Post by moiaf on Jul 18, 2016 8:31:18 GMT -5
Daenerys Targaryen: Mother and Dragon
Written by: MoIaF & BearQueen87
Introduction
Written by: MoIaF & BearQueen87
Introduction
“I am the queen…the…the…”
“….mother,” whispered Missandei
“Mother to dragons.” Dany shivered
“No. Mother to us all.”
“….mother,” whispered Missandei
“Mother to dragons.” Dany shivered
“No. Mother to us all.”
Daenerys Targaryen is probably the most controversial figure in the ASOIAF fandom. Her rise to power as the Queen in Meereen and self-proclaimed rightful Queen of Westeros is tinged with violent acts and decisions, but also fueled by her empathy, compassion and understanding. Yet, outside her role as the aforementioned Queen, there is another side to Dany: mother. Dany’s role as mother is a unique one; as she has never birthed a living child born of her own womb. Her son with Khal Drogo, Rhaego, was ripped from her and born deformed. Dany bled a babe into the Dothraki Sea at the end of the fifth book and she believes herself infertile and unable to carry to term. But, throughout Essos, Daenerys Targaryen is known as mother, mhysa, and the mother of dragons. Her own history with motherhood is one that is built on taking power, leaving behind the confines of the powerlessness she had once felt and finding the strength to move forward for her “children”—be they of the winged or two-legged variety.
When we first met Daenerys Targaryen living in the free city of Pentos, she is not any sort of mother figure. Dany is a meek, timid, shy, and reticent young woman; her “purpose” is as a pawn in her brother’s quest to reclaim the Seven Kingdoms and Iron Throne of Westeros. Dany is still very much a child, but one who has never had a proper home nor loving family. Her brother, Viserys is cruel and hurts Dany when she angers him. Dany’s own mother, the Queen Rhaella, died giving birth to her on Dragonstone; after her birth, Dany and her brother fled the Seven Kingdoms, never staying still for very long. It’s important to note that Dany has no concept of what it means to be neither a mother nor a dragon. Viserys may fancy himself the last dragon but as Ser Jorah Mormont tells Dany, “Viserys is less than a shadow of a snake.” What Dany learns of being a mother and a dragon, she learns organically; it is not something that is taught to her.
Dany is powerless when we are introduced to her. Despite being more observant and more aware than her elder brother, Dany is helpless against his verbal and physical abuse. She is merely an object that can be passed around at Viserys’s will. Even when Dany does try to speak up, to beg her brother not to sell her to Khal Drogo, her pleas are met with hostility, violence, and terror:
"I don't want to be his queen," she heard herself say in a small, thin voice. "Please, please, Viserys, I don't want to, I want to go home."
"Home?" He kept his voice low, but she could hear the fury in his tone. "How are we to go home, sweet sister? They took our home from us!" He drew her into the shadows, out of sight, his fingers digging into her skin. "How are we to go home?" he repeated, meaning King's Landing, and Dragonstone, and all the realm they had lost.
Dany had only meant their rooms in Illyrio's estate, no true home surely, though all they had, but her brother did not want to hear that. There was no home there for him. Even the big house with the red door had not been home for him. His fingers dug hard into her arm, demanding an answer. "I don't know . . . "she said at last, her voice breaking. Tears welled in her eyes.
"I do," he said sharply. "We go home with an army, sweet sister. With Khal Drogo's army, that is how we go home. And if you must wed him and bed him for that, you will." He smiled at her. "I'd let his whole khalasar fuck you if need be, sweet sister, all forty thousand men, and their horses too if that was what it took to get my army. Be grateful it is only Drogo. In time you may even learn to like him. Now dry your eyes. Illyrio is bringing him over, and he will not see you crying.
Dany turned and saw that it was true. Magister Illyrio, all smiles and bows, was escorting Khal Drogo over to where they stood. She brushed away unfallen tears with the back of her hand.
“Smile,” Viserys whispered nervously, his hand falling to the hilt of his sword. “And stand up straight. Let him see that you have breasts. Gods know, you have little enough as is.”
Daenerys smiled, and stood up straight.
"Home?" He kept his voice low, but she could hear the fury in his tone. "How are we to go home, sweet sister? They took our home from us!" He drew her into the shadows, out of sight, his fingers digging into her skin. "How are we to go home?" he repeated, meaning King's Landing, and Dragonstone, and all the realm they had lost.
Dany had only meant their rooms in Illyrio's estate, no true home surely, though all they had, but her brother did not want to hear that. There was no home there for him. Even the big house with the red door had not been home for him. His fingers dug hard into her arm, demanding an answer. "I don't know . . . "she said at last, her voice breaking. Tears welled in her eyes.
"I do," he said sharply. "We go home with an army, sweet sister. With Khal Drogo's army, that is how we go home. And if you must wed him and bed him for that, you will." He smiled at her. "I'd let his whole khalasar fuck you if need be, sweet sister, all forty thousand men, and their horses too if that was what it took to get my army. Be grateful it is only Drogo. In time you may even learn to like him. Now dry your eyes. Illyrio is bringing him over, and he will not see you crying.
Dany turned and saw that it was true. Magister Illyrio, all smiles and bows, was escorting Khal Drogo over to where they stood. She brushed away unfallen tears with the back of her hand.
“Smile,” Viserys whispered nervously, his hand falling to the hilt of his sword. “And stand up straight. Let him see that you have breasts. Gods know, you have little enough as is.”
Daenerys smiled, and stood up straight.
Even on her wedding day, Dany is frightened, alone, and scared of what will happen when the feasting and celebration end. Dany’s first two POVs in A Game of Thrones show a young girl who is forced to grow up much too quickly, she is paralyzed with fear at her brother, her new Dothraki husband, and the world around her. Dany has no mother and no dragons to neither comfort her nor show her the way:
“Dany had never felt so alone as she did seated in the midst of that vast horde. Her brother had told her to smile, and so she smiled until her face ached and the tears came unbidden to her eyes. She did her best to hide them, knowing how angry Viserys would be if he saw her crying, terrified of how Khal Drogo might react.”
However, the day of her wedding—and shortly thereafter—two things happen to Dany that will forever change her life and her own power. The first is a gift given from Illyrio Mopatis:
“Dragon eggs, from the Shadow Lands beyond Asshai,” said Magister Illyrio. “The eons have turned them to stone, yet still they burn bright with beauty.”
Stone they may be, but by the end of A Game of Thrones, admit fire and blood, the dragons, Dany’s first true children, will be reborn.
The second incident is more personal and an important step toward motherhood. Following the wedding and ceremony, Dany knows she must consummate the marriage with Khal Drogo. She is scared and anxious at the idea of giving herself to someone considered a barbarian and outside her culture. However, Drogo is surprisingly tender and gentle, and allows her to make the choice of whether or not they go through with sex:
“He stopped then, and drew her down onto his lap. Dany was flushed and breathless, her heart fluttering in her chest. He cupped her face in his huge hands and she looked into his eyes. “No?” he said, and she knew it was a question.
She took his hand and moved it down to the wetness between her thighs. “Yes,” she whispered as she put his fingers inside her.”
She took his hand and moved it down to the wetness between her thighs. “Yes,” she whispered as she put his fingers inside her.”
Given that, thus far in her young life, Dany has had no power, we can safely say that this is the first time she has ever been given a choice and her own power. This choice is over her body and desires; her assertion of her own personal power is repeated once more in Dany’s next POV after she has beaten back Viserys and earned the respect of the Dothraki through her dominance over her brother.
“This night we must go outside, my lord,” she told him, for the Dothraki believed that all things of importance in a man’s life must be done beneath the sky.
Khal Drogo followed her out into the moonlight, the bells in his hair tinkling softly. A few yards from her tent was a bed of soft grass, and it was there that Dany drew him down. When he tried to turn her over, she put a hand on his chest. “No,” she said. “This night I would look on your face.”
