DISCLAIMER: THERE ARE NO SPOILERS IN THIS ARTICLE. I HAVE NO KNOWLEDGE OF WHAT IS TO TRANSPIRE IN THIS STORY. ANY VIEWS OR CONTENT EXPRESSED ARE SOLELY PERSONAL THEORIES, OPINIONS AND INSIGHTS.
What Just Happened?
Shocked. Confused. Disappointed. Baffled. There is no shortage of adjectives to describe the way I feel after the final installment of Game of Thrones, but simply put, it was an emphatic explanation point on an utterly disappointing season. At its best, Game of Thrones took us to highs that few stories have before; and as we saw in this finale episode, at its worst, Thrones was capable of reaching equally extreme lows. With each episode that passed this season, the simple (and terribly sad) reality became more and more apparent: the folks producing this show simply were not going to be able to deliver a successful end to this story. And despite a season defined by poor story telling, inexplicable character development, pacing of events that often made no sense — despite all of that — I still held out a bit of hope that the final episode would have one final magical twist or turn that would help to make things right. After all, this is Game of Thrones we are talking about — this was the one show that simply would not, and could not, mess up the end to its story the way so many other shows have.
But the truth is now plain to see and there is no hiding from it. The reality is that the magic of this world we became so captivated by — the characters, the history, the locales, the families, the lore, the mythology — all of it — it all lived in a series of books. And while HBO did an absolutely masterful job at adapting the magic of those books to TV, the reality is that we were always destined, to some extent, to end up exactly where we did. George R.R. Martin took the better part of 20 years to create the enthralling world that we fell in love with over the first six seasons. But those six seasons were based on the five books he had written — two short of the seven books that will (hopefully) be published to bring the A Song of Ice and Fire saga to a close. Writing for the sixth book, The Winds of Winter, began over eight years ago, and is still not out. It’s anybody’s guess when final book, A Dream of Spring, will be published, but it likely will not be for another 10 years or so.
So what does this tells us? It tells us that the homestretch of this story, a story that has taken over 25 years to write, simply does not yet exist, and likely won’t for many years to come. There is a reason George R.R. Martin takes so many years to write each book and it’s not simply because the writing itself takes so long. It’s because he is actually taking an incredible amount of time to continue to create and develop the story itself. And as the story starts getting towards it’s final chapter, it becomes increasingly more challenging to think about how each character’s journey comes to an end, how various storylines converge, and how this epic saga ultimately reaches its finale.
The predicament we find ourselves in is that while George R.R. Martin will take as much time as is required to finish this story the right way, HBO could not. So, what we were left with for the last two seasons, was a story that was based on loose directional feedback provided by George R.R. Martin, which left Thrones writers and producers filling in some very large gaps. Sure, George R.R. may have been able to tell Thrones producers what the singular endpoint of this story was, but he simply hasn’t yet conjured up and all the intricate subplots and character journeys that lead us to that endpoint. And without having his story to tell, we were left with a watered down, overly simplified, dumbed down version of what I believe the ending to this story will be when he tells it through the books. To some extent, the show was always destined to end this way, only I don’t think anybody thought it could ever get this bad.
The finale episode, entitled The Iron Throne, was riddled with one cringe-worthy cliche after the next. As has been the case throughout most of the season, the pacing felt totally off, with certain moments being totally rushed, and other less significant ones dragging on. The writing, specifically much of the dialogue, landed somewhere between embarrassing and comical. The aftermath of last week’s total destruction of King’s Landing simply felt totally contrived, with writers bringing rather abrupt endings to each character’s story. So much so, that it almost felt as if this finale episode was disjointed from the entire story that preceded it. It was as if this finale episode was given to a brand new team of writers that knew absolutely nothing about the story that has spanned the last 10 years, and were asked to do their best to synthesize some sort of close that forced endings for each character. One moment I felt I was watching a soap opera, the next I felt I was stuck in a bad SNL skit. How could this be? I mean I wasn’t expecting a whole ton after how disappointing this entire season has been, but really, I never could have imagined the new lows that were reached. There was absolutely nothing interesting. Nothing unique. No twists or turns. Very little emotion. Only cheap storytelling that made this episode feel like it was an obligation — a chore to get this thing wrapped up — rather than a vehicle to truly end this story in a meaningful way.
A Mess in King’s Landing
The episode begins as we see Tyrion and others taking in the aftermath of Dany’s fire and blood escapades. King’s Landing has now become a wasteland, with only skeletons and ash to speak of, which further underscored the ridiculousness of how far Dany took things last week. As Tyrion continues through King’s Landing, he eventually makes his way below the Red Keep where he finds Cersei and Jaime’s final resting place. Despite all his efforts, Tyrion could not stop all the death that was to come, and all he can do now is look on at his last remaining family members, gone forever. As Jaime and Cersei lay together, it was a poetic reminder that Tyrion really has been alone in this world most of his life, and even though Jaime cared about him a great deal, he was always an outsider compared to the twin bond that Cersei and Jaime shared.
Continuing her plunge into madness, we see Dany standing over a ruined King’s Landing, delivering an impassioned speech to her army, in which she basically tells them that this was just the beginning, and she plans to take her show on the road. While we all saw her evolve into The Mad Queen last week (at a pace that made absolutely no sense), the door was still left open for her to show some remorse in this finale episode. But that door shut pretty quickly and it became evident that no amount of death and destruction would be too great a cost for her to “break the wheel.” In reality, Dany herself sounded like a ruthless tyrant, one capable of committing devastating acts — the very type of ruler she has so badly wanted to rid from the world. It continued to be frustrating to watch just how cruel and vicious she has become so quickly, and it felt totally contradictory to who Dany was for the better part of the last 10 years.
Realizing he was on the wrong side of things, Tyrion gave Dany a big “f you” as he denounces her slaughter and abandons his post of hand to the queen. He’s quickly taken as her prisoner as Jon can only look on. Jon then goes to visit Tyrion, where they continue to go back and forth about whether or not Dany must be stopped. In their exchange, Jon references something Maestar Aemon told him all the way back in season one, “Love is the death of duty.” At the time, Maestar Aemon was explaining to Jon why brothers of the Night’s Watch could not have families — love would interfere with their duty to protect the realm. In response, Tyrion flips the idea that Maestar Aemon presented, and tells Jon that “sometimes, duty is the death of love.” No doubt, a suggestion that Jon’s duty to protect the realm might bring about the death of his love with Dany. Before Jon departs, Tyrion urges him that he must decide and he must decide now.
Moments later, surprise surprise, we see Dany in the Throne Room, a replay of basically the same vision she had in an earlier season where we saw the ruined Throne Room that she is now walking through. Once again, a reminder that she has become nothing more than queen of the ashes. If you asked me a few years ago what one of the most powerful moments in this story could have possibly been, I would have told you that at the top of the list would be the moment Dany finally reaches the Throne Room and ascends the Iron Throne that her ancestor, Aegon Targaryen, built 300 years before her. Sadly, the realization of this moment felt plain and unemotional, probably because of how little was left of the Throne Room itself, thanks to Dany’s temper tantrum that brought about the destruction of King’s Landing on the whole. She had finally reached the Iron Throne — the powerful symbol of all she had wanted — all she had sacrificed so much to achieve — and all for what?
Duty Over Love
The predictable and soap opera nature of the episode continued as Jon arrives, right on cue, and reprimands Dany for the slaughter she carried out. The two go back and forth about their differences of opinion, blah blah blah, which once again ends in a Dany/Jon kiss. But then, out of nowhere, Jon puts his dagger through her heart. And by out of nowhere, I mean everybody saw that coming from a mile away and it was totally unsurprising. The whole thing felt like “okay, everybody knows this is coming, let’s just get it over with.” But worse than this moment’s predictability was how emotionless and fleeting the scene was as a whole. Out of a 90-minute episode, much of which was filled with gratuitous and irrelevant banter, we can only spare 60 seconds to the death of the show’s most powerful character? I mean come on. Just like that, Dany is gone, and before we even have a moment to really soak it in, I’ve got this dragon in my face…again.
Talk about a botched opportunity. You have Daenerys Targaryen, one of the most beloved characters ever created in any fictional format; opposite her, the equally beloved Jon Snow; and between them, a magical story that intertwines the ideas of power, morality, duty and love. And though many people saw it coming, even so, that this story would end with Jon choosing duty over love, and sacrificing the woman he truly loved, is incredibly powerful. So why didn’t I feel that way watching it? And then just like that, Drogon scoops up Dany and flies her out of there. Oh, but not before melting the Iron Throne, the very throne the Targaryens created in the first place. I’m not sure there’s any real explanation for Drogon flying away with Dany’s dead body, other than a setup for somehow bringing her back to life for some future Thrones spinoff, which seems highly unlikely. The end to Dany and Jon’s story was a total miss of epic proportions.
One Strange Council
Just a moment later, we’re past the emotionless death of Dany, and we’re now all business as the “who’s who” of Westeros have gathered to determine the fate of the realm. It kind of felt like all the unimportant remaining characters were scrapped together and this is when the episode went from bad to just silly. First of all, half of these characters had absolutely no business being there. Edmure Tully, Catelyn’s brother is all of a sudden making a return after having had zero role in this story for many seasons? Yara Greyjoy is back, without anything from her since she went back to The Iron Islands? Oh and let’s not forget about introducing a brand new Dornish prince (who doesn’t even speak) to join this mish-mosh of a crew. And perhaps the absolute funniest of all is Robert Arryn, the sickly son of Lysa Arryn, who previously didn’t know how to do anything other than breastfeed…He’s now got a seat on this council? There were a few others that I did not even recognize, furthering the ridiculousness of this gathering.
The group goes back and forth about what to do next, and apparently after all that has transpired, after King’s Landing has basically been totally destroyed and the world of Westeros has been turned upside down, this silly council is going to solve for the future of the realm in one simple conversation. And all of a sudden Grey Worm is mr chatterbox, driving much of the direction of the council’s decisions. In this one episode, Grey Worm speaks more than he has in the past seven seasons combined. After the death of Dany, he wants revenge, but Tyrion reminds him that it’s not his decision to make, which leads to the debate of who should take power next. Comically, Edmure Tully stands up to state his case, before Sansa tells him to sit down. Why? Why would the writers choose to include dialogue in this final episode that sees Edmure Tully, a completely irrelevant character, stand up and make a claim for the throne? Unless they were going for some sort of comedic relief, it just doesn’t belong. But the comedy didn’t stop there. Samwell suggests they consider a more democratic election where the people have a say, and for some reason, others found this to be comical, poking fun and sarcastically asking if their dogs and horses would get a say. The whole thing felt like a bad SNL skit.
Finally, we arrive at the moment that pretty much caps this entire story — the reveal of who would end on the throne. And to be quite honest, I couldn’t have cared less at this point. The realization of who would take the Throne was not decided by any significant final moment in the story, but rather by a cast of irrelevant characters making forced decisions, so the reveal of who would end on the Throne simply felt like an anticlimactic “who cares” moment. But the only thing that could have been less sensible than everything that has already transpired would be to make Bran the one to end on the throne. And of course, that’s precisely what happens. The logic behind it makes sense — Tyrion paints the picture that the most powerful thing in life is a story and we know Bran is keeper of all stories and memories. So we get it. But, we are talking about a guy that has totally lost his human mind. He’s been on a multiyear journey where his entire life has been dedicated to an existential evolution, which saw him become the Three-Eyed-Raven. In doing so, he has experienced all kinds of visions, past, present and future, that revealed powerful moments which changed him forever. We’re talking Children of the Forest, White Walkers, The Night King — Bran was in the thick of it all. When all of those mythological elements of the show died along with The Night King in an unbelievably disappointing fashion, it definitely created some question marks for what was left for Bran in this story, if anything. I mean we haven’t even seen the guy in several episodes. Now, all of a sudden, he’s being named the king of Westeros? Talk about delivering a cheap ending to this story — did nobody working on this show stop to realize how senseless this was? We are talking about the character who had reached total enlightenment, so much so, that he didn’t even really know how to be a human anymore. And now we are going to plunge him into the politics of being the ruler of the realm?
But he won’t be the king of the Seven Kingdoms. He only gets six. Sansa had to get her two cents in and tell Bran that she wants The North to remain its own independent kingdom as it had been for thousands of years before Aegon’s Conquest. And that’s fine, but the only problem is that ALL the kingdoms had been independent prior, so why would the representatives of Dorne and The Vale and The Iron Islands all be okay with The North not bending the knee while they have to? Also, given that it was another member of House Stark ending up on the throne, Sansa’s desire to annex The North just makes that much less sense — it’s her own brother on the throne. Totally illogical storytelling and it just felt like a forced way to be able to show Sansa as the queen of The North, without regard for the fact it did not make sense to the story itself. But hey, not much has to really make sense anymore, so let’s go with it.
Back to The Wall
So that’s that. Bran is some sort of Three-Eyed-Raven king and Sansa is queen in the North. But we’ve got to come up with some sort of contrived ending for Jon, right? How about we send him back to The Wall, where his story began. That sounds like a cheap, easy and poetic ending for his character — so let’s go with that. I also found it strange that while the council was trying to figure out who should take the throne, Jon wasn’t mentioned once. True, he had just killed Dany, but if we subscribe to the idea that he was the rightful heir, then it was Dany who was revolting and trying to claim a throne that was not hers. That would provide some justification for Jon having to kill Dany, to eliminate a usurper. So, with her gone, and everybody grasping at straws to figure out who should be next in line, why is nobody bringing up Jon, the actual rightful heir?
Anyway, just like that, he’s back in his Night’s Watch garb, hair back down like it used to be in the old days, and headed back to The Wall. Another character with a massive arc that gets a senseless ending. We are talking about the guy that was arguably the most important character; the guy that became Lord Commander of The Night’s Watch; the guy that risked it all to put the world on alert about The Night King; the guy that fought and won in countless fate-determining battles; the guy that was broughtback from the dead; and the guy that made the ultimate sacrifice as he took the life of Daenerys Targaryen. And after all of that, we just send him to The Wall? I mean what an unbelievably disappointing, unsatisfying and silly way to end his story.
But before he departs, we get a round of cliche goodbyes with each of his siblings, the best of which reveals that Arya is now channeling her inner Christopher Columbus/Dora the Explorer. She’s off to explore the world, whatever is west of Westeros. I mean how cheesy do we want to get here? If they wanted to set up Arya for her own spinoff, they certainly left that door open, but man, after all that Arya has gone through and all her incredible character development, that’s where we end her story? Sending her to cheerfully explore westward made her feel more like a Disney character than anything else. A Cheap and easy cop-out, just like all the others. It’s also confusing to consider how central she was to last week’s episode, with no follow up in the finale. She was a major point of view character last week, running through the streets and the episode ending with her riding out on her white horse. It seemed like she was being set up for some major ending to her character. But it ended up being all for her to play basically zero role in the story’s end. If you think about, since killing The Night King (which was another big screw-up), she basically had zero involvement in the story since — just noise.
Before the episode comes to a close, we get to see the new council that will support King Bran, and it’s a total joke. Tyrion as hand; Davos a Master of Ships; Bronn as Master of Coin; Samwell as archmaestar; Brienne as commander of the King’s Guard. It felt like the writers threw darts at the wall to see who they’d randomly choose to fill each of these roles. The council meeting itself was so comical that it’s hard to believe writers were going for anything else. In the finale episode of this entire story, we have to listen to their light-hearted banter about what their first objectives will be and whether they’re going to rebuild ships or brothels first? And what about Samwell Tarly, casually presenting Tyrion with a book of recent history called A Song of Ice and Fire. Talk about forcing something into the script and an egregious namedrop. Embarrassing stuff.
Assembling a hodgepodge council like this simply disrespects the greatness of the history of the council, one that was once comprised of characters like Tywin Lannister, Varys, Littlefinger, etc… Now we’ve got Bronn and Davos joking about where they’ll allocate their funds first, as if King’s Landing wasn’t only recently completely decimated. Speaking of which, Bran asks if anybody has heard about the location of Drogon, but nobody has. In another weird moment, Bran tells them not to worry and that he’ll take care of figuring out where Drogon is. My first question: given the entire series is about to come to a close, why are we wasting time talking about where the dragon went? My second question: Bran, you are the Three-Eyed-f*cking-Raven — why are you going to this council of C-listers for advice in the first place — aren’t you the all-knowing one? What a total mess.
Finally, Jon returns to The Wall, where of course there will be a couple more cliche reveals. Tormund and Ghost are both waiting for him there, and eventually, they continue north of The Wall, presumably to live a life with The Free Folk. As they enter into the depth of the forest, the show comes to an end, and the confusion reaches its climax. Why is that the final image of this entire story? Jon walking into the forest with the Wildlings hardly seems like the final takeaway to leave viewers with.
And just like that, it’s all over. It was an ending that was obvious, uninspiring and simply silly in many ways. It was so beneath the greatness of Thrones and I cannot think of many ways they could have delivered a more disappointing end to this story. All that said, it would be a mistake to overlook the greatness that this show offered for so many years. Game of Thrones took television to heights it had never been before and captivated a global audience with its magic. Though I will forever be confused and disappointed by how the show brought closure to this story, I will also be thankful for all that it offered for so many years. I would highly encourage each of you to consider picking up the books and starting this journey over the right way, setting yourself up to experience the true ending to this story once it is properly told by George R.R. Martin himself.
Finally, thanks to all the fans and readers of ThronesLife. It has been great to share the passion with so many of you. Keep an eye out for what comes next : )
DISCLAIMER: THERE ARE NO SPOILERS IN THIS ARTICLE. I HAVE NO KNOWLEDGE OF WHAT IS TO TRANSPIRE IN THIS STORY. ANY VIEWS OR CONTENT EXPRESSED ARE SOLELY PERSONAL THEORIES, OPINIONS AND INSIGHTS.
The Bells
By now, everybody knows that in the world of Thrones, penultimate episodes are a big deal. Ned’s beheading, The Battle of Blackwater Bay, The Red Wedding, The Battle of the Bastards — some of the most epic and memorable events in Thrones history, all happened in the second to last episode of their respective seasons. So, in what was not only the penultimate episode to this season, but the penultimate episode to the entire series, things were taken to a whole new level. In trying to balance the sheer “hugeness” of this episode, with writing and storytelling that continues to feel uneven and ill-conceived, I suspect that many viewers will be left asking themselves how content they truly are with this episode.
To that end, I’d like to point out that in any given episode, there is no harm in separating an assessment of the episode’s production from the actual story told. On the production side, there are many technical and artistic disciplines at work. To name a few, there’s the director’s overall vision of how an episode will be delivered, special effects, music, cinematography, etc… And on the storytelling side, the same can be said: writing and dialogue, character development, pace of storytelling — these all shape the overall narrative we are experiencing. So, it would be foolish to try and lump all of these together with a wholesale assessment of the success of a given episode. When you go to a restaurant, you may ultimately determine whether it was good or bad, but more likely, you pass judgement on the food, the ambiance, the service — all distinct elements — one of which could be great, while another not so much.
So before we jump into a more detailed assessment of this week’s episode, I’d like to separate the production from the story. Without doubt, from a production standpoint, tonight’s episode was one of the most successful we’ve seen to date. Delivering 80 minutes of epic chaos and destruction and fire and blood and everything else that went into this episode is no easy feat. The “hugeness” of this episode cannot be denied, and Thrones once again set a new standard for the production value of a television show — a standard once reserved only for the big screen. I start by calling out the success of tonight’s production for a smaller and bigger reason. The smaller reason: because it truly was special and commands tremendous admiration; the bigger reason: I want to get it out of the way early so that it does conflate further commentary which will be focused on the story itself. After all, it is the Game of Thrones story — the magic of its characters, the richness of its history; the intrigue of its myth and legend — that won my heart so early on. And while I would never want to minimize all that this show has achieved on the production front, the story itself will simply always be much more important to me.
So, with that in mind, let’s jump into the story.
