Game of Thrones (TV, fantasy) Thread

[gmillerdrake]

Drogon tries to torch Jon. Jon is unburnt. Walks out naked. Has gigantic package. People all bow to the new king for obvious phallic reasons.

He's then deemed 'The Three Armed King'......

[ariich]

Drogon tries to torch Jon. Jon is unburnt. Walks out naked. Has gigantic package. People all bow to the new king for obvious phallic reasons.

That's the first 15 minutes of the episode. The remaining hour is just a close-up of him.

Drogon tries to torch Jon. Jon is unburnt. Walks out naked. Has gigantic package. People all bow to the new king for obvious phallic reasons.

He's then deemed 'The Three Armed King'......

Three-Legged, surely?

[Adami]

Gets renamed Jon the Impaler.

[DragonAttack]

 

Watched with the wife, took a while to exhale (Hey, man!  Wait a second...let me catch my breath.....), and then I watched it again without the nonstop intensity.  We will no doubt watch it once or twice before next Sunday.

Sure, I wish there were more, shorter episodes to get some of the background.  Then again, people complain that extra dialogue causes the show to drag.

The episode was superb.  It all fit in with what's been presented for the past seven years as far as characters.  And, as to Dany:  Tyrion has been wrong on numerous strategies of late, she no longer trusts his judgment, her two confidents are no longer around to reign her in, so she went opposite of his advice into full 'Mad King'.

One little thing throughout the years that I guessd (observed) will prove true.  It is not snow falling upon the Iron Throne, but ash.   

('Better Call Saul' better be on soon......my only remaining 'obsession' show after next week  )

[Nick]

Drogon tries to torch Jon. Jon is unburnt. Walks out naked. Has gigantic package. People all bow to the new king for obvious phallic reasons.

I have kind of assumed at some point a serious plot point will be Drogon refusing an order to torch Jon. Like, I have no clue how that works, or if the dragons have a special connection to the true heir or are forced to obey or whatever, but being Drogon was the reason Danny was able to strike fear and turn everyone against her, it would be a fitting end if Drogon refusing her was the turning point against her.

[gmillerdrake]

Drogon tries to torch Jon. Jon is unburnt. Walks out naked. Has gigantic package. People all bow to the new king for obvious phallic reasons.

I have kind of assumed at some point a serious plot point will be Drogon refusing an order to torch Jon. Like, I have no clue how that works, or if the dragons have a special connection to the true heir or are forced to obey or whatever, but being Drogon was the reason Danny was able to strike fear and turn everyone against her, it would be a fitting end if Drogon refusing her was the turning point against her.

I think that scene of Jon and Drogon meeting last season was very significant. Not only does Jon reach out and lay his hand on Drogons nose/face.....they intentionally had a close up of Drogons eye 'looking' at Jon and there was a reaction of sorts in it. I think he (Drogon) knows Jon is the true male heir (however that works) and will lead to him ignoring Dany and siding with Jon.

Or it allows Jon to get close enough to chop his freaking head off. 

[RuRoRul]

Even though it falls under the "unrealistic strategy!" category of complaints which I'm usually pretty forgiving of, the effectiveness of the dragon against the scorpions and vice versa still bothered me a lot when watching the episode and stuck with me afterwards. I think in isolation it was fine - the dragon swooped down from almost directly above with the sun behind it which is a good idea, it took out most of the ones from behind where there was little chance to hit it. But it's that scene in the fourth episode. I didn't think it was a great scene, but like I said I'm normally pretty forgiving of the complaints centred on the realism of battle logistics, and this series never had naval strategy as a cornerstone. I can accept that the CGI shots of dragons in the air and ships in the water didn't quite add up to a realistic practical scenario. But, the idea it conveyed was pretty clear - these scorpions can quite easily shoot a dragon down. Yes you can dodge them but you have to be careful. But in this episode - yes, the initial divebomb was well executed, but afterwards it seemed the dragon was just able to fly around with impunity even though it didn't seem very different to the scenario in episode 4. Except this time the scorpions were just so slow and it looked like they'd barely even be able to shoot against a moving target. Being generous, it just retroactively makes that scene in episode 4 far worse, because even the fundamental idea it shows now seems ridiculous rather than it just being in the details. But even though this action scene was much better directed I can't help it that it came after the one in episode 4, so this portrayal did suffer because of that.