There is no privacy in the heart of the khalasar. Dany felt the eyes on her as she undressed him, heard the soft voices as she did the things Doreah had told her to do. It was nothing to her. Was she he not khaleesi? His were the only eyes that mattered, and when she mounted him she saw something there that she had never seen before. She rode him as fiercely as ever she had ridden her silver, and when the moment of his pleasure came, Khal Drogo called out her name.
They were on the far side of the Dothraki Sea when Jhiqui brushed the soft swell of Dany’s stomach with her fingers and said, “Khaleesi, you are with child.”
“I know,” Dany told her.
It was her fourteenth name day.”
Khal Drogo followed her out into the moonlight, the bells in his hair tinkling softly. A few yards from her tent was a bed of soft grass, and it was there that Dany drew him down. When he tried to turn her over, she put a hand on his chest. “No,” she said. “This night I would look on your face.”
There is no privacy in the heart of the khalasar. Dany felt the eyes on her as she undressed him, heard the soft voices as she did the things Doreah had told her to do. It was nothing to her. Was she he not khaleesi? His were the only eyes that mattered, and when she mounted him she saw something there that she had never seen before. She rode him as fiercely as ever she had ridden her silver, and when the moment of his pleasure came, Khal Drogo called out her name.
They were on the far side of the Dothraki Sea when Jhiqui brushed the soft swell of Dany’s stomach with her fingers and said, “Khaleesi, you are with child.”
“I know,” Dany told her.
It was her fourteenth name day.”
It is this important moment when Dany claims her power once more, this time over her lord husband, her body, and her people (the khalasar) that she conceives her son, Rhaego, whom she considers the last dragon. From this moment forward, motherhood, power, and being a dragon are directly tied together for Dany. But motherhood is not easy for Daenerys Targaryen, nor does it play out as she envisions.
Daenerys and Motherhood
We can look at Dany’s motherhood role in three different forms: mother to Rhaego, mother of dragons, and the mhysa. While they are all different, there is one element that unites them. In all three Dany is fiercely protective of her children, swearing that no harm with come to them.
Mother to Rhaego
Daenerys’s pregnancy with Rhaego ends in tragedy but before she loses her child, Dany continues to grow as a person, her own power manifesting by way of leadership and strength. Despite initially considering herself to be an outsider, Dany has adopted the Dothraki as her people, and they in turn have accepted her. When she and her husband arrive as the city of the Horse Lords, Vaes Dothrak, Dany is expected to undergo a ritual in which she must consume the heart of a stallion for it:
“would make her son strong and swift and fearless, or so the Dothraki believed, but only if the mother could eat it all.”
Eating the stallion’s heart is something akin to a Herculean feat of strength. It’s raw, bloody, the taste makes Dany gag but through it all Dany, “made herself chew and swallow.” During this display in front of the Dothraki khals and crones, Dany carries on by focusing on three things: her husband whom she has come to love, the child growing within her (“Dany touched the soft swell of her belly…she must not flinch or look afraid”), and reminding herself that she is blood of the dragon. This essay will focus on Dany as a Dragon below, but for now Dany’s growing relationship as Mother is nicely illustrated here. Notice that in order to draw strength during this bloody ritual, Dany touches the physical reminder of her pregnancy. The child growing inside her will always remind her of the first time when she seized her own power and got out from the dark and abusive shadow of her brother. In fact, Dany touches her stomach (Rhaego) quite often when she needs to steady herself, when she feels the need to protect her growing son, or when she is drawing on that idea of power.
"The one-eyed crone peered at Dany. “What shall he be called, the stallion who mounts the world?”
She stood to answer. “He shall be called Rhaego,” she said, using the words that Jhiqui had taught her. Her hands touched the swell beneath her breasts protectively.
~~***~~
“What does it mean?” she asked. “What is this stallion? Everyone was shouting it at me, but I don’t understand.”
“The stallion is the khal of khals promised in ancient prophecy, child. He will unite the Dothraki into a single khalasar and ride to the ends of the earth, or so it was promised. All the people of the world will be hi herd.”
“Oh,” Dany said in a small voice. Her hand smoothed her robe down over the swell of her stomach. “I named him Rhaego.”
“A name to make the Usurper’s blood run cold.”
~~***~~
Viserys began to scream the high, wordless scream of the coward facing death. He kicked and twisted, whimpered like a dog and wept like a child, but the Dothraki held him tight between them. Ser Jorah had made his way to Dany’s side. He put a hand on her shoulder. “Turn away, my princess, I beg you.”
“No,” she folded her arms across the swell of her belly, protectively.
~~***~~
‘Dany was near tears as they carried her back. The taste in her mouth was one she had known before: fear. For years she had lived in terror of Viserys, afraid of waking the dragon. This was even worse. It was not just herself that she feared now, but for her baby. He must have sense her fright, for he moved restlessly inside her. Dany stroked the swell of her belly gently, wishing she could reach him, touch him, soothe him.”
She stood to answer. “He shall be called Rhaego,” she said, using the words that Jhiqui had taught her. Her hands touched the swell beneath her breasts protectively.
~~***~~
“What does it mean?” she asked. “What is this stallion? Everyone was shouting it at me, but I don’t understand.”
“The stallion is the khal of khals promised in ancient prophecy, child. He will unite the Dothraki into a single khalasar and ride to the ends of the earth, or so it was promised. All the people of the world will be hi herd.”
“Oh,” Dany said in a small voice. Her hand smoothed her robe down over the swell of her stomach. “I named him Rhaego.”
“A name to make the Usurper’s blood run cold.”
~~***~~
Viserys began to scream the high, wordless scream of the coward facing death. He kicked and twisted, whimpered like a dog and wept like a child, but the Dothraki held him tight between them. Ser Jorah had made his way to Dany’s side. He put a hand on her shoulder. “Turn away, my princess, I beg you.”
“No,” she folded her arms across the swell of her belly, protectively.
~~***~~
‘Dany was near tears as they carried her back. The taste in her mouth was one she had known before: fear. For years she had lived in terror of Viserys, afraid of waking the dragon. This was even worse. It was not just herself that she feared now, but for her baby. He must have sense her fright, for he moved restlessly inside her. Dany stroked the swell of her belly gently, wishing she could reach him, touch him, soothe him.”
These are just a few of the instances where Dany uses tactile touch to draw on the power of motherhood. Even Drogo recognizes Dany’s newfound fierceness after conception of Rhaego, a fierceness that mimics the night the babe was made:
"Something in his tone reminded her [Dany] of Viserys. Dany turned on him angrily. “The dragon feeds on the horse and sheep alike.”
Khal Drogo smiled. “See how fierce she grows!” she said. “It is my son insider her, the stallion who mounts the world, filling her with his fire. Ride slowly, Qotho…if the mother does not burn you where you sit, the son will trample you into the mud.”
Khal Drogo smiled. “See how fierce she grows!” she said. “It is my son insider her, the stallion who mounts the world, filling her with his fire. Ride slowly, Qotho…if the mother does not burn you where you sit, the son will trample you into the mud.”
These quotes serve as a demonstration that for Dany motherhood goes hand in hand with a sort of fierce protectiveness. A mother is supposed to hold her little children to her and keep them from harm, and that is what Dany does whenever she covers her arms over her belly, touches her growing son. By doing so, she is also consciously drawing on that power that she took back herself the night he was conceived. Motherhood, then, for Dany is linked to power, ferocity, and protection.
Losing Rhaego was not easy, of course, though most of Dany’s mourning and grief happen in a fever dream state so that when she awakens, it is as if :
“all her fear was gone, burned away.”
