A character in Game of Thrones
Played by Emilia Clarke
Game of Thrones · 356 quotes
3rd most-quoted character in Game of Thrones: in 48 of its 356 quotes
Most scenes with: Tyrion Lannister (17), Jorah Mormont (14), Jon Snow (12)
Daenerys TargaryenRemind me, Ser Jorah, how many children did the Great Masters nail to mileposts?
163, Khaleesi.
Daenerys TargaryenYes, that was it.
Your Grace, may I have a word? The city is yours. All these people, they're your subjects now. Sometimes it is better to answer injustice with mercy.
Daenerys TargaryenI will answer injustice with justice.
Joffrey Baratheon is dead. Murdered at his own wedding.
And we've taken the Meereenese Navy, Your Grace.
The Second Sons took the Meereenese Navy.
Daenerys TargaryenWho told you to take their Navy?
No one.
Daenerys TargaryenSo why did you do it?
I heard you like ships.
Daenerys TargaryenHow many ships?
Ninety-three, Your Grace.
Daenerys TargaryenHow many men can they carry?
Ninety-three hundred, not counting sailors.
Daenerys TargaryenWould that be enough to take King's Landing?
The Lannisters have more.
They've been fighting Joffrey's mad wars for years. They're tired, dispersed, and now their King is dead. 8,000 Unsullied and 2,000 Second Sons sail into Blackwater Bay, storm the gates without warning...
It's hard to say. Could be enough... but we're not fighting to make you Queen of King's Landing. Ten thousand men cannot conquer Westeros.
The old Houses will flock to our Queen when she crosses the Narrow Sea.
The old Houses will flock to whichever side they think will win, as they always have. There's other news, from Yunkai. Without the Unsullied to enforce your rule, the Wise Masters have re-taken control of the city. They've re-enslaved what freed men have stayed behind and sworn to take revenge against you. And in Astapor, the council you installed to rule over the city has been overthrown by a butcher named Cleon, who's declared himself 'His Imperial Majesty'.
Daenerys TargaryenPlease leave me. Not you, Jorah. It appears my liberation of Slaver's Bay isn't going quite as planned.
You could sail for Westeros and leave it all behind. A boy sits on the Iron Throne, a boy whom many believe to be a bastard with no right to it. They have never been more vulnerable.
Daenerys TargaryenYou counseled me against rashness in Qarth. I didn't listen, but all worked out well. How can I rule seven Kingdoms if I can't control Slaver's Bay? Why should anyone trust me? Why should anyone follow me?
You're a Targaryen. You're the Mother of Dragons.
Daenerys TargaryenI need to be more than that. I will not let those I have freed slide back into chains. I will not sail for Westeros.
What, then?
Daenerys TargaryenI will do what Queens do. I will rule.
Daario Naharis killed his captains and dumped their heads at your feet when he grew tired of their commands. How could you ever have faith in a man like that?
Daenerys TargaryenI could never have faith in a man like Daario. That's why I've sent him and the Second Sons to retake Yunkai.
You have?
Daenerys TargaryenI have.
Without you there to rule, Khaleesi, I fear the masters will simply bide their time, wait for the invaders to leave and reassert control.
Daenerys TargaryenThat is why I've ordered Daario to execute every master in Yunkai. The masters tear babies from their mothers' arms. They mutilate little boys by the thousands. They train little girls in the art of pleasuring old men.
They treat men like beasts, as you said yourself. Herding the masters into pens and slaughtering them by the thousands is also treating men like beasts. The slaves you freed, brutality is all they've ever known. If you want them to know something else, you'll have to show it to them.
Daenerys TargaryenAnd repay the slavers with what? Kindness? A fine? A stern warning?
It's tempting to see your enemies as evil, all of them, but there's good and evil on both sides in every war ever fought.
Daenerys TargaryenLet the priests argue over good and evil. Slavery is real. I can end it. I will end it. And I will end those behind it.
I sold men into slavery, Khaleesi.
Daenerys TargaryenAnd now you are helping me show them to freedom.
I wouldn't be here to help you if Ned Stark had done to me what you want to do to the masters of Yunkai.
Daenerys TargaryenThe man who came to me the other day about burying his father.
Hizdahr zo Loraq?
Daenerys TargaryenHe will accompany the Second Sons and serve as my ambassador to Yunkai. He will tell the masters what has happened in Meereen. He will explain the choice they have before them. They can live in my new world or they can die in their old one. Well, go and catch Daario before he leaves. Tell him I changed my mind.
Yes, Khaleesi.
Daenerys TargaryenNo. Tell him you changed my mind.
