‘Game of Thrones’: One of Emilia Clarke’s Most Epic Scenes as Daenerys Resurfaces

Game of Thrones is back in the headlines this week, and with it comes Daenerys Targaryen‘s infamous “Dracarys” scene. HBO is celebrating the 10-year anniversary of the acclaimed high fantasy show all month long, and fans are getting in on the action. The day “The Iron Anniversary” was announced, this fan-favorite scene from Season 3, Episode 4, “And Now His Watch is Ended,” went viral on social media.

The scene comes right at the end of the episode and represents one of Daenerys’ (Emilia Clarke) most triumphant moments in the whole series. After losing her husband, hatching her dragons, surviving “the red waste” and escaping the warlocks of Qarth, she then faces off with a rude slave-trader in the city of Astapor. In their conversations up until now, the slaver assumed Daenerys could not speak Valyrian, and she did not correct him, allowing Missandei to translate between them. She agreed to trade one of her dragons, Drogon, for Missandei and an army of 10,000 slaves called Unsullied.

Only once the trade was official did Daenerys speak in Valyrian, revealing that she had understood all the hateful things the slaver had said about her. As the slaver complained that the dragon was hard to control, Daenerys said: “A dragon is not a slave.” She then told the astonished man that she had “the blood of Old Valyria — Valyrian is my mother tongue.”

With that, Daenerys ordered her new slave armies to revolt and slaughter their former masters, while she ordered Drogon to burn the slaver holding his chain with the fan-favorite command: “Dracarys.” The scene is one of the fans’ favorite moments for Daenerys, as she uses her immense power to free a whole city full of slaves. However, considering how the series ended in 2019, some now look back on it wistfully, believing it was meant to foreshadow Daenerys’ “madness.”

HBO is hoping fans will re-live high points like this throughout April, with “MaraThrone” marathons, virtual events, giveaways and other celebrations to mark the 10-year anniversary of Game of Thrones premiere. However, the social media commentary remains focused on the disappointment of the last season or two, and fans’ anger at the writers.

Many are still holding out hopes for the books, where they expect some things to end differently — particularly for Daenerys. Author George R.R. Martin has reported steady progress on The Winds of Winter on his blog throughout the coronavirus pandemic. Meanwhile, Daenerys fans are looking forward to the prequel series, House of the Dragon, which will detail a civil war between the queen’s ancestors. The show is expected to premiere in 2022.