This is not to say that Dany has failed as a mother or that she, in the end, did not love Rhaego, but rather her motherhood has (almost literally) transferred to something else: the dragon eggs. During her fever dreams, Dany wakes three times. The first time she tries to request that her maids bring her and egg and eventually tries to crawl over to her three eggs. The second time she is able to articulate her desire and is given an egg to hold as she dreams so that when she awakens the third time, she is strong once more.
This is Dany’s second phase of Motherhood and arguably her most important one: the mother of dragons. Having lost her two legged child, and being told by Mirri Maz Durr that she’ll never bear a living child, Dany embraces her true children: the dragons.
Mother of Dragons
The dragon eggs are never far from Daenerys in A Game of Thrones and like the unborn Rhaego, Dany is constantly touching them, feeling them, and in some cases trying to hatch them over fires. While much and more will be said about Dany as a Dragon below, for the moment it’s important to focus on the hatching of the dragons and how Dany births them into the world and instantly becomes their mother. The three dragons are not her pets; they are her children and the manner in which she feels about them is the same way she felt about Rhaego.
One trait that comes out more clearly and more defined in Dany’s role as the Mother of Dragons than in her role as mother to Rhaego is “instinct.” Dany has no hesitations about what she must do the night of Drogo’s pyre. Even when Ser Jorah begs her not to climb onto top the pyre with her late husband, Dany assures her knight that she does not intend to burn nor die, though of course, she never once promises not to climb on top of the pyre itself. She somehow had “sensed the truth of it long ago,” and knows that going into the fire is the right move. In a move that is called madness by Mirri Maz Durr, Dany places the three dragon eggs around Drogo’s body and order the pyre to be lit.
Once the fire begins to consume Drogo, the readers are treated to Dany’s internal monologue about how the fire is like a wedding night. Recall that Dany’s first real assertion of her own power, the first time she said “yes” instead of no, was at her wedding night with Drogo, out under the stars. That moment is duplicated the night Dany and Drogo conceived Rhaego and now, once more, under the sky and stars of the Dothraki Sea, Dany has one more night of power.
"She heard the screams of the frightened horses, and the voices of the Dothraki raised in shouts of fear and terror, and Ser Jorah calling her name and cursing. No, she wanted to shout to him, no my good knight, do not fear for me. The fire is mine. I am Daenerys Stormborn, daughter of dragons, bride of dragons, mother of dragons, don’t you see? Don’t you SEE? With a belch of flame and smoke that reached thirty feet into the sky, the pyre collapsed and came down around her. Unafraid Dany stepped forward into the firestorm, calling to her children."
When Ser Jorah finds Dany amongst the burnt out pyre, “she was naked, covered with soot, her clothes turned to ash, her beautiful hair all crisped away…yet she was unhurt.” However, as readers know already, Daenerys being alive is perhaps not the most startling moment in this final chapter of the first book in A Song of Ice and Fire.
"The cream-and-gold dragon was suckling at her left breast, the green-and-bronze at the right. Her arms cradled them close. The black-and-scarlet beast was draped across her shoulders, its long sinuous neck coiled under her chin. when it saw Jorah, it raised its head and looked at him with eyes as red as coals.
….
As Daenerys Targaryen rose to her feet, her black hissed, pale smoke venting from its mouth and nostrils. The other two pulled away from her breasts and added their voices to the call, translucent wings unfolding and stirring the air, and for the first time in hundreds of years, the night came alive with the music of dragons."
….
As Daenerys Targaryen rose to her feet, her black hissed, pale smoke venting from its mouth and nostrils. The other two pulled away from her breasts and added their voices to the call, translucent wings unfolding and stirring the air, and for the first time in hundreds of years, the night came alive with the music of dragons."
The imagery of this final scene is vital and at its heart is something as old as time: a mother nursing her newborn. Isis and Horus, Madonna and Jesus, Daenerys and her dragons, all three of these representations are presented the same way. A mother clutches her child close and nurses him. The image with Dany is strengthened by the fact that there are two dragons nursing and another who is waiting his turn, but the message is clear, Daenerys Targaryen is the Mother of Dragons. Dany is sadly never given a chance to nurse Rhaego, an act that bonds mother and child even further but with her dragons she gets that chance and for the rest of the books, Dany considers the dragons her true children.
Prior to Dany coming forth the flames, no Dothraki will swear to Drogo’s Queen. To them, Dany is a woman and her time as their khaleesi is over; she must retire to the crones in Vaes Dothrak and continue her life there. However, living through a conflagration and hatching three dragons changes the minds of the Dothraki.
"The men of her khas came up behind him [Jorah Mormont]. Jhogo was the first to lay his arakh at her feet. “Blood of my blood,” he murmured, pushing his face to the smoking earth. “Blood of my blodd,” she heard Aggo echo. “Blood of my blood,” Rakharo shouted.
And after them came her handmaids, and then the others, all the Dothraki, men and women and children, and Dany had only to look at their eyes to know that they were hers no, today and tomorrow and forever, hers as they had never been Drogo’s.
~~***~~
“We follow the comet,” Dany told her khalasar. Once it was said, no word was raised against it. They had been Drogo’s people, but they were hers now. The Unburnt, they called her, and Mother of Dragons. Her word was their law.”
And after them came her handmaids, and then the others, all the Dothraki, men and women and children, and Dany had only to look at their eyes to know that they were hers no, today and tomorrow and forever, hers as they had never been Drogo’s.
~~***~~
“We follow the comet,” Dany told her khalasar. Once it was said, no word was raised against it. They had been Drogo’s people, but they were hers now. The Unburnt, they called her, and Mother of Dragons. Her word was their law.”
Once again, Dany’s status as mother is directly tied to power. Being the mother of dragons gives her Drogo’s khalasar; it makes her desires law.
Like with Rhaego before the dragons, Dany is fiercely protective of her three new winged children. When they are just hatchlings, Dany knows they need her to care for them, as any mother would care for their newborn babe.
“They will not have my dragons, Dany vowed. They will not.
Such little things, she thought, as she fed them by hand.”
Such little things, she thought, as she fed them by hand.”
Each evenfall as the khalasar set out, she would choose a dragon to ride upon her shoulder. Irri and Jhiqui carried the others in a cage of woven wood slung between their mounths, and rode close behind her, so Dany was never out of their sight. It was the only way to keep them quiescent.
Other mothers in ASOIAF make similar pronouncements about keeping their children safe and caring for them. For example, Catelyn tries to explain motherhood to Brienne of Tarth thusly:
“As hard as birth can be, Brienne, what comes after is even harder. At times I feel as though I am being torn apart. Would that there were five of me, one for each child, so I might keep them all safe.”
This is something we should keep in mind for Dany throughout the whole of ASOIAF. Her “children” might not be of her body, but she is no different than any other mother in this series. Even Cersei, who’s own quest and thirst for power is often blinding, says that she does it all for the love she bears her children. Dany’s children, her real children as they are called in the Dothraki Sea at the end of A Dance with Dragons, often get labeled as weapons and simply as pets, but this is inaccurate. They are her children. They respond to her as if she were their literal mother. For example, when Dany takes Quentyn Martell, newly arrived in the city of Meereen, to see her dragon children chained in the pit, we get the following internal and external exchange:
One of the elephants trumpeted at them from his stall. An answering roar from below made her flush with sudden heat. Prince Quentyn looked up in alarm. “The dragons know when she is near,” Ser Barristan told him.
Every child knows its mother, Dany thought.
This is something Quentyn later recalls during his attempt to steal one of Dany’s dragons:
“Last and longest the beast stared at Pretty Meris, sniffing. The woman, Quentyn realized. He knows that she is female. He is looking for Daenerys. He wants his mother and does not understand why she’s not here.”
Dany’s role as the Mother of Dragons gets tangled up in her own self perception of Dany as Dragon and will be covered extensively below, but for the moment, there is one final motherly role Dany fills in ASOIAF, the mhysa.
