The Lack Of Reading Comprehension In The ASOIAF Fandom Really Is Astonishing. Im Yet Again Seeing Posts

The lack of reading comprehension in the ASOIAF fandom really is astonishing. I’m yet again seeing posts saying that Dany blamed Elia for Rhaegar’s treatment of her, saying that Dany called Elia an unsatisfactory wife, and ffs, you people need to learn how to read:

“But that was the tourney when he crowned Lyanna Stark as queen of love and beauty!” said Dany. “Princess Elia was there, his wife, and yet my brother gave the crown to the Stark girl, and later stole her away from her betrothed. How could he do that? Did the Dornish woman treat him so ill?”

“It is not for such as me to say what might have been in your brother’s heart, Your Grace. The Princess Elia was a good and gracious lady, though her health was ever delicate.”

Dany pulled the lion pelt tighter about her shoulders. “Viserys said once that it was my fault, for being born too late.” She had denied it hotly, she remembered, going so far as to tell Viserys that it was his fault for not being born a girl. He beat her cruelly for that insolence. “If I had been born more timely, he said, Rhaegar would have married me instead of Elia, and it would all have come out different. If Rhaegar had been happy in his wife, he would not have needed the Stark girl.” - Daenerys IV ASOS

Dany asks if Elia treated Rhaegar badly, for him to have crowned another woman in her place. This is only natural, you know? Dany has only ever heard good things about Rhaegar, so of course she can’t understand why would Rhaegar treat Elia like that. She even asks “how could he do that?”. She clearly doesn’t agree. And as soon as Barristan explains things to Dany, Dany does not dispute him. She DOES NOT try to blame Elia. She says nothing against what Barristan says. And no, her answer is not calling Elia an unsatisfactory wife. Let’s quote her answer again:

Dany pulled the lion pelt tighter about her shoulders. “Viserys said once that it was my fault, for being born too late.” She had denied it hotly, she remembered, going so far as to tell Viserys that it was his fault for not being born a girl. He beat her cruelly for that insolence. “If I had been born more timely, he said, Rhaegar would have married me instead of Elia, and it would all have come out different. If Rhaegar had been happy in his wife, he would not have needed the Stark girl.” - Daenerys IV ASOS

He said.

H-e s-a-i-d.

He said.

He said.

HE SAID.

HE SAID.

HE SAID!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Was that clear enough? Dany is not saying “I think if Rhaegar married me instead of Elia he would have been happy because I am better than Elia and Elia was a bad wife”. She is telling Barristan what VISERYS used to say to her. I don’t know how that is a difficult thing to understand.

I think a lot about how Daenerys Stormborn of House Targaryen, the First of Her Name, Queen of the Andals and the First Men, Protector of the Realm, the Mother of Dragons, the Khaleesi of the Great Grass Sea, the Unburnt, the Breaker of Chains, Mhysa, saw a system that oppressed and dehumanized and ground people to dust and she decided “I’m going to smash that system because I know what it’s like to be less than human and no one should ever have to feel that.” 

It’s so refreshing and beautiful to read because it really hammers in that idea that any battle against the wrong in the world is a worthy battle, because there is always inherent worth in fighting back against the idea that any human being can ever be regarded as an object to be owned. The fact that Dany takes it upon herself to fight that fight? The fact that she does it out of compassion, out of understanding and empathy for those people who have been enslaved and have no power, no voice, no possible hope of defending themselves? Unmatched. “I would sooner perish fighting than return my children to bondage.” That line? UNMATCHED.

“… She was once smitten with a young knight from the stormlands who wore her favor at a tourney and named her queen of love and beauty. A brief thing. […] He put away his lance the day your lady mother wed your father. Afterward he became most pious, and was heard to say that only the Maiden could replace Queen Rhaella in his heart. His passion was impossible, of course. A landed knight is no fit consort for a princess of royal blood.” - A Dance with Dragons, Daenerys VII // naomi watts as rhaella targaryen   

Daenerys Stormborn aka Child of Storm + tv tropes  → BORN DURING A STORM (insp.)

