#VAE: Judge or Forgive

[mysmestranscripts]

V After Ending: Judge or Forgive

Episode 1

Episode 2

Episode 3

Episode 4

Episode 5

Episode 6

Judge

Forgive

#V After Ending #Judge or Forgive #VAE: Judge or Forgive #V #Jihyun Kim #DLC #Master List #After Ends

[linhmiu201]

Press F to pay respect to our Vanderwood, he never ceases to amuse us. :) He's basically promoted as Seven's nanny now. Give him some spotlight please Cheritz. 🙏🙏

Finally, I read the Judge End. It's sad how the RFA basically torn apart (I did agree that there should be a name change but throwing away the name and breaking apart ain't the same thing... *insert sad V emoji*) And it's absurb how harsh you would need to act in order to unlock it. At least now I totally understand why it only took a few 'soft' choices to lead you to the other ending, and why Cheritz seems to push us into getting Forgive End. They feel the need to sink us with lessons about forgiveness and keep saying that's the right thing to do because of Korean culture, I suppose. Be warned, this is just my own speculation.

When I was in junior high school, a certain Korean TV series was aired at noon. It was unfortunate that I had to go to school every afternoon so I didn't get to watch all of it, but that series left such a big impression on me. Its name is Phantom, an SBS series about hacking and cyber crimes. I remember this detail the most: a girl was cyber bullied to the point that she committed suicide. At that time it was so unfamiliar to me that I remember it even now. If you guys read Chinese web novels then you'd know that the netizens there don't really care if news posted online is truthful or not. If it is said that this celebrity or that idol had an addiction, committed adultery,... then they'll just assume it's true, and swarm said celebrity's Weibo with hate speech. And do you know about a case where an actor in Japan was revealed to have a girlfriend, his fans felt so angry and 'betrayed' that they pressured a production he was starring in to cancel his role? In the end, he got removed from his role for real. Does this feel familiar? That's right, it's Zen's route in a nutshell right there, where Jaehee was so worried about MC and Zen dating, because she knew fans would turn hostile to Zen once they found out he had a girlfriend "who weren't themselves". I don't know what's it like in other countries, but here, in Asian countries, many of the netizens are just so... uncultured, if I dare say. It's not only these 3 countries, but probably all over the world, cases of cyber bullying are still happening. How convenient it is for people to just hide behind the screen and spit cruelty at others or play god. They curse and sneer at prople who they think that were in the wrong, while maintaining a high sense of moral for themselves.

With VAE, you can see such behaviors reflected in the 'wrong' choices, for example:

Rika: My thoughts are evil. No, it's all because of my head. This head of mine can think of nothing but dark things.

Rika: I wish this head of mine would stop working... So that I won't do anything. So that I can't do anything.

The players then have to choose from 2 options, including:

Maybe you've been too obsessed with saving others that you forgot how to save yourself.

Or:

You know, that'd be the way you can be the least of help for others.

To reach the Judge End, we need to choose the second choice (alongside a series of fixed choices before that of course). Honestly, that choice is way too cruel for me, we're basically telling her to shut down her brain and stop functioning here (which she did, she fell into a coma), but in order to reach Judge, I can't help but choosing it, since I knew even 1 'wrong' choice could possibly lead to Forgive and that sweet free talk would remain unlocked forevah. If judgement goes too far, it's no longer judgement but pure cruelty... is what I think Cheritz is trying to tell us here. They're telling us to be more understanding even only a little bit, and don't take malicious pleasure in judging other people, even if they are wrong, because you never know whether a life would be lost due to such malice. For me, sometimes it's hard to tell whether I was pleased to see Rika brought to jail since I felt bad for those she hurted, or because of pure pleasure in playing justice defender where you get to curse the bad person all you want. If it's the latter, then it's bad - said Cheritz, probably.

