The biggest secret in Game of Thrones is out. In the Season 8 premiere, Jon Snow's best friend, Samwell Tarly, told the former King in the North who he really is – not a bastard, but Aegon Targaryen, sixth of his name and the true heir to the Iron Throne.

But should that matter?

To Samwell Tarly, the answer in Sunday night's episode was yes. Sam (who'd just learned that Dany had his father and brother killed for refusing to bend the knee) reminded Jon that he gave up his crown for his people, and then asked if Dany would do the same. It's worth noting that when Jon, who never expected power in his life, bent the knee, he did so only after getting to know Dany and after she saved the men who went on the mission to capture the wight.

Since Dany's arrival, things have been frosty up in Winterfell. The people up North offered a polite, but somewhat cold reception to Dany's Unsullied and Dothraki. But this is a queen who has won people's love, loyalty and respect, and thousands of them traveled with her to the Stark's ancestral home.

With the show seemingly prompting us to again consider the question of who deserves the Throne – an heir, a formerly exiled princess who became a khaleesi and then a queen, a queen who took the throne after her children died, or someone else – let's look back at Dany's ruling resume (we'll be looking into Jon's too, in the days ahead; Plus, check out this piece on why Sansa should rule Westeros). Cc: Samwell Tarly and the Northerners

Season 1: Mother of Dragons

Daenerys Targaryen's (Emilia Clarke) epic evolution began in Season 1, when she went from a scared young noble of a dethroned family (who was sold off into marriage to Khal Drogo by her sniveling brother, Viserys Targaryen) to the Mother of Dragons in 10 episodes. But Dany's very first power move came after she began to settle into Dothraki life in the third episode -- "Lord Snow." While riding with the horde, she asked Ser Jorah Mormont (Iain Glen) about how the Dothraki dealt with their slaves (people she would eventually become passionate about freeing). Watching violence against one of them was too much for her so she told Jorah to make the horde stop – until she told them otherwise. "You're learning to talk like a queen," Jorah responded. "Not a queen – a khaleesi," she replied.

Viserys (Harry Lloyd) was livid over Dany's decision and attacked her, but Rakharo (Elyes Gabel) pulled him back after getting his whip around the dragon's throat. Dany ordered Rakharo to let her brother go (the second time she truly asserted her power), but an episode later, Viserys was abusive again and she herself gave her brother a final warning. "The next time you raise a hand to me will be the last time you have hands," Dany (who was pregnant at the time) told him. He didn't heed the real dragon. After he threatened her unborn child, Dany stood and watched -- with little emotion -- as Drogo gave Viserys death via "A Golden Crown." Looking back, this was the moment when Dany first revealed what a fierce a mother she was to become.

At the end of the season, Dany acted in desperation as Drogo was dying. She went against the Dothrakis' strongly-held beliefs about witchcraft and asked a woman the khalasar had captured (though Dany believed she had "saved" her) -- sorceress Mirri Maz Duur (Mia Soteriou) -- to save Drogo using blood magic. Dany lost her baby in the process (only life can pay for death, Mirri said), and Drogo was left in a catatonic state. The khaleesi railed against Mirri for not telling her ahead of time how it would all work out. Mirri was unapologetic, telling Dany that she'd been sexually assaulted, watched her friends die and her gods' house burn down at the hands of the Dothraki before Dany stepped in to "save" her.

Later that same night, outside of Drogo's funeral pyre, Dany asked those who still remained to stay as part of her khalasar. Mirri smirked as some walked away, and Dany dispensed justice (or vengeance) – by ordering Jorah to bind Mirri to Drogo's pyre, where the witch was burned alive.

Of course, Dany -- who also went into the pyre -- came out unscathed and grew in power as she emerged cradling something the world hadn't seen in hundreds of years: dragons.

Season 2: The Khaleesi

Dany and her micro-khalasar were living lean at the start of Season 2, wandering the wasteland to find food, water and some form of civilization. Eventually, they found respite in Qarth thanks to Xaro Xhoan Daxos (Nonso Anozie) who vouched for her and the Dothraki to The Thirteen. Inside the city's walls though, he betrayed her (her handmaiden Irri and many in her khalasar were murdered), while his accomplice, Pyat Pree (Ian Hanmore), stole her dragons and put them in the House of the Undying. Dany made a courageous decision in the Season 2 finale, "Valar Morghulis," to venture into the circular tower alone and got her dragon babies back. Having recently taught them "Dracarys!" she used the command to get them to torch Pyat on her way out. As for Xaro and her betraying handmaiden Doreah (Roxanne McKee), Dany locked them in his Valyrian stone vault to die in darkness. Again, depending on your point of view, these are either actions of vengeance or justice – or perhaps both.

