Daenerys Targaryen. The woman who inspires worship and fear across both sides of the Narrow Sea. She whose drivers license would have to be continued on the other side. You know her. Mother of Dragons, Khaleesi of the grass seas, blah, blah, blah… Yes, that’s her. The one thing we know is that Game of Thrones would be quite a different show without her. With that being said and since we obviously have perhaps even more time to wait until the 8th and final season, I will take advantage of this and submit for your approval, another in the line of Game of Thrones: What if’s?
From the beginning of Game of Thrones, one of the initial fears for then King Robert Baratheon was the two Targaryen children who had somehow escaped his wrath. He thought if they were to find support, they might prove to be a threat to him in time. As he pondered this, he came to the conclusion that the best course of action was to have them both killed. Viserys Targaryen was Robert’s initial target as he thought it more likely a challenge would come from him as he would have the strongest claim to the throne. As it turned out, he would receive the crown he desired from another and be eliminated from the equation…permanently.
That left only Daenerys Targaryen. After receiving council from his advisors (almost all of them) Robert would arrange to have her killed and remove the last “known” Targaryen threat to his reign. In addition, it would remove the child he found out she was carrying from also being a danger to his kingdom. This attempt would be thwarted with assistance by the man who was supposed to be spying on her. As fans of Game of Thrones know, this set off a chain of events that would bring The Queen of Dragons and her Dothraki horde over the Narrow Sea and to the gates of Kings Landing. But what if Robert’s plan to eliminate the Targaryen threat was successful? What if Robert Baratheon was able to have Daenerys Targaryen killed?
As is our usual plan, let’s discuss the history of what did happen before we get into what might have happened. As mentioned in the beginning of our little narrative, Robert Baratheon was troubled by the possible threat of the two remaining Targaryen children. It is with this threat in mind, Robert orders his spy master Lord Varys to find someone to spy on the Targaryens and report their progress. This became Ser Jorah Mormont, who had to leave the Seven Kingdoms when Ser Eddard Stark found him guilty of selling slaves. Thus he was offered a royal pardon in return form his spying services. He was to tell Lord Varys everything that transpired when it came to the Targaryens.
The first news that Robert found out through this arrangement was that Daenerys was to be wed to a Dothraki Horse Lord, Khal Drogo. With one simple wedding, to Robert’s way of thinking, his fear began to be more of a reality. In fact he discussed the impending threat with Ser Eddard Stark (his newly named hand after the death of Jon Arryn) on the journey back to Kings Landing.
Robert: “This Khal Drogo, it’s said he has a hundred thousand men in his horde.”
Ned: “Even a million Dothraki are no threat to the realm, as long as they remain on the other side of the Narrow Sea. They have no ships, Robert!”
Robert: “There are still those in the Seven Kingdoms who call me ‘Usurper’. If a Targaryen boy crosses with a Dothraki horde at his back, the scum will join him!”
This discussion about the Targaryen threat would be a source of contention between Robert and Eddard. As a man of honor, it troubled Ned that his friend and now King Robert would so willingly put young children to the slaughter. Especially since as Ned saw it, they presented no clear and present danger across the sea. This came to a head when news was received that Daenerys was pregnant.
Robert: The whore is pregnant!
Ned: You’re speaking of murdering a child.
Robert: I warned you this would happen. Back in the North, I warned you, but you didn’t care to hear. Well, hear it now! I want ’em dead. Mother and child both. And that fool Viserys as well, is that plain enough for you? I want them both dead!
Ned: You will dishonor yourself forever if you do this.
Robert: Honor?! I’ve got Seven Kingdoms to rule! One King, Seven Kingdoms! Do you think honor keeps them in line?! Do you think it’s honor that’s keeping the peace?! It’s fear! Fear and blood!
Ned: Then we’re no better than the Mad King.
Robert: Careful, Ned! Careful now!
Robert: And if he’s right?! If she has a son?! A Targaryen at the head of a Dothraki army! What then?!
Ned: The Narrow Sea still lies between us. I’ll fear the Dothraki the day they teach their horses to run on water.
Robert: Do nothing?! That’s your wise advice?! Do nothing till our enemies are on our shores?! You’re my Council, counsel! Speak sense to this honorable fool!
It was because Robert would not reconsider his course of action that Ned considered surrendering his job as Hand and to returning to Winterfell. Of course the fact that his men were slaughtered and a spear ran through his leg also might have had something to do with it. It wasn’t until lying on his death bed after a drunken hunting trip and an unfortunate run in with a boar did Robert decide that Ned was right. He didn’t want for Denaerys to be killed. Unfortunately, Varys had already sent the order through his “little birds” and he thought the job might already have been carried out.
