The Game of Thrones Ending Emilia Clarke Will Never Forget: ‘I Wanted Those Dragon Eggs!’

After eight seasons of captivating viewers as Daenerys Targaryen, the Mother of Dragons, Emilia Clarke left Game of Thrones with a profound sense of pride in her iconic role—but also a touch of regret. While the series garnered critical acclaim and unforgettable moments, Clarke admitted that there’s one thing she wished she had taken from the set: a piece of the legendary world she helped bring to life.

In an Actors on Actors interview with Regina Hall for Variety, Clarke opened up about her one regret from her time on the show. “I didn’t take anything, and I deeply regret it, and I’m very annoyed,” she confessed. “I’m really hoping that the showrunners give me a dragon. I need my smelly socks. I think I did take those.”

Her desire for a dragon was hardly out of left field. After all, Daenerys’ dragons were integral to her character’s journey—those very dragons were what made her the ‘Mother of Dragons’ and helped shape the political landscape of Westeros. However, despite their importance on screen, Clarke never took home one of the actual dragons, nor did she manage to snag other prized memorabilia.

In a more candid moment with People, she further expressed her disappointment over missing out on something truly symbolic—the dragon eggs, which played such a pivotal role in the early seasons. “I wanted to keep the eggs, dammit, but they weren’t giving them!” she shared. Those dragon eggs, which eventually hatched into the fearsome Drogon, Rhaegal, and Viserion, would have been a powerful memento from the show’s history. Yet, despite her desires, they remained firmly in the hands of the production.

While Clarke missed out on her personal keepsakes, Game of Thrones star Kit Harington, who portrayed Jon Snow, had a much more successful parting gift. On The Graham Norton Show, Harington revealed he managed to take home a statue of himself, which was used for promotional purposes during the final season. The statue was part of the teaser trailer showing the Stark children walking through the crypts of Winterfell and seeing statues of fallen characters. Though Harington wasn’t allowed to take his iconic sword, Longclaw, he was able to take the statue with him, a much larger and more unexpected gift.

Harington humorously explained, “They wouldn’t give me my sword, which I was very annoyed about, but I did keep a statue of myself. It’s big. That’s what I asked myself when I arrived, like, ‘What am I going to do with this?'” The statue, which was never used in the actual show, became a conversation piece, and Harington entertained ideas of repurposing it. “I’m either going to make a water feature out of it, or a shrine of some sort, or a scarecrow in a vegetable patch. There are a lot of things to do with it.” Typical Jon Snow humor.

While both stars had different experiences with what they took away from Game of Thrones, their reflections are a reminder of the deep connection actors form with their roles and the world they inhabit, even after the cameras stop rolling. Clarke’s desire for a piece of Daenerys’ world and Harington’s cheeky statue reveal how intertwined the actors are with their iconic characters, leaving a lasting impact long after the series’ conclusion.