Game Of Thrones director Miguel Sapochnik has addressed the controversial transformation of Daenerys Targaryen in season eight, explaining how he would have made a small change.
The final season of the show proved controversial for many reasons, but a reoccurring sticking point is some of the rapid developments in characters which didn’t entirely convince or feel natural – possibly due to the shortened number of episodes.
A disputed change is the descent of Daenerys (Emilia Clarke), who switches into Mad Queen status after deciding to burn King’s Landing with dragon fire in penultimate episode The Bells.
Speaking with IndieWire, director Miguel, who helmed the fifth episode, stated how he always expected Daenerys to go mad from the beginning.
‘The way she has treated humans, and the conviction she has, means that conviction is eventually going to fall afoul,’ Miguel said.
The director was originally planned to direct episodes three to five but this became not possible through scheduling, with David Nutter directing the fourth episode instead.
Miguel would have made a small change if he did direct the fourth episode, namely saving Daenerys’ reaction to Missandei’s death until the beginning of the fifth episode to emphasize how something had switched.
‘We said, “You’ve never been like this,”’ Miguel said. ‘It was this idea of us trying to piece her back together, but something’s broken.’
He stands by the decision not to show Daenerys while she’s burning the innocent lives of King’s Landing, believing it was unnecessary to show her reaction.
‘At that point, you don’t need to see her,’ Miguel said. ‘We decided not to cut back to her.
‘When she makes that decision, she and the dragon become one.’
The fourth episode proved troublesome for other reasons too, including the coffee cup debacle which director David Nutter has shrugged responsibility for.
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