THE DEVELOPMENT OF DAENERYS TARGARYEN’S

PERSONALITY IN REFERENCE TO HBO’S SERIES GAME

OF THRONES

Septian Adi Winarno1, Ketut Santi Indriani2

1,2
English Department, Faculty of Humanities, Udayana University
Denpasar, Bali, Indonesia
Correspondence email: adiwinarno35@gmail.com

ABSTRACT

This study is aimed to analyze the method of characterization and personality development of
Daenerys Targaryen’s in Game of Thrones. The data was taken from the TV Series Game of
Thrones produced by HBO. The data were collected using the documentation method and note-
taking technique and analyzed using the descriptive qualitative method. This study applied two
theories. The first theory is the theory of characterization by William Kenney (1966), used to
analyze Daenerys Targaryen’s characterization. The second theory is Sigmund Freud’s (1923)
psychoanalysis theory used to analyze Daenerys Targaryen’s personality development. The
analysis showed that the author used two methods of characterization on Daenerys Targaryen.
They were a dramatic method to show her innocence and character on character method to
describe her as a cruel person. It also found out that Daenerys’s mechanism is balanced
initially, but in the last season, her id is dominating (imbalanced).

Keywords: Characterization, Personality Development, Psychoanalysis, Daenerys Targaryen,

Game of Thrones

ABSTRAK

Penelitian ini ditujukan untuk menganalisa metode karakterisasi dan perkembangan

kepribadian dari Daenerys Targaryen di seri Game of Thrones. Data dari penelitian ini
terambil dari seri TV Game of Thrones yang diproduksi oleh HBO. Data dikumpulkan dengan
metode dokumentasi dan teknik pencatatan dan dianalisa menggunakan metode kualitatif
deskriptif. Penelitian ini mengaplikasikan dua teori. Teori pertama adalah teori karakterisasi
oleh William Kenney (1966) yang digunakan untuk menganalisa metode karakterisasi dari
Daenerys Targaryen dan teori kedua adalah teori psychoanalysis oleh Sigmund Freud (1923)
yang digunakan untuk menganalisa perkembangan kepribadian dari Daenerys Targaryen.
Analisis ini mengungkap bahwa sang penulis kisah menggunakan dua metode karakterisasi
terhadap Daenerys Targaryen. Metodenya adalah metode dramatis untuk menunjukkan
sikapnya yang polos dan metode karakter ke karakter untuk menggambarkan dia sebagai
seorang yang bengis. Analisis ini juga mengungkap bahwa mekanisme Daenerys seimbang
pada awalnya tapi di akhir musim, idnya yang mendominasi (tidak seimbang).

Kata kunci: Karakterisasi, Perkembangan Kepribadian, Psychoanalysis, Daenerys Targryen,

