'Game of Thrones' Fans Are Fundraising for Emilia Clarke's Charity Following Season 8 Backlash

Every so often, we are reminded that the internet can be used for good, rather than for the petty. In this case, we are reminded that it can be used for both.

After the final episode of Game of Thrones aired on May 19, the showrunners, David Benioff and D. B. Weiss, received some pretty vicious feedback from fans, many stating that the show was rushed, one-dimensional, and that they down right destroyed the story arcs of some the best characters, especially that of Emilia Clarke’s Daenerys Targaryen.

This brutal response to the final season of the show culminated in a viral online petition started by a Game of Thrones-themed subreddit called “r/freefolk,” pushing to remake the last season of the show with “competent writers.” The petition received a staggering 1.5 million signatures, and even pushed Sophie Turner, who played Sansa Stark on the series, to clap back via a New York Times interview. The actress stated that the petition was, “disrespectful to the crew, and the writers, and the filmmakers who have worked tirelessly over 10 years, and for 11 months shooting the last season.”

But instead of this comment from Turner starting a war with fans, it prompted a response wilder in the internet world than the free folk themselves: remorse.

As a reaction to Turner’s comment, user elle_ellaria from the Reddit group, who asked Entertainment Weekly in her email interview to be referred to as Sarah, decided to start a fundraiser for Emilia Clarke’s charity, Same You, which helps young people who have suffered from brain injury or stroke. The fundraiser has already raised nearly than £35,660 (more than $45,000) in only two days. Its current goal is £50,000.

Clarke recently spoke out about her nearly-fatal struggle with two brain aneurysms in her personal essay for The New Yorker, detailing her experience fighting for her life while also working on Game of Thrones.

Sarah told EW that she signed the petition as a kind of joke, but that she realizes the joke was very much at the expense of the writers. She says in the fundraiser description, “Since the tongue-in-cheek nature of that petition has flown over a lot of people[']s heads, to the point that it’s prompted backlash from some of the cast, we wanted to show that Game of Thrones fans appreciate the hard work of the incredible cast & crew despite their constraints.”

Sarah goes on to say that she specifically feels immense adoration for Clarke for sharing her harrowing story with her fans, as well as sticking up for Dany.

“In interviews after the finale she spoke about how much of herself she put into her character, and how upset she was at the prospect of people hating Daenerys," Sarah writes. "She wasn’t informed about Dany’s evil turn until shortly before filming season 8, and it seemed like she really struggled to come to terms with it… At the end of the interview she walks away, but then turns back to say, ‘I stand by Daenerys. I stand by her! I can’t not.’ It was adorable.”

She concludes by saying, “So the fundraiser [was] kind of to let her know hey, don’t worry. We stand by Daenerys, too.”

You can donate to the Same You fundraiser here.