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Daenerys Targaryen: Hero trope
Jan. 4th, 2019 04:10 pmThe Hero(ine)
With all the anti posts I read about Daenerys I get really frustrated. But in some ways, I can sort of understand why they think she is tending towards darkness. Especially when they have small minds to begin with and don’t know how to think about why a story is telling them certain things and why certain tropes are…well…tropes. So let’s examine the tropes that fit Daenerys, shall we?
Interestingly, our girl fits two archetypes; she is a classic Hero, and she also embodies SOME traits of a villainess. She wages war, seeks revenge, shown little to no mercy to her enemies, and is determined to lead an entire country as monarch; a role typically filled by a male. She is also (allegedly) barren, a thing no true woman in fiction is allowed to be. Women are meant to be motherly and warm am I right? Not warlike.
The answer to THAT question is for another meta. Let’s go on to how Daenerys fits the trope of Hero.
I copied this from tvtropes so I could best compare. All props and credit to them for putting together such a great bullet list.
Miraculous or unusual circumstances around the Hero’s conception or birth. Bonus points if there was a prophecy. Less common in modern stories, which tend to emphasize the role of personal choice in defining a hero, although there may still be a Prophecy Twist involved.
Well right off the bat, yeah miraculous circumstances at birth. Rhaella had to flee King's Landing to Dragonstone while heavily pregnant with her young son Viserys, and gave birth Daenerys during a massive and terrible storm. She died giving birth to her daughter, nicknamed Stormborn for those circumstances. There IS also a prophecy, it does remain to be seen whether or not Daenerys fulfills it but so far she has hit every mark. The prophecy is: "When the red star bleeds and the darkness gathers, Azor Ahai shall be born again amidst smoke and salt to wake dragons out of stone."
After a long summer (nine years) Daenerys lost her husband Khal Drogo and built his funeral pyre while a comet burned red in the sky (red star bleeds) she then walked into the funeral pyre where her stone dragon eggs were and emerged the next morning with them. (smoke and salt from the desert) (dragons awakened from stone)
Begins in the ordinary world of the Hero’s hometown. The Hero may be dissatisfied with the ordinary and express a desire for adventure.
Well Daenerys isn't in any ordinary circumstances nor in her hometown. But she isn't considered special either. In fact they were beggars dependent on the kindness of strangers to even survive. However, Viserys experienced a longing for home and the way things used to be which he instilled in Daenerys, so that is also what she wants. To Go Home. NOR does Daenerys know that she has to BOTH restore the world AND save the world. But we as the audience come to realize that both scenarios have to happen.
The Herald brings a Call to Adventure. The Hero learns that they must leave the known world behind and travel into the land of adventure.
The Hero must then decide how to answer the Call:
The call to adventure is Drogo. He is the way to her homeland, via his large horde of Dothraki screamers at his back to help her brother win his throne. Now the story seems to be about Viserys as the hero in a way, but it is Daenerys doing the "heavy lifting" so to speak. It is Daenerys having the "adventure" of being married to a barbarian.
The hero must decide how to answer the call. Refusal of the Call: More common in classic stories. The Call will often try again because The Call Knows Where You Live. Can't Stay Normal and Resigned to the Call are special cases of call refusal. Jumped at the Call, sometimes even in the face of Adventure Rebuff: More common in modern stories. The modern subversion of this is when the hero is Resigned to the Call. They accept it, but only because they feel it would be pointless to resist, and not because they're particularly happy about the thought of adventure. If the hero finds themself abducted by destiny before even knowing what the Call is or even that they were addressed, then they may be a Cosmic Plaything. Resigning oneself to fate becomes easier in these situations. Just like its enthusiastic counterpart, this version of the narrative is more common in modern tales than classic ones.
Yeah I feel like Daenerys does not even know she is called, the call is so subtle that she absolutely misses it in a way? She does not look up at that red comet and wonder what it means for her. So is the call a subtle pull of the universe/prophecy, or is it coming from with her? Or both? This is intriguing. Because Daenerys chooses to become great but also is apparently destined to be great as well? She is propelled both by her own determination and choices but also clearly fate and destiny and prophecy. Hmm, interesting.
Frequently, the first step on the Journey is receiving some kind of magical tchotchke or other Supernatural Aid
The Supernatural Aid? Why the dragon eggs she receives from the man who arranged her marriage. Three petrified dragon eggs which give Daenerys strength and the will to go on during the brutal first months of her marriage
Crossing the First Threshold: The Hero must make a conscious, willing decision to embark on the adventure and leave the known world behind. This is the First Threshold. The Hero may have to defeat Threshold Guardians, who are not necessarily adversarial but do test the Hero’s resolve.
