Note: This article is full of spoilers for season 8, episode 4 of Game of Thrones, 'The Last of the Starks'.

Game of Thrones fans were left heartbroken by the brutal and unflinching death of one of Daenerys Targaryen's closest and fiercest allies in 'The Last of the Starks' – and so were the cast.

Setting the upcoming battle in Kings Landing into fearsome motion, Thrones tragically executed Nathalie Emmanuel's Missandei in front of Daenerys, Grey Worm, Tyrion Lannister, and the Unsullied in its latest episode.

Whether or not Missandei's death at the hands of Cersei was to be expected, Nathalie Emmanuel has now revealed that discovering her character's fate "felt like a punch in the gut".

Home Box Office (HBO)

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Speaking to Making Game of Thrones, Nathalie said that although she sensed Missandei would be "a casualty", she still felt like "her journey had been cut so short".

"We meet Missandei as an enslaved person in chains, and then she dies in chains. I really felt the weight and tragedy of that and what that meant — not just in the show, but in the world. It felt like a punch in the gut," Emmanuel explained.

HBO

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"I knew it would be the same for people who supported Missandei and connected with her story."

Reflecting on Missandei's final moments – and the defiance in her last word, "dracarys" – Nathalie went on to talk about the bittersweet nature of her character's death.

"I was devastated that that is what happened to her," she said, "but was happy with how strong and brave she was right up until the very end".

Meanwhile, fans recently discovered the incredible lengths Game of Thrones went to during filming to keep Missandei's death a secret.

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