"She doesn’t like him" – Emilia Clarke on *that* big Game of Thrones season 7 meeting

News
By published

We thought this day would never come: Daenerys and Jon Snow standing face-to-face with the fate of Westeros at stake. Game of Thrones season 7 has certainly brought its A-game thus far in terms of fan-pleasing moments and, yet, two of Westeros’ key figures didn’t exactly hit it off from the get-go.

The stoic Jon Snow and, uhh, the equally stoic Dany seem like a match made in heaven (in Thrones terms at least) but, as Emilia Clarke explains to EW, it was never going to be sunshine and lollipops for two people who have two very different goals in mind: “I had an idea it was coming this season, sure. It was fun to play — she doesn’t like him and she doesn’t believe him.”

Kit Harington, though, has a different opinion of the Mother of Dragons, reckoning Jon was struck by her beauty more than anything (hint, hint?) and that Jon isn’t as much of a Dany fanboy as those of us watching at home.

“You’ve got to take yourself out of the mindset of the viewer,” Harington warns. “As far as Jon knows, he’s just meeting this queen he’s heard of and trying to negotiate with her — he’s not meeting Daenerys, who the audience has been watching for so many years. That helps with the surprise of it. He walks into the room and doesn’t expect to see such a beautiful young woman of similar age to him. Any young man’s reaction is going to be, ‘Okay…’ but he puts that aside, because he has to.”

The desire to have the pair hit it off straight away must have been strong for showrunners David Benioff and Dan Weiss too, but the drudgery of awkwardness in the face of a solution is something that Thrones does in its sleep, as Benioff states, “There isn’t instant chemistry. He’s annoying and she’s annoying and they have to figure out how to make peace.”

Bradley Russell
Bradley Russell
Senior Entertainment Writer

I'm the Senior Entertainment Writer here at GamesRadar+, focusing on news, features, and interviews with some of the biggest names in film and TV. On-site, you'll find me marveling at Marvel and providing analysis and room temperature takes on the newest films, Star Wars and, of course, anime. Outside of GR, I love getting lost in a good 100-hour JRPG, Warzone, and kicking back on the (virtual) field with Football Manager. My work has also been featured in OPM, FourFourTwo, and Game Revolution.