Day 16 – Favorite female character

Daenerys Targaryen from the Game of Thrones series by George R.R. Martin

She is also known as Daenerys Stormborn, from House Targaryen, and the Mother of Dragons. She is the daughter of King Aerys II Targaryen—the Mad King—and Queen Rhaella.

Now, this particular series is one of my favorites. One reason is its depiction of the female characters. In the books, not all of them are useless damsel-in-distress type of women. In fact, a lot of them are powerful, courageous, and very strong-willed. Others seem even more mighty than knights and kings. And from them comes my favorite female character, Dany.

She is a heroine of some sort in the story. At the beginning of the series, her brother sold her to the leader of the Dothraki, a group of tribe-like barbaric nomads, Khal Drogo for an army of 10,000 in return. This was all part of the plan to take back what was theirs from the Baratheons, present family that rules the Seven Kingdoms. Of course, Daenerys cannot do anything against her abusive brother’s will and she was forced to marry the fearsome man.

As the story goes, Daenerys captured the heart of Khal Drogo and learned to love him truly. She accepted her duties as the Khaleesi(queen) of the Dothraki. She even learned to stand up against her loathsome brother. All was well until the dreadful death of Khal Drogo. She became devasted but instead of succumbing to her grief and loss, she grew braver and became in charge of the Dothraki. The once fragile and innocent girl grew stronger and learned to be a great leader.

And I guess, that was the reason why I really liked her character. It shows us that even the most abused and quiet person can do great things if only one learns to believe in their own self. She also proved that women can handle things and that they need not to be beside a man, just watching and observing at the sidelines. She took it upon herself to continue her deceased husband’s goal. Even when she knew that she’ll be facing armies and armies of men, Daenerys did not cower in fear. She did not let her pain and sadness weaken her. She used it as her strength. She went on with her life. Other than that, she was able to melt the coldest of hearts, her husband’s as one proof. Her kindness spread like wildfire throughout the Dothraki tribe. Even if half of the Dothraki men think that it was weakness, the others respected her for her pure heart.

I really hope that she won’t die in the series. I’m just halfway through the second book and from what I observe, Martin doesn’t care if the character is well-loved by the readers. Even Ned Stark, someone who seemed to be an important character, died. And I don’t want to lose this great female character.