04x01, 'Two Swords'

"Do you really think dragons can't be tamed?"

Daenerys' voice startles Jorah. He's sitting outside his tent, staring into the flickering flames. She moves to take the seat beside him, mouth twisted in brooding displeasure. He knows the look well. No doubt he wears a similar expression when he's agonising over something.

He waits until she's settled before answering. He doubts she'll like what he has to say, but he won't try to placate her. She isn't a child. She is a queen. A damned good ruler. However hard it might be to hear something, she would rather face it.

"Well?" she presses.

Jorah sighs, rubbing his chin. "In all the tales of your ancestors, I never read anything about the dragons being tamed."

"But they rode them…"

"Riding them isn't the same as taming them. The dragons of your ancestors may not have harmed their riders, but they razed cities to the ground and burned a thousand people and more alive, including some of your own blood. You've heard about the Dance?"

"In the books you gave me," Daenerys concedes.

"Then you understand."

She's silent for a moment. "I just…I don't want to think of my children as monsters."

"Of course you don't," he says. "I understand that. But I don't see them as monsters. Just as animals. There's nothing wrong with that."

"Animals," she muses. "I suppose that's right."

"It is. They're highly intelligent creatures, but they are animals. We should respect them, but we have to be careful too. That doesn't mean that you won't have good bonds with them. They've already proven to be protective of you. You face problems no different to your ancestors'. But the moment you expect them to behave with a human's rationale is the moment you lose control. You are their mother. You understand them better than I ever could. Learn from them and let them learn from you."

"You're a wise man, ser," she says.

His heart sinks. He's not so sure of that.

There's a beast in every man…

And what of a snake? he thinks.