Introduced in the third season as a slave in Astapor, Missandei (Nathalie Emmanuel) first meets her mentor and queen Daenerys Targaryen (Emilia Clarke) when the young Mother of Dragons is bartering for an army. After outsmarting one of the most vile masters of Astapor, Daenerys welcomes Missandei into her camp as a free woman. The two become close friends and confidantes, rarely leaving each other’s side throughout much of the series.
However, in the show’s final season, Daenerys’ ships are attacked, killing one of her dragons and losing Missandei in the process. As it turns out, Missandei has been captured by the allied forces of Euron (Pilou Asbæk) and Cersei Lannister (Lena Headey), and when Daenerys tries to save her friend, the duo beheads her in front of the desperate dragon queen. Missandei’s death is tragic, and her last word, “Dracarys,” proves her loyalty to Daenerys with gutting finality. With that said, it also didn’t need to happen. Ultimately, this thoughtful, layered character, who is also one of the show’s few characters of color, is killed off, simply to serve Daenerys’ character arc in the show’s final few episodes. Even Emmanuel herself thought Missandei’s death was in poor taste.
