HBO Nathalie Emmanuel aka Missandei
Some fans didn’t quite catch what Missandei said at the end of Game of Thrones Season 8 Episode 4 tonight. Here’s a quick look back at that defining moment. WARNING: This post will have major spoilers for Game of Thrones Season 8 Episode 4, including the ending.
At the end of the episode, Daenerys and her small group (consisting of a few remaining Unsullied, Grey Worm, and Tyrion) came to King’s Landing to face Cersei and try to talk sense into her rather than burning the city and innocents inside.
But they arrived to see scorpion weapons all across the wall and Cersei standing at the top, Euron behind her, and The Mountain standing dangerously close to sweet Missandei.
Missandei has always been kindhearted. She told Grey Worm that her people don’t even know how to defend themselves.
But after Tyrion essentially begged Cersei to not start a war and let Missandei go, Cersei told Missandei to say her last words. We expected Missandei to say something sweet, perhaps words of love to Grey Worm or words of hope to her best friend Daenerys.
Instead, Missandei simply said: “Dracarys.”
“Dracarys”
This is the phrase Dany says whenever she orders Drogon to light someone or something on fire. It’s what Dany has used time and time again to put her enemies in their place and light them up. It means “burn them.” Or as was said in the Behind the Scenes episode for Season 8 Episode 4: “Light them up.”
Those words are why Daenerys will ultimately try to burn everything in King’s Landing. It won’t be because she’s gone mad like the Mad King, her father, when he said BURN THEM ALL. It will be in response to her best friend’s last words. It will be in an attempt to stop a Mad Queen who already tried to kill her own subjects with wildfire. It will be an attempt to stop even more senseless death that would happen if Cersei lives.
I don’t personally believe that Daenerys is going mad. And I believe that Missandei’s last words are proof of that. Missandei isn’t mad, she’s kindhearted. But what happened was enough for her to pronounce “Dracarys” upon everyone at King’s Landing.