Emilia Clarke fans have jumped to her defense after she was maliciously targeted by trolls for her appearance in a newly shared photo.

Last week, the 36-year-old actress - best known for starring as Daenerys Targaryen in Game of Thrones - posted a photo on her Instagram page of her smiling and posing with a mug that reads, "You're doing f***ing great."

The brunette beauty captioned the snapshot: "Mum got me a mug. I felt it was important to share this newfound wisdom. Use it and reap the rewards."

One of the hashtags she used was "mycoldjustgotitsmedicine" - suggesting that a hot cup of tea will help fix the feverish cold she is battling.

At the time of writing, the photo garnered 2.4 million likes on the social media platform, with many of Clarke's followers immediately sharing their appreciation in the comments.

One user wrote: "Your smile is utterly infectious and quite beautiful.. Keep shinning you utter goddess x" (sic).

Another user said: "This is by far the most beautiful woman in [Hollywood]."

A third user commented: "Literally an angel on earth."

A fourth shared: "You've got the best smile."

But others were crueler, as one user named Jon Miller - going by the handle @MillerStream - went viral on Twitter after he shared a screenshot of Clarke's post and wrote: "Lmao wow Daenerys Targaryen didn’t just hit the wall she flew into it full speed on a dragon."

Upon seeing his vicious words, many users rallied behind the Me Before You actress and slammed the Twitter user, and opened up a conversation about the way society views women as they age.

One person pointed out: "This trend of shaming women for aging (which is uncontrollable and happens to everyone) is really weird."

Another user remarked: "Man learns for the very first time what 36-year-old women with no botox look like."

A third user stated: "It seems not a single person learned a thing from Chadwick Boseman’s condition and how he was essentially bullied for being sick.

"If you know anything about Emilia Clarke is that she’s survived something not many people do. Also, she looks perfectly fine, so I don’t get the hate," they added.

A fourth user chimed in and wrote: "She looks like a normal 36-year-old. Maybe a little weary but I'm sure dealing with 2 brain aneurysms takes a toll on you."

For those unaware, back in 2019, Clarke revealed in an essay for New Yorker that she suffered two brain aneurysms in 2011 and 2013 and had to get surgery to save her life.

"I’d never experienced fear like that - a sense of doom closing in. I could see my life ahead, and it wasn’t worth living. I am an actor; I need to remember my lines. Now I couldn’t recall my name," she wrote at the time.

Also, the Last Christmas star has an optimistic sentiment about aging. In an interview with Elle magazine - published two years ago - Clarke said that she is comfortable that her look mirrors the time that she has spent living.

"You've got this idea of aging, and then you've got the idea of what aging makes you look like. At 34, I am wiser, more intelligent, I've had more experiences, I've done all this stuff, and I'm proud of that," she explained at the time.

"You can only do that because you are the age you are. Time is the only thing allows you to do those things," she continued. "So, if my face is gonna reflect the time that I've spent on this earth, I'm down for that."

And those are words that we should all learn to live by.

Featured image credit: Sipa US / Alamy

The living might have emerged victorious from the Battle of Winterfell, but the bloodshed in the final season of Game of Thrones is far from over now that Daenerys has her eyes firmly fixed on the Iron Throne.

In the clip below, Emilia Clarke, who plays Daenerys, says she told one person how the series ends: 

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But having lost yet another one of her dragons in last week's episode, and unbeknownst to her, had more people discover Jon's true heritage and root for him to be king, things are not looking good for the Dragon Queen.

Even less so now that the first look pictures from episode five have been released...

Clearly, Jon and Sir Davos have seen something concerning on the battlefield.

Yes, yes, they most certainly have. The Golden Army is out in full force.

And the 20,000-member strong army are being led by the formidable Harry Strickland.

At least things look bleak for Euron Greyjoy.

Clearly, someone has given Daenerys some seriously bad news.

A vengeful Grey Worm. Who can blame him?

That's a look of concern if I ever saw one.

Jon Snow and Varys... somewhere. Could Varys be encouraging the ultimate betrayal?

Something has definitely pleased Cersei.

These teaser images, coupled with theories suggesting that Daenerys will become the Mad Queen or even be killed by Arya, mean that it certainly doesn't look like she will take her self proclaimed "rightful" place on the Iron Throne.

If you haven't seen it yet, this is the preview trailer for episode five: 

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Perhaps it will be King Jon after all... or worse, Queen Cersei.

"It's given me a real insight into what it feels like to be a woman who stands up to inequality and hate," she told The Telegraph.

"And as [Daenerys] has become more empowered as a woman, you can't hide any more. You are adding to the voices that are going to make people realize an equal society is what we're aiming for."

"That's the lens through which I've been fortunate enough to view the world," she explained. "It's only when you go to school that you're like, 'Oh, that's different, that's weird.'"

