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Daenerys Targaryen Hates Bells & She's Making Sure King's Landing Knows It

by Megan Walsh

On the fifth episode of Game of Thrones Season 8, Daenerys Targaryen decided to take King's Landing no matter the cost. She burned the city nearly to the ground while allowing her soldiers to kill everyone who crossed their paths. And these memes about Daenerys burning King's Landing on Game of Thrones prove that viewers had conflicted feelings about it.

Tyrion did his best to broker peace between the Mother of Dragons and his sister. He made Dany promise not to continue with the battle if the bells of surrender were sounded; the Lannister forces did call for the bells to be rung, but the sound of them just seemed to set Dany off. Instead of pulling back, she charged forward with her dragon and her army in tow. While she had Drogon spew flames in every direction, the Unsullied and the Dothraki killed soldiers and civilians alike. Mid-way through, Jon suddenly realized all of this was Not A Great Idea, but by then the damage was done.

It was a shocking (and some might say...out of character) turn for the story to take, and the fan reactions reflected that. These tweets and memes are where viewers get to express how they really felt — with a little humor to lighten the mood.

Some members of the audience pointed out that if everyone had just listened to Sansa — who wanted to give the Northern forces time to regroup and rest after the Battle of Winterfell — this whole tragedy might have been avoided. If Dany hadn't set off for King's Landing right away, then Rhaegal and Missandei would both be alive right now. But does the Mad Queen regret her actions? Footage not found.

Elsewhere, Dany fans were experiencing their own moments of remorse. If you loved the Khaleesi so much that you chose to name your own child after her (and according to TV Guide, 163 baby girls were given the name Daenerys in 2018), then you might be second guessing that choice after Episode 5. Before this, it was all great outfits and dragons and promises to liberate the people. Afterwards, well... It was not that.

Still more fans were ringing their own shame bells via gif (but shh, don't let Dany hear them!) over the direction the show chose to take. The sharp character turns felt out of left field for many, without much time for them to develop naturally. And that resulted in many viewers feeling disappointed. Dany's decision to burn King's Landing set off a chain reaction that affected every other character in the episode — and altered how fans felt about the show as a whole.

If you thought the Battle of Winterfell was a confusing melee, then the siege of King's Landing did you one better. No character was left unscathed, living or dead, which means a pretty bleak stage has been set for next week's finale. From the looks of Twitter, it would take a lot for fans to be satisfied with how the show concludes after this.