"blinded to what was actually going on" or "chose not to see", mostly because it makes it come across as you viewed it correctly and anyone who disagrees is incorrect. It implies that the opposing view is ignorant instead of acknowledging that it could be a valid point of view. I didn't miss any signs and I certainly wasn't blinded because of female empowerment. It just wasn't done well enough to make sense given how the character was portrayed throughout the series especially in context with the other protagonists.

Your contention that Arya's role was "eventually" a protagonist is misguided as she was clearly framed as one from the start. My point it being earned was your reasoning for Dany's arc being earned could just as easily be applied to Arya. Both were responsible for multiple deaths and you could argue Arya's were much more unnecessary and driven by revenge than Dany's ever were. My point was instead of Dany going bad, you could have had Arya do the same and make the same justifications that we only thought she was a good guy because she hurt bad people and was an "empowered female character". That's why I say it wasn't earned for Dany because it only happened at the very end because the writers decided to complete change how she was portrayed at the very last moment. If they had done that for Arya would you still be saying her path was earned? Or would you be angry that your favorite character turned out to be the ultimate villain?