Game of Thrones: Did Daenerys become the Mad Queen?

Did Daenerys Targaryen put King’s Landing on blast — literally? Or did she decide to take out her enemies another way?

Warning: This article contains spoilers for the fifth episode of Game of Thrones‘ eighth season.

When it comes to prophecies and foreshadowing, Game of Thrones is definitely not one to be subtle. That is why for weeks on weeks on weeks, we’ve been holding our breath when it comes to Daenerys Targaryen because the show has been pretty blatant in teasing she’d eventually go full-on Mad Queen before the series ends.

From giving dagger eyes to nearly everyone close to her to questioning loyalties left and right to witnessing her best friend and child/dragon die, you could say Daenerys has had a rough season. And honestly, if the Mother of Dragons decided to go off, who could really blame her?

Well, tonight we finally saw the results of Daenerys being pushed to her absolute breaking point. And the episode confirmed fans’ worst fears: Daenerys absolutely has turned into the Mad Queen.

While she might be forgiven for burning Varys alive after his betrayal, and even for destroying the Iron Fleet and Golden Company, Daenerys moved to the point of being unredeemable after her assault on the innocent people of King’s Landing.

Granted, Daenerys’ fate was sealed when Tyrion began repeatedly warning her and her armies that they should stop the attack as soon as the bells rang and the city surrendered. If there was ever a sign that she wouldn’t allow the people of King’s Landing to wave the white flag and walk away peacefully, it was that.

Still, most fans wanted to believe Daenerys would save her wrath for Cersei and her armies. The Dragon Queen has made a point of saving innocents from horrible fates before, and it’s shocking she’d turn her back on them completely. The Mad Queen will be ruling over a graveyard next episode, and that’s if her followers don’t betray her first. Jon and Tyrion are not happy with the route she took to the Iron Throne—and a lot of viewers aren’t either.

So, yes, Daenerys definitely became the Mad Queen this evening. Whether or not that’s a direction the writers needed to go in is another story…and a controversial one at that.

Next week, we’ll see just how far into madness she’s descended. She certainly doesn’t seem sorry about her actions in the promo teaser…

Game of Thrones final episode airs next Sunday at 9 p.m. ET on HBO.

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