Oopsie, I nearly forgot I took this picture. The wording is harsh, but I laughed for that savage line of Jumin. xD This is the Judge End where RFA members were utterly disgusted by Rika and shooed her away from their lives. It was all fun and games I honestly think their reaction was understandable given how badly hurted they were when suddenly we were introduced to a "Rika's Circus"... How could something be both hilarious and cruel at the same time?? Seven being the narrator, Jaehee's and Yoosung's exaggeration, Zen talking in monotone, especially Jumin's high-pitched voice and Vanderwood's "why the hell am I here again?" confusion, they were so hilarious I couldn't stop chuckling. ......Sorry that I laughed, what's the password for Wi-Fi in hell?

Entertaining as it is, the "Rika's Circus" thing is still something Cheritz made to guilt trip us. It wasn't real, it was only a dream MC had, but after laughing, we started to feel guilty. Brilliant, I must admit.

Anyway, although I did feel bad for her since V's route actually I still consider what she did is wrong, and no excuse for her actions. You and I, we can understand her, like her, but should never justify her crimes by blaming her past and mental illness. Likewise, V haters could hate him all they/you want, he kinda sorta deserves it with what he did wrong, but don't point fingers at him for the crimes Rika did. Oh yeah, now that I think about it, Saeran is a combination of both V and Rika, don't you think? He was a mentally unstable innocent like V who was exploited and suffered by Rika's hands, then became an abuser himself like Rika. Remember who locked and chained? MC in her room, starved her, verbally abused and kinda sexually harassed her? And then guess who had to sneak in to give MC food to eat hm?

My point is, these 3 characters are flawed as hell and they did so many annoying wrongdoings, but instead of purely hating them, how about trying to understand them? - was probably what Cheritz wanted to convey. Not my words since I have love-hate relationship with them where sometimes I hate them and sometimes I don't. And I still can't like Rika one bit if you ask me, never was, never will.

If you guys read this till the end and agreed with me, then you'd probably love this underrated masterpiece too. It's a parody that whichever fandom you go, you'd still see people using it... the ultimate scene we don't understand but can still enjoy... xD

#mystic messenger #v after ending #judge ending #mystic messenger spoilers #vanderwood #I hope Vanderwood got the spotlight he deserves #can't believe I need to open the game just to quotes #oh Phantom is a great TV series to watch btw #I think becuz of its depiction of hackers I was attracted to Seven in the first place lol #I was young and I thought hackers were so cool #still think they are cool

[marshmallowprotection]

I can forgive Rika in VAE but seeing what happens in Judge Ending and how they make the player feel... I kind of don't want to do it anymore. Those who don't want to forgive Rika also deserve a happy ending, just because they don't forgive her doesn't mean they want her to get bad and suffer for life :(. I like that in SAE respects that and doesn't make those who don't forgive feel bad, plus we wish Rika the best who doesn't make excuses and takes responsibility for her actions.

Yeah, I've got a lot of problems with V's After Ending. I appreciate that Cheritz listened to all the feedback because being seemingly forced to choose to forgive a character to get the "happy" ending isn't a good look on anyone. You don't get the twin's reunion in the judgement ending and you're made to feel like your choices are the reason for Rika's suffering. No, Rika's choices are her fault, not the player's fault. Choosing not to forgive someone doesn't make you a monster. It just means you don't need to forgive someone to heal or feel better.

As long as you're not hurting yourself or someone else with your feelings, then you're fine to hold onto the feeling you have. Rika can get help for herself, but only when she faces her punishment and owns up to her choices. You can only get better when you're honest with yourself. At least, in Saeran's After Ending, you have the right to choose without being made to feel horrible for it.

#anon #ask #mod kait

[acre1984-blog]

Why Drogon spared Jons life

Because he loved Jon Snow.

And he probably had many other reasons. Numbered from least to most significant, here are three of them: 1) His mother was no longer able to say “Dracarys!” 2) as a dragon, he wanted the Targaryen bloodline to continue, and 3), he had knowingly allowed Jon and Dany to make their own choices for their own relationship—or in other words, he let Jon kill her.

If that last one sounds unbelievable, let me ask you a question: Do you think that luck brought Drogon to the fighting pits of Meereen, just in time for him to save Dany from the mob of assassins there?

There’s very little chance of that being the case; in all likelihood, he had magically sensed that his mother was in mortal danger. And this final episode proves that his mind was indeed supernaturally linked with hers; after she gets stabbed, he wakes from a dead sleep and flies in circles around the Great Hall, shrieking mournfully before entering it.