Daenerys TargaryenWhy did the Usurper pardon you?
If we could speak alone...
Daenerys TargaryenNo. Speak to me here. Explain it to me.
Who do you think sent this to Meereen? Who profits? This is the work of Tywin Lannister. He wants to divide us. If we're fighting each other, we're not fighting him.
Daenerys TargaryenThe pardon was signed the year we met. Why were you pardoned? Unless you're saying this document was forged?
It is not forged.
Daenerys TargaryenWhy then?
I sent letters to Varys. The spymaster of King's Landing.
Daenerys TargaryenWhat was the content of these letters?
Information.
Daenerys TargaryenWhat information?
When you and Viserys arrived in Pentos. His plan to marry you to Khal Drogo. When you were married. When your brother died...
Daenerys TargaryenYou told them I was carrying Drogo's child?
I...
Daenerys TargaryenYes or no.
Khaleesi—
Daenerys TargaryenDon't call me that. Did you tell them I was carrying Drogo's child?
Yes.
Daenerys TargaryenThat wine merchant tried to poison me because of your information.
I stopped you from drinking his wine.
Daenerys TargaryenBecause you knew it was poisoned.
I suspected...
Daenerys TargaryenYou betrayed me... From the first!
[kneeling] Forgive me. I never meant... Please, Khaleesi. Forgive me.
Daenerys TargaryenYou sold my secrets to the man who killed my father and stole my brother's throne.
I have protected you, fought for you, killed for you!
Daenerys TargaryenYou want me to forgive you?
I have loved you.
Daenerys TargaryenLove? Love? How can you say that to me? Any other man and I would have you executed, but you...I don't want you in my city dead or alive. Go back to your masters in King's Landing, collect your pardon if you can.
Daenerys, please...
Daenerys TargaryenDon't ever presume to touch me again or speak my name. You have until dusk to collect your things and leave this city. If you are found in Meereen past break of day, I'll have your head thrown into Slaver's Bay. Go. Now.
Your Grace? A word, please, I beg you.
Daenerys TargaryenAbout what?
About your father. About the Mad King.
Daenerys TargaryenThe "Mad King"? You're here to remind me of my enemies' lies? Consider me reminded.
Your Grace. I served in his Kingsguard. I was at his side from the first. Your enemies did not lie.
Daenerys TargaryenGo on.
When the people rose in revolt against him, your father set their towns and castles aflame. He murdered sons in front of their fathers. He burned men alive with wildfire, and laughed as they screamed. And, his efforts to stamp out dissent led to a rebellion that killed every Targaryen, except two.
Daenerys TargaryenI'm not my father.
No, Your Grace. Thank the Gods. But the Mad King gave his enemies the justice he thought they deserved, and each time, it made him feel powerful and right...until the very end.
Daenerys TargaryenI will not have the Son of the Harpy executed without a fair trial.
Your Grace.
Daenerys TargaryenGet him out of my sight.
Khaleesi, please I just need a moment of your time. I've brought you a gift!
It's true! He has.
Daenerys TargaryenWho are you?
I am the gift. It's a pleasure to meet you, Your Grace. My name is Tyrion Lannister.
Daenerys TargaryenSo, have you decided yet? Whether I'm worthy of your service?
Have you decided yet whether you're going to have me killed?
Daenerys TargaryenIt's probably my safest option.
I can see why you would think so. It's what your father would have done.
Daenerys TargaryenAnd what would your father have done?
My father, who publicly sentenced me to death? I'd say his thoughts on having me killed were abundantly clear.
Daenerys TargaryenIs that why you killed him?
Someday, if you decide not to execute me...I'll tell you all about why I killed my father. And on that day, should it ever come, we'll need more wine than this.
Daenerys TargaryenI know what my father was. What he did. I know the Mad King earned his name.
So here we sit. Two terrible children of two terrible fathers.
Daenerys TargaryenI'm terrible?
I've heard stories.
Daenerys TargaryenWhy did you travel to the far side of the world to meet someone terrible?
To see if you were the right kind of terrible.
Daenerys TargaryenWhich kind is that?
The kind that prevents your people from being even more so.
Daenerys TargaryenWell, I did re-open the fighting pits. Under my rule, murder will once again become entertainment.
Yes, that was wise. And you agreed to marry someone you loathe for the greater good. Very impressive. My own sister married someone she loathed as well. Though not by choice, and certainly not for the greater good, Gods forbid. She ended up having him killed.
Daenerys TargaryenPerhaps it won't come to that.
Daenerys TargaryenJorah sent my secrets to Varys. For twenty years, the Spider oversaw the campaign to find and kill me.
