Here's Exactly What Dany Was Thinking In Game Of Thrones' Penultimate Episode

The most recent episode of Game of Thrones had fans reeling — especially those happily following Daenerys Targaryen (Emilia Clarke).


The Mother of Dragons had a major about-face on the penultimate episode of Season 8, and the world wide web was positively riddled with mixed reactions to the carnage that went down. Right now, one of the show's directors and creators have spoken up about what was going through Dany's head moments before she walked the path of the Upset Queen.


Warning: This article contains major spoilers for Game of Thrones Season 8.


As a reminder, right after Dany's army proudly marched into King's Landing and promptly made a disaster of things, the Lannister army surrendered almost immediately. They knew they had no chance of winning this battle, ringing out the bells to signify their intentions. That wasn't enough for Dany or Grey Worm, as both determined they were going to start slaughtering just about each person in the area, including innocent people.


It was a moment where it appeared Dany had gone off the deep end like Aerys Targaryen, the Angry King before her, and the complete scene had fans scratching their heads, because the character has been mostly a much more even-toned and rational decision-maker while in the rest of the series.


In a new behind-the-scenes featurette, the episode's director Miguel Sapochnik spoke piece of Dany's thought process while in the complete thing.


"She feels empty," he says of her victory. "It wasn't what she thought it was. It's not enough."


"She is aware she has won this war. It’s in that moment any time while she makes the choice to create this personalized D.B. Weiss, one of the show's creators, explained further.


"Ultimately, she is who she is, and that’s a Targaryen,” mentioned creator David Benioff. “She has mentioned repeatedly while in the show, ‘I will take what is mine with fire and blood,’ and in this episode, she does it." Emilia Clarke herself was on board to chat about her character's divisive actions as well, noting that Dany had been feeling quite alone in the moment, making her triumph ultimately feel order kind of hollow.


"Every single thing that’s led her to this point, and there she is, alone."


Ultimately, it's still quite an outlandish move, even with these motivations spelled out for Dany, especially as she's been spending much of her time in the series doing her best to avoid turning out like Aerys. Nevertheless with the final episode teasing a possible ultimate victory for her, we'll have to be able to see where this wild ride lands us.


Game of Thrones' final episode is set to air on Sunday, May 19.