The Dothraki culture is strange to Daenerys. They have customs she does not practice (eating dog, revering horses above all else, a warrior culture, being rather brutal and sexual, a harsh language she does not understand, no trade or economy to speak of). But she chooses to embrace her new people. She sees them AS people first of all and not just a horde. She tries to understand them, embrace their ways, speak their language.
The Land of Adventure: the Hero enters a strange, dreamlike realm, where logic is topsy-turvy and the “rules” are markedly different from the ordinary world. Carl Jung identified the Ordinary Realm with the conscious mind, and the Realm of Adventure with the subconscious mind.
Hmmm, I think it's when Daenerys begins having her "dragon dreams." In fact this marker begins even before her wedding to Khal Drogo. 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. 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 sweat.
During her early days of marriage when everything is terrible for her, she has this dream: 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 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.
Yep I'd call that a strange, dream like realm!
One may meet their Hero Partners here and rescue a Damsel in Distress.
Strangely, Daenerys does not meet her Hero Partner/Damsel in Distress (*clears throat* JON SNOW anyone??) until much later. This is a step weirdly out of order with the typical trope but it is definitely still present! LMAO!
The Spiritual Death and Rebirth represents a symbolic death for the Hero: the Hero is defeated and killed, their flesh scattered, ready to be reborn and emerge as a new person. If you think the symbolic death ought to come later, don’t worry: The Writer’s Journey omits this step altogether in favor of a Resurrection step just before the end.
I'm just gonna link you to this video, which speaks to Daenerys' spiritual death (and rebirth!)
Road of Trials: the path out of the Belly of the Whale. Usually the meat of the story; The Writer’s Journey calls it Tests, Allies, Enemies, while Booker goes into detail on different types of tests (deadly terrain, monsters, temptations, deadly opposites, and a journey to the underworld).
Good God did Daenerys ever experience trials! Immediately after hatching her dragons, she has to flee the Dothraki terriroty both because other Khals will pick her and her band of followers off, and because she now has three precious baby dragons to protect! So she flees into the desert and suffers along with her people until they get to a city. Which she almost isn't let into at all, the person who vouches for her ends up betraying her, warlocks steal her dragons and attempt to imprison her, and this is just the first city she visits! Daenerys goes on to attempt to recruit soldiers for her mission of returning home/reclaiming her birthright as a Princess/Queen, but instead becomes the savior for an entire region of enslaved people. Very heroic stuff how she denies herself and stays in a foreign land to ease other people's suffering. Perhaps this is also an example of “Giving up the Quest” but that is a whole other meta probably.
Night Sea Voyage: the Hero must sneak into the Big Bad’s Elaborate Underground Base and retrieve something or someone. Campbell noted that these Stealth Runs were usually at night and often involved water; hence the name.
Strangely this step is also out of order. Daenerys saves Jon and company, there is definitely water involved. Interesting!
Time out just before the big battle: the Heroes gather around a campfire and prepare for the battle, tell stories, confess their feelings, etc. It reminds them of what’s at stake, and serves as a breather after all the action of the Road of Trials.
This step has not happened yet. At the point in the show we are in, Daenerys has realized what the TRUE battle actually is. She's fully realized her role in this fight, and is FULLY INVESTED. But the actual battle has yet to be fought.
Apotheosis / Fight against the Big Bad / Ultimate Boon (These are typically very closely related, often intertwined.)
This will probably by the moment in the show when Daenerys fully realizes SHE is the hero (along with another I have no doubt) and that fate needs her to BE that hero.
Apotheosis / Fight against the Big Bad / Ultimate Boon (These are typically very closely related, often intertwined.)
Apotheosis: The Hero comes to view the world in a new and radically different way, either because of a critical breakthrough they've made or some crucial information they've uncovered. If it is something to do with themself then this is a good time for an I Am Who? The Hero confronts the Big Bad: Typically this plays out in a David vs. Goliath fashion. They are usually called upon to sacrifice themself, or something or someone important to them. A Friend or Idol Decision is a common scenario. Note that asked is the key word here—it's usually enough that the Hero be willing to sacrifice something without actually having to do it. Someone else will sacrifice themself in the Hero's stead, or the Hero will prove to have outwitted the Big Bad somehow (so that the apparent sacrifice isn't really a sacrifice), or it was all a Secret Test of Character, or…
This step is slightly terrifying to me. I don't want to lose either Daenerys or Jon and so I am hoping it is all Test of Character for BOTH of them.
