Season 8, Episode 6: The Iron Throne

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 brought back 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 : )

— Jacob Kent, ThronesLife Creator & Author

08.28.17

by throneslifeblog

SEASON 7, EPISODE 7: THE DRAGON AND THE WOLF

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 DRAGON AND THE WOLF

24 months. 104 weeks. 730 days. This is roughly how long we will have to wait until we embark upon the 8th and final season of Thrones. That’s right — it will be approximately two years (if we are lucky, it could be as little as 18 months) until Thrones returns to bring this epic saga to a close. The good news is that this finale episode left us with so much to think about as we enter the Thrones off-season. In just one episode, the army of the dead has finally broken through The Wall; a fairly-major character, Baelish, is killed off; Jon Snow’s legitimate Targaryen identity is confirmed; and the dragon and the wolf finally come together. If it hadn’t already, after tonight, this story has definitely reached its climax and with just 6 episodes remaining, we are truly approaching the end.

A HOLE IN THE WALL

In an episode filled with monumental moments, the most significant was the (partial) destruction of The Wall at the hands of the Night King and his newly turned undead dragon. At first glance, this was a crucial development for obvious reasons — it allowed the White Walkers and their army of the dead to pass The Wall and begin their march on the Seven Kingdoms. But digging a bit deeper and considering the full context of The Wall will allow you to consider the magnitude of this moment in a whole other perspective.

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 — that’s right — eight-thousand years ago. And it wasn’t built by mere mortals using mundane means. It was built when The Children of the Forest, The First Men and the Giants all came together to fight for their survival against the White Walkers. During The Long Night, the White Walkers brought the longest and darkest winter that Westeros had ever experienced, and they nearly wiped out all life that inhabited the continent. However, The First Men and Children of the Forest banded together to push back the White Walkers, and then built The Wall to keep them out. It is said that Brandon Stark, otherwise known as Brandon the Builder, a legendary architect (and founder of House Stark), had the vision to build The Wall. Using magic from The Children of the Forest and the manpower from many giants, Brandon the Builder successfully built The Wall, which stretched 300 miles across and stood 700-feet tall. After the completion of the The Wall, the Night’s Watch was formed to man the wall and defend the realm from the dead that lurked beyond.

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 rode on the back of his undead dragon, he unleashed a fury of icy fire that was able to easily reduce 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.

In just a few minutes, the Night King was able to completely eradicate a good chunk of The Wall and also took out Eastwatch by the Sea, the Night’s Watch castle built into that portion of The Wall. If he was able to destroy that much of The Wall that quickly, one could deduce that it would only be a matter of weeks before he was able to take out The Wall in its entirety. But perhaps he won’t have to — perhaps all he really needed was a singular entry point for the army of the dead to march through. Now, that is exactly what he has and the army of the dead have reached the other side of The Wall. And what will be the first meaningful destination they arrive at? More likely than not, good old Winterfell.

“THE LONE WOLF DIES”

“When the snows fall and white winds blow, the lone wolf dies, but the pack survives.” These were the words originally spoken by Ned Stark, and repeated by Sansa to her sister Arya, as the finale episode comes to a close. How poignant these words are. Though it has become more and more of a distant memory as the years have passed, the death of Ned and Catelyn Stark still remain a major driving force behind the actions of each Stark child. After all, they were both betrayed and brutally murdered at the hands of people they trusted. Arya realized a measure of revenge in the premiere episode this season as she killed Walder Frey, the man who colluded with the Lannisters to kill her brother and mother during the Red Wedding. And she seeks further revenge for the death of her father, which is why Cersei Lannister remains at the top of Arya’s kill-list. Yet these were/are the obvious enemies — the ones who boldly claimed responsibility for the deaths of several Stark family-members. But there were others; there were snakes in the grass who’ve continued to slither along, concealing their true motives.

Of course, there was no greater snake in the grass than Baelish — the master manipulator and ultimate schemer. Sure, Joffrey (and Cersei) ordered the beheading of Ned Stark, but it was Baelish that played such a pivotal role in setting that stage. Even worse, it was Baelish that the Starks had trusted, namely because Catelyn had been so close to him since a young age. And now, all these years later, the Stark children are enacting their measure of revenge. The scene is set up beautifully, as viewers are led to believe that Baelish’s plan to drive a wedge between Sansa and Arya has reached its tipping point. That is, it appeared as though Baelish had successfully manipulated Sansa into believing that Arya was going to kill her and that she must execute her sister first. As Arya is brought into the great hall of Winterfell and stands before her brother and sister, Sansa declares that “You stand accused of murder and treason,” before turning her focus to Baelish and shifting these charges from Arya to he. That’s right — it was not Arya that Sansa is charging these crimes to, but rather the unassuming Lord Baelish. With the help of Bran’s visions and knowledge, Sansa is finally able to piece together the whole puzzle. What she reveals is significant not just because it renders Baelish the guilty party, but rather because it shows the immense role that Baelish played in triggering many of the show’s most important events.

So, let’s rewind for a minute to recap the full extent of how far back Baelish’s scheming actually goes. The show began with Catelyn Stark receiving a raven from her sister, Lysa Arryn, stating that her husband, Jon Arryn had been killed. At the time, Jon Arryn war Lord of the Vale and was serving as Hand of the King to Robert Baratheon. Though he died before the show started and we never got to see him, Jon Arryn was revered as a great man and father figure to both Robert Baratheon and Ned Stark. The raven that Lysa Arryn sent to Cat went on to state that she suspected the Lannisters were responsible for Jon Arryn’s death. When Catelyn shared this message with her husband, Ned, he of course immediately became suspicious of the Lannisters. He set out for King’s Landing, and upon his arrival, he started digging into what he thought Jon Arryn may have discovered — the possible reason why the Lannisters may have had him killed. This led to Ned’s discovery that Joffrey (and his siblings) were not the children of Robert Baratheon, but rather the products of Cersei and Jaime’s incest. This was an important learning for Ned as it illegitimized Joffrey’s claim to the Throne. In King’s Landing, without many trustworthy peers, Ned confided in Baelish and shared with him the damaging information he learned about the Lannisters. Ned made a big mistake in trusting Baelish, who went back to Cersei and warned her that Ned was uncovering some of the Lannisters biggest secrets. With the help of Baelish, Cersei was able to get one step ahead of Ned and had him arrested, which led to his eventual beheading.

