The journey may not have ended as we might’ve hoped for our Mother of Dragons. But Emilia Clarke is still our Khaleesi to the bitter end.
On Instagram, the Game of Thrones actress wrote a tearful goodbye to the show that launched her career and made her practically family with the cast and crew over eight seasons. Like many of us, she seems at a loss for words to describe the totality of emotions she’s feeling on the eve of its end.
In a post with pictures ranging from loving behind-the-scenes cast shots and even a khaleesi selfie, Clarke did her best to capture her journey as Daenerys.
“Finding the words to write this post has left me overwhelmed with how much I want to say but how small words feel in comparison to what this show and Dany have meant to me,” she wrote. “The mother of dragons chapter has taken up the whole of my adult life. This woman has taken up the whole of my heart. I’ve sweated in the blaze of dragon fire, shed many tears at those who left our family early, and wrung my brain dry trying to do Khaleesi and the masterful words, actions (and names) I was given, justice.”
Clarke is referring to The New Yorker personal essay she wrote in March, detailing her many health struggles over the first few season while filming Game of Thrones. She also referenced the passing of her father, who she wishes could have been here to see the heights she reached on dragon back.
If all of that wasn’t enough to bring a tear to your eye, Clarke finally finished with a sendoff to her most loyal army: the Game of Thrones fans.
“To you, dear kind magical fans, I owe you so much thanks, for your steady gaze at what we’ve made and what I’ve done with a character that was already in the hearts of many before I slipped on the platinum wig of dreams. Without you there is no us. And now our watch has ended.”
No matter how you feel about this show — particularly how it arguably did our Khaleesi so dirty in the end — the years of great storytelling have left us with so much. And we shall never see its like again.