Missandei’s Killing: the Death Of Diplomacy

Published May 7, 2019 · Updated July 6, 2022

Hey Guys,

I’ve been listening to you guys for years now so I decided to finally contribute to the discussion.

I’ve seen lots of talk about Missandei’s death as it affects the other characters like Daenerys and Grey Worm. But there’s something intangible about her character that I really mourn. Not because of Grey Worm or Dany, but because of who she was and what her life represented.

I can’t write a fully researched biography of her, but I always found her character extremely endearing. Kudos to Nathalie Emmanuel for her great performance.

For me, Missandei represented a kind of “purity of spirit” that is rare in this show. She has suffered under slavery and with her freedom, chose to serve her Queen with her impeccable mastery of the spoken word. She made it possible for Daenerys to effectively communicate with her own people. She dedicated her life to being a bridge between cultures.

She dared to love the unlovable. Grey Worm of the Unsullied. Nameless, faceless, mindless, child murdering killers. Taught suffering and cruelty as long as he has known himself, mutilated and inhumanly stoic. She was the birth of emotion in him. He learned why life is precious. She taught him love. And in so doing, also taught him fear. She taught him what it means to be human. She taught him the Common Tongue and we watched and listened as he improved. A reflection of her excellence as an educator.

But she, like Daenerys, doesn’t belong in Westeros. She did not like Westeros. She saw no home there. She saw the cruelty of The Masters all over again in Westeros. Westeros!, where slavery had been proudly eradicated long ago, she would be chained once again and she would die that way. All this time, she has been a pacifist. A peaceful person from a peaceful culture. She has shown her disdain for The Masters in very muted tones until now, but in her final moments, the injustice, the anger, the loss of hope, was the birth of rage in Missandei.

The only joke she knew was about a translator on a sinking ship who can shout for help in 19 languages but can’t swim to save their own life. Amidst the failure of communication to resolve conflict, she, the linguist would be the first to die. The death of diplomacy.

She defined this moment in Westerosi history. It was the moment when Missandei of Naath at the very end, finally said “No more!” and chose… violence. Her “last words” were the last word that would ever pass between these deadly adversaries: The correct High Valeryian pronunciation of Drah-KAH-ris.

RIP Missandei (S03E01-S08E04). A true professional.

Kolo Don

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