He did what he had to do to survive; he did a lot of other things as well, things he didn't have to do. I suspect he's the main reason you weren't slaughtered in your crib.
Daenerys TargaryenBut you trust him?
Yes, oddly. He may be the only person in the world I trust, except my brother.
Daenerys TargaryenThe brother who killed my father?
That's the one.
Daenerys TargaryenPerhaps I will have you killed, after all.
Your Queenly prerogative. I'd given up on life until Varys convinced me you might be worth living for. You chop off my head? Well...my final days were interesting.
Daenerys TargaryenI'm not going to kill you.
No? Banish me?
Daenerys TargaryenNo.
So, if I'm not going to be murdered and I'm not going to be banished...
Daenerys TargaryenYou're going to advise me. While you can still speak in complete sentences.
Advise you on what?
Daenerys TargaryenHow to get what I want.
The Iron Throne. Perhaps you should try wanting something else.
Daenerys TargaryenIf I want jokes, I'll get myself a proper fool.
I'm not entirely joking. There's more to the world than Westeros, after all. How many hundreds of thousands of lives have you changed for the better, here? Perhaps this is where you belong, where you can do the most good.
Daenerys TargaryenI fought, so that no child born into Slaver's Bay would ever know what it meant to be bought or sold. I will continue that fight here, and beyond. But, this is not my home.
When you get back to your "home", who supports you?
Daenerys TargaryenThe common people.
Let's be generous, and assume that's going to happen. Here, in Slaver's Bay, you had the support of the common people and only the common people. What was that like? Ruling, without the rich? House Targaryen is gone. Not a single person who shares your blood is alive to support you. The Starks are gone, as well; our two terrible fathers saw to that. The remaining members of House Lannister will never back you, not ever. Stannis Baratheon won't back you, either; his entire claim to the throne rests on the illegitimacy of yours. That leaves the Tyrells: not impossible, not enough.
Daenerys TargaryenLannister, Targaryen, Baratheon, Stark, Tyrell. They're all just spokes on a wheel. This one's on top, then that one's on top, and on and on it spins, crushing those on the ground.
It's a beautiful dream: stopping the wheel. You're not the first person who's ever dreamt it.
Daenerys TargaryenI'm not going to stop the wheel. I'm going to break the wheel.
[about the fighting pits] You don't approve?
There's always been more than enough death in the world for my taste. I can do without it in my leisure time.
Fair enough. Yet it's an unpleasant question, but what great thing has ever been accomplished without killing or cruelty?
It's easy to confuse what is with what ought to be, especially when what is has worked out in your favor.
I'm not talking about myself. I'm talking about the necessary conditions for greatness.
Daenerys Targaryen[gesturing to a slain fighter] That is greatness?
That is a vital part of the great city of Meereen, which existed long before you or I and will remain standing long after we have returned to the dirt.
My father would have liked you.
Daenerys TargaryenOne day your great city will return to the dirt as well.
At your command?
Daenerys TargaryenIf need be.
And how many people will die to make this happen?
Daenerys TargaryenIf it comes to that, they will have died for a good reason.
[indicates the fighters in the pit] Those men think they're dying for a good reason.
Daenerys TargaryenSomeone else's reason.
So your reasons are true and theirs are false? They don't know their own minds but you do?
Well said. You're an eloquent man. Doesn't mean you're wrong. In my experience, eloquent men are right every bit as often as imbeciles.
[The Khals of Khalar Vehven are discussing what to do with Daenerys.]
Daenerys TargaryenDon't you want to know what I think?
You'd rather be sold into slavery? Or maybe you'd like to show Rhalko here what you taste like?
Daenerys TargaryenNo. I don't want either of those things.
We don't care what you want. This is the Temple of the Dosh Khaleen. You have no voice here, unless you are Dosh Khaleen. Which you are not, until we decide you are.
Daenerys TargaryenI know where I am. I have been here before. This is where the Dosh Khaleen pronounced my child the Stallion Who Mounts the World.
And what happened? You trusted a sorceress, like a fool. Your baby is dead because of you. And so is Khal Drogo.
Daenerys TargaryenThis is where Drogo promised to take his khalasar west to where the world ends. To ride wooden horses across the Black Salt Sea as no khal has done before. He promised to kill the men in their iron suits and tear down their stone houses. He swore to me before the Mother of Mountains.
And you were dumb enough to believe him.
Daenerys TargaryenAnd here, now, what great matters do the Great Khals discuss? Which little villages you'll raid, how many girls you'll get to fuck, how many horses you'll demand in tribute. You are small men. None of you are fit to lead the Dothraki. But I am. So I will.