Mhysa
Even before she is proclaimed the mhysa, it is the “distant screams and the wailing of frightened children” being tortured and raped that leads Dany to mount her first motherly rescue mission, this time of the Lamb Woman. Dany is unable to turn a blind eye to the suffering of innocent women and children. Their suffering hits too close to home for Dany, a woman who, before taking her own power, was abused and suffered at the hands of her brother. It is unlikely that Viserys Targaryen ever raped his little sister, but given the almost calm demeanor that Dany adopts when Viserys touches her inappropriately in her first POV, we can assume that Viserys had been doing such things to Dany’s person for a while now. For Dany, seeing others suffer as she once suffered, often causes her to change plans or act out in an attempt to rescue those who are suffering. Remember, Dany’s role as mother—be it to Rhaego, dragons, or slaves—is tied up in the idea of protector. As Tyrion Lannister once said:
“...this Mother of Dragons, this Breaker of Chains, is above all a rescuer”
Our first hint of Dany as mhysa comes in A Clash of Kings when Dany enters the House of the Undying in Qarth. The Undying Ones, who have an agenda all their own (stealing Dany’s life force—a feature, as a side note, that is most often relegated to mothers in ASOIAF; for example, the Kindly Man explains to Arya that women seldom become Faceless Men because women bring life into the world, not end it). But before the Undying try to eat Dany, they do give her a series of visions, culminating in this one:
"...Ten thousand slaves lifted blood-stained hands as she raced by on her silver, riding like the wind. “Mother!” they cried. “Mother, mother!” They were reaching for her, touching her, tugging at her cloak, the hem of her skirt, her foot, her leg, her breast. They wanted her, needed her, the fire, the life, and Dany gasped and opened her arms to give herself to them…
After the city of Qarth, Dany and her followers head toward Slaver’s Bay where Dany is greeted with atrocities and a very violent and abhorrent slave culture. Throughout Dany’s time in Slaver’s Bay, before she becomes the Queen in Meereen, it is important to remember that Dany views her life as one of being sold to Khal Drogo. While she did come to love her first husband after a fashion, she remembers what it is like to not have any choice or power over her own life.
“House Targaryen has friends in the Free Cities,” she reminded him [Jorah]. “Truer friends than Xaro or the Pureborn.”
“If you mean Illyrio Mopatis, I wonder. For sufficient gold, Illyrio would sell you as quickly as he would a slave.”
“My brother and I were guests in Illyrio’s manse for half a year. If he meant to sell us, he could have done it then.”
“He did sell you,” Ser Jorah said. “To Khal Drogo.”
Dany flushed. He had the truth of it, but she did not like the sharpness with which he put it.
~~***~~
Dany had no answer for him [Xaro Xohan Daxos], only the raw feeling in her belly. “Slavery is not the same as rain,” she insisted. “I have been rained on and I have been sold. It is not the same. No man wants to be owned.”
“If you mean Illyrio Mopatis, I wonder. For sufficient gold, Illyrio would sell you as quickly as he would a slave.”
“My brother and I were guests in Illyrio’s manse for half a year. If he meant to sell us, he could have done it then.”
“He did sell you,” Ser Jorah said. “To Khal Drogo.”
Dany flushed. He had the truth of it, but she did not like the sharpness with which he put it.
~~***~~
Dany had no answer for him [Xaro Xohan Daxos], only the raw feeling in her belly. “Slavery is not the same as rain,” she insisted. “I have been rained on and I have been sold. It is not the same. No man wants to be owned.”
Thus, we can say that Dany has strong empathy for being sold and for physical abuse. When Dany and her followers leave Qarth and head for Slaver’s Bay, Dany sees acts that would make anyone’s stomach turn. They are too numerous and too violent to mention them all, but in short: The Unsullied are ripped from their mother’s arms (something that strikes a particular chord with Dany), starved, beaten, psychologically tortured and maimed. Some of the non-Unsullied slave children are designated for entertainment, be it of the sexual variety or being rolled in honey and fed to bears. The slaves in Slaver’s Bay are treated as less than human. And Dany simply cannot let this stand. In Astapor, the freed slaves took up the chant of the dragon, “Dracarys,” but in Yunkai, it is decidedly different.
It is when Dany frees the city of Yunkai that the vision from the Undying Ones plays out almost exactly. Dany, having freed tens of thousands of slaves from the sort of deplorable cruelty mentioned above, goes out to greet her new people, who, in a bit of an ironic move, adopt her as their mother and savior instead of the other way around.
"On the morning of the third day, the city gates swung open and a line of slaves began to emerge. Dany mounted her silver to greet them. As the passed little Missandei told them that they owed their freedom to Daenerys Stormborn, the Unburnt, Queen of the Seven Kingdoms of Westeros and Mother of Dragons.
“Mhysa,” a brown-skinned man shouted out at her. He had a child on his shoulder, a little girl, and she screamed the same word in her thin voice. “Mhysa! Mhysa!”
Dany looked at Missandei. “What are they shouting?”
“It is Ghiscari, the old pure tongue. It means ‘Mother.’”
Dany felt a lightness in her chest. I will never bear a living child, she remembered. Her hand trembled as she raised it. Perhaps she smiled. She must have, because the man grinned and shouted again, and others took up the cry.
“Mhysa!” they called. “Mhysa! MHYSA!” They were all smiling at her, reaching for her, kneeling before her. “Maela,” some called her, while others cried, “Aelalla” or “Qathei” or “Tato,” but whatever the tongue it all meant the same thing. Mother. They are calling me Mother.
[snip]
They were running toward her now; pushing, stumbling, wanting to touch her hand, to stroke her horse’s mane, to kiss her feet. Her poor bloodriders could not keep them all away, and even Strong Belwas grunted and growled in dismay.
Ser Jorah urged her to go, but Dany remembered a dream she had dreamed in the House of the Undying. “They will not hurt me,” she told him. “They are my children, Jorah.” She laughed, put her heels into her horse and rode to them, the bells in her hair ringing sweet victory. She trotted, then cantered, then broke into a gallop, her braid streaming behind. The freed slaves parted before her. “Mother,” they called from a hundred throats, a thousand, ten thousand. “Mother,” they sang, their fingers brushing her legs as she flew by. “Mother, Mother, Mother!”
“Mhysa,” a brown-skinned man shouted out at her. He had a child on his shoulder, a little girl, and she screamed the same word in her thin voice. “Mhysa! Mhysa!”
Dany looked at Missandei. “What are they shouting?”
“It is Ghiscari, the old pure tongue. It means ‘Mother.’”
Dany felt a lightness in her chest. I will never bear a living child, she remembered. Her hand trembled as she raised it. Perhaps she smiled. She must have, because the man grinned and shouted again, and others took up the cry.
“Mhysa!” they called. “Mhysa! MHYSA!” They were all smiling at her, reaching for her, kneeling before her. “Maela,” some called her, while others cried, “Aelalla” or “Qathei” or “Tato,” but whatever the tongue it all meant the same thing. Mother. They are calling me Mother.
[snip]
They were running toward her now; pushing, stumbling, wanting to touch her hand, to stroke her horse’s mane, to kiss her feet. Her poor bloodriders could not keep them all away, and even Strong Belwas grunted and growled in dismay.
Ser Jorah urged her to go, but Dany remembered a dream she had dreamed in the House of the Undying. “They will not hurt me,” she told him. “They are my children, Jorah.” She laughed, put her heels into her horse and rode to them, the bells in her hair ringing sweet victory. She trotted, then cantered, then broke into a gallop, her braid streaming behind. The freed slaves parted before her. “Mother,” they called from a hundred throats, a thousand, ten thousand. “Mother,” they sang, their fingers brushing her legs as she flew by. “Mother, Mother, Mother!”