A baby is born while a storm rages outside. […] This trope is used to mark a character as special as it’s a dramatic and exciting start to their life, and may foreshadow an eventful and fast-paced life to match their birth — indeed, a woman might give birth during the Big Storm Episode for no reason other than Rule of Drama. This is doubly so if the storm is supernatural in nature. The child may also be given a weather-related name to match. This also juxtaposes the death and destruction caused by severe storms with the birth of new life.

DAENERYS APPRECIATION MONTH 2022 ↳ Day 2: Underrated relationships → JHOGO, Dany’s bloodrider

Jhogo rode back to her. “A firemage, Khaleesi.” “I want to see.” “Then you must.” The Dothraki offered a hand down. When she took it, he pulled her up onto his horse and sat her in front of him, where she could see over the heads of the crowd. The firemage had conjured a ladder in the air, a crackling orange ladder of swirling flame that rose unsupported from the floor of the bazaar, reaching toward the high latticed roof. Most of the spectators, she noticed, were not of the city: she saw sailors off trading ships, merchants come by caravan, dusty men out of the red waste, wandering soldiers, craftsmen, slavers. Jhogo slid one hand about her waist and leaned close. “The Milk Men shun him. Khaleesi, do you see the girl in the felt hat? There, behind the fat priest. She is a—” “—cutpurse,” finished Dany. She was no pampered lady, blind to such things. She had seen cutpurses aplenty in the streets of the Free Cities, during the years she’d spent with her brother, running from the Usurper’s hired knives.

Saw a post about Daenerys' name meaning and decided to do some research for myself :)

So the name Daenerys itself was created by GRRM, but if we pull it apart into "Dae" and "Nerys" - both of which are names themselves - we get these meanings.

Dae - Greatness, the great one; shining, "light and hope" as in "a new day."

"The name Dae is primarily a male name of Korean origin that means Greatness."

Nerys - Lord, chief, hero, manliness, courage, lady

Nerys is a Welsh feminine given name. It may be a modern coinage, an elaboration of Middle Welsh ner "lord, chief" (which relates to the modern Welsh words nêr "hero" and nerth "manliness, courage") using the popular suffix -ys (found in Carys, Dilys, Gladys and Glenys).

Meaning: uncertain; possibly "lady"

Gender: Feminine

So, GRRM has admitted that he choses the names of his main characters with intent. Daenerys' name is a glaring indication of her future.

Something her name meaning reminds me of is the famous quote Barristan Selmy says to Daenerys:

"King Jaehaerys once told me that madness and greatness are two sides of the same coin. Every time a new Targaryen is born, he said, the gods toss the coin in the air and the world holds its breath to see how it will land."

Dany's name legit means "greatness", so safe to say she's dodged the "madness" coin-flip.

As for the Nerys part of her name, it reminds me of this:

"Lead us from the darkness, O my Lord. Fill our hearts with fire, so we may walk your shining path. R'hllor, you are the light in our eyes, the fire in our hearts, the heat in our loins. Yours is the sun that warms our days, yours the stars that guard us in the dark of night."

New days begin with dawns, and what is the Prince who was Promised said to bring?

The Dawn.

Daenerys is associated with many things: a fiery heart (she ate a horse heart, her dragons burned the blue, rotting heart in the House of the Undying), dragons (fire made flesh), blood magic, day, heat, she is called "bride of fire" by the Undying, and "moon of my life" by Khal Drogo, and R'hllor is associated with stars and the moon. She also slept with Khal Drogo in the womb of the world ("the heat in our loins").

Azor Ahai was also said to have a Red Sword of Heroes, and Drogon is red and black with black and red fire. I think he's Lightbringer.

With all this, it makes sense that Dany is the Prince Who was Promised, and will bring the dawn.