Game of Thrones: How a Cut Daenerys Scene Could've Made Jon Snow's Story SO Much Better!
Game of Thrones' Daenerys Changes: A Ripple Effect on Jon Snow's Story
Game of Thrones made some seriously controversial changes to Daenerys Targaryen's story; this impacts even Jon Snow. They changed everything from her looks (she has purple eyes in the books!) to cutting whole storylines and side characters. This created what many people considered to be a rushed (and totally divisive) ending for Daenerys.
One of the biggest changes was that awesome sequence of Daenerys's visions in the House of the Undying (in A Clash of Kings and season 2 of the show). It showed various connections to the Prince That Was Promised prophecy, foreshadowing that impacted her entire journey and her eventual ending and downfall! The change in storyline, that reduced vision sequence—it didn't just hurt Daenerys—it also damaged Jon Snow's storyline!
The House of the Undying: What Game of Thrones Left Out (and Why)
The House of the Undying visions happen in Game of Thrones season 2's finale, “Valar Morghulis”. Daenerys sees a snow-covered throne room (it was ash in the final season), walks through the Wall, and reunites with Khal Drogo and Rhaego. This was good but only showed some of her experience. The book version has over a dozen vastly different and significantly important visions!
David Benioff (co-showrunner) explained why this happened in an interview with Dartmouth Alumni Magazine (2017). He mentions why such deep story elements aren't really easily portrayed through the visual medium:
"It’s something that we told George a long time ago: For this to work, we have to make choices that are sometimes going to deviate from your intentions. Then there are a lot of things that work in prose that just wouldn’t work on screen, and part of that is just the nature of the beast. In George’s books so much of the story takes place in the characters’ minds. That’s one of the weaknesses of television compared to fiction - what people are thinking cannot be conveyed as easily, other by than having long voiceover monologues, which are boring."
It's understandable why some changes happened—too much detail could overwhelm audiences; thus removing these highly complex ideas would prevent viewers from comprehending them; further causing negative consequences which would have resulted in an undesirable audience experience; leaving many people lost and not understanding any point within those more complex sequences. The ambiguity within Daenerys’s vision might just have created even greater mysteries.
How Daenerys’s Visions Could’ve Made Jon Snow's Story Even BETTER
Keeping more Daenerys’s visions could've hugely improved how the R+L=J reveal played out, the ultimate reveal of Jon being Rhaegar Targaryen and Lyanna Stark's son! On a fundamental level: It would add credence; those initial hints— something that the show really lacked in the early seasons!
That huge reveal greatly impacted Jon’s entire identity—yet was anticlimactic because Jon learned this late, near the show's very end! And it didn’t help that Jon’s importance got downplayed— a massive plot complaint that hurt season 8! Showing his possible destiny—he and Daenerys were the strongest candidates for that Prince That Was Promised prophecy, further impacted the entire storyline. These specific details could've had profound meanings, showing some deep and lasting thematic impacts through visual depictions!
Connecting Daenerys' Visions to Jon and Daenerys' Relationship
Those omitted Daenerys’s visions, those crucial aspects of betrayal and that all-important “cloth dragon”, could greatly alter that very ending by creating various points of connectivity. Had that storyline been preserved, this would have hugely helped to justify how Daenerys felt towards that crucial reveal, adding much more credibility and weight.
Jon killing Daenerys gets better. Her vision hints about betrayals and mentions that loss due to love might just impact one character’s behavior! Linking this into a crucial conversation between Jon and Tyrion: This idea demonstrates an incredibly subtle storytelling tactic; connecting multiple plot elements which emphasize that difficult decision; to protect family (and Dany) through such brutal sacrifice. Even seemingly smaller, easily omitted details could generate such dramatic impact; perfectly enhancing this already complicated, emotional conflict!
The Aegon Mystery: A Simple Solution Through Daenerys’s Visions
A really important and oft-cited complaint around Jon's reveal: That “Aegon” name remains completely ambiguous! That omitted information and missing context never explains that very specific name, which the writers of Game of Thrones simply did not properly explain, and could've been readily achieved by including details from Daenerys's visions and using it for greater impact. It suggests Rhaegar's belief that Aegon was essential for the Prince That Was Promised prophecy. Small changes and re-adjustments of these seemingly small details could add greatly toward providing that sense of creative completeness.
Conclusion: Game of Thrones Missed a Chance for Greater Depth
Game of Thrones had moments of undeniable brilliance— and several disastrous changes also existed. The many changes made to Daenerys's story arc deeply impacted not only her storyline itself; but it created rippling effects that had a profound influence across Jon Snow's plot, changing how satisfying some events were and also leading to those controversial moments. Those cut visions are proof that some smaller moments can make huge narrative shifts and produce an overall richer experience. This illustrates once again just how some changes only generate more negativity!
