Kit Harington and Emilia Clarke Weigh in on Their Characters' Big Meeting on 'Game of Thrones'

"He walks into the room and doesn't expect to see such a beautiful young woman of similar age to him."

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(Image credit: HBO)

This post contains spoilers for Game of Thrones Season 7, episode 3, "The Queen's Justice."

After seven long seasons, Jon Snow and Daenerys Targaryen (AKA ice and fire) finally met on this week's Game of Thrones—but their meeting wasn't as fiery or as icy as many expected it would be. It was mostly...well, strained and awkward.

In a new interview with Entertainment Weekly, Kit Harington and Emilia Clarke, who play Jon and Dany on the HBO hit, weighed in on their characters' long-awaited, highly-anticipated meeting.

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"I predicted, like everyone, they would meet this season, but I don't think I predicted it quite as quickly," Harington said. "But then again, you've got to take yourself out of the mindset of the viewer. As far as Jon knows, he's just meeting this queen he's heard of and trying to negotiate with her—he's not meeting Daenerys, who the audience has been watching for so many years. That helps with the surprise of it. He walks into the room and doesn't expect to see such a beautiful young woman of similar age to him. Any young man's reaction is going to be, 'Okay…' but he puts that aside, because he has to."

Clarke also saw the meeting coming, but she was more concise in her assessment of the situation: Dany does not like Jon.

"I had an idea it was coming this season, sure," she explained. "It was fun to play—she doesn't like him and she doesn't believe him."

Sorry, Dany/Jon shippers, those love at first sight wishes definitely didn't come true.

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Contributing Editor at Marie Claire

Kayleigh Roberts is a freelance writer and editor with over 10 years of professional experience covering entertainment of all genres, from new movie and TV releases to nostalgia, and celebrity news. Her byline has appeared in Marie Claire, Cosmopolitan, ELLE, Harper’s Bazaar, The Atlantic, Allure, Entertainment Weekly, MTV, Bustle, Refinery29, Girls’ Life Magazine, Just Jared, and Tiger Beat, among other publications. She's a graduate of the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University.