It seems even more clear that Euron should never have been able to shoot down Rhaegal from far away from out of shot. Have Daenerys or the others spot the Iron Fleet approaching, then have Drogon be able to easily manoeuvre away from them, but Rhaegal very clearly unable to get away because of his injury, and maybe after being hit once it could be more of a horrifying, sad, death as the injured dragon struggles to slowly fly away and is shot again by multiple bolts. That'd keep the scorpions much more consistent between episodes and seems a very fair trade for the "surprise!" factor of Rhaegal being brought down from off screen.

But, that's a lot said about that specific point just because it was too glaring for me. Other than that a lot of the action in the episode was solid, and I'm fine with the overall direction of the character arcs. I'm of the opinion Daenerys' path is pretty well foreshadowed in the show and the books, it was still pretty rushed and abrupt in the last couple of episodes but to be honest that's just the nature of the show since season 7. Of the big ones, only Jaime's end is something I'm a lot more ambivalent about. In some ways I appreciate it, in some ways it was a frustrating end but then part of that feels like it's a success for it to be frustrating. While I definitely liked him finally breaking away from Cersei, I didn't see him still having feelings for her as undercutting his redemption as it's a complicated relationship. I can't say it's the way I thought it'd go down when he met her but the circumstances were quite different than I expected.

[cramx3]

Drogon tries to torch Jon. Jon is unburnt. Walks out naked. Has gigantic package. People all bow to the new king for obvious phallic reasons.

I have kind of assumed at some point a serious plot point will be Drogon refusing an order to torch Jon. Like, I have no clue how that works, or if the dragons have a special connection to the true heir or are forced to obey or whatever, but being Drogon was the reason Danny was able to strike fear and turn everyone against her, it would be a fitting end if Drogon refusing her was the turning point against her.

I think that scene of Jon and Drogon meeting last season was very significant. Not only does Jon reach out and lay his hand on Drogons nose/face.....they intentionally had a close up of Drogons eye 'looking' at Jon and there was a reaction of sorts in it. I think he (Drogon) knows Jon is the true male heir (however that works) and will lead to him ignoring Dany and siding with Jon.

Or it allows Jon to get close enough to chop his freaking head off. 

Jon having more dragon power would make this move make more sense too 

[gmillerdrake]

Even though it falls under the "unrealistic strategy!" category of complaints which I'm usually pretty forgiving of, the effectiveness of the dragon against the scorpions and vice versa still bothered me a lot when watching the episode and stuck with me afterwards. I think in isolation it was fine - the dragon swooped down from almost directly above with the sun behind it which is a good idea, it took out most of the ones from behind where there was little chance to hit it. But it's that scene in the fourth episode. I didn't think it was a great scene, but like I said I'm normally pretty forgiving of the complaints centred on the realism of battle logistics, and this series never had naval strategy as a cornerstone. I can accept that the CGI shots of dragons in the air and ships in the water didn't quite add up to a realistic practical scenario. But, the idea it conveyed was pretty clear - these scorpions can quite easily shoot a dragon down. Yes you can dodge them but you have to be careful. But in this episode - yes, the initial divebomb was well executed, but afterwards it seemed the dragon was just able to fly around with impunity even though it didn't seem very different to the scenario in episode 4. Except this time the scorpions were just so slow and it looked like they'd barely even be able to shoot against a moving target. Being generous, it just retroactively makes that scene in episode 4 far worse, because even the fundamental idea it shows now seems ridiculous rather than it just being in the details. But even though this action scene was much better directed I can't help it that it came after the one in episode 4, so this portrayal did suffer because of that.

I 'get' what you're saying....but....

