(NOTE: This article contains SPOILers from episode 4 of Game of Thrones ‘ eighth season – if you didn’t see it or don’t want to know the ending, don’t keep reading) After the Battle of Winterfell, which promised to be the most spectacular of all the series and devastating for its characters, there was time to celebrate the victory and dismiss the war heroes who helped to end the threat of the White Walkers. There was also time for romance and comedy in The great Winter Hall. Without great consequences in sight for the protagonists (or not as serious as expected) the most affected by the events of the previous chapter was perhaps Daenerys, who lost almost everything His army and his most loyal defender, Jorah Mormont. The narrative of this episode is being built around the fact that everything that once made the candidate stronger to the throne is falling apart. Especially now that the truth about Jon as the rightful heir to the Targaryen in the Western customs came to light, Daenerys is in a more vulnerable position than ever. In a key scene, he literally begs him not to reveal the secret if he wants to maintain the relationship between the two, but he does not have the ingenuity of Jon Snow. The secret revealed is the shoot of conversations between the ‘ smarter ‘ characters in the series about the Daenerys ‘ ability to govern and her supposed hereditary tendency to madness. It is not the first time that it is suggested the tyranny of the Queen of Dragons and her little interest in the welfare of the people, unless it is according to their own interests.
Tyrion Lannister and Lord Varys discuss their options and loyalties as advisors
But for her it was time for which she was working for more than seven seasons and is no longer willing to wait. Demanding that the north respect his part of the bargain in the alliance they forged, Daenerys lined up to Rocadragón with her fleet of immaculate and her dragons. And that’s when the series of events that ends with the two deaths of the episode is Unleashed. The impact of Rhaegal’s death, his second dragon, loses strength because we had already seen him wounded and almost defeated in the previous episode. But it is a great blow to the already almost destroyed morality of Daenerys and her army, which end up shipwrecked on the coast of Rocadragón after the ambush of Euron Greyjoy.
Missandei and Gray worm in the last scene they share together, on the seas to Rocadragón
Averaging the end of the chapter, we learned that Cersei’s army captured alive Missandei, one of Daenerys ‘ greatest allies throughout the series. Unconditional follower of the mother of Dragons and her personal translator of her own volition, Missandei was liberated from slavery by Daenerys in her passage through Astapor and decided to join her cause, staying by her side. With the running of the seasons, Missandei went from being a mere secondary character to having his own storyline and developing a relationship with the commander of the Immaculate, gray worm. Through the conversations between them, we learned more details about the past of both and their motivations.
Missandei, Daenerys and Jorah in Astapor, after releasing the Army from the Immaculate
But the fate of Missandei in the last episode seems to lose sight of all that, to use his death as a simple plot device depending on the arch of Daenerys, whom we see gradually becoming the ‘ Mad Queen ‘ (such as his father Aerys II, who was nicknamed that way) . No doubt along with Missandei dies every opportunity of diplomacy between the armies of Daenerys and Cersei, if any. Missandei’s death as a device to justify the future actions of Daenerys and her immaculate army also has several aggravating factors, which go far beyond their simple narrative function. The character of Emmanuel Nathaniel was the only woman of color in the series, a minority that already suffers from a poor representation in the popular culture. So it is not surprising that this death has awakened the indignation of the whole community on the Internet.
The character of Missandei (interpreted by Nathalie Emmanuel) was the only woman of color of the series
But there is also a detail that makes it doubly problematic, and is that it dies in chains. The whole arch of Missandei in the series had to do with the liberation of slavery and the will to elect its fate, but it ends its passage through the series back in chains and without any possibility of choice. Even a couple of chapters ago was established that his desires were a peaceful death on the beach, just so that this moment has more effect. We know that Game of Thrones is a series that has us accustomed to unexpected and violent deaths, but it must be understood that it could have been in a way that does not have such symbolic charge and that is a feature by dissembling decision of the screenwriters. At this point, it is already a disturbing habit in film and television to sacrifice female characters so that their counterparts can develop. In this case, with the aggravation of the ethnic group, which leaves a huge audience without any representation in the largest series of the moment.
Cersei keeps Missandei in chains at the edge of the red fortress
The other big problem has to do with the final words of Missandei. When Cersei gives him the opportunity to say his last words (something uncharacteristic for his character) the message of Missandei is addressed to Daenerys. By uttering ‘ Dracarys ‘, he is basically motivating the mother of dragons to burn down the entire red Fort to avenge his death. And as was previously known in the chapter, that fortress is full of innocent citizens that the Queen is using as a human shield. As part of an oppressed people, it is unwise that the last words of Missandei are destined to encourage the massacre of another people. Clearly the writers were looking for an effect they built abruptly in this episode by remarking all the parallels between Daenerys and her father, who is said to hear voices and incinerated their own people to the cry of ‘ Burn them all ‘ (‘ burn them to all ‘).
The transformation of Daenerys (Emilia Clarke) at the end of the episode, infuriated by the death of Missandei
A very poor death for a character who represented an audience tired of seeing the same themes repeated over and over again. The status of popular Game of Thrones phenomenon does not give you the impunity to do whatever you like, on the contrary, it gives you a certain commitment to communicate responsibly to such a massive audience. Too bad, just two episodes from the end, they didn’t live up to the challenge. In this note:
