This post contains spoilers.
We’ve reached the penultimate episode of the entire series, but it feels like all the years (and thoughts and feelings) we’ve invested in this show went up in flames along with King’s Landing Sunday night.
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PQQLFKhnLYU
Everyone is upset, to say the least. And this is after Daenerys Targaryen went ahead and did exactly what everyone wanted her to do after last week’s episode: go full Mad Queen and burn King’s Landing to the ground.
The battle between Dany and Cersei Lannister’s forces started out exhilarating enough: Dany only needed one dragon, Drogon, to lay waste to Euron Greyjoy’s Iron Fleet and all the other scorpions lining the walls of King’s Landing, not to mention the Golden Company, which Dany and Drogon decimated. This gave Jon Snow, Grey Worm, Davos Seaworth, and the remaining Dothraki and Unsullied the opening to attack the rest of Cersei’s forces, who eventually surrendered. Just take out Cersei, and then Dany is assured her victory.
But what happened next made absolutely no sense to people. As @targarcyn observed on Twitter, Dany “hears bells of surrender and for some fucking [absurd] reason starts killing innocents.”
daenerys for 7 seasons: has never harmed anyone innocent, stopped cultures of rape and violence against women, her priority was always the people
— maz (@targarcyn) May 13, 2019
daenerys season 8: hears bells of surrender and for some fucking obsurd reason starts killing innocents#GameofThrones
If you feel like you’ve been played, just imagine that’s exactly what Tyrion Lannister and Jon must be feeling after the events of that episode—especially after Dany just proved the warnings of Varys (bless his soul) and Sansa right.
After such a sad and awful episode, fans turned Dany ignoring the bells—and Jon and Tyrion realizing their mistake—into a mother load of memes.
Dany ignoring the bells memes
Dany ignoring the bells and torching King’s Landing was one of the most memed moments of Sunday night’s episode. After realizing that Dany fully intends to attack King’s Landing with Drogon, Tyrion pleaded for her to make her troops fall back once the bells toll to signal the surrender of Cersei’s forces. Dany reluctantly allowed this with a nod at Grey Worm. The bells eventually tolled, but Dany chose to ignore them, prompting fans to flood Twitter with memes of Dany “pretending” to not hear the bells.
#GameofThrones
— ammarsbarb (@ammarshake) May 13, 2019
the bell: rings
daenerys: pic.twitter.com/JQMGVVzD3n
#GameofThrones
— Vi (@vilhxn) May 13, 2019
*bell of surrender rings*
daenerys: pic.twitter.com/BFgKcFa3UB
https://twitter.com/PoonSinghatiraj/status/1127763151183724545
https://twitter.com/tonya_burge/status/1127755664531623937
It was a big enough moment to warrant ubiquitous SpongeBob memes to make the same point.
Dany when she heard the surrender bells ring #gameofthrones pic.twitter.com/GKqtHfl4wA
— JQ (@JonnyMudimu) May 13, 2019
https://twitter.com/HamzaYunusIslam/status/1127765156480598016
Dany after the bell rang #GameofThrones pic.twitter.com/pIPJURkzoO
— philip lewis (@Phil_Lewis_) May 13, 2019
To many fans, Dany may as well have been wearing noise-canceling headphones for all the attention she paid those bells.
https://twitter.com/stormbornjedi/status/1127762968270311424
Dany hearing the bells ring #GameofThrones #DemThrones pic.twitter.com/3n5tqZcwEb
— X. (@Xonward98) May 13, 2019
Dany when the bells started tolling #DemThrones #GameofThrones pic.twitter.com/BmAIzMJsQZ
— stinktree (@stink_tree) May 13, 2019
Or were they AirPods?
Dany the bells rang! They surrendered!
— ohgustie (@ohgustie) May 13, 2019
OH MY GODS SHE HAS HER AIRPODS IN! SHE CAN’T HEAR US! #gameofthrones pic.twitter.com/zUS2c6r8md
https://twitter.com/TanviSh59050766/status/1127818931270369281
https://twitter.com/TbhImJustCris/status/1127765554465525760
https://twitter.com/Fardeen_02/status/1127802727361171457
The Michael Jordan “Fuck them kids” meme that has been making the rounds all season reared its head in the midst of all the reactions to Dany ignoring the bells.
https://twitter.com/MrBlogger_1/status/1127770759928193024
https://twitter.com/Ejoke21/status/1127761381866913792
And so did Dany’s passive-aggressive smile from this season’s second episode.
https://twitter.com/tianamarcus_/status/1127755598953689094
https://twitter.com/HeapBrittany/status/1127768752794345473
@yourealobster thinks Dany might as well be saying “The bell doesn’t dismiss you. I do,” in true Mad Queen fashion.
