How Game of Thrones sabotaged Emilia Clarke and betrayed Daenerys Targaryen

Dany’s actions would make sense, if the show’s writers hadn’t spent seasons undermining her character and the actor’s ability to fully portray her.

The night is dark and full of spoilers! In this case, for Game of Thrones Season 8, Episode 5.

First of all, holy crap. I guess we know why this season of GoT took so much time and money to film — the epic destruction of King’s Landing is unlike anything we’ve seen from this show so far, even the Battle of Winterfell two episodes ago.

However, like many fans, I came away feeling unsatisfied by Daenerys Targaryen’s heel turn. While plenty of people predicted she might be on a path toward villainy, the moment itself felt unearned and out of character. Already, dozens of essays explain how this is a betrayal of the fans, a betrayal of Dany, a betrayal of feminism…the list goes on. In the end, I think there were subtle failures on the parts of the writers that left viewers unprepared, and more importantly a real betrayal of trust between the show runners and Emilia Clarke, who portrays Dany on screen, that sabotaged her ability as an actor to fully present her character.