Daenerys was around the same age as Rhaenyra in the first five episodes of hotd when she conquered Essos, birthed dragons and freed slaves. She was a ruling queen, the last targaryen, the only thing truly holding the world she was trying to build together — all at age sixteen. Rhaenyra says to Luke “I wasn’t ready to be heir”, she tells Viserys “I thought I wanted it. But the weight is heavy. It’s too heavy”. Rhaenyra is a strong woman, she would be fit to rule, what I’m getting at is that I think it’s really under-appreciated that Daenerys was doing all that, young as she was. It’s not a special Targaryen characteristic, being queen at seventeen. Most Targaryens were crowned at an older age, at least eighteen. But Daenerys has no choice. She is the heir of House Targaryen itself, she is the only dragonrider in the world, she is city sacker, the breaker of chains, she was wed to a khal, the point is — there is a reason why Tyrion calls her “Aegon The Conqueror with teats”. She is great, great and glorious at an age during which many other Targaryens were, well, teenagers. They fucked up, they were given power, and quite often they brought ruin with it. Not Daenerys. The weight is hard, and there is no one to defend her, but if she looks back, she is lost.