Game Of Thrones Season 3: 10 Actors Who Knocked It Out The Park

7. Emilia Clarke €“ Daenerys Targaryen

Daenerys

It€™s safe to say that Daenerys didn€™t have the best second season. While her first season had a clear dramatic arc, she spent the majority of her time in Qarth looking vaguely confused before locking a conman in a safe. It€™s not the most dramatic thing to ever happen, is what I€™m saying. But damn, did season three ever make that up to us. We€™ve all been aware that Emilia Clarke is good actress €“ you don€™t pick up a gig as huge as this as a first-timer without being astoundingly talented €“ but when her character is in a position where she lacks any real power, her earnest, forceful line delivery makes her hard to sympathise with. Yet season three gave her the power, and in spade-loads... Yes, this was the season we got to see Daenerys actually achieve real power. Gone are the days where she had to live vicariously through her husband, or when she was the head of a travelling Dothraki freak show. The mother of dragons now has an actual army, and Clarke carried off her new-found confidence brilliantly, with authority now coursing through her honeyed words. Even when she has to speak in a completely different language, you can always buy that this is a woman you do not cross. More than any other character, Danaerys has to be viewed in the context of all three seasons. Clarke€™s done extremely well in making her transformation from quivering waif to battle-hardened Queen-Messiah look believable, and for that she deserves the highest praise.
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Durham University graduate and qualified sports journalist. Very good at sitting down and watching things. Can multi-task this with playing computer games. Football Manager addict who has taken Shrewsbury Town to the summit of the Premier League. You can follow me at @Ed_OwenUK, if you like ramblings about Newcastle United and A Place in the Sun. If you don't, I don't know what I can do for you.