Emilia Clarke Explains Why Dany Became the “Mad Queen” & Her Shock Upon First Reading The Script!

Daenerys Targaryen was a delight to watch on ‘Game of Thrones’. From a young girl sold to a Dothraki Khal to becoming the Dragon Queen with a vast army, Dany’s story is awe-inspiring. Watching her ride Drogon and screaming dracarys moved us in ways we experienced very little in TV history. And now with GOT finally having arrived at its end, actress Emilia Clarke finally gets to share her fair bit of experience playing Khaleesi.

Talking to The New YorkerClarke shares the overall impact that playing Daenerys has had in her life, giving an insight on her character arc and how Dany’s transformation towards the dark side was at first shocking.

She reveals how she read the script for the final season 2 years back and she was immediately at a daze after reading it!

“I read these scripts coming on to two years ago now. When I did, I took a very long walk around London in a daze, not quite knowing how to digest the news.

While being a saviour, killer of tyrants, and creator of a better world felt pretty good to play, Clarke longed for a more human side to Daenerys.

“I was sitting tentatively on that chair thinking, How long is this going to last? Everyone was saying, ‘Isn’t she great? She’s our savior, Mhysa.’ It’s been beautiful and amazing, but I’ve been looking over my shoulder the entire time while everyone else gets a more human—for want of a better word—story line. They do good things. They do bad things. They do silly things. They do brilliant things. They fall in love. They break hearts. Daenerys has quite consistently had this road to salvation, and she’s been sitting atop a very safe mountain.”

She explains the reason behind Daenerys being swooped into the dark side and how her character popularly came about to become the “Mad Queen”.

“She was a child. She was sold. She grew up around a life that was written for her. She was on the run her entire life. She lost every single person that meant anything to her. She was brought up by a brother who was telling her why her family had been taken from her, because people haven’t allowed them to inhabit the Iron Throne.”

She goes on to add how Dany sacrificed love, friendship, being a mother, and everything else for being the ruler she believed herself to be. Each and every killing brought her closer to her destiny and it was not for her to turn back.

“She’s gone too far to turn back now. So then she finally falls in love with someone who is her age, someone appropriate, who seems to love her back, who seems to be a good guy. The fact that she’s his aunt is just kind of by the by! And then it seems almost too good to be true. Even when she finally gets to relax for the first time, she’s thinking, My God, I can have it all. I can have my love. I can have my career. I can have the prospect of a family. I can have it all. . . . But no! I fucking can’t.”

Talking about how many people found the ending disappointing, she said:

“I always knew that the show was never going to satisfy everyone. The show is, in a certain way, divisive: ‘Whose side are you on?’ Also, if you’re pleasing everyone, then it’s probably quite tepid. But to me it seemed like the only way it could end.”

We’re going to miss watching her ride that dragon immensely. Dracarys!

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