‘Game of Thrones’ Season 8, Episode 4 ‘The Last of the Starks’ Recap: The Siege Begins

One of the best facets of HBO’s Game of Thrones was its knack for portraying political rifts and tension. It’s the very first thing that we were introduced to in 2011, and it seemed to trickle down to droplets as the show moved forward. Eight seasons in and we finally have that taste again as episode four, titled “The Last of the Starks,” drives a wedge between Jon Snow (Kit Harington) and Daenerys Targaryen (Emilia Clarke).

Again, this is your friendly warning. If you haven’t seen Game of Thrones season 8 episode 4 yet, get the fuck out of here unless you take pleasure in being spoiled like the ruthless Ramsay Bolton in you. With that out of the way, let’s dive into tonight’s overtly political episode.

“The Last of the Starks” is the breather that we needed, albeit offering two shockers along the way. The Night King is defeated, so that leaves Cersei Lannister (Lena Headey) and Euron Greyjoy (Pilou Asbæk) as our final bosses. The smoke and winter haze has cleared, leaving us with more allies dead and less time to grieve and move on. But the first half of the episode helps us feel a little bit celebratory after we finally make it through “The Long Night.” It’s the perfect bookend to last week’s harrowing attempt to fight for the living, and it’s also riddled with a few surprises along the way.

Most of us are caught up in the reverie of Winterfell still standing despite being nearly wiped out by the Wights. However, there’s more to the celebration than meets the eye. Things might be a little happier—but the fun will never last in Westeros.

“Drink and be Merry!” and Major Heartbreaks

Dany and Jon are in a slightly chipper mood after burying and grieving those they have lost. But the night continues with a few rewards in between, especially for Gendry (Joe Dempsie) and Jamie Lannister (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau). In the midst of the feast and outpouring of wine, Dany awards Storm’s End to Gendry, after the fall of Stannis. He might be Robert Baratheon’s bastard son, but Dany overrules this by making him the Lord of Storm’s End. The glass is raised, and Gendry officially becomes royalty.

But who in his right mind would ask a girl he had a one night stand with to marry him? Seemingly overwhelmed with joy and sexual urge, he finds Arya (Maisie Williams) and asks her to marry him so they could rule Storm’s End together. But we all know that Arya is a one-man show, so she politely declines his offer with a kiss, leaving our poor Lord stunned and Ladyless.

Meanwhile, the Jamie-Brienne (Gwendoline Christie) shippers finally get their fair share of the much-awaited romance between the two Knights. After playing a drinking game of Westerosi “Never Have I Ever,” Brienne refuses to admit to Tyrion (Peter Dinklage) that she has never been in bed with a man or a woman before. As she walks out (a little bit embarrassed), Jamie follows suit and continues the game in Brienne’s room—ultimately leading to them sharing each other’s warmth and Jamie giving Brienne what she has never tasted before.

But all’s well doesn’t always end well as Jaime decides to run back to Cersei after hearing about Jon and Daenerys marching towards King’s Landing to usurp the throne. Despite Brienne’s pleas for her new lover to stay with her, Jamie suddenly changes demeanor and declares that he is as heartless as Cersei. He runs away, leaving Brienne bawling her eyes out of tremendous sadness and heartache.

The Secret Society of Those Who Know About Jon’s True Parentage

We circle back to episode two as Bran (Isaac Hempstead Wright) reveals Jon’s Targaryen roots to Arya and Sansa (Sophie Turner). The show is being set up for another disturbing relationship, but it all seems to simmer down as the circle of those who know about the true Jon Snow grows bigger. The mounting Daenerys-as-Queen-related doubts from Sansa are reinforced, forcing her to tell Tyrion and Lord Varys about Jon. It’s a smart move, if you ask me, knowing how the final two episodes will eventually usher in a new Ruler of the Seven Kingdoms. The only question here is whether or not Dany will permit to sharing the throne with her nephew/lover. It’s obvious that she won’t, after forcing Jon to keep his true identity a secret or else.