The Bells
The second to last episode in the Game of Thrones series was entitled The Bells, a symbolic foreshadowing of some of the milestone events that would unfold in the episode. The ringing of King’s Landing’s bells generally means one of three things: a city under siege, surrender, or the death of a king (or queen). Given the gravitas of these events, when you hear the ring of a King’s Landing bell, you know there is some serious weight to what it signifies. And tonight, the ringing of King’s Landing’s bells underscored all three: the siege of the city, the surrender of its troops, and the death of its queen.
But tonight we saw so much more — enough to keep those bells ringing for many days to come. Destinies were fulfilled as Dany followed in the footsteps of her father and became The Mad Queen. Heartbreaking final goodbyes were said between Tyrion and Jaime; The Hound and Arya. Regret is everywhere, as characters such as Tyrion and Jon realize their mistakes — ones that may well alter the course of history. And the consequences of those mistakes — almost too much to watch — could not have been higher. Fire and blood is everywhere, and death is ubiquitous. There is no coming back from tonight’s episode, and although there is still one final twist to be told in the finale episode, this story is all but told.
Dragonstone
The episode kicks off at Dragonstone as we see Varys writing letters stating that Jon, not Dany, is true heir to the Iron Throne. Over the years, there were many questions as to the true motives of Varys, and at times, it was not clear if he could be trusted. Well, it’s become quite clear that unlike many other characters in the show, Varys was always forthright about his true motives: to protect the realm and its impoverished citizens who couldn’t protect themselves. To that end, he is steadfast in his belief that the realm is best off in the hands of Jon, so much so that he is willing to die for it. In last week’s episode, he was forthright with Tyrion about his feelings regarding Dany’s claim to the throne. He could have been deceptive about it, but he wasn’t. Again, in tonight’s episode, he did not try to mask his true motives. Sitting in a room at Dragonstone, with Dany just a few doors down, Varys is preparing to send ravens discrediting her claim to the throne. Varys knew what he was risking and was willing to die to protect the realm.
As Varys is brought down to the beach, there is no secret as to what is about to happen. John and Tyrion are forced to look on, rather helplessly, as Dany used her dragon’s fire to take the life of Varys. No doubt, a foreshadowing of what was just around the corner; perhaps Jon and Tyrion should have trusted their instincts the way Varys had his. Sadly, Varys, the one who had the correct hunch about Dany, ends up dead, while Jon and Tyrion, who had gravely misjudged their queen, are the ones who end up living. Interestingly, Varys being burned on the beach mirrors a scene from the first episode of season two when Melisandre and Stannis also harness the Lord of Light’s fire, using it to burn those who question this religion. Many seasons later, Varys suffered a similar death, which was quite fitting, given his mysterious connection to the flames and the Lord of Light.
In season three, Varys reveals to Tyrion how he was mutilated by a sorcerer as a young boy. The sorcerer threw Varys’ “parts” into the fire, and Varys heard a voice call out from the flames, a voice that haunted him forever since. In a more recent season, The High Red Priestess Kinvara visited Varys in Mereen, and reminded him of the voice he had heard in the flames. She told him that as long as he was a friend of the queen’s, then he had nothing to fear from The Lord of Light. Well, he eventually turned away from being her friend, and the Lord of Light did not take kindly to this, begging the question: is the Lord of Light actually good? Of course, this question assumes that there is a “good” and a “bad,” when in reality, this story has reminded us that often the line between the two is not that simple. But still, after The Lord of Light’s fire played a pivotal role in eliminating The Night King’s army, it felt as thought The Lord of Light was guiding us in the right direction. But maybe not. It was the Lord of Light’s highest priestess, Kinvara, who all but threatened Varys; it was the Lord of Light’s fire that eventually took the life of Varys; and it was the Lord of Light’s fire that brought the ultimate destruction to King’s Landing. Where’s The Night King’s wintery frost when you need it?
The Mad Queen
From the moment we lay eyes on Dany in this episode, we can tell that something is very wrong. She looks disheveled to say the least — her usually neatly braided hair is all out of sort and her eyes dark. She hasn’t eaten in days and it’s clear that she is quickly becoming unhinged, maybe even inching closer to becoming The Mad Queen. It’s not just her physical appearance, but also her tone, that starts to sound like that of her father, The Mad King, before her. She is becoming increasingly paranoid, and doesn’t accept the idea that it is Varys who betrayed her, but also believes Jon betrayed her by telling Sansa of his true identity, Sansa who betrayed her by telling Tyrion, and Tyrion who betrayed her by telling Varys. She tells Tyrion that the next time he fails her will be his last — a flat out death threat. It seems that any semblance of the sweet and compassionate Khaleesi that we once new is all but gone.
And this is confirmed moments later in a scene that included an embrace which could be the last between Jon and Dany. Dany tells Jon, “I don’t have love here, I only have fear.” As the two come together, Dany makes one last attempt to keep their love affair alive, but Jon just isn’t having it. It appeared he already had some misgivings about the relationship before learning of his true identity. Once he learned that she was his aunt, that was just too much. While the Targaryens have a long lineage of incestuous marriages, Jon is still a northerner at heart and just doesn’t roll like that. As Dany steps back from him, the two literally separated by Targaryen fire, she decides, “Alright. Let it be fear.” Though Dany has experienced a ton of loss in recent episodes, capped by Missandei’s beheading last week, it was ultimately Jon’s decision to not love her the way she wanted that pushed her over the edge. All she had left was fear.
But before the idea of having to resort to ruling through fear gets the best of her, Tyrion tries to make one last plea. He begs Dany to end her siege if he is able to get Cersei’s forces to surrender, which he will signal by ringing the city bells. Dany does not respond to Tyrion’s request, and instead looks at Grey Worm and gives him a small head nod. At the time, I felt that perhaps she was affirming to Grey Worm that his troops should stand down should Tyrion be able to negotiate Cersei’s surrender, but in retrospect, we realize she was giving a totally different type of nod to Grey Worm. It was a show-no-mercy head nod; a fire and blood to avenge Missandei’s death head-nod.
Tyrion, attempting to avoid mass carnage at all costs, even commits treason against his queen by freeing her prisoner, Jaime. Tyrion convinces Jaime to save Cersei, escape King’s Landing and ride off into the sunset to start a new life together. This was a direct allusion to a conversation Missandei and Grey Worm had a few episodes back, in which they discussed sailing back to Missandei’s homeland to have a life together. Well, if Missandei and Grey Worm can’t have it, neither can Jaime and Cersei (but we’ll get there later). I had mixed feelings about this scene (as I did Jaime’s uneven character arc as a whole). On the one hand, I was touched by the heartfelt goodbye between the brothers. In a season that has botched so many of these moments, they managed to get this one right (perhaps that full credit should go to the acting of Peter Dinklage). In one of the biggest moments, with a huge war impending, we are reminded of Tyrion’s humanness as he breaks down to Jaime, telling him that he was all he had. The relationship shared between Tyrion and Jaime was always complex but beautiful and one of the heartwarming parts of this story. On the other hand, I took slight issue to the convenient spontaneity of the plan Tyrion proposed, as well as Jaime’s willingness to accept it. All of a sudden, Jaime is going to just convince Cersei to surrender, the two will escape King’s Landing, and ride off into the sunset no strings attached? To me, this felt like another example of the show getting ahead of the books, the writers not knowing how these characters’ journeys will end, and lazy writing leading to the creation of an implausible event to get Jaime from point A to point B. Had this not been the 100th example of this type of thing this season, I probably wouldn’t even mention it. Anyway, moving on…
King’s Landing
At this point, battle is imminent and there’s no turning back. The impoverished of King’s Landing flood into the city gates by the tens of thousands. Outside the gates, The Golden Company (Cersei’s paid mercenaries), oppose what’s left of Jon’s northern forces alongside The Unsullied and Dothraki. On the water, Euron mans his ships with their dragon-slaying weapons ready to go. Only this time, Dany swoops in from a much steeper angle, making it difficult for their weapons to be utilized, and in a matter of moments, Dany takes out all of Euron’s ships. The fact that Dany was able to take out all of these ships with such ease undermines the fact that she lost a dragon to these very same ships last week. Again, uneven storytelling in my opinion.
Dany had three dragons — the first dragons born into the world in hundreds of years — massive beasts that fly the sky and breathe fire. They should be extremely difficult to take out. I looked the other way when the Night King threw his ice spear thousands of feet into the sky and took out Dany’s first dragon, but I felt frustrated when Euron was able to take out a second dragon by shooting a fairly immobile projectile at a dragon flying through the sky at a high speed. But okay, it happened. But then one week later, Dany is able to eliminate this very same fleet in a matter of moments? It makes the death of her dragon feel like it was so avoidable.
After burning Euron’s fleet, Dany sets her sights to the city walls, and lays the initial round of fiery destruction, allowing for Jon and Grey Worm to lead their troops into the city on foot. Dany provides aerial support, and it’s only a matter of moments before it becomes abundantly clear that this battle was over before it started. Cersei’s troops lay down their weapons, and at this point, the battle has been won. Team Dany could have reinforced their position, sacked the city and Dany could have been sitting on that shiny Iron Throne by nightfall. But as Dany sat atop her dragon overlooking King’s Landing, a strange combination of sadness, excitement and terror came over her face all at once. Ladies and gentleman, The Mad Queen had arrived, and King’s Landing would stand no chance.
“Madness and greatness are two sides of the same coin. Every time a new Targaryen is born, the gods toss the coin in the air and the world holds its breath to see how it will land.” As those bells rang loud and clear, signifying the surrender of King’s Landing, it became crystal clear which side of the coin had landed. The Mad Queen and Grey Worm shared in a thirst for blood and revenge, as he led the slaughter on the ground, while from the air, Dany burned the city to a crisp. Symbolic of the broader dynamic he is caught in, Jon literally got stuck in the middle as he had no desire to slaughter the surrendered troops, but was forced to keep fighting, as he also attempted to get his troops to fall back. Jon’s morality was outmatched and he could not stop the fire and blood that was to come.
Arya & The Hound
It’s no secret, The Hound has been my favorite character in this story for many years. There have been many great duos in this story, but the journey he shared with Arya was by far my favorite. So it was exciting to see them sneak into King’s Landing together and arrive at The Red Keep, though also nerve-wracking as a sense of death was imminent. The Hound and Arya arrived at King’s Landing for the very same thing — revenge. For pretty much as long as we have known these characters, they have both been driven by their unrelenting quest for vengeance. The Hound has been wanting to exact revenge on his older brother, The Mountain, who held his face to the fire as a young boy and forever changed his physical and emotional identity. Similarly, Arya was forever changed when she lost her father (and others) at the hands of The Lannisters, and for that, Cersei has always been at the top of her hit list.
But as the two reach their moment of destiny, their roads fork in different directions. The Hound knows that ascending The Red Keep will only lead to death, and though he has not been able to find it himself, knows that there is more to life than revenge. The Hound delivers an absolutely masterful performance in this final scene between the two, a final moment that reminds us of what we always knew and loved about him — beneath that tough and damaged exterior, there is a great man. His words were powerful enough to convince Arya to walk the other way, and before they part, Arya calls out to him “Sandor, thank you.” It has only been a couple of times that anybody has called him Sandor, and this was a powerful reminder that he is not a hound, but a human, and a great one at that.
I’ve included two videos below. The first is an audition tape of Rory McCann reading for the part of The Hound. I’ve included this video because 1) it captures how perfect Rory McCann was for the part of The Hound, even from his first read; 2) the lines he reads tells the story of what his brother did to him; 3) at about 1:08 in, he has a line where he yells “look at me!” The producers of GoT said right after that part of the audition, they were sold that he was the one for this part. Writers chose to use that same “look at me!” line in the final exchange between The Hound and Arya tonight (at about 48 seconds in the second video). Pretty amazing that they went all the way back to his audition from about 10 years ago and used his performance of that line as one of his very last lines he would speak before dying.
As The Hound faces off with The Mountain, it quickly began to feel like his death was imminent. There was no coming back from this — something he himself had already known. The Hound fought with great determination, but we quickly learned that this zombie-version of The Mountain simply couldn’t be killed. In some ways, this felt very frustrating — the revenge The Hound had been searching for all his life simply wasn’t attainable. Though, his death was poetic, as he realized he too would have to die in order to eliminate his brother. And, in doing so, he tackles his brother off the ledge as the two fall into the fire below, the very fire that The Hound had been scarred by his entire life.
I would like to offer a heartfelt RIP to Sandor Clegane, aka The Hound. In my opinion, he was one of the most beautifully complex and sadly tragic heroes of this entire story. In the earliest days of the show, when he was protector of Joffrey, we thought he was nothing but a grotesque monster. But then we saw the ways in which he protected Sansa from Joffrey’s cruelty, eventually trying to get her to escape King’s Landing with him (though she refused). In his own way, he began on a path towards righteousness, first protecting Arya on their journey together and later serving his purpose in The Great War against The Night King. The juxtaposition of his hardened exterior next to his warmer interior made him such a wonderful character. At the same time, it is so tragic to consider the life he was condemned to; betrayed by his older brother at such a young age, physically and mentally scarred forever as a result. This changed the way he would see the world, yet still, he was able to show in his own ways what a good man he truly was. RIP Sandor, we will miss you.
What’s The Deal with Arya?
While I always enjoy screentime with Arya and The Hound together, once she went out on her own, I was rather confused by what the hell was going on with her story. For starters, I felt like she was a rat in a maze, running along the streets of King’s Landing with no discernible destination. I totally appreciate that she pivoted from her plan to exact revenge on Cersei, and now is playing the role of hero in helping others try to escape the fiery mess, but I mean what is going on with her story arc here? She comes back to King’s Landing and ends up being the one to take out The Night King. Cool. Then she learns of Jon’s true identity and it seems like she is going to take a stand against Dany and push him to pursue his claim to the throne. That then goes out the window as she joins up with The Hound to head to Kings Landing. Okay, I can live with it. But, then she gets to King’s Landing, and in a matter of 30 seconds, she is completely talked out of the very reason she came there. This is where my issue starts.
While I don’t want to take anything away from The Hound and the beauty of him ultimately protecting Arya from the death that was awaiting her above, this storytelling just didn’t feel right. First off, Arya has been wanting to kill Cersei for years now; Cersei was at the top of her list and at times, it was the only thing that got her through the day. After all of those years, in a matter of mere seconds, she can so easily be talked out of her grand plan? And if so, why didn’t they have this conversation in Winterfell? Or, better yet, along the two-week journey from Winterfell to King’s Landing? Were they that busy during the two weeks it took them to get to King’s Landing, that they couldn’t have spoken about Arya not living a life fueled by revenge? Did it need to wait to the very moment that they had finally reached The Red Keep and Cersei was just a few more steps from Arya?
And, food for thought, given how the next scene played out where Cersei simply walked by The Hound untouched, Arya actually could have very quickly taken her out without dying. All that withstanding, I found the rest of Arya’s involvement in this episode frenetic and confusing. It felt like she was running around for the sake of it, getting knocked out several times, then getting back up, all for what? In the end, she didn’t save anybody. And then she just rides off on her white horse? I could write five different things her riding off on that horse could be symbolic of, but honestly, I don’t want to bail out the poor storytelling. It’s been rather unclear for most of this season what Arya is really after, and though I enjoyed the fact that it was The Hound that saved her, I simply don’t feel her character arc is being closed out soundly.
Jaime & Cersei
Speaking of uneven character arcs, what the hell kind of ending is this for Jaime? Another one of this story’s more complex characters, he went through much self-discovery and we saw the many different sides of who Jaime truly was at his core. If the show wanted to end his story with the message that his identity was ultimately defined by his love for Cersei, I am okay with that, but why so much back and forth in between? He went from bad guy at the beginning of the story, to good guy when he saved Brienne, back to questionable guy who returned to King’s Landing to support Cersei, then again to good guy who went to Winterfell and fought to save humanity. At that point, it seemed like his good-guy status was cemented, especially after his deepened relationship with Brienne, but then with the flip of a switch, he’s off in the middle of the night to return back to Cersei. Many hypothesized that he was putting on an act and that he was actually returning to King’s Landing to take out his sister, but that turned out not to be the case. He actually returned to try and once again support her, which in my opinion, simply undermines so much of his previous story.
Sure, it was a storybook ending to see Cersei and Jaime go out of this world the same way they came in — together. But what was it all really about? Again, I have to believe this is just another example of the writers not really knowing how Jaime’s character arc truly arrives to his final moments, and the show having to come up with something. I also felt a little underwhelmed with Cersei’s ultimate demise. I didn’t need an expected ending such as her being killed by Arya, but I did expect a bit more from her on her way out. After all, since The Night King got killed earlier in the season, didn’t that mean she was the ultimate villain? She basically just stood there, looking on, for the entire episode, as Dany burned the city. All of a sudden Cersei doesn’t have a counterpunch planned or trick up her sleeve? This battle was supposed to be Cersei vs Dany, but ended up being Dany vs nobody, and I was a bit flabbergasted that the story ends with Cersei simply watching on and doing nothing.
Lastly, I have to ask, what in the world was the deal with Cersei’s “baby?” First she was pregnant and it was Jaimes. Next she’s drinking copious amounts of wine as if she’s not pregnant at all. Then Euron wants to put a baby in her belly, and then out of nowhere, she tells him that the baby is his. Was she pregnant? Was she not pregnant? Who was the father? Does it even matter? The answer seems to be no, and if it ended up not mattering at all, why so much dialogue in so many episodes about this damn baby? Not cool.
Oh, and I forgot to mention that Jaime fought Euron. Perhaps, because it was completely forgettable, as is Euron’s entire character in this show since day one. Another example of not having any better way to end Euron’s story, an obligatory fight between he and Jaime is thrown into the story. How fortuitous that the very moment that Jaime is trying to sneak into King’s Landing through a hidden entrance, Euron happens to be stumbling onto the very same shore after his boat just got blasted by dragon-fire. The fight was nothing special, and I found it particularly strange that they chose to write him a final line of “I’m the man who killed Jaime Lannister,” given that he didn’t kill Jaime, and Jaime ended up dying with Cersei after being buried beneath the destruction of The Red Keep.
Who’s at Fault?
One of the more powerful parts of this episode was watching Tyrion rummage through the rubble of the utter death and destruction that Dany had caused. This was obviously painful for Tyrion to see, knowing just how badly he wanted to avoid this very outcome. And all the more so given that he is hand to the very queen that was capable of such brutal destruction. But above all else, the sharpness of this moment is the realization that he was totally and completely wrong, in almost every way possible. In the episode prior, when Varys had been questioning Dany, Tyrion told him “It’s about picking one person you believe in and defending that person.” Well, boy did Tyrion pick the wrong person.
But I believe it goes a layer deeper than just picking the wrong person. After all, it’s not as if he just picked her and walked away, unable to have any affect on the outcome. It was the opposite. He was her hand — her closest adviser — he had more ability to influence her decisions and their outcomes than anybody else in Westeros. And yet, he finds the capital city burnt to a crisp with tens of thousands of innocents dead. So, it begs the ultimate question: was Tyrion a good adviser to Dany?
I say no. Tyrion is a lot of things; he is kind, he is compassionate, he is clever — the list goes on. And I think he would make an excellent hand to many, given his wonderful balance of these critical attributes — but not to Dany. In the end, I believe it was Tyrion’s sense of compassion that led to Dany becoming The Mad Queen. What we know about Dany, above all else, is that she is not only the mother of dragons, but a dragon herself. She came out of the fire unburnt, she brought dragons into the world, and she is as fierce a Targaryen as they come. We always knew Dany had both compassion and ferocity in her, the balance of which would make her a great ruler. She had the capacity to show kindness and empathy when needed, and did want to make the world a better place if given the chance. At the same time, she was fierce and ruthless when she needed to be. Possessing such diametrically opposed attributes, I would argue that the most important task of Dany’s hand would be to keep these two sides of the coin in check. And that is something Tyrion failed to recognize altogether.