Notice that no matter what language it’s in, the slaves all collectively recognize Dany as “mother” in the archetypical sense. She is the Universal Mother, not mother to a specific person or even one specific people, but to this heterogeneous group of slaves who have been rounded up from near and far and brought to labor and toil. This is what we see throughout Dany’s reign as the Queen in Meereen. She is mother to the freedman, to her Dothraki, to her knights, to her handmaids. As the quote in the introduction states, Daenerys Targaryen is “mother to us all.”
A final note before this essay moves on to Dany as a dragon and her role as “the last dragon.” Throughout the first part of this essay, we’ve been hammering home the idea that Dany as a mother is fiercely protective, be it Rhaego and the constant touching, the need to save her dragons from starvation in the Red Waste or from those who would seek to use them for their own personal gain, or from freeing tens of thousands from horrible slavery. But we have not yet addressed the question of why. In one sense, yes, Dany is fiercely protective, the same as any other mother in this series, be they a wolf (Catelyn) or a lioness (Cersei), but with Dany it manifests in people—and non people—who are not, strictly speaking, her children. So why is Dany so fiercely protective as a mother?
The simplest answer is probably also the correct one: Dany herself was never protected. It is an attempt on Dany’s part to give to others what she herself lacked as a child. We’ve touched on Viserys’ treatment of Dany in this essay already, but until now, we have not mentioned how Dany herself feels about Viserys in retrospect. It is seeing the slaves and their conditions in Astapor that finally allows Dany to speak to her closet friend, Jorah, about how Viserys treated her and the sort of ramifications this had on young Daenerys.
“I was alone for a long time, Jorah. All alone but for my brother. I was such a small scared thing. Viserys should have protected me, but instead he hurt me and scared me worse. He shouldn’t have done that. He wasn’t just my brother, he was my king. Why do the gods make kings, and queen, if not to protect the ones who can’t protect themselves?”
“Some kings make themselves. Robert did.”
“He was no true king,” Dany said scornfully. “He did no justice. Justice…that’s what kings are for.”
“Some kings make themselves. Robert did.”
“He was no true king,” Dany said scornfully. “He did no justice. Justice…that’s what kings are for.”
Saving the slaves and being the mother of dragons, all of this is wrapped up in the idea of what a queen and a mother should do. A mother should protect her children and so should a Queen. A mother should be just and so should a Queen. A mother should care for her children and so should a Queen. Being a good Queen and being a good mother go hand in hand for Dany, thus her refusal to leave Slaver’s Bay for the sake of those who would be put back into chains. It is being the Mother of Dragons and a dragon herself that is Dany’s truly unique role and is to that aspect of Daenerys that we now turn.
The Last Dragon
“I have borne a child, burned a khal, and crossed the red waste and the Dothraki sea. Mine is the blood of the dragon.”
One of the central struggles in Dany’s arc is that of identify. Understanding who and what she is has been a journey which has been shaped by her unique experiences. As we have been discussing, her identity as a mother is integral to her character as it was born of a need to give to others what she was not given: protection and care. Likewise her identity as a dragon is rooted in her need to identify with the family she knew so little of. Other than for her brother Viserys she was all alone in the world, all she ever knew of her family was filtered through Viserys’ glorifying of their deed and minimizing their mistakes. Once she became the lone Targaryen she felt a great weight to live up to her family’s history and name, to be the blood of the dragon was a great source of strength for her. And as the books progress we will see that strength and power embodied by the dragon themselves.
As Aemon tells us:
“Dragons,” Aemon whispered. “The grief and glory of my House, they were.”
and Dany has experienced this first hand. In Astapor Dany was at the height of her power, she used her dragons to free the Unsullied and rights a great wrong, yet this moment of glory and victory is later marred by the ramifications of her actions. By the time she is in Meereen she is forced to face the full consequences of having such power, when one of her own dragons kills an innocent young child. When faced with this tragedy Dany feels force to lock away her dragons, to lock away that part of herself. The fear paralyzes her, when once she felt comforts in being the blood of the dragon, in being the mother of dragon, now she only feels fear.
As we explore Dany’s progression from the scared young girl we are first introduced to in A Game of Thrones, to the powerful Queen we meet in Meereen, we will look at the transition of first learning what it truly means to be a dragon, not just the flares of fury her brother calls his temper tantrum, to then see her embrace the role, relish it and use that power to achieve her goals and then having to face the consequences of unleashing that power and then trying to chain it away. To finally, realizing that her identity as a dragon is as much a part of her as her identity as a mother. She can’t be one without the other. She is and will always be the blood of the dragon and it is better to control the power then to shut it away.
Embracing the Dragon
“When its molten eyes found hers, she woke, shaking and covered with a fine sheen of sweat. She had never been so afraid … …”
The awakening of Dany’s inner dragon begins with her first dragon dream, it is later solidified in the pyre where she hatched the dragons and culminates in her acceptance of herself and her dragons in the Dothraki sea. Throughout this journey, however, she endures many highs and lows. The periods of struggle, pain and frustration are important because without these learning experiences she wouldn’t have been able to fully grasp what it all truly means: the glory and grief, of being the the blood of the dragon.
Let us go back to the beginning once more. Dany is about to be married to khal Drogo and she’s scared about a future with a man and culture she knows little about. As she fearfully awaits her wedding day, a dragon appears to her, in her dreams:
“There are no more dragons, Dany thought, staring at her brother, though she did not dare say it aloud. Yet that night she dreamt of one. Viserys was hitting her, hurting her. She was naked, clumsy with fear. She ran from him, but her body seemed thick and ungainly. He struck her again. She stumbled and fell. “You woke the dragon,” he screamed as he kicked her. “You woke the dragon, you woke the dragon.” Her thighs were slick with blood. She closed her eyes and whimpered. As if in answer, there was a hideous ripping sound and the crackling of some great fire. When she looked again, Viserys was gone, great columns of flame rose all around, and in the midst of them was the dragon. It turned its great head slowly. When its molten eyes found hers, she woke, shaking and covered with a fine sheen of sweat. She had never been so afraid … … until the day of her wedding came at last.”
As she finds herself in her most powerless moment, she sees this great beast, her brother who had been abusing a moment before is suddenly gone, and there is just her and the dragon left, staring at one another and what she sees frightens her more than anything had frighten her before. Why it frightens her, well, the only thing she has known of the dragon is what her brother has told her and what her calls his abusive behavior. She is frightened by it because she has associated it to a degree with the abuse her brother inflicts on her. Yet, this dragon made her brother go away and all that was left was her and the dragon. We will later see this scene repeated in Daznak’s Pit. Just her and the dragon staring at one another but this time in the flesh.
Now, why would this dragon appear to her at this time? Well, there are many interpretations the dream works twofold, one as foreshadowing for the pyre and later the scene in Daznak’s pit and two as a representation of Dany herself. We see her later during her wedding ceremony reminding herself she is the blood of the dragon in order to give herself strength.
After that frightening dream, now she must face her next fear: her wedding to Khal Drogo. During the wedding celebration Dany can barely contain her fear, yet she knows she has to, less she wakes her brother’s “dragon”. Again, here we see that the dragon is associated with fear and pain. But then suddenly it’s time to open the gifts and lo and behold she receives three petrified dragon eggs turned. The dragon she had just seen in her dream has now been materialized in these eggs. It is a symbolic gift; the Targaryens had once been the last dragon lords left after the Doom of Valyria. However, their own family destroyed what had remained of the dragons in their own game of thrones. Now, all that is left are petrified eggs.
Once it is time to consummate the marriage Dany beings to chanting to herself:
“I am the blood of the dragon,” she whispered aloud as she followed, trying to keep her courage up. “I am the blood of the dragon. I am the blood of the dragon.” The dragon was never afraid.”
If she can be strong, if she can be fierce, she can face anything. If she can wake her dragon then she has nothing to be afraid of. We see Dany repeat this phrase “I am the blood of the dragon” throughout the series. It’s a way for her to relate to the family she did not know, and if she can be great like she was told they were, then she can face anything that comes her way.
