Emilia Clarke says she's come to terms with Daenerys' heartbreaking 'Game of Thrones' ending: 'I see it with only peace'
- Back in 2019, Emilia Clarke seemed anguished every time someone asked her about Dany's fate.
- But now, with two years' distance, the "Game of Thrones" star "sees it only with peace."
- "Daenerys has a part of my heart," Clarke told THR. "She is in there, and I'll never forget.
Warning: Spoilers ahead for the "Game of Thrones" series finale.
Two years ago, the "Game of Thrones" fandom was sent into a spiral after the devastating series finale moment when Jon Snow plunged a dagger into Daenerys Targaryen's heart. Emilia Clarke (who played Daenerys) had spent a full year trying to warn fans about the upsetting nature of her character's final arc, saying she had to take long walks alone after she first read the scripts.
In a new interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Clarke was asked if she was able to "make peace with everything" in the time since the finale first aired.
"I really have," Clarke said. "I really, really, really have. I think it'll take me to my 90s to be able to objectively see what 'Game of Thrones' was, because there's just too much me in it."
In the penultimate episode of the show, Daenerys refused the accept the surrender of King's Landing and instead began massacring the civilian residents. That (along with a few other warning signs) led Jon Snow to believe she would stop at nothing to procure and maintain power, so he murdered her in the series finale.
Now, HBO is filming the first "Game of Thrones" spinoff series, focusing on Dany's ancestors in House Targaryen.
"I think there's something timely about the prequels and the continuation of the 'Game of Thrones' story coming about now," Clarke said. "I look at it and I'm like, 'Wow, yeah.' So I see it with only peace."
While Dany's downfall is still likely to happen in the book series by George R.R. Martin, many fans are hoping for more nuance to come through in the character's downfall to eventually become "The Mad Queen."
You can read Clarke's full interview with The Hollywood reporter here, and learn Clarke's tragic theory about where Drogon took Dany's body here.