Game of Thrones.
INTRODUCTION
Pickering and Hoeper (1981: 307) stated
that “literature is a uniquely human activity,
born of man’s timeless desire to understand,
express, and finally share experiences.”
Literature is born from a human expression
of their thoughts as stated by Wellek and
Warren (1986: 107) that “Literature is the
form of human creativity consisting of idiom,
feeling, idea, spirit, and experience using the
language as the medium and having positive
impact on life.”
There are two elements in literature:
intrinsic and extrinsic elements. According to
Nurgiyantoro (2009: 23), intrinsic elements
are elements that directly build stories in a
novel. While extrinsic elements are elements
that are outside of literary work.
Furthermore, Nurgiyantoro (2015) stated that
intrinsic are themes, plots, characters,
backgrounds, points of view, and language.
Extrinsic elements can come in the form of
the author’s attitudes and life views.
Pradopo (1994: 26) mentioned that
literary work “as the picture of the world and
human life, the main criteria that is putted on
the literary work is ‘truth,’ or everything that
wants to be pictured by the author.” It is clear
from the statement that literary work can be
created in any way the author desires
Most stories in literature have multiple
characters interacting and become one of the
essential elements for bringing intriguing
stories. From Abrams (2009: 32) statement,
“Characters is persons represented in a
dramatic or narrative work, who are
interpreted by the reader as being endowed
with particular moral, intellectual, and
emotional qualities by inferences from what
the persons say and their dinstinctive ways of
saying it as the dialogue and from what they
do as the action.”
Character in most stories has its
personality, which depends on how the
author designs it. Character design is an
essential element of each story. The book’s
author tends to create some interesting
character development that people
overlooked. Perrine and Thomas (1988: 69)
mentioned that “The Developing (or
Dynamic) character undergoes a permanent
change in some aspect of character,
personality, or outlook. The change may be a
large or a small one; it may be for better or
for worse, but it is something important and
basic: it is more than a change in condition or
a minor change in opinion”. This study
discusses the character development seen
through the psychology of a person
(character) explained by Sigmund Freud’s
psychoanalysis theory (1923).
Character Daenerys Targaryen from
HBO’s series Game of Thrones is a suitable
subject for this study. Her characterization
from season one and character development
throughout the seasons of Game of Thrones
is very visible.
Based on the background of the study
explained above, the research questions are
formulated as follow:
1. What are the methods of
characterization used by the author
to describe Daenerys Targaryen’s
psychology?
2. How does the personality of
Daenerys Targaryen develop?
METHOD
The data of the study were taken from the
TV Series Game of Thrones and the script
from genius.com. The complication and
deepness of the story and each character have
their uniqueness, making the series won
many accolades and acclaimed as one of the
best series ever created.
The data was collected from watching the
series and reading the script intensively. The
technique of collecting data are explained as
follow: First, watch the series intensively.
Second, read the script. Third, took notes
about methods of characterization used by
the author on Daenerys and her id, ego, and
superego. Fourth, reread the script and note
which dialogues contained methods of
characterization and Daenerys’s id, ego, and
superego. Fifth, combine all characterization
methods used by the author to describe
Daenerys and every id, ego, and superego
shown by the character.
The qualitative descriptive method was
used in the analysis of the data. The first step
was to identify the methods of
characterization used by the author to portrait
Daenerys using the theory of characterization
proposed by Kenney (1966). Next, Daenery’s
character development was analyzed
carefully and thoroughly using the
psychoanalysis theory by Sigmund Freud
(1923) to find the id, ego, and superego.
In presenting data, the data is presented in
a descriptive method. The descriptive
qualitative method explained the data in very
detailed ways using words in a paragraph. It
answered and explained the problems of the
study accordingly. The data was presented
into two types which are the characterization
of character and character development.
RESULT AND DISCUSSION
In the first part, before knowing her
character development, it is better to know
about her characterization in season one of
the series as this will unfold her character. It
analyses Daenerys characterization by
observing her dialogue and action from
beginning to the end of the story of season
one, supported by the theory of
characterization by Kenney (1966).
Data 1
Season 1 Episode 1
00:38:39 – 00:39:06
Daenerys : I don’t want to be his
queen. I want to go home.
Viserys : So do I. I want us both to go home
but they took it from us. So, tell me sweet
sister, how do we go home?
Daenerys : I don’t know.
Viserys : With an army.
Context
Viserys and Daenerys are the last of the
House Targaryen. The family that once was
ruling the region called Westeros and the
country called the Seven Kingdoms. Their
family reign was ended by rebellion, and
they had to move to the region called Essos,
a land across the sea of Westeros, to avoid
the rebellion rage that could kill them. Now
Viserys (Daenerys older brother) wants their
kingdom back. Therefore, he negotiates with
a clan called Dothraki to gain an army. In
return, his younger sister, Daenerys, has to
marry the leader of the Dothraki clan, Khal
Drogo. Nevertheless, the clan looks savage,
and Daenerys does not want to be married to
Khal Drogo and just wanting to go straight to
her home in Westeros, but Viserys replied if
Daenerys wants to go home, an army is
needed.
