Peter Dinklage as Tyrion Lannister and Emilia Clarke as Daenerys Targaryen – Photo: Macall B. Polay/HBO
How will Daenerys’ ultimatum work?
To look to an older, more experienced-with-waiting fandom in the form of Star Wars, “only a Sith deals in absolutes“, and what Daenerys Targaryen says in the preview sounds like she’s absolutely offering two choices.
There’s also an almost Anakin-Skywalker-like contradiction in the lines she has in the preview. Right before she says that the soldiers before her will die if they don’t join her cause, she says “I’m not here to murder.” It’s no joining the dark side to save Padmé Amidala from death, but it is a weird intention to declare right before you essentially say you’ll be killing some people if you don’t get your way.
In our photo analysis, we put forward the suggestion that Daenerys won’t stay on the mainland for long, based on her being in a photo with Jon Snow and Tyrion also sharing a photo with Varys. (More on that second picture in a moment.)
Dany going back suggests one of two things: first, that her attempt at a power play doesn’t work quite as well as she thinks it will. For all her assets, she’s still relatively new to what Tyrion dubbed the “great game” last season, and her finesse … needs work.
Or, it could be, as I put forward in the photo analysis, that she thinks whatever ends up happening proves her point well enough to her enemies, enough that she thinks it’s safe to run back to Dragonstone and regroup. This would presume that she’s successful, but what does success actually look like to Daenerys right now?
Is it “not murder”? Is that actually a high enough bar for her?