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Emilia Clarke was heartbroken by the response to the ‘Game Of Thrones’ finale

Emilia Clarke as Daenerys Targaryen
Emilia Clarke as Daenerys Targaryen

Emilia Clarke has finally opened up about the divisive ending to the final season of Game Of Thrones, insisting that while she didn’t pay too much attention to the negative responses she was heartbroken for showrunners David Benioff and D.B. Weiss.

Speaking to Stellar Magazine, via the Daily Mail, Clarke, who portrayed Daenerys Targaryen throughout all eight seasons of Game Of Thrones, recently admitted, “I was too busy focusing on my own reactions to really pay too much attention, if any at all.”

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“The only thing I felt truthfully sad about was that David and Dan are my really good friends, and so it's for them that I feel heartbreak, because it's theirs.”

For those of you that can’t remember, after watching Daenerys Targaryen vow to become the good and moral leader of Westeros over the course of eight seasons, in the penultimate episode she decided to burn the city down to the ground with her dragons. This provoked a furious response from fans, who saw it as a betrayal.

SAN FRANCISCO, CA - MARCH 23: (L-R) David Benioff, Richard Plepler, Emilia Clarke and Dan Weiss attend HBO's "Game Of Thrones" Season 5 San Francisco Premiere at San Francisco Opera House on March 23, 2015 in San Francisco, California. (Photo by Steve Jennings/WireImage)
SAN FRANCISCO, CA - MARCH 23: (L-R) David Benioff, Richard Plepler, Emilia Clarke and Dan Weiss attend HBO's "Game Of Thrones" Season 5 San Francisco Premiere at San Francisco Opera House on March 23, 2015 in San Francisco, California. (Photo by Steve Jennings/WireImage)

Despite the reaction to the final episodes, Clarke is still obviously delighted to have been involved in Game Of Thrones, which, lest we forget, was critically acclaimed up until is final run of episodes.

Clarke is especially delighted because of the financial freedom that reportedly being paid $500,000 an episode has provided her. “There is an absolute freedom that Thrones has given me - a gift-wrapped present in a little bow saying, 'You're now financially secure enough to not have to panic, so what do you want to do?’”

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“That kind of freedom is wonderful. I could never see it during the time I was filming, because I was too close to it.”

You can see Clarke next in the rom-com Last Christmas, which is being released on November 15.