Back in March, actor Ian McShane ruffled some feathers when he referred to Game of Thrones as a show about “t-ts and dragons.”
While some fans understandably felt that explanation was a tad simplistic, the show has gotten a lot of mileage out of both exposed breasts and fire-breathing beasts in the past.
Throughout the first third of Season 6, however, we saw very little of either, a fact the show partially made up for on last night’s episode.
Not only were we treated to a scene of fiery badass vengeance, we witnessed the triumphant return of Emilia Clarke’s boobs.
Given Clarke’s stance on Game of Thrones nudity, many assumed the scene was shot with the help of a body double and some CGI wizardry.
It’s a technique the show famously used during Lena Headey’s walk of shame in Season 5.
However, in this case, it seems Dany’s breasts have little in common with her dragons:
Not only are they far more reliable in a crisis, they’re real life flesh and blood.
Yes, despite seemingly swearing off nude scenes several years ago, Clarke bared her literally smoking body once again last night.
She even confirmed that what we saw was 100% her in a pre-show interview with Entertainment Weekly:
“I’d like to remind people the last time I took my clothes off was season 3,” she told the mag.
“That was a while ago. It’s now season 6. But this is all me, all proud, all strong. I’m just feeling genuinely happy I said ‘Yes.’ That ain’t no body double!”
Despite the fact that it looked as though hundreds of stunned Dothraki were looking on, Clarke said the scene was actually shot on a closed set with a skeleton crew.
“Taking off my clothes is not the easiest thing, but with the magic of the effects, I don’t have to do a season 1 and go on a cliff and do it,” she noted. “I’m in control of it.”
Last year, Clarke clarified her position on sex scenes, saying that she was comfortable disrobing on camera, but didn’t want to be defined by it:
“It’s difficult to be misquoted and it’s nice to have something like Instagram to say the truth,” Clarke says. “How many times has [Daario actor] Michiel Huisman been asked about the fact he’s taken his clothes off a bunch?
“Is that even a discussion? No. So I’m doing it this year and people can talk about it and I’m ready to answer any questions about it, basically.”
So there you have it. Maybe now that the nudity is out of the way, we can focus on the fact that Badass Dany is back, bringing foes to their knees without the help of her trusty dragons.
Watch Game of Thrones online to relive all of the show’s stunning climaxes … and yes, there’s plenty of boobs and dragons, too.
