approach; they do not settle how viewers should judge the finale or its execution. Read Sarah Larson’s interview with Clarke in The New Yorker.
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How should viewers assess Daenerys’s ending?
It helps to separate two questions: whether the ending is consistent with themes and choices established earlier, and whether the final change is developed convincingly on screen. Earlier ruthlessness can be read as foreshadowing, but foreshadowing alone does not determine whether a character’s last turn feels earned. Viewers may weigh Daenerys’s stated goals, her methods, and the speed of the final transition differently. The sources cited here record Clarke’s interpretation, not an objective consensus among viewers or critics.
Quick Recap
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- Agency: Track how control over Daenerys’s life shifts from her brother and circumstances to her own decisions as a ruler.
- Purpose and method: Compare her aim of helping or freeing people with the means she uses to obtain and keep authority.
- Liberator and sovereign: Consider how the story moves from rescuing people to claiming power over them.
- Foreshadowing and transition: Ask both whether earlier choices anticipate the ending and whether the series develops the change sufficiently.
- Performance and interpretation: Clarke’s comments offer insight into her approach, while leaving room for viewers to reach different conclusions.
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