https://twitter.com/yourealobster/status/1127773774575808512
#GameOfThrones
— Satan (@PillarMan_J) May 13, 2019
*Bells Ring*
Daenerys : “You hear that Tyrion? It’s Dangalang time” pic.twitter.com/49cvXl7x2N
Some fans, like @Ibrahimozcelikk, “fully support the madness.”
https://twitter.com/Ibrahimozcelikk/status/1127768699274969088
There are people who are proud of what she did.
https://twitter.com/GianNarisma/status/1127764676907900934
Jon and Tyrion’s regret memes
Frustrated Tyrion probably feels like he’s “a joke” to Dany after she ignored the bells and attacked, according to fans.
#GameofThrones
— andrea (@andredestarac) May 13, 2019
Tyrion: Call off the attack if the bells ring
Bells: ring
Daenerys: attacks
Tyrion: pic.twitter.com/miGgGdnn4Z
Tyrion: When the bell rings, call back your men
— David Elder | Elder Eats (@eldereats) May 13, 2019
Daenerys: #GameOfThrones pic.twitter.com/rxbPuI4Mxx
Many think Tyrion and Jon should have seen it coming; and for their appalled reactions to what Dany ended up doing, they were mercilessly meme’d on Twitter, too.
https://twitter.com/TimurTargaryen/status/1127805164365189120
tyrion, jon, and ser davos when they realized daenerys really is the mad queen#gameofthrones pic.twitter.com/UJbMXVex9o
— cass (@winterhurtsjw) May 13, 2019
Dany: *ignores bells*
— Christian Amici (@ChristianAmici7) May 13, 2019
Jon, Davos and Tyrion: #GameOfThrones pic.twitter.com/FkVk1A9jqz
jon, ser davos, and tyrion when dany ignored the bell and burned them all #gameofthrones pic.twitter.com/LiG8qanssK
— sarah (@sarahcloud_) May 13, 2019
Fans think Jon may have realized too late the huge mistake he made in bending the knee to Dany.
Jon: SHE IS MY QUE-
— Marium✨ (@elvenyukhei) May 13, 2019
Jon as soon as he sees the fire:#GameofThrones pic.twitter.com/2iF9Q10Vuw
Jon at the start of the episode: you’ll always be my queen
— Almaz (@almaz_tan) May 13, 2019
Jon at the end of the episode:#GameofThrones pic.twitter.com/BjE1RNYUlp
Jon when Dany starts burning everyone #GameofThrones pic.twitter.com/uXGAhRDcrr
— Conor (@Conor31667286) May 13, 2019
https://twitter.com/6itchass/status/1127777330687041541
https://twitter.com/makeupxpaol/status/1127767551856062464
People are posting about just how wild the next episode will be when Jon and Dany meet after this madness.
https://twitter.com/MuswenteBanda/status/1127782331329204224
But fans believe if there’s anyone who can say “I told you so,” it’s Sansa, Arya, and Varys, who have warned Jon and Tyrion about the Mad Queen this whole time.
https://twitter.com/Dpreetybarbie/status/1127755493366218752
https://twitter.com/connor_254/status/1127773243669139456
Jon and Tyrion whenever Sansa, Arya and Varys said anything about Dany#gameofthrones pic.twitter.com/epjpDSE9jG
— amira🧝🏾♀️ (@e_amiracle) May 13, 2019
https://twitter.com/MalissaTormey/status/1127776972296396800
https://twitter.com/IronThroneMemes/status/1127765753006919681
Sansa, arya, varys and almost everyone else: she’s crazy
— Emma (@GodDermitOLeary) May 13, 2019
Jon and tyrion: nah she alright
Jon and Tyrion in Episode 5:#GameofThrones pic.twitter.com/HRd82SxjwI
#GameOfThrones
— Hijra (@Hijra93) May 13, 2019
Sansa: Daenerys is crazy.
Arya: Daenerys is crazy.
Varys: Daenerys is crazy.
Jon & Tyrion: she is not. You don’t know her.
Daenerys: burns thousands of innocent people.
Jon & Tyrion: pic.twitter.com/VTsm7Qrg3t
Jon to Sansa when (if) he makes it back to Winterfell #GameofThrones #DemThrones pic.twitter.com/epebDkuDBU
— cybergrace (@graceekat_) May 13, 2019
With only one episode left in a series that has always been foreshadowed to be as mad as Dany, are we even surprised that this is how audiences and superfans have been played? We’ve been warned this whole time.
READ MORE:
- Why Westeros needs a president, not kings and queens
- Dany vs. Cersei: How their armies stack up
- ‘Game of Thrones’ just did its women dirty
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