It took Game Of Thrones until Episode 4 of its final season to decide that Missandei (Nathalie Emmanuel), a key advisor and longtime friend to Daenerys Targaryen (Emilia Clarke), ought to cark it. Five seasons is a solid innings in HBO‘s brutal and bloody world, but her final word – “dracarys” – seems likely to have a serious impact for the rest of the series.
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In case you missed it, Missandei was captured by the forces of Cersei Lannister (Lena Headey) during an ill-advised attack on King’s Landing. Tyrion Lannister (Peter Dinklage) was unable to negotiate with his estranged sister and argue for Missandei’s freedom, meaning she was dragged up to the top of a wall and beheaded.
Just before that, Cersei asked if Missandei had any last words. She uttered the d-word – most often used by Daenerys to spur her dragons (now dragon, singular), to incinerate whatever is in front of her.
Emmanuel took to Twitter shortly after the episode aired to type the word one last time:
“Dracarys”
— Nathalie Emmanuel (@missnemmanuel) May 6, 2019
An hour later, she returned with three words to sum up the situation:
Aka “Burn the bish” 😂🤣
— Nathalie Emmanuel (@missnemmanuel) May 6, 2019
We’re entering big, burly spoiler territory here, but there’s evidence Missandei’s final word and her death will drive Daenerys to follow the footsteps of her father.
Before the events of Game Of Thrones, ‘Mad King’ Aerys Targeryen (portrayed briefly in the show by David Rintoul) was this close to blowing up King’s Landing with wildfire. He was only stopped by Jaime ‘Kingslayer’ Lannister (Nicolai Coster-Waldau), and everyone kind of swore not to let a Targaryen near the Iron Throne again after that.
Obviously that’s changed with the emergence of Aerys’ daughter Daenerys as a real contender, but the parallels are telling. We now have a Targaryen leader, in King’s Landing, with the capability to produce bulk fire and the opportunity to seek vengeance on the house which killed her dad.
Emmanuel herself has suggested Missandei’s death will set Daenerys over the edge. Speaking to Entertainment Weekly about her character’s final scene, she said “It seems likely to push Daenerys to a scary level.”
Aka, “burn the bish.”
Will Daenerys emulate her dad – and will those surrounding her hatch another desperate plan to stop a fire-based disaster? Dunno. We’ll have to wait and see.
