Let It Be Fear!

It’s time for my weekly Game of Thrones related blog post! As always, I want to warn you that this blog will contain spoilers if you have not seen the latest episode. Sunday’s episode, The Bells, finally brought the two queens, Daeneyrs Targaryen and Cersei Lannister, together for what everyone believed would be an epic showdown! WRONG! There was no showdown. Daeneryrs destroyed everything with Drogon, her dragon. Cersei didn’t have a chance!

Before she decided to destroy the people that she originally wanted to save, Dany had a conversation with her nephew and lover, Jon, about fear. She states, “far more people in Westeros love you more than love me. I don’t have love here. I only have fear.” Jon then reminds her that he loves her and that she will always be his queen. Dany questions if he only sees her as his queen and then kisses him. When Jon pulls away from her, she responds, “Alright then! Let it be fear”!

In that moment, she decided that she no longer wanted the love of the people, but she would earn their respect through fear. She staged an attack on the city with her soldiers and her dragon. When Cersei realized that there was no way that she could win, she surrendered. Despite the advice that her adviser gave her about stopping that attack after she heard the bells of surrender, the Dragon Queen had Drogon, her dragon, destroy them all, sending them to a fiery grave. All those who were not willing to take the risk of leaving the city were burned in the flames.

Love vs. fear is a constant struggle that we are faced with throughout life. We can think back to when we were children. Did we obey our parents out of love, or was it fear? In school, did we follow directions out of love, or fear of the consequences for refusing to follow them? As adults do we work in our chosen places of employment because we love what we do, or do we have fear of not being able to make ends meet? In relationships, do we love our significant other, or do we hang around out of fear of being alone?

Personally, I am at a place where I am not doing what I love because of fear of failing at it. I have the same feeling that I had moments before I jumped out of a plane when I went skydiving. But once I jumped, I loved it…and I didn’t fall, but instead I flew and all the fear went away! Love pushes us, while fear protects us. We can’t allow ourselves to miss out on things that we love because we are afraid. We have to take chances to leave when the fire is burning around us. Don’t let it be fear that destroys you!