Game of Thrones Just Set the Stage for a Tragic End to the Series
Note: This article contains spoilers for Game of Thrones season 8, episode 4, 'The Last of the Starks'.
The aftermath of the Battle of Winterfell, a surprising union (Jaime and Brienne, really?!), an equally surprising rejection (tough luck, Gendry!), a breathtaking battle at sea and two major deaths (RIP Missandei and Rhaegal)-the fourth episode of Game of Thrones' final season had a lot going on.
But amidst all the spectacle, 'The Last of the Starks' also delicately laid the groundwork for the series' conclusion – for the heartbreak and tragedy to come *after* next week's war for King's Landing.
Daenerys Targaryen (Emilia Clarke) may have risen to a position of great power, with apparently only Cersei Lannister (Lena Headey) standing in the way of her ruling the entire Seven Kingdoms. But throughout 'The Last of the Starks', we see Dany be rash, bloodthirsty and paranoid, spying enemies at every turn.
The episode opens with a celebration in the wake of victory against the Night King's forces, with the Queen of Dragons 'rewarding' Gendry for his loyalty and efforts in battle by making him the Lord of Storm's End-but this is actually a power play, neutralizing Robert Baratheon's bastard as a claimant to the Iron Throne by granting him this lesser honor.
Tyrion (Peter Dinklage) knows it, remarking how this move will ensure Gendry's loyalty to Dany-but as she already realizes, and he is about to discover, the threat of Jon Snow (Kit Harington) is not so easily quashed.
Jon reveals the truth of his heritage-that he has a better claim to the Iron Throne than his lover/aunt-to Arya (Maisie Williams) and Sansa (Sophie Turner) here, and though he swears them both to secrecy, Sansa's barely had time to absorb this earth-shattering piece of information herself before she's spilling the beans to Tyrion.
Varys (Conleth Hill) is next to learn the truth and is quick to suggest that "the problem" of Jon Snow might actually be a solution. He's watched as Daenerys has grown increasingly fanatical – once the breaker of chains, now willing to sacrifice tens of thousands of innocents to secure her position of power.
He calls Dany "a tyrant" and implies that he'd let her die if it meant guaranteeing the safety of the Seven Kingdoms. Tyrion is still fighting his queen's corner, for now, but even he falls silent when Varys asks him directly who he thinks would make the better leader – Daenerys or Jon.
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Cersei might be the more immediate danger, but it's Jon who poses the greater threat to Dany's reign, regardless of whether he wants the Throne. "It doesn't matter what he wants," Varys insists, echoing something that Daenerys herself told Jon when she first begged then ordered him to keep his Targaryen blood a secret.
"You didn’t want to be King in the North!" she reminds him. "What happens when they demand you press your claim and take what is mine?!"
Dany knows that she'll never command the same love and respect from the citizens of the North that Jon does, which is why she strives to bend him to her will. But it doesn't work – he defies her by confiding in Arya and Sansa. Daenerys doesn't know that yet, but it's hard to imagine that she'll see it as anything but an act of aggression and a sign of Jon's ambition.
"Once Dany introduces the idea that everything can be as it was if Jon keeps this secret buttoned down and tells no one, she's introducing a conflict that plays forward," Game of Thrones co-showrunner Dan Weiss has confirmed.
This conflict arrives at the worst possible time, with a series of devastating losses-many of the Dothraki and the Unsullied, Ser Jorah, now Rhaegal and Missandei-having left Daenerys with depleted forces and quite possibly teetering on the brink of madness.
The Stark sisters, meanwhile, have taken a stand against her, as has Varys, while even Tyrion's loyalty is being sorely tested. As the truth about his lineage gradually spreads, the stage is surely being set for Jon-the one serious contender for the Throne who doesn't want it, and is therefore arguably the best person to sit on it-to be forced to take a stand against the woman he loves.
With Game of Thrones' penultimate episode set to portray the fall of Cersei, and quite possibly the collapse of King's Landing, the premise of the series finale to follow now looks clear-it's Jon Snow vs Daenerys Targaryen, and with even her closest allies beginning to question their loyalty to the Mother of Dragons, we know who our money's on.
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