I'm sorry, but if you modestly survey fan reaction, it really isn't all that controversial, nor is it the adaptation that has disappointed so many.
(SPOILER)And I understand Dany is the most polarizing character in the book but I'm surprised you actually think she's stupid. A lot of her story is her outwitting the seemingly more powerful people around her to the point she's become a true Targaryen conqueror in fact and name. I personally didn't find it boring since it's the foreign contrast to Westeros and where we get to learn more about Rhaegar Targaryen who is not only one of the most fascinating characters in the story, probably Jon Snow's father, and the epicenter of all the story's mysteries, but everything written about him is building up to this unbearably-anticipated plot twist (which ironically for this discussion is somethingalso completely abandoned by the show.)
Added a spoiler tag because, although very vague, I think it might bother non-readers. And I know a lot of non-readers who plug their ears and don't want to know the popular fan theory about Jon's parentage. -Shlup
Well, the Targaryens are heavily inbred. So calling her stupid is not entirely far-fetched.
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Regarding Dany's intelligence:When, except for her purchase of the Unsullied, has Dany ever won anything by virtue of deception or intellect? She spends a great deal more time stubbornly defending the less fortunate at her own expense and making decisions based on emotional outbursts. Each book she appears in so far features a story arch in which she spends several chapters passively letting others plot and scheme around her, until she screws up and gets stuck in a bind, and then somehow manages to fix that mistake because DRAGONS.
Until A Dance with Dragons, I had begun to believe that the justification for Dany's one-track-mindedness had been because she, like her father before her, was mad, and the only reason the reader didn't know it was because she had not featured in any chapter except those from her own point of view. Then we got some POV chapters from characters who have interacted with her, and none of them suggested anything of the sort.
I'm not entirely sure where all this is coming from, but Dany is still basically a child. Not all of the kids can grow up like Arya.![]()
(SPOILER)When she treated with the sellsword captains to discern which could turn the battle in her favor, then caught the Yunkish enemy unawares (much like Robb did at the forks). Then she utilized her sellswords' experience again by having them infiltrate Meereen and capture the city in a ridiculously short amount of time. I think it was noted how fast she pulled it off and how relatively little looting/rioting there was in its wake. She's actually been a pretty good strategist in A Storm of Swords. Going back to AGoT, she also won over the Khalasar and was accepted as one of their own (of course she didn't understand that most would leave once Drogo did). In A Clash of Kings she was also able to bring everyone out of the Red Waste by utilizing her bloodriders in the way most likely to bring about success. I know A Dance with Dragons makes it kind of tough to get through her sitting around and waiting, but I think marrying Hizdahr might've actually been the best move if it wasn't for the Drogon incident. I really don't think he's the Harpy.
I actually think you might be right about your second point, though. IMO she's being built up as the series antagonist because almost everything she's done has lead to the death and suffering of a huge amount of people.
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