Game of Thrones season 8, episode 4 director says he’s scared about what Daenerys does next

David Nutter fuelled speculations Daenerys Targaryen will become the Mad Queen

WARNING: Spoilers for Game of Thrones season 8, episode 4

The director of Game of Thrones‘s latest episode fuelled speculations Daenerys Targaryen (Emilia Clarke) will become the Mad Queen by the final episode.

David Nutter, who directed “The Last of the Starks” and is also known for overseeing season three’s infamous Red Wedding, shared a few tantalising details of Daenerys’s character development to The New York Times.

“There’s really the sense that her character is getting a sense of isolation. Realizing that Jorah Mormont is no longer there,” he said.” That moment of overhearing Tormund talking about how Jon is a king because he jumped on a dragon and fought with a dragon, when she’s done that multiple times and she’s not being recognised for it. I think it’s an interesting reference point for her character to deal with.”

He said that, by the end of the sequence, Daenerys has “a real sense of determination” about what to do and an “almost calm, cool, collected quality about her”. Praising Clarke’s performance, he added: “There is an anger that comes out of Emilia, out of Dany’s character, at the end of this episode that I’ve never seen out of Dany before. I’m actually quite scared about what she’s going to do next!”

Ever since fans learned that Daenerys was the daughter of Aerys Targaryen, the Mad King, they have speculated that she may one day follow in his footsteps. The showrunners have teased this outcome since season six, when Daenerys gradually stopped talking about freeing slaves and instead decided to focus on taking the Iron Throne.

Missandei’s last word – “Dracarys” – teases Daenerys becoming the Mad Queen. Her father, Aerys, attempted to burn down King’s Landing after being driven mad. “Dracarys” is the high Valyrian word for Dragonfire, and is used by Daenerys as an instruction for Drogon to wreak havoc on their enemies. Could Daenerys be about to turn King’s Landing to ash?

“The Last of the Starks” was described as “an oddly structured and not hugely satisfying episode” by The Independent‘s critic. The fourth episode of the show’s final season also saw Daenerys (Clarke) suffer some devastating losses after arriving in King’s Landing to face Cersei Lannister (Headey).

You can watch the intense new trailer for the penultimate episode of the show here.

The final season of Game of Thrones continues every Sunday. The show is available on Sky Atlantic and NOW TV in the UK.