Ryan Shoots First: Game of Thrones (S8 Ep4) “The Last of the Starks”
On the heels of the Battle of Winterfell this weeks episode begins in the aftermath. While I expected this episode to be a stage setting episode transitioning from one of the main arcs to the next with only 3 episodes left and the long runtime it would be interesting to see what else they did with the time. They did not disappoint.
The episode begins as expected, the aftermath of the Great War, our favorite characters say goodbye to their dead Jorah, Ed, Beric and Theon. Sansa mourns for Theon most of all and places a pin with the Stark sigil on him before saying goodbye, this is a sweet moments as despite everything Theon did in the end he was redeemed. Our heroes visibly look beaten as a nice touch with scars and bruises all over especially Arya sporting a shiner from hitting that wall when running from the wights. Even Ghost has a nasty scar and is missing a portion of his ear. This transitions to the first meal in the great hall post battle as everyone sits quietly not sure what to do. Gendry discuss with the Hound where Arya is and the Hound quips back about that being where his head is when they can still smell the fire of the burning bodies outside. On his way out Dany stops Gendry and declares him the Lord of Storm’s End and a true Baratheon no longer a bastard. Gendry immediately takes this info and proposes to Arya wishing to make her the Lady of Storm’s End. She of course is not down with the whole Lady thing and declined his offer. She then hooks up with The Hound to head south to Kings Landing to finish the job and kill Cersei. I cannot get enough of these two together and their dynamic in the show is always played pitch perfect.
Back at dinner there are sketchy looks going all around, Dany after getting the party started now feels distant as the Men rally around Jon and the tales of the dragon riding King. She can feel her influence and power slipping and that is with no one knowing the truth about Jon. She confronts Jon later in his room and implores him to not tell anyone about his actual parentage, to let things go back to the way they were before. Jon seems convinced everyone can live peacefully and he can tell Arya and Sansa the truth and make it work. This almost immediately backfires as Sansa tells Tyrion and Tyrion tells Varys. This new information has Varys thinking about his options as Dany is becoming increasingly convinced sacking Kins Landing is her only option to win. Tyrion pleads with him to trust her and have faith in her but he tells him his loyalty is to the realm and he will not hesitate to do what is best for its people.
Meanwhile Jaime, Tyrion and Brienne are drinking celebrating their victory with a game. It becomes known that Brienne is a virgin and despite Tormund’s best efforts she storms out of the hall. Jamie follows and this briefly breaks Tormunds heart… briefly. Jaime and Brienne hook up and they decide to stay in Winterfell together to protect Sansa.
As everyone gets ready to head to Kings Landing Jon says goodbye to Tormund who is taking what’s left of the wildlings back North, Jon tells him to take Ghost with him as he would not be happy in the South. The plan is that Jon and company will ride on the Kings Road while Dany and the Unsullied fly/sail to Dragonstone. Unfortunately once they reach Dragonstone the episode finishes it’s transition as the fleet is ambushed by Yuron and the Iron Fleet, and they have the Scorpion weapons Qyburn has perfected since season 7. Rhaegal is blindsided and killed while Dany rides next to him. The fleet is then torn to pieces and as everyone washes up on shore they realize that Missandei is also gone. Dany is ready to burn it all down but Cersei is playing the game. She “invites” the townspeople inside the walls of the Red Keep for protection/meat shields. If Dany wants to take the throne and get revenge she will need to burn through countless innocents to do it. Tyrion convinces her to offer Cersei a chance to surrender if nothing more than to make it look like they tried everything before bringing the fire. They take a small force to the gates of Kings Landing where no one plans to surrender and Missandei is beheaded by the mountain in front of Dany and Grey Worm. Dany retreats pissed and ready to get revenge by any means necessary.
Word gets back to Winterfell that Rhaegal is dead and Jamie has a moment of realization, he leaves and Brienne tries to stop him and convince him he is a good man. He confeces some of the atrocities he has done and assures her he is not as he rides off (see my predictions below).
Thoughts:
This was a fantastic episode and to everyone complaining during the Night King arc that it was too much action not enough Thrones the games are back. The politicking, planning, and thin alliances are all back. Characters like Tyrion and Varys who have spent much of the season on the sidelines got to flex their muscle and show what they do best on the show. Cersei showed why she is so good at maneuvering and why she is in fact the true villain of the show and always has been. Dany slipping in both focus and almost sanity as those close to her consider rallying beyond Jon, all of this is what made Game of Thrones different than just a fantasy series and it was all on display in this episode. It looks like we will be back into some big battles soon but for this week the great game was back.
Observations:
- Poor Ghost, survived just for Jon to trade him in for a dragon… little does he know whats coming.
- I thought Dany would pick up on Tormund talking about Jon dying and coming back as that intrigued her back in season 7.
- Bronn turning wasn’t a surprise but he was a little more aggressive than I thought he would be.
- I loved Bran picking up on Jon’s cues and telling him “The choice is yours” whether to tell Arya and Sansa the truth.
- Great acting by Gwendolyn Christie in this episode, also become a knight and lose her virginity in 24 hours. A big day for her.
- Tyrion getting to make tall jokes.
- Gendry took his shot.
- Sad to see Tormund go, he makes every scene he is in better and Jon will miss him.
- Arya getting the Hound to chuckle was brilliant again, can’t get enough of these two.
- Jons reaction to Sam and Gilly saying if it is a boy they will name him Jon “I hope it’s a girl’
- My wife cried when Rhaegal went down.
- Cersei working that baby angle, I suppose she’s been doing that since her days with Robert.
- Goodbye Missandei and her last message to Dany was to bring the fire.
- Poor Grey Worm a slave his whole life and finally free only to see his love beheaded… life sucks brother.
Predictions:
The main prediction and I’ve gone on the record saying it is Jaime killing Cersei. You could see in this episode he knows what he has to do. He can get close enough and no matter what he has tried to do to shed his kingslayer title it is who he is and he once again finds himself in the same position with the ability to save millions by doing what is right but also taboo. He is riding south to do one thing, add Queen Slayer to his list of names because no one else can defeat her.
Deaths for next week:
- Yuron
- Tyrion
- Hound?
- Mountain?
- Cleganebowl???
2 episodes left and traditionally the penultimate episode in GoT is the big one every season.