Tyrion was always encouraging Dany to be patient, to be compassionate, to be merciful. He wanted her to be how he himself would be in the situations she faced. And in doing so, he often kept her Targaryen fire extinguished. Dany is a dragon, and if it were up to Tyrion, that dragon would have always been kept in its cage. Looking back, Dany’s decision to lay waste to King’s Landing had been foreshadowed many times and Tyrion knew this, but was ignorant to it. For instance, in season six, when Mereen was at conflict with other slave cities, Dany told Tyrion “I will crucify the masters. I will set their fleets afire. I will kill every last one of their soldiers and return their cities to the dirt. That’s my plan.” And what did Tyrion do? He talked her out of it, pushing the dragon back into her cage. Even before that, in season two, Dany talked about how she planned to “lay waste to armies and burn cities to the ground.”
As we can see above, Dany decided to crucify the slave masters as punishment for their actions. While I’m sure none of us felt bad for them, it does take a certain kind of crazy to stake humans to a post while they are still alive and breathing. Looking back on all of this, we always knew Dany possessed the fiery madness to take things too far when provoked. Tyrion had a single-minded approach of trying to always extinguish Dany’s fire, and he was successful in doing so for quite some time. She listened to him time after time as he coached her to take the highroad, to avoid becoming the kind of tyrant that she herself wanted to rid from the world. What he didn’t realize, though, was that he was helping to create that very person. His guidance of continuing to show restraint, coupled with some poor military decisions, led to Dany losing a lot of what she held most dear, including two of her dragons, half her army, Jorah and Missandei. Not all of these losses were Tyrion’s fault, but he shares in plenty of the blame and played a large role in the back-against-the-wall scenario that Dany found herself in. Great a man as he may be, Tyrion simply was not the right hand for Dany, and ultimately played as large a role as anybody in turning her into The Mad Queen.
Queen of the Ashes
I cannot say Dany’s character turning into The Mad Queen came as a surprise, though I can say I am somewhat irked by it. I get all the reasons why it happened, but I do feel that A) it was a bit rushed and B) it undermines her seemingly never-ending journey leading up to this moment. On the first point, I think her transition into becoming The Mad Queen simply could have been a bit slower and more developed. For 67 episodes she was on a mission to rid the world of the cruel rulers, and for the last five she all of a sudden started to show signs of a transition into The Mad Queen. Yes, I recognize how much she lost in the last few episodes — but that too was rushed — and I simply feel there is great incongruity between the amount of time she spent being one person, and how quickly she was able to full-fledge become another. As I pointed out above, there were certainly flashes of her madness along the way, so it’s not as if this came out of the blue, but still, her transition could have been developed at a pace that was a lot more balanced.
But more so than the pace at which this all happened, I feel like the first seven seasons of her story were totally undermined. We are talking about the girl that went to the end of the earth and back; the mother of dragons; the breaker of chains; the girl who so many times could have taken the easy route and ended things with fire and blood, but chose not to, because her entire character’s motivation was built around the idea of leaving the world a better place. The lengths she went through to preserve this very idea are mind-boggling. At times, it truly felt like she was on a never ending journey, solely guided by the faith in her desire to change the world. And tonight’s episode simply made all of that worthless. She could have done what she did tonight years ago, and saved a whole lot of people a whole lot of time. But she didn’t, because she was meant for something greater. Why save so many slaves only to kill so many innocents? Why save an entire city only to destroy another? I get that character arcs can change and that is often what makes characters in this story so wonderful — the unpredictable nature in which their motivations and actions may pivot. But this was different. This was too much of a pivot, all too quickly, and it simply undermined way too much of her backstory for it to be understandable.
The irony of it all? Dany destroyed the very city that her ancestors built. It was 300 years ago that Aegon Targaryen landed ashore Westeros and eventually united The Seven Kingdoms under his kingship. As new king, he founded the capital city at the spot where he had landed his dragons, and named the city King’s Landing. Over the years, House Targaryen built a great capital city as they ruled for 300 years, and in just one day, Dany destroyed almost all of it. Her father, The Mad King, is regarded as an absolute madman for his intense paranoia, obsession with fire, and the cruelty he demonstrated in punishing people with death by fire. If that’s the reputation he built for those actions, how will history remember the woman that burnt down the entire capital city that her ancestors built, killing thousands of innocents along the way?
DISCLAIMER: THERE ARE NO SPOILERS IN THIS ARTICLE. I HAVE NO KNOWLEDGE OF WHAT IS TO TRANSPIRE IN THIS STORY. ANY VIEWS OR CONTENT EXPRESSED ARE SOLELY PERSONAL THEORIES, OPINIONS AND INSIGHTS.
Moving On
After significant tragedy, many experience the five stages of grief and loss, which are: 1. Denial and isolation; 2. Anger; 3. Bargaining; 4. Depression; 5. Acceptance. Safe to say, after last week’s episode, I went through almost every one of these five stages. Denial was stage one; I simply couldn’t believe what I had witnessed. Truly, I actually had trouble believing that after all this time, after everything we had been conditioned to believe about what The Night King represented, that in the blink of an eye, he was gone…just like that. Next came stage two: anger. Had I wasted the better part of the last decade enveloping myself in a story that I wholeheartedly trusted was destined for an ending that could be nothing short of greatness? Stage three kicked in soon thereafter with bargaining. Wasn’t there something that could have been done differently? If only the writers knew what they were doing to us, wouldn’t they have offered a more satisfying ending? Stage four: depression. The black cloud lingered, and normal life moments would be interrupted by that depressing reminder that this had actually happened, and there was nothing I could do to change it. And finally, stage 5: acceptance. Unfortunately, I’m not quite there yet, but this week’s episode has helped me to take a step, if only a little one, towards accepting the disappointment of epic proportions that was thrusted upon us last week.
First, the bad: whatever hope was being held out that this week’s episode would offer some closure to the abrupt death of Westeros’ ultimate villain, was likely met with great disappointment. After The Night King’s unspectacular slaying, which was surely unbefitting of the world’s most terrifying villain, many hoped there would be more to his story in the follow-up episode. Of course, this was not an unreasonable hope, given that the Thrones story conditioned us to believe The Night King and all the mythological components tied to him were central to the ending of this story. Who was The Night King? Why, of all the humans, was he chosen by The Children? Did The Children know what they were creating when they inserted dragonglass into his heart? Sure, we were told of his desire to wipe out the world’s memory, but was that truly his only motivation? Was there no deeper connection between he and Bran/The Three-Eyed Raven? The list of questions can go on; but the answers do not. The story has moved on, and moved on quickly, from The Night King and all his legend…almost as if he never existed at all.
How could that be? How could we move on so quickly from the greatest villain known to mankind? Well, the answer presented tonight was quite simple: the greatest threat to mankind is not any singular individual, but rather the complexities and identities that live within each and every one of us. Don’t get me wrong, I will not defend this idea or the show’s decision to end The Night King’s story the way they did, leaving so many intriguing questions totally unanswered. In fact, I am now altogether dubious of an ending to this show that will satisfy the desires created within me to understand the more existential themes presented in this show that I thought underpinned the story’s true meaning (i.e. Ice vs Fire, gods and religion, light vs dark, The Children of the Forest, etc..). But, we all must move on. Even though when compared to the battle for humanity’s existence, a battle between mere mortals for a throne feels like the wrong battle to be “the last one,” I have to admit that this episode started to reinvigorate some excitement. After last week’s episode, I felt completely deflated; after this week’s episode, only partially.
I am also rather dissatisfied with the overall soap-opera feel of the show. There’s no question that the writing has gone considerably downhill, ever since the show surpassed the books in season six, and writers have more or less been on their own. The speed of various character journeys and storylines has felt jumbled and bumpy at times. There’s a bit of drama that I feel is beneath this story, and certain characters have just started to feel a bit too winey.
All that said, I generally try to measure the quality of a story, or a given episode, not by how much or little I “liked” it, but rather by how well it succeeded at whatever it was trying to achieve. Following last week’s Battle of Winterfell, this follow-up episode had one clear goal: to turn our attention towards, and build suspense for, the final battle to come. And to that end, this episode was a great success, certainly achieving its intended purpose. So much so, that The Night King feels like old news, and I’m inching closer to that fifth stage of acceptance (well, only sort of).
A week ago, it felt like intra-human dynamics were irrelevant, and all that mattered was humanity banding together to preserve its existence. It was a homogenous and uniform view of the human race — that is, all humans were basically the same, coming together as one massive force to. One week later, and we are at the opposite end of the spectrum — the varied and often divergent spirit of human nature is highlighted. We are quickly reminded of the complexities of the human way, and the way these complexities can cause great divide amongst characters in this story. And while we can analyze each of the last two episodes independently, the true beauty is realized when taken in tandem. Only when forced to band together to fight for its existence could mankind show union and cooperation. The moment that threat is eradicated, we are back to seeing the truth of human nature — one that reminds us of mankind’s inherent propensity to create, perceive, and rationalize reasons for divide. The human inability to stand together unless out of necessity is indeed a sad reminder of the world we live in today. Nonetheless, bravo to the success this episode achieved in highlighting the often flawed nature of humanity, while building a wonderful sense of suspense for the final two episodes of this story. Let’s dig in:
Identity
As grave a threat as was brought about by The Night King’s army, it allowed most characters to temporarily suspend their more intricate cognitions and individual identities. Whose side will I take? With whom can I create an ally? How can I advance in this game? None of these questions mattered as fighting to live took precedent over all. But as that threat abruptly disappeared, characters were immediately thrusted back into decision-making mode. Allegiances, loyalties, secrets, love — all of these behavior-shaping ideas — immediately came back into play. And as they did, we saw several characters navigate the complexities of their “humanness,” in an attempt to make a decision that felt right to them.
We saw this theme start to play out after Dany names Gendry Lord of Storm’s End, the historic great castle of House Baratheon. Without hesitation, Gendry asks Arya to be his wife so that he can share life’s offers with the woman he loves. True to her self, Arya turns down his proposal, reminding us that she has never been a lady. In a Thrones world where so many characters are battling to figure out their true identity, Arya knows hers quite well. This, of course makes great sense, given the years she spent training in Braavos, when “a girl had no name,” and was forced to examine the truth of her identity. She emerged more connected to her truth and sure of her identity than probably any character in this story, giving her the strength and resilience to do great things.
But while Arya’s perception of self might be iron-clad, the same cannot be said for all. Jaime’s character continued along his complex character-journey, one that has been marked by a conflicting self-identity. As Jaime reminded us in this episode, he did terrible things in the earlier days of this story, including crippling Bran and murdering innocents, all in the name of love. But then something changed. His identity, which was largely built upon a representation of him being a great warrior, was torn down when he lost his fighting hand — and lost it as a result of him protecting Brienne. Literally and figuratively, his identity changed overnight, and we started to realize that perhaps the handsome knight willing to do anything for Cersei was just a mask that he wore, and there was a lot more to the truth of his character. In a powerful scene between he and Brienne, we saw great pain and vulnerability, and realized that there was a lot more to the man we had come to know only as The Kingslayer.
Eventually, Jaime fell back in the hands of Cersei, and it was unclear whether the “good guy” or “bad guy” Jaime would prevail (though, in reality, the point is that there really is no good or bad to human nature, only the complex makeup of each human, as we see in Jaime). This week, Jaime and Brienne finally lay together, which seemed to have cemented the side that Jaime would ultimately fight for in the battle to come. But after hearing word that Cersei had killed one of Dany’s dragons and realizing the imminent attack that Dany would bring to King’s Landing, Jaime decided he must return to his sister (or at least, that’s what he tells Brienne).
Brienne begged Jaime to stay, reminding him that he is a good and honorable man, only for him to remind her, in heartbreaking fashion, that he is in fact, anything but. This was devastating on so many levels. First, it was painful to hear Jaime profess how low he truly thinks of himself. Often, identity is less about how others perceive you, but more about how you perceive yourself. Of course, many are not even aware of their true self-perceptions, and if they are, often struggle to acknowledge them. But in this moment, Jaime is not only true with Brienne, but true with himself. He tells Brienne, and himself, that he essentially believes himself to be a terrible person. In this Thrones story, Jaime is the closest thing to a Greek Tragedy. In so many ways, he is a tragic hero; his greatest flaw, his massive vulnerability that prevents him from realizing the good man that he is. And can you blame him? After being casted out as “Kingslayer” and “Oathbreaker,” for so many years, is it really any surprise that his self-esteem is nonexistent? Sure, on the outside, he has worn the mask of knight in shining armor well, but beneath it, he is deeply pained by the wrongs he has committed, so much so that he believes there to be no good in him at all. The worst part? All the crimes he committed were to protect the ones he loved; at no point did he do any evil out of malice or selfish motives.
And while Jaime’s story is incredibly tragic, perhaps this moment is even more heartbreaking for Brienne’s character. For as long as we’ve know Brienne, her identity has been defined by a total lack of femininity. For all intents and purposes, Brienne has been characterized as a man, from her appearance to her desires. This very episode highlighted that idea by calling out her virginity — after all of these years, she had never even lay with a single man. Yet, Jaime changed all of that. And while their sleeping together certainly has significant physical meaning for Brienne, it really underscores the emotional tie between the two characters. If Jaime was the tragic hero unable to see the good in himself, Brienne was the one person who understood his vulnerabilities, and truly knew the honor that lived within Jaime. Coupled with the fact she truly loved him, it was not enough for her to know he was a good man — she needed him to know it as well. Several times throughout this story, even when on opposing sides, Brienne has reminded Jaime of his goodness. Often, it almost felt like a plea, like she was begging him to realize the same.
And finally, as the story is headed towards its closing moments, it seems as though Jaime has settled into the idea that he is in fact a decent man. He has chosen the right side, he is going to remain at Winterfell, with the woman who loves him — all is well. Absolutely nobody could be happier about this than Brienne herself, knowing that not only has she received love back from the man she loves, but she has finally gotten him to realize his goodness. But, in typical Thrones style, everything changes with the flip of a switch, and Brienne’s world is turned upside down as she finds Jaime set to depart Winterfell in the middle of the night.
A character who rarely displays any emotion, Brienne is devastated, tears streaming down her face, as the man she loves is leaving her, and reminding her of what a horrible person he believes himself to be. His words go in the face of everything she has believed; in many ways, her world is turned upside down. For the first time, Brienne let herself be vulnerable; vulnerable to love, vulnerable to her femininity, vulnerable to emotion — and it all came crumbling down. How truly heartbreaking. I can only hope that Jaime ends up on the right side of this fight, if not to see his story end realizing his own heroism, than at least for Brienne’s sake, so that she doesn’t lose the man she loves to a false sense of identity.
The complicated nature of the human makeup and identity continues to shine through elsewhere in Winterfell. Sansa continues to display a mistrust for anybody outside of her family, putting her at great odds with Daenerys. When we size up Sansa’s identity, it’s a pretty simple diagnosis. Her trust was betrayed by so many at such a young age, from Cersei and Joffrey to Ramsay Bolton to Littlefinger. At this point, how could she ever trust anybody other than her own? In an exchange between her and The Hound, he tells her that she should have left King’s Landing with him when she had the chance — had she done so, she would have avoided all those that wronged her along the way. Sansa responds to The Hound, telling him that had she left with him, she would still be “a little bird” today. You can watch the video below, from season two, when The Hound tried to save Sansa from King’s Landing.
Sansa’s response to The Hound makes it clear that she understands who she is and has grown smarter from all those that have wronged her. But, one must ask the question: is it advantageous to be guided by a general distrust for all those around you? Sure, being able to outsmart others is a good thing, but not being able to trust anybody outside of your family, maybe not as much. And this is the very conflict that will soon reach climax, between her and Jon. While Jon wants to honor his Queen Daenerys, Sansa is unable to trust Daenerys, or even trust Jon who is willing to vouch for her. Interestingly, Arya has picked her side in this conflict, and strongly voices her distrust for Daenerys as well.
And, all of that is before they even learn that Jon is not in fact their brother, but rather their cousin. Though the scene cuts away, Jon tells Bran to reveal the truth of who he really is to Sansa and Arya. This news only serves to embolden Sansa’s distrust for Daenerys, as learning Jon’s true identity also reveals that he, not Daenerys, is the rightful heir to the throne. Sansa’s identity, largely defined by her inability to trust anybody, is at odds with her loyalty to family, and she is going to have decide between the two. From her conversation with Tyrion where she reveals she thinks there is somebody better than Daenerys to to rule, it seems as though she will not be able to shake her achilles heal, and this is going to set up a very tricky dynamic in the final episodes, where Jon and Sansa may actually find themselves in direct opposition.
As the episode continues, we see Jon’s secret quickly starting to spread — a secret that Dany begged him to keep. But, Jon, being the honorable (and sometimes foolish) man that he is, decided he must tell his sisters. Sansa broke her oath to keep this secret, by telling Tyrion, who then told Varys. Rightfully so, and as Dany predicted, this news is already starting to cause greater divide, at a time when Team Dany/Jon can ill afford it. Sansa and Arya are not the only ones starting to defect from Dany’s claim to the throne. Varys, pointing out that Jon is the rightful heir, a male, and more even-tempered, also now believes Jon is the one to be backed, not Dany. Though Varys and Tyrion have generally seen eye to eye, their sense of identity will bring about an abrupt departure. While Tyrion is defined by his ability to see and support the best in others, Varys’ identity is centered around protecting those who cannot protect themselves. Born a pauper and sold to a sorcerer who committed terrible acts to Varys when he was just a boy, Varys now uses his cunning to try and “protect the realm.” He and Tyrion now have differing views of who is best suited to do this, and Varys makes it clear that he will do what he must to protect those in need. Keep an eye out for what Varys’ next move will be.
Fire and Blood
And just as the episode was starting to feel like it was going to be another setup for next week’s battle, things go haywire. Things go from bad to worse for Dany, and out of nowhere, Rhaegal is taken out with three harpoons. Dany can do nothing but watch as she loses yet another one of her children. In a state of blood-seeking fury, Dany flies her dragon straight into the danger, but eventually retreats as she cannot risk losing her last dragon. Euron’s fleet destroys Dany’s ships, and in doing so, takes Missandei prisoner.
At this point, Dany has had enough. Her plan to show restraint and minimize the loss of innocent life is not working. In the span of days, she lost Jorah, one of her most loyal advisers; her entire Dothraki army; half of her Unsullied army; the second of her three dragons; and Missandie, her most trusted adviser. Things have gone from bad to worse, fast. Though Tyrion and Varys beg her to continue to show restraint and to not pursue Cersei at the cost of killing thousands of innocents, Dany is at her breaking point. She agrees to offer Cersei the opportunity for surrender, so the people of King’s Landing can know that it was Cersei who refused surrender.
In a powerful final scene, Tyrion makes one last desperate plea, first with Qyburn, and then directly to his sister. In this plea, we can feel just how badly Tyrion truly wants to avoid the loss of innocent life — something we can see he knows is imminent. But even Tyrion’s clever words are not enough, and Cersei gives him a big “f**k you” by not only refusing surrender, but beheading Missandei first. The pain felt by Dany and Grey Worm was palpable; and the look on Dany’s face was clear as day: all bets are off. Fire and blood is coming, which begs the question, will she become The Mad Queen, just as her father was The Mad King? Clearly, this is Varys’ concern, but which side of Dany will prevail? The one that has defined her identity for many years — the one that wants to leave the world a better place than she found it? Or will her Targaryen wrath prevail and will her desire for revenge get the better of her? With just two episodes remaining, things are more up in the air than ever before, and great battle is upon us.
Odds and Ends
Jaime and Cersei: It’s worth pointing out, that it’s possible Jaime was tricking Brienne in order to get out of Winterfell, perhaps to get to King’s Landing to kill Cersei himself.
The Hound and Arya: The ultimate duo are back together again on their way to King’s Landing. They both have unfinished business, namely killing their ultimate foes. Arya will surely want to be the one to take out Cersei and cross that name off her list. At the same time, The Hound will want to take out his brother, The Mountain, who burned him as a young boy and is responsible for all the identity issues that The Hound suffers today.
