People think ‘Game of Thrones’ season 8, episode 5 was a big metaphor for the US’s disastrous Iraq War

HBO

In episode five of season eight of "Game of Thrones," a lot of people think Daenerys Targaryen essentially turned into former President George W. Bush. Warning, spoilers ahead.
Not unlike World War II fire bombing, Daenerys destroyed an entire city and killed thousands of civilians in the name of liberating it from a tyrant.
Many people took to social media and drew parallels between US foreign policy — and particularly the US invasion of Iraq under Bush — and what Daenerys did.
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In episode five of season eight of "Game of Thrones," countless civilians were burned alive in dragon fire as the city of King’s Landing was "liberated" by Daenerys Targaryen from the tyrannical ruler Cersei Lannister.

Prior to the devastating attack, Daenerys’ advisers pleaded with her to spare civilian lives and she responded that a destructive show of force will actually be an act of "mercy" by sparing future generations from the oppression of Cersei.

Instead, Daenerys indiscriminately rained fire down upon helpless men, women, and children, even after it was clear victory was at hand. As the fleeing civilians died, they left only their charred bodies to line the streets in an ashen city.

A lot of people think the horrific genocide is a metaphor for US foreign policy, in the sense that an ostensibly benevolent and powerful leader justified the killing of thousands of innocents in the name of what she claimed was the greater good.

Many people took to social media and drew parallels between US foreign policy — and particularly the US invasion of Iraq under former President George W. Bush — and Daenerys’ unilateral attack:

Since the US launched the so-called "war on terror" following the terror attacks on September 11, 2001, over 480,000 people have been killed by direct war violence in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Pakistan — including at least 244,000 civilians, according to the Watson Institute’s Cost of War project at Brown University.

Many experts, including those behind the Costs of War project, have contended the US could’ve pursued non-military options to pursue those responsible for 9/11 and spared many lives in the process.

The US military is still present in Afghanistan and Iraq, and continues to conduct air strikes and drone strikes in many places as part of its global war on terror, among other military operations. In the fight against the Islamic State group, or ISIS, the US has killed thousands of civilians in Syria and Iraq. Recent reporting also suggests the US has killed civilians with strikes in Somalia.

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