Spoilers ahead for Game of Thrones Season 8, Episode 5. It seems that Daenerys took Missandei's final words a little too literally. Against Tyrion's wishes, Dany burned King's Landing on Game of Thrones Season 8, Episode 5, scorching both soldiers and civilians alike. While fans were pretty sure the Dragon Queen was going to do just this, it was still shocking to watch her fly above the capital, Drogon breathing fire down on terrified townspeople. So why did Dany do King's Landing dirty like this? For one, she really wants the Iron Throne and will seemingly stop at nothing to get it. And it was going great at first: Drogon was knocking down the outer wall and putting the Golden Company to waste, while the Dothraki and Unsullied were doing their thing on the ground. However, the queen went off book after the bell rang, which signaled the city's surrender. Audiences kept seeing flashes of Dany and Cersei, who were boring holes into each other from across the city. At this point, something changed in the Dragon Queen's face, and she decided to continue laying the city to ruin. Audiences watched, horrified, as she flew Drogon above the streets of King's Landing, burning innocents to a crisp. This was deeply disappointing to Jon, Tyrion, and viewers alike, with many fans pointing out that this wasn't in line with Dany's character. After all, isn't she the Breaker of Chains and Protector of the Realm? Since when did she start killing innocents instead of rescuing them, like she did in Astapor and Meereen? It's certainly disheartening to see Dany's character get seemingly assassinated, and it's likely not what George R. R. Martin would have wanted. That said, other fans were on board with her violent takeover. But whatever fans thought of Dany's seemingly uncharacteristic violence, she still did a shocking amount of damage to the capital with just one dragon, so it's anyone's guess what would have happened if Rhaegal and Viserion were still alive. What's more, there was a scene toward the end of the episode, which harkened back to the dream Dany had at the House of the Undying back in Season 2. As Dany entered the throne room, audiences saw snow falling. However, as Twisted8999 theorized on the Game of Thrones subreddit ahead of the March 12 episode, "It was never snow... it was ash!" And it seems like the Redditor may have been right, as audiences saw ash falling on the city like snow after the Battle of King's Landing. Furthermore, audiences predicted that Arya would add Dany's name to her list — especially now that the Hound, Cersei, and the Mountain have all been killed, who were people she was hoping to take out with Needle. After all, Arya is a Stark, and the Starks are perhaps the last honorable house left in Westeros. And now that Cersei is dead as a doornail, Dany may have just become the newest Big Bad in Westeros.<doc-sep>Share this Story: Game of Thrones recap: The bells rang as Daenerys seized King's Landing by fire and blood Game of Thrones recap: The bells rang as Daenerys seized King's Landing by fire and blood Season 8, Episode 5 delivered death, destruction and Daenerys — the new Mad Queen? Photo by Helen Sloan/HBO via AP Reviews and recommendations are unbiased and products are independently selected. Postmedia may earn an affiliate commission from purchases made through links on this page. Article content Spoilers ahead. There will be no complaining about “not enough deaths!” after Sunday’s penultimate episode of “Game of Thrones,” like there was after the “Battle of Winterfell.” There will be complaining, certainly — it’s kind of the main business of watching GoT this final season, and “The Bells” offered plenty to complain about — but if seeing characters we’ve spent eight years with meet their end is what you were after, this episode left you satisfied. (It will also keep our resident Death Counter Shelly Tan incredibly busy as she tries to tally up all those poor King’s Landing commoners who got burnt to a crisp by Drogon.) We apologize, but this video has failed to load. tap here to see other videos from our team. Try refreshing your browser, or Game of Thrones recap: The bells rang as Daenerys seized King's Landing by fire and blood Back to video The episode started with (most of) us rooting for Daenerys to capture King’s Landing and it somehow ended with us feeling sympathy for Cersei and seeing Daenerys do things that not even Cersei would have dreamed of. You could say it was a