Previous
Chapter 35: Eddard
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in A Game of Thrones, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Politics and Power
Climate Change and Collective Action
Gender and Power
Honor and Integrity
Identity
Summary
Analysis
Daenerys talks with Jorah as they travel to Vaes Dothrak, the largest Dothraki city. The Dothraki people continue to ridicule Viserys, especially after Daenerys commanded him to walk back to camp days before. Daenerys asks Jorah if Viserys would be able to retake the crown if he commanded Khal Drogo’s army of 40,000 soldiers. Jorah says no, but maybe someone else with those soldiers could. He also says that Viserys misunderstands the deal he struck with Khal Drogo. In Viserys’s mind, he traded Dany for an army. In Khal Drogo’s mind, the marriage to Dany was a gift from Viserys. One day, Khal Drogo will repay that gift, but it’s up to him when and how he’ll do it.
Viserys is again portrayed as an incompetent and ineffectual leader. His incompetence is juxtaposed with the authority of Khal Drogo (who commands a massive army) and also with Daenerys’s leadership qualities. When Jorah says that someone with Drogo’s army could retake the throne, he seems to imply that perhaps Daenerys, in place of Viserys, might be that kind of person. However, the strictures of patriarchy seem to bar Daenerys from accruing that kind of power.
Themes
Vaes Dothrak is the largest city Dany has ever seen, but it’s different from other cities she’s been to. It sprawls in all directions, and there’s a lack of towering buildings like in Pentos. In the city, Dany invites Viserys to eat with him, but Viserys mistakes the invitation for an order, which makes him angry. Dany also tries to give him a gift of Dothraki clothes, which she thinks will help him fit in and face less derision, but Viserys thinks the clothes are beneath him. Viserys disparages Dany before leaving, and Dany asks a servant to bring her a dragon’s egg, which she uses to comfort herself.
Viserys is so insecure in his power and in himself—and so committed to upholding the patriarchal power structures that have thus far benefitted him—that he lashes out against Daenerys when he believes that her dinner invitation is a command. Viserys also shows an unwillingness to adapt to his situation, stubbornly refusing to wear clothes that would make him less conspicuous. Daenerys, on the other hand, seems to have much more successfully adapted to her new life.
Themes
