mardi muse: Daenerys Stormborn

Not to keep harping on about kick-ass females in Game of Thrones, but I caught up on the most recent episode last night and... KHALEESI!!!!!!!!!! I swear, I never knew true fist pumping before that final scene. And by fist pumping, I mean FIST PUMPING!!!!!!!!!!

"I am Daenerys Stormborn of House Targaryen of the blood of old Valyria. Valyrian is my mother tongue." (x)

There has never been a single moment where I have not been rooting for her. Daenerys is not a queen. She's a khaleesi! Daenerys is not a slave. She's a dragon! Daenerys is not an outcast. She's the rightful heir to the Iron Throne! Daenerys is not a doormat. But you are if you cross her! That's what I love most about her, really. She's the fairest of them all, looking so vulnerable and being all quiet. But what's often interpreted as a natural reserve is really strategy in disguise. And yet despite having proof of this for the past two seasons-- having her manipulative cad of a brother killed, eating a horse's heart, walking through fire to dragon eggs-- she still manages to surprise. We all know what she's capable of, but then she's suppressed long enough that she can still shock you even if you're mentally preparing yourself for her to do something wicked awesome. Like when she makes this deal with monsieur shady guy to trade one of her baby dragons for an army, you're thinking, 'There's no way she's really going to give this name-calling monster a dragon!' but wondering how she was going to get away with it. And then she goes and gives you the best scene in the entire series so far...

DRAKARIS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! AHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! BURN!!!!! *FIST-PUMP* KHALEESIIIIIIIIIIIII!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! *FIST-PUMP* My friends and I immediately rewound it and watched it again, looking like Jorah with hearts in our eyes! Blood of my blood! Mother of dragons! I want to be just. like. her. The girl is on fire and the absolute coolest! On the one hand it's unsettling, but on the other I am so happy to see the Dany we all know and love come blazing back. This is not the same person we found mourning her husband as she lead her people through the desert last season. This girl will have her way, her vengeance, her birthright, her dragons, period. She's a character I simply can't get enough of and I hope to be seeing much more of her (and much less of Theon and Varys) the rest of this season!

P.S. Who else is going to start yelling, "DRAKARIS!" when they're angry? Surely it's not just me...