Other Allies: Though Dany’s forces have been significantly diminished, there are other allies out there. In this episode, it was mentioned that a new Dornish Prince has declared for Dany. Dorne has not played much of a role in this story as of late, but it’s safe to assume that they will show up in the final battle. It’s also worth remembering that Cersei still has Ellaria Sand and her sandsnake daughter locked in a cell beneath King’s Landing. Presumably, they are not yet dead, and could have a role to play as well. Yara Greyjoy is also still alive and has retreated to The Iron Islands — additional allies for Team Dany.
Bronn: A character I’ve generally enjoyed throughout the show, I was disappointed to see Bronn turn on Jaime and Tyrion. I’m not quite sure how his story finishes up, and with only two episodes to go, and it doesn’t seem very relevant that Tyrion promised him Lordship over Highgarden if they win the war. But, we’ll see how this one develops.
Cersei’s Baby: It’s unclear what’s happening here. Question 1: Is Cersei pregnant? Question 2: Who is the father? Neither answer is very clear, but it seems this will be somewhat important as the story comes to a close. Cersei first told Jaime the baby was his, but this could have been a lie to keep him close. In this last episode, Cersei tells Euron that she’s pregnant with his baby — again, unclear what the truth is. Going back to season five, we saw a flashback of Cersei as a young girl, encountering Maggy the Frog, a witch who offered Cersei a prophecy. She basically told Cersei that she would have three children, all of whom would eventually die. We saw this prophecy come true, as all three of Cersei’s children were eventually killed. Again, this prophecy stated Cersei would have three children (not four), so if we believe this prophecy to be true, than Cersei is either not actually pregnant, or will have her baby killed.
Disclaimer: There are no spoilers in this article. I have no knowledge of what is to transpire in this story. Any views or content expressed are solely personal theories, opinions and insights.
So, here we are. The beginning of the end is less than one week away. This awe-inspiring, magical journey that has been part of our lives for the better part of the last decade — it all comes to an end in just six short episodes. It’s hard to imagine such an unbelievably rich and complex story actually coming to a singular endpoint, but that is what is about to happen, so it’s time to get caught up on everything that should be top of mind as we head into the final season. Heads up, this post is long, so don’t try to rush few it in a few minutes. This is the end of a saga, so give it the time it deserves : )
Targaryens Unite at Dragonstone
For nearly 5,000 years, The Targaryens lived in Old Valyria, capital city of the Valyrian Freehold, which consumed almost the entire continent of Essos. Approximately 400 years ago, The Doom occurred, obliterating Old Valyria and forcing the few remaining Targaryens to migrate westward. Fleeing their homeland, a select few Targaryens arrived at a small island off the coast of Westeros, where they would go on to build the great castle of Dragonstone. It was from this castle that Aegon Targaryen, alongside his two sisters, would plot their conquest of the kingdoms of Westeros (which at that point were independent kingdoms with separate rulers). After living the Targaryens lived at Dragonstone for about 100 years, Aegon and his sisters launched Aegon’s Conquest, about 300 years ago, as they rode their three dragons across Westeros and eventually united all the kingdoms under one king. Aegon Targaryen would be the first Targaryen king to rule over Westeros, and his Targaryens descendents would rule over the continent for the next 300 years, until Robert’s Rebellion.
Understanding that Dragonstone was home to the last remaining Targaryens and their dragons after they fled Valyria, and that it was from this castle that Aegon plotted his conquest of Westeros, makes Daenery’s arrival to this castle in the first episode of Season 7 an incredibly powerful moment. To no surprise, like Aegon before her, Dany spends much of season seven plotting her strategy to conquer and unite the lands of Westeros, focusing on the removal of Cersei Lannister from the Iron Throne. To start the season, Dany and her advisors (primarily Tyrion and Varys), have assembled what appears to be an unstoppable force. She already had the powerful armies of the Unsullied and Dothraki, as well as three full-grown dragons at her disposal — likely enough firepower to conquer Westeros in short order. But Dany’s army got even stronger in season seven as she forged an alliance with Ellaria Sand and the Sand Snakes of Dorne, while securing some of Iron Island the naval forces through an alliance with Theon and Yara Greyjoy. And let’s not forget that Ser Jorah Mormont returns to Dany’s side at Dragonstone after his greyscale disease is cured at the Citadel by none other than Samwell Tarly (who served under Jorah’s father, Lord Commander Jeor Mormont, when Samwell was still a brother of the Night’s Watch).
But the various key players from many of the Great Houses uniting on Dragonstone would not end there; there would be one more character to join, and though unknowing, he too would be a Targaryen. After receiving a raven from Samwell Tarly who had learned that Dragonstone was built atop a mass of dragon-glass (which can kill White Walkers), Jon Snow travels to Dragonstone in an effort to try and secure dragon-glass and convince Dany to join the Northern forces in the Great War to Come. However, Dany has other ideas and is focused on winning the Iron Throne. Though he refuses her request to bend the knee, Dany does ultimately agree to allow Jon to mine for dragon-glass, and in doing so, Jon discovers ancient cave images from thousands of years ago which depict the First Men and Children of the Forest banding together to fight the White Walkers — a chilling reminder of the Long Night and the the threat of darkness has been present since near the beginning of time. Though Jon is starting to win over Dany, she is still unconvinced of the White Walker’s existence, as is most of Westeros, and Jon soon realizes he must find a day to prove to Dany and the rest of Westeros the real threat that everybody should be focused on.
The Dream Team Goes Beyond the Wall
Once again, Jon shows his heroism and understanding of the risks he must take to preserve humanity as he decides to lead a raid beyond The Wall to capture a wight (reminder: the wights comprise the army of the undead, led by the White Walkers and Night King). He is join by a cast of some of my absolute favorite characters who come together through a random (or perhaps not so random) series of events — I like to call them The Dream Team.
The Dream Team starts to take form when Ser Jorah, who recently joined Daenerys at Dragonstone after being cured by Samwell at The Citadel, joins Jon and his trusted advisor, Davos Seaworth. But before they head into the deep North, Tyrion must meet with his brother, Jaime, to ensure that they will have an audience with Cersei if they are able to successfully capture a wight as proof of the army of the dead. Ser Davos offers to travel to King’s Landing alongside Tyrion, and while Tyrion is off meeting with Jaime, Ser Davos’ true intentions for returning to King’s Landing are revealed as he seeks out Gendry, Robert Baratheon’s bastard son who Davos saved many seasons earlier. All the way back in season three, it was Gendry who was being held at Dragonstone by Stannis Baratheon and the Red Priestess Melisandre, who used his King’s Blood (remember, he was the son of King Robert Baratheon), and eventually planned to sacrifice him to the Lord of Light. Not agreeing with Melisandre’s blood magic and unwilling to stand by while the innocent Gendry was sacrificed, Ser Davos defies Stannis and risks his life to set Gendry free. The last we saw of Gendry, he was rowing away from the shores of Dragonstone in a tiny rowboat, and it is not until all these years later that Davos rediscovers him, still working as a smith in the streets of King’s Landing. Without hesitation, Gendry joins Davos and volunteers to join the Dream Team in their quest beyond The Wall. It is worth pointing out that unlike most characters, Gendry does not choose to fight with a sword, but rather a warm hammer. Going back many years, it was his father, Robert Baratheon, who is described as a legendary warrior who swung a powerful war hammer (with which he defeated Rhaegar Targaryen, Jon Snow’s father, during Robert’s Rebellion). It’s also worth pointing out that given Jon’s newfound stockpile of dragon-glass, he will need a skilled smith to help craft White Walker-killing weapons, and Gendry may likely play this important role in the final season.
Elsewhere, the remaining Brotherhood without Banners, Beric Dondarrion and Thoros of Myr, unite with The Hound, bringing together three of the show’s greatest characters. Despite his extreme fear of fire, The Hound starts to believe in Lord of Light, after he sees in the fire the army of the dead marching south, past Eastwatch by the Sea (the most eastward castle of the Night’s Watch). After seeing this, The Hound agrees to venture north with Beric and Thoros, to fulfill their purpose in the Great War to Come. At the same time, Jon, Gendry, Davos and Jorah also head to Eastwatch by the Sea, where Tormund Giantsbane, who had been manning the castle for Jon, reveals to Jon and company that he’d been holding prisoner Beric, Thoros and the Hound after their capture.
In this moment, many characters are reunited which reveals a great mistrust amongst many of them. Gendry tells Jon not to listen to anything Beric and Thoros have to say, since they sold Gendry to the Red Priestess, Lady Melisandre, all the way back in season four. Similarly, Tormund does not trust Ser Jorah, since his father was Lord Commander of the Night’s Watch and battled Tormund’s people, the Wildlings, for many years. Despite all the history and many of these characters having been on opposite sides at times, Beric and Jon remind the group that none of this matters and that they all share a common cause — to serve their purpose in the Great War to Come as the Lord of Light commands. And just like that, their differences become a thing of the past as the Dream Team unites to head north of The Wall.
As they march into the frigid depths of the deep North, the group comes upon a band of wights, led by their White Walker master. As a small battle ensues, Jon eventually eliminates the White Walker, which causes all the other wights to fall like dominos. This was not the first time we have seen a White Walker killed, but it was the first time we were exposed to the idea that if you kill a White Walker, the wights that White Walker has turned also perish. We know that the army of the dead numbers in the hundreds of thousands, so the realization that you need not kill each wight individually, but rather you can take them out in much bigger numbers by killing a White Walker, is critical to know in the war to come. It also begs the question: if killing a White Walker ends the existence of all the wights that White Walker has turned, does killing the Night King end all of the White Walkers he has created? If so, and killing the Night King destroys all White Walkers, which then destroys all wights, then killing the Night King could bring an end to the entire army of the dead.
But this battle was a mere scuffle compared to the fight that lays ahead for the Dream Team. As they continue deeper into the North, they are eventually discovered by a massive army of the dead, led by several more White Walkers, and the appearance of the Night King himself. Despite being vastly outnumbered, the Dream Team fights valiantly, and destroys hundreds of wights — a reminder that we are watching an assemble of some of the greatest warriors Westeros has ever known. But eventually, the men are outnumbered and their deaths appear imminent — until Daenerys arrives with her dragons, and for the first time, we see a direct face-off between Ice and Fire. Remember, this entire story is entitled A Song of Ice and Fire, and seeing these powerful elements go toe to toe is a signal that the end is near. Dany and her dragons burn the wights by the thousands, but not before The Night King lands an icy spear into one of Dany’s dragons, Viserion, sending it plummeting to its death.
And just like that, the tables are dramatically turned — Daenerys can only helplessly watch her beautiful dragon fall from the sky like a plane that has been shot down out of the air. Her other two dragons let out a painful cry as they watch their sibling fall to its death. Seeing this, Jon Snow advances for the Night King, who attempts to take down Drogon, the dragon that Daenerys and the others are aback. Jon is attacked by more wights and pulled underwater, and Daenerys is forced to abandon Jon, though reluctantly, in order to save her two remaining dragons.
When Jon does reemerge from the water, he is frozen stiff and appears to have no chance at fighting off the new pack of wights that are headed his way. Not to fear, Uncle Benjen (Ned’s brother) is here. Fighting with his flaming ball-and-chain, Benjen takes out a bunch of the wights and buys Jon just enough time to escape back to Eastwatch. Jon had not seen his Uncle Benjen since the very first season, when they were together at Castle Black (remember, Jon was very close with Uncle Benjen and he was a big part of the reason why Jon joined the Night’s Watch in the first place). When Benjen went missing north of The Wall in the first season, Jon tried to go after him. Ironically, Benjen’s disappearance north of The Wall so many seasons ago is what would turn him into what he is today, and set him on the path to save his nephew when it really counted. Just another ingenious example of how Thrones sets a character on a path at a certain point in time, for them not to be seen for many years, and to ultimately reemerge in the distant future to play a major role. Sadly, after all these years, the reunion between Jon and Uncle Benjen lasted only a couple of seconds, but Uncle Benjen served his purpose and saved Jon when it counted most.
We also must say RIP to one of the story’s greatest (even if not most popular) characters, Thoros of Myr, who does not make it out alive. He too served his purpose, bringing Beric Dondarrion back to life many times over the years. With Thoros finally gone, Beric is likely now on his last life, again a reminder that the end is near.
A Winterfell Reunion
As Jon departs Winterfell to meet with Daenerys and eventually go north beyond The Wall, he leaves Sansa to look after Winterfell and maintain order in the North. Had he stayed just a little while longer, he would have found out his true identity, as it was not long after he left that Bran, who knows the truth of who Jon is, returns to Winterfell. Only Bran is no longer Bran — he is now the Three-Eyed Raven, seemingly devoid of all human emotion or feeling. After years of travels throughout the North without having any contact with any Stark family member, Bran finally returns home to Winterfell to be reunited with sister, Sansa. What would be expected to be an emotional and heartfelt reunion was anything but; Bran lacks the human emotion to even hug her, as he tells her how he can remember what it felt like to be Bran, but now he remembers so much else… He even dismisses Meera, who had been traveling with him for the last several years, who lost her brother, Jojen, and risked her life many times to keep Bran alive. What’s clear is that Bran is completely gone at this point, consumed by his all-knowingness, and we will likely never see him again.
The Stark sibling reunion continues from there, as Arya too finally makes her way back to Winterfell after a harsh and long journey. Like Bran, she returns home as a totally different person, no longer a young and innocent girl, but now a hardened assassin trained by the Faceless Men. While Arya and Sansa are happy to see one another after all these years, their differences and distrust quickly reemerge. It is important to remember that Arya and Sansa did not get along when they were younger, and one of Arya’s last memories of Sansa was her older sister sucking up to Prince Joffrey and the Lannisters in an attempt to become princess. Years later, Arya believes that Sansa has not defended the honor of their brother, Jon, and that Sansa has again made a play for power as the acting Lady of Winterfell.
Conversely, Sansa does not recognize the sister that has returned home, and starts to believe that perhaps Arya has intentions of killing her. Baelish, who has been hanging around at Winterfell, does not miss his opportunity to capitalize off this discord and attempts to strengthen his position by driver a further wedge between the sisters. Knowing that Arya has been following him, he plants an old note that Sansa had sent back to Winterfell all the way back in season one, when she was being held by Cersei in King’s Landing. In the note, Sansa notes that Ned has been a traitor and urges her family to pledge fealty to the Lannisters. What’s not clear from reading this note is that Sansa was forced to write this note under duress, and Baelish purposely plants this note for Arya to find, in an attempt to further Arya’s distrust and hatred for Sansa. At the same time, Baelish speaks with Sansa and furthers the idea that Arya has perhaps returned to Winterfell to kill her so that she can become the lady of Winterfell. Baelish’s plot dates all the way back to season one and is incredibly intricate — see the bottom half of this episode recap which provides a lot more detail about what Baelish went through to set up this scheme.
Throughout several episodes, it appears as though Baelish’s schemes are working perfectly, leading up to a final scene where Sansa calls Arya into the great hall in front of all the Northern lords. Sansa, prepared to pass judgement, states “You stand accused of treason. You stand accused of murder.” All appears as though Baelish has pulled off another epic manipulation, and that Arya will pay the price, until Sansa looks over towards Littlefinger and adds “How do you answer to these charges…Lord Baelish?” The tables are quickly turned, and we realize that Sansa and Arya had actually been working together to outsmart Baelish. Littlefinger does all he can to beg Sansa for mercy, but his many years of lies, schemes and manipulation have finally caught up with him. He cannot talk his way out of this one, and though Sansa passes the judgement, it is Arya that plays executioner.
What’s interesting to note is the weapon she uses to take his life. All the way back in second episode of season one, an assassin almost takes Bran’s life, though Bran’s direwolf, Summer, jumps in to save him. At the time, Baelish tells the Starks that it was the Lannisters who sent the assassin, which is what sends Ned Stark to King’s Landing and ultimately leads to his death and many of the events that would follow. What we later find out is that it was not the Lannisters that sent this assassin, but rather Baelish himself, in an attempt to pit the Starks against the Lannisters (which he succeeded in doing). It was Baelish himself who equipped the assassin with the dagger, which ends up back in Baelish’s possession after the failed assassination attempt. All these years later, Baelish gives the dagger to Bran as a reminder of the man who attempted his life. In a later scene, Bran gives this dagger to Arya, telling her has no use for it. In his all-knowing wisdom, perhaps Bran already saw the future and knew Arya would use this dagger to kill Baelish, which is exactly what happened. Again, this is just another example of how Thrones does such a masterful weaving plot-points that span from the first season to the seventh. Baelish gives a dagger to an assassin to kill Bran; the assassination goes wrong and Baelish recovers the dagger; Baelish gives the dagger to Bran; Bran gives the dagger to Arya; all comes full circle as Arya uses this dagger to end the life of the all-cunning Littlefinger. RIP.
King’s Landing
Though King’s Landing and the Iron Throne is becoming increasingly less relevant in comparison to the Great War to Come, there is still quite a bit happening in the capital of Westeros, with Cersei at the helm. Just as Daenerys has made alliances with other great houses, Cersei too has forged a union with Euron Greyjoy, who strengthens her army with his naval prowess and strong fleet of ships. As a reminder, Euron is the uncle of Theon and Yara, and killed their father, Balon, back in season six, in an attempt to take control of their homeland, the Iron Islands. Theon and Yara fled the Iron Islands with their forces (and forged a union with Daenerys), while Euron sailed to King’s Landing to secure an alliance with Cersei.
This alliance quickly proves valuable for Cersei, as Euron strikes first blood in the war between Cersei and Daenerys. Carrying out a battle strategy devised by Tyrion, the Greyjoys are en route to escort Ellaria Sand and her three Sand Snake daughters back to their home of Dorne to rally the Dornish troops with the plan to lay siege to King’s Landing. However, Euron is one step ahead of them and shows his naval strength as he intercepts their ships with an attack in the night. His men kill two of the three Sand Snakes, while capturing the third, along with her mother, Ellaria Sand. As well, Euron captures Yara Greyjoy, while Theon jumps ship and leaves his sister behind.
Euron returns to King’s Landing and delivers Cersei the gift he had promised her — Ellaria Sand along with her daughter, Tyene. Back in season five, it was Ellaria that killed Cersei’s daughter, Princess Myrcella, by kissing her and poisoning her with a poison called The Long Farewell. This was Dornish revenge for the Lannisters killing Elia Martell (Rhaegar Targaryen’s wife), during Robert’s Rebellion, as well as the more recent death of Oberyn Martell (aka The Red Viper) at the hands of The Mountain. Now, Cersei has her daughter’s murderer right where she wants her, and kisses Ellaria’s daughter, Tyene, with the same poison that Ellaria used on Myrcella. Only whereas Myrcella died far from Cersei, Ellaria will have to watch her daughter die right before her eyes as they are locked up in a cell together.
That said, we did not see Tyene die, which in the Thrones world, often hints that she may yet survive and have a role to play in the days to come. One prediction is that perhaps she will be saved by Bronn. Why you ask? Well, back in season five, when Bronn ventured south to Dorne alongside Jaime in an attempt to rescue Princess Myrcella, Bronn himself was poisoned with the same Long Farewell poison. And, as you will see in the video below, who was it that saved him? None other than Tyene Sand, the Sand Snake who he says is the most beautiful woman int he world. So, is it possible that Bronn will return to King’s Landing and save Tyene who is poisoned in a cell, much the way she did for him? Time will tell. Let’s not forget that Dorne is still a major part of Westeros and it’s hard to imagine the Dornish not having a role in the final season.
But Ellaria and Tyene were not the only captives Euron secured during his attack — they were just the gifts he presented to Cersei. But, he kept a gift for himself, Yara Greyjoy. It is unclear what his plans for her are, but in one of the final scenes of the season, Theon comes alive and is hellbent on saving his sister. In brutal hand-to-hand combat, he defeats one of the other Ironborn who was opposed to saving Yara, takes command of a small crew and sets sail to rescue Yara from Euron.
Dany Strikes Back
Back at Dragonstone, Daenerys has been letting Tyrion act as military strategist, only to find that his first two plans have backfired miserably. After losing several of her alliances as well as her naval fleet at the hands of Euron Greyjoy, Dany suffers a second defeat after Tyrion advises her to have the Unsullied attack Casterly Rock, the castle of the Lannisters. He believes that if they can take Casterly Rock, they will be in a stronger position to eventually take King’s Landing. However, the Lannisters are one step ahead of Tyrion’s plan, and while Dany sends her troops to attack Casterly Rock, the Lannisters have already pulled their forces from Casterly Rock and sent them to lay siege to Highgarden, castle of House Tyrell. While there is not much left of House Tyrell, besides Lady Olenna, Highgarden has the most fertile land in all of Westeros, as well as plenty of gold. While Dany’s forces are attacking an empty Casterly Rock, the Lannisters successfully sack Highgarden and all its riches. During this siege, Jaime kills Lady Olenna, but not before she admits to being the mastermind behind the death of his son, King Joffrey. Though many, including Cersei and Tywin Lannister, accused Tyrion of being behind the murder of Joff, we knew it was actually Lady Olenna who orchestrated his murder, to prevent her granddaughter Margaery from having to marry such a monster. However, not many were aware of this, and Lady Olenna reveals this to Jaime just before she dies. And with her death, just like that, one of the noblest and greatest houses of Westeros is all but wiped out.
But for every one of Cersei’s moves, Dany has had a counter. No longer willing to sit back and listen to Tyrion’s conservative military strategy, she decides to take action into her own hands and show the Lannisters the true power of her dragons. As the Lannister forces are traveling from Highgarden to King’s Landing, Daenerys unleashes her dragons in a southern battle for the first time. Dany roasts the Lannister army by the hundreds, showing just how devastating her dragons can be in war. But, she does not kill them all. She gives the remaining men the chance to bend the knee and pledge their fealty. Two men in particular choose to defy her and refuse to bend the knee — Randyll Tarly and his son, Dickon (Samwell Tarly’s father and brother). Though Tyrion cautions Daenerys to show restraint, she ignores his advice and burns them alive, showing the others what is to come should they not pledge their fealty. This scene is an allusion to The Field of Fire, a legendary event 300 years ago when Aegon Targaryen battled the Lannisters and forced them into bending the knee.
In addition to seeing the sheer power of dragons in battle and the devastation they can cause, this scene was critical in that was the first time that anybody in the south of Westeros has seen a dragon. Jaime and the rest of the Lannister forces now know what they are up against, and he rides back to King’s Landing to warn Cersei that they do not stand a chance. Daenerys has put the world on notice, and though she chooses not to take Westeros with fire and death, she has shown that she is willing to when she must.
The Dragonpit Summit
After such extraordinary recent events, all sides are trying to figure out what their next move is. Daenerys, once focused on taking out Cersei and restoring rightful Targeryen rule to the Seven Kingdoms, has now seen the army of the dead and understands that this is the only war that matters. Yet, if she invests her forces into fighting the war in the North, she allows Cersei to strengthen her position and reclaim more of Westeros. So, the only way Daenerys can focus on joining Jon in fighting the Night King is if Cersei agrees to a temporary armistice. Even better would be if Cersei agrees to lend her troops to fight in the Great War to Come.
So, Dany, Jon and their team risk it all by traveling to King’s Landing to meet with Cersei. Of course, they do not arrive empty-handed, and they bring the wight that they captured during their raid north of The Wall. Cersei now sees what few others in the world have, and must decide whether she wants to continue her war against Dany for Westeros, or put aside their differences and focus on the much important war to come. After much deliberation, Cersei agrees to a temporary truce and offers to direct her troops north to join in the fight against the dead.
The End is Near
Just as it looks like the good guys humans are banding together to fight the dead, things go a bit haywire and reach an absolute climax as season seven comes to a close. To start, we learn that Cersei was full of sh*t and lied to Jon and Dany when pledging her troops to join the fight against darkness. After they depart, she tells Jaime that she intends to continue to fight against her true enemies, even if it leads to their death. Jaime attempts to reason with her, explaining that if they do not do all they can to fight back the dead, everybody in King’s Landing will eventually die. Yet, Cersei is blinded by the only thing that she has left to live for — revenge against those who have wronged her. No longer able to stand by the madness of his sister, Jaime rides off from King’s Landing, just as the snow begins to fall. Snow, all the way south over King’s Landing? The end must be near…
But before season seven comes to a close, we see the two elements that this story has already centered around, Fire and Ice, take center stage and set up the Great War to Come in season eight.
First, we see Fire emerge stronger than ever, personified by who we once believed to be Jon Snow, but now know to be Aegon Targaryen. Thanks to one of Bran’s visions, for some time now, we have known that Jon was birthed by Lyanna Stark after being impregnated by Rhaegar Targaryen. This was an absolutely massive reveal in season six, when Bran sees a young Ned Stark sitting over his dying sister, Lyanna, with baby Jon in hand. The implications were huge as we realized that Ned had sacrificed his honor, the thing he valued most, and pretended to have an extramarital affair in order to explain the birth of his bastard son, Jon. This false understanding of who Jon really was led to a series of events, too long to lay out here, so the reveal of who Jon’s true identity was massive. But even with Bran’s visions and wisdom, he only got half the story — the half that allowed him to understand that Jon’s parents were Rhaegar Targaryen and Lyanna Stark. But, since Rhaegar was married to Elia Martell, Bran incorrectly assumed that Jon was a bastard born out of wedlock, and since he was born in the south, his bastard name would be Jon Sand instead of Jon Snow (each region of Westeros has a different last name that bastards take, in the North it’s Snow, in the south it’s Sand, etc).
However, there was another half to this story that even the all-knowing Bran had not figured out. Earlier in season seven, Gilly was reading through an old Maestar’s record at the Citadel, and she came across a passage that talked about a Maestar performing an annulment for Prince Rhaegar Targaryen and performing a secret wedding ceremony to another. Unknowingly, Gilly came across a passage that contains one of the most confidential and important secrets across the entire continent of Westeros — one that changes everything. Gilly uncovers the fact that Prince Rhaegar annulled his marriage to Elia Martell, and then remarried to Lyanna Stark in a secret wedding ceremony.
The implications of this reveal are massive. First, Robert’s Rebellion was built upon a complete lie. As we know, Robert was in love with Lyanna Stark, and launched his rebellion against the Targaryens primarily under the premise that Rhaegar had kidnapped his beloved Lyanna, rode off with her and raped her. He joined forces with her brother, Ned, and together they led much of the North to King’s Landing to overthrow The Mad King and usurp the Targaryen dynasty. Before taking the Iron Throne for himself, Robert killed Rhaegar during The Battle of the Trident. With Lyanna and Rhaegar both dead, the truth of Jon’s parents could only be found within the pages of this old Maestar’s private journal, discovered by the unlikeliest of characters.
Perhaps more important than the fact Robert’s Rebellion was built upon a lie is what this reveals about Jon’s true identity. He is not a bastard as Bran assumed, but rather the true and lawful son of Rhaegar and Lyanna who were in love and legally married. As we later hear when Bran revisits his vision, Jon’s true name is Aegon Targaryen. No big deal that he’s named after the man that conquered the Seven Kingdoms and the first Targaryen king to rule over Westeros. This also makes him one of the first, if only, throughout history to have both Targaryen and Stark blood — some would argue a mix of Fire and Ice. Most of all, this means that Jon (or Aegon), not Daenerys, is the rightful heir to the Iron Throne (Rhaegar was the older brother of Daenerys, so after their father, The Mad King died, the throne would have gone to Rhaegar, not Daenerys. And after Rhaegar, it would go to his son, Jon/Aegon). Of course, Jon still does not know any of this, but it now appears only a matter of time until Bran/Samwell fill him in on who he really is.
In the Thrones world, Targaryens equal fire, so learning that Jon is one of the last remaining Targaryens, and arguably the most powerful, amplifies the existence of Fire heading into the final season. But the season does not end without Ice making its counterpunch. In the final scene of the season, we see the army of the dead reemerge once more, this time looking to get past The Wall, something they’ve been unable to do for thousands of years since The Long Night.
In a story that centers around Ice and Fire, evil and good, light and dark, it is The Wall that symbolizes the fine line between these ever-opposing forces. The Wall was not built yesterday; or a few years ago; or even a few hundred years ago. The Wall was built 8,000 years ago when The Children of the Forest, The First Men and the Giants all came together to fight for their survival against the White Walkers. For 8,000 years, The Wall was more than a structure that kept out the dead — it was an indestructible symbol that divided good from evil, light from dark, Ice from Fire. And now, we have just seen that wall fall. A structure that protected the realm for thousands of years has finally been breached, and now, nobody is safe.
As the Night King rides on the back of his undead dragon, Viserion, he unleashes a fury of icy fire that is able to easily reduce a portion of The Wall to rubble. What’s important to remember is that The Wall was constructed using powerful magic from The Children of the Forest — magic that has kept the White Walkers out for thousands of years. And since The Wall is more than just ice and is also made up of this magic, it would take more than just ordinary force to destruct The Wall. Which is why the Night King, on the back of a dragon — representing the union of fire and ice — is able to destroy a good chunk of The Wall. Seeing this also again reminds us of the ties that the Night King has to the Children of the Forest. After all, it was the Children that created the Night King in the first place and he has shown to carry some of their magical powers. It then makes perfect sense that he is the one who is able to counteract the power of their magic used to build The Wall as he tears it down.
Some Final Thoughts & Theories
As we reflect back upon the last seven seasons, there are so many storylines that feel unfinished, characters whose destinies have not been revealed, and plot-points that lend to certain theories which or may not come to fruition in the final season. I thought I’d call out just a few that I have found most intriguing.
What Does the Night King Really Want?
I often get asked who I think is going to win the war and how this story will end. I generally respond that I think darkness will prevail. Unlike most stories, George R.R. Martin has a proclivity for reminding us that in real life, good does not always win and life can be full of darkness and hardship. For that reason, I am intrigued by the idea of evil prevailing and the “good guys” not necessarily winning.
But this leads me to the realization that the Night King and White Walkers are not necessarily evil. Sure, that’s how we’ve perceived them thus far — I mean anytime you have an army of zombies led by an evil Night King trying to destroy humanity, you are going to assume they’re pretty evil, right? But that’s a simple interpretation of what we’ve actually witnessed. If you go a layer or two deeper, you start to realize that things are not that simple, and the line between good and evil may not be that clear.
For starters, the Night King did not choose to be the Night King. He was not born into being the Night King, nor did he decide for this to be his life. It’s important to remember that he was a human, who against his will, was turned into the Night King. And by who? By the Children of the Forest, the ones who are supposed to be “the good guys.” You can rewatch the scene below in which the Night King is created. Of course, we don’t know exactly why The Children did this and what they were actually trying to achieve. Presumably, they were not trying to create the Night King, but who knows. We also don’t yet know who this human was and why he was chosen — was he just a random sacrifice or perhaps somebody more significant? From the context, we can see this happened at a weirwood tree in the North, so it’s safe to assume he was a Northerner, perhaps even a Stark? If you believe that, it leads to further theories around the close ties between the Night King and the Starks, and the possibility that the Night King could even be Bran Stark, who we now see as the Three-Eyed Raven. But that’s another theory for another day.
So, as we saw above, the Night King didn’t set out to become the Night King. He was turned into what he became, and once he became it, presumably has some objective he is trying to accomplish. I do not believe for a second that it’s as simple as killing humans for the sake of killing humans. I believe there is something greater he is driven to accomplish. Perhaps he is fighting for the preservation of his people, much the same way the humans are. Perhaps to survive they must get south of The Wall to accomplish some unknown feat. It’s hard to know exactly what his motivation is, but without knowing, and considering the fact he was forced into becoming The Night King, can we really call him evil? My money says that in the final season, we will learn a lot more about who he is and what he is trying to achieve, and that perhaps our perception of him being evil will change. George R.R. Martin has an uncanny ability to constantly force us to reassess our perception of a given character (i.e. consider how many times we have reassessed how we felt about a character like Jaime? First he was bad, then showed signs of being good, then got sucked back into Cersei’s games, and now has reemerged as a potential good guy). I think something similar might happen with the Night King, and we might be reminded that the lines between good and evil can often be unclear.
Who is the Prince That Was Promised?
As we’ve talked about many times throughout the seven seasons, during the Long Night, Azor Ahai was an ancient warrior that led the fight against darkness and saved humanity from the White Walkers. He was known as The Prince That Was Promised and there is a prophecy in the religion of the Lord of Light that has stated The Prince That Was Promised will be reincarnated to fight back the darkness once more. In the first few seasons of the show, Lady Melisandre incorrectly believed Stannis to be The Prince That Was Promised, but things did not end up well for him (although we never actually saw him die, and it’s still theoretically possible he is alive). So, the question remains, will The Prince That Was Promised once again reemerge? This question may never get answered outright, but it seems like it may be either Jon or Daenerys. One interesting callout: In the second episode of season seven, Daenerys is speaking in High Valyrian with Lady Melisandre, who once again references The Prince That Was Promised, the person that will fight back the darkness once more. Missandei, whose native language is Valyrian, interjects and corrects them, stating that the word they are using in Valyrian actually has no gender, meaning it can be a Prince or Princess. This of course leads us to believe that perhaps Daenerys could be the Princess That Was Promised. (See video below, starting at 1:10).
What’s Up with the Direwolves?
The Starks’ direwolves were very present in the first few seasons, until things started to go haywire for the Starks, and so too for their wolves. You probably don’t recall exactly where things left off and which wolves are still out there. Well, sadly, only two of the original six direwolves are alive, and I’m guessing they’ll have a role to play in the final season. With everything else going on in the show, and the wolves being absent for the better part of the last few seasons, it’s fair that we’ve forgotten about them. But don’t overlook their significance as the story comes to an end. Remember, direwolves are not just big wolves — there is a magical connection they have to their Stark owners and they should reemerge into the story in the final season.
The two wolves left are Nymeria and Ghost, belonging to Arya and Jon, respectively. Last season, Arya actually encountered Nymeria, who had grown quite large and was leading a pack of pretty ferocious wolves. It’s fair to assume that this pack of wolves will fight for Arya/the Starks at some point in the final season. We last saw Jon’s wolf, Ghost, before The Battle of the Bastards, at which point Jon held Ghost back to avoid him being harmed. The assumption is that Ghost has been hanging around Winterfell ever since, though we have not seen him.
One other interesting thought to consider is that thus far, the Starks that have been killed who have wolves that have also been killed, have been killed by the same people. Robb Stark was killed by the Freys at the Red Wedding, as was his wolf, Greywind. Rickon Stark was killed by the Boltons, as was his wolf Shaggydog. If we are to believe this pattern will hold true, this means that Bran, if killed, will die at the hands of the White Walkers (who killed Summer when they attacked the cave he was in with the Three-Eyed-Raven), and Sansa will die at the hands of a Stark (Ned swung the sword that killed Lady after Cersei demanded Lady’s death for attacking Joffrey, even though it was actually Arya’s wolf, Nymeria, that attacked Joff).
Samwell As The Final Storyteller?
When Samwell arrived at The Citadel in season six, I was fascinated by those giant astrolabes hanging in The Citadel. What were they? What purpose did they serve? Most viewers probably did not realize that we have been seeing those astrolabes since the very first episode, and in every single episode since. Yes, that’s right, they appear in the opening credits of every episode. As you can see from the image on the right below, the top half shows a more detailed view of the astrolabe from the Citadel, and the bottom right shows a strikingly similar image from the opening credits. This is not something that can be overlooked, and upon digging deeper, it lends some very interesting insights as to what Sam’s role in this story may end up being. One thought is that if darkness prevails and humanity perishes, there will need to be somebody left to tell this story — the very story that we are watching unfold before our eyes. We know Sam has always been obsessed with books, preserving history and storytelling, and it just may be Samwell Tarly that is telling the very story we are witnessing today. For more color, read the full post on this theory here.
Significance of the Spirals We’ve Seen
Throughout the show, we’ve seen a specific spiral design that seems to be shared by both The Children of the Forest and the White Walkers. It’s unclear what these spirals signify, but given that some of the images we’ve seen date back thousands of years, and that they’re shared by two of the most significant/magical groups of beings in the show, I am willing to bet it’s something significant. It may even lend a clue to the link between The Children and the Night King. You can see below for a few examples of these spirals that we’ve seen, and read the episode recap here that explains this theory in much greater detail.
Are Syrio Forell and Jaqen H’ghar the Same Person?
Another theory we’ve talked about for many seasons on this blog, and another burning question that may or not get answered in the final season of this story. But there’s a lot of credence to the fact that Syrio Forell, Arya’s Braavosi fighting instructor, could have been Jaqen H’ghar all along. For starters, back in season one, the last we see of Syrio is when he is attacked by Lannister guards and Arya is forced to flee. It is assumed that he will be killed, but we never see him die, keeping the door open for the fact he may be alive.
After Arya flees, she cuts her hair to look like a boy and joins a group heading North. In that group, there are several men locked up in a cage, one of which is Jaqen H’ghar. If you think about this for a moment, it makes no sense. We go on to learn that Jaqen H’ghar is one of the most cunning, nimble and outright magical assassins in all of the land. We seem him perform incredible feats that few others could. Yet, this same man finds himself locked up in a rickety cage as a prisoner? It doesn’t add up, not one bit. An entirely more plausible explanation would be that Syrio Forell was Jaqen H’ghar the whole time, just wearing the face of Syrio. He never got killed and was able to escape after Arya ran away, and to avoid being detected, he changed his face to that of the Jaqen we saw throughout most of the show, and allowed himself to appear as a prisoner. He continued to look over Arya as she continued north, and at the right time, revealed himself to Arya as the Faceless Man we came to know. For several more years, he would continue to train Arya, just as Syrio (who was really Jaqen) had been doing since the very beginning in King’s Landing. If you compare the two men, they are quite similar. Both were excellent fighters, both hailed from the secret land of Braavos, both spoke of the Many-Faced God and saying no to death. The list goes on. Again, who knows if this is something that will be addressed in the final season, but at minimum, it would be great to see Jaqen reemerge before the story comes to an end.
What Did Varys Hear in the Flames?
Back in season six, Varys and Tyrion are visited by The High Red Priestess, Kinvara, one of the highest ranking officials of the Lord of Light. Though her appearance was brief, she dropped a pretty big question that has never been answered. As Varys is typically skeptical of religion, he questioned The Lord of Light, to which Kinvara references a voice that Varys heard in the flames when he was castrated as a young boy. Usually cool and collected, Varys’ face becomes flush with fear, making it clear that he knows what she is talking about. Will we ever learn what Varys heard in the flames? As we’ve highlighted many times, it’s rare that Thrones inserts these kinds of plot-points if not to come back to them at a later point in time, so I would hope to learn more about this. But then again, with only a handful of episodes left, it’s entirely possible that we never learn what Varys heard in the flames.
Other Odds and Ends
The Three-Eyed Raven told Bran that he will never walk again, but he will fly. Will we see Bran fly? Perhaps he will warg into a dragon?
Is Stannis definitely dead? Seems like yes, but I’m always wary when we don’t see the character actually die.
What is the connection between Bran and the Night King? Every time the Night King sees Bran in one of his visions, Bran is pulled from his vision. It seems like there is a deeper connection between the two.
In season seven, I wrote an interesting theory about The Eye of the Giant. You can read more about that here.
More recently, I wrote a theory on the significance of what’s beneath the crypts of Winterfell. The teaser for the upcoming season focused on the crypts of Winterfell, so I think it will have significance on the season eight. You can read that here.
That’s it folks. Enjoy the countdown to season eight and savor each minute!
