And Drogon is so smart he understands English - So why couldnt Dany instruct Drogon what to do without riding on his back?
Dany, and her General should have been watching the battle from a distance, like Tyrion.
So many logical flaws in the story.
If "Game of Thrones" is sort of based on 15th century England, then FYI kings participated directly in battle in those days. Of course nobody would have insisted that eensy little Danerys pile in to a battle if she hadn't wanted to, but the fact is that she that on dragonback she was a one-woman army. She could take out whole regiments herself, she scared the living fuck out of anyone who wasn't actively being torched, and she got a better view of the battle's progress from up in the air than she could standing back on the hill.
And frankly, a fighting Dragon Queen was too glamorous for words! She was trying to draw followers to her cause, they'd be more likely to follow a queen who rode her dragon into battle than one who didn't.
Watch the opening scene in Gladiator - the King was safely away until the battle was over. Having the King, Queen, or Jon Snow on the frontline is retarded.
Of course it's retarded, but that really is how things were done in England circa the War of the Roses (the unofficial inspiration for the show). Kings went into warfare and fought with their own hands, it's how Edward IV won his crown and Richard III lost his in our own history, and how Robert Baratheon won the crown of Westeros.
And even if fighting alongside one's men weren't part of the culture, it's a fact that an army led by a dragon rider is more impressive than one that is led by someone sitting back on a hill overlooking the action. And Danyers was looking to impress.
My point being Dany didn't need to ride - to take the chance of being hit by an arrow or just falling off - the Dragon seemed to know what she wanted telepathically.
shareIt is far from clear how she communicated her wishes to the dragon, the only thing that's absolutely sure is that it responded to the voice command "dracarys". We never saw it follow remote commands, or be sent out to do her bidding independently, so we don't know that it's possible. It probably isn't, I read GRRM's "Fire and Ice", a history of the Targaryan dynasty, and there was no mention of dragons being sent on missions with no riders, or following telepathing commands at a distance. No, the Targaryans rode their dragons!
But even if it were possible for her to tell the dragon "Go into battle and burn the enemy's left flank" she probably wouldn't do it. Both because she wanted to impress her own men with her courage and the enemy with her scariness, and because the showrunners know that a woman riding a dragon into battle makes a much better TV show than a woman standing on an overlook having a dragon do her bidding.
We have actually seen a remote command once in the show, where Dany and company are surrounded by Sons of the Harpy. Dany closes her eyes and communes with her dragon, who duly comes to the rescue.
shareI wasn't sure if she communicated with the dragon at that point, or if the dragon became aware of her distress on its own.
But if she did communicate remotely with the dragon, the command sent was probably no more complex than a feeling of "HEELLLLLPPPPPP!!!!!". That doesn't mean that she can send complex commands to the dragon like "... lay down a line of fire between the cavalry and the infantry, and take out the group of men with the heaviest concentration of banners with stags on them because that will be the lords of House Arglebargle...". No, for that sort of thing she probably really does have to be on dragon-back, like the Targaryan dragon riders of old.
1. Dany can see things from Drogon's perspective geographically if she is riding him - easier from that position to direct Drogon. Something similar to driving a car versus remote control of a vehicle.
2. The close proximity between Dany and Drogon perhaps establishes her will over his. Thus, he can independently do things but must listen to her commands and wishes when she directs them to him, and close range telepathy is probably stronger between Mother of Dragons and her children than longer distance communication.
It was kind of miraculous she didn't fall off given the rapid movements and turns of her dragon.
They were going to explain some of the book stuff about the dragon riders and the Starks' dire wolves on the show, but those scenes were cut. For the dragons, they have like bluetooth, they need a certain proximity for the link to be active. The wolves don't need that, the Stark kids were warging into them in their sleep, they thought they were having wolf dreams. We only see it happen with Bran on the show.
With the dragons, it is like they share their souls with their riders. The part where she was telling him don't be afraid of the dragon was originally longer. Jon also said it felt like that Rhaegal knew exactly where Jon wanted to go, so that bond was forming.
When Dany died, part of her was still in the dragon, and could be what kept him from killing Jon. Also why he had walk-in privileges with Drogon when he was guarding her.
I really wish theyd taken a little more time with S8, and included stuff like the part of Dany still in the dragon saving Jon. Because as with so many things, it made no sense as aired.