[The Khals all start laughing.]
All right. No Dosh Khaleen for you. Instead we'll take turns fucking you. And then we'll let our bloodriders fuck you. And if there's anything left of you, we'll give our horses a turn. You crazy cunt. Did you really think we would serve you?
[Daenerys puts her hand on a burning brazier and is not burnt by it.]
Daenerys TargaryenYou're not going to serve. You're going to die.
[Daenerys pushes the brazier over, lighting the entire temple on fire. The Dothraki assemble outside to watch the Temple burn. They witness Daenerys emerging from the burning temple naked and unburnt. They all bow.]
[Daenerys appears before her Dothraki army, mounted on the back of her largest dragon, Drogon]
Daenerys TargaryenEvery khal who ever lived chose three bloodriders, to fight beside him and guard his way. But I am not a khal. I will not choose three bloodriders. I choose you all! I will ask more of you than any khal ever asked of his khalasar! Will you ride the wooden horses across the black salt sea? Will you kill my enemies in their iron suits and tear down their stone houses? [the Dothraki roar in affirmation] Will you give me the Seven Kingdoms, the gift Khal Drogo promised me before the Mother of Mountains? Are you with me? Now and always?
Khaleesi! Khaleesi! Khaleesi!
Once before, I offered you peace. If you had not been so arrogant, you could have returned to your homeland with a fleet of ships. Instead, you will flee Slaver's Bay on foot, like the Beggar Queen you are.
We are here to discuss terms of surrender, not to trade insults.
The terms are simple. You, and your foreign friends will abandon the Great Pyramid, and the City of Meereen. The Unsullied you stole from Kraznys mo Nakloz will remain, to be sold again to the highest bidder. The translator you stole from Kraznys mo Nakloz will remain, to be sold again to the highest bidder. The dragons beneath the Great Pyramid will be slaughtered.
Daenerys TargaryenWe obviously didn't communicate clearly. We are here to discuss your surrender, not mine.
I imagine it's difficult. Adjusting to the new reality. Your reign is over!
Daenerys TargaryenMy reign is just begun.
[Suddenly, Drogon flies over them, roaring. Dany climbs onto his back and they take off. Rhaegal and Viseryon join him flying over the attacking fleet]
Daenerys TargaryenDracarys.
[The three dragons attack a warship.]
[addressing the Master's slave-guards, in Valyrian] You men have a choice: fight and die for the Masters, who would never fight and die for you, or go home to your families.
[after a brief pause, the guards drop their weapons and run away, leaving the shocked Masters surrounded by the Unsullied]
Thank you for the armada! Our Queen does love ships. Now... Last time we spoke, we made a pact. You violated that pact. You declared war upon us. And, though our Queen does have a forgiving nature, this... cannot be forgiven.
Our Queen insists that one of you must die, as punishment for your crimes.
It always seems a bit abstract, doesn't it? Other people dying.
[After a pause, Razdahl pushes Yezzan forward]
Him. He should die.
Yes, him!
He's not one of us, He's an outsider, low-born! He does not speak for us.
Please. [falls to his knees] Please.
[Grey Worm cuts the throats of the other two Masters, leaving Yezzan alive.]
Tell your people what happened here. Tell them you live by the grace of Her Majesty. When they come forward with notions of retribution, or ideas about returning the slave-cities to their former glory...remind them what happened, when Daenerys Stormborn and her dragons came to Meereen.
[referring to her rejection of Daario] How did he take it?
Daenerys TargaryenNo tears.
I know it was hard for you. You turned away a man who truly loves you because he would have been a liability in the Seven Kingdoms. That's the kind of self-sacrifice that makes for a good ruler, if it's any consolation.
Daenerys TargaryenIt's not.
No, I suppose not. I'm terrible at consoling.
Daenerys TargaryenYes, you really are.
All right, how about the fact that this is actually happening? You have your armies, you have your ships, you have your dragons. Everything you've ever wanted since you were old enough to want anything, it's all yours for the taking. Are you afraid? [Dany nods] Good. You're in the great game now. And the great game's terrifying. The only people who aren't afraid of failure are madmen like your father.
Daenerys TargaryenDo you know what frightens me? I said farewell to a man who loves me. A man I thought I cared for. And I felt nothing. Just impatient to get on with it.
He wasn't the first to love you, and he won't be the last.
Daenerys TargaryenWell, you have completely failed to console me.
For what it's worth, I've been a cynic for as long as I can remember. Everyone's always asking me to believe in things—family, gods, kings, myself. It was often tempting until I saw where belief got people. So I said, "No, thank you," to belief. And yet, here I am. I believe in you. It's embarrassing, really. I'd swear you my sword, but I don't actually own a sword.