But having just laid waste to a large fighting force and a great city, Drogon was dog-tired—and there was no way that the sounds of his mother’s nearly silent death could have woken him; the last time

Drogon lay down this tired after battle, he stayed down, refusing Dany’s request to go and get her some food—and he wouldn’t get up even when a horde of Dothraki came and abducted her. Clearly, that scene has strong parallels to her final one, where she gets killed by Jon Snow; in both, Drogon is exhausted nearby but doesn’t come to save Dany when she faces danger from people whose help and admiration she desires.

Dany comes out of her abduction stronger than ever; she kills the Khals in that blaze of fire—not Drogon. And what kind of a Queen would she be if she just let her big dragon do all the work? Not a worthy one in my opinion—and seemingly, Drogon would agree; by the time his mother walks out of that flaming Temple, he is surely well enough to go and at least try to save her. And as he can sense when his mother is in trouble, why didn’t he try to pull off another rescue like the one he did in the fighting pits of Meereen?

Unless he was in some kind of hibernation for his massive growth spurt, Drogon simply chose not to go to Vaes Dothrak and save Dany; he probably knew that she needed to try and win over the people of that city without his help—regardless of whether or not she would make it out of there alive.

And just as he allowed the Dothraki to come and abduct his mother, Drogon allows Jon Snow to pass with Longclaw to go and see her—giving her the chance to show Jon her strength as a leader, the way she did for the people of Vaes Dothrak. But instead, she shows him her weak and murderous heart; her insane speech makes Jon realize that he must indeed end her new life of terrorism. And even Drogon, her own son, isn’t going to save her—because he finally understands that she might not be worthy of the Throne.

Drogon gave Dany a test, and she failed to win Jon Snow over.

But long before her death, after realizing that he was a Targaryen, Drogon began to care for Jon—perhaps a lot more deeply than his mother could have known. And if he could smell Targaryen blood then, he could probably sense Jon’s growing distrust of his new Queen later—yet he never turned on him. But why didn’t he? Probably because bonding with Jon gave Drogon someone to compare his mother to. And he could see that hers was not the only way.

After incinerating two people for not bending the knee before his mother, Drogon returns to Dragonstone feeling righteous and powerful—and he sees Jon Snow, who has committed that same crime at every moment since his arrival on this island. But upon feeling the uncorrupted touch of the criminal’s hand, Drogon’s anger fades into serenity. Drogon Peaceful? At least for the moment, he forgives Jon for not bending the knee. And if he is a thinking creature, he must have questioned whether or not he had executed men unjustly; Drogon would never be the same.

Dany’s children are probably the first dragons to grow up with only one possible Targaryen to bond with. That circumstance probably limited their perspective and affected their behavior. But now the eyes of Dany’s favorite son were opened by another of Targaryen blood. A possible rival for the Throne. Yet when Jon later bends the knee, he leaves Drogon with but one side to choose from.

But though Jon remained loyal to her till right before the very end, their relationship was strained by his finding out that she cold-bloodedly killed Sam’s brother and father, prisoners of war, with dragonfire. And shouldn’t Drogon have been able to feel their growing discord? Especially as it started over executions that he carried out? What would he have done if Jon and Dany’s relationship had become irreconcilable sooner than it did?

If Dany was Drogon’s mother, then Jon is his cousin. Family. And Drogon seems to have chosen not to betray either family member; he stays out of their conflict.

And when he was awoken by the agony his mother quietly felt from Jon Snow’s knife, why did Drogon first fly around the remnants of the Red Keep instead of coming to her directly? Even if he needed a pass or two before seeing an opening to reach her, he wasn’t flapping his wings with any urgency. And that sound he made. A far cry from the one he let out over the fighting pits of Meereen, where he was pumping his wings like a dragon fly’s, determined to save his mother.

But now in the air outside the Great Hall, Drogon seems to know he won’t be able to save her. And maybe he does a few extra laps around it because he can’t bring himself to watch her last breath. Witnessing the completion of your mother’s murder. The worst thing a son could see.