Season 3: Fighting for the People

In Season 3, Dany’s heroism seems a little clearer than in the past. She pulled a switcheroo on slave master Krazyns mo Nakloz (Dan Hildebrand) in Season 3, pretending to trade Drogon for the Unsullied army. After giving Krazyns Drogon's leash, she instructed her new army to kill the masters and free the slaves. Then, she used her dragon as a weapon again, ordering Drogon to torch the master. She gave the Unsullied their freedom, then asked if they would stay and fight for her as free men. They agreed.

Later on in the season, Daario Naharis (Ed Skrein), Jorah and Grey Worm (Jacob Anderson) infiltrated the city of Yunkai to help free the slaves. Missandei (Nathalie Emmanuel) spoke to the crowd that poured out of the gate, telling the men and women they owed their freedom to Dany, but the queen corrected her handmaiden noting their freedom wasn't hers to give. If they wanted it back, they needed to take it for themselves. The episode ended with Yunkai's former slaves crowd surfing Dany and calling her "Mhysa" (mother).

Season 4: Breaker of Chains

After Daario Naharis (Michiel Huisman) cut down Meereen's champion in an epic duel outside of that city's gates in Season 4's "Breaker of Chains," Dany pulled a power move with the power of suggestion. She spoke to the slaves of the city, telling them she wasn't their enemy – the masters beside them were. Then, she had her army shoot barrels filled with broken slave collars at the walls, cleverly planting seeds of dissent.

Although she freed the Meereenese, Dany found herself on unsteady footing after answering "justice with justice" in "Oathkeeper." As punishment for the masters crucifying children and putting them up on the mile markers leading toward the city, Dany demanded they receive the same treatment in a brutal display of justice. Two episodes later, Hizdahr Zo Loraq (Joel Fry) informed her that she had crucified his father – who had argued against the masters doing that to the children in the first place. Whoops.

In "First of His Name," Dany faced another major decision. The time was right to sail to Westeros. Joffrey was dead and Daario had found a fleet of ships. Jorah, though, let his khaleesi know that the masters in Yunkai had re-enslaved the people, and the council she'd left to rule in Astapor had been overthrown. “How can I rule the Seven Kingdoms if I can't hold Slaver's Bay?” Dany asked. Her first impulse was to order Daario and the Second Sons to kill all the masters and take Yunkai back, but perhaps she had learned from her last impulsive error, and instead listened to Jorah who pointed out that if Ned Stark (Sean Bean) hadn't shown him mercy when he sold men into slavery many years ago, he wouldn't be at her side. So, Dany decided to have Daario bring Hizdahr to Yunkai to share her offer – the masters could live in her new world or die in the old one.

Dany also learned how to make a tough personal call in that season’s episode "The Mountain and The Viper." After Ser Barristan Selmy (Ian McElhinney) revealed Ser Jorah's betrayal, Dany granted her once-loyal companion mercy, but banished him from her sight. And by the end of the season she lost even more. She was forced to lock up two of her dragon children -- Viserion and Rhaegal -- after she learned her dragons killed a human child.

Season 5: Different Types of Justice

In an attempt to temper Dany’s impulses once again, Ser Barristan shared a tale with the Khaleesi about serving her father, The Mad King, one that finally made her heed his advice (he'd previously suggested not crucifying the masters). As such, in "The House of Black and White" episode, Dany decreed that the Son of the Harpy who Daario and Grey Worm had captured would not be executed, but instead put on trial. Mossador (Reece Noi) though, had his own plans and killed the prisoner. In a tricky situation, Dany sentenced Mossador to death for circumventing the Queen's justice, where he was killed in front of the crowd that hissed at her and tossed rocks.

The Sons of the Harpy continued to plague Meereen after that, killing Ser Barristan and leaving Grey Worm severely injured. After rounding up the leaders of the city's great families, Dany fed one of them to her dragons and imprisoned the others. Later, though, she realized perhaps she needed to take a different approach than “Dragons First.” She agreed to open the fighting pits – with free men only – and suggested she would marry Hizdahr (to forge a bond with the Meereenese people). It's worth noting that in this episode, Samwell Tarly told another Targaryen – Maester Aemon – that Dany sounded like "quite a woman" when he read a scroll indicating she refused to leave Slaver's Bay until the slaves' freedom was secured, suggesting that at the time, her actions were generally approved of.

