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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?

6 Biggest Deaths in Season 2 of Game of Thrones

With Ned Stark’s wrongful execution at the hands of Joffrey, any chance of peace in the Seven Kingdoms went up in smoke. Now the War of the Five Kings has begun, and lots of people are going to die.

Season Two of Game of Thrones continued the momentum that started in the first, as the war for Westeros began in earnest. More people began to drop like flies, and here I am, trying to talk about it. With six days left until the final season begins, our look back continues with the 6 biggest deaths in Season Two of Game of Thrones.

Now, in the immortal words of the most useless King in Westeros: KILL THEM ALL!

#6- The High Septon, “The Old Gods and the New”

This guy was a nobody, at least to us viewers. In Westeros, he was the head of the Faith of the Seven, making him the Seven Kingdoms equivalent to the Pope. Not even that title was enough to save him, though. After Joffrey’s stupidity causes the Riots in King’s Landing, the starving refugees surround the unfortunate man and then tear him to pieces.

I think that this death is important because it shows just how far Westeros has fallen since King Robert’s death. The people are so desperate that, if given the chance, they would attack the royal family and nobility. Even the leader of their religion, which is a big part of their lives, isn’t safe from their baser instincts. Everyone watching shared Tyrion’s terrified look.

#5- Qhorin, “Valar Morghulis”

This guy was one of the best members of the Night’s Watch, and he had the battle scars to prove it. Nicknamed Qhorin Halfhand after losing most of the fingers on one hand fighting a Freefolk, Qhorin was said to be able to survive an entire winter Beyond the Wall by himself. Considering how that’s where Freefolk, Giants, and the White Walkers live, that’s an impressive feat.

In the end, Qhorin ends up dying at the hands of Jon Snow, though of his own volition. When both were captured by Freefolk, Qhorin pretended to try and kill Jon so that he would be in place to spy on the enemy from within, then sacrifices himself as the last piece of the puzzle.

Qhorin’s sacrifice would lead to Jon’s story arc among the Freefolk throughout Season Three. This would ultimately lead to Jon deciding to save them from the true enemy, the White Walkers. The Freefolk would return the favor time and again, become some of Jon’s biggest allies in the fight against the White Walkers. Your death was not in vain, Qhorin.

#4 -Pyat Pree, “Valar Morghulis”

From the moment I first saw Pyat Pree of the Warlocks of Qarth, I thought he was a creep. My feelings became justified when the Warlocks and Xaro teamed up to take over Qarth and imprison Daenerys and her infant dragons. Their plan was to keep them locked up forever and use the dragons inherent connection to magic to strengthen their power. Daenerys just said one word to them: dracarys. And Drogon, Rhaegal, and Viserion burn the jerk down.

This death is important on a number of levels. First, this marks the first time that Dany’s dragon children kill a person. That’s the equivalent of them taking their first steps. Second, it let’s everyone, and I mean everyone know that if they think they can use Daenerys Targaryen for her power, they will die. Having spent most of Season Two relying on the help of others, Daenerys finally lets everyone know who the boss is.

# 3- Billy and Jack “A Man Without Honor”

Another example of two nobodies whose deaths had a big impact on the show. After Bran and Rickon manage to escape Theon’s occupation of Winterfell, the man begins a desperate search to get them back. To the North’s horror and rage, it appears that he flat out killed them, putting their burned corpses on display for all to see.

In reality, though, Bran, Rickon, and their group had doubled back and hid in the crypts of Winterfell. The boys Theon killed were two orphans that Bran sent to a nearby farm.

The deaths of these two would have huge ramifications, both good and bad. On the one hand, everyone in Westeros thought Bran and Rickon were dead, letting them move around easier. On the other hand, everyone in Westeros thought they were dead. Catelyn died thinking all her sons were dead. While Rickon would later die by Ramsay Bolton’s hands, Bran would survive to play a key role in the war against the White Walkers. As for Theon, he deeply regrets what he did, and now seeks to atone for his sins. Rest in Piece, Billy and Jack

# 2- King Robert’s Bastards, “The North Remembers”

What do you do when you’re King and want to want to keep that crown on your head? Kill off everyone who may have a better claim to the throne than you. When Joffrey learns that his “father”, Robert Baratheon, had dozens of illegitimate children in King’s Landing, he has the Gold Cloaks kill any in the capital they can find. He feared, correctly I may add, that his enemies would say they had a better claim to the Iron Throne than he did.

While it did help secure his hold on the Iron Throne for a while, Joffrey’s purge of Robert’s Bastards backfired and hurt his and the Lannister’s image, badly. It also drove the point home that anyone with royal or noble blood in them, even if they didn’t know it, had a target on their back.

Despite Joffrey’s efforts, though, he missed one: Gendry the Blacksmith. As of the start of Season Eight, Gendry is the last surviving descendant of House Baratheon. If the show is willing to let it happen, then Gendry will live to become Gendry Baratheon, Lord of the Stormlands. That’s my hope at least.

#1- Renly Baratheon, “The Ghost of Harrenhal”

Of all the deaths in Season Two, this one had the biggest ramifications. Renly Baratheon was the youngest of his siblings, and unlike Robert and Stannis, he was never a warrior. Yet when Robert was about to kick the bucket, Renly was the first to try and grab the Iron Throne. And he took a huge chunk of the Baratheon forces with him.

When it became apparent that Renly was willing to fight his own brother Stannis (and probably win), Stannis was willing to resort to using blood magic to assassinate Renly in his own camp. Thus, the first of the Five Kings fell.

Renly’s death was both shocking and a game-changer. It led to Stannis gaining control of most of the Baratheon forces, and we know how that turned it. On a personal level, it led to Brienne dedicating herself to avenging her King’s death, something that she would eventually do. No one knew it at the time, either, but it was the beginning of the end of House Baratheon.

Do you agree with my picks? What deaths do you remember the most from Season Two? Let me Know!

Click here to see my favorite moments from Season Two!

Click here to see my GoT Page.

Eight days. In eight days, winter will come to TV. And it will be one of the greatest nights in the history of entertainment. And I am going to be there watching it through to the end.

I may not have been one of the people who watched Game of Thrones from the beginning, but I have caught up on everything that has happened in the show. All the death, love, loss, murder and betrayal since the first episode. Then I thought about how I should honor the beginning of the end for one of the greatest achievements in TV history.

That is what this is for. Starting tomorrow, I will going back to each season of Game of Thrones as we count down to the premiere. Each day will have two articles: one counting what I thought were the big deaths for each season, and the moments that I thought defined the seasons. It all leads up to Sunday, April 14th, where I will reveal my favorite things in Game of Thrones. To clarify, that means:

• The best villains on the show
• My favorite death scenes
• My favorite characters
• and more!

Let the games begin! See you tomorrow!

Click here to see my GoT Page.