rodo's journal

A/N: A good long while ago, someone on fail_fandomanon mentioned being interested in the parallels between Stannis and Daenerys and I ended up writing this. A recent comment reminded me of it and so I decided to post it.

Two Sides of the Same Dragon – Parallels Between Daenerys Targaryen and Stannis Baratheon



If there is one thing Game of Thrones has in spades, it’s monarchs, especially if you consider the ones we only know of as backstory to the main event. There are good kings, bad kings, drunken kings, lecherous kings, tragic kings and mad kings. There is no kind of king that Westeros and Essos haven’t seen at this point, yet it is quite interesting what an assortment we do see on screen. There is a mad king (Aerys), whose reign leads to the reign of an ineffectual and bad king (Robert). Robert’s reign, on the other hand, leads to a whole gaggle of king and queens fighting over the Seven Kingdoms. We have Renly, who doesn’t have the right but thinks he would be a better king than either of his brothers, who is kind but also shrewd, and an administrator more than a warrior. We have Joffrey, who is as mad and bad a king as Aerys. We have Tommen, who is like Robert, easily manipulated by his family, but kinder than his putative father. And we have Balon Greyjoy and Robb Stark, both of whom fight for independence for their people, and in part for their way of life.

In all these, we have some obvious parallels: Joffrey is Aerys reborn, from the family history of incest to his cruel streak. Tommen on the other hand is more like Robert, if he had been a better person. And Balon and Robb are two sides of the same coin. Renly and Cersei both claim the crown without having a right to it, strictly speaking, but think themselves more suited to the job than anybody else. Which leaves us with Stannis and Daenerys, two people who couldn’t be more different at first glance. Stannis is not charismatic, while Daenerys bewitches the people with her personality as much as her dragons scare them. Daenerys is young and supernaturally attractive. Stannis is balding. Stannis is considered the safe choice by the Iron Bank, since he’s reliable in a way the other monarchs aren’t. Daenerys is a wild card who upsets the status quo. And yet I’m going to argue why those difference only serve to highlight their similarities even more.



( Both Stannis and Daenerys have spent most of their lives in the shadow of their elder siblings and were deeply shaped by that experience. )