good twist, or you could say it was just more baffling decision-making. In any case, we’ve got one more Sunday night left. Advertisement Story continues below This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Article content Daenerys goes full Mad Queen The actions of Daenerys weren’t completely shocking, because the hints had been piling up fast over the past few episodes. Now, should a few hints over the past couple episodes outweigh the dominant narrative arc of arguably the show’s central heroic character that was built up over the past eight seasons? That’s a question that only George R. R. Martin can answer. But he wasn’t up for answering it, so that means David Benioff and D.B. Weiss got to weigh in and decide that yes, Daenerys becoming a soulless killing machine is the way to go. You can decide for yourself whether that’s #Canon or #NotCanon. Article content The beheading of Missandei seemed to make something snap in Daenerys last week, and her increasing imbalance was certainly being noticed by Varys. The episode opens in Dragonstone, where Team Daenerys is preparing its assault on King’s Landing, as Varys writes a letter (recipient unknown) trying to get word out about Jon Snow’s lineage and that he is the true heir to the Iron Throne. Advertisement Story continues below This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Article content When Jon arrives, Varys greets him and once again tries to convince Jon that he should be king, because he’s a good man and the Targaryens have a history of insanity in their family. “Every time a Targaryen is born the gods flip a coin,” Varys says, the famous old saying that we all remember because it was in the “Previously on Game of Thrones” reel a few minutes earlier. “I still don’t know how her coin has landed, but I’m quite certain about yours,” Varys says, but Jon still is having none of it, his stubbornness emerging as his main trait once again. Photo by HBO Daenerys has been holed up for two days with no communication and no food. She’s gaunt and looks somewhat defeated when Tyrion visits her, and she knows that she’s been betrayed. By Varys, yes, but really by a whole bunch of people — by Tyrion because he told Varys about Jon’s parents; by Sansa, who told Tyrion; and by Jon himself, who told his (not really) Stark siblings even after Daenerys begged him not to. Tyrion apologizes, saying his intentions were good, that he and Varys just wanted a better world, but we know what’s coming next. Advertisement Story continues below This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Article content That’s confirmed when Varys is roused from his chambers by Grey Worm and marched outside in the middle of the night. As Varys faces Daenerys and Jon, a distraught Tyrion approaches and admits he was the one who ratted him out. “I hope I deserve this. I truly do,” Varys says. Tyrion is predictably upset at witnessing his old friend’s final moments. Daenerys passes down the death sentence and with the most weary “Dracarys” she can muster, Drogon torches the Master of Whispers. RIP, Varys, you only wanted what was best for the realm so it’s probably for the best that you didn’t see what came next. As Varys becomes a pile of charred remains, Jon gives Dany a look that’s something along the lines of “Man, I hope that guy wasn’t right about her.” Advertisement Story continues below This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Article content When Jon goes to visit Daenerys soon after, she chastises him, saying this is exactly what she warned would happen if Jon told Sansa the secret about himself. “She killed Varys as much as I did,” she says, which would probably not hold up in court but I’m not a legal scholar. Her insecurities are on full display, as she admits that more people in Westeros love Jon than her, and fear is all she has here. Jon spits out one of his six lines that he is capable of saying at this point (“You will always be my queen”) and his aunt tries to make out with him, but he’s really not into it anymore, which only seems to push Daenerys further down the crazy path.