As Dany begins her life married to the Dothraki khal she begins to despair as their nomadic lifestyle and the khals (who had at first been gentle) sexual appetite becomes unbearable. As she contemplated taking her own life the dragon appears to her once again in her dream. But this time, however, instead of frightening her, he heals her:
“Yet when she slept that night, she dreamt the dragon dream again. Viserys was not in it this time. There was only her and the dragon . Its scales were black as night, wet and slick with blood. Her blood, Dany sensed. Its eyes were pools of molten magma, and when it opened its mouth, the flame came roaring out in a hot jet. She could hear it singing to her. She opened her arms to the fire, embraced it, let it swallow her whole, let it cleanse her and temper her and scour her clean. She could feel her flesh sear and blacken and slough away, could feel her blood boil and turn to steam, and yet there was no pain. She felt strong and new and fierce.
And the next day, strangely, she did not seem to hurt quite so much. It was as if the gods had heard her and taken pity. Even her handmaids noticed the change. “Khaleesi,” Jhiqui said, “what is wrong? Are you sick?” “I was,” she answered, standing over the dragon’s eggs that Illyrio had given her when she wed. She touched one, the largest of the three, running her hand lightly over the shell. Black-and-scarlet, she thought, like the dragon in my dream. The stone felt strangely warm beneath her fingers …”
And the next day, strangely, she did not seem to hurt quite so much. It was as if the gods had heard her and taken pity. Even her handmaids noticed the change. “Khaleesi,” Jhiqui said, “what is wrong? Are you sick?” “I was,” she answered, standing over the dragon’s eggs that Illyrio had given her when she wed. She touched one, the largest of the three, running her hand lightly over the shell. Black-and-scarlet, she thought, like the dragon in my dream. The stone felt strangely warm beneath her fingers …”
This is a very important dream, she’s not afraid of the dragons as the dragon has actually come to heal help her, to heal her and she senses that. Thus, she embraces the dragon, opening her arms to receive his fire. The dragon baths her in fire and here I find the language very interesting. Usually you bathe with water, washing away the dirt, cleansing yourself, making yourself clean and new again. But here she is bathing in fire, fire can also cleanse away the old and allow the new to grow. Here the dragon is washing away at the old Dany, the meek and scared young girl and leaving in its place a new woman, a stronger woman able to embrace her new life. Note also, that this is the same dragon that appeared to her in her first dream, the black and red dragon.
After her second dragon dream Dany begins to embrace the Dothraki culture. The confidence that she gains allows her to become more bold and assertive. She takes charge of her relationship with khal Drogo, begins to learn the language and customs of the Dothraki. This in turn, earns her the respect of the khal and the rest of the khalasar, after all the Dothraki only follow the strong. It’s interesting because we see this growth go along with her growing connection to the dragon eggs. As we noted early, they are never far from her, she touches and cares for them often. She begins to rely on them, using them for comfort.
After a fight with Viserys, Dany asks one of her handmaids to bring her one of her eggs and as she holds the eggs she cries over the fight and calls the eggs her son’s brother:
“She liked to hold them. They were so beautiful, and sometimes just being close to them made her feel stronger, braver, as if somehow she were drawing strength from the stone dragons locked inside. She was lying there, holding the egg, when she felt the child move within her … as if he were reaching out, brother to brother, blood to blood. “You are the dragon,” Dany whispered to him, “the true dragon. I know it. I know it.” And she smiled, and went to sleep dreaming of home.”
Soon after this, Viserys is killed by her husband and as he’s dying melting away by the gold poorer over his head, she thinks to hereof that a true dragon would not have burned, indeed, her brother was no true dragon.
Then tragedy strikes again, khal Drogo’s infected wound has gotten worse and he lies dying in his tent and Dany miscarries, leaving her fighting for her life. As she lays there recovering from her miscarriage she has a fevered dream, a dragon dream.
This is a fascinating dream; there is a lot of foreshadowing and interesting imagery. However, for the purposes of this essay we’ll focus on those more closely related to Dany’s identity as a dragon.
“Wings shadowed her fever dreams. “You don’t want to wake the dragon, do you?” She was walking down a long hall beneath high stone arches. She could not look behind her, must not look behind her. There was a door ahead of her, tiny with distance, but even from afar, she saw that it was painted red. She walked faster, and her bare feet left bloody footprints on the stone.
“You don’t want to wake the dragon, do you?”
She saw sunlight on the Dothraki sea, the living plain, rich with the smells of earth and death. Wind stirred the grasses, and they rippled like water. Drogo held her in strong arms, and his hand stroked her sex and opened her and woke that sweet wetness that was his alone, and the stars smiled down on them , stars in a daylight sky. “Home,” she whispered as he entered her and filled her with his seed, but suddenly the stars were gone, and across the blue sky swept the great wings, and the world took flame.
“… don’t want to wake the dragon, do you?”
Ser Jorah’s face was drawn and sorrowful. “Rhaegar was the last dragon,” he told her. He warmed translucent hands over a glowing brazier where stone eggs smouldered red as coals. One moment he was there and the next he was fading, his flesh colorless, less substantial than the wind. “The last dragon,” he whispered, thin as a wisp, and was gone. She felt the dark behind her, and the red door seemed farther away than ever.
“… don’t want to wake the dragon, do you?”
Viserys stood before her, screaming. “The dragon does not beg, slut. You do not command the dragon. I am the dragon, and I will be crowned.” The molten gold trickled down his face like wax, burning deep channels in his flesh. “I am the dragon and I will be crowned!” he shrieked, and his fingers snapped like snakes, biting at her nipples, pinching, twisting, even as his eyes burst and ran like jelly down seared and blackened cheeks.
“… don’t want to wake the dragon …”
The red door was so far ahead of her, and she could feel the icy breath behind, sweeping up on her. If it caught her she would die a death that was more than death, howling forever alone in the darkness. She began to run.
“… don’t want to wake the dragon …”
She could feel the heat inside her, a terrible burning in her womb . Her son was tall and proud, with Drogo’s copper skin and her own silver-gold hair, violet eyes shaped like almonds. And he smiled for her and began to lift his hand toward hers, but when he opened his mouth the fire poured out. She saw his heart burning through his chest, and in an instant he was gone, consumed like a moth by a candle, turned to ash. She wept for her child, the promise of a sweet mouth on her breast, but her tears turned to steam as they touched her skin.
“… want to wake the dragon …”
Ghosts lined the hallway, dressed in the faded raiment of kings . In their hands were swords of pale fire. They had hair of silver and hair of gold and hair of platinum white, and their eyes were opal and amethyst, tourmaline and jade. “Faster,” they cried, “faster, faster.” She raced, her feet melting the stone wherever they touched. “Faster!” the ghosts cried as one, and she screamed and threw herself forward. A great knife of pain ripped down her back, and she felt her skin tear open and smelled the stench of burning blood and saw the shadow of wings. And Daenerys Targaryen flew.
“… wake the dragon …”
The door loomed before her, the red door, so close, so close, the hall was a blur around her, the cold receding behind. And now the stone was gone and she flew across the Dothraki sea, high and higher, the green rippling beneath, and all that lived and breathed fled in terror from the shadow of her wings. She could smell home, she could see it, there, just beyond that door, green fields and great stone houses and arms to keep her warm, there. She threw open the door.
“… the dragon …”
And saw her brother Rhaegar, mounted on a stallion as black as his armor. Fire glimmered red through the narrow eye slit of his helm. “The last dragon,” Ser Jorah’s voice whispered faintly. “The last, the last.” Dany lifted his polished black visor. The face within was her own.
After that, for a long time, there was only the pain, the fire within her, and the whisperings of stars."
“You don’t want to wake the dragon, do you?”
