Tuesday 7 May 2019
It’s the game-changer we’ve all been waiting for. Photo: HBO

Warning: Spoiler alert.

After sitting (and painfully squinting) through 82 minutes of Game of Thrones’ pivotal season eight episode three last week, finally, it’s game on for Jaime Lannister and Brienne Tarth in The Last of the Starks. Thankfully, it was much brighter, allowing viewers to actually see details.

As the forces of Jon Snow and Daenerys Targaryen mourned and rejoiced over their epic battle of Winterfell win, Tyrion’s silly drinking game leads to Jaime and Brienne “excusing” themselves. Of course, they would run off to consummate their love. It was a beautiful moment of triumph for the new couple, only for Brienne to have her feelings slayed (by the Kingslayer, conveniently) and her heart ripped out soon after as he rides south back to King’s Landing.

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Photo: HBO

I wonder what the other Lannister, a certain golden-crowned twin, will think of all this though. Whether or not Jaime and Brienne’s romance will set the stage for Brienne’s death later (perhaps at the hand of Cersei Lannister?) remains to be seen.

And Gendry, poor Gendry. A Lord one second (a swift move by Daenerys to ensure he stays loyal to her, for sure) and savagely rejected the next. The Arya burn is real.

But there are more broken hearts lined up.

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Photo: HBO

Daenerys lost not only her most trusted confidant Ser Jorah Mormont aka Lord Friendzone and her horde of Dothraki but also her “baby” dragon Rhaegal. How she failed to see Euron Greyjoy’s fleet hiding behind a rock from her vantage point is beyond me. That attack, by the way, was hateful right down to its very core yet undeniably a game-changer. But the worst was yet to come.

Missandei losing her head in one of the show’s more brutal deaths would leave both her boyfriend Grey Worm’s and best friend Daenerys’ hearts in absolute tatters. This stung bad but Game of Thrones was never known for its Disney-esque “happily ever after” endings. Her final wish? “Dracarys”. Which could be code for Daenerys to “burn the bish“.

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Photo: HBO

Cersei’s “b*tch mode on” switch may have been flipped but this situation, coupled with the whole Jon drama brewing on the side (the northerners are singing praises and insinuating he’s their King), is about to drive Daenerys to lose her sh*t and burn all of this to the ground. She has never been this stripped down emotionally before and after all, she is the notorious Mad King’s flesh and blood.

Speaking of Jon, clearly, the Stark sisters have a long way to go before getting anywhere remotely close to trusting Daenerys but let’s make one thing clear: Jon finally told Sansa and Arya about his true lineage, a secret Ned Stark kept for 18 years, only to have Sansa spill it in a day?

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Photo: HBO

Also, did we just unceremoniously say goodbye to Ghost, the last direwolf on the show? Ghost fought with alongside their forces in the battle of Winterfell, returning the worse for wear and one-eared. Jon could’ve at least given his loyal buddy a pat goodbye on the head, no?

Is Jaime going to have a final showdown with his twincestuous partner? Or rather, dare he? Just how long is Cersei expecting her gimmicky pregnancy to last? My money is on Jaime being the real father and I can’t wait for Euron to find out.

And may I add that it took me a whopping total of eight whole years to realise that Starbucks is a staple in Winterfell?

Must’ve been a joy trying to write Daenerys Stormborn of House Targaryen, the First of Her Name, Queen of the Andals and the First Men, Protector of the Seven Kingdoms, the Mother of Dragons, the Khaleesi of the Great Grass Sea, the Unburnt, the Breaker of Chains on that cup.

With the end in now in clear sight, how many more surprises, the pleasant and the not-so, can we expect?

Episode five of the final Game of Thrones season airs next Monday on 13 May.

Related: When Night Fell in “Game of Thrones”