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Game of Thrones, “Last of the Starks” Review

After what happened last week with the Battle of Ice and Fire, I admit that I had my worries. That the show has jumped the shark. But I was wrong, because this week’s episode just sent us on an emotional roller coaster as hearts were broken, faces were broken, and any chance at a happy ending flew out the window.

Except for Sam and Gilly. I think they’re pretty much the only ones who will live happily ever after.

The episode starts off on a somber note as we say goodbye to those who fell in the Battle of Ice and Fire. I thought that this was an emotionally powerful scene on a number of levels. For one, we were saying goodbye to characters that we had known for years, with Theon and Jorah being theirs since episode one. For me, in particular, it felt like this was the funeral for Night’s Watch itself.

Think about it. With the White Walkers extinct and the Free Folk and the North on good terms, there’s no point for them to keep operating. They fulfilled their purpose. And now their watch has ended. It’s up to the living to pick up the pieces.

A big part of this episode is trying to find the answer to an unspoken question: can those left remain united? For a while, it feels like they can. The feast in the Great Hall start out quiet and awkward, but it turns into a party when Daenerys singles out Gendry.

Since he came back in Season Seven, one of my biggest hopes was to see Gendry be legitimized as Gendry Baratheon, Lord of the Storm Lands. I got my wish, and I was happy to see that Daenerys didn’t hold a grudge against him for his dad running her family out of Westeros.

Too bad Arya turned down his marriage proposal. Their kids would have been so bad ass.

So after Gendry’s made a lord, everyone starts getting drunk and celebrating. Brienne and Jaime consummate their relationship, which was a nice sub-plot. But amidst all the merriment, cracks are starting to form. Almost everyone goes around praising Jon for his heroism (and riding a dragon) and treating him like a King, while Daenerys gets little praise.

Jon has said it several times by now: he doesn’t want the Iron Throne, though as Daenerys points out in private, that won’t matter. People will still try and put him on the Throne, regardless, and that makes him a threat to her. They could resolve that issue if they either A.) kept quiet about it, or B.) get married, making it a moot point.

As Daenerys prepares to move her remaining forces south to take King’s Landing. She’s lost a lot of the Dothraki, and only half the Unsullied remain alive. But now she has the support of the Iron Islands (Yara’s taken them back) and Dorne. Jon will lead the North and the Vale south down the King’s Road while she flies for Dragonstone with her fleet. Meanwhile, people start to go their separate ways.

Arya and the Hound are headed down to King’s Landing on their own to settle with Cersei and the Mountain. I’m rooting for her to kill Cersei.

I don’t know where Sam’s going, but with the Night’s Watch pretty much disbanded, he can become Lord of Horn Hill, with Gilly, Little Sam, and their unborn child with him. That’s right, they’re having a kid; and if its a boy, they’ll name him after his best friend, Jon.

Jaime and Tyrion get blackmailed by Bronn into giving him Highgarden in exchange for not killing them. And since Jaime can’t stay away from Cersei, he ends up leaving Brienne and Winterfell to head back to King’s Landing. Hopefully to kill her.

That’s a jerk move, Jaime, and we get it. You used to be a huge jerk, but the fact that you’re owning up to it means you’re a better person than you think you are.

Tormund decides to take the Free Folk back up North now that the White Walkers are gone. With the hole in the Wall and the Night’s Watch having no reason to fight them anymore, they can come back whenever they want. And Jon decides to send Ghost with them so he can with the other direwolves (poor Ghost. No love anymore).

And right before he left, Jon did the one thing he shouldn’t have done: he told Sansa and Arya his heritage. And despite swearing not to tell anyone, Sansa tells Tyrion, who then tells Varys, who then rightfully says that it’s not a secret anymore. And now Varys is considering backing Jon instead; not because he’s the rightful heir (or because he’s a guy) but because Daenerys may not be suited anymore.

The Mother of Dragons has lost a lot since she came back to Westeros. Most of her original allies are gone, she lost one dragon, and she just found out she may not be the rightful Queen, after all. So what does the show do? Break her even further.

As soon as she returns to Dragonstone, Euron Greyjoy’s fleet ambushes her and wrecks her ships. Worse, they’ve mass-produced Qyburn’s Scorpion, and they use it to shoot Rhaegal out of the sky. In another blow to her mental state, they capture Missandei and, in the episode’s final moments, behead her as Daenerys watches from outside the city gates.

I saw the look of grief and rage in her eyes when Rhaegal died. It was like a fire that threatened to consume her. But the look she gave in the final shot of the episode scared me: it looked like she was one step away from losing her sanity.