I took it as the old Mike Tyson saying "Everyone has a plan until your punched in the nose". Just like with fire arms training.....a standing target and time to shoot you'll get a good shot off....but throw some adrenaline in there along with a 'target' that is in pursuit or fleeing....you're not going to be accurate. Plus, Dany/Drogon used low trajectory approaches as well....constantly weaving in and out.....that, coupled with the fact these guys were watching the ships next to them literally blow up....i have no issues believing that attack. She/he were on a mission and they conveyed a beautiful mastery of a determined dragon rider and a fully grown dragons power/skill.

[KevShmev]

I know some were bummed that Arya didn't get to kill Cersei, but the way I see it, she has 3 of the 5 most satisfying kills on the show (Walder Frey, Littlefinger and the Night King), so she doesn't have to be a total ball hog, right?

And of course the other 2 of the top 5 satisfying kills are obviously Ramsay and Joffrey.

[gmillerdrake]

And of course the other 2 of the top 5 satisfying kills are obviously Ramsay and Joffrey.

Ramsay's may be my favorite of the show. That was freaking awesome......

[Chino]

Tywin's is in my top-5 list as well.

[KevShmev]

Tywin's was awesome, largely because he deserved it, and because the scene was so brilliantly acted by both Dinklage and Charles Dance, but I hated to see Tywin go.  He was such a bad ass character. Every scene he was was money because of him.

[The Walrus]

And of course the other 2 of the top 5 satisfying kills are obviously Ramsay and Joffrey.

Ramsay's may be my favorite of the show. That was freaking awesome......

I have trouble with Ramsay's. Don't get me wrong, I love that he finally died and nobody had to suffer at his hands anymore, but... that kind of death is so gruesome for Sansa to hand someone. Yes, it was the person who raped her, killed her brother, etc. but subjecting even Ramsay to a death by starving hounds while tied to a chair and bloodied is pretty freaking horrible. She could have just slit his throat, and it would have been swift and just, much more in the manner of the Starks imo.

[Chino]

And of course the other 2 of the top 5 satisfying kills are obviously Ramsay and Joffrey.

Ramsay's may be my favorite of the show. That was freaking awesome......

I have trouble with Ramsay's. Don't get me wrong, I love that he finally died and nobody had to suffer at his hands anymore, but... that kind of death is so gruesome for Sansa to hand someone. Yes, it was the person who raped her, killed her brother, etc. but subjecting even Ramsay to a death by starving hounds while tied to a chair and bloodied is pretty freaking horrible. She could have just slit his throat, and it would have been swift and just, much more in the manner of the Starks imo.

Yeah, but it was confirmed earlier this season that she doesn't know how to use a knife.

[The Walrus]

And of course the other 2 of the top 5 satisfying kills are obviously Ramsay and Joffrey.

Ramsay's may be my favorite of the show. That was freaking awesome......

I have trouble with Ramsay's. Don't get me wrong, I love that he finally died and nobody had to suffer at his hands anymore, but... that kind of death is so gruesome for Sansa to hand someone. Yes, it was the person who raped her, killed her brother, etc. but subjecting even Ramsay to a death by starving hounds while tied to a chair and bloodied is pretty freaking horrible. She could have just slit his throat, and it would have been swift and just, much more in the manner of the Starks imo.

Yeah, but it was confirmed earlier this season that she doesn't know how to use a knife.

 

[gmillerdrake]

And of course the other 2 of the top 5 satisfying kills are obviously Ramsay and Joffrey.

Ramsay's may be my favorite of the show. That was freaking awesome......

I have trouble with Ramsay's. Don't get me wrong, I love that he finally died and nobody had to suffer at his hands anymore, but... that kind of death is so gruesome for Sansa to hand someone. Yes, it was the person who raped her, killed her brother, etc. but subjecting even Ramsay to a death by starving hounds while tied to a chair and bloodied is pretty freaking horrible. She could have just slit his throat, and it would have been swift and just, much more in the manner of the Starks imo.

I get what you're saying but I think that was the moment she turned into the Sansa we see today.....she's seen how the world treats the 'honor' of the Starks.....they take advantage of it. She chose to make a point of which I'm sure the news traveled the lands. I thought it was great that she didn't give him an 'easy' death.

