"The Last Of The Starks" had a lot of ground to cover as the third-to-last episode of Game of Thrones, which explains its nearly 80-minute runtime. Not only did the characters (and viewers) need to decompress after the Battle of Winterfell, but the series also needed to set up the ultimate conflict and resolution of the series. The time we spent in Winterfell provided plenty of additions to the best Tormund Giantsbane quotes, but probably more importantly, it set events in motion that led to Daenerys's ultimate fate.
Subtle details in this episode called back to the show's rich history or pointed towards the characters' ultimate ends. Here's everything that happened.
Most fans agree that Tyrion has had a rough few seasons from a strategic standpoint. He never should have trusted Cersei to stay true to her word, and every piece of advice he's shared in Westeros seems to have blown up in his face. Daenerys takes his advice for possibly the final time by giving Cersei a chance to surrender peacefully. When Tyrion passes Qyburn and makes his plea directly to his sister, it looks like another failure since Cersei signals for the Mountain to execute Missandei as a morbid message to Daenerys and her forces.
But, it could also be Tyrion's final gambit to destroy Cersei's allegiances from within. Tyrion asks Cersei to consider surrender for the sake of her child while Euron Greyjoy is standing right behind her. Euron believes the child is his and had just found out about it. By revealing that he knows about the child, Tyrion might be driving a wedge between Cersei and Euron that will destroy their alliance and clear Dany's path to the Iron Throne.
After an episode full of charged conversations and much-deserved partying in Winterfell, Euron Greyjoy brings a burst of action and gore when he shoots Rhaegal out of the sky and ambushes Daenerys's forces on their way to Dragonstone. Euron does what Bronn failed to do in Season 7 by taking out one of Dany's children, and he does it with a collection of weapons customized for his share of the Iron Fleet. The crossbows stationed around King's Landing only have two limbs for generating force, but the weapons affixed on Euron's ships have six limbs patterened like tentacles in honor of the Greyjoy family sigil.
When Daenerys visits Jon in his room, she says that the people in Westeros don't love her or look at her in the same way the people loved and admired Jon in the Great Hall. In the moment, it sounds more like a vulnerable confession between two lovers, but fans have heard that before from a different Targaryen. Back in Season 1, Viserys said basically the same thing when Jorah stopped him from stealing Dany's dragon eggs. It's another clue that Daenerys is falling into the same destructive mindset that eventually doomed her father and brother.
Podrick Payne is a low-key Game of Thrones all-star. He's loyal, noble, skilled with a sword, and one of the best singers in Westeros (non-Ed Sheeran division). The unassuming squire is also one of the most prolific ladies men in all of the Seven Kingdoms. Pod reinforces his reputation after the Battle of Winterfell by leaving the Great Hall with a pair of Northern women in the background of the scene where the Hound and Sansa talk about their past.
During the post-battle rager in Winterfell's Great Hall, Tyrion plays a drinking game with Brienne, Jaime, and Podrick in a callback to Season 1 when Tyrion plays the same game with Shae and Bronn. Tyrion set out the rules back in Season 1, which is why this episode jumps right into things with Jaime making observations abotu Brienne's family and time serving Renly Baratheon.
One detail even slipped past the editors who made the episode. When Tormund toasts Jon, there's a coffee cup in the middle of the table. This is most likely the fault of someone not striking the set before filming, but it's also not the first time a coffee cup has appeared in the backgound on Game of Thrones. If a third to-go cup shows up, it's officially a pattern.