And he doesn’t want to make his mother watch him disobey her final command; if he had flown to her right after waking up, she might have used her remaining strength to say “. . . Dracarys.”

Drogon must know that he could have easily kept his mother from harm—and he probably feels guilty for her death. Maybe even for all the death.

In ASOIAF/GoT, dragons have shown themselves to be intelligent and intuitive—but they don’t speak any kind of human tongue. And they probably don’t fully understand human behavior—just as humans don’t fully understand dragon behavior. Under that probability, Drogon may have suspected that killing all those people in King’s Landing was wrong—but he couldn’t have known for sure. Also, he probably sensed that out of countless other selfish ones, his mother did have one selfless reason to burn the city: She wanted to protect him, her only remaining child, from the harpoons of any scorpions that might be hidden therein.

And having seen his mother help and liberate so many people, he obeyed her out of his final strand of faith in her goodness and wisdom. . . . And because Jon did, too.

If that is the case, then the end of Drogon’s arc parallels Jon’s. And that could be another reason that he lets Jon pass with Longclaw to go and see Dany.

As he inspects him outside the Red Keep (or maybe inside of what used to be part of it, who could tell?), Drogon must have smelled or sensed the fear and anxiety that Jon Snow (or rather, Aegon Targaryen) was feeling—yet he allows the man to pass armed. And his doing so is a clue because it directly contrasts the earlier scene in which Jon goes to visit Tyrion, who is on death row; before the Warden of the North enters the prisoner’s chambers, his beloved sword, Longclaw, is taken by the Unsullied guards.

And so, at that point, Drogon is less concerned with Dany’s safety than the Unsullied are with carrying out her orders. A telling set of circumstances.

I believe that, after the battle, Drogon is confused about what has just happened, what he has done under Dany’s orders—but that he strongly suspects he’s done something awful. And the person he trusts most for an explanation is Jon. Yet as he can’t ask him for one in the Common Tongue, Drogon lets him pass to see if he will speak with Longclaw. But instead, Jon will speak with a knife that the sleepy dragon doesn’t notice—which may be why Drogon looks confused when he sees it sticking out of his mother’s body.

The man who passes the sentence should swing the sword.

“You’ll always be my Queen.”

Jon has never used a knife—until now when he becomes an assassin; he doesn’t execute Daenerys with Longclaw because he doesn’t have the right to take her life. Not in his own eyes. Because he made a vow.

And seeing the assassin’s knife in his mother, Drogon may very well have understood that Jon killed his own Queen—not a rival; he can do nothing but forgive the loyal subject who showed her great respect in her final moments. The gentlest murderer who held his victim as she fell asleep forever because he wanted her to stay awake.

Even though he could hear the coming of her son, the world’s most powerful being—and its most accomplished killer.

And seeing what his cousin has done, Drogon may now understand that he himself has done something much worse: He’s murdered a city full of mostly innocent people, even though he had believed he was destroying a city full of his mother’s enemies. What have we done, mother? And he knows once and for all that Targaryens are unfit to rule—so, he destroys the seat that symbolizes the violence that started their royal line. Fire and blood are wrong!

You may find my assessing an anthropomorphic conscience to Drogon strange. But as Tyrion says, dragons are “more intelligent than men, according to some maesters.” And there are reasons to doubt Drogon’s reputation as an eager murderer.

As Alex Denethorn has already said, there in the Great Hall, Drogon judges not Jon Snow as Dany’s murderer, but the Iron Throne. And Drogon is right! His mother’s desire for that seat of swords slowly burned her good soul to death. Upon seeing her dead body near the steps leading to the coveted chair, Drogon destroys that which took the life that gave him his.

And with that act, Drogon consciously creates a metaphor. . . . Actually, no—something more complex—an extended metaphor: Understanding that the Throne is his mother’s true killer, he extends his judgment by taking fiery revenge on its thousand swords.

How many human beings could have made that astute of a judgment—on the spot, in a moment of pure despair?

And having the intelligence of a talented poet, shouldn’t Drogon also have the intelligence to feel guilt? Clearly, he has the ability to grieve and deeply understand the psychology that caused his loss. What other kinds of philosophical moments is he having in his head, out of the books’ and the show’s perspectives?