The Ultimate Boon: getting the reward the hero's been chasing all this time, often but not always a MacGuffin.
Possibly the Throne?
The Final Temptation is often involved in one or more of these three events: A hero originally motivated by a self-serving goal may receive their Ultimate Boon with the option to take it and run before saving the day. A hero on a Homeward Journey may find a way home, but turn back after their Apotheosis makes them realize their work isn't done. Another may be offered the Ultimate Boon or a tempting substitute by the Big Bad…in exchange for stepping aside. Still another may find that the Ultimate Boon is exactly the sacrifice they are required to make to defeat the Big Bad.
Not sure how all of this will play out. I suspect the baby will play a big role in this, as well as Daenerys' relationship with Jon. Is she on a Homeward Journey? She hasn't found her true home yet. Will she? What will it look like?
Refusal of the Return : At this point in the story, the Hero has mastered the strange world they were thrust into. They probably have earned a permanent place here, if they want it. They may even want to stay, but usually there are forces at work that propel them home.
The Return: Also called the Magic Flight; the Hero now has the boon and high-tails it away, with the villain and/or their forces in hot pursuit, the two parties locked in a battle of wits and magic (especially shapeshifting) during the chase. (See the Celtic story of Taliesin's escape from Cerridwen for a textbook example of this.) The Hero's escape may not require actual magic, but will require all of the new skills they've learned and new allies they've made. Or alternately they could realize the Awful Truth that they can't return home because sometimes Failure Is the Only Option…
Crossing the Return Threshold. This is where the Post-Climax Confrontation happens, as the remaining antagonistic forces have followed the Hero beyond the threshold and attacked them at a time when the plot should be wrapping up. In the absence of any action, it may be a Boring Return Journey instead, a chance for the Hero to reflect on what they've gained and experienced throughout their journey.
Freedom to Live: The Hero grants the boon to their people.
Yeah really not sure how all of this is going to play out at all. The story is not complete but looking at these steps actually makes me feel a lot better about Daenerys and Jon's endgame. SO ready for Season 8!
Celebration: A Dance Party Ending is often in order.
GOD I hope so can you IMAGINE a dance party ending??? In Game of Thrones??
With all the anti posts I read about Daenerys I get really frustrated. But in some ways, I can sort of understand why they think she is tending towards darkness. Especially when they have small minds to begin with and don’t know how to think about why a story is telling them certain things and why certain tropes are…well…tropes. So let’s examine the tropes that fit Daenerys, shall we?
Interestingly, our girl fits two archetypes; she is a classic Hero, and she also embodies SOME traits of a villainess. She wages war, seeks revenge, shown little to no mercy to her enemies, and is determined to lead an entire country as monarch; a role typically filled by a male. She is also (allegedly) barren, a thing no true woman in fiction is allowed to be. Women are meant to be motherly and warm am I right? Not warlike.
The answer to THAT question is for another meta. Let’s go on to how Daenerys fits the trope of Hero.
I copied this from tvtropes so I could best compare. All props and credit to them for putting together such a great bullet list.
Miraculous or unusual circumstances around the Hero’s conception or birth. Bonus points if there was a prophecy. Less common in modern stories, which tend to emphasize the role of personal choice in defining a hero, although there may still be a Prophecy Twist involved.
Well right off the bat, yeah miraculous circumstances at birth. Rhaella had to flee King's Landing to Dragonstone while heavily pregnant with her young son Viserys, and gave birth Daenerys during a massive and terrible storm. She died giving birth to her daughter, nicknamed Stormborn for those circumstances. There IS also a prophecy, it does remain to be seen whether or not Daenerys fulfills it but so far she has hit every mark. The prophecy is: "When the red star bleeds and the darkness gathers, Azor Ahai shall be born again amidst smoke and salt to wake dragons out of stone."
After a long summer (nine years) Daenerys lost her husband Khal Drogo and built his funeral pyre while a comet burned red in the sky (red star bleeds) she then walked into the funeral pyre where her stone dragon eggs were and emerged the next morning with them. (smoke and salt from the desert) (dragons awakened from stone)
Begins in the ordinary world of the Hero’s hometown. The Hero may be dissatisfied with the ordinary and express a desire for adventure.