However, very few people knew that role Baelish played in getting Ned Stark killed. Now, thanks to Bran’s visions, all the Stark children are made aware that their father’s blood is all over Baelish’s hands. But that’s not all that Sansa revealed as she berated Baelish with a recount of the elaborate scheme he put into place many years ago. You see, it wasn’t that Ned simply became suspicious of the Lannisters, at which point Baelish betrayed Ned’s trust and informed Cersei of Ned’s suspicions. Rather, it was Baelish who purposefully deceived Ned by supplying him with false information. As we mentioned above, Lysa Arryn sent her sister Catelyn a raven stating that her husband Jon Arryn had been murdered — probably poisoned by the Lannisters. The problem here is that Jon Arryn was not murdered by the Lannisters, but rather by Baelish himself, who supplied Lysa with a poison to slip her husband. Baelish would then persuade Lysa to mislead her sister into thinking the Lannisters were responsible, which set Ned down the path that would eventually lead to his tragic demise. But it doesn’t stop there. What was also revealed/confirmed is that Baelish was responsible for the attempted murder of Bran back in season one. In an attempt to further implicate the Lannisters, Baelish told Catelyn when she supplied him with the dagger that the assassin used, that he had lost that dagger in a bet to Tyrion. Again, Baelish is attempting to make the Starks believe that the Lannisters are their enemies by painting the picture that Tyrion had something to do with the attempt on Bran’s life.

As Baelish stands before Bran, Sansa and Arya — the judge, jury and executioner — we are able to look back and realize the incredible impact Baelish has had upon a good chunk of the story that we’ve seen unfold to date. He fabricated a completely fictional context which would serve as the backdrop for some of the show’s most important events. And this fictional reality that he created would not only lead to the death of Ned, but it would serve as the foundation upon which much of the story’s conflict was built. Ned’s beheading led to Robb Stark declaring himself King in the North with the intention to seek revenge against the Lannisters. Of course, that then led to the Red Wedding and many more Starks dying. You can continue to unravel the storyline and attribute many more major events to the master manipulator — Petyr Baelish.

But the deception has come to an end. The Stark children finally pieced together all of his manipulations and have found him guilty. As Baelish drops to his knees and begs for his life, we see the truth of his character. He is out in the open, exposed and totally vulnerable. There are no more games to play or stories for him to whisper. His attempt to drive a wedge between Arya and Sansa would prove to be less successful than his attempts to do the same between Houses Stark and Lannisters. And just like that, Littlefinger’s time comes to an end as Arya cuts his throat. The irony — she takes his life with the very dagger that belonged to him — the one used in the assassination attempt on Bran’s life in season one.

Most rewarding is that the season comes to a close with House Stark in a good place. For the last few episodes, things seemed very shaky and the possibility of Arya or Sansa turning on the other seemed very real. But, the tables were quickly turned and the children are reminded that when winter comes, the lone wolf dies while the pack survives. These were Ned’s words, repeated by Sansa after his death was avenged. And it’s a good thing that the Starks were able to come together, because the White Walkers are just a hop, skip and a jump away.

THE DRAGON AND THE WOLF

From Bran’s previous visions, we learned that Jon Snow was not the son of Ned and Catelyn Stark. It was confirmed that Jon was actually the son of Lyanna Stark and that Ned was protecting Jon’s true Targaryen identity. However, what was not clear at the time was whether or not Jon was a legitimate Targaryen or if he was still a bastard, just of a different father. In other words, did Lyanna Stark and Rhaegar Targaryen legitimately birth Jon, or was Lyanna raped by Rhaegar, making Jon Rhaegar’s bastard? Well, a couple episodes back, when Gilly was stumbling through a book, that question was answered. In reading the High Septon’s personal record, she discovered that the High Septon had performed an annulment, followed by a secret wedding in Dorne. In short, this confirmed that Rhaegar’s marriage to Elia Martell was annulled, and that he was legitimately married to another (safe to assume Lyanna Stark).

Though Bran was aware through his vision who Jon’s parents were, he assumed him to be a bastard of Rhaegar. After all, the scene he saw of Lyanna laying bloody and dying, seemed to confirm the idea that Rhaegar had raped and harmed Lyanna. However, Samwell Tarly offered to Bran what Gilly had discovered, and all of the information was pieced together. Rhaegar and Lyanna were legitimately wed, making Jon Snow a true Targaryen. What’s more, we are taken back to Bran’s vision and we are able to hear the name that Lyanna whispered to her brother Ned — the true identity of the man we’ve known as Jon Snow. AEGON TARGARYEN. As we know, the original Aegon Targaryen is arguably the most important Targaryen of all time. He is the man who conquered the independent kingdoms of Westeros and united them under his rule as the first Targaryen king. So, Jon not just being a Targaryen, but named after the most important Targaryen ever, is quite the reveal. As a result of Aegon’s Conquest, the Targaryens would rule over Westeros for the next 300 years, until Robert Baratheon usurped the throne during Robert’s Rebellion.

Speaking of Robert’s Rebellion, what we saw tonight answers one of the most important and controversial questions around the entire Thrones story. Was Lyanna wrongfully kidnapped by Rhaegar Targaryen or did she choose to ride off with him to follow their love? As we know, Robert’s Rebellion was the multi-year war that would put Robert Baratheon, Ned Stark and the Northern rebels against the Targaryen armies, as the rebels sought to overthrow the Mad King and the Targaryen dynasty. But what caused Robert’s Rebellion? Why did they want to overthrow the Targaryens after 300 years of rule? Well, the biggest catalyst for Robert’s Rebellion was the disappearance of Lyanna Stark. She was betrothed to Robert Baratheon and was the sister of Ned Stark, so both men had a deep love for her. When she disappeared, Robert and Ned clung to the idea that she was kidnapped by Rhaegar Targaryen. They rallied the North behind this idea and launched Robert’s Rebellion. However, there has also been plenty of whisper that has alluded to a contrary idea — one that paints Rhaegar as a great man and contradicts the idea that he would kidnap Lyanna. This version of the story says that Lyanna and Rhaegar were madly in love and rode off together to tie the knot. The truth of this debate has been hidden until tonight.

Through Bran’s vision, we saw that Rhaegar and Lyanna, the dragon and the wolf, were truly in love. Learning that Rhaegar did not kidnap Lyanna is so significant because it invalidates the very justification for Robert’s Rebellion. Had Ned and Robert known the truth, it is entirely possible that this rebellion never would have even taken place. Which means that Rhaegar would probably still be alive (he was killed in battle by Robert), the Targaryens would likely still be on the throne, and Jon would have grown up as Aegon Targaryen, son to Lyanna and Rhaegar Targaryen. It is absolutely incredible to think that an entire multi-year war which shaped the entire story we are seeing today was built upon a lie. It is even more incredible to consider we are finding this out so many years later.

But here’s what’s not a lie. Jon Snow is a Targaryen — a legitimate one. And because his father, Rhaegar, was next in line for the Throne, Jon is now the legitimate heir to the Iron Throne. He supersedes Daenerys’ claim to the Throne, as he is Rhaegar’s son while she is Rhaegar’s sister. But they’ll have plenty of time to figure that out down the road. Right now, Jon and Daenerys have more important matters to focus on as they finally come together intimately. In an episode entitled The Dragon and the Wolf, we learn of Jon’s true identity as we see the original dragon and wolf that came together (Rhaegar Targaryen and Lyanna Stark), while simultaneously seeing another dragon and wolf (Daenerys and Jon) also getting together. So, now it’s official. There is no Jon Snow. There is no bastard. There is only Aegon Targaryen, son of Rhaegar and true heir to the Iron Throne. Bran tells Samwell, “He needs to know, we need to tell him.”

