Daenerys Targaryen’s late-in-the-game villain arc felt rushed and half-baked.

Five years ago, Game of Thrones‘ penultimate episode dropped and garnered immense controversy following Daenerys Targaryen’s villain turn, which fans felt was half-baked and rushed. While the entire final season encompassed such issues, The Bells was deemed by many the worst of them all, which saw Emilia Clarke’s Daenerys Targaryen wreak havoc in King’s Landing.

Even after half a decade since its release, the sentiment around The Bells hasn’t changed much, and the wound it inflicted on fans still remains fresh.

Fans Are Still Not Over Daenerys Targaryen’s Character Assassination

A Still from Game of Thrones (via HBO)
Daenerys Targaryen’s transformation from the Mother of all Dragons to a mad queen in The Bells was seen as out-of-character and jarring, which ultimately ruined her character for many fans. The episode sees her and Drogon burning King’s Landing to the ground, thus killing thousands of innocents in the process. This huge swing in the penultimate episode proved to be too much for many fans, and even after half a decade, fans still aren’t over it.

The Bells | Game of Thrones (via HBO)
While the storyline of her descent to madness wasn’t bad in itself, not giving it ample time to grow naturally but rushing it proved to be detrimental to Emilia Clarke‘s character.

Probably the worst episode in the entire series

— Alex Matthew (Golf Legend) (@alex_golflegend) May 12, 2024

Let’s not talk about season 8🤣

— Pyo 5️⃣ (@mrpyo1) May 12, 2024

They shouldn’t have rushed the last season

— ValiantReaper (@ValiantReaper) May 12, 2024

Disjointed and rushed.

The last season was mega-rushed.

The storyline itself isn’t necessarily bad, but needed more seasons to flesh out character development.

Stuff that would normally take multiple episodes or seasons was condensed into minutes.

— Charlie (@ghost_motley) May 12, 2024

We just pretend season 8 didn’t happen

— Josh (@JUchiha909) May 13, 2024

Fortunately, in 2022, House of the Dragon reinvigorated fans’ interest in the IP, which was seen as a major step up in quality compared to the conclusion of one of the most beloved shows in history.

Emilia Clarke Believes Daenerys Targaryen’s Death Was Unfair

While episode 5 left fans divided over Daenerys Targaryen’s villain turn, the GOT finale shocked them even further following her demise. In the wake of her late-in-the-game villain arc, Targaryen was stabbed to death by her lover Jon Snow, who reluctantly killed the strongest contender to the Iron Throne to prevent more massacres and destruction. But fans aren’t alone who were taken aback by the surprising end to Targaryen’s journey, as Emilia Clarke herself was left astonished by the twist, as it came out of nowhere.

Speaking of her shocking death, Emilia Clarke stressed that Targaryen didn’t deserve to die, stressing, “It’s not fair that Jon gets to live.”
Emilia Clarke | Game of Thrones (HBO)
She told DIF London:

“I still think Daenerys did nothing wrong. It’s not fair that Jon gets to live. I want Daenerys with him. With Jon. They could go to family therapy and fix their issues. Daenerys is a very hopeful character. She has a lot of hopes, and I wished that she was able to achieve that.”

It doesn’t seem the public sentiment towards The Bells and season 8 in general is going to change anytime soon. But on the bright side, with House of the Dragons becoming a major success for the IP, fans are excited to see how the story further unfolds in the second season.