What. The Heck, GoT? I know that the Targaryens have a history of mental instability, but I wanted to see Daenerys dodge it. Yet ever since she got back to Westeros, it feels like the show is determined to push her to becoming similar to her father. I’m not even sure I want her on the Throne anymore, but since I hate Cersei and Jon doesn’t want it, she may be the best chance we have left.

Regarding the question that I posed before, I think the answer that this episode gives us is a big no. Even after standing united in the face of death itself, humanity can’t help but turn on itself the moment the crisis is past. It’s sad to watch, and its made even more difficult by the fact that the people who survived the Great War may end up dying at each other’s hands. Which is as sad as seeing World War 1 Veterans die from the Flu.

But, that’s what Game of Thrones does. It messes with our expectations. Sometimes, they work. Other times, it doesn’t work. Here, I think it does both. Either way, though, this episode proves that even after a climatic war against death incarnate, Game of Thrones still has what it takes.

But I’m still upset at how Daenerys, Brienne, and Missandei get treated, so that brings down the experience.

I Give “Last of the Starks” a 3.5/5, at best

Stray Observations

• Cersei promised Bronn Riverrun. Last time I checked, Edmure Tully’s alive. Even if he wasn’t, he has a kid.
• The improbable travel speed of the dragons strikes again
• My reaction when Rhaegal died:

• I wished that Missandei chose to walk off the wall instead of letting herself get decaptitated. And I’m not the only one.

• Daenerys needs to find more dragon eggs. Unless Drogon turns out to be a girl.

• Why is the show not giving any love to the dire wolves? First we don’t get to see Ghost fight in the Battle of Ice and Fire, and now they’re setting him free north of The Wall?

• Who saw the coffee cup?

My 7 Favorite Moments from Game of Thrones, Season Two

Whereas Season One saw the breakdown of order in the Seven Kingdoms, Season Two of Game of Thrones starts off with the drums of war already playing. And heads are going to roll like there’s no tomorrow.

While Season One was good, I think Season Two is where Game of Thrones began to find its foothold and define what it was. With a second season, the story began to be bolder in what it tried to adapt from the books, and it was made all the better for it.

With six days left until Season Eight, let’s go back and look at my 7 favorite moments from Season Two of Game of Thrones.

#6- Purging of Robert’s Bastard’s, “The North Remembers”

It’s an open secret in King’s Landing that Robert Baratheon was not a faithful husband. King Robert often visited taverns and brothels to sleep with any pretty girl in a futile attempt to fill the hole made by the fact that he lost the woman he loved to a Prince. As a result, he ended up having at least a dozen bastard children, who all had a better claim to the Iron Throne then Joffrey. To keep his throne secure, Joffrey ordered the Gold Cloaks to kill every one of Robert’s bastards in King’s Landing.

I was disgusted by the fact that Joffrey was willing to murder babies simply because they existed, but I couldn’t help but smirk at how his PR would take a huge hit. He was already on thin ice for killing Ned Stark and starting the War of the Five Kings, but this made him sink even further. Most importantly, though, is the fact the bastard that mattered the most, Gendry, slipped through Joffrey’s fingers. Hopefully, he will live through Season Eight and become the next Lord of the Stormlands.

#6- Jon and Ygritte’s First Meeting, “the Old Gods and the New”

How can we forget the fiery Ygritte, Jon Snow’s first great love? While scouting for the location of the Free Folk’s camp, Jon Snow’s group gets attacked by Free Folk scouts. They kill all but one, only for Jon to be shocked to find out it’s a woman. Despite attempting to kill her, Ygritte manages to lead Jon away from his group, leaving them alone together as night falls.

From the moment they first meet, Ygritte was aware that Jon found her attractive, and uses that to mess with him on several occasions. By Season Three, the two had fallen in love with each other, which made their separation all the more heart-breaking. On a meta note, their actors, Kit Harrington and Rose Leslie, got married in June 2018. Assuming they don’t split up in the future, it will be like Jon and Ygritte getting their happy ending. Plus, if they ever have kids, this will make for one heck of a story on how they met.

#5- Brienne of Tarth introduced, “What is Dead May Never Die”

After fleeing King’s Landing in the wake of Robert’s imminent passing, Renly crowns himself as King of the Seven Kingdoms, on the basis that he’d be a better king than his brother Stannis. Next time we see him, he’s already amassed a huge army and secured an alliance with the Reach by marrying his boyfriend’s sister, Margaery Tyrell. Said boyfriend then gets his butt whooped by a mystery knight. Imagine everyone’s shock when it’s revealed that Ser Loras was beaten not by a man, but a woman: Brienne of Tarth.