CERSEI AGAINST THE WORLD

In King’s Landing, we get almost all of the story’s most significant characters together at once. To date, we’ve never seen anything like this. Once again, there are all kinds of reunions between characters that have great history with one another. Jaime is reunited with Brienne, who he was on an epic journey with a few seasons ago, which culminated with him risking his life to save hers. Tyrion was reunited with his longtime squire, Pod, as well as Bronn, with whom he fought closely in the Battle of Blackwater Bay. The Hound comes face to face with Brienne, who left him for dead a few seasons back. He us also reunited with his zombie-brother, The Mountain, and reminds him that death is coming for him.

As Tyrion and company enter the dragon-pit and are surrounded by Lannister soldiers, the suspense begins to set in. It is entirely possible that they could all be killed and if anybody is capable of such a thing, it would be Cersei. Despite coming face to face with a wight, Cersei is unwilling to join their cause to fight the army of the dead. Tyrion risks his life to talk some reason into his sister and it appeared as though his attempts were successful. Cersei returns to the dragon pit and declares that she will join their fight. It seemed as though this was a big moment for Cersei who finally saw the bigger picture, and that the stage was now set for basically all of humanity to band together to fight back the army of the dead.

However, moments later, behind closed doors, Cersei reveals to Jaime that she will say anything to anybody to win the war against those who have wronged her. She does not actually intend to lend them any men, even though Jaime proposes the very obvious lose-lose scenario for them if she does not. Once known as the Oathbreaker for killing the Mad King, Jaime refuses to again break his oath and tells Cersei that she will have to kill him to stop him. Unable to do so, Jaime leaves King’s Landing and rides off to join the fight against darkness. Seasons ago, when Jaime was on his journey with Brienne, it appeared as though his character had gone through a major transformation. But then, he got sucked back into Cersei’s wicked games and it was unclear whether he would finish this story by her side or not. Now, he has finally left King’s Landing and is off to join the war that everybody seems to realize is most important, except for Cersei. And not a minute too soon. Snowfall has made its way down south and begins to descend upon King’s Landing. If the southerners didn’t yet know, they will now see that Winter Is Here.

ODDS & ENDS

We as viewers were not the only ones who saw the Night King take out a chunk of The Wall. We actually saw this through Bran’s vision as he warged into the crows that sat atop the wall. So, the good news is that Bran is well aware of what just happened and Winterfell can prepare accordingly as the first line of defense.

Cersei confirms she has secured a contract with the Golden Company, an army of 20,000 men who will fight for her. How will this army help her against Cersei’s forces? Perhaps they will end up being more manpower for the fight against darkness.

Theon receives forgiveness from Jon Snow and is now off to save his sister, Yara. I think the show did a pretty poor job at demonstrating what happened to make Theon strong again. Last we saw him, he had reverted back to being Reek and jumped off the ship, leaving his sister stranded. Now, all of a sudden, he’s once again back to being the Theon that wants to save his sister? Seems very wishy-washy.

With Baelish now dead, that’s another face that Arya could possibly use. We know her goal is to kill Cersei — could she possibly use his face to get back in front of Cersei at King’s Landing?

At Eastwatch when the Night King attacked, did Tormund and Beric survive? The obvious guess is yes, but worth the thought.

With Jaime having fled King’s Landing, what will Bronn do? We mentioned in a post a few weeks back the possibility that Bronn will save the Sand Snake who he had a fling with in Dorne, who is now locked in the dungeons below King’s Landing. With Jaime now gone, it’s entirely possible that he does save the Sand Snake and flee King’s Landing.

08.21.17

by throneslifeblog

SEASON 7, EPISODE 6: BEYOND THE WALL

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.

BEYOND THE WALL

In typical Thrones fashion, this year’s penultimate episode did not disappoint. As we’ve come to see, the second-to-last episode of each season generally accounts for some of the shows biggest and most dramatic events (i.e. Ned’s beheading, The Battle of Blackwater Bay, The Red Wedding, etc…) But this season’s penultimate episode, entitled Beyond the Wall, took us to entirely new heights. This episode was not just beyond the wall, it was beyond. Period. This behemoth of an episode featured the most significant battle we’ve seen to date — one that brought the all-important entities of fire and ice face to face for the first time. But there was much more. This installment offered the most extended look we’ve ever had into the army of the dead; the biggest dragon scene to date; and this season’s most important moment between two of its most important characters (Jon and Dany). As if all of that was not enough, there were some significant deaths, as well as an awesome surprise entrance from a character we haven’t seen in a while. There was also a crucial reveal about how team humans can possibly defeat team White Walkers in this battle for survival. Oh, and as if all of that was not enough, the Night King now has a dragon to call his own!

FIRE AND ICE

If you don’t yet know that this entire story created by George R.R. Martin is entitled A Song of Ice and Fire, then shame on you. In adapting his multi-book series for TV, HBO decided that Game of Thrones (which was the title of the first book in this series) would be more marketable. And while the latter may roll off the tongue a bit better, there is one pitfall — the importance of fire and ice gets lost. The Game of Thrones titles makes it seem as though this story is ultimately about a game whose winner will ascend the Iron Throne. And while that was the game being played in the first few books/seasons (and to some extent still is), we know that the endgame here is something much greater, which is what the title of the series spoke to. Kings and thrones are insignificant in the face of fire vs ice, light vs darkness, good vs evil. And though the show has obviously made it quite clear, especially as the story has progressed, that fire and ice is where this whole thing is headed, it still seemed unclear how and when these opposing elements would face off.

Well, heading into tonight’s episode, there were just seven episodes remaining, so we knew it couldn’t be too much longer. Yet still, I’m not sure anybody was wagering that this episode would bring a full-on collision between fiery dragons and icy White Walkers. But that’s precisely what we got as Dany flies her dragons into the deep north to save Jon and the Dream Team from certain death at the hands of the army of the dead. And boy was it a powerful sight to see.

Screen Shot 2017-08-21 at 12.54.55 AM

Hitting rewind for a moment, Jon and company venture into the deep north on their quest to find a wight. I get questions each week about what a wight is, so let’s quickly clear this one up. In the show, the wights are the undead zombies which account for most of the army of the dead. The wights are led by the more powerful and mythical White Walker creatures. If it seems confusing that the story would refer to the zombies as wights and their leaders as White Walkers, given that wights/Whites sound the same, well, it is. But, in the books, this confusion did not exist, as the White Walkers were called The Others. So, in the books, you had wights (zombies) being led by The Others. After the hit show Lost popularized the moniker The Others, referring to the other inhabitants of the island, HBO decided not to use the term The Others and came up with a new name for them — The White Walkers. So, today you have the wights and the White Walkers. But let’s get back to more important things.