Helen Sloan/HBO

This leads us to another predicament that we have yet to face. There’s already talk of treason within Daenerys’ inner circle. Varys believes that Jon is the rightful King, given that he is more likable and is a man (wow, no surprise there). Tyrion is conflicted because swearing allegiance to a Queen could entail everything that he could ever want as a career—someone who would value him for who he is and what he can do, and not because he is a Lannister. But he does see the nuances that could make Dany’s claim a longshot. The bottom line here is that Jon could serve as a good king, even if he doesn’t like it. Adding to that is the fact that Varys is appalled at Tyrion’s idea of having Jon and Dany marry each other. It worked for Cersei and Jaime, but this will never turn out good for Jon and Dany.

The heady exchange between Varys and Tyrion makes it a point to bare the painful truth—that having Daenerys as Queen of the Seven Kingdoms might be a bad idea after all.

How does the war go now?

Team Targaryen going back to the drawing board to formulate a new plan also screams out everything wrong with Dany’s initial plan to take over the Iron Throne. Euron just killed Rhaegal, thanks to Qyburn’s trusty giant arrow gun, and they’re left with lesser forces to even stage a siege. Only a handful of the Unsullied are left, with Stark allies and Dothraki also trickled down to a bare minimum. Compare that to Euron’s Iron Fleet and the Golden Company, Team Targaryen has no chance to even make a dent in the walls of the Red Keep.

The episode stresses the fact that just because you were able to kill zombies doesn’t mean you’d have the necessary know-how to fight your way through Cersei’s massive army of paid trolls-er-soldiers. It’s a massive shift in power, from a victorious future for Daenerys to certain defeat at the hands of Cersei herself.

Helen Sloan/HBO

As we say goodbye to Rhaegal, we also bid farewell to Missandei, who was easily captured by Euron’s men as a bargaining chip for Dany’s surrender. But despite the diplomatic negotiations and the appeal to Cersei’s heart courtesy of Tyrion, Missandei ends up dying ala Ned Stark. This should be a good enough reason for Dany to see that maybe this shouldn’t be the plan going forward, but it only makes her angrier and having Mad King-like tendencies (I knew Varys was on to something!).

“The Last of the Starks” is an episode that succeeds in making Game of Thrones return to its political roots and set itself up for an hour of strategy and political discourse. We see our characters grapple with the hard truth and embrace facts that might seem painful to the touch but is actually a good thing in the long run. This is not to say that we might be heading towards a good vs evil kind of fight, but rather a more philosophical approach to leading a nation in social turmoil—who is worthy? Will their intentions justify the means?

The episode had the same runtime as last week’s, with us getting an inkling of what could happen in the final two episodes. A few goodbyes were made as we saw Tormund (Kristofer Hivju) lead the free folk back in the wilds (with Ghost now a member of the Wildlings), and Arya and The Hound (Hafþór Júlíus Björnsson) taking off to King’s Landing on their own to take care of “unfinished business” (Cersei is still on Arya list, for your information).

There’s a sense of finality that pervades throughout the episode. But this does not discount the fact that we are heading towards a bumpy road to the Iron Throne. We will continue to suffer casualties, and it looks like this is not going to end well for most of the people that we’re rooting for.

‘Game of Thrones: The Last of the Starks’ Overall Verdict

This week’s episode of Game of Thrones brings us back to its penchant of using humans as pawns in war and negotiation. It’s also as cruel as it can be to some of our beloved characters—seeing Brienne break down in tears after Jamie left her would definitely leave a bad taste in our mouths for a few days. Overall, Game of Thrones is like a torpedo of emotions and sneaky surprises along the way. “The Last of the Starks” is a mirror of what the show used to be, bringing that good feeling of nostalgia to its narrative and making us feel like this shit’s not over yet. Despite that, there are definitely more obstacles to topple and chains that need breaking as we head towards a grim finale (probably).

Game of Thrones continues next Sunday, 9/8c on HBO. Watch the preview below: