"The Last of the Starks"[1] is the fourth episode of the eighth season of HBO's fantasy television series Game of Thrones, which aired on May 5, 2019 and is the 71st overall.
[2] This episode marks the final appearance of Nathalie Emmanuel (Missandei), and Hannah Murray (Gilly), as well as the final appearances of six actors whose characters died in the previous episode, but were seen as corpses: Alfie Allen (Theon Greyjoy), Iain Glen (Ser Jorah Mormont), Bella Ramsey (Lyanna Mormont), Richard Dormer (Beric Dondarrion), Ben Crompton (Eddison Tollett), and Staz Nair (Qhono).
She orders the gates of the Red Keep remain open, making her subjects human shields to deter an all-out assault on the city.
Cersei refuses and has Gregor Clegane behead Missandei, horrifying and enraging Grey Worm and Daenerys.
During filming of the banquet scenes, a disposable coffee cup from a local café was accidentally left on the set; it was briefly visible in the original broadcast of the episode,[4][5] but was digitally erased two days later.
[6][7] Actress Nathalie Emmanuel was digitally inserted into the long shots of her own death scene, because filming took place at a great physical height and was exposed to photographers.
"[13] Sean T. Collins of Rolling Stone believed that the episode did a good job of showing the conflicts between humans and wrote, "It hasn't missed a step thematically, moving from humanity's need to stop killing itself and face a common threat to its compulsion to annihilation even after seeing what it can accomplish as a united front.
"[15] Among the negative reviews, Shirley Li of The Atlantic wrote that she wasn't impressed by "The Last of the Starks" and criticized the "nonsensical storytelling" in this episode.
"[16] Steve Johnson of the Chicago Tribune believed the show had lost its exciting storyline and, referring to the downfall of the Night King in the previous episode, wrote, "How are we supposed to get thrilled about fighting mere Cersei again when we've already bested the greatest enemy of all time?
"[17] Alan Sepinwall of Rolling Stone labeled the episode a "structural oddity", and wrote, "It never feels solid enough.
"[18] Longtime Game of Thrones reviewer, Erik Kain of Forbes, stated that "so much happened and so little of it felt right, that today I'm left feeling letdown more than anything, and dreading the next two episodes instead of eagerly awaiting them.
[20] Amy Jones of The Daily Telegraph described the explanation as "stupid",[21] while fans ridiculed Benioff by turning the statement into a meme.