Dany’s So-Called Madness Does Not Excuse Her Actions

Published May 13, 2019 · Updated July 6, 2022

Shat Hosts,

Much has been made of Dany’s “Targaryen Madness” and how she is now the Mad Queen rising. That’s all well and good, but let’s get one thing straight – Dany’s madness does not excuse her actions in slaughtering millions of innocent lives in King’s Landing because whatever her madness is, it did not unmoor her from reality.

An obvious way to analyze this, at least for me, is through the classic “insanity defense” in a criminal trial. (NOTE: This defense has different nuances state-to-state, but I’m speaking broadly here). The most commonly applied rule for the insanity defense is the M’Naghten (pronounced Mc Not Tin) Rule, which is the law in over half of the States in the US and in the UK. The M’Naghten Rule holds that a person’s criminal conduct is excused by reason of insanity if, at the time of committing the act, the person was “laboring under such a defect of reason, from disease of the mind, as not to know the nature and quality of the act she was doing or, if she did know it, that she did not know what she was doing was wrong.” In short, the insanity defense applies if you are so crazy that you do not know what you’re doing or you do know what you’re doing, but you don’t know it’s wrong. Keep in mind, someone can be mentally ill and commit a crime largely because of their mental illness, yet not be deemed insane and, thus, still be guilty of the crime.

So let’s look at Dany. Was she so mad that she did not know the nature of quality of the act she was doing? Did she not realize that she was bruning civilians and non-combatants alive with dragon fire? Of course she did. She knew full well. An insane person might, for example, be under the delusion that the citizens of King’s Landing were giant spiders and burning the city was necessary to save the realm. An insane person might also think that death by dragon fire makes people “ascend” into a paradise realm and so, by killing them, the dragon fire is actually saving them. These are examples of the state of mind needed for the insanity defense to apply. Dany was fully aware, notwithstanding “Targaryen madness”, that she was burning human beings to death by the thousands.

Ok, what about the other half of the test? Was Dany so mad that she knew she was burning people alive, but did not know what she was doing was wrong? Of course not! We see Dany resist her impulse to burn the city for a moment as she’s sitting on Drogon. That hesitation wouldn’t have been there at all if she didn’t harbor some moral qualms about burning the city. If Dany though, for example, that R’hlor or the Seven asked her to burn the city, the insanity defense would have applied; people who hear voices compelling them to commit murder likely know that they’re muring people, but because of their insanity, did not think the murder was wrong. But this isn’t what happened. Dany’s justification – burn it all down to start over and save future generations – is crazy to be sure! But it isn’t insane in a way that would excuse Dany’s actions.

Bottom Line: I’m sure we’re going to hear all kinds of talk about the Mad Queen – just remember, her’s is not the kind of madness that should compel you to give her a pass for what she’s done. Dany Targaryen is an evil war criminal deserving of the abject hatred of Westeros.

Mass-murder inflicted? We’ll get her convicted! Appoint Listwak & Listwak Fantasy Lawyers as special counsel to prosecute Dany Targaryen.

Ken L.

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