"Hodor," said Hodor. // Unpopular Opinion

theclashofqueens:

I think Dany would be a really bad ruler of Westeros? She doesn’t really know how to do politics…

[First thing: I am still reading A Dance with Dragons, therefore it might be that I don’t know about events that weaken my arguments. Feel free to correct me.]

I think Dany has good political instincts. She wouldn’t have succeeded in taking neither Yunkai nor Meereen without that and her ability to convince people to fight for her.

On the contra side, I think Dany wouldn’t make a good ruler for Westeros just now, mainly because she doesn’t know much about the land, because she has no ruling allies there and has no experience how to rule a country. She is sort of a natural born leader though.

Important is as well that she knows she isn’t yet the ruler Westeros needs. She has a strong sense of responsibility as a ruler, perhaps even too much. That is why she decided to stay in Meereen, to make sure she won’t leave the city in ruins, doomed to fall into a civil war as soon as she leaves (because she learned that lesson too well in Astapor).

She decided to get rid of two important elements in Meereen. On one hand the slave trade, on the other hand the Fighting Pits. The slave trade was one of Meereen’s most important economic sectors, with the town’s wealth rapidly decreasing after it is stopped by her (also because the wealth of the city was built upon the slaves’ back, who kept the town itself going).

The Fighting Pits are not only important for the town in an economical sense, they also serve as the panem et circenses, the bread and circuses of the city. That’s why Dany ended up opening them again, after she realized that -although she didn’t want to keep them herself- the people of her town wanted them. As a monarch, you can’t give in to everything your people demand, but still, to rule means to serve. Ruling is about your people, not about yourself, and that is something Dany already understood.

She is strong and able to make decisions, both decisions that aren’t in line with her own preferences, as well as decisions to prove she isn’t just talking or threatening, but acting as well.

Also, what is meant by ‘doing politics’? The Game of Thrones? I think if you want to be a successful ruler in Westeros, one of the most important things is to have players of the game as allies, you must know the rules of the game at least well enough to understand the things going on around you. Another important point is to be able to make others fight for you and take your side in a conflict. These are things I can’t predict yet.

Dany has a lot of valuable contacts, but not among the current rulers of Westeros. She can make people follow her, but if she will suceed in Westeros will depend on how she will appear there, how many will be with her at that time and how many will take her side during her first move. But as I said, this is still a long way off.

I don’t mean to say that Dany would be the best ruler possible for Westeros, but she is certainly not the worst.