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Emilia Clarke and Emma D’Arcy’s Emmys Reunion Turned Into the Best ‘Game of Thrones’ Moment in Years

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Fantasy franchises rarely get a clean handoff between generations of stars, but the world of Westeros has managed to pull off something close to it. Between the original series and its prequel, HBO has spent years building a shared universe that fans can’t help but compare across timelines, especially when it comes to its most powerful female characters.

That comparison played out in an unexpectedly fun way during this year’s Emmy Awards, where two actresses closely tied to that dynasty found themselves sharing a stage together for the first time. Fans of a certain dragon-heavy fantasy franchise had spent years imagining a moment like this, and Monday night finally delivered it.

Emilia Clarke and Emma D’Arcy appeared together at the Peacock Theater to present the award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie, and the pairing quickly turned into one of the night’s most talked-about segments. Clarke famously played Daenerys Targaryen across all eight seasons of ‘Game of Thrones,’ while D’Arcy currently stars as Rhaenyra Targaryen in the prequel series ‘House of the Dragon,’ set hundreds of years before the original show’s events.

Rather than simply walking through the nominees, the two leaned fully into their shared fictional lineage. “And in honour of our shared Targaryen lineage, Emilia is going to address you in High Valyrian, our mother tongue, and I will translate,” D’Arcy said to open the bit, live on NBC.

Clarke then delivered a line in High Valyrian, the constructed language created by linguist David J. Peterson specifically for the HBO fantasy adaptations, drawing immediate cheers from the crowd inside the theater. D’Arcy followed by translating the phrase for the audience, revealing that Clarke had simply said “Good evening,” a reveal that got its own wave of laughter.

The bit didn’t stop there, with D’Arcy jokingly referring to Clarke as their “great-great-great-great-really-great-granddaughter,” playing into the generational gap between their two characters within the franchise’s sprawling timeline. Cameras even caught ‘Game of Thrones’ co-creator David Benioff reacting from the audience as the moment unfolded.

Once the presenting duties wrapped up, the award ultimately went to Sally Field for her performance in ‘Remarkably Bright Creatures,’ beating out fellow nominees Claire Danes, Carey Mulligan, Sarah Pidgeon, and Sarah Snook. None of this year’s nominees, notably, shared any connection to the Targaryen family the presenters had just spent several minutes celebrating.

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Part of what made the moment land so well was the fact that ‘House of the Dragon’ itself was completely absent from this year’s Emmy nominations, largely due to scheduling rather than snub. The show’s third season didn’t begin airing until June 2026, placing it outside the eligibility window for this particular ceremony.

Fans have long drawn comparisons between Daenerys and Rhaenyra given their shared status as powerful women from a dragon-riding dynasty, though D’Arcy has previously pushed back on treating the two characters as interchangeable. Seeing both actresses share the stage together, playfully embracing that connection rather than avoiding it, gave longtime viewers exactly the crossover moment they didn’t know they needed.

For a franchise that’s spent years living in two separate corners of the same universe, Monday night offered a rare reminder of just how much overlap still exists between them.

What did you think of Emilia Clarke and Emma D’Arcy’s Targaryen reunion?

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