“When I watch telly or a movie, it’s escapism. I just want to not think about my fucking life for a minute. I want to sit there, and be transported,” says Emilia Clarke, the 32-year-old English actor at the epicenter of one of the biggest, highest grossing, most culturally significant and revered shows on the planet: Game of Thrones.

17.4 million people around the world tuned into the final season premiere episode of the show, making it the most watched screening in HBO’s history. Memes have been flying across social feeds, passionate debates have ensued on who will take the Iron Throne, and bubbling excitement-meets-a saddened unwillingness to really, truly accept that the eight season-long fantasy epic has finally come to a close, has sunk in.

Game of Thrones, and the original Song of Ice and Fire novels by George R. R. Martin, is a cultural phenomenon of insurmountable proportions. It holds six Guinness World Book of Records entries, is the most awarded series in Emmy history, and has won 308 awards out of 596 nominations to date. It’s been quoted in speeches by politicians. Referenced in shows from The Simpsons to Sesame Street. Children have been born and named after its characters. Its fans are said to be the most devoted and dedicated of all, exceeding Bieber’s “Beliebers,” Gaga’s “Little Monsters,” and Star Trek’s “Trekkies.”

And now, after eight long years of the show and franchise, it’s ending. Chants of ‘Winter is Here’ float across countries, time zones, social media platform of your choice, and into the canon of entertainment history.

Escaping to fantastical worlds such as Westeros is cleary a favoured pastime of our generation. “It hit at a time when, culturally and socially, people were interested in power,” explains Clarke, who plays Daenerys Targaryen, one of the warring heirs to the epic’s Iron Throne. The original story was inspired by the War of Roses that took place in England during the 14th century. “You’ve got power, which is really fascinating, and how our world is still run to this day, then you’ve got incredibly beautifully written complex characters and sensational intrigue.”