Game of Thrones star Emilia Clarke has admitted that she understands why fans were ‘p***ed’ over the season 8 finale and Daenerys Targaryen’s fate at the end of the fantasy drama, saying that she ‘totally gets it’.
In May 2019, Game of Thrones came to an end after eight years, with stars including Emilia, Kit Harington, Sophie Turner and Maisie Williams bidding farewell to their characters as the fight for the Iron Throne reached a bloody conclusion.
Daenerys had an extraordinary transformation over the series, going from being married off by her brother to Khal Drogo (Jason Momoa) to launching her own conquest in an effort to claim the Seven Kingdoms.
However, many fans were left disappointed by the end of her story arc, when in the final episode of season eight, she was killed by Jon Snow (Kit), who – despite being in love with her – felt her death was necessary in order to prevent her from causing any further destruction.
During a recent interview, Emilia addressed the critical reaction to the finale on the whole, explaining that she feels very ‘protective’ of Daenerys.
While the 34-year-old acknowledged that it would have been ‘utterly impossible’ to please everyone, she added that she understands where the anger from fans was coming from.
‘I get it. I get why people were p***ed. I totally get it,’ she told Josh Horowitz on the Happy Sad Confused podcast.
‘But me being the actor, you can’t do justice to the character that you’ve poured your blood, sweat and tears into for a decade without getting on the same page. Do you know what I mean? So like, I’m not going to be there being like, “Fine, I’ll do the scene, whatever. So p***ed.”’
Emilia explained that as an actor, regardless of where the story leads, ‘you have to turn up’.
‘You have to turn up and you have to… because why? Because you’re doing it for you and you’re doing it for her and you’re doing it for the show and you’re doing it for the storytelling. So, I’m an actor. I get given a story and I need to tell that story,’ she said.
The comic book writer, who’s set to star in Marvel’s upcoming Disney Plus series Secret Invasion, said that while she has ‘a certain amount of autonomy over what flavour’ her story might have on screen, it’s up to the editor to determine how it looks and the writer to choose what her character says.
‘So, you’ve just got to go in and try and give it as much truth and honesty and of yourself as you possibly can,’ she stated.
Emilia confessed that when she first read the scripts, she experienced a ‘gut punch’ and ‘wondered’ how fans would react.
However, throughout the decade of working on the show, she ‘stayed away from reading anything about it’, an approach that she has continued.
‘Aside from what people were saying to me personally, I was completely largely unaware of what anyone was saying about anything, so when this kicked off, I kind of was like, well, I’m going to carry on doing what I’ve always done,’ she said.
During a recent interview with theSkimm, Emilia shared the one scene she would have changed in Game of Thrones – which was, unsurprisingly, the moment Daenerys died.
While Daenerys’ death marked the end of her attempt to see a Targaryen back on the Iron Throne, Game of Thrones prequel House of the Dragon, which will introduce viewers to several of Daenerys’ ancestors, is set to premiere in 2022.
Game of Thrones is available to watch on Sky and on NOW.
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