Ever since Sean Bean's head got savagely chopped off in the first season of Game of Thrones, we've known that we cannot, under any circumstances, trust the writers.

But, while we knew they were tricksy, never in our wildest dreams did we imagine they could have Daenerys Targaryen burn thousands of innocent townspeople to a crisp without even blinking.

Watch in disbelief yet again as Daenerys turns to the dark side:

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But, say what you will about the fifth episode of season eight - and people will, because they freaking hate it - you can't say Emilia Clarke didn't warn you!

In a 2018 interview with Entertainment Tonight, the actress revealed her true feelings about the last series of the hit HBO show when she was asked if she was happy with how things ended.

Speaking at the HBO Emmy Party, she paused, gave a tiny sarcastic giggle and said "Best season ever," before looking down the camera in mock pain.

Of course, fans weren't to know that her answer meant the Mother of Dragons lost it and became a mass murderer in the penultimate episode - but nonetheless, we should have definitely gathered that her reaction spelled trouble for the formerly beloved queen.

Watch the moment for yourself here:

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However, the 32-year-old star isn't actually the only Game of Thrones actor who attempted to warn us. In fact, Peter Dinklage's dead-behind-the-eyes response as to how he felt about the show's ending in this 2018 interview pretty much sums the whole thing up.

At The National Multiple Sclerosis Society’s Stop MS fundraising appeal in London last night, Emilia opened up about how difficult it was for her to keep the plot twist secret, given that she received the script two years before the episode aired.

"People have always come up to me and told me how much they love Daenerys," she said. "And two years ago I got the script for this series and knew what was going to happen to her. Every time someone would come up to me and say, 'I love her!' inside, I was thinking, 'Well you’re not going to love her for long!'"

See Lena Headey recreate Cersei's death scene with a very funny twist:

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She added: "It was so hard to keep it a secret. I would just nod and smile, and that’s why I had this sort of furrowed-eyebrow expression a lot of the time. My eyebrows would sort of curl up."

As previously stated, Daenerys' downfall wasn't supported by many fans, with almost one million people signing a petition to have the last series remade.

Clarke refused to be drawn into the controversy though, saying: "The response in general to this series has been pretty overwhelming. It’s been an incredible privilege to be part of."

This is the trailer for tomorrow's final ever episode. Do you think it'll be the pay off the fans deserve?

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In addition, she revealed where she'd be on Sunday night when the final episode hit screens, saying: "I’ve hired out a room to host a screening and there's more than 40 people coming. We’ve had to get a load of bean bags in for the front row as so many people want to come."

Let's hope fans enjoy the last ever episode more than the fifth - but with Emilia's reaction in that footage, we seriously doubt it.

Game of Thrones, even after being on the air for seven years, still has a loyal following. In fact, it might be the most popular show on television entirely, if the series' avid fans are anything to go by. I consider myself to be one of the least obsessive fans of the show, and I'm still finding it extremely difficult to accept that we're going to have to wait a year to see the next season.

I'm sure once the final episode airs in 2019, I'll be wishing there was more again. HBO apparently have several spin-off shows in the works, so if any of those end up being good, we might be alright. Then, of course, the next book will probably be released at some point, once George R R Martin eventually gets around to it.

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A show that big means that its stars are instantly recognizable to the general public, which I imagine makes it pretty hard to go anywhere. However, despite playing one of the most important characters in the fantasy series, Emilia Clarke has managed to spend hours in public without anyone noticing her, as she explained to Vanity Fair recently.

Her naturally brown hair managed to keep her anonymous before, but now that she's dyed her hair icy blonde like her Game of Thrones character it should be harder - but apparently, she still doesn't get spotted that often. "We both have a thing about our stature not quite being what people expect," her co-star Kit Harington, who plays Jon Snow, said. "When I’m goofing around with my pals, I’m unrecognizable," Clarke says.

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The final season still has plenty of filming to be done, as well as the lengthy post-production process, but that doesn't mean those on set don't know exactly what is going on. In fact, Clarke spoke to Vanity Fair about the final season and even her character's final scenes - though she does play it coy:

"It f***ed me up. Knowing that is going to be a lasting flavor in someone's mouth of what Daenerys is... I'm doing all this weird sh*t. You'll know what I mean when you see it."

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I don't think any fan of the show is surprised that the show is going to be "f***ed up," but the rest of her comments are intriguing. It seems like Daenerys is set on a clear path - either she'll be victorious and sit on the iron throne, or she'll be defeated. There will likely be a fair amount of tragedy along the way, but describing Daenerys as "doing all this weird sh*t," makes me think there's going to be some unexpected twists in the story.

If anything - the best thing the final season can be is "weird". If we get a standard predictable conclusion to this lengthy story, it will cool but not much more than that. Either way, it's hard not to get excited about the series again, even with ambiguous hints like these.