PICS: Game of Thrones – The Last of the Starks

***Update: The entire boxset of Game of Thrones S1 to S8 is now available to binge-watch on Showmax.***

Episode 4 of Season 8 of Game of Thrones featured a lot of heated conversations and passionate kissing (Jaime and Brienne – yes, finally; Jon and Daenerys – though perhaps for the last time; Gendry and Arya – ditto) before the troops stationed at Winterfell set off for King’s Landing. If you haven’t watched it on Showmax yet, you’re in for some spoilers!

 

You’d think that with Euron Greyjoy’s destruction of the fleet from the North, and his killing of Rhaegal the dragon would be the most shocking moments of the episode – but the real horror lay in moments that were a little more personal, and, in a way, a lot more cruel.

Daenerys realises that if anyone else finds out about Jon’s claim to the throne, she can kiss her dream of ruling goodbye. She loves him, but it seems she’s more passionate about being queen than being with him. She urges him to keep it a secret, since he doesn’t want to rule anyway, but when he refuses (he has to tell Arya and Sansa, he says, they deserve to know the truth), she turns her back on him.

And she wasn’t wrong to want him not to reveal his heritage to his sisters – Sansa, who has never really “got” Daenerys or what people see in her, realises that there’s a chance to keep her off the throne, and shares Jon’s secret with Tyrion.

Tyrion’s fiercely loyal to Daenerys, and that’s no surprise, but Lord Varys’s response to the revelation is. Considering that eight people now know who Jon really is, it’s no longer a secret, he says, “it’s information”, and he’s loyal to “the realm”, meaning the people of the Seven Kingdoms. Wouldn’t the best person to rule, he asks Tyrion, be someone who doesn’t want to? We really thought Lord Varys would stick by the Breaker of Chains.

We can’t even talk about Missandei.

And Jaime – we have questions about Jaime. When he hears of the hell that Cersei and Euron unleashed on the fleet at King’s Landing, he saddles up and heads down South, not before telling a devastated Brienne (she may be a Knight but she’s still human) that Cersei is “hateful”, and so is he. Is he going to save Cersei from Daenerys? Or is he off to kill her himself in revenge for making him do all the hateful things he’s done his whole life?

For more shocking moments, don’t miss the last two episodes of Season 8, which will land on Showmax on Mondays at 22:00. Catch up on Seasons 1 to 7 by binge-watching every preceding episode on Showmax.

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