Jon and squad don’t make it too far north before a run-in with an enormous undead bear. Because the bear has been turned by the White Walkers, it is uncharacteristically aggressive in its pursuit to kill the humans. But, the bear being turned does not explain its size — so it was pretty cool to see how big this bear was (more like a mini dinosaur). It was our first time seeing a creature like this in Thrones and builds on some of the other unusually large/mythical creatures we’ve seen (giants, direwolves, dragons, etc…) As the team bands together to fight off the bear, Thoros gets pinned down and The Hound is the closest one able to assist. Underscoring the juxtaposition of fire and ice, The Hound was literally frozen by the fire and we see that his fear of the flames still runs deep. As a result, Thoros gets badly mauled, though not killed, as Beric cauterizes his wound.

jon and co

Fast forward, Jon and company find themselves deserted on an island of ice, surrounded by not only thousands of wights, but also the Night King and his highest-ranking White Walkers. After Jon instructed Gendry to run back to Eastwatch to send a raven to Daenerys, the table was set, and it all of a sudden became entirely feasible that fire would meeting ice very soon. As night turns into day, the men wake up to find themselves still surrounded, only now with one less man. Thoros has not survived the night and Beric sets his corpse aflame to prevent the White Walkers from being able to turn him into a wight. I found it somewhat strange that the story had Thoros surviving the bear attack, only to die the next morning. In any event, it was sad to see Thoros go and he was definitely one of the more enjoyable characters of the show — a man who fought for those who could not fight for themselves — and a man who ultimately gave his life to serve what he believed to be a greater purpose. Most significant, this means that whatever role Beric is to play, he must make this life count as he likely will not have another to live. Thoros is no longer around to bring him back to life as he has done many times in the past, underscoring once again, that this story is nearing its end.

The Hound had already lost some points in my book for not saving Thoros from the bear. He now loses additional points for deciding that it would be a wise idea to start throwing rocks at the wights. Sure enough, the wights realize that the water has frozen back over and they can now resume their attack on Jon and company. Somehow, this single-digit group of men are able to fight off what felt like several hundred wights. While I was ecstatic to not see any more of them die, there were points where they appeared so engulfed by a sea of wights that it seemed unrealistic for them to survive, yet they somehow continued to fight them off. No doubt, we got to see the fighting prowess of each of these men — some of the realms greatest warriors, assembled together, each fighting with their weapon of choice. And though The Hound made some poor decisions in this episode, he’s back in my good graces after saving Tormund from what looked like a certain death. I’m not sure I could have handled losing Thoros and Tormund all in one episode.

Though they were able to fight off hundreds of wights, no matter how many they killed, more kept coming. Eventually, they were completely surrounded, and we went into a slow motion sequence where everything quieted down. This sequence was mostly focused on Jon and offered a slower, more focused vantage point of what it might feel like to acknowledge the imminent death that you and your men are facing. We saw a very similar sequence in the Battle of the Bastards when everything slowed down for Jon and it seemed like their defeat was certain. But just as Jon and his men were saved in the Battle of the Bastards by a surprise entrance, the same would happen in this battle, as Daenerys arrives with all three of her dragons and sets everything ablaze.

Her powerful flames engulf the wights by the hundreds, if not thousands, and in that moment, fire finally meets ice. For the first time, we see with our own eyes what we’ve been imagining for so long — how the dragons will ultimately help to defeat the army of the dead. Things are looking great for the good guys (well, I will pause on calling them the good guys, because that implies that the Night King and White Walkers are bad guys, and I believe it’s too early to determine that given that we don’t truly understand the Night King and what he is trying to achieve yet. But we’ll save that for another time). Everything changes as the Night King picks up his ice spear and takes down one of Daenerys’ dragons, Viserion, from what seemed like hundreds of yards away. The Night King must have been spending some serious bro-time with Tom Brady, because that dragon was hundreds of yards away and flying at a pretty high elevation.

Just like that, the tables are dramatically turned, and Daenerys is helpless as she watches 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 is here. We hadn’t seen Benjen since last season when he had to part ways with Bran because he could not pass through The Wall. At the time, he explained that the dead cannot pass through The Wall, due to powerful magic The Children of the Forest used in helping to build The Wall, thus confirming he was in fact technically dead. When Bran asked him what he would do, he confirmed that he would continue to fight off the dead for as long as he could, and in this episode, he made good on his word. 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. Benjen is consumed by the wights and the assumption is now that he is fully dead…Or maybe he will be turned into a wight… But safe to assume he’s gone as the Uncle Benjen we know. What was most significant, and also most sad about this, is that Uncle Benjen (Ned’s brother) and Jon Snow were very close. Uncle Benjen was a big reason that Jon joined the Night’s Watch in the first place, and 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 track to save his nephew when it really counted. Sadly, after all these years, their reunion was just a couple of seconds.

Jon and Uncle Benjen atop The Wall in Season 1

A SILVER LINING

Coming into this episode, the dragon count was 3-0 in favor of the humans. After this episode, the count is now much more even at 2-1. Whereas the humans once had 3 more dragons, they now only have 1 more. That’s because not only did the Night King take out Viserion, but he wisely turned him into a wight that he will now be able to use in his army. This of course begs a ton of questions about how Viserion will be used and what he will be able to do. Will he now breathe ice instead of fire? Will he be able to freeze over entirely masses of land and kill all life? Will his newfound dragon allow The Night King to quickly and easily fly over The Wall and pose a greater threats to the humans? And how do you kill Viserion? The other wights can be killed by fire, but dragons are immune to fire, so is Valyrian steel/dragonglass the only way kill Viserion? Time will tell, but it raises all kinds of interesting questions. Also, as a sidenote, to turn Viserion into a wight, The Night King placed his hand upon the dead dragon’s snout, much the same as Jon Snow had touched Drogon a couple episodes back.

Screen Shot 2017-08-21 at 12.56.30 AM

No matter which way you slice it, The Night King getting his hands on a dragon is a huge blow to Daenerys and all of humanity. Though the Night King always posed a great threat, Daenerys was always approaching the level of invincibility with three full-grown dragons. But now, the playing field is a lot more level and The Night King may have what he needs to launch a full-blown offensive. All that said, there were some very significant silver linings to be found in this episode, some of which will have huge implications on how this all unfolds.

Silver lining number one: mission accomplished. The men did not go home empty-handed and they achieved what they had set out for — capturing a wight that they could present to Cersei, and presumably anybody else who is a nonbeliever. Arguably, the biggest problem the humans have faced in the great war to come is that they simply do not know it is coming. Jon Snow and a few others have been trying to spread the word, but most of the realm still regards the entire thing as mythology. But now, they have hard proof and it will be interesting to see how people react.

Silver lining number two: a very significant reveal about how the humans can possibly win this war. We knew a few things coming into this episode: 1) White Walkers can be killed with Valyrian steel or dragonglass; 2) wights can be killed with either of those, but are best defeated with fire. What we did not know, and learned tonight, is that there is some sort of link between White Walkers and wights, and killing a White Walker can actually take out many more wights in one fell swoop. As Jon battled and eventually defeated a White Walker, we saw several wights around him collapse and crumble. The assumption is that if you take out a White Walker, so too are you killing the wights that White Walker had turned. This is critical as it implies that killing a few hundred or even a few dozen White Walkers could wipe out a huge volume of the army of the dead. But what was even more significant, was Beric’s assertion that perhaps taking out The Night King would wipe out all the White Walkers and wights at once. We don’t know if this is true, but perhaps we just learned how this entire war can be won.