Season 6: Political Strategies with Firepower

Season 5 ended with Dany being captured by a Dothraki horde, who took her to Vaes Dothrak. Though she could have fled when Jorah and Daario snuck into the city to rescue her, instead, she used her fire powers to take down all of the abusive khals. They died in the blaze, and she emerged unscathed and with the loyalty of all of the Dothraki (as Jorah once told her, the Dothraki would follow her when she showed strength – this likely was an important and formative influence on leadership style).

Elsewhere, the masters from Meereen were still proving troublesome by the time the "Battle of the Bastards" episode rolled around, and Dany's plan was to destroy them and burn their cities "to the ground." She listened to Tyrion's advice and instead, they hatched a plan together. Dany, Drogon, Viserion and Rhaegal torched many of the masters' ships, Daario and the Dothraki defeated the Sons of the Harpy, and Grey Worm and Tyrion killed two of the three masters and sent the other one home to share a warning – don't revolt again or try to bring back slavery.

As she prepared for her next move at the end of the season – the voyage to Westeros -- Dany made an alliance with Yara and Theon Greyjoy (by giving the Iron Islands independence) and made them pledge to give up reaving, roving, raiding and raping. She also dumped Daario, something Tyrion praised as the type of self-sacrifice that "makes for a great ruler."

Season 7: Dragons and More Dragons

After Tyrion unveiled his Westeros battle strategy, Lady Olenna Tyrell told Dany to "be a dragon," and do what she wanted. In this case though, Dany followed Tyrion's advice, but they were outsmarted by Jaime Lannister, who took the bulk of the army to Highgarden instead of defending Casterly Rock, which made Dany furious. Jon, who was in Dragonstone at the time, suggested that if she took her dragons and Dothraki into the fray, she'd be more of the same (to the people of Westeros). She ignored him and instead defaulted to her old Dragon Justice, wiping out soldiers in "The Spoils of War" (a.k.a. "The Loot Train" sequence). Jaime nearly died, and Drogon was injured after Bronn used The Scorpion to hit one of Dany’s scaled babies with a spear.

One episode later – perhaps bolstered by her Dragon-riding successes -- Dany also ignored Tyrion's suggestion to spare Samwell's father, Randyll, and his brother, Dickon when they refused to bend the knee, instead sending them to the Night's Watch. But Dany had Drogon kill them.

And yet, in "Beyond the Wall,” Dany answered the call of Jon (who had not yet bent the knee), and flew her dragons north to save Ser Jorah, Tormund (Kristofer Hivju), Beric Dondarrion (Richard Dormer) and The Hound (Rory McCann), though sadly she lost Viserion in the battle. After reuniting with Jon Snow (and seeing his scars), she promised they would defeat the Night King together, and he pledged his fealty to her. Later, she also said she regretted not listening to his advice. And of course, the Night King ended up turning Viserion into a dragon wight who destroyed the Wall which allowed the Army of the Dead to march south.

Conclusions

What have we learned about Dany from looking back at her biggest power moves? Like all leaders, she's faced ups and downs and learned along the way. She's acted in haste and in anger, but managed to find a savvy group of Westerosi to surround herself with and to give her counsel. One constant from her reign has been her fight to eradicate slavery. She turned down the perfect timing to go to Westeros in order to re-liberate Yunkai and Astapor after they were retaken by the slave masters. To address Samwell's question to Jon Snow in the Season 8 premiere, “Winterfell,” it seems unlikely Dany would give up her crown. But she did lose one of her children – Viserion -- while going into battle against the Night King for men who weren't yet people (except for Jorah). Dany doesn't need to give up her crown for her people. She's accomplished a lot from her royal position of strength.

Back in Season 2, Ser Jorah told Dany she would be a good ruler because she had more than a title or a good claim – she had a "gentle heart." And Daario once shared that he hoped to grow old if only so he could see what the world looked like when she was done conquering it. There are many who believe and continue to believe in Dany for good reason, despite her uneven history of decision-making.

When it comes to the question of who should rule and take the Iron Throne – Dany, Jon, Cersei, someone else, no one -- it might be worth contemplating something A Song of Ice and Fire author George R.R. Martin told Rolling Stone in 2014:

"Real-life kings had real-life problems to deal with. Just being a good guy was not the answer. You had to make hard, hard decisions. Sometimes what seemed to be a good decision turned around and bit you in the ass; it was the law of unintended consequences. I’ve tried to get at some of these in my books. My people who are trying to rule don’t have an easy time of it. Just having good intentions doesn’t make you a wise king.”

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