GRRM is American. This means that much of the social commentary he tries to make in his books will reflect American history and American politics.
Now, do I want to actually look for the social commentary I’m sure a very talented author like GRRM probably hid in asoiaf? Not really…
I just wanted to bring up this one specific example.
The False Peace of Meereen
To begin, Daenerys way of dealing with the former slave masters of Meereen greatly reminds me of the way Abraham Lincoln dealt with the slave owners of the South.
Both Daenerys and Lincoln ended up prioritizing the slave masters/owners over the former slaves.
Daenerys did this by letting the slave masters keep a lot of their former power and by slowly bending to their wishes in order to “compromise.” This led to her allie’s displeasure, and eventually the failed assassination attempt—which she only survived due to Drogon.
Afterwards, Daenerys decided that fire and blood was necessary in order to counter the cruel slave masters and to finally get back to truly fighting slavery.
Daenerys decisions reflect a few of Lincoln’s own decisions.
1. Lincoln was focused on preserving the Union (peace) over fighting slavery, even though he greatly disliked it
2. Lincoln wasn’t as harsh on the southern slave owners as his party, the Republican party at the time, wanted him to be
3. He was assassinated and Andrew Johnson took over in his place. Hizdahr will possibly take control, like Johnson did. Johnson’s lenient treatment of southern slave owners led to most of them regaining their positions of power. Because of Johnson’s favoritism (as he was a Democrat who was pro-South at the time (Lincoln only made him Vice President to try to secure peace)), slavery basically started up again and the newly freed slaves still faced unimaginable horrors. Their descendants would later face segregation and oppression.
(These are very broad strokes since I don’t feel like doing a deep dive on this topic.)
When looking at these parallels, it should be clear that the fire and blood quote does not signify Daenerys descent into madness. If anything, Daenerys whole Meereen arc was GRRM making social commentary about the racism African Americas face in the U.S. and how the Reconstruction of the South led to this.
Quick info dump: Reconstruction refers to the period immediately after the Civil War from 1865 to 1877 when several United States administrations sought to reconstruct society in the former Confederate states in particular by establishing and protecting the legal rights of the newly freed black population
I think that the social commentary GRRM is trying to make is that:
The oppressed have every right to rise up against their oppressors.
The Reconstruction of the South was a massive failure that set America back decades in Civil Rights advancements.
Violence is necessary when dealing with those who want to strip you of your humanity and leniency towards these people is a mistake that you will regret.
Abraham Lincoln should have been much, much, much harsher on the South before he was killed.
Anyways…
Daenerys survived while Lincoln died. However, if Lincoln survived his assassination (which was certainly orchestrated so that Johnson could take over), I have no doubt that the U.S. would be a fairer place for POC than it is today.
Daenerys isn’t going to go mad. She’s finally realized what she has to do in order to secure the freedom of her people, aka the former slaves.
Saying that Daenerys will go mad is a joke. I cannot take the people who believe this seriously in any way.
And to my fellow Americans who buy into the “mad Daenerys” bs… please take a look around you.
Lincoln’s biggest mistake was his leniency towards southern slave owners.
GRRM specifically had Daenerys survive the assassination attempt for a reason.
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I love Zutara as much as the next girlie, but I think people romanticizing Zuko catching Azula's lightning in the Final Agni Kai are doing Zuko's character a massive disservice. He would have done that for anyone. Not just anyone in the Gaang, anyone.
He did it for the division he ended up getting burned over. He did it for his subordinate that was going to fall to his death after the ship was struck by lightning. He did it for Lee, when he was kidnapped by Gao. He did it for Iroh, when he confronted his dad and tried to break him out of prison. He did it for the whole Gaang at the Western Air Temple. He did it for Sokka, Suki, and Hakoda at the Boiling Rock.
His whole character revolves around saving everyone else first. Hell, he tried to save Zhao of all people! There's no way that would have gone well for Zuko if Zhao had actually taken his hand. He always does what he thinks is right first before considering his own safety.
Zuko always saves other people. Even if, especially if, he can't save himself.
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