Well Daenerys isn't in any ordinary circumstances nor in her hometown. But she isn't considered special either. In fact they were beggars dependent on the kindness of strangers to even survive. However, Viserys experienced a longing for home and the way things used to be which he instilled in Daenerys, so that is also what she wants. To Go Home. NOR does Daenerys know that she has to BOTH restore the world AND save the world. But we as the audience come to realize that both scenarios have to happen.
The Herald brings a Call to Adventure. The Hero learns that they must leave the known world behind and travel into the land of adventure.
The Hero must then decide how to answer the Call:
The call to adventure is Drogo. He is the way to her homeland, via his large horde of Dothraki screamers at his back to help her brother win his throne. Now the story seems to be about Viserys as the hero in a way, but it is Daenerys doing the "heavy lifting" so to speak. It is Daenerys having the "adventure" of being married to a barbarian.
The hero must decide how to answer the call. Refusal of the Call: More common in classic stories. The Call will often try again because The Call Knows Where You Live. Can't Stay Normal and Resigned to the Call are special cases of call refusal. Jumped at the Call, sometimes even in the face of Adventure Rebuff: More common in modern stories. The modern subversion of this is when the hero is Resigned to the Call. They accept it, but only because they feel it would be pointless to resist, and not because they're particularly happy about the thought of adventure. If the hero finds themself abducted by destiny before even knowing what the Call is or even that they were addressed, then they may be a Cosmic Plaything. Resigning oneself to fate becomes easier in these situations. Just like its enthusiastic counterpart, this version of the narrative is more common in modern tales than classic ones.
Yeah I feel like Daenerys does not even know she is called, the call is so subtle that she absolutely misses it in a way? She does not look up at that red comet and wonder what it means for her. So is the call a subtle pull of the universe/prophecy, or is it coming from with her? Or both? This is intriguing. Because Daenerys chooses to become great but also is apparently destined to be great as well? She is propelled both by her own determination and choices but also clearly fate and destiny and prophecy. Hmm, interesting.
Frequently, the first step on the Journey is receiving some kind of magical tchotchke or other Supernatural Aid
The Supernatural Aid? Why the dragon eggs she receives from the man who arranged her marriage. Three petrified dragon eggs which give Daenerys strength and the will to go on during the brutal first months of her marriage
Crossing the First Threshold: The Hero must make a conscious, willing decision to embark on the adventure and leave the known world behind. This is the First Threshold. The Hero may have to defeat Threshold Guardians, who are not necessarily adversarial but do test the Hero’s resolve.
The Dothraki culture is strange to Daenerys. They have customs she does not practice (eating dog, revering horses above all else, a warrior culture, being rather brutal and sexual, a harsh language she does not understand, no trade or economy to speak of). But she chooses to embrace her new people. She sees them AS people first of all and not just a horde. She tries to understand them, embrace their ways, speak their language.
The Land of Adventure: the Hero enters a strange, dreamlike realm, where logic is topsy-turvy and the “rules” are markedly different from the ordinary world. Carl Jung identified the Ordinary Realm with the conscious mind, and the Realm of Adventure with the subconscious mind.
Hmmm, I think it's when Daenerys begins having her "dragon dreams." In fact this marker begins even before her wedding to Khal Drogo. 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. 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 sweat.
During her early days of marriage when everything is terrible for her, she has this dream: 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 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.
Yep I'd call that a strange, dream like realm!
One may meet their Hero Partners here and rescue a Damsel in Distress.
Strangely, Daenerys does not meet her Hero Partner/Damsel in Distress (*clears throat* JON SNOW anyone??) until much later. This is a step weirdly out of order with the typical trope but it is definitely still present! LMAO!
The Spiritual Death and Rebirth represents a symbolic death for the Hero: the Hero is defeated and killed, their flesh scattered, ready to be reborn and emerge as a new person. If you think the symbolic death ought to come later, don’t worry: The Writer’s Journey omits this step altogether in favor of a Resurrection step just before the end.
I'm just gonna link you to this video, which speaks to Daenerys' spiritual death (and rebirth!)
Road of Trials: the path out of the Belly of the Whale. Usually the meat of the story; The Writer’s Journey calls it Tests, Allies, Enemies, while Booker goes into detail on different types of tests (deadly terrain, monsters, temptations, deadly opposites, and a journey to the underworld).