Disclaimer: There are no spoilers in this article. I have only read the first three books and I have no knowledge of what transpires in the show moving forward. Any views or content expressed are solely personal theories, opinions and insights.
REUNITED AT LAST
Game of Thrones is a show that is often centered around the struggles and hardships that its characters must endure, perhaps none more prevalent than the struggle of separation and distance. For some characters, it is a physical separation from their family or loved ones; for other characters, it’s a metaphorical separation from their goals, or a distance from what they are trying to achieve. Whatever it may be, there is always a distance which the story’s characters are trying to work against as they try to inch closer to what they want most. And in Book of the Stranger, we saw several characters take giant steps, if not leaps, towards reducing the distance that stands between them and their goals. Most notably, great distances which existed between certain characters were eliminated as several characters were reunited, including Sansa with Jon Snow, Theon with Yara, Khaleesi with Jorah/Daario, and even Baelish with Robin Arryn. And while several of these characters being reunited represented the elimination of a physical distance, it is all the more significant for the implications it has upon the larger goals that are now more attainable with some of the new bonds that have been forged. So look at, because a lot of what had been brewing below the surface is starting to bubble to the top and battle appears to be imminent.
TWO STARKS, ONE ROOM
The idea of a Stark being in the same vicinity as another Stark is an idea that seems foreign. Aren’t the Starks destined to a life of complete isolation from all their family and loved ones? It sure felt that way, and rightfully so — we haven’t seen two Starks together since the second episode of this entire series — that’s right, 53 episodes go! And that’s precisely why the reuniting of Sansa and Jon Snow was quite underwhelming for me. In this Game of Thrones world, there are so many terrible things going on all around us. Every now and then, we get a glimpse of something really positive, something really moving, something really uplifting. And in this world, where the Starks who we loved so very much, have endured years of pain, misery and agony, we could only hope that one day we would see them get back together — a moment that would be so incredibly powerful, that I couldn’t even imagine how good it would make us all feel. But then it happened, and it was just eh.
Sure, it was great to see Sansa walk through the gates of the Wall and to actually feel for once that she was safe, finally in a place where nobody could hurt her and there was actually somebody there to protect her. And it was really nice to Sansa and Jon Snow embrace in a Stark hug, to feel the warmth and familiarity of holding their own family again. But it was just okay, nothing more, and here’s why. Jon Snow and Sansa were never very close — in fact, they didn’t get along very well. As they mentioned in the episode, Jon Snow thought Sansa was a spoiled brat and Sansa thought Jon Snow didn’t really belong. Jon was much closer with some of his other half-siblings, particularly Arya and Bran; Sansa was much closer with others as well, particularly Robb. So while it was really nice to see two Stark children reunited, it kind of sucked that we got the least emotional version of it, since they really weren’t that close in the first place. And, that this was 53 episodes in the making makes it all the more disappointing. I just wish that after all the turmoil we’ve had to watch the Starks endure, that the reuniting would have been more meaningful, or at least more moving.
On the flip side of the coin, perhaps this is exactly the point of why these two siblings are reunited. Maybe that they were not super close to begin with is all the more important, as we will now see them come together to fight the Boltons and win back the North. All that aside, what I did enjoy most was Sansa’s conviction to take back the North. In her eyes, it was not even a question, not even a thought — it was a responsibility — the North has and always will belong to the Starks, in her eyes. And as Jon Snow tells her that all he has been doing is fighting since he left Winterfell, and is ready to resign altogether, it is Sansa that tells him that she will take back the North with or without him, though she prefers he helps. Perhaps another Stark was the only person that could have broken Jon Snow’s defeatist attitude and refocused him on the mission ahead. Though, Ramsay’s letter certainly did not hurt Sansa’s cause, and Jon Snow now appears ready to fight at least one more battle, after learning that Ramsay has Rickon prisoner. Jon Snow, Sansa, Ser Davos, Lady Melisandre, Tormund Giantsbane, a couple thousand Wildlings, a few Giants — it’s a pretty unlikely band of characters that appear to be coming together to form Jon Snow’s army.
Worth noting, elsewhere at the Wall, Brienne finds herself face to face with Ser Davos and Melisandre, and there are a few interesting reveals. First, Brienne confirms to them (and to us) that she in fact killed Stannis, though we never saw it. She also tells Melisandre that she was there when Renley was killed by shadow magic, and seems to know that Melisandre had some part in it. She makes a point of mentioning that she will not forgive and she will not forget, so it is worth keeping an eye on the dynamic between Brienne and Melisandre. Davos also finds out that Shireen was killed, though Melisandre does not offer up that she was burned alive by her own parents (at the advice of Melisandre). Melisandre again notes that Jon Snow is the Prince That was Promised, though Davos points out she was wrong once before when she claimed the same of Stannis. Melisandre is in a weird, distant place, seemingly having regained some of her faith after bringing Jon Snow back to life, but still unsure in the Lord of Light or her own purpose on this journey.
KHALEESI, THE UNBURNT
We knew that Khaleesi would be just fine and find a way to escape the Dothraki Khals– even cooler, she knew it as well. What I enjoy most about Khaleesi is her utter faith and confidence, even in the face of challenging and life-threatening situations. The problem is that we have not seen enough of this side of Khaleesi — not enough of Khaleesi being a leader, not enough Khaleesi burning down temples and killing all the Khals, not enough Khaleesi walking out of fires unburnt…not enough of Khaleesi being the badass she’s supposed to be. We’ve way too much of Khaleesi sitting in a pyramid, unsure of what to do with the slaves in her city, unsure of what to do with her dragons, unsure about pretty much everything. So it was nice to see the badass Khaleesi return — welcome back. Now, I can only hope that this Khaleesi is here to stay, and that her story won’t follow the same pattern it’s followed for the last five years — fight the battle, free the slaves, slaves embrace Khaleesi, Khaleesi leaves city, freed-slaves become enslaved again, Khaleesi wanders through the desert and encounters some new enemy, Jorah and Daario swoop in to save the day, etc etc… My hope and guess is that Khaleesi’s story will really pick up now, and it is presumed that she now has thousands of Dothraki added to her army.
Back in Mereen, Tyrion takes a meeting with the slave masters of Astapor and Yunkai, and agrees to give them seven years to phase out slavery, if they’ll agree to stop funding the Sons of the Harpy. Missandei and Grey Worm and not pleased, as seven years is a long time to allow slavery to continue, and certainly not in line with Khaleesi’s previous edicts. But, Tyrion is trying a new way and it’s safe to assume that Khaleesi will initially not be too pleased when she returns to Mereen to find out what he’s done.
THE IRON ISLANDS
Jon Snow and Sansa weren’t the only siblings to be reunited, as Theon finally makes it back home to Pyke and is reunited with his sister, Yara, who is reminiscent of their father, sitting in his rigid wooden chair and staring off into the fire. Yara is still pissed that Theon didn’t come back with her when she attempted to save him from Ramsay, and she shows him some tough love. She assumes he has returned to claim kingship of the Iron Islands now that their father has died, though he confesses that he has no interest in becoming king. Rather, he wants to back Yara and help her to rule the Iron Islands. What it really seems like he wants most is to continue to atone for his sins, and my guess is that he helps Yara become ruler of the Iron Islands in order to do good in the larger war that is to come.
LITTLEFINGER IS BACK
It’s been quite some time since we’ve seen Baelish and the master manipulator has returned to the Eyrie to continue to use those around him as pawns in his game. Robin Arryn is a bit older and remains Lord of the Vale, which means he still commands a sizable army. As Baelish returns, Lord Royce questions what Baelish has done with Sansa — last they left the Eyrie, Baelish told him he was taking her back home, but ended up in fact marrying her to Ramsay. Baelish doesn’t like Lord Royce’s interrogation, and shows that he in fact is the one in power, as he could easily have Robin execute Lord Royce. But, Lord Royce pledges his absolute loyalty and will live to see another day — but keep an eye on him, as he certainly is onto Baelish. Most important about this scene, Baelish tells Royce to round up the troops, as it’s time to “join the fray.” Baelish is calculated in his every move and has probably planned for this next move for some time now. It will be interesting to see what side Baelish backs, and more importantly, what Baelish’s end-goal really is.
KING’S LANDING
And last, but not least, there’s King’s Landing — perhaps the only storyline that I currently enjoy less than that of Khaleesi. The whole High Sparrow plot just doesn’t do it for me, and I kind of want it to just come to an end. Thankfully, it looks like things might be heading towards a climax, with the Tyrells and Lannisters reaching an alliance. For the sake of freeing Margaery and Loras, as well as eliminating the High Sparrow, Jaime proposes that the Tyrells march their army (the second largest in Westeros) into King’s Landing, while the King’s army will stand down. They propose to do this quickly and quietly without Tommen knowing about it. Seems like it should be easy enough and though the High Sparrow has many followers and people willing to fight and die, it seems like they wouldn’t stand a chance against an actual army. But this is precisely why I think there might be more to it — after all, this whole time, it’s seemed so simple — why hasn’t an actual army just taken out the High Sparrow? Maybe it was simply because all the players in King’s Landing were on different pages and are finally coming together against their common threat. Or, maybe it’s not that simple and there’s more to the High Sparrow’s plan. In any event, things should be coming to a head very shortly (I hope).
NEXT WEEK’S EPISODE
If you don’t watch the scenes from next week specifically because you don’t want to know anything about the next episode, then stop reading now. Every now and then when something particularly interesting grabs by eye from next week’s preview, I choose to include it in my recap. And this past preview showed something that I think could be very interesting. The preview showed a mysterious woman approaching Varys, telling him that there is still much that he does not know. I think this is a woman that we saw all the way back in the second season — her name is Quaithe, otherwise known as Quaithe of the Shadow, because she comes from the Shadow Lands of Asshai (the same place where Lady Melisandre comes from). We saw her in Qarth in the second season, where she has a mysterious conversation with Jorah, and appears to know many things, including that Jorah had spied on Khaleesi, and also where Khalessi’s dragons are being held (see vide below). Perhaps more significant, she also has an exchange with Khaleesi where she tells Khaleesi that she should visit Asshai as soon as possible, and tells her the mysterious message, “To go north, you must journey south. To reach the west, you must go east. To go forward you must go back, and to touch the light you must pass beneath the shadow.”
And just like that, we never saw her again. But in the preview for next week’s episode, we saw a woman unmasked, that appears to be wearing a similar necklace as Quaithe (and Melisandre) wore, and is clearly a red priestess like Melisandre (photo below). It’s possible that this is a completely different character, and very well might be, since their eyes are different colors. But either way, it is worth mentioning, as I think we will see the character Quaithe at some point again, and also because the red priestess below will likely be significant, whether or not she is in fact Quaithe.
Disclaimer: There are no spoilers in this article. I have only read the first three books and I have no knowledge of what transpires in the show moving forward. Any views or content expressed are solely personal theories, opinions and insights.
OVERVIEW
It’s that time of year again; spring is in the air, which means one thing: Game of Thrones is back to continue us along its magical journey for the next 10 weeks. And because that 10-week journey is so short-lived, when it’s done, we find ourselves in a 42-week Thrones hibernation — and as result — we forget much that has happened along this journey thus far. Not to fear, ThronesLife is here. While we won’t touch upon all that has happened in the last 5 seasons, this post will recap most of the magic from last season, while calling out some interesting plot-points to keep an eye on. In the end, you’ll be primed to jump head-first into Season 6.
Before we begin to discuss the specifics, it’s important to step back and understand where the Thrones story is in its timeline. For many of the earlier seasons, it always felt like there was so much of the story that still needed to unfold. The story was always captivating, but there was a feeling that we were still just scratching the surface of the story and that it would be a very long time before we really started to near the climax (and ending) of this magical journey. Well, my Thrones loyalists, I am here to tell you that the time is here…now. As we embark upon Season 6, it is crucial to understand that there will likely only be about 10-12 more episodes after this season. So, in short, we are in the homestretch…The 4th quarter…The final act… There will be no filler episodes or slow-moving plots. We are arriving at our final destination, and it will be a fast-moving and bumpy ride, so buckle up and savor every minute of what’s left.
THE NORTH
In the last season, many of the show’s central characters became concentrated in the North. From Jon Snow to Sansa and Stannis to the Boltons, lots has unfolded in the North, a location which should continue to play a fundamental role in what is to come in Season 6.
Perhaps the most important location of the North is the Wall, a location in the deep north that has provided us the most exposure to the very real threat of the White Walkers — a threat that most of the rest of Westeros is unaware of. So let’s start there. Jon Snow’s plan was to unite the tens of thousands of Wildlings with the brothers of the Night’s Watch in an effort to form a large enough army to fight off the army of the dead. After becoming Commander of the Night’s Watch, he showed true grit and leadership, as he traveled with Tormund Giantsbayne to Hardhome, basecamp to thousands of Wildlings. However, convincing the Wildlings to join his cause turned out not to be his greatest challenge, after White Walkers and the Night King himself show up on the scene. As battle ensues, Jon Snow uses his Valyrian steel sword, Longclaw, to slay his first White Walker. But he is quickly forced to retreat back into the water, along with Tormund, a few Giants and a couple hundred Wildlings. As they move further from the shore, the Night King looks Jon Snow directly in his eyes and raises up all the dead bodies, turning them into wights — the army of the dead led by the White Walkers. It is more evident than ever that darkness is coming and in big numbers.
The Night King raising up his wights
Jon Snow returns to the Wall with the Wildlings, to the dismay of most brothers of the Night’s Watch, who view the Wildlings as enemies. In an important conversation with Samwell Tarly, Jon Snow grants Samwell permission to travel to Oldtown to study at the Citadel and become a Maestar. And just like that, Samwell departs with Gilly and the baby.
And then there was the final scene — the one that was foreshadowed for quite some time, but still took us by great surprise. The brothers of the Night’s Watch turn on Jon Snow and murder him in cold blood. Ser Alliser Thorne is the first to but his blade into Jon Snow and little Ollie is the last. Even in a world where we’ve come to learn that anybody can be killed off, we still thought that Jon Snow was in it for the long haul – that he was going to be one of the last guys standing in the battle of ice versus fire. The good news is that still may be the case, especially if you consider the prophecy of the Prince Who Was Promised. And while the show has made several mentions of the Prince Who Was Promised, namely through Melisandre, it has failed to fully explain the importance of this idea – an idea that is more significant now than ever if you want to believe that this is not the end for Jon Snow. So let’s reexamine.
About 8,000 years ago, during the Long Night, the White Walkers invaded the Seven Kingdoms and nearly wiped all of humanity to the point of extinction. Darkness came for all, and at the time, there was no Wall or Night’s Watch to fight it back. And thus emerged Azor Ahai, otherwise known as the Prince Who Was Promised. He would go on to become the most legendary hero that the world would ever know. Recognizing that he must make a sacrifice to the Lord of Light, he put his sword through the heart of his wife, a woman that he loved more than anything. It is said that her soul became one with his sword, a flaming sword that would henceforth be known as Lightbringer. With his sword Lightbringer, Azor Ahai led the fight against the White Walkers and pushed back the darkness that almost consumed all of humanity. After this battle, the Wall was built to keep the White Walkers from ever invading and the Night’s Watch was form to protect the Wall and all that lurked beyond it. At the time, it was prophesized that at some point, Azor Ahai, otherwise known as the Prince Who Was Promised, would be reincarnated to once again fight back the darkness.
Since the inception of the show, Melisandre has told Stannis that he was the Prince Who Was Promised – the one chosen soul to fight back the darkness that was once again coming for all of humanity. Well, as it turns out, it seems like we found out that he was in fact not the Prince Who Was Promised and sadly he sacrificed everything all for nothing. What is interesting is that before Stannis even went into battle, Melisandre deserted his cause. She knew exactly where she had to go the moment she realized that Stannis was not the Prince Who Was Promised – and she went straight there – to Jon Snow.
Which leads us to one conclusion – Jon Snow might in fact be the Prince Who Was Promised. Of course, looking back at previous episodes, there are other tidbits that point to the idea that Melisandre may have thought this, or at least considered it, all along. The very first time Melisandre arrived with Stannis at Castle Black, she exchanged a long stare with Jon Snow – that was not for no reason. Then, there was of course the scene where she tried to seduce him and told him that he had king’s blood. So, in reality, she probably had some idea all along and the moment things went sour for Stannis, it seems like she immediately realized the mistake she had made and who the Prince Who Was Promised truly was.
And now, with Jon Snow dead, she has the opportunity to prove the truth of her magic and that of the Lord of Light – will she be able to bring Jon Snow back to life? We’ve already seen the Lord of Light’s magic and the Red Priest, Thoros of Myr, bring Beric Dondarrion back to life several times. So we know this is a possibility. It is also important to consider the very final image we saw after Jon Snow died. While his face was powerful as he lay there dead – it was not the most prominent component of the final image we were left with. Rather, it was his blood as it crawled through the snow, looking dark and mysterious, almost having a life of its own. It looked eerily similar to me to the way Melisandre’s dark shadow moved through the air – another allusion to the idea that Melisandre’s magic could be used to bring him back to life. (Check out the video below, you will see the way his blood moves through the snow, appearing to have a life of its own like Melisandre’s shadow ghost).
So, as Season 6 begins, the number one question for all viewers will be whether or not Jon Snow will be brought back to life. And, if he is, will he turn out to be The Prince Who Was Promised?
STANNIS, MELISANDRE & DAVOS
Elsewhere in the North, things didn’t quite go as planned for Stannis and his army. Stannis was a man defined by a loyalty to his duty — the only problem is that it turned out to be a false duty that Lady Melisandre convinced him into believing. He was so convinced of this duty that he was willing to burn his own daughter alive, and sacrificed Shireen to the Lord of Light. His wife, Lady Selyse, was so guilty that she then hung herself. As if things couldn’t get any worse, Stannis lost half his men in a fire that broke out within his camp. And finally, realizing she had been wrong all along about Stannis, Melisandre deserts his cause and heads to the Wall. Still, Stannis pushes on into battle against the Boltons and loses miserably. In what appear to be his final moments, Brienne of Tarth finally confronts him and avenges the death of her beloved Renley. However, the last thing we see is Brienne lift her sword, but we do not actually see Stannis die, which leaves the door open to the possibility that he could still be alive.
Later in the finale episode, Lady Melisandre arrives at the Wall, where Ser Davos is as well. As mentioned above, perhaps she realized that Jon Snow is the Prince Who Was Promised and is there to help bring him back to life. As for Davos, he had lived a life supporting and serving Stannis, though if you stop and think about it, he often made his own independent decisions which went against Stannis and Lady Melisandre, showing that he is possibly more than just Stannis’ number 2 guy, and that he could stand out as a key character on his own. It will be interesting to see whether or not Davos and Melisandre work together now that Stannis is presumably gone. One thing is for sure — there are still great threats in the North — including the brothers of the Night’s Watch that betrayed Jon Snow as well as the Bolton’s army — so there will be plenty of battles for Davos to join.
SANSA AND THEON
Last but not least in the North, we have the storyline of Sansa and Theon (aka Reek). After both these characters had been held prisoner and tortured by Ramsay Bolton, they finally come together in an attempt to escape Winterfell and Ramsay. After seasons of Reek appearing to be nothing more than a bruised and battered dog that takes orders from its master, he showed that there still may be some Theon left in him, as he saves Sansa and helps them escape. As Ramsay returns back from battle, Theon and Sansa grabs each other’s hands and are forced to jump from the high walls of Winterfell. It’s unclear how they would survive that jump, but they took the leap of faith together.
