Kings Landing and Hiroshima

Published May 17, 2019 · Updated July 6, 2022

Hey Guys,

I agree that there are some fascinating parallels between the use of atomic weapons on Hiroshima and Nagasaki and Dani’s use of a dragon to reduce Kings Landing to rubble. However, I think any anal analysis of these parallels is somewhat thin unless you delve into the contemporary factors that influenced the decision making by the leader in question. It sounds very strange until you think about it, but a different set of ethical factors come into play for leaders at high levels, in particular, national leaders who must consider the very existence of their nation and the lives and interest of its people.

In 2019 it is difficult to imagine sending a fleet of bombers with a weapon of unprecedented destructive power to level a city full of people, not once, but twice. Consider, however, the world that Truman (himself a WWI veteran) experienced in 1945- WW I, the Rape of Nanking, the Stalinist Purges, Jewish Pogroms, WWII, and the Holocaust. He had seen the current leaders of Japan, Germany, and the Soviet Union subjugate millions and send millions more to their deaths- and had no reason to think they would stop if they stayed in power.

The Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombs weren’t even the most destructive raid on Japan- that distinction goes to the firebombing of Tokyo in March 1945, several months before Hiroshima. Still, the Japanese would not surrender, and Truman was facing the prospect of several hundred thousand US casualties alone, not to mention Allied and Japanese civilian casualties. There are credible claims that every Purple Heart issued since WWII was actually made in anticipation of those casualty figures. https://www.stripes.com/blogs-archive/the-rumor-doctor/the-rumor-doctor-1.104348/are-purple-hearts-from-1945-still-being-awarded-1.116756#.XN7ssI7YrnE,

With regard to sending a message to the Soviets, of course it did. Do not forget that the Soviets had a pact with the Germans that lasted until they both invaded Poland in 1939 and a neutrality pact with Japan that lasted until the day we bombed Nagasaki. He knew that Stalin was a realist with a huge army poised to take over most of Europe and Asia, and only hard power would stop him. This is Realpolitik at its most fundamental level.

In other words, not only did Truman see the use of atomic weapons as necessary, but he saw it as the most humane way to stop the war.

By the same token, it is difficult to imagine using dragons to literally burn innocent citizens of a city alive, but consider what Dani experienced in the last 8 or so years. Rape, attempted assassinations, chattel slavery, the onslaught of the undead, black magic, betrayal by her closest allies, several personal losses, and of course huge set-piece battles in which thousands died. She has seen what Cersei was willing to do, and seen how cheaply she holds the lives of the people of Westeros. Her armies had suffered incredible casualties at the Battle of Winterfell, and these were the only forces that she could count on to be loyal to her and not to her boyfriend/nephew who’s sister and friends did not support her either. More importantly, she was down to one dragon, and if you think about it, only a relatively few (living) people in Westeros had actually witnessed its power.

So, is Dani crazy? Maybe a little, but if consider the factors that a world leader takes into account, it was an extreme but rational act.

yours

Mad Jack

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