[VoxSpace Selects] Game Of Thrones S8EP4 Spoiler Review: You Win Or You Die

The After Party In Winterfell

Another Monday, and now our wintry feet are warmed with the warmth and heat of the South as our characters fly to King’s Landing and face Cersei in an epic- Wait, let’s hold on, shall we? I don’t think that’s the beginning. Where did episode 3 leave us? Oh right, got it.

The episode starts off with the survivors of The Battle of Winterfell, giving a heroic send off to the ones who weren’t so lucky. We see our protagonists give their goodbyes to their loved ones like Dany to Jorah, Sansa to Theon, and the queen who could have been Lyanna Mormont herself. Jon gives a heroic speech about the dead and soon the pyres are lit. Once, done with the farewell, the living have a celebration to remember the fallen in a beautifully choreographed scene.

As the night grows darker and the glasses grow heavier, the mood of the room changes. Dany, despite being in love with Jon, cannot contain her lust for power and dominion as she hears the men praise Jon for his bravery. Her eyes grow dark and untrusting as Varys, who’s sitting behind her, watches her carefully. Around the same time, Gendry now Lord of Storm’s End asks Arya hand in marriage, which She refuses as she is “no-one”, breaking his fragile little heart.

The episode did have its stupider side but the good parts outweighed them. One of them is the recurring moments between Tyrion and Varys as they talk about the fate of Dany and how they worry about her state of mind. Despite them knowing that Dany can never be as vile as Cersei, they have not forgotten her father, Aerys the Mad King. The ice between Jaime and Brienne finally cracks and they have their moments, much to the dismay of Tormund.

Jon and Dany have their moment too, and Dany asks him to forget about who he really is and what he is to her, so they can be together. Despite Dany getting all manipulative (She begs and pleads him), Jon with a sense of responsibility tells Dany that he owes the truth to his family at least. The moment between them ends on a slightly icy note.

It’s Time To Go To Work – Kill Cersei And Capture The Iron Throne

The next morning arrives and Dany presses Sansa and the rest of Winterfell to begin the march to capture Cersei and the Iron Throne and end the conflict. Despite Sansa’s protests, Dany says that they cannot postpone the “Great War” and would have to leave immediately. Jon would ride with the bulk of the army of Winterfell, with Ser Davos while Dany would fly with her dragons and the remaining members of the Dothraki and the Unsullied would follow her in ships, along with Missandei, Tyrion and Varys.

Our hearts are broken in the next twenty seconds as we see Dany riding toward King’s Landing with her dragons when, out of nowhere, large spears fly from the ground and pierce Rhaegal killing him. Dany and Drogon narrowly escape but Euron aims his spears toward the ships and tears them down, incapacitating the remaining members of any’s fleet. As many of her key personnel and soldiers narrowly escape Euron’s spears, Missandei is captured and taken into the Capitol.

We finally see some of the last moments of this episode when Danaerys and her army try to come to terms with Cersei, asking to relinquish the iron throne and hand over Missandei to them. Cersei sends Qyburn to send a message to Dany: surrender immediately or Missandei dies.

Tyrion, still very much alive, pleads with Cersei to let Missandei go, trying to appeal to her maternal instincts. Cersei, cold as ice, colder than the Night King himself, asks Missandei if she has any last words. As silence spreads across the surrounding lands, we hear one last word from Missandei, which was quite chilling to the bone: Dracarys. The mountain steps forward and decapitates her in one single blow, as Dany and Greyworm stand aghast shaking to the bone. The episode ends with Dany storming away from the Citadel and Greyworm looking like he could crush rocks in anger.

The Important Bits

This episode had many moments between all the surviving members of Westeros. Some of the key takeaways are:

Jaime, despite having some great moments up north with Brienne, decides he needs to go back to Cersei. I almost felt bad for him. Their relationship is toxic and no matter where Jaime goes, he is eventually drawn back to his vile twin sister.

Bronn, who was asked to kill one or both of the Lannister brothers by Cersei, finds them and decides to negotiate. Tyrion, who reminds him that he will pay double of whatever anyone offers Bronn, tells him that he can have Highgarden if he doesn’t kill them both.

Missandei, our beloved friend from Nath, is killed by The Mountain. Her decapitated head lies at the foot of the Citadel.

Fan service 101 has been done when we hear Sandor Clegane tell Arya that he’s going to the south to complete unfinished business. Guess we’re getting the Cleganebowl finally.

The Verdict

I am not overly happy with this episode but it’s far better than the previous one. It is quite apparent that the writers are very much done with Game of Thrones and now want to wrap things up quickly. None of the episodes are really packed with the native elements of Game of Thrones. I feel that they’re just writing this season to tie off all the loose ends. Nonetheless, this episode had me in laughter and horror. With two more episodes to go, let us see what lies ahead for Westeros.