The Mad Queen cometh. Photo / Supplied
WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD FOR GAME OF THRONES SEASON EIGHT, EPISODE FOUR
Oh, it's on.
The death of one of Daenerys' most loyal allies will set the Dragon Queen raging like nothing we've seen yet.
Cersei should be afraid, very afraid.
Game of Thrones seems intent on pushing Daenerys as far over the edge as they can, so the show has been systematically picking off her support crew, one by one. The more isolated and wronged she feels, the more fearsome her eventual descent will be.
It increasingly feels like the Mad Queen is about to reveal herself.
Daenerys started off the episode saying goodbye to Jorah, who gave his life valiantly protecting her last week against the Night King's undead forces.
This week, the episode ended with the shock death of Missandei, executed in front of Daenerys and Grey Worm by The Mountain at Cersei's call.
Asked if she had any last words, Missandei called out "Dracarys" — the High Valyrian word Dany uses to instruct her dragons to go full pyromaniac. Did Missandei use her final moments to tell Dany to show no mercy?
As Missandei's head and body tumbled from the King's Landing battlements down to the dirt ground outside, Dany's eyes went from fear to fierce determination.
A fiery confrontation is inevitable.
This after Euron Greyjoy's army speared and killed the still-recovering Rhaegal. That's one more dragon out of commission, permanently.
After saving humanity from the White Walkers, our heroes were only allowed the smallest of reprieves before the disappointments started to mount up again.
And fans were equally heartbroken as the body count continued to climb.
An episode filled with political intrigue saved its most shocking and brutal moments for the final act.
But perhaps the fascinating development was not the deaths but the machinations starting to cook behind the scenes.
With Jon's parentage practically in the open — "it's not a secret, it's information" as Varys put it so well — the whispers and plotting to potentially boost Jon's claim to the throne are well and truly in the works.
If the Mad Queen does enter the frame, then maybe the people of Westeros really do deserve someone as "tempered" and "measured" as Jon.
Only two episodes to go.
OPINION: This was no random triple course of overture, concerto and symphony.