Game of Thrones legend Emilia Clarke is staying away from dragons after controversial Daenerys ending "messed her up"

Game of Thrones star Emilia Clarke has said it’s “highly unlikely” that she will ever return to the fantasy genre after the show's controversial ending.

The actress played Daenerys Targaryen in the hit HBO series between 2011 and 2019, with her characters’ transformation into the Mad Queen in the last few episodes proving divisive amongst fans.

Speaking to The New York Times about her upcoming Peacock spy thriller Ponies, she said: “You’re highly unlikely to see me get on a dragon, or even in the same frame as a dragon, ever again.”

Clarke previously told Entertainment Weekly that she had struggled to come to terms with the ending.

“What, what, what, WHAT!?” Clarke said about the fate of her character. “Because it comes out of f**king nowhere. I’m flabbergasted. Absolutely never saw that coming."

She added: "I cried. And I went for a walk. I walked out of the house and took my keys and phone and walked back with blisters on my feet. I didn’t come back for five hours. I’m like, ‘How am I going to do this?’”

She continued: “I called my mom and [told her], ‘I read the scripts and I don’t want to tell you what happens but can you just talk me off this ledge? It really messed me up'".

“And then I asked my mom and brother really weird questions. They were like: ‘What are you asking us this for? What do you mean do I think Daenerys is a good person? Why are you asking us that question? Why do you care what people think of Daenerys? Are you OK?’”

Daenerys' trajectory wasn't the only character arc that viewers took issue with following the show's ending, with many fans claiming that various storylines and character fates had been left unresolved.

While the show came to an end back in 2018, the fantasy franchise has been kept alive with a number of prequel shows, including House of the Dragon, which aired with a first season back in 2022, and A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms, which is set to premiere later this month.

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