Game of Thrones star Emilia Clarke reacts to Daenerys plot in season 8: 'I stand by her'

Actor had some emotional scenes in the final episode of the hit HBO series

*Spoiler warning for the final episode of Game of Thrones*

Emilia Clarke has spoken out over the fate of Daenerys Targaryen after the final episode of Game of Thrones aired this week.

The actor, who has starred as the Mother of Dragons since the first episode of the hit HBO show, gave an emotional interview to Entertainment Weekly where she said she “stood by” her character.

“It was a f***ing struggle reading the scripts,” she admitted. “What I was taught at drama school — and if you print this there will be drama school teachers going ‘that’s bulls**t,’ but here we go: I was told that your character is right. Your character makes a choice and you need to be right with that.

“An actor should never be afraid to look ugly. We have uglier sides to ourselves. And after 10 years of working on this show, it’s logical. Where else can she go? I tried to think what the ending will be. It’s not like she’s suddenly going to go, ‘Okay, I’m gonna put a kettle on and put cookies in the oven and we’ll just sit down and have a lovely time and pop a few kids out.’ That was never going to happen. She’s a Targaryen.”

Clarke added that she felt her character was “very taken care of… it’s a very beautiful and touching ending”.

Speaking to the New Yorker, she also revealed that showrunners compared Dany’s story arc to Lawrence of Arabia.

“I was, like, ‘Great, cool. He’s brilliant. He survived, and it’s wonderful,’” Clarke said. “But then you remember how that movie ended, with Lawrence’s disintegration. I didn’t quite put those two things together. Or maybe I didn’t want to see it coming because I care about Daenerys too much.”

“Fundamentally, he’s brought in as a saviour,” she added. “He goes in and fights for the people, but then, ultimately, it’s a story about how power corrupts absolutely. You see power turn this man wild and mad. He can’t see anymore through the haze, the giddy highs, of being in charge. And that’s what Daenerys experiences. And yet I care for her so much. She’s been a part of me for so long that, in reading this script, I did what any actor is told to do and would do. You have to agree with your character. If you don’t agree with your character, then you shouldn’t take the job.”

Of her final scene, Clarke said she was keen not to depict Dany as “mad” as much as a victim of trauma.

“I don’t enjoy fans calling me ‘the Mad Queen,’” she said. “If you see abuse in someone young, they often are able to mentally leave the room. I wanted Daenerys to be there. I wanted to show her as we saw her in the beginning: young, naïve, childlike, open, and full of love and hope. I wanted so much for that to be the last memory of her.”

Read our critic's review of the final Game of Thrones episode here. See our definitive ranking of every Game of Thrones episode below:

Game of Thrones is available to watch on Sky Atlantic and NowTV in the UK