Game of Thrones actress Emilia Clarke opened up about how she felt upon discovering Daenerys Targaryen’s fate in the Season 8 finale.
Clarke, who has portrayed Daenerys for eight seasons, spoke to Entertainment Weekly about her reaction after she read the script detailing what would happen with Daenerys.
She reportedly read the script seven times unable to believe what was actually in store for Daenerys. Clarke recalled thinking, “What, what, what, WHAT!?” She added, “Because it comes out of f****** nowhere. I’m flabbergasted. Absolutely never saw that coming.”
In fact, Clarke tells EW that she “completely flipped out” when she read the script detailing Daenerys’ fate. In fact, she even indicates she was about to leave her bags at Heathrow airport. She read the script after she just landed in London after filming [easyazon_link identifier=”B07D95119K” locale=”US” tag=”boundingintocomics-20″]Solo: A Star Wars Story[/easyazon_link]. Clarke, details just how flabbergasted she was after initially reading the script, “‘Oh my god! I gotta go! I gotta go!’” She then notes her traveling companion reminded her, “And they’re like, ‘You gotta get your bags!’”
Clarke then details that she broke down and cried after learning that Daenerys was killed by Jon Snow, “I cried. And I went for a walk. I walked out of the house and 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?’”
The actress also detailed a conversation with her mother after reading the Season 8 scripts. She describes how she asked her mom to walk her off the ledge:
“I read the scripts and I don’t want to tell you what happens but can you just talk me off this ledge? It really messed me up. 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?’”
Clarke continued, “And I’m all: ‘I’m fine! … But is there anything Daenerys could do that would make you hate her?’”
While in her dressing room about to film one of her final scenes of the series, Clarke gets into character and openly questions Jon Snow’s character and his pending actions:
“Um, he just doesn’t like women does he? He keeps f****** killing them. No. If I were to put myself in his shoes I’m not sure what else he could have done aside from … oh, I dunno, maybe having a discussion with me about it? Ask my opinion? Warn me? It’s like being in the middle of a phone call with your boyfriend and they just hang up and never call you again. ‘Oh, this great thing happened to me at work today — hello?’ And that was 9 years ago…”
Clarke then goes into detail about her reaction to Daenerys’ fate in Season 8.
“You’re about to ask if me — as Emilia — disagreed with her at any point. It was a f****** struggle reading the scripts. What I was taught at drama school — and if you print this there will be drama school teachers going ‘that’s bulls—t,’ but here we go: I was told that your character is right. Your character makes a choice and you need to be right with that. An actor should never be afraid to look ugly. We have uglier sides to ourselves. And after 10 years of working on this show, it’s logical. Where else can she go? I tried to think what the ending will be. It’s not like she’s suddenly going to go, ‘Okay, I’m gonna put a kettle on and put cookies in the oven and we’ll just sit down and have a lovely time and pop a few kids out.’ That was never going to happen. She’s a Targaryen.”
Clarke continues:
“I thought she was going to die. I feel very taken care of as a character in that sense. It’s a very beautiful and touching ending. Hopefully, what you’ll see in that last moment as she’s dying is: There’s the vulnerability — there’s the little girl you met in season 1. See? She’s right there. And now, she’s not there anymore…”
She concludes, “But having said all of the things I’ve just said…I stand by Daenerys. I stand by her! I can’t not.”
What do you make of Clarke’s reaction to the final season and final episode of Game of Thrones?