In S06E09, Daenerys tells Yara that Balon Greyjoy was a terrible king. Yara responds that that’s what Daenerys and herself have in common (both of their fathers were cruel). Daenerys then says that both have been murdered by a usurper. But Aerys II was killed by Ser Jaime Lannister - How is Jaime a usurper?
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9You can say that Robert murdered Aerys II via Jaime, since the rebellion had the assumed result in the death of Aerys. Which is what I assume Daenerys meant, because otherwise her statement makes no sense.– TLPJul 18, 2016 at 14:35
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@TLP watching the scene, that was my impression as well– bartuoszJul 18, 2016 at 14:37
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2Probably the general sense that the entire rebellion was a usurpation of what she feels was her family's legitimate claim to the throne, as mentioned by the others, and also factor in that the true rumor that Jamie's incestuous children have come to sit on the Iron Throne. That makes Jamie's initiation of the Baratheon era more of a usurpation, since Lannister-only blood doesn't have much of an Iron Throne claim, yet there they are/were, at the time.– PoloHoleSetJul 18, 2016 at 14:40
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2 Answers
By "usurper" Daenerys always means Robert Baratheon. While it was Jaime who actually killed Aerys, as far as Daenerys is concerned, the ultimate responsibility for that lies with Robert.
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After Aerys' death, didn't Lord Eddard have to talk Jaime Lannister down from the Iron Throne? I can remember something about Nedd finding Jaime on the throne after the sacking of Kings Landing and the murder of Aerys. Doesn't that make Jaime an usurper as well? Even if it is for a little while– IarwainAug 17, 2016 at 7:19
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1@Iarwain, I don't think that makes Jaime a usurper. First he just sad on the throne for a bit, until Ned walked in. Second, Daenerys had know way of knowing about that episode.– DimaAug 17, 2016 at 14:13
The extended dialogue of the scene has no more information to offer on this in terms of context.
DAENERYS: Has the Iron Islands ever had a queen before?
YARA: No more than Westeros.
THEON: Our Uncle Euron returned home after a long absence. He murdered our father and took the Salt Throne from yara. He would have murdered us if we had stayed.
DAENERYS: Lord Tyrion tells me your father was a terrible king.
YARA: You and I have that in common.
DAENERYS: We do. And both murdered by a usurper as well.
Game of Thrones, Season 6 Episode 9, "The Battle of The Bastards"
However, if we use the books and Dany's POV chapters it makes it very clear that she doesn't think of Jaime as the Usurper but as Kingslayer, the same as most other people.
Yet sometimes Dany would picture the way it had been, so often had her brother told her the stories. The midnight flight to Dragonstone, moonlight shimmering on the ship's black sails. Her brother Rhaegar battling the Usurper in the bloody waters of the Trident and dying for the woman he loved. The sack of King's Landing by the ones Viserys called the Usurper's dogs, the lords Lannister and Stark. Princess Elia of Dorne pleading for mercy as Rhaegar's heir was ripped from her breast and murdered before her eyes. The polished skulls of the last dragons staring down sightlessly from the walls of the throne room while the Kingslayer opened Father's throat with a golden sword.
A Game of Thrones, Daenerys I
Again a later passage also refers to them by the same titles.
In the songs, the white knights of the Kingsguard were ever noble, valiant, and true, and yet King Aerys had been murdered by one of them, the handsome boy they now called the Kingslayer, and a second, Ser Barristan the Bold, had gone over to the Usurper.
A Game of Thrones, Daenerys IV
So when she says "both murdered by a usurper as well" she is meaning that the usurper killed her father due to his rebellion and his orders. She means it more metaphorically than physically.
answered Nov 3, 2017 at 12:20
