Emilia Clarke Blasts Game of Thrones Ending ‘It Comes Out of Nowhere’

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It’s safe to say the final season and ending of Game of Thrones were highly divisive. Many fans still consider the early seasons to be among the greatest television ever created, but the show’s last two seasons left a much less positive impression. Now, whenever Game of Thrones is mentioned, a lot of former viewers immediately bring up the disappointing ending and how quickly the story seemed to wrap up.

Daenerys Targaryen, a popular character on Game of Thrones, is widely considered to have had one of the show’s most disappointing endings. In Season 8, she destroyed King’s Landing and fully transformed into the villainous “Mad Queen.” Even Emilia Clarke, the actress who played Daenerys, disliked how her character’s story concluded. She recently told The New York Times that she’s finished with the Game of Thrones universe and doesn’t plan to reprise her role, stating, “You’re highly unlikely to see me get on a dragon, or even near one, ever again.”

Emilia Clarke has repeatedly voiced her disappointment with how her character, Daenerys, ended in Game of Thrones. While she maintains she supports the choices made for Daenerys, Clarke admitted to Entertainment Weekly that the ending made her cry and completely shocked her. She even understands why fans were upset, saying she “gets why people were pissed.” Because Daenerys’s ending is a key reason many viewers felt the final season of Game of Thrones was unsatisfying, Clarke sharing similar feelings only adds to the ongoing debate and criticism surrounding the show’s divisive conclusion.

Emilia Clarke Didn’t Feel Mad Queen Dany’s Ending Was Properly Set Up

Emilia Clarke, in an interview with Entertainment Weekly after Game of Thrones ended, admitted she was confused by Daenerys’ sudden turn to violence in the final season, saying she was “flabbergasted” by how abruptly it happened. James Hibberd’s book, Fire Cannot Kill a Dragon, which details the making of Game of Thrones, revealed that the show’s creators, David Benioff and D.B. Weiss, never explained this character arc to Clarke.

As a fan, I always felt like Benioff and Weiss really wanted Emilia Clarke’s Daenerys to feel like a hero, even when things got dark. They seemed to believe she genuinely saw herself as a good person, someone who was liberating people, and that perspective never really left her, even at her worst. It also didn’t help that a lot of her more extreme actions in Game of Thrones were directed at truly awful people – slavers, racists, and those who exploited others. It made understanding her choices, even the controversial ones, a lot more complex.

The acting in this season is strong, particularly Emilia Clarke’s performance as Daenerys. Many viewers consider it her best work in the entire series, and a highlight of an otherwise disappointing final season. However, the show’s secrecy surrounding Daenerys’s story and motivations ultimately impacted Clarke herself. She shared with The Telegraph that playing Daenerys helped her understand what it’s like to fight against injustice and prejudice. Despite this, her interpretation of the character often differed from what the show’s creators had planned, a disconnect that continued until the very end.

Every Time Game of Thrones Foreshadowed Mad Queen Dany – & Why It Still Didn’t Work

Looking back, it’s clear Game of Thrones actually hinted at Daenerys becoming the ‘Mad Queen’ way back in Season 1. When she burned Mirri Maz Duur, it felt right at the time because we were all on Dany’s side, but it was still a really harsh act – she was punishing someone who’d already been through so much trauma, being assaulted, enslaved, and witnessing the destruction of her people. And even earlier, in Season 2, we see a side of her when she instantly threatens to burn the entire city of Qaarth just because things didn’t go her way. It definitely feels like the show was laying the groundwork for what was to come.

Throughout seasons three to five, Daenerys conquers many cities in Essos but doesn’t take the time to understand their people or establish effective governance. In season six, she echoes a promise she made in season one – a vow to destroy her enemies in Westeros. By season seven, Daenerys shows no mercy to those who oppose her, choosing execution over imprisonment. The problem isn’t that these actions aren’t foreshadowed; it’s that the story doesn’t allow enough time for a gradual development of this behavior.

Seasons 7 and 8 of the show only have 13 episodes combined, forcing the plot to move at a breakneck pace and prioritize action. This left little room to explore Daenerys’s character and understand why she made her choices, both for viewers and for the actress Emilia Clarke. By the time Daenerys destroys King’s Landing in the fifth episode of Season 8, the events feel rushed, and her descent into what seems like madness doesn’t feel believable or properly developed.

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2026-01-14 20:34