Screen Shot 2017-08-21 at 12.53.30 AM

Silver lining number three: Jon and Dany are in a great place. It was no secret that something was brewing between these two, yet Dany was still quite focused on fighting Cersei for the Iron Throne and wasn’t totally sure how credible Jon’s claims were regarding the army of the dead. But now, Dany has seen the threat with her own two eyes. What’s more, she’s lost one of her children at the hands of the Night King, so she is now more invested in this war than anybody. Alignment between Jon and Dany as it pertains to them coming together to defeat the Night King is absolutely huge.

But that’s not where the alignment stops. The emotions and potential romance continued to elevate in this episode and the two even ended up in a bed together, holding hands. Jon has declared Dany his queen, after an interesting dialogue with Tormund earlier in the episode where Tormund reminded Jon of Mance Rayder, the king of the Wildlings, who refused to bend the knee to any southern ruler. Tormund reminds Jon that Mance’s pride ultimately got him killed. Jon takes this advice to heart and decides that others must see the greatness that he sees in Dany. No doubt, he will face real backlash, especially amongst the Northerners, who view House Targaryen as definitive enemies. This should set up for a very interesting dynamic in the North, and the potential that the Northerns choose to no longer follow Jon, opening the door for a new Northern leader, which plays right into the Arya-Sansa drama we are seeing unfold — but more on that in just a bit.

One other thing to point out is that it was not just Jon that is buying into Dany and declaring her his queen, but also she that is buying more into him, especially after she sees the wounds that he sustained when he was murdered. Recall that in the fist scene they met, Ser Davos mentioned that Jon Snow was brought back from the dead, and Dany took particular interest to this. When she asked about it, Jon made it seem like he was not really brought back from the dead and that Ser Davos was embellishing. Just last episode, Dany asked Jon about this again, but before he could respond, Ser Jorah returned and stole the spotlight. Now, she is seeing first-hand the brutal wounds he sustained and she realizes that he did in fact die and come back to life. Ultimately, though Viserion’s death was tragic, you could make the argument that it was a cost well worth paying if it resulted in Jon and Dany coming together the way they did, Jon declaring Dany his queen, and that queen now being fully invested in the war against darkness.

Also, one smaller but additional silver lining is that we got some more color on the “who will be the 3 riders of Dany’s 3 dragons?” As we know, Aegon, alongside his two sisters, rode their three dragons during his Conquest. Many have theorized that there would have to be two additional riders to ride alongside Dany, but that theory now seems to be out the window.

DRAMA IN WINTERFELL

Though it seems much less significant than what we saw unfold north of The Wall, the tensions building at Winterfell will have important implications. After all, don’t forget, Winterfell and The North are one of the first lines of defense south of The Wall. So, if the White Walkers do pass through The Wall, Winterfell is one of the first places they will reach. Having a definitive leader at Winterfell who can unite The North will be critical. And that’s the opposite of what we are seeing today.

Picking up on last week’s episode, Sansa and Arya are falling right into Baelish’s trap. Unbeknownst to her, Baelish planted a note for Arya to find which presents Sansa as a Joffrey-loving traitor who was willing to denounce her own father in support of the Lannisters. What we know as viewers (as does Baelish because he was there at the time), is that Sansa was forced to write this latter as she was more or less Cersei’s prisoner. Sansa attempted to plead this case to Arya, though Arya’s mind seems to be made up about who her sister is and where her loyalties lie. Interestingly, the show has seemed to present this conflict much more from Arya’s vantage point than from Sansa’s. Both girls have been through trying times and actually appear to both want to do what’s best for Winterfell, yet the show has made Arya feel like the protagonist who is onto her antagonist sister.

sansa arya

Just as Baelish had hoped, he is able to find himself in private quarters with Sansa, offering her advice of how to proceed. He notes that Brienne has sworn an oath to protect both sisters, and as such, is a valuable asset to rely upon. Sansa takes this advice and sends Brienne to King’s Landing after her attendance was requested. Brienne objects to going and tells Sansa that she cannot trust the people around her, especially Baelish, even if she is home at Winterfell. Naively, Sansa believes that because she is at home that she is safe. With Brienne gone and Arya and Sansa at odds, Baelish is setting the table for him to make his next move — whatever move that might be.

Another sidenote on Winterfell — where has Bran been as all of this drama is unfolding between his sisters? After all of this time, he has finally returned to Winterfell, so where is he hiding? As an all-knowing being, you would think he’d be able to step in and drop some knowledge on his sisters to help them navigate their issues. Also, speaking of things missing at Winterfell, where the hell is Jon’s wolf, Ghost? We have not seen him this entire season, so keep an eye out for that.

HISTORY THROUGH DIALOGUE

In the first few minutes of their journey north of The Wall, there was some incredibly rich dialogue amongst the men, most of which recounted some important Thrones history. Here’s a recap:

Jon and Jorah talk further about their past as Jon reveals that Jorah’s father had given him Longclaw, a Valyrian steel sword that was meant for Jorah. Jon offers the sword to Jorah, but Jorah admits that he is unworthy. But it is not just Jon that knows Jorah’s father; Jorah also knew Jon’s father (well, he knew the man Jon currently believes to be his father, Ned. Jorah recalls that Ned wanted Jorah executed (which is why he had to flee Westeros and eventually ended up meeting Khaleesi in Essos). You can read more about why Ned wanted him executed here.

Jorah and Thoros recount their time in battle together during Robert’s Rebellion. They fought together for the rebels in a battle where they stormed Pyke (seat of the Iron Islands). History tells that Thoros rode into battle with his flaming sword and helped to win this decisive victory.

Tormund and The Hound end up discussing Brienne, though their interactions with her could not be further apart. Tormund tells The Hound of his affections for Brienne and how he hopes to marry her and have giant children together. Though The Hound does not reveal it, we know that it was Brienne that nearly killed The Hound a few seasons back.

Gendry and Thoros also recall some history as Gendry calls them out for selling him to Lady Melisandre. He tells them what she did to him though they appear to move past it pretty quickly.

07.31.17

by throneslifeblog

SEASON 7, EPISODE 3: THE QUEEN’S JUSTICE

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 QUEEN’S JUSTICE

It seemed like just moments ago we were gearing up for season seven to kick off. In the blink of an eye, we are nearly halfway through the season with a full-blown war underway. And as the game rages on, it’s hard to even know what winning looks like anymore. Lines have become blurred, characters have become severely intertwined and what the future holds is less clear than ever before. In this week’s episode, entitled The Queen’s Justice, team Cersei delivered several more crippling blows to the efforts of Daenerys, likely backing the Mother of Dragons into a corner. And we all know what happens when a wild animal, much less a dragon, gets backed into a corner.

snow davos

But this episode was about much more than the “justice” Cersei served. This episode saw several important characters come face to face. After years apart, Bran returned home to Winterfell to be reunited with his sister, Sansa. And let’s not forget about ice and fire, aka Jon Snow and Daenerys. The meeting of these two is arguably the most important moment we’ve witnessed to date. As Lady Melisandre states, she did her job and brought together ice and fire. To understand the significance of this, you need not look any further than the title of this entire story — A Song of Ice and Fire (Game of Thrones was merely the title of the first book in this series, which HBO adapted for the show as it was easier to market than ASOIAF). Jon and Dany coming together has massive implications not only upon the future of this story, but also the future of all of humanity. So let’s jump in.

