Critique or Cynicism

An analysis of Daenerys Targaryen and her actions in Season 8 Episode 5 "The Bells".

Show Notes

In this episode of Critique or Cynicism, I analyze the character portrayal of Daenerys Targaryen in HBO’s TV adaptation Game of Thrones, based on George R.R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire series. Specifically, I determine whether or not Daenerys’ turn from Breaker of Chains to Mad Queen is adequately justified, given what has been established about her in the show. Has Dany been done dirty? Let’s find out!  
 
Critique or Cynicism Theme: 
 
"Strength of the Titans" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) 
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License 
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Audio Clips used under Fair Use from HBO and found at:

Fire and Blood: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oU4uae2Xndc&ab_channel=SuperPrzemekXD 
Not the Blood of Innocents: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_vmkiIqTL7E&ab_channel=GameofThronesBestScenes 
Emilia Clarke reaction to the moment:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VzWZ2xfuf-4&ab_channel=AegonTargaryen 
We have 200,000 reasons to take that city:  https://twitter.com/i/status/1558855350375383041 
Not being queen of the ashes:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W_emer5KjNA&ab_channel=HeavySpoilers 

What is Critique or Cynicism?

How reasonable are critiques of modern media? From “Mary Sues”, “subverting expectations”, and “garbage writing”, to “toxic fandoms”, “entitled fans”, and “bigotry”, our Hollywood landscape is full of labels, some earned and some not. In Critique or Cynicism, I aim to break down these labels and accusations and, after analyzing both sides in the best light possible, give my verdict on whether the original criticism is justified.