'Game of Thrones' Star Nathalie Emmanuel Says She's 'Proud' of Show's 'Hopeful' Ending

As a Game of Thrones star, you have to prepare yourself for bitter conclusions, but for Nathalie Emmanuel, the show’s end also brought her a lot of pride.

The 30-year-old English actress played Missandei, interpreter and advisor to Emilia Clarke‘s character, Daenerys Targaryen, in the HBO series.

Emmanuel recently opened up to People about her experiences playing Missandei, and what she thought of the divisive ending. She explained:

“Reading the final episode, I felt hopeful when I read it…I thought, ‘This sounds like the beginnings of democracy in Westeros.’ It’s such a hard plane to land at the end of the day, because everybody, they’re all very wrapped up in the characters and stories. Everyone has their favorite. No one is going to love everything that you do. And whilst keeping everybody happy, I just didn’t see that as being possible. But I think that they ended it in such a lovely way. I very proud of it.”

Though fans were upset with the way the show ended, no one can dispute that Missandei’s death was both fierce and heartbreaking.

Emmanuel added of her character, “She definitely went out with strength and she went out with a ferocity that we probably hadn’t seen from her before…I was very proud of her journey throughout the show.”