No, of course not, or at least not yet, but the qustion is a good one as the suggestion is definitely there, both in the books and the show.
Books:
There is definitely a question planted in the text in the books to make the reader wonder if she is going mad, like her father the Mad King. ( I won’t go into the details, but the question has been asked and debated—tiresomely—for years online.)
Indeed, Daenerys herself wonders the same several times: her fear that she is mad like her father is the prime motivation for her staying in Meereen after conquering Slaver’s Bay. She is trying to prove to herself that she can rule, rather than just being the bloodthirsty wreaker of havoc and crucifier of random political enemies that she has been.
However at the end of A Dance with Dragons, she seems come to the conclusion that the peace-loving Mother image, the benevolent ruler that the freed slaves have built up of her and to which she’s tried to conform, is not really her true self.
Her true self has been locked away deep within her, much like her dragons Viserion and Rhaegon have been locked in the vaults beneath the great pyramid of Meereen. Her true self is summed up in the words of House Targaryen: Blood and Fire.
She remembers the House Words of the Targaryen and finds her identity there.
So whether you consider her mad or no, and your mileage is going to vary, she seems to have come to terms and embraced the destructive side of her nature which she’s tried so hard to ‘chain ’ down in the recesses of her psyche.
This realization signifies ‘rebirth’ in her arc, just as Reek hearing his name signifies his spiritual rebirth earlier in the book. (This identity mix up is a major theme with several characters, actually.)
SHOW
In the show, we are not privy to this inner dialogue of Danys’, but the same resolve is shown in her fiery destruction of the Temple and the slaying of the Khals amassed there. I think that we are meant assume that the old Dany that sacked the cities of Astapor, Meereen, and Yunkai is back. To a lot of viewers that is just dandy.
This Dany is a hero to some but there’s no doubt that the omelette she wants to make features a lot of broken eggs, and I believe—strongly that what she unleashes is going to be destructive to the point where it becomes horrific for the reader/viewer.
I won’t go so far as to say she’s an antagonist: A Song of Ice and Fire isn’t Harry Potter with a Voldemort and a Harry going head to head: it’s rather a story of several Harry Potters going head to head or allying with each other…or however it ends up playing out. And all these characters change, grow and evolve as the action plays out.
But anyway her action in the Temple with the khals was, ultimately, self-defense and not an act of madness. (Although the strange glassy, almost orgasmic look her face takes on probably is meant to suggest a bit of madness, just as her inner dialogue in the books suggests it. The music sounds a bit sinister, building to a quasi religious sounding chant: if this is a goddess, it’s a dark terrifying goddess you wouldn’t want to cross. I think it’s entire possible that at least one of her eyebrows is certifiably insane, though.)
No matter how destructive she ends up getting(and trust me, she is VERYdestructive), the description of her father’s excesses are far crueler—for the sake of cruelty. His decisions ultimately were self-defeating.. Daenerys may be a destroyer but she has more of a purpose.
Ultimately some people are going to define her as crazy. Others as a savior or a great conqueror.
The point is, she doesn’t care any more. She’s found the one thing she’s good at.
Blood and fire.
Written May 17th 2016
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