The fourth episode of Game of Thrones’ eighth and final season, “The Last of the Starks,” was full of shocking and controversial twists — but perhaps none as startling as a modern-day Starbucks cup left in plain view during the Winterfell party scene.
Fans picked up on the very inappropriately placed Starbucks cup hours after the episode premiered:
And it didn’t take long after that for the shot to spread rapidly across social media, with some fans choosing to celebrate the flub rather than mock it on Monday morning:
Daenerys Stormborn of House Targaryen, the First of Her Name, Queen of the Andals and the First Men, Protector of the Seven Kingdoms, the Mother of Dragons, the Khaleesi of the Great Grass Sea, the Unburnt, the Breaker of Chains, and Drinker of Pumpkin Spice pic.twitter.com/BOPdolRhXz
— Ira Madison III (@ira) May 6, 2019
Despite their ironic affection for the gaffe, fans have also made sure to call it out as evidence of the show’s sloppy production values and questionable budget:
Costumes $150
Direwolf CGI $3
Extras $200
Starbucks $3,600
Writing staff $0someone who is good at television please help me budget this. my show is sucking
— tony (@sadvil) May 6, 2019
It didn’t help that astute viewers quickly realized that the showrunners themselves, David Benioff and D.B. Weiss, had cameos in the scene, and still no one managed to notice the wayward cup:
As amusing as all this is, it’s also an opportunity for fans to vent their frustrations with Game of Thrones in general, using the Starbucks cup as a sort of synecdoche for their overarching problems with this season of the show thus far:
I think the Starbucks cup is really a metaphor for how sloppy the plotting of this season has been. You hate to see it but it's staring you in the face.
— fred fujiwara (@nkem_x) May 6, 2019
“I hate where the writing is going overall,” one fan wrote in a Twitter thread (which discusses a major episode spoiler). “Everything is feeling rushed and some of the build up and ideas for the past seasons are just getting overlooked. Just like that Starbucks cup.”
Y’all can talk about the writing and killing black characters and blah blah blah but that Starbucks cup is the real spit in the face LMAO
— Special Guest: Tyra Banks fan acct (@baskgod) May 6, 2019
Viewers have increasingly called out the show this season for its sexist and racist treatment of various characters and what seem like the characters’ inexplicable motivations. The Starbucks cup, at least for now, may be the perfect representative of all of these complaints — ironically giving the fandom something to unite around in the series’ final weeks.
when you want to be ruler of the seven kingdoms but all anyone wants to talk about is the Starbucks cup you left on the table pic.twitter.com/MOOwXm08nw
— Dave Itzkoff (@ditzkoff) May 6, 2019
Thanks for reading Game of Thrones’ Starbucks coffee cup mistake becomes a viral metaphor - Vox.com. Please share...!
0 Comment for "Game of Thrones’ Starbucks coffee cup mistake becomes a viral metaphor - Vox.com"