Everyone Is Asking The Same Question About Daenerys’ Future On 'Game Of Thrones'

Viserion's death was all anyone could talk about tonight. But during the quieter moment of grief, sitting with Jon Snow, Dany admitted to him why her dragons mean the world to her: She can never have children. These are the only ones she'll ever know, which is why losing one is such heartbreak. It's not like Cersei, who as we discovered last week, is starting again after losing her three children. But for those who have forgotten, let's review: Why can't Dany have kids on Game of Thrones?

Dany's been pregnant, as you might remember. She was perfectly capable of carrying Drogo's baby. She even ate the raw heart of a horse (a stallion, to be exact) in order to make sure that the baby grew up big and strong. Wise women told her that her son would straddle the world. She was totally into it, with the idea that she and Drogo would conquer Westeros and her child might one day not only rule the Great Grass Sea and parts of Essos, but all of Westeros too.

So what happened that this never came to pass? Drogo's injuries. Dany gave everything she had to try and bring Drogo back after he began to die. And with it, she lost her son, and Drogo was no better than a zombie.

The woman who did this? Mirri Maz Duur, who told Dany afterward that she was barren. In losing her son, she had wrecked her reproductive system. Dany would never carry children again.

So Dany did what any Khaleesi would do to someone so horrific. She burned Mirri Maz Duur alive. She burned her in a funeral pyre, along with Drogo's body, and the three eggs she had been given as a wedding present and herself.

As we know now, Dany can survive such things. Duur, not so much. But in giving her life, Duur gave Dany what she said she could never have: three dragon children.

But dragons can't inherit a kingdom. So though Dany might love her fire-breathing babies, she still has a huge problem: Once she has this kingdom, who is she going to pass it to?

Note Tyrion's suggestions, even if Dany wasn't ready to hear them tonight, because all of them are democratic ideas: The Kingsmoot; the voting by the Night's Watch — Tyrion is encouraging Dany to institute a democratic system once she wins.

Dany bringing democracy to Westeros. The mother of democracy. Now if that's not smashing the wheel, then I don't know what is.