Game of Thrones: 10 Reasons Why Daenerys & Daario Aren’t Real Friends

Daenerys Targaryen developed complex relationships with a lot of different characters over the course of her character arc on Game of Thrones. And although he never seemed like he was meant to be a part of her larger story, her relationship with Daario Naharis was a pretty significant one.

Although Daario seemed to be infatuated with Dany and she seemed to return many of his feelings, in retrospect it doesn’t seem like the two of them were ever really friends. Here are 10 aspects of their relationship that demonstrate that their friendship wasn’t real.

10 Because Daenerys Is The Breaker Of Chains

The passion of Daenerys Targaryen’s life was to put an end to slavery across the world. And regardless of the left turn towards insane tyranny that Dany took in the end, the one thing that can be said for her from (nearly) beginning to end is that she always thought of herself as the liberator of the world.

So contrast that with Daario, a man who was born into slavery and more willing to be paid to defend slavers, and it’s easy to see the distinction.

9 Because Daenerys Has Morals

Again, a lot of what Dany has done has been extremely questionable, and she has a strong preference towards using violence to accomplish her own ends. But she thinks of herself as such an extraordinarily moral person that she almost never looks at anyone else as if they’re on her level.

She could never truly be friends with someone she didn’t respect, and she would never respect Daario because of his life choices.

8 Because Daario Is For Sale

Pretty much everyone that Daenerys surrounds herself with are people who have absolute, unyielding faith in every single thing that she does without question. They follow her because they believe in her.

And on some level Daario probably believes in her too, but the fundamental conflict between their two characters and their relationship overall is that Daario doesn’t act according to any belief or code, he simply goes wherever the money or power is.

7 Because Daenerys Doesn’t Understand Daario

Daenerys and Daario are probably intrigued by one another because they are so fundamentally different. Daenerys is fueled by her belief in destiny, whereas Daario is driven by his desire to survive and thrive in the world in any way he can. Daario was born into a system of slavery, and Dany seeks to destroy that system.

But that clash of fundamental traits is probably too far of a gap to bridge between them.

6 Because Daenerys Doesn’t Try To Understand Daario

Daenerys Targaryen has a lot of good traits, but being a good friend isn’t one of them. Frankly, she’s extremely narcissistic, and the only thing she really cares about or even knows in regards to the people around her is that they care about her more than anything else in the world.

Dany never sought to understand Daario beyond his infatuation with her and his relative loyalty to her, so they were never real friends.

5 Because They’re More Than Friends

It was pretty obvious from their first meeting that Daenerys and Daario had a pretty intense attraction towards one another, and after spending a while by each other’s sides, Dany finally gives in to that attraction.

So in that sense, they were never really friends. They were two people who wanted to be more than friends and then eventually did become more than friends.

4 Because Daenerys Never Truly Loved Him

Daenerys was certainly attracted to Daario and seemed to like him more than nearly any other man she had met at that point. But she still didn’t make him her husband. She chose to make a strategic alliance with one of the nobles of Meereen instead of legitimizing her relationship with Daario.

Daenerys is probably one of the few people in the world who is powerful enough to marry for love if she wants, so the fact that she didn’t choose Daario says a lot.

3 Because Daenerys Is His Queen

This isn’t to say that kings and queens can’t have friends, obviously they do. But like with King Robert and Ned, they could treat each other as equals because before Robert was king, they were equals.

On the other hand, someone like Dany isn’t going to really have friends, because she will always wield absolute power over those around her. If someone has their life in your hands, it’s hard to be real friends with them.

2 Because Daario Doesn’t Have Friends

It seems obvious that someone who is willing to kill someone for money isn’t really going to have sincere friends in their lives.

If gold matters more than anything else, how can a person develop real relationships with others that have meaning? Even if someone like Daario were willing to put himself out there for friendship, how could anyone ever trust him to be a loyal friend?

1 Because Daenerys Doesn’t Have Friends

One of the most dangerous aspects of Daenerys is that she values her beliefs over anything else, and one of her most fundamental beliefs about herself is that she is special.

There is no one else in the world who is as extraordinary as she is. In her mind she is the literal last dragon, and when she flies so high above everyone else in the world, how could she ever have a real friend on the ground?