Emilia Clarke literally ducked out of the way when the 'Game of Thrones' cast was asked about the controversial ending for 'the Dragon Queen,' and then Kit Harington stepped up
- HBO's "Game of Thrones" won outstanding drama series at the 2019 Emmy Awards on Sunday.
- When the cast was gathered to answer questions in the backstage press room, one reporter asked them to address the "controversy about the ending... especially regarding, of course, the Dragon Queen."
- Upon hearing the words "Dragon Queen," Emilia Clarke immediately tried to duck out of sight.
- Instead, Kit Harington replied: "For us, we knew what we were doing was right, story-wise, and we knew that it was right for the characters because we'd lived with them for 10 years. So the controversy didn't really affect us."
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"Game of Thrones" may have ended back in May, but Daenerys Targaryen's controversial turn towards villainy is still a sore subject for many people — including, it seems, the Mother of Dragons herself, Emilia Clarke.
After "Game of Thrones" won outstanding drama series at the 2019 Emmy Awards on Sunday, the cast and crew were gathered to answer questions in the press room. One reporter asked them to address the show's divisive finale: "There was a lot of controversy about the ending and I'm wondering how you reacted to that. Especially regarding, of course, the Dragon Queen."
Upon hearing the words "Dragon Queen," Clarke immediately tried to duck out of sight.
After some awkward laughs and shuffling about — with co-creators David Benioff and DB Weiss making no moves to answer the question — Kit Harington stepped up to the microphone.
"Controversy? I still haven't seen the show," Harington replied. "So that's how I dealt with that controversy. I still haven't seen the final season."
"But I know what it took to shoot it, and it was hard and everyone put all their love and effort into it," he continued. "I think for us, we knew what we were doing was right, story-wise, and we knew that it was right for the characters because we'd lived with them for 10 year — so the controversy, for us, didn't really affect us. But thank you for the question."
Although fans had plenty of complaints about the final season of "Thrones," Daenerys Targaryen's downfall was particularly disappointing for many people — especially those who had come to see her as Westeros' last hope for "breaking the wheel" of tyrannical bloodshed.
Indeed, Clarke has previously expressed some distaste for her character's final season arc.
The 32-year-old actress told the Press Association that she wandered around London for "three hours, aimlessly" after reading the scripts for season eight.
"It might as well have been raining and I would've just walked in it not knowing what to do," she said.
Clarke even told the New Yorker that she was terrified that her hero, Beyoncé, would hate her after watching Daenerys become so bloodthirsty.
"All I wanted to scream was 'Please, please still like me even though my character turns into a mass-killing dictator! Please still think that I'm representing women in a really fabulous way,'" Clarke said of meeting Beyoncé for the first time. "I was just, like, 'Oh my god, my absolute idol in life is saying that she likes me, and I know for a fact that by the end of this season she's going to hate me.'"
Watch the footage from the "Game of Thrones" cast in the press room below.
- Read more:
- Daenerys Targaryen's downfall on 'Game of Thrones' aligns brilliantly with George R.R. Martin's beliefs about the troubling morals of war
- How that devastating 'Game of Thrones' finale death was an imperfect fulfillment of the show's biggest prophecy
- Emilia Clarke tried to warn fans last year about Daenerys' final season arc on 'Game of Thrones'
- Every major moment on 'Game of Thrones' that foreshadowed Daenerys Targaryen's deadly character twist
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