Let’s remember that Sansa is the rightful heir to the North, and now free of Ramsay Bolton, perhaps she can stir up support of the North behind her cause. It will be interesting to see who emerges in this new season — Theon or Reek — and to what extent he might continue to help Sansa. One other tidbit that is important to recall is that towards the end of the season, Sansa learns from Reek that her two youngest brothers, Bran and Rickon, are in fact still alive. Recall that when Reek was still Theon and attempted to sack Winterfell, Bran and Rickon escaped with Hodor and Asha. Theon did not want their escape exposed, so he burned the bodies of two other small children and hung them at Winterfell, declaring that he had killed Bran and Rickon. The only person he ever told of this was Ramsay, until telling Sansa. So now, Sansa, rightful heir to the North, knows that her two brothers are alive and out there somewhere. Speaking of which, we’ll get to Bran in just a bit…
Theon looks on at the hanging bodies that he claims are Bran and Rickon
KHALEESI’S NEW CREW IN MEREEN
Perhaps one of the most important story-lines, but also one of the slowest moving, is that of Khaleesi. It feels like she’s been trekking around Easteros for ages, most recently setting up shop in Mereen. But, at this point, it should be safe to assume that we are going to see some major developments this season with Khaleesi and her dragons. As always, the main question we are all wondering: will this be the season that she finally makes it across the Narrow Sea to arrive at Westeros? Maybe not. But a lot should happen with her and her dragons this season. Oh, and let’s not forget her new crew.
To quickly rewind, Season 4 ended with Tyrion killing his father, Lord Tywin, and quickly escaping King’s Landing with the help of his friend, Lord Varys. They arrived in Easteros in Season 5, before Tyrion was kidnapped by Jorah, who had been exiled from Mereen by Khaleesi after she learned that he had originally been spying on her and reporting back to King’s Landing (he had since stopped his spying for quite some time after he came to love Khaleesi). Jorah had hoped bringing Tyrion to Khaleesi would get him back in her good graces. However, he and Tyrion both ended up getting kidnapped and forced into the fighting pits. As fate would have it, Khaleesi decided to bring the fighting pits back to Mereen (after she had previously closed them), in an effort to honor the ancient traditions of Mereen. Jorah would end up fighting in front of Khaleesi, defeating his opponents before saving her life by spearing the Harpie that was about to kill her. And, all of a sudden, hundreds of Harpies emerge from the crowd, slaughtering the people and eventually surrounding Khaleesi and her new posse. It was our first time seeing this new group dynamic, featuring the new addition of Tyrion, the reestablishment of Jorah, alongside Daario, Khaleesi and Missandei. Did we just get first glimpse at the final makings of Khaleesi’s inner circle – the group of her closest advisors and supporters that will help her to reclaim the Iron Throne?
As they are surrounded by Harpies and greatly outnumbered, Drogon, who had been missing for quite some time, returns to save them. As he flies overhead, we see his immense power as he easily rips to shreds and burns alive dozens of Harpies, whose weapons are no match for Drogon. And then it happened… Khaleesi shows the world that she is the one true Mother of Dragons, as she climbs the back of Drogon and flies through the sky. This was not only an allusion to all the past Targaryens before her that rode the backs of their dragons as they conquered the world, but also a foreshadow to the future of what she is to accomplish on the back of her dragon. Drogon and Khaleesi end up in the grassy hills outside of Mereen, where she is surrounded by hundreds of Dothraki riders. It was unclear whether they were circling her in a threatening way, which is entirely possible, as she did not part with the Dothraki on peaceful terms. But, it is also conceivable that they were surrounding her in a reverent manner, as she is now widely established as the Mother of Dragons and known all over Easteros
Khaleesi and Drogon
Back in Mereen, Khaleesi’s inner circle is left to figure out what comes next. It is decided that Daario and Jorah will lead an expedition to find Khaleesi while Tyrion will stay back with Grey Worm to govern the city. And to no surprise, Varys is back and will certainly be an invaluable asset to Tyrion. It is also important to keep in mind that Jorah has contracted greyscale, a disease that typically spreads and can drive a person mad.
THE MARTELLS AND THE LANNISTERS
Finally, in Season 5, we got to see our first glimpse of Dorne, the southernmost of the Seven Kingdoms of Westeros, where House Martell is in power. We saw Prince Doran, suffering from severe gout and confined to a wheelchair, though still ruler of Dorne. After the death of his younger brother, the Red Viper, his daughters (otherwise known as the Sand Snakes), as well as his lover, Ellaria demand revenge for the death of Prince Oberyn. However, Prince Doran does not agree and does not wish to start a war and over the course of the season, tensions continue to rise between Prince Doran and Ellaria.
Ellaria & the Sand Snakes
In attempt to rescue his daughter, Jaime (along with Bronn), sneak into Dorne but are captured by the Dornish. Seemingly attempting to keep the peace, Prince Doran negotiates a peace deal with Jaime, and allows him to return safely with Princess Myrcella, under the condition that he also take Myrcella’s betrothed, Prince Trystane, back to King’s Landing to grant him a seat on the small council. Naturally, Jaime agrees to this deal and leaves Dorne with Bronn, Myrcella and Trystane. And after a lifetime of Jaime not being able to acknowledge his own daughter, we experience a powerful moment when Myrcella tells him that a part of her always knew, and that she was glad he was her father. But moments later, she dies of poison delivered to her from the kiss of Ellaria just before she left Dorne. Needless to say, this is sure to reignite an already hateful relationship between the Martells and the Lannisters. It will be interesting to see how things play out, being that Prince Doran was attempting to reach peace, and was undermined by Ellaria and the Sand Snakes who want war. Surely, when Jaime returns to King’s Landing with the dead body of Myrcella, Cercei will demand blood.
Jaime losing another child to poison
BRAAVOS
Over the course of Season 5, Arya begins her training with Jaqen H’ghar in hopes to join the Faceless Men as she seeks revenge of all those on her list. But Jaqen continues to tell her that before she can become a Faceless Man, she must strip herself of any identity in order to become nobody. In the finale episode, Arya wears a face that she took from the Hall of Faces, and kills Ser Meryn Trant, the man who was King’s Guard to Joffrey and carried out much of his brutality, including the killing of Syrio Forell, Arya’s Braavosi sword instructor. Her revenge is slow and drawn out as she gauges out his eyes and makes a point to let him know who she is – Arya Stark – an explicit reminder that she is in fact not ready to become nobody and still holds on dearly to her identity – one that is rooted in avenging the deaths of those she has lost.
Arya killing Ser Meryn Trant
Arya returns to the House of Black and White to return the face she has used, to find Jaqen H’ghar, who tells her Meryn’s life was not hers to take and that a life is owed to the Many-Faced God. Jaqen drinks a poison vile and gives his life for Arya, reminding us that Jaqen is not the person she thinks he is – Jaqen does not in fact exist. The person that was wearing Jaqen’s face was nobody – just as she must become. He had no identity, no character – he had stripped himself of all of this to become a Faceless Man. It was simply the face that he wore, which Arya quickly peeled back to see all the faces that existed behind it.
And just when things seem like they can’t get any more confusing, Arya starts to lose her vision and screams helplessly that she is going blind. It’s unclear what caused this or how it was done to her, but one idea is that this was punishment – an eye for an eye, quite literally. Just like Meryn’s life was not hers to take, nor were his eyes, and perhaps now she is losing her eyes as punishment. And perhaps, without her vision and the ability to see things through her own eyes, she will take steps closer towards becoming nobody and only be able to see the world around her through the eyes of other faces.
KING’S LANDING
Once a focal point of the storyline, King’s Landing took a backseat in season 5 with most of its central characters now in other locations. However, King’s Landing still remains home to the Iron Throne and will always remain a very significant location. The most important development in King’s Landing last season was the introduction of the High Sparrow, a religious order that has pledged to cleanse King’s Landing of all its corruption and sin by forcing those in power to confess, and then pay for their sins. The High Sparrow has developed a strong following and gained a lot of its power after Cercei decided to back them in a play to regain some of the power that she felt she was losing to Margaery Tyrell who has married and manipulated her youngest son, King Tommen.
However, the High Sparrow quickly turned on Cercei and held her in a cell until she finally confessed to her sins. Confessing to adultery, but denying the incest between her and Jaime, the High Sparrow offered her a chance to repent for her sins, and Cercei was forced into the greatest walk of shame that ever was. Returning to the Red Keep, broken and beaten, both physically and emotionally, we finally get glimpse of Maestar Qyburn’s freakish science experiment — the Mountain is alive and has pledged a vow of silence until he eliminates all of Cercei’s enemies. The Mountain was already 8-feet tall and the largest man in all of the Seven Kingdoms — it is assumed he now will have some freakish additional strength or power — the perfect weapon for Cercei who is going to be on the warpath for blood against the High Sparrow, the Martells, and likely many others.
The Mountain carries Cercei
BAELISH THE SCHEMER
Lord Baelish is still out there and remains likely the most scheming and deceptive of all characters in this story. In fact, he is such a clever schemer that it is hard to understand what he is even trying to achieve. As a quick recap, he played a major role in colluding with Lady Olenna Tyrell to murder King Joffrey and help Sansa escape King’s Landing. He then took her to the Vale, where he married Lysa Arryn, only to then murder her and gain control of the Vale. He then went back to King’s Landing to tell Cercei that House Bolton has arranged to marry Ramsay to Sansa, completely leaving out the fact that he was the one who arranged this marriage (putting him on good terms with House Bolton). He tells Cercei to let the Boltons fight Stannis, and that he will swoop in with the Knights of the Vale to crush the winner, as long as she will name him warden of the North. Baelish also helped to advance Cercei’s position, by providing her with the blonde-haired boy that manned his brothel, who often slept with Loras Tyrell (Margaery’s gay brother). By providing Cercei with this information and ensuring that his brothel-keeper testify against Loras, Baelish gave Cercei all she needed to have the High Sparrow arrest Loras, strengthening her position over House Tyrell. But just episodes later, Baelish is once again scheming with Lady Olenna Tyrell against the Lannisters, and tells her that he has a gift for Lady Olenna. The gift is Lancel Lannister, the cousin of Cercei who she used to sleep with in order to have him spy for her. Baelish facilitated Lancel turning against Cercei and providing all of the dirt against her to the High Sparrow, providing the basis for her arrest. So, as we see, Baelish continues to scheme and position all of the major houses against each other, ultimately weakening their positions and strengthening his. Yet, it still remains unclear what his ultimate goal is, and whether he himself wants to sit on the Iron Throne.
BRAN
Bran is the most obvious character that did not appear in Season 5 who will obviously have a major role to play in the story moving forward. As Bran’s journey unfolded in the first four seasons, we saw that he had the powers of a warg (the ability to change into the skin of other animals) as well as the power of greenseer (the ability to see visions and images of the past and future). As Bran’s journey continued, his visions became stronger, and he continued into the deep north in his quest to find the 3-eyed raven beneath the tree. And finally, in the finale of Season 5, Bran arrives at the tree, where we also get our first glimpse of the Children of the Forest, a very significant reveal in its own right. Jojen Reed is killed getting Bran to the tree, something he knew would happen all along. Beneath the tree, Bran finds the voice that had been guiding him along his journey, and this voice tells him that he has been watching Bran all his life, and though he will never walk again, he will in fact fly. Naturally, we wonder whether Bran will warg into the skin of a dragon and fly the skies. Whatever it is, Bran’s journey reached a serious climax when he finally found the 3-eyed raven, and after not being in season 5 at all, Bran’s storyline is sure to be of critical importance in season 6.
The 3-eyed raven in the form of a man
OTHER PEOPLE AND PLACES TO KEEP IN MIND
There is a pretty substantial list of characters that we never saw die or probably forgot about altogether. So here is a quick recap of those characters, some of which will likely reemerge this season, while others may in fact be dead or gone forever.
Gendry was one of Robert Baratheon’s bastard sons who became good friends with Arya. He was taken by Lady Melisandre and his king’s blood was used as a sacrifice to the Lord of Light. However, before Melisandre and Stannis could carry out their plan to sacrifice him and take his life, Ser Davos set him free from Dragonstone and put him on a small rowboat out to see. The fact that Davos was almost killed for undermining Stannis to set Gendry free, coupled with the fact he does have king’s blood, makes us think that he still has a part to play in this story.
The Hound is thought to be dead, as Arya left him to die after he was badly beaten and wounded from his fight with Brienne. However, the Hound asked Arya to put him out of his pain and misery, to which she refused. We never actually saw him die, and perhaps he is still alive (though this might just be wishful thinking in hoping that my favorite character will reemerge).
Syrio Forell is similar to the Hound in that he is a character that is assumed dead, but that we never saw die. Arya even refers to him as being killed, so this probably a long shot. But in season one, just after Ned was killed and the Kingsguard comes for Arya, Syrio steps up to fight them off to give her time to escape. It is assumed he was killed, but we never saw him die.
Benjen Stark is Ned Stark’s brother who was First Ranger on the Night’s Watch when Jon Snow joined. In the first season, he left the Wall to investigate claims of White Walkers, and never returned. Ever since, Jon Snow has brought his name up many times, but he has been gone since the first few episodes of the show. Again, it is assumed that he died, but being that the Starks are so few in number, plus that we never actually saw him die, it would be sensible to think that he’s still out there and will return to support the Stark cause.
Rickon Stark and Osha split with Bran when things starting getting dangerous along Bran’s journey. We never saw Rickon since, and he will presumably have a role to play in this story.
Thoros of Myr and Beric Dondarrion lead the Brotherhood Without Banners, a group of good men who were originally formed under Ned Stark to track down the Lannister parties, led by the Mountain, who were raping and pillaging villages throughout the Riverlands. We have not seen them since season 3, but when we did, they were significant characters. Like Lady Melisandre, these men worship the Lord of Light, and through them, we have seen the power of the Lord of Light. In the third season, they come into contact with Arya, and after they eventually also gain possession of the Hound, they sentence him to a trial by combat against Beric Dondarrion. The Hound wins the combat and kills Beric, though Thoros of Myr brings him back to life just moments later — something we learn he has done many times. Naturally, this brings us back to Jon Snow, and the role he could potentially play in the resurrection of Jon Snow.
The Iron Islands were left out of last season’s storyline, though are one of the Seven Kingdoms that should not be forgotten. Balon Greyjoy still rules over the Iron Islands, and he is a bitter and cruel man, constantly seeking revenge and causing trouble for the mainland of Westeros. Yara Greyjoy, Theon’s sister, is also a character to keep an eye on. Last we saw her, she defied her father and returned to Westeros to rescue Theon from the Boltons, though Theon refused to go with her, and she was forced to retreat — we haven’t seen her since.
Disclaimer: There are no spoilers in this article. I have only read the first three books and I have no knowledge of what transpires in the show moving forward. Any views or content expressed are solely personal theories, opinions and insights.
WHO IS JON SNOW?
One of the most intriguing storylines in the GoT series is that of Jon Snow. On the surface, we go through each episode believing what we are told — that he is the bastard of Ned Stark. But, deep down, we know that Jon Snow is not just another bastard and that he’s something much more. Throughout the first five seasons, there have been many breadcrumbs left for viewers to pick up on which would support the theory that he is in fact, not a bastard. And in episode four, Sons of the Harpy, we got some major additional information which not only points to the possibility that he’s not a bastard, but also offers up a theory of who his actual parents could. But, before we go into any theories as to who Jon Snow is, let’s first analyze what we knew going into this episode which supports the idea of who he is not…a bastard.
1. Deep down, Jon Snow being a bastard never felt right. There’s nothing ordinary about him. He’s special. There’s a greatness about him. So the idea of him being just another bastard and his mother being just another tavern whore doesn’t quite add up.
2. We believed Jon Snow to be the bastard son of Ned Stark because it’s what we were told from the very moment this show began. But if you stop for a second to actually think about it, it makes no sense for Ned Stark to have a bastard son. It’s completely antithetical to everything that Ned’s character is about. Ned Stark was the most honorable man in all of Westeros. He died for his honor — something the show reminds us of quite often. So does it really make any sense that this very same Ned Stark would dishonor his wife, break his vows and birth a bastard son after fucking a whore?
3. In season one, when Ned Stark is leaving Winterfell to head for King’s Landing to serve as the Hand to Robert, Jon Snow asks Ned one more time about his mother. Ned responds that the next time they see each other, he’s going to tell Jon Snow all about his mother. Well, that never happens because Ned gets his head chopped off. But, the point is, Ned clearly implied that there was a story to tell about Jon Snow’s mother. This is not a show where dialogue is added for the sake of conversation, and when something like that is alluded to, it generally has a very real significance.
Ned tells Jon he will tell him all about his mother next time they meet
Now that we’ve considered the evidence to support the idea that Jon Snow might not be a bastard, let’s look at the major points that were offered in this last episode to guide us on the journey of figuring out who Jon Snow might actually be.
1. At the Wall, Stannis is conversing with his wife as they watch Jon Snow training some of the brothers of the Night’s Watch. After Stannis acknowledges that he sees something great in Jon Snow, his wife responds that he is just a bastard birthed by a tavern slut. Stannis responds, “Perhaps, but that wasn’t Ned’s way,” again reminding us that it really doesn’t make sense for the honorable Ned Stark to have cheated on his wife and that Jon Snow might not be a bastard.
2. Melisandre makes her move on Jon Snow and tells him, “There’s power in you, but you resist it.” We are again reminded that there is nothing bastard-like about Jon Snow and that he appears to be something greater. Even more powerful, as Melisandre walks out, she tells him “You know nothing, Jon Snow.” Of course, this is something Ygritte used to always tell him, but when the prophetic Melisandre says it to him, it appears to take on a totally new meaning. She says it in a way that implies that there is a great knowledge that he knows nothing of, perhaps the knowledge of who he actually is and the power that is inside of him.
Melisandre telling Jon Snow that he has great power inside of him
3. The plot really thickens when Sansa and Baelish are in the crypts below Winterfell and Baelish offers up what a very significant piece of history from the timeline before the show started. He tells Sansa about the tourney which took places about 20 years ago, when Rhaegar Targaryen, son of the Mad King and oldest brother of Khaleesi, dueled against Ser Baristan Selmy. After Rhaegar won the duel, he presented Lyana Stark with a bed of roses, choosing Lyana over his own wife, Elia Martell. It is unclear what happened after he declared his affection for Lyana, but Rhaegar and Lyana dissapeared — some say he kidnapped her while others believe she chose to go with him. Robert Baratheon, who loved Lyana and was supposed to marry her, believed that Rhaegar kidnapped her, and used this as justification for Robert’s Rebellion, a war started by he and Ned Stark to get back Lyana…a war that would put an end to the Mad King and the 300 year Targaryen dynasty and land Robert on the Iron Throne. Sure, there were other reasons for Robert’s Rebellion, such as the fact that the Mad King had completely lost his mind and was burning people for fun, or the fact that the Mad King killed Ned Stark’s brother and father. But, ultimately, it was Lyana Stark’s disappearance with Rhaegar Targaryen that would be the catalyst for Robert Rebellion’s. So, we know that when Baelish shares this story with Sansa, it’s extremely significant.
During the war of Robert’s Rebellion, tens of thousands of people died, some fighting to defend the Mad King and the Targaryen Dynasty, while others fought for the banners of the Stark/Baratheon/Arryn rebels. 20+ years later, Baelish references all these lives that were lost as he asks Sansa “How many thousands had to die because Rhaegar chose Lyana?” In response, Sansa states “He chose her. And then he kidnapped her and raped her.” Baelish responds with a quiet grin, as if to say “That’s not quite what happened,” and that there is more to the story than Sansa knows. Again, this is not a show where dialogue is in there for the sake of conversation, especially when it’s dialogue that is referencing historical events that took place before the show started. If Baelish is talking to Sansa about Lyana Stark and Rhaegar Targaryen, there’s a reason. And the quiet smile he offered in response to Sansa’s belief that Rhaegar kidnapped her and raped her implies that there’s more to the story.