She saw sunlight on the Dothraki sea, the living plain, rich with the smells of earth and death. Wind stirred the grasses, and they rippled like water. Drogo held her in strong arms, and his hand stroked her sex and opened her and woke that sweet wetness that was his alone, and the stars smiled down on them , stars in a daylight sky. “Home,” she whispered as he entered her and filled her with his seed, but suddenly the stars were gone, and across the blue sky swept the great wings, and the world took flame.
“… don’t want to wake the dragon, do you?”
Ser Jorah’s face was drawn and sorrowful. “Rhaegar was the last dragon,” he told her. He warmed translucent hands over a glowing brazier where stone eggs smouldered red as coals. One moment he was there and the next he was fading, his flesh colorless, less substantial than the wind. “The last dragon,” he whispered, thin as a wisp, and was gone. She felt the dark behind her, and the red door seemed farther away than ever.
“… don’t want to wake the dragon, do you?”
Viserys stood before her, screaming. “The dragon does not beg, slut. You do not command the dragon. I am the dragon, and I will be crowned.” The molten gold trickled down his face like wax, burning deep channels in his flesh. “I am the dragon and I will be crowned!” he shrieked, and his fingers snapped like snakes, biting at her nipples, pinching, twisting, even as his eyes burst and ran like jelly down seared and blackened cheeks.
“… don’t want to wake the dragon …”
The red door was so far ahead of her, and she could feel the icy breath behind, sweeping up on her. If it caught her she would die a death that was more than death, howling forever alone in the darkness. She began to run.
“… don’t want to wake the dragon …”
She could feel the heat inside her, a terrible burning in her womb . Her son was tall and proud, with Drogo’s copper skin and her own silver-gold hair, violet eyes shaped like almonds. And he smiled for her and began to lift his hand toward hers, but when he opened his mouth the fire poured out. She saw his heart burning through his chest, and in an instant he was gone, consumed like a moth by a candle, turned to ash. She wept for her child, the promise of a sweet mouth on her breast, but her tears turned to steam as they touched her skin.
“… want to wake the dragon …”
Ghosts lined the hallway, dressed in the faded raiment of kings . In their hands were swords of pale fire. They had hair of silver and hair of gold and hair of platinum white, and their eyes were opal and amethyst, tourmaline and jade. “Faster,” they cried, “faster, faster.” She raced, her feet melting the stone wherever they touched. “Faster!” the ghosts cried as one, and she screamed and threw herself forward. A great knife of pain ripped down her back, and she felt her skin tear open and smelled the stench of burning blood and saw the shadow of wings. And Daenerys Targaryen flew.
“… wake the dragon …”
The door loomed before her, the red door, so close, so close, the hall was a blur around her, the cold receding behind. And now the stone was gone and she flew across the Dothraki sea, high and higher, the green rippling beneath, and all that lived and breathed fled in terror from the shadow of her wings. She could smell home, she could see it, there, just beyond that door, green fields and great stone houses and arms to keep her warm, there. She threw open the door.
“… the dragon …”
And saw her brother Rhaegar, mounted on a stallion as black as his armor. Fire glimmered red through the narrow eye slit of his helm. “The last dragon,” Ser Jorah’s voice whispered faintly. “The last, the last.” Dany lifted his polished black visor. The face within was her own.
After that, for a long time, there was only the pain, the fire within her, and the whisperings of stars."
The dream sequence is long but in order to fully analyzing it we needed the whole text. The dream is both an instructional manual on how to wake her dragon eggs but it’s also trying to show Dany how to wake her inner dragon.
The dream begins with Viserys once again threatening Dany, warning her, not to wake the dragons. This is representative of the Dany we first meet, the Dany who’s afraid to wake the dragons. But as the dream continues the phrase becomes suggestive, “you don’t want to wake the dragon” to then becoming a suggestion “want to wake the dragon”, to finally a demand “wake the dragon”. The insistent nature of the dream underlines the importance of Dany hatching the dragon eggs as well as awakening her inner dragons. As she walks down the long hall her ancestors encourage along, telling her to go faster, faster, time is of the essence. Also note that as Dany is running down the hall her feet are melting the stone, until there is nothing left.
Dany’s constant companion Ser Jorah appears to her in the dream telling her that Rhaegar, her oldest brother, was believed to be the last dragon. When Dany finally embraces being a dragon toward the end of her dream, we hear Jorah’s voice appears once again telling her Rhaegar was the last dragon, but when she looks into Rahegar’s helm to see the face within, the face she sees is her own, she in fact has now become the last dragon.
Throughout the dream we get subtle references to the dragon Dany will one day bond with, Drogon. The black and red dragon is referred to by some as the winged shadow. Her dream begins “Wings shadowed her fever dreams.” Later as Dany has embraced her dragon and his flying above the Dothraki sea she tells us: “and all that lived and breathed fled in terror from the shadow of her wings.” Her bond with Drogon will be incredibly important as he is in many wayd her alter ego the embodiment of her inner dragon. It’s also interesting to see that not only did he appear to her in the two prior dragon dreams he was also reference to in this dream as well.
After this dream Dany awakes to discover that her child is dead and that the man she loves has been turned into nothing but a shell of his former self. Having once again lost her entire family Dany knows what she must do next. Once again she take comfort in her heritage, in being the blood of the dragon, her ancestor have appeared to her and showed her the way out of this darkness. The time had come to hatch the dragons.
She prepares the pyre for Drogo’s funeral and places the eggs strategically around Drogo. As the pyre starts to burn Dany feels the magic and knows that this is how it was always meant to be. The first two dragons hatch, the white one, then the green one and then and only then is when she is ready to step into the pyre. Now that she is in the pyre the third and final egg hatches, the black and red one, the one who had appeared to her in her dreams. And as we read the description of the hatching of the black and red dragon we are reminded of the description of Dany’s birth. First the hatching of the egg:
"Unafraid, Dany stepped forward into the firestorm , calling to her children. The third crack was as loud and sharp as the breaking of the world.”
Nw a description of Daenerys’ birth:
“She had been born on Dragonstone nine moons after their flight, while a raging summer storm threatened to rip the island fastness apart. They said that storm was terrible. The Targaryen fleet was smashed while it lay at anchor , and huge stone blocks were ripped from the parapets and sent hurtling into the wild waters of the narrow sea.”
The descriptions of their births are like two great forces of nature. They are both in a way earth shattering. Dany as a dragon is embodied by Drogon, he and his brother are the physical representation of where she came from her heritage as a Targaryen.
Although Dany shares a connection with the white dragon Viserion and the green dragon Rhaegal, the dragon she is truly bonded to is the black and red one Drogon. Nonetheless, after the pyre she is now know as the mother of dragons. Her journey thus far has led her here to this very point. Her growth from a scared young girl to a leader is now embodied by the dragons. They are a physical representation of the power she now has and a symbol to the world that she is true dragon.
Dragons lead the way
“The blood of the dragon must not be afraid. Dany said a quick prayer, begging the Warrior for courage and the Dothraki horse god for strength. She made herself walk forward.”
After the birth of the dragons Dany finds herself as the leader of a small but loyal khalasar, she is now faced with having to march her people through the Red Waste because there is nowhere else they can go. She decides that the comet, the bleeding star as the Dothraki call it, is a sign from the gods and decides to follow it. It is a peerless journey in which many of her people die including her cherished handmaiden Dorah. Although the journey is hard, Dany knows that she must be strong for her people:
“They are not strong, she told herself, so I must be their strength. I must show no fear, no weakness, no doubt.”
We begin to see Dany really embrace her role as a leader, to take responsibility for her people, to care for them. At this moment Dany is all of fourteen and yet she has willingly place the weight of the world upon her shoulder, she knows that she’s the only one who can and will lead her people. As she once drew strength from her dragon eggs, now she draws strength from the dragons themselves. Although there are no more than hatchlings their power is real and tangible.