This assassination attempt was subtle as selling at a market. In this case, a man selling wine who specifically tried to get Daenerys to sample his wares. Before she could try his “distinct”vintage, Ser Jorah intervened asking the vendor to drink it himself. Upon his realization that he had been recognized as an assassin, he made a run for it only to be caught by the Dothraki and eventually led naked behind their horses until he could walk no more and died as punishment. As for Drogo, once he made sure his “Moon of my Life” was unharmed, he made these promises:
Jorah the Andal, I heard what you did. Choose any horse you wish, it is yours. I make this
gift to you.
And to my son, the stallion who will mount the world, I will also pledge a gift. I will give him the iron chair that his mother’s father sat upon. I will give him the Seven Kingdoms. I, Drogo, will do this. I will take my Khalasar west to where the world ends and ride wooden horses across the black salt water as no Khal has done before. I will kill the men in iron suits and tear down their stone houses. I will rape their women and take their children as slaves and bring their broken gods back to Vaes Dothrak.
This, I vow…I, Drogo, son of Bharbo.
I swear before the Mother of Mountains as the stars look down in witness. As the stars look down in witness!
Of course, it was unknown to either Daenerys or Drogo that the only reason Ser Jorah knew of the possible attempt on Daenerys was because he had told Varys all about the pregnancy and he knew of the threat she faced. He could not let that attempt succeed. Not to the woman he had grown to love.
So Denaerys was saved and the flow of events were un-impeded and now she is perhaps steps away from her goal. Assuming of course the army of the dead doesn’t kill everyone. But what if Ser Jorah Mormont did not stop the poisoner from his task. What if Robert Baratheon was able to have Daenerys Targaryen killed?
In this twilight zone moment, Jorah the Andal was too late. The assassin completed his task and Daenerys drank from the wine killing her and her unborn child with it. The “last Targaryen” was no more. Think about this for a moment, (when you are done wiping the tears from your eyes). If Khal Drogo was mad when someone “attempted” to kill “The Moon of his Life,” How do you think he would react to someone actually doing it? Not to mention the loss of the “Stallion that would Mount the World.” In this scenario, the poisoner was not pulled naked after the Khalasar he was immediately gutted and his entrails were left to be consumed by the desert heat. Drogo still made his speech about going across the “black salt water” but there was no talk about giving the “iron chair” to his son. It was only the part about killing all the “men in their iron suits and tearing down their stone houses.” He swore that by the time he and his horde were done, there would be no more Seven Kingdoms. Just sea grass as far as the eyes could see and they would feel the wrath of Khal Drogo.
As for Jorah, he was devastated that he was unable to protect Daenerys from Robert’s assassin and as much as he grieved, he was even more angry at the men who would kill a young woman who presented no threat to them as long as she was on this side of the narrow sea. When you mix sadness, anger and guilt, it can make a combustible mix. Just as Drogo had done, he made himself a pledge. He would somehow gather the means necessary to help Drogo transport his army across the poison sea. They would bring pain and suffering on those who had so cowardly struck down a young girl without daring to stain their own hands to do it. This he swore, to the old Gods and the New.
Khal Diogo decided he would treat “the moon of his life” like he would any honored dead of the 
Dothraki. She would be burned so she could ride in the Night Lands until he could join her and their son. Had Jorah not been so stricken with self-recrimination, he might have thought that the dragon eggs that Daenerys cherished so much might have brought a handsome price toward those ships to transport him and the Dothraki across the narrow seas. Instead, they were placed with Daenerys in the funeral pyre. After lighting the fire and as the flames danced against the night sky, both the Khalasar and Jorah rode off, leaving the fire to do its work. When the morning light came, there was a large smoldering pile of hot ashes where the pyre was, and from it, a slender pink arm extended to the sky followed by another and slowly, a naked blonde girl…with three baby dragons clinging to her. She had lost one child and three more had taken his place. And the story continues…
“The dark winds are nearing. I can sense them. I can feel them in the air all around me, like a distant echoes. The twilight must fall, and the Dragon must awake.”
You didn’t think I was just going to kill off the Mother of Dragons THAT easy did you? Now as it always is, it is your turn. How do you think events would have transpired without Daenerys Stormborn Targaryen? Share your tails…I mean tales with us at GVNation.
Senior Writer at GeekVibesNation – I am a 50 something child of the 70’s who admits to being a Star Trek/Star Wars/Comic Book junkie who once dove head first over a cliff (Ok, it was a small hill) to try to rescue his Fantastic Four comic from a watery grave. I am married to a lovely woman who is as crazy as I am and the proud parent of a 18 year old boy with autism. My wife and son are my real heroes.