[gmillerdrake]

With Arya telling the Hound when they left Winterfell that she didn't plan on coming back....could that hint at her returning to Jaqen to finally finish her pursuit of becoming no one?

[Adami]

With Arya telling the Hound when they left Winterfell that she didn't plan on coming back....could that hint at her returning to Jaqen to finally finish her pursuit of becoming no one?

Nah, I feel like she gave up that goal in this episode. The hound gave her his pep talk and then she was just trying to help people. Very antithetical to being no one.

[Podaar]

I do wonder, after witnessing what Dany did, if Arya has murder in her heart now...in spite of the Hound's pep talk.

[Adami]

I do wonder, after witnessing what Dany did, if Arya has murder in her heart now...in spite of the Hound's pep talk.

I saw it as she saw the horrors of where her life of revenge was taking her. She saw thousands of innocents die because of Dany decided revenge was (suddenly) the most important thing. So I doubt she learned nothing from that.

[Podaar]

I do wonder, after witnessing what Dany did, if Arya has murder in her heart now...in spite of the Hound's pep talk.

I saw it as she saw the horrors of where her life of revenge was taking her. She saw thousands of innocents die because of Dany decided revenge was (suddenly) the most important thing. So I doubt she learned nothing from that.

Good point. I need to rewatch the episode. I was still shell shocked when we had the Arya scene at the end.

[RuRoRul]

I 'get' what you're saying....but....

I took it as the old Mike Tyson saying "Everyone has a plan until your punched in the nose". Just like with fire arms training.....a standing target and time to shoot you'll get a good shot off....but throw some adrenaline in there along with a 'target' that is in pursuit or fleeing....you're not going to be accurate. Plus, Dany/Drogon used low trajectory approaches as well....constantly weaving in and out.....that, coupled with the fact these guys were watching the ships next to them literally blow up....i have no issues believing that attack. She/he were on a mission and they conveyed a beautiful mastery of a determined dragon rider and a fully grown dragons power/skill.

Yeah, if it was just this episode and this scene in isolation it'd probably be fine, it did show the difficulty of Euron trying to turn to aim in a different direction after he missed with the first shot. It's just how extreme the difference is between the scorpions in the previous episode and this episode. I mean, in the entire scene of Daenerys attacking the Iron Fleet in episode 5, Euron's scorpion is the only one that shoots a bolt and in the 40 seconds between Daenerys coming in range and the shot ending (all one shot) it manages to shoot twice. So there's only one scorpion bolt every 20 seconds. Meanwhile in episode 4, Rhaegal is hit by three bolts in just under 10 seconds, and when Daenerys flies at Euron's fleet there are ~9 scorpion bolts fired towards her simultaneously. So while Daenerys' tactics were fine, and it makes sense that because she was able to strike first they were slower to react, it was just so striking that the main difference was that the rate of fire from the fleet was just so much lower. It wasn't like we saw a bunch of scorpion bolts flying and missing her - there just didn't seem to be anyone actually attempting to shoot her.

But, the scene in episode 5 was better directed and felt like a more realistic portrayal, I'd rather accept that as the definitive portrayal of scorpions attempting to hit a dragon, and the scene from episode 4 as the ridiculous outlier.

I know some were bummed that Arya didn't get to kill Cersei, but the way I see it, she has 3 of the 5 most satisfying kills on the show (Walder Frey, Littlefinger and the Night King), so she doesn't have to be a total ball hog, right?

Yeah I found Arya's scene with the Hound much more satisfying than her just killing Cersei. Sometimes you can get behind a character having nothing left other than revenge against this one person, but that just wasn't the case for Arya and that's basically what the Hound told her - she didn't need to follow through with this for Cersei.

I think I said earlier in this thread, Arya didn't really have that personal a connection with Cersei. Obviously Cersei indirectly caused Ned's death because of their conflict but Joffrey was the clearer perpetrator of that one. So she was on the list of people that would be cool to see killing Cersei, but like you said after killing several other of the series big villains it'd be overkill for her to get Cersei too. And it wouldn't be as meaningful an end for Cersei.

