Someone get the Iron Bank on the line, because whoever is responsible for Daenerys Targaryen’s labyrinthine hairstyles these days deserves a big raise. Even as the Mother of Dragons launches ships, mows down Lannister soldiers on the back of Drogon, and puts the moves on her secret nephew Jon Snow, her killer braids still have people talking — but there’s one significant detail that even the most eagle-eyed Game of Thrones fans may have missed.
Reddit user FirFlyNeo pointed out that, over the past few episodes, Khaleesi’s waist-length hair has started to bear a close resemblance to a much more polished version of Khal Drogo’s look from Season 1. Unlike Sansa Stark’s heavily Cersei-inspired ‘dos, however, the parallel isn’t just a subtle reference to her late husband’s influence on her: It’s also part of a Dothraki custom, where Khals who have been defeated in battle cut off their braids to show the world their shame. Drogo’s long ponytail symbolized that he had never been defeated.
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As the Khaleesi of the Great Grass Sea, it makes sense that Daenerys would ascribe to this tradition. In fact, in the original George R. R. Martin books the show is based on, she not only sported similar braids but even wore bells in them to represent her many victories — another common practice among Dothraki horselords.
But the aspiring Queen of the Seven Kingdoms experienced her first real defeat in last week’s episode when she lost one of her dragons to the Army of the Dead, which could mean the end of her long signature hairstyle as we know it. Just one question: Where does one even go about getting a haircut in Westeros? (Perhaps just around the corner from wherever you get a dope white fur coat.)
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