The last dragon, flying machine of uncountable death? With savage instinct for a mind, and consuming fire for a heart?

But then how did it get broken by his mother’s death?

Yet only a heartless being could murder an innocent child, right? Yes, that’s true! And for a long time, I’ve thought that Drogon was framed for killing the daughter of the so-called goatherd—and this final episode has strengthened my already firm belief.

Firstly, ASOIAF/GoT already has one character who kills and burns children for the purposes of fraud (I’m talking about Theon, of course), so there’s a precedence for what would otherwise be a most extraordinary type of frame job.

And at the time Drogon allegedly murders the little girl, the former masters of the freed cities have every reason to try and create descension between Dany and her dragons. Unless they’re incredibly stupid, they must be thinking of different ways to deal with their enemy’s most powerful weapons. And all they would need to do in order to pull off this scam is hire a very skilled actor for a big sum of money—then commit the same vile sin that Theon did; if their actor could trick Dany into thinking her dragons were child-murderers, she might even go as far as murdering her own children.

And as Drogon’s beautiful appearance there proves, the assignation attempt on his mother in the fighting pits of Meereen would not have worked if her dragons were free to roam the city skies.

But isn’t what you see with your own eyes more trustworthy than critical thinking?

I believe that the show visually tells us Drogon didn’t commit the crime for which his brothers were punished; in one scene, he hunts a flock of goats—and right before he does, the herder’s son sits right between predator and prey—yet the boy is unharmed by the dragon. And if Drogon were going to kill a child, wouldn’t it have been this one, who actually hits him with a rock?

With goats right next to him, the boy sits at the edge of a cliff, throwing rocks off it. Alarmed after one of them makes an unexpected thud sound, he looks down and sees Drogon, who rises over the cliff and looks at him like “Why did you just hit me with a rock, dude?” Hovering there for several seconds, he doesn’t pursue the goats until they are a nice, safe distance away from the child. Then he roasts one and flies off, seeming to have purposely avoided injuring the boy.

So, why are we supposed to believe that Drogon does the exact opposite thing at some location we never see?

I mean, all of a sudden he’s burning children instead of patiently waiting until they are out of harm’s way to close in on his prey; I challenge you to rewatch the scene with Drogon’s hunting the goats and tell me that he looks like he wants to kill children.

And as no other character ever claims to have witnessed Drogon kill anyone out of Dany’s sight, the story told by the “other goatherd” doesn’t add up; bad dogs don’t bite only once—and child abusers don’t abuse one child only once. So, why does only one story from one stranger tell of Drogon’s alleged wantonness?

Truly, the other goatherd is portrayed by a hell of an actor. And in my opinion, that statement has dual meaning; the real actor could have been playing a fictional one—and only talent such as theirs could have convinced Dany that Drogon, her own child, did such a heinous thing to someone else’s.

According to our eyes, Drogon never kills for fun. He doesn’t kill even for revenge—not even when he has the perfect reason and opportunity; as our eyes have told us, he spares his mother’s assassin-murderer, Jon Snow.

And would a creature capable of such mercy mercilessly murder an innocent child? The only answer that makes sense to me is “Never”; in his final scene, Drogon proves who he is: a creature of mercy who does the right thing when he understands the circumstances for what they are.

Because his insane mother couldn’t say ”Dracarys!”

. . .

How long to dragons live in ASOIAF/GoT? And how old was Drogon?

He was a child. Of great size and intelligence, but a child nonetheless. Even the smartest children have so very much to learn—and they intrinsically make a long series of mistakes on the path to maturity. Especially if they are corrupted by a parent whom they think the world of.

But in the end, Drogon was finally able to figure out the truth about Daenerys Targaryen. His mother. And it broke his heart.

I feel so bad for him.

And I miss Game of Thrones more than I ever thought I could; I feel a void and don’t know what to do about it.

#jonerys #jon snow #daenerys targaryen

[madaboutasoiaf]

He sniffed at the wide, floppy sleeve of his tunic, where it was his custom to keep a sachet. It could not have helped much. The tunic was filthy. All the silk and heavy wools that Viserys had worn out of Pentos were stained by hard travel and rotted from sweat.