All that, coupled with the focus on Jon Snow’s character in this episode, added with all the clues offered in the first few seasons, and a theory starts to take shape… Jon might not be a bastard… He might not even be the son of Ned Stark… But maybe, just maybe, he’s the son of Lyana Stark and Rhaegar Targaryen, which would make Khaleesi his aunt. Or it’s even possible that Lyana was raped by the Mad King himself, making Jon Snow Khaleesi’s brother! And when we then think about some other things we’ve learned throughout the show, there’s quite a bit we’ve seen to support this theory:
Baelish smirks as if to imply he knows more about Lyana and Rhaegar
1. We know that Rhaegar and Lyana ran off together. Whether they had consensual sex or she was raped, it’s entirely possible, if not probable, that a baby came from this.
2. Ned and Robert were on the warpath during Robert’s Rebellion, headed for King’s Landing to overthrow the Mad King and the entire Targaryen family, with Rhaeger being primary target #2 right after the Mad King. Along the way, it’s entirely possible that Ned discovered that Lyana had a baby with Rhaegar. And we know that if Robert discovered this, he would’ve likely had the baby killed, as it would’ve been the son of Rhaegar, and thus a Targaryen baby. We also know that the two babies Rhaegar had with his actual wife, Elia Martell, were killed at the end of Robert’s Rebellion (by the Mountain, which is why Prince Oberyn wanted revenge against the Mountain for the death of his sister, Elia, and her babies). So, in an effort to protect this baby, the baby of his own sister, Ned could’ve claimed the baby as his own. Of course, to have done this, he would’ve had to lie and pretend that he had sex with a whore and that the boy was a bastard.
2. In season one, when Ned and Robert were headed back to King’s Landing after Robert recruited him as Hand to the King, Robert mentioned that he heard whispers about a Targaryen girl who has three dragons and could be a threat to the Iron Throne. Robert suggests that they should eliminate this threat and have the girl killed. Immediately, Ned tells Robert that he cannot be serious and cannot consider murdering an innocent girl. But why would Ned object to eliminating a Targaryen threat? Well, If Jon Snow was in fact the son of Lyana and Rhaegar, that would mean he is technically a Targaryen himself, and Khaleesi would be his aunt (the sister of his father, Rhaegar). So naturally, Ned would object to the idea of murdering her.
3. Earlier this season, Jon Snow was elected as the new Lord Commander of the Night’s Watch. And who cast the final vote to break the tie and give Jon Snow the final vote he needed to win? Maestar Aemon Targaryen. Furthermore, Maestar Aemon mentioned in an earlier season that he and Rhaegar were quite close and corresponded through letters often. It’s possible that Maestar Aemon is actually aware of who Jon Snow really is. Which is all the more interesting, because two episodes back, Samwell mentioned to Jon that Maestar Aemon is sick — which again, we know would not be mentioned without cause. So it’s possible that Maestar Aemon is dying and might die with the knowledge of who Jon Snow really is — or maybe he’ll tell Jon Snow before he dies.
For now, this is just a theory. But when examining everything we know, it seems unlikely that Jon Snow is a bastard. And even more unlikely that the honorable Ned Stark would be the one to have a bastard son. And in this most recent episode, we got three more tidbits to build the case for Jon Snow not being a bastard, and one major piece to suggest who is actual parents could be. Stannis reaffirms that sleeping with whores was not Ned’s way. Melisandre tells Jon Snow that he knows nothing, in a way that implied there is something great about him that he is totally unaware of, such as who he might be. And finally, we learn all about Rhaegar and Lyana, a story that would not have been offered if there was nothing something meaningful to come from it. We will see what direction this heads in, but hopefully sooner than later we will find out what Ned was referring to, if anything, when he told Jon Snow that he would tell him all about his mother the next time he saw him.
RECAP OF EVERYTHING ELSE
Jaime and Bronn arrive to Dorne on their mission to rescue Jaime’s “niece,” Myrcella. Bronn questions why Jaime is there himself, versus sending a more capable, two-handed person on the mission, and Jaime insists that he must be the one to do this. The question is, who is he doing this for? Does he truly feel a need to be a father rescuing his daughter? Or is this all about getting the job done for Cercei? And speaking of Cercei, as Bronn and Jaime enjoy a Dornish viper for breakfast, Bronn asks Jaime how he’d want to die, to which Jaime responds “In the arms of the woman I love.” Bronn asks him if that woman wants the same, and we see Jaime look off into the distance, providing no answer to Bronn’s question. Which begs another question — what is the future of Jaime and Cercei and in what direction is their relationship headed? And after Bronn whoops some Dornish ass and he and Jaime take down the four Dornish riders, we see that Ellaria has rounded up the Sand Snakes, Oberyn’s bastard daughters, all of whom will support Ellaria’s campaign to go to war to avenge the death of Oberyn. Furthermore, they have been made aware that Jaime is already in Dorne to rescue Myrcella, and realize that they must not let Jaime get to Myrcella before they do, or else they will lose their only piece of leverage.
Ellaria and the Sand Snakes
In King’s Landing, Cercei is quickly shaking things up and we see now, more than ever, that she will not go down quietly. She will not be written off and continue to show her wit and strength, a cunning determination that is rivaled by few other characters in this show. She sends Mace Tyrell off to Braavos to meet with the Iron Bank, accompanied by none other than Sir Meryn Trant, Cercei’s sworn guard who will do as she commands. Perhaps she is getting him far away, or perhaps this is a play to kill him. Additionally, we see her reinstate the Faith Militant, a fanatical army of men who will serve the “justice of the gods.” But really, they appear to be serving Cercei, as she uses them to imprison Ser Loras Tyrell, further improving her position over House Tyrell. And when Margaery finds out and demands her King husband free Ser Loras, we see a weak boy who is unable to exercise his power to do what is needed in order to free him.
Cercei smirking after sending off Mace Tyrell
In Mereen, we see even more trouble for Khaleesi, who hasn’t mentioned trying to reclaim the Iron Throne of Westeros in what seems like ages. As the Sons of the Harpy kill in the streets, they draw the Unsullied into a trap where they are vastly outnumbered. After killing most of the Unsullied, we see Grey Worm fight valliantly to kill off many of the Sons of the Harpy. However, he can’t fight them all off and is about to be killed, when Ser Barristan comes onto the scene and we see why is revered as one of the greatest knights in all of the Seven Kingdoms. He too kills many, but not before he is outnumbered, and appears to be killed himself. We witness what looks to be the death of one of the few truly great men of Westeros. It is unclear whether he is definitely dead, or if Grey Worm is dead as well, but one thing is for sure: Khaleesi is going to need some new support by her side, and what perfect timing for Jorah, who is on his way back to Khaleesi, with the gift of Tyrion Lannister.
Ser Barristan laying dead next to Grey Worm
At the Wall, we also see a powerful scene between Stannis and his daughter Shereen, in which he shows rare emotion and tells her the story of how he fought to keep her alive when nobody else would. We see her eyes filled with tears as she gives her dad a big hug, and he slowly hugs her back, an affection we’ve not seen to date from Stannis. Furthermore, we also learn that Baelish must go back to King’s Landing to meet with Cercei. Sansa tells him that he cannot leave her alone, appearing to have completely put all her trust in him and having abandoned any doubts she once had about his true motives. He continues to off her guidance and gives her a kiss on the lips before departing, again leaving us to wonder what is going to happen between the two and what does Baelish ultimately want?
Episode 8 begins with another Wildling raid, this time the village of Molestown, which is not far from Castle Black. The brothel where Samwell Tarly left Gilly is attacked, but Ygritte spares the life of Gilly and her baby. It is now more clear than ever that the Wildlings are coming and an attack on the Wall is imminent. Realizing they are outnumbered by 1000 to 1, one of the brothers jokes, “Whoever dies last, be a good lad and burn the rest of us.”
It is interesting that the show this season has not yet shown Mance Rayder or the army he has assembled, something that was common occurrence last season when John Snow infiltrated the Wildlings. This season, we’ve only seen the smaller Wildling clan that is now south of the Wall. It is unclear exactly what Mance Rayder has been up to or what his army will look like, but if there is any truth to their numbers of 100,000, it doubtful that anybody in the land can stop them.
SER JORAH & KHALEESI
Still in Meereen, Ser Barristan receives a letter from King’s Landing — a royal pardon signed by King Robert, exonerating Ser Jorah of the slave trade crimes he had committed and allowing him to return home to Westeros. When Khaleesi demands explanation, Ser Jorah admits that he had originally been working in service of Lord Varys and acting as a spy, reporting back to King’s Landing updates of Khaleesi’s journey. He even knew about the poison that she almost drank in season one, although he ended up stopping this from happening and saving her. Disgusted by his betrayal, Khaleesi bans Ser Jorah from her service and tells him, “Go back to your masters in King’s Landing.”
When one stops to consider the journey Ser Jorah has been on, it is hard to not recognize the irony and empathize with his character. The poor guy got exiled from his homeland of Westeros for trading slaves — something he was forced into doing after realizing financial ruin trying to provide for his wife the lavish life she demanded. He lost everything he had because of this and after fleeing to Easteros he came into the service of Khaleesi. Trying to find his way home and via a royal pardon from King Robert, Ser Jorah agreed to report back to Lord Varys. But, this was before he knew Khaleesi. And, as he came to know and love her, not only did he save her life, but he also shifted his undying allegiance to her at the cost of giving up the chances of returning home to Westeros. And, after all that, the past comes back to bite him and he ends up being forced to leave Khaleesi — the woman he would die for. Throughout, Ser Jorah has tried to provide and protect for those around him, yet in the end, he once again appears to be losing everything that means most to him.
Also in Meereen, Grey Worm sees Missandei naked, something for which he later apologizes. Building on previous conversations they’ve had, it appears that feels are beginning to develop between them, though the Unsullied are supposed to be emotionless. Before leaving, Missandei tells Grey Worm that she is glad that he saw her naked, and he replies that he is glad as well.
“REMEMBER WHAT YOU ARE AND WHAT YOU ARE NOT”
Tasked by his father with retaking the strategic northern castle of Moat Cailin from the Ironborn, Ramsay Snow uses Theon, who must pretend that he is in fact still Theon Greyjoy, prince of the Iron Islands. Theon convinces the depleted Ironborn that they will be granted safe passage should they surrender the keep. But, when they do surrender, Ramsay flays all the Ironborn, skinning them alive — an old Bolton tradition that had been outlawed many years ago. When Lord Bolton arrives, he rewards Ramsay by anointing him with the Bolton last name, something Ramsay values above all else. With the successful capture of Moat Cailin, House Bolton has now secured most of the North with little opposition left. Lord Bolton asks Ramsay if there has been any word back from Locke, unaware that Locke was killed at Craster’s Keep. The Boltons are still essentially the only people in Westeros that have the powerful knowledge that Bran and Rickon are still alive and out there somewhere.
SANSA & LITTELFINGER
Suspicious of the story he has told, several highborn of the Vale question Littlefinger about Lysa’s sudden death. After they ask “Alayne” to speak of this, she reveals herself to be Sansa Stark and tells that Lord Baelish saved her from the torment of King’s Landing. She then corroborates his lie and tells that Lysa committed suicide after becoming jealous of a kiss she mistook between Lord Baelish and Sansa. Faced with the option of coming clean and being freed from Lord Baelish, Sansa instead decided to go along with his story and save him. When he asked her why she did this, she responded that she did not know what would happen to her if they executed him. Only time will tell whether she made the right decision. Before leaving, they discuss that it is time for Robin Arryn to “leave the nest” as he is now Lord of the Vale. Before setting out to tour the Vale, Sansa is seen with her hair died black — perhaps a disguise or perhaps underscoring the darkness that underlies her decision to go along with Lord Baelish’s plan.
Also at the Vale, the Hound and Arya finally arrive after a long and difficult journey, only to find out that Lysa Arryn has died days ago. Finding comedy in the irony of situation, Arya breaks out into laughter. After enduring such a grueling journey, the Hound cannot even receive ransom for Arya as her aunt is no longer alive.
YOU RAPED HER, YOU MURDERED HER, YOU KILLED HER CHILDREN
Speed and agility versus size and strength, the trial by combat between the Red Viper and the Mountain finally takes place. While the Red Viper is light on his feet and opts to wear little armor, the Mountain is a gigantic 8-foot monster with a giant sword and massive armor. The Red Viper uses his quickness to dodge many of the Mountain’s blows, and he eventually lands a blow of his own, leaving the Mountain flat on his back. Rather than finishing him off, the Red Viper demands to know who gave the Mountain the order to kill his sister, Elia Martell. As Prince Oberyn looks up at Lord Tywin, the Mountain knocks Oberyn off his feet and gets on top of him, crushing his skull as he admit to the crimes he committed against Elia Martell.
Just as quick as he came, so too now he is gone. And it was all the more painful the circumstances under which he died. After years of seeking revenge for the rape and murder of his sister, the Red Viper was finally presented with his golden opportunity in this trial by combat. Rather than fearing for his own life, Prince Oberyn was solely focused on avenging the death of his sister. And after knocking the Mountain off his feet, the opportunity was his — he could have killed the Mountain. And just like that, in the blink of an eye, the opportunity was gone and the victor became the victim. We are now left to wonder what will happen to Tyrion, who has been sentenced to death, and how House Martell of Dorne will react to the murder of their beloved prince.
After hearing about it for four seasons, we finally get first glimpse of Braavos as Stannis and Ser Davos sail to meet with the Iron Bank of Braavos. In desperate need of gold to fund an army, Stannis reiterates to the bankers his rightful claim to the Iron Throne. However, the bankers are uninterested in stories or rhetoric and prefer to stick to the numbers. With large loans already out to Tywin Lannister and the Iron Throne, the Iron Bank rejects Stannis’ request. However, Ser Davos is able to persuade the bankers by showing them the fingers that he lost as punishment for his illegal smuggling activities — a punishment passed down from Stannis which demonstrated his accountability. Additionally, Ser Davos pointed out that Lord Tywin is nearly 70 years old, and once he passes on, who will the Iron Bank trust to maintain order in Westeros? After receiving the loan and once again proving his value, Ser Davos visits Saladhor Saan, an old pirate friend that he recruits to join them.
“MY BROTHER IS DEAD”
Yara Greyjoy and her band of Ironborn arrive at the Dreadfort to rescue Theon, only to discover that Theon no longer exists. After delivering a passionate speech to her men, Yara leads the ambush and shows that she is capable fighter. After killing several of the Bolton guards, they make it down to the kennel where Theon is locked in a cage. Despite seeing his sister and being presented with the chance to escape, Theon refuses to leave and continues to refer to himself as Reek. After much commotion, Ramsay Snow arrives and a fight ensues, ultimately resulting in Yara being forced to retreat, telling her men “my brother is dead.” The following day, Ramsay rewards Reek with a bath and tells him that he will need him to pretend be his old self — Theon — to help Ramsay retake the castle of Moat Cailin, a strategic keep of the North that is currently being held by the Ironborn.
A QUEEN MUST RULE
Khaleesi begins to rule over Meereen as she believes a queen must. She holds court, only to realize that more than 200 people have requested an audience. One man complains of his goat herd which has been killed by Khaleesi’s dragon. Displaying her kindness and compassion, Khaleesi offers to pay him triple the value of the herd he has lost. More significant, we see just how large and ferocious one of Khaleesi’s dragon has gotten. Khaleesi then hears from a noble citizen of Meereen who tells her that she crucified his father, a man who had no part in the crucifixion of the innocent slaves. In fact, he states that his father spoke out against these crimes. Perhaps Khaleesi should have heeded Ser Barristan’s advise when he noted that she should consider treating injustice with mercy. Khaleesi grants the man his wish to take down the body of his father and give him a proper burial, significant in that it implies that Khaleesi acknowledges the mistake she made.
A NEW COUNCIL
In King’s Landing, Lord Tywin meets with the Small Council, to which Prince Oberyn and Mace Tyrell have been newly appointed. Varys speaks of the whispers he has heard; the Hound has been spotted in the Riverlands and Lord Tywin puts a large bounty on his head. More significant, Varys tells that Khaleesi has sacked the city of Meereen. Cercei responds that they need not be worried of a young girl on another continent. However, Prince Oberyn disagrees — with an army of 10,000, three dragons and two experienced warriors guiding her, Khaleesi is a very real threat and Lord Tywin vows to take action. He also states the stupidity of Cercei’s decision to dismiss Ser Barristan from the Kingsguard after Joffrey took the Throne.
In the Throne room, Prince Oberyn and Varys discuss desire. Varys tells Oberyn, “When I see what desire does to people, what it’s done to this country, I am very glad to have no part in it.” He adds that without being consumed by desire, he has much time to focus on other things, before glancing at the Iron Throne. As usual, it is unclear whether we can trust the sincerity of the words that Varys speaks.
“I’M GUILTY OF BEING A DWARF”
Tyrion’s trial begins and several people testify against Tyrion, including Ser Meryn Trant, Grand Maester Pycelle, Cercei and Varys. Most of the testimony was fabricated or taken out of context, with the clear goal of trying to make Tyrion appear guilty. Margaery was shown several times, looking uneasy as she watched what was transpiring; after all, she is one of the very few people who know the actual murderer of Joffrey, and that Tyrion is indeed innocent.
During the trial’s recess, Jaime tells Lord Tywin that he cannot let Tyrion be executed when found guilty. Should Lord Tywin spare the life of his brother, Jaime is willing to abandon his position on the Kingsguard and return to Casterly Rock to be the heir that Lord Tywin does not have otherwise. Previously, this is something that Jaime would have never considered. His knighthood on the Kingsguard and being close to Cercei were all that ever mattered to him. But now, everything has changed and it appears that Jaime is willing to make sacrifices to keep his brother alive.
Jaime tells Tyrion that he must confess to the murder and plead for mercy and that Lord Tywin will spare his life. However, things go awry as Shae takes the stand as a final witness. Telling lie after lie, Shae seals Tyrion’s fate by telling that he and Sansa plotted the murder of Joffrey and that he took Shae as his whore. Even with the prospect of possible execution looming, Tyrion appears more hurt by the betrayal of the woman he loved. He calls her name and the two lock eyes — almost as if to plead for her not to go through with this and to tell her that he still loves her. Coldly, she responds that she is “just a whore,” repeating back the words Tyrion had to tell her in order to end the relationship and save her life. Again, we see that the romantic ideals of love do not always have fairy-tale endings.
Finally, in what was one of the most powerful scenes to date, Tyrion confesses his guilt. He confesses not to the murder of Joffrey, but rather the “monstrous crime” of being a dwarf. In a world where rhetoric is commonplace and the truth is rarely spoken, Tyrion no longer cares to hold back and he puts all the cards on the table in front of the entire courtroom. Calling out his father, sister, the people of King’s Landing and even Shae, Tyrion appears to have nothing to lose and gives an impassioned speech, “I did not kill Joffrey, but I wish that I had. Watching that vicious bastard die gave me more relief than a thousand lying whores. I wish I was the monster you think I am. I wish I had enough poison for the whole pack of you. I would gladly give my life to watch you all swallow it. I will not give my life for Joffrey’s murder and I know I’ll get no justice here, so I’ll let the gods decide my fate. I demand a trial by combat.”
Once again, Tyrion’s fate will be decided via trial by combat, the same way it was at the Eyrie when Bronn defeated his opponent and won the freedom of Tyrion. With almost all of King’s Landing seemingly against Tyrion, who will champion his cause and fight to defend his life? And who will fight for Cercei to put an end to Tyrion for once and for all?
Ser Dontos Hollard is the last remaining member of House Hollard, which was extinguished alongside House Darklyn, during the Defiance of Duskendale. While the rest of his house was wiped out, Ser Barristan Selmy requested that the Mad King pardon Ser Dontos; since Ser Barristan had saved the Mad King, he acquiesced his request and Ser Dontos was taken to King’s Landing as a squire. On Joffrey’s first nameday as king, Ser Dontos was supposed to ride against another knight, but showed up too drunk. Joffrey took this as an insult and sentenced him to death. However, after Sansa pleaded to his life, Joffrey agreed to spare him, but stripped him of his knighthood and anointed him the town’s fool. Later, Ser Dontos appears to Sansa and gives her his mother’s necklace, before appearing once again during the chaos of King Joffrey’s death.
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