For years, Game of Thrones fans assumed the show's principal cast was earning fortunes from the franchise, forcing Emilia Clarke to step in and temper the exaggeration by revealing that such high pay was just a myth. It is an easy assumption to understand. This was a television phenomenon that still shapes discussions about the medium's greatest achievements. Given its enormous popularity, many viewers believed the leading stars were pocketing at least an estimated $300,000 per episode.

According to Emilia Clarke, the Mother of Dragons herself,  however, those estimates appear to be far from reality.

While talking to Variety, Emilia Clarke revealed that the massive paychecks that fans had assumed were facts were actually exaggerated.  Yes, she did earn a fortune from the show, but not in the $ 300,000-per-episode kind of way. Especially for Clarke, who underwent two major, life-threatening brain surgeries to treat ruptured aneurysms during the early years of Game of Thrones.

“We did not earn that much.” With that blunt correction, the actress behind Daenerys Targaryen dismantled one of the fandom's longest-running assumptions. Clarke even joked that if the reports had been accurate, she would have been driving “a couple of Porsches.” For the performer, the reality was considerably less extravagant than the public imagined.

While the money was not quite as eye-popping as many believed, the fantasy epic still transformed Clarke's life. The earnings she did receive were enough to pay off her parents' mortgage, a milestone she clearly treasures. Yet the worldwide fame attached to the role proved far more complicated, leaving the actress both puzzled and overwhelmed as her profile skyrocketed.

“I have gone through every circuitous route to get to the place that I am now,” Clarke reflected while looking back on the experience. The Mother of Dragons explained that she has finally reached a point where gratitude outweighs any lingering frustrations. Rather than feeling trapped by the series' legacy, she now "very grateful for everything that Game of Thrones did and has" given her.

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While this revelation may be almost as surprising as newly released Game of Thrones footage, fans will hardly be shocked to learn that the Mother of Dragons kept her pay on par with her male co-stars.

One aspect of the salary conversation that has aged remarkably well is the show's commitment to pay equality among its leading stars. In 2015, Emilia Clarke joined Kit Harington, Peter Dinklage, Lena Headey, and Nikolaj Coster-Waldau in negotiating as a unified group rather than as competing individuals. Their collective approach secured an identical baseline pay structure, ensuring that the series' top performers were compensated on equal terms.

For Clarke, that arrangement meant never having to wage a separate fight for equal pay. The actress has credited HBO for treating the central ensemble with the same financial respect once their storylines became equally essential to the fantasy epic. In the end, while Game of Thrones may not have made its stars quite as wealthy as fans imagined, it did leave behind a notably equitable pay legacy.

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Were you surprised by Emilia Clarke's revelation about Game of Thrones' cast's salaries? Let us know in the comments!