Another Curmudgeonly Review of Game of Thrones. Though I Do Like This Series Usually, Really I Do.

It took me a while to figure out what I thought about last week’s Game of Thrones, so in internet time this post will seem a couple months late.  The fact is, I only realized what bothered me after I read a few reviews.  What several reviewers were saying was that Daenerys was growing more flawed, particularly when she resented Jon’s charisma and easy manner with others, and was worried he might make a better leader.  Which, of course, was true.

 

But then the reviewers went further, going into the mistakes Dany’s made throughout the series, and her Targaryen lineage, filled with madness and paranoia.  And from there they waxed rhapsodic about Jon, and then it was a short jump to King Jon, First of His Name.

 

But, I sputtered, but Jon has never really been that great of a leader.  The episode before this one gave us the strange spectacle of him tripping around chasing a dragon, something that didn’t seem like it could possibly end well.  He also told the secret of his birth to Sansa and Arya after Dany specifically asked him not to, with the result that Dany predicted.  And we shouldn’t forget that one of his ideas got him killed, something even Fox News couldn’t spin into a good outcome.  

 

And Dany, on the other hand, well, Daenerys Targaryen is Stormborn, Khaleesi of the Great Sea, Protector of the Seven Kingdoms, the Unburnt, Breaker of Chains, Mother of Dragons, and various other things.  I mean, she’s ruled cities.  People love her.  She started with no power at all, a girl sold by her brother in exchange for allies, and she ended up with thousands of people following her to King’s Landing.

 

Yes, it’s true, some of her ancestors went mad, and some turned cruel and despotic, and she could too.  She's also made mistakes, but so has everyone.  I guess what bothers me is that Game of Thrones has very few female rulers, and none of their stories seem to end well.  Lyanna Mormont is dead, Lysa Arryn was completely unhinged, and also dead, and Cersei is deeply problematic, and, I hope, soon to be dead.  That just leaves Lady Sansa of Winterfell,* and she might be pushed aside by Jon.  The lesson of the series seems to be that most women are unfit to rule.  I just hope that Daenerys doesn’t turn out to be unfit as well.

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* There may be some others I don't remember.