[Adami]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H5j0Ofob1Xs

I don't always agree with this guy, but he summed up a lot of my big complaints in a pretty good (and concise) way. So I'm just posting that.

[ariich]

I do wonder, after witnessing what Dany did, if Arya has murder in her heart now...in spite of the Hound's pep talk.

I saw it as she saw the horrors of where her life of revenge was taking her. She saw thousands of innocents die because of Dany decided revenge was (suddenly) the most important thing. So I doubt she learned nothing from that.

For sure, but that also doesn't mean she wouldn't still kill to protect others.

Read a good theory that maybe the song of ice and fire is about her, and that everyone has assumed it's Jon Snow (as both Stark and Targaryen) to reconcile both ice and fire in peace/harmony/whatever but actually Arya is the prince who was promised and the song is about her destroying both ice (Night King) and fire (Dragon Queen) to protect the realm.

No idea if it's accurate but it's a nice idea and would fit with the last thing Melisandre said to Arya.

[MirrorMask]

Aaaand I've seen it to.

As always with this season, it's a mixed bag - where the visual, the cinematography, the acting, the music is all top notch, the story itself leaves a lot to be desired.

Well, maybe not "a lot", given the two previous episodes, this followed accordingly and there were no major headscratchers. I was just underwhelmed at how the issue of Dany being ad disadvantage was resolved - "Oh no, she's down to one dragon, scorpions are everywhere, what's left of her army is weaker, what shall she do? how can she win?" Answer: she single handedly destroys all of her enemies with fire. D'uh. Just like that.

Yes, as I've read in the previous pages, her tactics were fine -  I didn't think of it, I agree that pulling a Red Baron and have the sun blinding the fleet and then coming from behind the scorpions on the walls is logical. But, there's a jarring tonal difference going from "Euron shoots a dragon while not beeing seen from the air" to "Dany single handedly wins the war with a dragon we all should have feared for".

Also, she destroyed the walls and the army, the city surrenders, she's sitting on Drogon that does NOT fire on people (I thought she was going to yell "fear not people, your rightful queen is here, her enemies are gone and you have nothing to fear anymore!"), she hears the bells and she has a tearful smile, like "I did it. I won it. I won the war", her lifequest accomplished. But then she remebers that she's supposed to go mad and there's only one episode left and she goes "ah, fuck it" and proceed to carpet bombing all of the city. D'uh. I guess the voiceover at the beginning about the Targaryens being nuts will have to do, sigh. That and Dany saying that she will have to rule with fear, well, I guess everyone was afraid already of the dragon, I know there's no point in making parallels with real history but the japanese DID fear the USA after two atomic bombings, it's not that there was the need to carpet bombing all of Japan with nukes after their surrender!

Loved Arya being talked out of her need for revenge. As soon as she openly stated she was going to kill the queen, I knew she wouldn't get Cersei.

Jaimie dying a lovesick puppy.... bah.

Cersei herself... I've spent almost 8 years hating that spiteful, arrogant, hateful spoiled bitch and they let her die making me almost sorry for her? I won't contend that dying alone, powerless and in tears at the thought of the life of her unborn child isn't fitting punishment, and Lena Headey is absolutely fantastic, but I wanted to enjoy her death like I did with Joffrey and Ramsay.

Euron as was said above had the most "doesn't matter, had sex" death of them all.

And LOL at Cersei nope-ing herself out of the Cleaganbowl.... she just knew Sandor would let her pass, 'cause he was there for his brother  what a cruel way to have his eyes bashed in like Oberyn, I didn't need to rethink of that!

I will have to think long and hard how much Dany's sudden turn makes sense. I fully believe that's what will happen in the books, but I'm convinced it will make sense over the proper development. It won't be "Ok Tyrion, I agree that if the city surrenders, the fight is over" and mass genocide in the same episode (or chapter).

[Logain Ablar]

.. snip

Username checks out.. 

A lot to digest in this episode. Some of it felt a bit unsatisfying, but need time to let it sink in.

It would appear that Dany has gone full Anakin.