A SONG OF ICE AND FIRE

If this story is about A Song of Ice and Fire, then we just met our two main characters. Or better yet, they just met each other. No time was wasted as the episode opened with Jon Snow’s arrival at Dragonstone, Ser Davos by his side. No doubt, the last time Davos was at Dragonstone, things looked a lot different — there were no dragons flying overhead nor was there a Targaryen on the throne. But one thing remained the same — Melisandre was present, playing an influential role in what is to unfold. This time, she points out that she has fulfilled her duty to bring ice and fire together. Wanting to avoid punishment from Jon Snow, who banished her for the role she played in sacrificing Princess Shireen, Melisandre tells Varys that she will return to Volantis. Varys tells her that she should stay in Essos, but she responds that she will return to Westeros again, to “die in this strange country.” Building on what has been alluded to several times over the course of the last few seasons, Melisandre tells Varys that he too will die, casting an ominous shadow around his future. Could she be referencing what Kinvara, the High Priestess of Volantis also mentioned to Varys when she came to see him last season and said “Do you remember what you heard that night? You heard a voice call out from the flames, do you remember? Should I tell you what the voice said? Should I tell you the name of the one who spoke?” It is clear that whatever Varys heard in the flames many years ago is quite significant, and the Red Priestesses seem to have some idea of who that voice was and the words that it spoke.

But back to the main attraction here — Jon Snow and Daenerys. What was most interesting about their meeting was how similar their positions actually are, yet how little either of is able to realize it. For the better part of the show, both have been fighting off evil in one form or another. Both have made tremendous sacrifices (Jon Snow sacrificed his life, Daenerys sacrificed her husband, son etc). At their core, both characters are guided by their morals and principles — they are driven to do what they believe to be just and necessary for the greater good. Yet neither of them realizes this as neither really knows what the other has been up to the last few years. If Jon and Daenerys sharing important similarities but not realizing it sounds familiar — that’s because it is. Let’s not forget that they are both Targaryens, related by blood, yet neither is aware.

snow dany

Like ice and fire, on the surface, Jon and Daenerys meet as stark contrasts — polar opposites. But the main components of both ice and fire are carbon dioxide and oxygen — so look a little bit closer and you will see that these things are actually not so dissimilar at all — in fact, they share some of the most fundamental characteristics. And now, it is just a matter of time until Jon and Daenerys start to realize this. But until then, Jon will have to settle for the Dragonglass that Daenerys has allowed him to mine at Dragonstone, in hopes of turning this into weapons to be used against the White Walkers. In return, Daenerys is hoping to secure a new ally, one that is needed now more than ever.

There were some interesting things to point out in the dialogue between these two. First, we get another historical reference as Daenerys reminds Jon that Torrhen Stark bent the knee to Aegon Targaryen 300 years ago. At the time, each of the kingdoms were independent and Torrhen was the king of the Kingdom of the North. However, when Aegon arrived with his three dragons, Torrhen bent the knee and pledged the North’s fealty to House Targaryen. Though it was likely the wise decision, history would remember Torrhen as The King Who Knelt, and House Stark would become wardens of the North under Targaryen rule for the next 300 years. Daenerys brings this up to remind Jon Snow of the oath that was sworn — one that she urges him to honor. However, Jon Snow has some history of his own to point out — specifically that Daenery’s father, the Mad King, was responsible for the death of his uncle and grandfather (Brandon and Rickard Stark, killed leading up to Robert’s Rebellion). Jon tells Daenerys that if she does not want to be beholden to the actions of her father, then he too should not be obligated to an oath made by his ancestors. An additional sidenote that is particularly interesting to consider is that the Mad King he speaks of who killed his family is actually his grandfather. Jon’s father is Rhaegar Targaryen and his father was the Mad King, which makes the Mad King Jon’s grandfather. And since it was the Mad King who killed Jon’s grandfather on his mother’s side (Lyanna Stark’s father, Rickard Stark), what this means is that one of Jon’s grandfathers (the Mad King) actually killed his other grandfather (Rickard Stark). Lots of interesting stuff here to consider once you realize that Jon ties together Houses Stark and Targaryen.

KING’S LANDING

Back in King’s Landing, Cersei scores another win as Euron returns with not one, not two, but three of her enemies. He brings Ellaria and her daughter, the last remaining Sand Snake, as well as Yara Greyjoy. Cersei decides that the most cruel punishment is to force her to watch her daughter to die a slow and painful death. Cersei knows the pain of losing a daughter, having lost Myrcella at the hands of Ellaria. She chooses to force that same pain upon Ellaria, while making her watch each step of the way. We’ll have to wait to see what Cersei has in store for Yara Greyjoy, another one of her enemies that Euron has brought back to King’s Landing.

sand

Speaking of Euron, he has proven to be a more than valuable asset, particularly on the waters. And now, Cersei has named him head of the royal navy, while Jaime will command the army. While Euron is keen to wed Cersei now, she tells him that he will get his wish once the war is won. In meantime, she chooses to focus her lust towards Jaime, a strategic play to increase her influence over him and keep her brother right where she wants him. And if you thought Euron and Jaime were enough for Cersei, you were wrong. She is finding time to also manipulate the man sent from the Iron Bank of Braavos. As we’ve learned in previous seasons, the Iron Bank of Braavos is the wealthiest bank in the world and has backed the winning side in most all of history’s wars. This man has arrived to call in the crown’s debt as they no longer believe Cersei can win the war. Though, she quickly flips the script and points out that she is in fact the most likely to repay her debts, and requests that the Iron Bank maintain support of her cause for a while longer.

WINTERFELL

At Winterfell, Sansa has taken ownership of her new duties and quickly shows the valuable insight she can provide. At the same time, Baelish continues to try and put in work, though Sansa remains less penetrable than ever before. Baelish imparts another Baelish-esque piece of wisdom and tells Sansa that rather than focusing on one game at a time, that she should “Fight every battle, everywhere, always.” These words seems to have an effect on her and time will tell how things play out with Baelish and Sansa.

Screen Shot 2017-07-31 at 12.48.20 AM

Moments later, Bran shows up on the scene, to a rather unemotional reunion with Sansa. As viewers, we long for an emotional moment here, especially considering all that the Starks (and we) have endured over the seasons. And, in most shows or movies, this would be a storybook reunion full of scripted emotion. But this is not any show — and in this show, a story is put forth that aims to mirror real life. And in real life, not all reunions are happy and joyous, as the realities of life can take their toll on people. And that’s precisely what has happened here. While Sansa is full of emotion to see her brother, Bran looks off into the distance as he is embraced by his sister. It appears as though he doesn’t even value this moment enough to put forth the effort to try and hug her back. Which of course makes perfect sense. Bran is not Bran. Bran is now the Three Eyed Raven. He has lost a lot of himself in his travels through space and time, consuming his mind with everything that has ever happened. He knows what is to come and in the battle for the survival of humanity, a reunion between two people is irrelevant.

