The Last of the Starks

Editor's Note: This entry contains spoilers for the Game of Thrones episode "The Last of the Starks;" read at your own caution.

Overview

"The Last of the Starks" refers to the fourth episode of the eighth season of Game of Thrones. The episode is the first following the infamous "Battle of Winterfell".

Background

On May 5th, 2019, the Game of Thrones episode "The Last of the Starks" aired.^[1]

Developments

Coffee Cup Goof

As the episode aired, fans of the series noticed a modern-day coffee cup on a table in front of the character Daenerys (portrayed by Emilia Clarke). During the episode, Twitter user @zane tweeted, "my favorite show in the entire world forgot a STARBUCKS COFFEE CUP ON THE TABLE WHILE FILMING." The tweet received more than 77,000 retweets, 240,000 likes and 3.8 millon views in 24 hours (shown below).

my favorite show in the entire world forgot a STARBUCKS COFFEE CUP ON THE TABLE WHILE FILMING pic.twitter.com/60z3pOCfg9

— zane (@zane) May 6, 2019

Throughout the night, others noticed and joked about the cup. Twitter^[2] user @JennaGuillaume tweeted, "You're telling me they had TWO YEARS to put together a decent show and they couldn't even spot the goddamn Starbucks cup in Winterfell??!?!" The tweet received more than 6,000 retweets and 24,000 likes in 24 hours (shown below, left).

Twitter^[3] user @TheGeneralSYD tweeted a photograph of Daenerys at a Starbucks. The post received more than 2,000 retweets and 9,000 likes in 24 hours (shown below, center).

Others joked about the criticism from show's previous "Battle of Winterfell" episode "The Long Night." Many had criticized the episode for being too dark. Twitter user @jenlikespizza tweeted,^[4] "The fact that there was a Starbucks cup in tonight’s Game of Thrones that no producers or editors noticed throughout multiple cuts merely 1 week after the DP yelled that the show’s not too dark to see is truly chef’s kiss. The tweet received more than 1,600 retweets and 8,900 likes in 24 hours (shown below, left).

That day, Twitter^[5] published a Moments page about the goof.

Ghost Leaves With Tormund

During the episode, fans joked about Jon Snow giving his pet direwolf Ghost to his friend Tormund Giantsbane (portrayed Jon Snow and Kristofer Hivju, resepectively). Many felt that Snow's decision was disrespectful to Ghost. Redditor ^[6] alzbetin_dvor posted "1 UPVOTE = 1 PET FOR MY WOUNDED BOI" in the /r/freefolk subredit. The post recevied more than 86,000 (89% upvoted) and 1,200 comments (shown below, left).

Twitter user @GynxxM tweeted^[7] a photograph of Ghost and an image of Homer Simpson angry in bed, "Me after I saw that jon didn’t even said goodbye to ghost." The post received more than 1,100 retweets and 4,200 likes in 24 hours (shown below, right).

Deaths

The episode featured two abrupt and surprise deaths: Missandei (portrayed by Nathalie Emmanuel) and Raegal the dragon. However, the death of Missandei caused a bit of a controversy online. Many criticized the character's death for a number of reasons. Vox^[8] wrote:

Many Game of Thrones viewers have expressed anger and disgust over Missandei’s death because of what it means for Dany. Namely, after an entire episode devoted to heavily foreshadowing Dany’s turning into the “Mad Queen,” the death seemed like a calculated plot device to push Dany over the edge. But these same viewers aren’t buying such a shift in Dany’s character; after all, she’s been framed as a noble and just queen, if a flawed one, for several seasons now. Though some people have started to question whether the idea of burning everything down is actually all that bad.

Others, who had criticized the series for seasons over a lack of people of color on the cast, chastised the show for killing off one of the two persons of color on the cast (example below).

Search Interest

External References