It makes much more sense to me for Bran to act as a "god" — in practicality, a resurgence of the Old Gods worship — than be a king. Westerosi society would only be so accepting of his supernatural powers, and are only so controllable. Putting Bran on a literal throne seems wildly dangerous and untenable if his goal is influence, especially since he can't produce heirs, and body snatching if discovered would see him deposed very quickly. (Plus, the whole thematic element of mind-raping Hodor being a
reprehensible crime against humanity.)
Using mirri was the initial example isn't really a great starting point. In general, it's applying modern real world principles to these situations. Burning alive the lady who killed the leader of your group, killing the guy who tried betrayed you and tried to steal what you had. Ned would have had each of their heads just the same. As mentioned before, the show always gave me the impression that she was ultimately better overall and continually learning and becoming better in spite of any Targaryen inclinations. I'm not saying anyone is objectively wrong however they interpreted it as that's going to vary, but i felt it was poorly done and too drastic a turn.
Right? From Daenerys' perspective, MMD literally killed her husband and child. Her cause may have been for the Greater Good, but it was a suicide run from the beginning. Execution was the logical endstate, whether by Daenerys (whose sanctioning saved her life to begin with) or Drogo's khalasar.
I think one of the most confusing plot motivation aspects of the season (and something that will be far more interesting to watch develop in the books) is Dany's face-value acceptance of Jon telling her what is essentially an InfoWars conspiracy theory that he is actually the rightful heir to the throne. Jon tells her some absurd story about how his aunt is actually his mom and she banged Rhaegar Targaryen and they had a baby and Ned Stark hid the baby by pretending it was his own and actually that baby is Jon and he knows all this because his weirdo brother saw it in a vision.
If I were Dany I'd just be like:
"To be clear, you have no proof that any of this happened?"
"Bran told me--"
"You have no proof that any of this happened?"
"Just Bran's word, your grace."
"I'm sure you trust your brother very much, Jon. I care for you and respect your family. However, it's clear that several members of your family are now actively plotting against me and trying to usurp my throne."
"I don't want it, your grace."
"I know you don't. So please tell your brother and sister to stop plotting treason against me and we can all go home happy."
Then if Sansa and Bran keep running their mouths, execute them as traitors and put someone else in charge.
Ironically, the fact that Dany is not a psychotic murderer is why she chose instead to go with the half-measure of letting Jon walk around spilling his guts to every random person and allowing the Starks to continue spreading treasonous conspiracy theories.
This is going to be so much more compelling in the books, too, because Young Griff exists, and Daenerys is going to have to contend with that arrogant golden boy pretender before even meeting Jon Snow. She'll already have ample reason to side eye Jon's heritage after being the Slayer of Lies to the mummer's dragon.
Young Griff is so, so important to the plot. God, how did they omit him. (I desperately hope I'm wrong about Arianne perishing with him in King's Landing. Arianne is one of my favorite PoVs, and Doran doesn't deserve more grief.)
