Emilia Clarke Has Defended How Daenerys Reacted To Jon Snow’s Revelation On ‘Game Of Thrones’

This week’s Game of Thrones episode finally delivered on some morning-after-style news that’s been nearly two years in the making. That is to say, fans have looked forward to seeing how Jon Snow and Daenerys Targaryen would handle the news of his actual identity, Aegon Targaryen. Yep, Dany and Jon are related (she’s his auntie) and have been unknowingly engaging in an incestuous sexual relationship. Once the truth came out — to Jon from Samwell via Bran — it turns out that neither is all that disturbed by the incest thing. He’s more shaken about Ned Stark lying to him, and she put a strategic spin on this information.

This freaked out some fans a little bit, although to be fair, people aren’t really surprised — they’re more amused by the absurdity of the situation. Folks realize that compared to, say, Cersei and Jaime Lannister, Jon and Dany’s union is fairly tame, and Emilia Clarke now backs this notion up. While speaking to Entertainment Weekly, the actress confirmed that Dany hasn’t blinked an eye over the incest factor, and Clarke defends her character’s stance:

“The related thing, to her, is so normal. She could have easily married her brother. It’s not a thing. It’s a thing for Jon, but let’s just forget about that. The main thing is we’re up for the same promotion and I’ve been working for it for my entire existence … Since birth! Dany literally was brought into this world going: RUN! These f–ers [in Westeros] have f–ed everything up. Now it’s, ‘You’re our only hope.’ There’s so much she’s taken on in her duty in life to rectify. There’s so much she’s seen and witnessed and been through and lost and suffered and hurt to get here … and Jon doesn’t even want it!”

Case closed, for those who had any remaining doubt on Dany’s motivations. Even though some fans might still get the shivers, she’s not stressing over any ickiness because sleeping with a relative simply isn’t icky in Westeros.

Of course, it remains to be seen whether Dany instantly lost her love for Jon upon hearing that he’s got a higher claim to the Iron Throne than she does. This could also be a moot point depending on what happens during the Battle of Winterfell. One or both members of this couple might die, and hell, everyone could bite it except for Tyrion. That would really be something, especially given that no one, fandomwise, seems to be rooting for Tyrion over the past few weeks. Maybe the Thrones team would enjoy pulling the rug out from under us like that. Just Tyrion and his wine, you know. The poor guy wouldn’t even die the way he wants to go out, after all that buildup. Now, that’s bleak.