Emilia Clarke Explains Her 'Heartbreak' Over 'Game of Thrones' Final Season Backlash

The divisive final season of Game of Thrones brought with it a ton of criticism from fans, particularly surrounding the storyline of Daenerys Targaryen, played by Emilia Clarke. Many were upset that the show’s creators, D.B. Weiss and David Benioff, seemed to rush Dany’s character development.

Now the Mother of Dragons herself is speaking out about the controversy. The 32-year-old actress recently sat down for an interview with The Daily Telegraph and was asked what she thought about fans' reactions. The ever-so-sweet Clarke responded:

“I was too busy focusing on my own reactions to really pay too much attention, if any at all. The only thing I felt truthfully sad about was that [executive producers] David [Benioff] and Dan [Weiss] are my really good friends, and so it’s for them that I feel heartbreak, because it’s theirs.”

Though the Last Christmas star does feel bad for her former bosses, she also acknowledged that fans have a right to be upset, explaining, “Everyone is going to have their own opinion and they’re fully entitled to them. It’s art and it’s to be dissected and taken on in whatever individual way you wish...I truly believe we would never have made everyone happy.”

It seems that the Clarke isn’t so keen on reading reviews about herself, either. She shared in the same interview:

“I don’t Google myself; I don’t read reviews. Which makes it sounds like I’ve got my s**t together, but it doesn’t help me to hear someone say, ‘You’re great,’ and it doesn’t help me to hear someone say, ‘Hey, you piece of s**t, why are you so fat?’ Those are the extremes you deal with when you read about yourself on the internet, so I simply don’t.”

Though the ending was disappointing for many GoT fans, I think we can all agree that Clarke will forever be a queen.