TRUTH IN DEATH

Last week, Tyrion’s plan to send their fleet back to Dorne to pick up the Dornish army went terribly wrong after they were ambushed by Euron. As a result, they lost most of their fleet as well as significant allies. This week, things went from bad to worse, as the other part of Tyrion’s strategy went sideways. His plan was to take Casterly Rock, the stronghold of House Lannister. However, Cersei learned that they were coming, and decided to concede the castle, as it is of little importance to her at this point. Rather than sacrificing thousands of Lannister soldiers that she will desperately need in the coming days, she decides to send these men to Highgarden. At Casterly Rock, the Unsullied realize that much of the Lannister army is not present, but they realize too late. Euron’s fleet has attacked the precious ships that Daenerys had left, not only destroying her naval force, but also leaving the Unsullied stranded at Casterly Rock. This is another decisive blow against Daenerys, whose forces are being diminished by the minute. If Daenerys was questioning Tyrion’s judgement before, she must be considering finding a new Hand altogether now. One can only assume that Daenerys will take matters into her own hand and be the dragon that Lady Olenna told her to be last week.

Speaking of Lady Olenna, her time has come to an end. Killing two birds with one stone, by pulling the Lannister army out of Casterly Rock, not only did Cersei avoid losing more of her men, but she also laid siege to Highgarden and eliminated yet another enemy. After easily ridding of the Tyrell forces, Jaime descends upon Lady Olenna who knows the fate she is facing. Yet, before she dies, she will make every last word count, as she often does. She reminds Jaime how truly crazy Cersei is and admits that she regrets the role she played in enabling Cersei to spread her disease. She tells Jaime that he too will regret his involvement. She observes that Jaime is helplessly in love with his sister and is sucked into her madness, to which he does not disagree. I find it hard to believe that this is the final path that Jaime will ultimately go down, being a henchman to Cersei, especially after how far we saw his character come in previous seasons.

In her final moments, after drinking the poison and knowing that death is imminent, Lady Olenna makes her last words count as she informs Jaime that it was her that was responsible for the death of Joffrey many years back. As viewers, we knew that Lady Olenna had slipped poison into Joffrey’s wine during his wedding to Margaery, but few others knew. Cersei immediately blamed Tyrion, which set off a massive chain of events. Tyrion was thrown in a cell and eventually put on trial for the crime he did not commit. This led to a trial by combat where The Mountain eventually killed Prince Oberyn. And on and on the game went. What Jaime finds out all this time later, and what he may or may not tell Cersei, is that it was in fact Lady Olenna, not Tyrion, that was responsible for Joffrey’s death. Though Lady Olenna is the one that ends up dead, it felt more like she was the one who put her dagger into Jaime (and Cersei).

ODDS & ENDS

We got a quick glimpse of Bronn, riding alongside Jaime. It’s worth pointing out that Bronn had a fling with one of the Sand Snakes when he ventured with Jaime to Dorne (to save Myrcella). It is also worth pointing out that this is the Sand Snake that is still alive in King’s Landing. With Bronn close to Jaime and there being a decent chance he makes it back to King’s Landing, is there any chance he saves the Sand Snake? Probably a long shot, but it’s worth noting.

It looks like Jorah is cured and now off to try and sync back up with Khaleesi. If he does meet back up with Khaleesi, this will only strengthen the Jon Snow/Daenerys opportunity, as the people once closest with Jon and Daenerys (Sam and Jorah) are now strongly intertwined.

When Sam is asked by the archmaestar how he learned to cure Jorah, he simply states that he read it in a book. We once again are reminded of Sam’s strong love for books. What else will he discover in his readings? And will Sam be the person to eventually write the book and retell the story that we are seeing today?

In the first episode, Jon sent Tormund to Eastwatch by the Sea. We’ve not seen him since but we know that this is where the army of the dead is marching. We should see his arrival pretty soon.

07.17.17

by throneslifeblog

SEASON 7, EPISODE 1: DRAGONSTONE

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.

DRAGONSTONE

The wait is over and we can all take a deep sigh of relief — we’re back in the game. Aside from an opening scene that nobody could have predicted, the premiere episode, Dragonstone, picked up right where last season left off. There were not many surprises or curveballs to contend with, but rather an obvious progression of the powerful alliances being formed and impending wars on the horizon. Now, what we are seeing more than ever before, is an awareness amongst most characters — an awareness of what is to come. As a result, and what we saw in this episode, is quite a bit of strategic planning. Cercei is turning a King’s Landing courtyard into a map of Westeros to plot out her enemies; Sam is trying to ascertain whatever information he can to help with Jon’s game-plan in the North; and perhaps most powerfully, the episode ends with Khaleesi at Dragonstone, ready to start mapping out her own game-plan, she asks “Shall we begin?” The game being played has evolved, and to stand a chance in this new game, people are realizing that wit, strategy and knowledge will be more critical than ever before.What is also interesting, and particularly unique to this premiere episode, is the many different dynamics that were presented. A typical Thrones episode feels more unified from scene to scene — even if they are halfway across the world, characters feel as though they are participating in the same game. But, in this episode, things felt disparate from one scene to the next, particularly because of the varying dynamics offered. Arya is committing a mass murder while The Hound is having a major transformation; Sam feels alone and isolated at The Citadel while Khaleesi arrives to Dragonstone with her massive army. It felt like people were on very different pages, but not in a bad way. Each character is inching closer to realizing the roles they will play in the great game that is to come, and episode one did a wonderful job to set this stage. So, without further ado, let’s dive in.

THE NORTH REMEMBERS

Am I watching the wrong episode? Are we seeing a flashback to show the moments prior to Arya killing Walder Frey? What is going on here? Don’t panic — Walder Frey hasn’t come back to life and this is not a flashback. Rather, it’s good old Arya continuing to utilize the ways of the Faceless Men, and this time taking out pretty much all of House Frey. Killing Walder Frey in the finale episode of last season was not enough — Arya has now devised a plan to get all the men of House Frey into the hall, before orchestrating a mass execution. No amount of revenge will ever make us feel better about The Red Wedding, but this was pretty damn good. More satisfying than watching the Freys die were the words that Arya left them with, “Leave one wolf alive and the sheep are never safe.” This is a powerful reminder that Arya will always be out there, a lone wolf, with the potential to take out her enemies at any given moment. Before the scene ends, Arya instructs the remaining Frey girl, “Tell them winter came for House Frey. The North Remembers.”

