The Mad Queen

Editor's Note: This entry contains spoilers for Game of Thrones; read at your own caution.

About

The Mad Queen is a nickname given to the character Daenerys Targaryen from the book and television series Game of Thrones. The name comes from the character's father, Aerys II Targaryen, also known as "The Mad King," who, in the series, became paranoid and violent, turning on his own people. Fans of the series have long theorized that Daenerys' character arc might reflect her father's, as dramatized on the final season of HBO's Game of Thrones.

Origin

The first installment in author George R.R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire series (later rebranded Game of Thrones), debuted on August 1st, 1996 and introduced the character Daenerys Targaryen and her father Aerys. Before the main plot of the book begins, Aerys goes mad and attempt to burn his kingdom, leading to a rebellion by his army and his execution, setting the stage for the series' primary story arc.^[1]

As the book series grew in popularity, fans and readers would theorize as to what would happen in future installments. One of the most popular theories included Daenerys' also going mad and burning King's Landing. One of the earliest available of the theory online was published on the fan-site Westeros.org on November 29th, 2011 by user needamazing.^[2] That day, they posted the thread "Dany the Mad Queen," in which they explained why they believed "I think Dany is going to end up Mad like her father Aerys."

Spread

Over the next decade, as the television adaptation grew in popularity, so to did the theory. On July 21st, 2016, YouTuber channel The Film Theorists published a video entitled "Is Daenerys Going MAD?" The post received more than 3.5 million views in three years (shown below).

The Bells

On May 12th, 2019, Game of Thrones aired the penultimate episode of the series entitled "The Bells". The episode aimed to dramatize and conclude Daenerys character arc with her turning into the theorized "Mad Queen" and burning the city of King's Landing, the kingdom that her father once ruled, to the ground.

However, the plotline was a divisive one for fans and critics. Some believed that the character's turn did not properly reflect her overall arc. That day, Twitter ^[3] user @targarcyn tweeted, "daenerys for 7 seasons: has never harmed anyone innocent, stopped cultures of rape and violence against women, her priority was always the people / daenerys season 8: hears bells of surrender and for some fucking obsurd reason starts killing innocents." The tweet received more than 20,000 retweets and 80,000 likes in 24 hours (shown below, left).

Others disagreed, believing that the groundwork for the character's change had been part of the series the entire time. Twitter^[4] user @Buckay_ tweeted^[4] a list of moments when the series alluded to Daenerys' madness, mocking the fans' reaction with a Surprised Pikachu meme. The post received more than 7,400 retweets and 24,000 likes in 24 hours (shown below, right).

Twitter user @youssefberto shared a video from the first season of Game of Thrones that foreshadows this character turn. They wrote, "This who she's always been. If you loved her then, no reason to hate her now." The post received more than 130 retweets and 490 likes in 24 hours (shown below).

"Daenerys has changed" "MAD QUEEN". This who she's always been. If you loved her then, no reason to hate her now. #GameofThrones #DaenarysTargaryen pic.twitter.com/llRHBuQeoT

— shaggy (@youssefberto) May 13, 2019

Search Interest

External References