<doc-sep>Here’s your spoiler warning, folks. Get on your dragon and fly out of here if you’re not caught up with “Game Of Thrones.” Well, Daenerys Targaryen channeled her father, the Mad King, in the latest episode of “Game Of Thrones” and effectively burned down all of King’s Landing. Early in the episode, the Mother of Dragons was told she should keep an ear open for the bells if she planned to take on King’s Landing. Ringing bells would signify that the city had surrendered. Despite being two dragons down from her initial three, Daenerys managed to bring the city to its knees and breathe fire on all the opposing army men in her path. The bells of surrender soon rang, just as Tyrion told her they would ― but the former Khaleesi didn’t back down. Instead, her face changed. Seconds later, she set off and continued her assault with still more gusto ― killing thousands of innocent people with reckless abandon. The move was a massive departure from the kinder Dany we’ve seen in earlier seasons, indicating to fans that the same madness that led to her father’s demise may have come for her too. At any rate, the ringing of those fateful bells ignited more than just Daenerys’ bloodlust: They opened the opinion floodgates of Twitter. Here’s what people had to say about the whole ordeal: Dany listening to the bells pic.twitter.com/9nAFirzDsm — Emily (@emkidz) May 13, 2019 When Tyrion asks Dany not to attack if she hears the bells 🔔#GameofThrones pic.twitter.com/IpemaCI0HX — Brittany Heap (@HeapBrittany) May 13, 2019 Dany when she heard them bells pic.twitter.com/RPDhzJV82v — chan (@justxchann) May 13, 2019 Tyrion to dany stop attacking once you hear the bell ring Bell rings ... Dany:#TheLastWar #GOTpic.twitter.com/npXlA5zlaE — 지한 사랗 🧐🐯🐻 (@yogi4BTS) May 13, 2019 Everyone in Kings landing: The bells are ringing! Dany: Are they tho? #GameofThrones pic.twitter.com/PnZXLSGr8s — Mike.C✪ (@Official_MikeC) May 13, 2019 they rang the fucking bells and dany still fucked it all up i meannnnnn #GameOfThrones pic.twitter.com/Rwg1GzuE2Z — . (@mvrialuisa) May 13, 2019<doc-sep>It's official. We're one episode away from the Game of Thrones series finale and now, Daenerys Targaryen can add two more titles to her extraordinarily long list of names — Queen of the Ashes and Mad Queen. In the fifth episode of the final season titled "The Bells," Daenerys burned King's Landing in a flurry of bloodshed and destruction. However, after years of development and growth, the latest installment to Daenerys' character arc feels like yet another strong female character being sabotaged by showrunners David Benioff and DB Weiss. Fans have been praising Lord Varys for trying to warn the realm about Daenerys, but they should have paid more attention towards the comments made by Ava DuVernay, Jessica Chastain, and Melissa Silverstein following the May 5 episode of the HBO series. On Twitter, the celebrities called out Game of Thrones' problematic treatment of women. DuVernay explained that the series beheaded its "one and only sister" throughout the entire show. Meanwhile, Chastain had to spell out that rape shouldn't be a "tool to make a character stronger." Silverstein then offered an explanation — Game of Thrones lacks in female representation behind the camera. "Just remember that NONE of the writers or directors of any of the episodes this season were women," Silverstein wrote. "And NONE in season 7. and NONE in season 6. And NONE is season 5." And Daenerys' choice in "The Bells" made that abundantly clear. Ultimately, the Mother of Dragons is a complex character, but that wasn't shown in Episode 5 and the treatment of Daenerys' character felt abrupt, confusing, and undeserved. The conflict between Daenerys' empathy and desire for power have always been sprinkled throughout Game of Thrones. Sure, she is ruthless and at the end of the day, she wants to sit on that Iron Throne. But she is also the Breaker of Chains for a reason. She liberated The Unsullied and freed slaves in Astapor, Yunkai, and Meereen. She won the loyalty of hundreds of soldiers. She saved women from being raped by Dothraki warriors. She wanted to create a better world for those living in it. Nonetheless, in "The Bells," there was no internal conflict and no real explanation for Daenerys' sudden actions. After the King's Landing soldiers threw down their weapons and the bells began to ring, signifying surrender, Daenerys chose to destroy the city and dispose of thousands of innocent lives. Fans — including myself — are still questioning why she did it. On "Inside the Episode," Benioff and Weiss shared why Daenerys decided to burn King's Landing to a crisp. "I don't think she decided ahead of time that she was going to do what she did," Weiss said. "She sees the Red Keep, which is the home that her family built when they