[The Walrus]

Dany's sudden turn

Not directly talking to you about this, but I'm going to pop a blood vessel if I keep seeing this online. They spent 8 seasons leading up to this point; it's felt a bit rushed in season 8, but all of the foundation is right there in the show for the events of last night. They don't have to make logical sense objectively, they have to make sense from a character's point of view, and they absolutely make sense for Dany, there's nothing sudden about this at all.

[ariich]

Dany's sudden turn

Not directly talking to you about this, but I'm going to pop a blood vessel if I keep seeing this online. They spent 8 seasons leading up to this point; it's felt a bit rushed in season 8, but all of the foundation is right there in the show for the events of last night. They don't have to make logical sense objectively, they have to make sense from a character's point of view, and they absolutely make sense for Dany, there's nothing sudden about this at all.

Haha that exact phrase in MM's otherwise solid post also really bugged me. o/

[MirrorMask]

Dany's sudden turn

Not directly talking to you about this, but I'm going to pop a blood vessel if I keep seeing this online. They spent 8 seasons leading up to this point; it's felt a bit rushed in season 8, but all of the foundation is right there in the show for the events of last night. They don't have to make logical sense objectively, they have to make sense from a character's point of view, and they absolutely make sense for Dany, there's nothing sudden about this at all.

Well, I guess my opinion over this will change through time, after a rewatch and more discussions and readings online. For now I think that yes, the *foundations* were laid, but as you said it was all suddenly rushed. It's not that she didn't care for the collateral damage - she won the siege by herself (fleet gone, walls with scorpions gone), and then she deliberately destroyed all the city. She could have flown to the Red Keep, destroy only that and the city would be hers anyway. But instead, she destroyed the town on purpouse, when there was no need anymore for it. Dead people don't fear anymore, you might want to leave someone alive to fear you, even if you want to rule with fear....

[The Walrus]

Dany's sudden turn

Not directly talking to you about this, but I'm going to pop a blood vessel if I keep seeing this online. They spent 8 seasons leading up to this point; it's felt a bit rushed in season 8, but all of the foundation is right there in the show for the events of last night. They don't have to make logical sense objectively, they have to make sense from a character's point of view, and they absolutely make sense for Dany, there's nothing sudden about this at all.

Well, I guess my opinion over this will change through time, after a rewatch and more discussions and readings online. For now I think that yes, the *foundations* were laid, but as you said it was all suddenly rushed. It's not that she didn't care for the collateral damage - she won the siege by herself (fleet gone, walls with scorpions gone), and then she deliberately destroyed all the city. She could have flown to the Red Keep, destroy only that and the city would be hers anyway. But instead, she destroyed the town on purpouse, when there was no need anymore for it. Dead people don't fear anymore, you might want to leave someone alive to fear you, even if you want to rule with fear....

She could have, but again, she had the conversation with Jon earlier, and she had already decided in her state of rage and frustration (and to some extent, humiliation) that she will not be able to rule with love, but with fear. Unfortunately it looks like she's not going to be able to rule anything, because her own fear has led to the destruction of an entire city. Her logic is this: if I can't have it, nobody will. And that's all that matters at this point to her.

Sorry MM, didn't mean to gloss over the rest of your post which is well thought out and has lots of good observations. I just really dislike this take on Dany from a lot of the community, because if anything, this should be one of the obvious story beats. Just out of curiosity, did anyone actually expect her to take the city without force? From the beginning of the show I had assumed a dragon queen would eventually conquer a foreign land with... well, with fire and blood. The events of her arc just kind of reinforced that for me.

EDIT: I'm just gonna sit myself in front of the TV again tonight and keep quiet 

[Zantera]

I mean the writing is so bad though. I don't know if sudden is the right word because it implies it came as a surprise which I think is a bit false. I'd say this whole season they've pushed Dany into becoming the villain more and more with each episode so I wasn't surprised at all, but I'd say it comes out of left field as they spent 7 seasons building her up as the good queen, who always seemed to follow the words of "im NOT my father" and "theres no point ruling if the kingdom is ashes". Personally I like the character change in theory but in execution it just comes off so rushed to me.

My heart goes out to all the young girls who rooted for Dany since season 1 who got to see their hero turn into the biggest monster in TV history in terms of civilian kills. 

