To call Game of Thrones' final season and ending controversial would be the understatement of the century. While most fans agree that the first four to six seasons still hold up as some of the best television ever made, the last two seasons solidified a very different legacy for the series. Anytime Game of Thrones is brought up these days, former fans are sure to mention the show's disastrous ending and rushed pacing.

Fan-favorite Daenerys Targaryen arguably received the worst ending in the show, burning down King's Landing in Season 8, Episode 5 and fully embracing her role as the "Mad Queen." Even Dany's actress, Emilia Clarke, had major problems with her character's ending. In a recent interview with The New York Times, Emilia Clarke said she was done with dragons altogether, shutting down any possible return to the Game of Thrones franchise. "You’re highly unlikely to see me get on a dragon, or even in the same frame as a dragon, ever again."

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Kit Harrington is done playing Jon Snow, and with the Game of Thrones series for good – " I spent 10 years doing that. Thanks, I’m alright."

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By Renan Fontes

This isn't the first time Emilia Clarke has expressed dissatisfaction with Daenery's ending. Although Emilia Clarke stressed that she "stands by Daenerys," she also told Entertainment Weekly that Dany's ending made her cry and that she "absolutely never saw it coming." Clarke has even sympathized with fans, saying, "I get why people why people were pissed." Daenery's ending is a major reason for Game of Thrones not sticking the landing in the eyes of many viewers, so for Clarke to share the same concerns fans did only adds more fuel to the wildfire that is GoT's divisive ending.

Emilia Clarke Didn't Feel Mad Queen Dany's Ending Was Properly Set Up

In her interview with Entertainment Weekly following the end of Game of Thrones, Emilia Clarke made it very clear she did not understand Daenery's descent into madness during the final season. "It comes out of f****** nowhere. I’m flabbergasted." James Hibberd's Fire Cannot Kill a Dragon, a tell-all book detailing Game of Thrones' production from before the series began all the way to the final episode, revealed that showrunners David Benioff and D.B. Weiss never actually told Emilia Clarke the direction Daenerys' character was going in.

The logic behind this decision stemmed from Benioff and Weiss wanting Emilia Clarke to play Daenerys with the belief that she was a hero, good person, and liberator for the world – as that's how Daenerys sees herself, even at her lowest point. Not helping matters is that Dany's most aggressive and volatile actions in Game of Thrones are taken against genuinely evil characters like slavers, racists, and lords who take advantage of inequality.

George RR Martin, Tyrion Lannister from Game of Thrones, and Ser Duncan the Tall From A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms

George R.R. Martin Reveals He’ll Write More Game of Thrones Stories ‘If I Have The Time’

GRRM confirmed "there’s more stories to tell about Dunk and Egg, and their education, and what’s going to befall them in future years."

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By Renan Fontes

On an acting level, this does work. Emilia Clarke plays Daenerys phenomenally well, and Season 8 is arguably her best performance in the entire show – standing out as one of the few savings graces in Game of Thrones' final season. Unfortunately, this secrecy over Dany's ending and mindset had a negative effect on Clarke herself. Emilia Clarke once told The Telegraph, "[Playing Daenerys has] given me a real insight into what it feels like to be a woman who stands up to inequality and hate." How she played her character was completely at odds with what the showrunners envisioned, all the way up to the final season.

Every Time Game of Thrones Foreshadowed Mad Queen Dany – & Why It Still Didn't Work

Game of Thrones Season One Drogo And Daenerys

Here's the thing, though: Game of Thrones does foreshadow and set up Mad Queen Dany from as early as Season 1. Daenerys burning Mirri Maz Duur alive feels justified because the audience is rooting for Dany, but this doesn't change the fact she is essentially killing a woman who was assaulted, enslaved, and forced to watch her entire community get killed by the Dothraki. In Season 2, Dany immediately threatens to burn down Qaarth when she doesn't get what she wants.

In Seasons 3 through 5, Daenerys causes turmoil throughout Essos by conquering city after city without instilling proper ruling or understanding their cultures. In Season 6, Daenerys invokes Drogo's speech from Season 1 about conquering Westeros, "Will you kill my enemies in their iron suits and tear down their stone houses?" In Season 7, Daenerys refuses to take political prisoners and kills everyone who opposes her. The issue isn't a lack of set-up, though; it's a lack of time.

Duncan the Tall vs Lyonel, and Lyonel Baratheon in A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms

A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms Could Run For 10 Seasons, Longer Than Game of Thrones

George R.R. Martin gave A Knight of the Seven Kingdom's showrunner 10 to 12 outlines so HBO can finish the series before GRRM writes more books.

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By Renan Fontes

There are only 13 episodes between Seasons 7 and 8, which means the story has to move very fast, essentially only focusing on the action. This means there is less time to sit with Daenerys as a character and understand her motivations, both from an audience perspective and for Emilia Clarke herself. By the time Game of Thrones hits Season 8, Episode 5 and Dany burns down King's Landing, everything simply feels too rushed and Dany's slip into madness comes off unearned.

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