The sentence above shows that Daenerys
looks innocent to the political view, and she
is an obedient girl as all she can do is
following her brother, Viserys. It is
supported by the dialogue “I don’t want to
be his queen. I want to go home.” and “I
don’t know.” These sentences show
Daenerys does not want to be her queen and
just wanting to go straight to her home, but
Viserys directly refute her sayings. He said
that he wanted to go home too, but they
needed an army, and in that scene, after her
brother said that, Daenerys was only looking
at her brother and nodding slowly, her
innocence clearly visible. Therefore, it can be
seen from this scene that the author presented
Daenerys characterization of the innocent
with the dramatic method because it enables
the author to reveal the characters by
themselves through dialogue.
Data 2
Season 1 Episode 5
00:32:31 – 00:33:04
Varys : I understand your
misgivings, my lord. Truly, I do. It is a
terrible thing we must consider, a vile thing.
Yet we who presume to rule must sometimes
do vile things for the good of the realm.
Should the gods grant Daenerys a son, the
realm will bleed.
Pycelle : I bear this girl no ill will,
but should the Dothraki invade, how many
innocents will die? How many towns will
burn? Is it not wiser, kinder even, that she
should die now so that tens of thousands
might live?
Renly : We should have had them
both killed years ago.
Baelish : When you find yourself in
bed with an ugly woman, best close your
eyes, get it over with. Cut her throat. Be done
with it.
Context
The King of Westeros, the hand of the
king, and his councils are having a meeting
talking about the Targaryen that is still alive
and breathing in Essos. The king is shocked
by the news that Daenerys is pregnant
because in the era when Targaryen rules,
their last king was Aerys or often called the
‘mad’ king because he always burns people
who disagree with him with his dragon.
Henceforth, after the new king arises, he
promises to end the Targaryen madness and
kill all Targaryen bloodlines, including
Viserys and Daenerys. Now, Daenerys is in
Essos, and the king wants to send assassins
to kill her, her baby, and her brother.
The dialogue above shows that the
Targaryen bloodlines have a cruel trait. From
the beginning, it can be seen that Daenerys is
not cruel, but people of Westeros already
afraid that the son and daughter of Aerys
Targaryen (Viserys and Daenerys father) are
cruel, just like their father. Making the
reigning king of Westeros prepare an
assassin to kill her. Therefore, it can be seen
from this scene that the author presented
Daenerys characterization of cruel trait with
character on character method because the
author shows the Daenerys’s character by the
dialogue of other characters.
The second part discusses Daenerys
Targaryen’s character development
supported by psychoanalysis theory by Freud
(1923).
In the first few episodes, Daenerys’s id, ego,
and superego balance because nothing affects
her way of thinking. Her id is still not
pushing her to do impulsive action. A major
event that was showing her decision-making
is when Daenerys asks the entire horde to
stop.
Season 1 Episode 3
00:36:32 – 00:37:22
Viserys : You dare! You give commands to
me? To me? You do not command the
dragon. I am Lord of the Seven Kingdoms. I
don’t take orders from savages or their sluts.
Do you hear me?
Rakharo : Hash shafka zali nharees,
zhey Khaleesi?
Irri : Rakharo ask if you want
him dead, Khaleesi.
Daenerys : No.
Rakharo : Ishish chare acharoe hash
me nem éjervae nharesoon.
Irri : Rakharo say you should
take ear, to teach respect.
Daenerys : Please please, don’t hurt
him. Tell him I don’t want my brother
harmed.
Irri : Khaleesi vos zalo meme
nem azisa.
Rakharo : Huh? Shafki.
She is taking a break from horseback and
walking in the meadow when suddenly,
Viserys barge in with its sword unsheathed.
To protect Khaleesi, Rakharo (Dothraki
soldier) whips Viserys and wrapping it
around his neck. Rakharo wanted to kill him
or at least wound him to teach manner, but
Daenerys refuses it and asks him to stop
choking and letting him go. It can be
concluded that her id still not wanting
something to happen. Her ego knows if
killing or hurting her brother does not give
anything to her. Her superego suggests if
hurting a brother (family) is something
wrong or against morality. Thus, until this
part, she did not have any dominance in her
mechanism.
The part where her id became dominant is
when she destroyed King’s Landing and
conversed with Jon Snow.
Season 8 Episode 6
00:34:25 – 00:34:53
Jon : I saw them executing
Lannister prisoners in the street. They said
they were acting on your orders.
[Daenerys takes on a defensive demeanor in
response to Jon’s anger.]
Daenerys : It was necessary.
Jon : Necessary? Have you been
down there? Have you seen? Children, little
children, burned!
Daenerys : I tried to make peace with
Cersei. She used their innocence as a weapon
against me. She thought it would cripple me.
Daenerys defends her command as she
thinks that was necessary. She thinks that the
little children were killed because it was used
as a weapon by Cersei, and it’s not a problem
to burn them. From this point, it can be seen
that she sees goodness only from her side,
proving that her id is dominant at this time.

CONCLUSION
From the discussions above, it can be
concluded that it was found out that the
author used two methods of
characterization on Daenerys Targaryen.
The first method is dramatic. It is used to
reveal that Daenerys was innocent. The
second method is character on character.
It is used to reveal that Daenery’s father
was cruel, and it affects her also because
the characters discuss that Daenerys
could be cruel too.
It also found out the personality
development of Daenerys Targaryen in
Game of Thrones. At the beginning of the
series, she was an innocent girl, and her
mechanism was balanced, but she
develops into a ruthless, cunning, and
reckless woman. Developing her
mechanism to imbalanced (dominant id).

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