Emilia Clarke & More ‘Game of Thrones’ Stars React to the Finale
[Warning: The below contains MAJOR spoilers for the Series Finale of Game of Thrones, “The Iron Throne.”]
The final curtain fell on Game of Thrones on Sunday as HBO’s hit series wrapped its run, and while fans continue to debate the ending, plenty of the show’s stars are sharing their own thoughts on the ending.
From the shocking deaths to that throne reveal, there was a lot to think about and react to. And stars like Emilia Clarke and Isaac Hempstead Wright have spoken plainly about their characters’ fates now that the finale has aired. For those who haven’t tuned in yet, now is where you turn around because spoilers lay ahead.
Despite a bloodbath of a season, the episode included only one character’s demise — Daenerys Targaryen, the Mother of Dragons and “breaker of chains.” While many fans disputed the Queen’s descent into madness, Clarke wrestled with the shocking death that she faced at the hands of Jon Snow (Kit Harington).
“What, what, what, WHAT!?“ Emilia told Entertainment Weekly of her initial reaction to Daenerys’ turn. “Because it comes out of f—king nowhere. I’m flabbergasted. Absolutely never saw that coming.”
The star took the news about her character’s death and ultimate shift in behavior tough. “I cried,” Clarke said. “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?'”
(Credit: HBO)
She explained that she’d ask her family questions about Daenerys as a character and whether they believed she was good or not. And even after her character went full dark-mode, Clarke remains loyal to the Queen she played. “I stand by Daenerys. I stand by her! I can’t not,” she said.
The actress also took to social media to commemorate her time in the series. “The mother of dragons chapter has taken up the whole of my adult life,” she wrote on Instagram. “This woman has taken up the whole of my heart. I’ve sweated in the blaze of dragon fire, shed many tears at those who left our family early, and wrung my brain dry trying to do Khaleesi and the masterful words, actions (and names) I was given, justice.
“Game of Thrones has shaped me as a woman, as an actor and as a human being. I just wish my darling dad was here now to see how far we’ve flown. But to you, dear kind magical fans, I owe you so much thanks, for your steady gaze at what we’ve made and what I’ve done with a character that was already in the hearts of many before I slipped on the platinum wig of dreams. Without you there is no us. And now our watch has ended.”
Harington, on the other hand, wasn’t entirely shocked by Daenerys’ turn as he told EW of the finale, “I think it’s going to divide… But if you track her story all the way back, she does some terrible things. She crucifies people. She burns people alive. This has been building. So, we have to say to the audience: ‘You’re in denial about this woman as well. You knew something was wrong. You’re culpable, you cheered her on.'”
(Credit: HBO)
Of killing Daenerys, Harington does feels remorse for his characters as he said, “In some ways, Jon did the same thing to Ygritte by training the boy who kills her. This destroys Jon to do this.”
But it wasn’t all bad for the players in Game of Thrones, Bran the Broken was crowned King of the Six Kingdoms and star Hempstead Wright was fine with that. “When I got to the [Dragonpit scene] in the last episode and they’re like, ‘What about Bran?’ I had to get up and pace around the room,”‘ he told EW. “I genuinely thought it was a joke script and that [showrunners David Benioff and Dan Weiss] sent to everyone a script with their own character ends up on the Iron Throne. ‘Yeah, good one guys. Oh s**t, it’s actually real?'”
!['Game of Thrones' Series Finale Ratings: How Many Saw [Spoiler] Take the Iron Throne?](https://www.tvinsider.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/a7064bf59c4b6024d163bab8b70543902e22d442d40adfa070e4a43a42826c4d87595cbc58251c6df96d16e4995fbc5d-234x155.jpg)
“I’m happy,” he continued, but the actor would have been OK with a different outcome. “Though I kind of did want to die and get in one good death scene with an exploding head or something.”
Many of the of the stars followed suit with Emilia’s social media acknowledgement such as Sophie Turner, Jacob Anderson and John Bradley who wrote some lengthy tributes to their characters. Scroll through to see what they said and let us know what you think of the cast’s reactions to the season in the comments below.
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