Westeros has had its fill of strong women, from Olenna Tyrell to Daenerys Targaryen. Only a few have taken up a sword in battle, and Brienne’s one of the best. Despite being looked down on for her gender, Renly was right to recognize her for her skill as a warrior first and foremost. Since then, Brienne has proven to be among the best fighters in the series, even beating the Hound in combat. When the White Walkers invade, she’ll be fighting there on the frontlines

#4- Riot in King’s Landing, “The Old Gods and the New”

Just when people thought Joffrey reached the pinnacle of pointless cruelty, he lowered the bar yet again. While returning to the Red Keep, a mob of commoners starts throwing insults at Joffrey. When he gets hit in the face with manure (which, admittedly, most people would be pissed at), Joffrey loses it and orders his guards to “kill them all”. This leads to a full scale riot in King’s Landing as Joffrey’s guards are nearly overwhelmed by the mob.

This moment reinforces the fact that, even if he was Robert’s son, Joffrey is not fit to be King of anything. King of fictional morons, maybe, but I doubt that all the Patrick Star’s and Homer Simpsons would put up with him either.

This scene filled me with a mixture of disgust and shock. We all knew that Joffrey was an idiot, but no one thought he’d be dumb enough to start a city-wide riot. Adding on to the list of trauma she went through, Sansa was almost raped by some of the rioters while Joffrey refused to look for her. When Joffrey eventually died, I felt no pity for him whatsoever.

#3- “The Queen Mustn’t Know”, “What is Dead May Never Die”

After being made Hand of the King in his father’s abscence, Tyrion had found himself undermined by his sister at every chance she got. Realizing that someone on the Small Council was ratting on him, Tyrion comes up with a clever way to find out who the mole is. He tells each member of his plans to wed Myrcella Baratheon, but gives a different man for each one. When Cersei predictably gets mad at him, she inadvertently gives away her informant: Grand Maester Pycelle.

This exchange shows off how Tyrion Lannister is one of the smartest people in the Seven Kingdoms, and why he’s one of my favorite characters. Tricking three members of the Small Council, two of which run the biggest spy networks in the show, is an insanely impressive feat. Even Varys is willing to give him props for what he did, saying “Well played, my lord Hand”.

The icing on the cake to all this is that pissed Cersei off beyond belief, and I find that extremely funny.

#2- The Battle of Blackwater, “Blackwater”

I couldn’t choose just one moment from this episode, so I just picked the whole thing.

The culmination of the events of the entire season, the penultimate episode saw Stannis Baratheon launch an all-out assault on King’s Landing in order to take the throne he saw as his (No one cares that Daenerys is still alive, I guess). With Joffrey incapable of doing anything helpful, it is up to Tyrion to lead the outnumbered defenders of the city. Stannis’ forces came close to breaking through the gates, with Stannis himself making it onto the ramparts. In the end, though, the arrival of the armies of Tywin Lannister and House Martell force him to retreat.

This episode marked the first time Game of Thrones ever attempted a large-scale battle, making it one of the most ambitious undertakings in the history of TV. With a good portion of the series cast, and the inclusion of hundreds of extras, made for an episode on par with a Hollywood blockbuster. The best part, though, is that this is just a taste of what was to come in future seasons. And Season Eight is looking to have battle scenes on par with the Battle of Helm’s Deep from Lord of the Rings. I can’t wait!

#1- The White Walkers Are Real, ”
Valar Morghulis”

After the climactic battle that occurred in the last episode, what could Game of Thrones possibly do to top it for its season finale? Set the fans up for even crazier moments. And this was the moment where we finally saw the face of the true enemy.

As Samwell Tarly and the other members of the Night’s Watch are out scouting, they are terrified when their Brothers blast their horns three times, heralding the approach of the Wights and White Walkers. As Sam is left behind, he is terrified to see a horde of Wights advancing on the Night’s Watch encampment. It gets worse. At the head of the undead legion, riding a zombified horse, is a White Walker.

We had only caught brief glimpses of the White Walkers. This would mark the first time that we had ever seen a White Walker in its entirety; not even the books had done this. And they are like something straight out of a horror film. Their gaunt and icy appearance, those supernaturally blue eyes, and a language that sounds like the cracking of ice. This is the evil that the Seven Kingdoms would eventually have to face, and it is absolutely terrifying to see.

Do you Agree With My Picks? Here are my Picks for Biggest Deaths of Season Two.