At Dragonstone Varys writes numerous letters informing those that receive them of Jon's true lineage.
Jon arrives at Dragonstone to console Daenerys and is greeted my Varys, who expresses his concern about Daenerys to Jon. He tells Jon he would be a good ruler, to which he replies that Daenerys is his queen. Tyrion informs Daenerys of Varys' betrayal, but she laments that Jon betrayed her by telling Sansa, who in turn betrayed him by telling Tyrion, and Tyrion by telling Varys. Tyrion reasons they are all trying to help her and share her interests for a better world. Varys is sentenced to death and he lets Tyrion he hopes he is wrong about Daenerys, before he is set alight by Drogon. Varys' fate seemed sealed last episode when the master of whispers started to openly express his concern at Daenerys sitting on the Iron Throne. It's unfortunate, though, since he has been a long time supporter of hers - going back to the very first season. His sudden distrust in her ability to rule is a injustice to his character, spoiling what could have been an otherwise fitting end for him.
Later Daenerys confronts Jon about Sansa's betrayal, and tells him Varys is an example of what will happen if people find out the truth about Jon. She tells him that the people of Westeros love him more than her and that she has no love - only fear. Jon tells him he loves her, but as she makes advances he pulls away, to which she responds: alright then, let it be fear. Tyrion begs Daenerys not to burn King's Landing to the ground and informs her that if they surrender the city will ring the bells. She nods in agreement and tells Greyworm to return and lead the Unsullied army and to wait for her signal. She informs Tyrion that Jamie has been captured trying to get into the city, and warn him that the next time Tyrion falls her it will be the last time.
Upon arriving at the army's camp Tyrion finds an imprisoned Jamie and tries to convince him to sneak into King's Landing and talk sense into Cersei. Jamie doesn't believe that he will be able to, so Tyrion tells him to take Cersei and escape into the dungeons of the Red Keep and take a dingy on the beach to Pentos. He promises to Tyrion that he will, and that he will also try and ring the bells to inform Daenerys of their surrender. Tyrion isn't concerned of the repercussions of letting Jamie go as long as it stops her from killing all the innocents in King's Landing he is willing to risk his life. While trying to use Jamie to talk sense into Cersei isn't the worst plan, it's tedious here because Tyrion has been trying to talk sense into Cersei for the last season. His conversation with Jamie here just echoes the one-sided discussion Tyrion had with her at the end of 'The Last of the Starks', which was ultimately fruitless. As Daenerys has pointed out his love and faith for his family has resulted in him making mistake after mistake for as long back as season six's 'Stormborn'. It's made that much more difficult to understand since Tyrion has no reason to love Cersei or want her to live, and while Tyrion has always shared a brotherly bond with Jamie, I've never felt Game of Thrones did a good job at developing this relationship (both characters' subplots ensuring there was entire seasons where their characters didn't even interact). The same can be said for Jamie and Cersei, and this conversation between Jamie and Tyrion becomes even more tedious not knowing Jamie's true intentions once he is reunited with Cersei.
At King's Landing citizens are hoarded into the Red Keep as it defences, the Iron fleet lead by Euron, and the Golden Company, prepare for Daenerys attack. Aria and The Hound manage to enter before the gates are shut, while Jamie is locked outside. Riding Drogon Daenerys decimates the Iron fleet and burns down the entrance to King's Landing from behind allowing Jon, Ser Davos, Greyworm, and the Unsullied army to attack the city. In the Red Keep Qyburn tries to convince Cersei to flee, but she is adamant it will not fall. When Jon and the armies reach the Lanister army guarding the Red Keep they throw down their swords in surrender. The people yell for the bells to be rung - and they are - but Daenerys continues to burn the city to the ground. This prompts her armies to continue their attack on the city despite Jon's protests. Daenery's decision to show King's Landing no mercy is not a surprising one, as I think her transformation into 'The Mad Queen' has been well alluded to throughout the series. Her decision does seem ill-timed though. Had she attacked immediately following Missendai's beheading in 'The Last of the Starks' that would have made more sense, but allowing her to retreat to Dragonstone for several days does make her decision less impulsive (which is something Daenerys has always been shown to be), and therefore it makes less sense. The idea of the Bell's tolling, while a nice motif, also strikes wrong since they have never been mentioned or used in Game of Thrones before, and nice Cersei did not give the order for them to ring, nor did we see anyone (maybe Jamie?) ringing them, their effect becomes convoluted.
Unable to enter the Red Keep Jamie goes to shore to find the dingy Tyrion spoke of and enter through the dungeons up to Cersei. Euron washes ashore, the pair fight, and Jamie is fatally wounded, but not before he kills Euron. It's a frustrating fight because ultimately you don't care and it's delaying Jamie's reunion with Cersei. Euron has been a vastly under-utilised character brought in far too late in the series for anyone to truly care about and only there to help bolster Cersei's threat against Daenerys.
As the Red Keep begins to collapse The Hound convinces Arya that Cersei won't leave the city alive so she should save herself if she doesn't want to end up like him - wanting revenge all his life and having that as the only thing he cares about. She thanks him and runs. In an overall disappointing episode, this was a stand out moment. Arya, whose motivations for eight seasons has been to kill Cersei, decides not to when given the opportunity for no reason whatsoever other than she might die in the destruction of King's Landing or end up like The Hound (who Game of Thrones tried to convince us was actually a good man for a very long time).
Qyburn finally convinces Cersei to leave the Red Keep and he and The Mountain accompany her escape but they are stopped by The Hound. Cersei orders him to stay by her side so he can shield her from falling debris, but he ignores her to face off with his brother. Qyburn interjects and The Mountain throws him into what remains of the Red Keeps walls, killing him. Cersei brushes past The Hound and him and the Mountain fight. Both are ultimately killed when The Hound throws himself and the Mountain of the Red Keep into the flames below. This fight has long been awaited on Game of Thrones, and for what reason I don't know. Qyburn's revived version of The Mountain has been shown to be virtually indestructible, and the feud between the characters never fully explored.
Jamie finally finds Cersei as the Red Keep continues to crumble around them. He takes her down to the dungeons but the tunnels leading to the dingy have been blocked by rubble. Cerise tells Jamie she wants their baby to life, and pleads with him not to let her die, not like this. He whispers to her, 'nothing else matters, only us', as the roof falls on top of them. As mentioned before I've never felt Game of Thrones did a good job at developing Jamie and Cersei's relationship, but was holding out for a final scene between them that might shed some more light onto their torrid relationship. Unfortunately this was not the case, as they held each other and succumbed to their rather unsatisfactory deaths.
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