Good God did Daenerys ever experience trials! Immediately after hatching her dragons, she has to flee the Dothraki terriroty both because other Khals will pick her and her band of followers off, and because she now has three precious baby dragons to protect! So she flees into the desert and suffers along with her people until they get to a city. Which she almost isn't let into at all, the person who vouches for her ends up betraying her, warlocks steal her dragons and attempt to imprison her, and this is just the first city she visits! Daenerys goes on to attempt to recruit soldiers for her mission of returning home/reclaiming her birthright as a Princess/Queen, but instead becomes the savior for an entire region of enslaved people. Very heroic stuff how she denies herself and stays in a foreign land to ease other people's suffering. Perhaps this is also an example of “Giving up the Quest” but that is a whole other meta probably.
Night Sea Voyage: the Hero must sneak into the Big Bad’s Elaborate Underground Base and retrieve something or someone. Campbell noted that these Stealth Runs were usually at night and often involved water; hence the name.
Strangely this step is also out of order. Daenerys saves Jon and company, there is definitely water involved. Interesting!
Time out just before the big battle: the Heroes gather around a campfire and prepare for the battle, tell stories, confess their feelings, etc. It reminds them of what’s at stake, and serves as a breather after all the action of the Road of Trials.
This step has not happened yet. At the point in the show we are in, Daenerys has realized what the TRUE battle actually is. She's fully realized her role in this fight, and is FULLY INVESTED. But the actual battle has yet to be fought.
Apotheosis / Fight against the Big Bad / Ultimate Boon (These are typically very closely related, often intertwined.)
This will probably by the moment in the show when Daenerys fully realizes SHE is the hero (along with another I have no doubt) and that fate needs her to BE that hero.
Apotheosis / Fight against the Big Bad / Ultimate Boon (These are typically very closely related, often intertwined.)
Apotheosis: The Hero comes to view the world in a new and radically different way, either because of a critical breakthrough they've made or some crucial information they've uncovered. If it is something to do with themself then this is a good time for an I Am Who? The Hero confronts the Big Bad: Typically this plays out in a David vs. Goliath fashion. They are usually called upon to sacrifice themself, or something or someone important to them. A Friend or Idol Decision is a common scenario. Note that asked is the key word here—it's usually enough that the Hero be willing to sacrifice something without actually having to do it. Someone else will sacrifice themself in the Hero's stead, or the Hero will prove to have outwitted the Big Bad somehow (so that the apparent sacrifice isn't really a sacrifice), or it was all a Secret Test of Character, or…
This step is slightly terrifying to me. I don't want to lose either Daenerys or Jon and so I am hoping it is all Test of Character for BOTH of them.
The Ultimate Boon: getting the reward the hero's been chasing all this time, often but not always a MacGuffin.
Possibly the Throne?
The Final Temptation is often involved in one or more of these three events: A hero originally motivated by a self-serving goal may receive their Ultimate Boon with the option to take it and run before saving the day. A hero on a Homeward Journey may find a way home, but turn back after their Apotheosis makes them realize their work isn't done. Another may be offered the Ultimate Boon or a tempting substitute by the Big Bad…in exchange for stepping aside. Still another may find that the Ultimate Boon is exactly the sacrifice they are required to make to defeat the Big Bad.
Not sure how all of this will play out. I suspect the baby will play a big role in this, as well as Daenerys' relationship with Jon. Is she on a Homeward Journey? She hasn't found her true home yet. Will she? What will it look like?
Refusal of the Return : At this point in the story, the Hero has mastered the strange world they were thrust into. They probably have earned a permanent place here, if they want it. They may even want to stay, but usually there are forces at work that propel them home.
The Return: Also called the Magic Flight; the Hero now has the boon and high-tails it away, with the villain and/or their forces in hot pursuit, the two parties locked in a battle of wits and magic (especially shapeshifting) during the chase. (See the Celtic story of Taliesin's escape from Cerridwen for a textbook example of this.) The Hero's escape may not require actual magic, but will require all of the new skills they've learned and new allies they've made. Or alternately they could realize the Awful Truth that they can't return home because sometimes Failure Is the Only Option…
Crossing the Return Threshold. This is where the Post-Climax Confrontation happens, as the remaining antagonistic forces have followed the Hero beyond the threshold and attacked them at a time when the plot should be wrapping up. In the absence of any action, it may be a Boring Return Journey instead, a chance for the Hero to reflect on what they've gained and experienced throughout their journey.
Freedom to Live: The Hero grants the boon to their people.
Yeah really not sure how all of this is going to play out at all. The story is not complete but looking at these steps actually makes me feel a lot better about Daenerys and Jon's endgame. SO ready for Season 8!
Celebration: A Dance Party Ending is often in order.
GOD I hope so can you IMAGINE a dance party ending??? In Game of Thrones??
