“Without her dragons Dany would have died early on in the books” or “Without her dragons Dany is nothing”
okay… without his direwolf, Bran would have died in the very first book
without his direwolf, Jon would have been murdered by an ice zombie in the very first book and by qhorin halfhand in the second book
robb’s direwolf sensed danger the night he was murdered
but i don’t see anyone playing down any of their achievements bc they had a mythical beast saving their ass when they needed it most
i know there’s more examples but remember when jon tried to desert the night watch’s but had his location given away by ghost? do you know what the punishment for desertion is?
death. the punishment is death.
Catelyn could’ve fended off the catspaw by herself. Pushed him out the window or something.
Jon could’ve fended off the ice zombie by himself.
Grey Wind sensing danger could’ve been removed entirely without altering the plot, and was only added for the reader.
Jon’s friend’s could’ve found him without Ghost’s help. His horse could’ve thrown a shoe.
Even if Jhogo managed to rouse Pyat Pree, Xaro Xhoan Daxos, and Quaithe from behind the walls of Qarth without the promise of seeing dragons because she’s a Targaryen or something… How does Dany get her army? Her crown? She could escape the fighting pit through means other than Drogon, but… how does she get removed from Meereen entirely?
Unlike Dany’s story, Ghost is not completely inextricably intertwined within Jon’s story (and, for that matter, neither is Longclaw… at least, not yet). Grey Wind could probably be removed just by deleting the sentences that mention him. Even Bran’s story, to whom the dire wolf holds the most significance, could be reworked into him warging into a normal dog, wolf, or even a corvid like Bloodraven if it absolutely had to be.
I wouldn’t say that Dany is, as of her endpoint in ADWD, nothing without her dragons. She’s the Queen of Mereen, after all. But everything else she has, besides her dragons, including her crown (both the metaphorical title and the actual literal crown on her head) is a direct result of her dragons. Except for maybe, like, Daario’s loyalty. But he probably wouldn’t have been so tempted to kill his co-captains if she didn’t have thousands of Unsullied outside the walls, no matter how much he wanted to fuck her.
Dany’s dragons are the first foothold she gains in becoming a personally powerful actor in the world at large. Without her dragons, all she’d have at the end of book one is… her name and a couple dozen women, children, old men, and lame horses.
For all the examples you mentioned, about how those things could have still happened without the direwolves, the simplest argument is that they didn’t. You could say that about Dany, too. Maybe things happen differently without the dragons, maybe not. Maybe Dany gains a following by walking into Drogo’s funeral pyre and emerging unburnt, without dragons, but obviously magical. Maybe the Qartheen want to see this Targaryen princess who is able to walk through fire unscathed. Maybe Dany gets the unsullied by offering her body to Kraznys and then kills him in his sleep. Maybe literally anything could happen, if you wanna go that route. Jon’s horse throwing a shoe is as much a plot device as Ghost finding him. Any story can be reworked without the magical creatures, including Dany’s.
The point is that people use Dany’s dragons as a reason to diminish her character, but the Starks have also had tons of help from magical beasts that act as plot devices. Maybe Catelyn could have fought off the catspaw on her own, maybe not. But she didn’t. And it’s telling that you’re willing to assume the Starks could have gotten by but not willing to assume that with Dany. That’s the problem. These are fantasy books that could have been written many different ways, but with Dany suddenly people seem to lack imagination.
There are also other times where the direwolves have helped the Starks. Maybe without the direwolves, Joffrey kills or hurts Arya. Maybe Robb falls in battle. Arya never has that special connection with Nymeria that fuels her own inner strength and connection to her family, so maybe she becomes a faceless man. Lady is never there so maybe Cersei demands Arya’s hand be cut off for striking at Joffrey. Maybe Joffrey kills Arya and the butcher’s boy and terrifies Sansa into lying about it.
Don’t tell me all of those things could have happened differently but suddenly you have no imagination when it comes to Dany’s plotline.
@citadelofoldtown Oh, this is fun. Let’s do more of these “well, they could have…”s. How does Jon find the dragonglass weapons, one of which saves Sam’s life and leads to the discovery that they can kill whitewalkers? Does he trip across the cache buried in the snow? How about those wights that were about to kill Jeor? Do you think Jon’s superhearing would have activated in his sleep, since Ghost wouldn’t be around to wake him? Oh, I have another one! Do you think Robb and Theon alone could have killed the wildlings that captured Bran? Two teenagers, against a group of grown warriors? How about the Battle of Oxcross? Do you think Robb’s army could have sneaked past the Golden Tooth without knowledge of a the goat path that Grey Wind found? What about those wights that attacked them in the cave of the greenseer? I’m sure Bran could’ve killed them first, somehow…
The direwolves are absolutely inextricably intertwined with the Starks stories. Pretending like they’re not is ridiculous because hey, I’m sure Catelyn with her cut up hands and lack of sleep could have killed the catspaw somehow! I’m sure Jon’s horse could uhhhh throw a shoe!
Pair this with the fact that GRRM originally did not plan to include dragons in his story at all, and it becomes pretty hard to deny that while Dany’s story could have been storied out differently, the Starks’ story absolutely depends on the existence of direwolves. Even Sansa’s lack of a direwolf is incredibly important and drives her plot. And this…
Even Bran’s story, to whom the dire wolf holds the most significance, could be reworked into him warging into a normal dog, wolf, or even a corvid like Bloodraven if it absolutely had to be.
L O L. So Bran’s story is allowed to depend on an animal (man, I’d like to see a corvid fight wights…), but Dany’s isn’t?
lyannas tumblr back up 