Dany really did try to reach out to Viserys.

While her handmaids prepared the meal, Dany laid out the clothing she’d had made to her brother’s measure: a tunic and leggings of crisp white linen, leather sandals that laced up to the knee, a bronze medallion belt, a leather vest painted with fire-breathing dragons. The Dothraki would respect him more if he looked less a beggar, she hoped, and perhaps he would forgive her for shaming him that day in the grass. He was still her king, after all, and her brother. They were both blood of the dragon.

Perhaps he would forgive her? She did nothing wrong, and yet she wants to mend things and have him be her brother.

“I am the Lord of the Seven Kingdoms, not some grass-stained savage with bells in his hair,” Viserys spat back at her. He grabbed her arm. “You forget yourself, slut. Do you think that big belly will protect you if you wake the dragon?”

She says in ADWD, when he’s hallucinating, that she loved him once. He deserved that love once, but now he’s just her abuser and she can’t get back the man who was her brother, who took care of her when they had nothing. Pretty much every exchange they have has her in fear of “waking the dragon” or Viserys being violent towards her.

His fingers dug into her arm painfully and for an instant Dany felt like a child again, quailing in the face of his rage. She reached out with her other hand and grabbed the first thing she touched, the belt she’d hoped to give him, a heavy chain of ornate bronze medallions. She swung it with all her strength.

It caught him full in the face. Viserys let go of her. Blood ran down his cheek where the edge of one of the medallions had sliced it open. “You are the one who forgets himself,” Dany said to him. “Didn’t you learn anything that day in the grass? Leave me now, before I summon my khas to drag you out. And pray that Khal Drogo does not hear of this, or he will cut open your belly and feed you your own entrails.”

“for an instant Dany felt like a child again.” Dany still is a child. She’s only fourteen and pregnant.

Viserys scrambled back to his feet. “When I come into my kingdom, you will rue this day, slut.” He walked off, holding his torn face, leaving her gifts behind him.

Drops of his blood had spattered the beautiful sandsilk cloak. Dany clutched the soft cloth to her cheek and sat cross-legged on her sleeping mats.

“Your supper is ready, Khaleesi,” Jhiqui announced.

��I’m not hungry,” Dany said sadly. She was suddenly very tired. “Share the food among yourselves, and send some to Ser Jorah, if you would.” After a moment she added, “Please, bring me one of the dragon’s eggs.”

She tried so hard to reach Viserys, and couldn’t. No wonder she’s sad. All that anticipation of him liking the gifts, forgiving her, being her brother and he’s hurt her and had to be told to leave.

Irri fetched the egg with the deep green shell, bronze flecks shining amid its scales as she turned it in her small hands. Dany curled up on her side, pulling the sandsilk cloak across her and cradling the egg in the hollow between her swollen belly and small, tender breasts. She liked to hold them. They were so beautiful, and sometimes just being close to them made her feel stronger, braver, as if somehow she were drawing strength from the stone dragons locked inside.

She clings to the dragon eggs for comfort. They were the only thing to give her comfort after she first wed Drogo, the eggs and her silver. Dany uses her  identity as the blood of the dragon as another source of strength and courage, and the eggs are closely related to that, both as a representation of her sigil, and for what they will become (as signaled in her visions from the very beginning of the book).

“He had planned to take your dragon’s eggs, until I warned him that I’d cut off his hand if he so much as touched them.” For a moment Dany was so shocked she had no words. “My eggs... but they’re mine, Magister Illyrio gave them to me, a bride gift, why would Viserys want... they’re only stones...” “The same could be said of rubies and diamonds and fire opals, Princess... and dragon’s eggs are rarer by far. Those traders he’s been drinking with would sell their own manhoods for even one of those stones, and with all three Viserys could buy as many sellswords as he might need.” Dany had not known, had not even suspected. “Then... he should have them. He does not need to steal them. He had only to ask. He is my brother... and my true king.”

Viserys tries to take the eggs, and even though they are Daenerys’ source of strength and bravery, she would have given them to him, because he is her brother. Jorah doesn’t understand, and Daenerys tries to explain.