[cramx3]

I think all this suddenness ties into Jorah and Missendei dying (the only people she trusted), Tyrion consistently failing and seeming to always give Cersei a second chance, and then the Jon betrayal was the icing on the cake.  It all happened so quickly for us viewers.  I think they mentioned something about Dany being locked away without seeing anyone for some time so this was brewing inside her.

[MirrorMask]

Dany's sudden turn

Not directly talking to you about this, but I'm going to pop a blood vessel if I keep seeing this online. They spent 8 seasons leading up to this point; it's felt a bit rushed in season 8, but all of the foundation is right there in the show for the events of last night. They don't have to make logical sense objectively, they have to make sense from a character's point of view, and they absolutely make sense for Dany, there's nothing sudden about this at all.

Well, I guess my opinion over this will change through time, after a rewatch and more discussions and readings online. For now I think that yes, the *foundations* were laid, but as you said it was all suddenly rushed. It's not that she didn't care for the collateral damage - she won the siege by herself (fleet gone, walls with scorpions gone), and then she deliberately destroyed all the city. She could have flown to the Red Keep, destroy only that and the city would be hers anyway. But instead, she destroyed the town on purpouse, when there was no need anymore for it. Dead people don't fear anymore, you might want to leave someone alive to fear you, even if you want to rule with fear....

She could have, but again, she had the conversation with Jon earlier, and she had already decided in her state of rage and frustration (and to some extent, humiliation) that she will not be able to rule with love, but with fear. Unfortunately it looks like she's not going to be able to rule anything, because her own fear has led to the destruction of an entire city. Her logic is this: if I can't have it, nobody will. And that's all that matters at this point to her.

Sorry MM, didn't mean to gloss over the rest of your post which is well thought out and has lots of good observations. I just really dislike this take on Dany from a lot of the community, because if anything, this should be one of the obvious story beats. Just out of curiosity, did anyone actually expect her to take the city without force? From the beginning of the show I had assumed a dragon queen would eventually conquer a foreign land with... well, with fire and blood. The events of her arc just kind of reinforced that for me.

No need to be sorry Kattelox, we're just discussing  and well, conquering a town with fire and blood is exactly what she did. Destroyed the fleet, destroyed the anti dragon walls, her army conquered the city, it was all done. All she had to do was fly to the Red Keep and destroy it but that's when she activated her "Burn them all" mode.

Also, I've seen some wildfire exploding - it could have been more interesting and tragic if she DID target only the Reed Keep, but accidentally and unbknowingly set up some wildfire aflame which would have then burnt a big portion of the city. With people turning on her because of a tragic fatality. That maybe could have been a better turning point, as in "Screw it, they were all hating me anyway, I'll really be the evil queen they think I am, no point anymore in explaining them it was an accident or try to win their love".

It's also weird how once she goes in full Targaryen mode, we never see her - just the dragon and the flames. We get bits of her during the attack, but once she decide to burn everything, we don't see her anymore. Probably a stylistic choice to de-personalize the attack and witness it from the people's point of view - just mindless destruction raining down from the sky. People during bombings didn't see either the pilots flying the planes.

My heart goes out to all the young girls who rooted for Dany since season 1 who got to see their hero turn into the biggest monster in TV history in terms of civilian kills. 

Think of all those young girls who actually are NAMED Daenerys, or even worse, Khaleesi 

"Why are you called Khaleesi?"
"I was named after the generic title of a girl in a TV show that in the end committed genocide" 

[The Walrus]

Well, she's hardly a 'good' queen. She's crucified people, made mistakes learning how to be a ruler, and up and freaking left the city she became queen of to go conquer someone else's continent under perceived entitlement to a throne and land she's barely spent any time in as an adult. Good for the slaves she liberated, the Unsullied, etc.? Sure. For Westeros? Well that's a whole other story, you see how the North reacted to her... the people of Westeros know about the Targaryens.

What's that quote Martin has about writing? That the most interesting thing is the human heart in conflict with itself? Dany was never nor is she now a villain, but she did make one grievous mistake last night...