Emilia Clarke Says She’s Leaving Fantasy Behind After “Game of Thrones”

Emilia Clarke has made it clear: don’t expect to see her riding a dragon again anytime soon.

Speaking to The New York Times during the press tour for her new Peacock espionage series “Ponies,” Clarke said she is essentially finished with the fantasy genre after spending eight intense years on HBO’s “Game of Thrones.” The actress famously played Daenerys Targaryen, also known as the Mother of Dragons, one of the most iconic characters in modern television.

“You’re highly unlikely to see me get on a dragon, or even in the same frame as a dragon, ever again,” Clarke said, drawing a firm line under that chapter of her career.

Clarke earned four Emmy nominations for her performance as Daenerys and was at the center of the show’s controversial final season. Daenerys’ sudden transformation into the “Mad Queen” — and her death in the series finale — sparked widespread backlash from fans who felt the character arc was rushed and underdeveloped.

The actress has been candid about how shocking the ending was for her personally. She previously told Entertainment Weekly that she had no idea Daenerys would become a villain until she read the final scripts.

“What, what, what, WHAT!?” Clarke recalled. “Because it comes out of nowhere. I’m flabbergasted. Absolutely never saw that coming. I cried. And I went for a walk… I didn’t come back for five hours. I’m like, ‘How am I going to do this?’”

She said the news hit her so hard that she called her mother for emotional support and began questioning her family about how they viewed Daenerys as a person.

“They were like, ‘Why do you care what people think of Daenerys? Are you okay?’” Clarke remembered.

Fan frustration over the final season has followed the series ever since it ended in 2019. In a 2020 interview with The Sunday Times, Clarke admitted she was annoyed that the show’s final episodes prioritized large-scale spectacle over dialogue and character development. Still, she says she has since made peace with how it all ended.

“I really have. I really, really, really have,” she told The Hollywood Reporter in a later interview. Clarke explained that it may take decades before she can view the show objectively because of how deeply personal the experience was for her.

“There’s just too much me in it,” she said. “I have too many emotional reactions for what Emilia herself was experiencing at that moment in time.”

Despite her acceptance, Clarke understands why many viewers remain angry. Speaking to MTV, she acknowledged the disappointment while emphasizing her responsibility as an actor.

“I get why people are pissed. I totally get it,” she said. “But you can’t do justice to a character you poured your blood, sweat, and tears into for a decade without getting on the same page. You have to turn up.”

Now, with “Ponies” marking a shift into espionage and grounded drama, Clarke appears ready to move on — leaving dragons, fantasy worlds, and Westeros firmly in the past.