{"id":4597,"date":"2016-05-17T03:44:08","date_gmt":"2016-05-16T22:14:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/?p=4597"},"modified":"2016-05-17T03:44:08","modified_gmt":"2016-05-16T22:14:08","slug":"game-of-thrones-ambition-pride-human-nature","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/?p=4597","title":{"rendered":"It\u2019s Not the Night King or Cersei, But Ambition That is Game of Thrones’ Greatest Threat"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

T<\/span><\/p>o borrow from another <\/span>pop culture monolith<\/span><\/a>, <\/span>Game of Thrones<\/span><\/i> has now reached its endgame. Today\u2019s episode, \u201cThe Last of the Starks\u201d, places us in the second half of the show\u2019s final season, with the eight-year-long struggle for the Iron Throne poised to come to an end. And despite the fact that we\u2019ve spent most of that time dreading the arrival of the Night King, his White Walkers, and the endless winter that they would bring with them, the show\u2019s ultimate battle will be waged not over the fate of humanity, but the unbridled ambition and egos of the two queens, Cersei and Danaerys.<\/span>\n\nThat might seem like a step down in terms of stakes, but <\/span>Thrones <\/span><\/i>has always been better at depicting nuanced politics and morally dubious scheming than at telling a straightforward fantasy story. The show\u2019s most memorable moments have been brought about by its exploration of the darker aspects of human nature, especially the thirst for power. And now, with the Night King defeated in the <\/span>previous episode<\/span><\/a>, and his looming existential threat no longer influencing the plot, <\/span>Game of Thrones <\/span><\/i>reveals that the greatest threat to humankind wasn\u2019t external. Rather, we\u2019re more than capable of tearing ourselves apart in our pursuit of power, even without the threat of an impending apocalypse.<\/span>\n\nThe scenario was best summed up by Tyrion Lannister, who says, \u201cWe may have defeated them, but we still have us to contend with,\u201d at the feast celebrating the victory of the living over the Night King\u2019s Army of the Dead. And indeed, the victory soon proves to be bittersweet, as it leads to several beloved characters seemingly departing from the show\u2019s narrative (farewell Ghost, run free!) and cracks forming in the alliances of those who remain. <\/span>Danaerys<\/span><\/a> learns that she doesn\u2019t enjoy the unconditional support of her allies, especially now that Jon Snow also has a claim to the throne. And with her position as conquering hero under threat, we begin to see glimpses of her father, the Mad King Aerys.<\/span>\n

If Danaerys turns out to be as bad, or worse, than Cersei, perhaps Jon will be the only remaining option as a ruler.<\/blockquote>\nThe dark paths that Danaerys\u2019 obsession with claiming the Iron Throne could lead her down are yet unknown, but for now, she is still a few rungs below Cersei on the ladder of <\/span>evil megalomaniacs<\/span><\/a>. Ready to protect her reign at all costs, the Lannister queen fills up the Red Keep with the frightened citizens of King\u2019s Landing, making sure Danaerys will have to slaughter hundreds of innocents just to get at her.<\/span>\n\nThe people in the Red Keep have lives of their own, as Varys points out during the episode, and the fact that both queens are ready to treat them as expendable suggests that despite being on opposite ends of the battlefield, Cersei and Danaerys might not be so different after all. One is willing to use ordinary folk as hostages to retain power, while the other doesn\u2019t care if they live or die in her quest for vengeance.<\/span>\n\n\u201cThe Last of the Starks\u201d is the first episode of this season that touches upon the implications that Jon Snow\u2019s true parentage might have. If Danaerys turns out to be as bad, or worse, than Cersei, perhaps he will be the only remaining option as a ruler. And Varys, who seems to back in his element now that the show has returned to its scheming ways, astutely points out to Tyrion that perhaps the best rulers are those who don\u2019t wish to rule. Like Jon Snow. It\u2019s in this episode that <\/span>Thrones <\/span><\/i>raises the question that it has been covertly trying to ask all these years \u2013 even if we survive the end of the world, can we survive each other?<\/span>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Season Eight\u2019s fourth episode, \u201cThe Last of the Starks\u201d, reveals that the greatest threat to humankind wasn\u2019t external. Rather, we\u2019re more than capable of tearing ourselves apart in our pursuit of power, even without the threat of an impending apocalypse.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":43,"featured_media":4598,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[82],"tags":[8157,2082,2209,2084,2947,309,483,8158,8062,2091,2092,2213,2214,8159,8160,7069,1972,8007,7070,2216,8161,8162],"class_list":["post-4597","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-pop-culture","tag-arya","tag-arya-stark","tag-cersei","tag-cersei-lannister","tag-danaerys","tag-game-of-thrones","tag-got","tag-iron-throne","tag-jaime","tag-jaime-lannister","tag-jon-snow","tag-khaleesi","tag-lannister","tag-last-of-the-starks","tag-power","tag-sansa","tag-sansa-stark","tag-season-8","tag-stark","tag-tyrion","tag-tyrion-lannister","tag-varys"],"yoast_head":"\nIt\u2019s Not the Night King or Cersei, But Ambition That is Game of Thrones' Greatest Threat<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Season Eight\u2019s fourth episode, \u201cThe Last of the Starks\u201d, reveals that the greatest threat to humankind wasn\u2019t external. Rather, we\u2019re more than capable of tearing ourselves apart in our pursuit of power, even without the threat of an impending apocalypse.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/?p=4597\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"It\u2019s Not the Night King or Cersei, But Ambition That is Game of Thrones' Greatest Threat\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Season Eight\u2019s fourth episode, \u201cThe Last of the Starks\u201d, reveals that the greatest threat to humankind wasn\u2019t external. 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