For nearly a decade, Emilia Clarke didn’t just play Daenerys Targaryen, she lived inside her. From the scared little girl sold into marriage in the first season of ‘Game of Thrones’, to the dragon-riding ruler Daenerys, she turned out to be one of the most iconic characters of television.
So, when Clarke finally got to the final pages of the Season 8 script, the scene that concluded the journey of Daenerys did not seem like a challenge to act. It felt like a personal loss.
Inside Emilia Clarke’s Private Struggle With Daenerys Targaryen’s Final Chapter
Emilia Clarke has since been open about the extent to which the ending impacted her, revealing a genuine, human response that stripped away the spectacle and controversy surrounding the finale of the show. It was not just outrage or confusion that she felt but grief, disbelief, and the fear of losing something that had defined her adult life. When Emilia Clarke read the script detailing Daenerys’ death, the shock was immediate and overwhelming.
In an interview with Variety, she described a reaction that felt instinctive rather than calculated. “What, what, what, WHAT!? Because it comes out of f-ing nowhere. I’m flabbergasted. Absolutely never saw that coming. I cried. And I went for a walk. I walked out of the house, took my keys and phone, and walked back with blisters on my feet. I didn’t come back for five hours. I’m like, ‘How am I going to do this?’”
Her reaction was similar to that of many fans when the episode was broadcast. However, it was even worse for her. Clarke acknowledged that she had been totally taken by surprise. Although she was aware of the fact that the show was going to have an emotionally devastating ending, she did not anticipate what was revealed. Daenerys’ death not only came as a surprise to her, but it broke her emotional balance.
Emilia Questioned Daenerys’ Morality After Reading The Ending
Once the first shock had subsided, Clarke was left to grapple with something even more disturbing than Daenerys’ death: its meaning. She resorted to the people she most trusted, her family, not to be validated, but grounded. Clarke remembered that she had called her mother after reading the scripts. She did not tell anything about the plot, but she badly needed some assurance. Her demand was not dramatic; it was human.
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She needed someone to take her off the ledge, since the story had her really upset. What followed were conversations that confused her family as much as they comforted her. “And then I asked my mom and brother really weird questions. They were like: ‘What are you asking us this for? What do you mean, do I think Daenerys is a good person? Why are you asking us that question? Why do you care what people think of Daenerys? Are you okay?” she revealed.
The reality was plain and hurtful. Clarke was not only concerned about the way Daenerys would be received, but she was also worried about whether everything she had poured into the character would still make sense. In the end, Emilia Clarke’s reaction to Daenerys’ death wasn’t about shock value or fan backlash. It was about mourning a version of herself that grew alongside the Dragon Queen.