Daenerys TargaryenIt's your counsel I need.
It's yours. Now and always.
Daenerys TargaryenGood. [pulls out an item] I, um, I had something made for you. I'm...I'm not sure if it's right.
[Dany attaches the item to Tyrion's lapel, where it was revealed to be the brooch of The Hand]
Daenerys TargaryenTyrion Lannister, I name you Hand of the Queen.
[Tyrion bends in one knee and bows]
Daenerys TargaryenYou served my father, didn't you, Lord Varys?
I did.
Daenerys TargaryenAnd then you served the man who overthrew him?
I had a choice, Your Grace. Serve Robert Baratheon, or face the headsman's ax.
Daenerys TargaryenBut you didn't serve him long. You turned against him.
Robert was an improvement on your father, to be sure. There have been few rulers in history as cruel as the Mad King. Robert was neither mad nor cruel; he simply had no interest in being King.
Daenerys TargaryenSo, you took it upon yourself to find a better one?
Your Grace, when I was ready to drink myself into a small coffin, Lord Varys told me about a queen in the East...
Daenerys TargaryenBefore I came to power, you favored my brother. All your spies, your little birds, did they tell you Viserys was cruel, stupid and weak? Would those qualities have made for a good King, in your learned opinion?
Until your marriage to Khal Drogo, Your Grace, I knew nothing about you, save your existence and that you were said to be beautiful.
Daenerys TargaryenSo, you and your friends traded me, like a prize horse, to the Dothraki?
Which you turned to your advantage.
Daenerys TargaryenWho gave the order to kill me?
King Robert.
Daenerys TargaryenWho hired the assassins? Who sent word to Essos to murder Daenerys Targaryen?
Your Grace, I did what had to be done...
Daenerys TargaryenTo keep yourself alive?
Lord Varys has proven himself a loyal servant.
Daenerys Targaryen"Proven himself loyal?" Quite the opposite. If he dislikes one monarch, he conspires to crown the next one. What kind of a servant is that?
The kind the Realm needs. Incompetence should not be rewarded with blind loyalty. As long as I have my eyes, I'll use them. I wasn't born into a Great House. I came from nothing. I was sold as a slave, and carved up as an offering. When I was a child I lived in alleys, gutters, abandoned houses. You wish to know where my loyalties lie? Not with any King or Queen, but with the people. The people who suffer under despots and prosper under just rule. The people whose hearts you aim to win! If you demand blind allegiance... I respect your wishes. Grey Worm can behead me, or your dragons can devour me. But if you let me live, I will serve you well; I will dedicate myself to seeing you on the Iron Throne, because I choose you. Because I know that the people have no better chance than you.
Daenerys TargaryenSwear this to me, Varys. If you ever think I'm failing the people, you won't conspire behind my back. You'll look me in the eye, as you have done today, and you'll tell me how I am failing them.
I swear it, my Queen.
Daenerys TargaryenAnd I swear this: if you ever betray me, I'll burn you alive.
[smiles] I would expect nothing less from the Mother of Dragons.
If you want the Iron Throne, take it. We have an army, a fleet and three dragons. We should hit King's Landing now, hard, with everything we have. The city will fall within a day.
If we turn the dragons loose, tens of thousands will die in the firestorms.
It's called war. You don't have the stomach for it, scurry back into hiding.
I know how you wage war. We don't poison little girls here. Myrcella was innocent.
She was a Lannister. There are no innocent Lannisters. My greatest regret is that Oberyn died fighting for you.
Daenerys TargaryenThat's enough! Lord Tyrion is Hand of the Queen; you will treat him with respect. I am not here to be queen of the ashes.
That's very nice to hear. Of course, I can't remember a queen who was better loved than my granddaughter. The common people loved her; the nobles loved her. And what is left of her now? Ashes. Commoners, nobles, they're all just children, really. They won't obey you unless they fear you.
Tyrion LannisterPeter Dinklage · 80 quotes
Jon SnowKit Harington · 50 quotes
Cersei LannisterLena Headey · 43 quotes
Jaime LannisterNikolaj Coster-Waldau · 43 quotes
Sansa StarkSophie Turner · 40 quotes
Arya StarkMaisie Williams · 29 quotes
VarysConleth Hill · 27 quotes
Theon GreyjoyAlfie Allen · 22 quotes
Tywin LannisterCharles Dance · 21 quotes
Davos SeaworthLiam Cunningham · 20 quotes
Petyr BaelishAidan Gillen · 20 quotes
Sandor CleganeRory McCann · 19 quotes
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