As the dragons begin to grow so does Dany’s own power and following. Their connection, Dany and the dragons, is a sort of symbiotic relationship. Each helping the other, Dany cares for them, she is their mother, they in turn care for her, giving her strength and power. This unity is integral to Dany’s growth as a dragon herself. She needs them as much as they need her.
Blood of the Dragon - Mother of Dragons
Small as they may be the dragons are still quite powerful beast and if you strategically they can be quite dangerous. Trying to gain an army in order to take back her crown she heads to Slaver’s Bay. She lands first in Astapor where the Good Master show her with pride how they make the Unsullied. Dany hides her feeling well but she is repulsed by what they have done to these young boys and men. She decides that she will free the Unsullied and tricks the Good Masters into selling them to her for the price of a dragon. As she is about to execute her plan the dragon become restless, except for Drogon, he instinctively senses what his mother is plotting, calmly he awaits his cue:
“The red brick streets of Astapor were almost crowded this morning. Slaves and servants lined the ways, while the slavers and their women donned their tokars to look down from their stepped pyramids.
…
Yet Viserion’s tail lashed back and forth, and smoke rose angry from his nostrils. Rhaegal could sense something wrong as well. Thrice he tried to take wing, only to be pulled down by the heavy chain in Jhiqui’s hand. Drogon coiled into a ball, wings and tail tucked tight. Only his eyes remained to tell that he was not asleep.
…
“Drogon,” she sang out loudly, sweetly, all her fear forgotten. “Dracarys.” The black dragon spread his wings and roared.”
…
Yet Viserion’s tail lashed back and forth, and smoke rose angry from his nostrils. Rhaegal could sense something wrong as well. Thrice he tried to take wing, only to be pulled down by the heavy chain in Jhiqui’s hand. Drogon coiled into a ball, wings and tail tucked tight. Only his eyes remained to tell that he was not asleep.
…
“Drogon,” she sang out loudly, sweetly, all her fear forgotten. “Dracarys.” The black dragon spread his wings and roared.”
This was a big risk for Dany, had it gone array any number of horrific things would have happened to her and her people. Why did she take the risk? Well, for her it was the right thing to do, but she also understood how symbolic the dragons to people. They are fire made flesh but the fact that they are her children gives her an advantage, a power no one as has. She herself feels embolden by the strength they give her and knows others will follow that strength.
After her success in Astapor she heads towards the other slaving cities in order to free the slaves there. In Yunkai she uses her wits to outsmart the Wise Master and free the slaves with minimal bloodshed. However, in Meereen she will have to use both her wits and her strength (army) in order to take the city and free its slaves. After she takes Meereen she is faces with the repercussion of her actions. The Yunkish army has take Astapor and created a hell on earth there, then in Meereen her dragon Drogon is accused of killing a young child. Horrified by the carnage caused by her dragons she decides to chain them and hide them away. However, she is unable to catch Drogon and flies away towards the Dothraki sea.
This physical chaining of her dragons manifests itself symbolically in Dany. Not only has she chained away her greatest source of power she becomes enslaved by her own fear acquiescing and capitulating to her enemies in order to maintain the peace. It’s a strange digression for Dany. She fought so hard and sacrificed it all to gain the strength and power she had, yet here we see her giving that power up willingly. And although she tells herself from time to time she is the blood of the dragon, it becomes more infrequent as stays longer in Meereen. It’s very representative of her forgetting who she is. When she should have been learning to control the dragons and herself, she decides instead to locked it away. However, as time passes she see everything she has been fighting for slip right through her fingers and her frustration grows:
“They can close their fingers around our throat again whenever they wish.
They have opened a slave market within sight of my walls!”
“Outside our walls, sweet queen. That was a condition of the peace, that Yunkai would be free to trade in slaves as before, unmolested.”
“In their own city. Not where I have to see it.” The Wise Masters had established their slave pens and auction block just south of the Skahazadhan , where the wide brown river flowed into Slaver’s Bay. “They are mocking me to my face, making a show of how powerless I am to stop them.”
They have opened a slave market within sight of my walls!”
“Outside our walls, sweet queen. That was a condition of the peace, that Yunkai would be free to trade in slaves as before, unmolested.”
“In their own city. Not where I have to see it.” The Wise Masters had established their slave pens and auction block just south of the Skahazadhan , where the wide brown river flowed into Slaver’s Bay. “They are mocking me to my face, making a show of how powerless I am to stop them.”
The peace in reality is a sham; the slavers were merely biding their time. They had nothing to fear from Dany as they knew she had chained away her greatest source of strength. Dany’s frustration and disillusion with the supposed peace culminates in the events at Daznak’s pit, when Drogon suddenly reappears. The scene from her first dragon dream has come alive:
“His eyes were molten. I am looking into hell, but I dare not look away. She had never been so certain of anything. If I run from him, he will burn me and devour me.”
Once again Dany is staring in fear into those molten eyes but instead of giving into her fear she faces it head on. She must conquer the fear, she must control the power or she will die. This is the turning point for Dany, she had been digressing in Meereen giving away all the power she had once gained, forgetting who and what she was but at this moment she knows she has to take that power back it’s imperative that she does. And so, she conquers her fear and takes control of Drogon, mounting him for the first time she flies away with him to his lair the new Dragonstone.
Once in Dragonstone Dany goes through a sort of Vision Quest and comes to realized that she has the dragons for a reason, they aren’t there to plant trees, they are there to fight, and that’s not a bad thing when you are facing men who would commit the atrocities the slaver commit. She takes charge of herself and her dragon once again embracing the power of the dragon but this times she’s in control of it.
Mother of Dragons - Mother or Dragon?
Conclusion
Many believe that Dany’s choice to embrace the dragons at the end of Dance means that she no longer wishes to be a mother to the freedmen. But even at her most frustrating point, right before she removes her floppy ears, she is thinking about her people:
I am not your mother, she might have shouted, back, I am the mother of your slaves, of every boy who ever died upon these sands whilst you gorged on honeyed locusts .
She knows she is a mother, she knows she is a dragon, her struggle with her identity is not about choosing one or the other but about reconciling these two integral parts of herself. I’ve always seen the element of fire as both a source of creation and destruction. Two sides of the same coin, without one you can’t have the other. In order to create something new, you need to destroy something old. It’s the way of life. As such this is Dany’s burden she holds in her hands the ability to create and destroy, and it is the recognition of this power that first frightened her yet later she came to accept that holding this power is her true purpose.
Of all her many titles her truest one seems to me to be Mother of Dragons. Right there in the small phrase we see encompass the true identity of Daenerys Stormborn of House Targaryen, she is a mother, she is a dragon. She felt out of balance when she tried to be too much of one and not enough of the other, this is evident in her time in Meereen. Where she tried to be a mother but forgets about being a dragon. And as such forgot the words that Missandei had once spoken to her:
“I am the queen…the…the…”
“….mother,” whispered Missandei
“Mother to dragons.” Dany shivered
“No. Mother to us all.”
“….mother,” whispered Missandei
“Mother to dragons.” Dany shivered
“No. Mother to us all.”
She tried being a mother to the freed slaves of Meereen and the freedmen she had brought with her. But as she capitulated over and over again believing she was protect them. However, her growing frustration and disillusion at the peace process stems from the fat that right outside her wall, her enemies where enslaving new men, woman and children. By protecting only those in Meereen, she was protecting the few at the cost of the many. As we see throughout her time in Meereen this decision erodes at her, she knows she can do something about it and yet she is so paralyzed with fear that she chosen not to act. She had forgotten that she is supposed to be mother to them all.
Being a dragon and having the dragons enabled her to help those who were powerless, being a dragon gave her the power to protect her al her children. And that is her purpose and what she came to realize in the Dothraki sea. The best way to be a mother is defend her children from those who will do them harm, she has to be a dragon in order to be a mother.
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