first came over to this country 300 years ago. It's in that moment on the walls of King's Landing, when she's looking at that symbol of everything that was taken from her, when she makes the decision to make this personal." Wait. So the showrunners are trying to tell me that they had Daenerys make a snap decision to murder thousands of innocent people... because she made it "personal"? Do they realize that by saying this, they're also admitting that there is, in fact, no reason why Daenerys let go of her goals except... her emotions got in the way? There is no grander reason. No overarching theme. No misunderstanding. In the final season, Daenerys of the House Targaryen, the First of Her Name, The Unburnt, Queen of the Andals, the Rhoynar and the First Men, Queen of Meereen, Khaleesi of the Great Grass Sea, Protector of the Realm, Lady Regent of the Seven Kingdoms, Breaker of Chains and Mother of Dragons, was reduced to a mad woman on a dragon. And I'm (not) sorry, but seriously? I didn't spend eight years watching Daenerys' storyline for this one-dimensional cop-out. Sure, it's possible that Benioff and Weiss determined Daenerys' Mad Queen fate early on. Perhaps she was always meant to burn King's Landing to the ground. However, the way the story was handled and shown onscreen make it blatantly obvious that more women needed to be that writers' room. Game of Thrones airs Sundays on HBO.<doc-sep>
Spoilers for Game of Thrones season 8, episode 5. There was a strong theory that Daenerys Targaryen would go full-on Mad Queen rage-monster at some point in the series. But tonight it finally happened in truly horrendous fashion. The worst fears of King's Landing, all her allies, and basically everyone except Drogon and Grey Worm were all confirmed: Dany heard the bells signaling that her siege on King's Landing was successful and that the city was surrendering. And yet, her rage and fury consumed her, and she just decided to set the whole city on fire. So...why? What triggered her massacre? In the scenes leading up to her actions, she didn't seem so much insane as isolated and enraged. What pushed her over the edge? Honestly, there weren't any words during that sequence, so you're forgiven for being a little confused. It initially looked like Dany heard the bells and decided she just didn't care about anyone but herself—which would be channeling madness/egotism pretty profoundly. But according to the creators D.B. Weiss and David Benioff in the "Behind the Episode," once Dany saw the Red Keep, which apparently the Targaryens built during the time of their rule but which had been taken away from them, the unfairness of that huge familial loss washed over her. Presumably, the decades-long grudge for her whole family and herself took over. She took back the city by fire as if she were trying to avenge her Targaryen ancestors—and channeling their craziness, in the process. If you'll remember, Dany had a vision in season 2 of herself walking towards the Iron Throne, but it was all burnt and ruined. That vision came true tonight: Dany has made the decision that she's going to be Queen of the Ashes, and she's ok with it. Sigh. I don't super love Dany, or at least her arc, on Game of Thrones—she's gone from attempting to be a strong and good ruler to fully embracing her more emotional, angry impulses (I think I might need to take back what I said about the narratives on the show being feminist-friendly, because it feels like this season has reversed course a bit). The creators and George R.R. Martin have hinted at Dany's more...burny impulses in the show before, but I admit that this feels a bit sudden. My hope is that in the next, and final episode, she will not be an insane, twitchy Mad Queen like her father, but will still be the same Dany we've always known—thrilled at her victory, a bit remorseful about what happened, but taking power like she believes she should. I think she should be a fully fleshed out character through the end, and "surprise madness" would be a copout, I think. So now, there's a lot of credence to the theory that Jon, horrified by what his aunt/former lover did, will kill Dany. But considering what she just got up to—not if she kills him first. Wouldn't THAT be quite the ending. Mad Queen Dany, forever? For more stories like this, including celebrity news, beauty and fashion advice, savvy political commentary, and fascinating features, sign up for the Marie Claire newsletter. SUBSCRIBE HERE