After eight formative years in the fantasy epic that defined a generation, Emilia Clarke is closing the book on dragons for good. Speaking to The New York Times during the press tour for her upcoming Peacock espionage series Ponies, Clarke said she has little interest in returning to the fantasy genre following her iconic turn as Daenerys Targaryen.
“You’re highly unlikely to see me get on a dragon, or even in the same frame as a dragon, ever again,” Clarke said, a remark that landed with finality for fans still hoping for a return to Westeros.
Clarke starred as Daenerys—also known as the Mother of Dragons—across all eight seasons of Game of Thrones, earning four Emmy nominations and becoming one of television’s most recognizable figures. But the role came with an emotional cost, particularly during the show’s tumultuous final season, when Daenerys’ abrupt turn into the “Mad Queen” divided audiences and critics alike.
The actress has been candid about how blindsided she felt by the character’s fate. She previously told Entertainment Weekly that she was stunned when she read the final scripts, recalling shock, tears, and a long, solitary walk to process the news. “What, what, what, WHAT!?” she said of her reaction, describing how Daenerys’ death felt as though it came “out of nowhere.”
That emotional fallout lingered. Clarke later explained that she leaned on her family for support, calling her mother and brother with anxious questions about whether Daenerys was fundamentally a good person—questions that reflected how deeply the role had intertwined with her own identity.
Fan outrage mirrored Clarke’s internal struggle. Many viewers criticized the final season for prioritizing spectacle over character development, a point Clarke herself acknowledged in a 2020 interview with The Sunday Times. Still, she has emphasized that she ultimately made peace with the ending. Asked by The Hollywood Reporter in 2021 whether she had reconciled with the show’s conclusion, Clarke answered unequivocally: “I really have.”
Part of that peace, she suggested, comes with time and distance. Clarke has said it may take decades before she can view Game of Thrones purely as a finished work, rather than through the lens of her own experiences while filming it. “There’s just too much me in it,” she explained.
Despite understanding why fans were upset, Clarke has also defended her approach as an actor. In a conversation with MTV, she said she fully committed to Daenerys’ arc, even when it hurt. “You poured your blood, sweat, and tears into [the character] for a decade,” she noted. “You have to turn up.”
Now, with Ponies signaling a new chapter, Clarke appears ready to move forward—grounded firmly on earth, leaving dragons behind as a defining, but finished, chapter of her career.