“My mother died giving me birth, and my father and my brother Rhaegar even before that. I would never have known so much as their names if Viserys had not been there to tell me. He was the only one left. The only one. He is all I have.”

Viserys is her only family, and she is still trying to hang onto the boy he once was, the person she loved. He abuses her, but he’s family. He kept her safe, and looked after her, and she struggles to reconcile those memories with the man who now hurts her. Viserys and her unborn baby are Dany’s only blood ties, and Dany desperately wants a home and a family.

Viserys laughed. “They can’t kill us. They can’t shed blood here in the sacred city... but I can.” He laid the point of his sword between Daenerys’s breasts and slid it downward, over the curve of her belly. “I want what I came for,” he told her. “I want the crown he promised me. He bought you, but he never paid for you. Tell him I want what I bargained for, or I’m taking you back. You and the eggs both. He can keep his bloody foal. I’ll cut the bastard out and leave it for him.” The sword point pushed through her silks and pricked at her navel. Viserys was weeping, she saw; weeping and laughing, both at the same time, this man who had once been her brother.

I’ll never understand why people judge Dany in this scene. Viserys threatens her unborn baby, he threatens Dany. He’s holding a sword against her belly. History has taught Dany that Viserys is capable of being very violent. She is terrified for her baby, and this terrible threat is what shows her that Viserys is no longer the brother she loved, that the boy who helped raise her isn’t there anymore.

Drogo needs the translation of what Viserys said, his threats, so Dany translates. That is all she does. She doesn’t give any order, she’s not complicit, and what happens afterwards is not anything she wished for.

“What did he say?” the man who had been her brother asked her, flinching. It had grown so silent in the hall that she could hear the bells in Khal Drogo’s hair, chiming softly with each step he took. His bloodriders followed him, like three copper shadows. Daenerys had gone cold all over. “He says you shall have a splendid golden crown that men shall tremble to behold.” Viserys smiled and lowered his sword. That was the saddest thing, the thing that tore at her afterward... the way he smiled. “That was all I wanted,” he said. “What was promised.”

She had gone cold all over. This whole scene is trauma upon trauma for Dany. That sensation, that feeling of cold, is her knowing it’s going to end badly, and it shows that she isn’t in on it. It’s out of her hands now. It was out of her hands the moment Viserys drew the sword and broke the taboo.

When the sun of her life reached her, Dany slid an arm around his waist.

Drogo is her protector in this scene. Yes she reaches for him, but think about what just happened, not what is about to happen. Viserys held a sword on Dany and her unborn child, her child with Drogo. The point of it pressed close enough to prick at her skin, and only Drogo’s actions ended the threat. Drogo represents safety for Dany and her baby, even though he also represents doom for the man who was once her brother.

Ser Jorah had made his way to Dany’s side. He put a hand on her shoulder. “Turn away, my princess, I beg you.” “No.” She folded her arms across the swell of her belly, protectively. At the last, Viserys looked at her. “Sister, please... Dany, tell them... make them... sweet sister...”

Two things here. First, Dany has her arms folded protectively over her belly, thinking of the child Viserys was going to kill. The sequence of events would have her in shock. Second, Dany would not have been able to successfully intervene, even if she overlooked the threat to kill her and her child. Dany tried to stop it, before it went too far. She offered him her dragon eggs, and begged him to put down the sword, and instead he wielded it against her, a khaleesi of the Dothraki, and the Dothraki will never overlook that.

Varys said as much earlier in AGOT.

“By now, the princess nears Vaes Dothrak, where it is death to draw a blade. If I told you what the Dothraki would do to the poor man who used one on a khaleesi, none of you would sleep tonight.”

Dany had done everything she could for Viserys. She’s his victim here, and he’s no longer the brother she loved, but her abuser who hurt her again and again, and escalated it to an attempt to hurt not just her, but to harm her child. Dany has nothing to apologise for with Viserys, and she never did.

#Jo rereads asoiaf #/ #// #/// #//// #abuse tw #daenerys targaryen #viserys targaryen #I do like the show version of this scene #but the book version has so much depth #it's so sad #my meta