By It was the wildling Orell who said what would turn out to be one of the more prophetic lines on Game of Thrones when he told Jon Snow: "People work together when it suits them. They’re loyal when it suits them. They love each other when it suits them, and they kill each other when it suits them."
In the penultimate episode of the series, 'The Bells', it's clear that some loyalties no longer suit, and long-standing allegiances crumbled like the walls of the city Daenerys decides to take down.
At the opening we see Varys scorched alive for betraying Daenerys' trust. Rather conveniently for Jon Snow and Tyrion her vengeance stops there, instead of killing them for leaking the information to Varys.
Varys' last moments show the cracks in Dany's inner-circle widening, Tyrion holding on to Varys' arm as he says, "goodbye old friend", and Jon looking silently bewildered at the execution about to take place. It was a look that questioned how far loyalty should extend, and one that returned to his face as he saw her dragon wreaking hellfire on crowds of innocent people.
When Dany calls in Tyrion to tell him Jaime has been captured trying to return to Cersei, she tells him "Next time you fail me will be the last time you fail me." He seems to see this threat as a dare and immediately goes to set Jaime free, betraying her with a plan that he hopes will save the lives of others.
"You were the only one who didn’t treat me like a monster," Tyrion says to Jaime as he frees him. Clearly he had made a decision on where his loyalty lies long ago. Despite the fighting between the Lannister siblings over the last few seasons, in the end blood is thicker than water for them. Cersei chooses death over surrender, and Jaime chooses Cersei over everything. The pair are loyal to themselves until the end.
Loyalty has not always been justly rewarded in Game of Thrones. Think of how the Starks' misplaced faith in Roose Bolton ended in the Red Wedding massacre, or how Littlefinger's supposed loyalty to Catelyn Stark allowed him to manipulate Sansa. The series has shown us that loyalties should be questioned, and putting unwavering faith in someone does not always end well.
Perhaps the biggest disloyalty in the episode was Daenerys' swerve to tyrant, a violent break from the character we had seen show compassion for the enslaved and the downtrodden over seven seasons. Isn't this the woman who proclaimed: "I will not let those I have freed slide back into chains"?
Regardless of whether fans will follow the logic, the show is clearly leading us toward the idea that placing faith in her was a wild mistake. When, as we can see from the preview of the final episode, Daenerys takes hold of the remains of King's Landing, those who co-signed destruction and death will dearly regret their blind loyalty to her.
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