content: 
  ===General===
  Emilia Clarke was relatively unknown before her role as Daenerys in ''Game of Thrones''.
  Daenerys is one of the most popular characters of the book series, together with Tyrion Lannister and Jon Snow. ''The New York Times'' called Daenerys one of Martin's "finest creations". ''Rolling Stone'' ranked her No. 1 on a list of "Top 40 ''Game of Thrones'' Characters", calling her story a "non-stop confrontation with complex ideas about sex, war, gender, race, politics and morality". Matthew Gilbert of ''The Boston Globe'' called her scenes "mesmerizing". ''Salon'''s Andrew Leonard, in his review of ''A Dance with Dragons'', called Daenerys one of the series' three strongest characters and bemoaned her lack of inclusion in ''A Feast for Crows''. The website Mashable recognized her as one of the five most popular characters on the series, while ''The Daily Beast'' referred to her as the "closest thing the series has to a protagonist".
  Emilia Clarke's acting performance, as she closed Daenerys's arc in the first episode from a frightened girl to an empowered woman, was widely praised. Gilbert said: "Clarke doesn't have a lot of emotional variety to work with as Daenerys, aside from fierce determination, and yet she is riveting." In her review for "A Golden Crown," Emily VanDerWerff of ''The A.V. Club'' commented on the difficulty of adapting such an evolution from page to screen, but concluded that "Clarke ... more than seals the deal here. IGN's Matt Fowler also praised Clarke and noted that Daenerys's choice to watch Viserys die was "powerful" and an important shift in her character. ''Time''s reviewer James Poniewozik complimented Daenerys's storyline, while other reviewers complimented Clarke's acting. Clarke's performance and the character's final scene, in "Baelor", was praised, and the final scene of the season received widespread acclaim.
  Kate Arthur of the website BuzzFeed criticized the character's story line in the television show's second season, stating that she was too "weak-seeming". However, Arthur praised the character's "purpose coupled with humanity and even some humor" during the third season, opining that Clarke was "eating the screen alive as a result". Nate Hopper of ''Esquire'' magazine, when speaking of the television series, argued that the character did not face enough conflict, characterizing her conquering of cities as "cut and dried", stating, "She needs to be emancipated from her own easy, comfortable, mundane victory."
  Daenerys's victories over ruthless male characters transformed her into a symbol of feminism. "Khaleesi," one of her many aliases, became shorthand for "a strong, empowered woman," her face was used for political protest signs, and many fans named their daughters after her. Analyzing her feminist appeal, Tanya Ghahremani of ''Bustle'' stated that she evolved from a meek girl, rising "from being an unwilling wife to the leader of a nomadic warrior group, to being the leader of said group and a whole ton of men who gladly laid down their life to serve in her army." Gaby Del Valle of ''Vox'' said that so many people see themselves in Daenerys because her story subverts the hero's journey. "Daenerys was the show's clear underdog," said Del Valle, adding that while the other women on the show began as fairly one-dimensional, "Daenerys was dynamic and her struggle was compelling." Citing an essay by Rikke Schubart, a film scholar and professor from the University of Southern Denmark, Del Valle stated Schubart explained that Daenerys "embarks on an archetypal hero's journey with a twist" because "instead of learning to humble herself, as heroes usually do, Dany has to learn to assert herself in a universe dominated by men." As a result, "she combines emotions and elements that are stereotypically gendered male and female (male pride, a male dragonslayer, a damsel in distress) and then claims agency for herself and others."