After leaving The Twins, Arya stumbles upon a group of young Lannister soldiers that have headed into the Riverlands after hearing about the massacre. (Yes, that was Ed Sheeran, and he definitely felt out of place). No doubt, the Lannisters are enemies to Arya, and it appeared that she was originally joining the unsuspecting group to add their names to her kill list. She looked over and saw that none of them were carrying their swords and we got the feeling that she might make her move. But then emotion set in. Often in the Thrones world, characters are defined by the house they fight for the colors they wear. And based on this, Arya would have, and almost did kill these men. But we saw something more — we saw that they were people, just like you and I, with emotions, families and desires. For so long, Arya has been living in a very black and white world. She has names on her list and an objective to cross those names off. This scene was significant in that it blurred those lines for a moment and also offered a more human side of Arya — one where we saw her smile, laugh and seem to enjoy the company of the people around her. This goes back to the larger question — the one that asks who is Arya really? Is she nobody — a cold, ruthless killer? Is she Arya Stark — the girl that was raised with strong values and morals? Likely, she is somewhere in between, and in a short period, we saw both sides of her — the side capable of ruthlessly killing those who deserved it, mixed with the side capable of judging it wrong to take the lives of these innocent men just because they were wearing Lannister colors. It will be interesting to keep an eye on this as Arya goes after bigger kills (i.e. Cersei) — to what extent, if any, will Arya be willing to sacrifice her morals to get the kills she so desperately seeks?

KING’S LANDING

The game of strategy plays on as Cersei creates a larger map to be able to visualize all her enemies. She points out the obvious — they are surrounded by enemies on all sides. The Martells to the south in Dorne, the Tyrells to the west in Highgarden, the Starks to the north in Winterfell and now Khaleesi to the east at Dragonstone. The irony is that Cersei finally holds the Iron Throne, but is perhaps more weak and vulnerable than ever before. Jaime points this out and appears more realistic to their weakened position, but Cersei, as always, is out for blood. At this point, it’s anybody’s guess how things will play out with Cersei and Jaime and whether or not they will stick together.

As predicted, Euron Greyjoy shows up to King’s Landing to try and strike a deal with the new queen. He will offer her the Iron Fleet, presumably the most powerful naval force in the world, in exchange for her hand in marriage. On paper, it sounds pretty good. In their eyes, they’ve both been betrayed by their family members, they both want revenge and they share a common enemy. Together, they could accomplish a lot — but Cersei points out that she cannot trust him — not yet at least. He promised to come back with a present to show his good intentions. One can only assume that he will now be on a quest to take out one of Cersei’s enemies and maybe bring her back a head or two. In all likelihood, Cersei and Euron will join forces as it seems like neither of them have great alternatives.

A HOUSE DIVIDED

After defeating the Boltons and reclaiming Winterfell, things were looking up for Jon Snow in the North. But through a more discerning lens, one could see that Sansa was displeased with her brother becoming King in the North and Baelish doesn’t help that situation one bit. Things picked up right where they left off in the North and tensions are running high between Jon and Sansa. As Jon addresses the northern houses, a difficult question is presented — what is to become of the castles of House Umber and House Karstark, the two northern houses that betrayed the Starks and fought for Ramsay. It is proposed that they be stripped of their houses and that the land should be presented to other, more loyal houses. However, Jon points out that the Karstarks and Umbers have fought alongside the Starks for thousands of years and that he will not disregard this history because of a few traitors. He is correct and noble in his decision, but so too were Ned and Robb when faced with similar decisions, and they both ended up dead. Realizing that maintaining the loyalty of your men is more important than being fair, Sansa challenges Jon and does so publicly. Jon is firm on his decision and lets Houses Karstark and Umber back into the fold.

Behind closed doors, Jon and Sansa bicker some more. Jon does not want Sansa to undermine him publicly and Sansa wants Jon to listen to her more. #SiblingProblems. Realizing an opportunity to capitalize on this discord, Baelish swoops in and tries to further his agenda with Sansa. However, having become much wiser in recent days, Sansa is not interested in hearing it. However, she must keep him around as he controls the Knights of the Vale and they need all the men they can get. Baelish is of course still a major X-factor and it is challenging to figure out what it is that he truly wants. In the finale last season, he came right out and told Sansa that he wants her and the Iron Throne, but it’s hard to take anything Baelish says at face value.

Elsewhere in the North, Bran and Meera arrive at the Wall, just after Bran sees the White Walkers continuing to march. As if an army of the dead wasn’t enough, they’ve now got three of the giants on their side as well. To defend against the White Walkers, Jon dispatches Tormund and the Wildlings to Eastwatch-by-the-Sea, the easternmost castle of the Night’s Watch. Originally, the Night’s Watch built and manned 19 castles along the Wall, but as the White Walker threat dissipated over the years, so too did the perceived importance of the Night’s Watch. As a result, they’ve gotten less and less men and slowly abandoned most of the castles they were once guarding. Today, Castle Black is the only real castle the Night’s Watch maintains, but Jon has now sent men, led by Tormund, to guard Eastwatch-by-the-sea. Because it is the easternmost castle along the Wall, it is very isolated, and should be very eerier to see for the first time.

THE CITADEL

At the Citadel, Sam has gotten more than he bargained for. After how things left off in the finale episode with Sam arriving at the magical Citadel, one might have thought he’d be knee-deep in all kinds of ancient books, learning the secrets of how to defeat the White Walkers. The reality could not have been further and Sam has been given the most disgusting responsibilities at the Citadel. As a sidenote, it was interesting (and out of place, in my opinion), to see the way the director of this episode delivered this sequence. Typically, Thrones is shot and cut in a very classic and formal manner. For this segment, though, the director offered a 30-second montage of repeated quick cuts to show the monotony and ridiculousness of Sam’s unenviable responsibilities. This style of shooting felt totally out of place and not something we’ve ever seen in an episode of Thrones. But don’t let this choppy segment distract you from some of the key takeaways here.

First, let’s not forget the very first thing that producers chose to show us inside the Citadel — those astrolabes. We still don’t know exactly what they do, but they seem very important. I wrote a piece on this after the finale last year, and it’s very interesting to consider. Moving on from the astrolabes, Sam had a very interesting conversation with the archmaestar, in which Sam was basically told to stop worrying. As the archmaestar explained, there have been many times throughout history where people thought the end was here. He referenced the Long Night, the coldest and darkest winter that ever came, and brought the White Walkers with it, threatening to wipe out all of humanity. He also referenced Aegon’s Conquest, when Aegon arrived to Westeros and presented the possibility of wiping everybody out with his dragons. It was interesting perspective from the archmaestar, who made it clear that he did believe Sam that the White Walkers were coming. To his point, though, winters come, winters go and life moves on. But he may be wrong about this one. What was also interesting was his reference to the Citadel serving as “the world’s memory.” Over the thousands of years, there has been a tremendous history of events, and it is the maestars of the Citadel that record, preserve and ultimately retell this history, truly acting as the world’s memory. Will it be Sam that will record and eventually tell the story that is unfolding before our eyes?

Tired of washing poop buckets, Sam takes matters into his own hands and steals a few of the locked up books. To no surprise, he learns that there is a lot of dragonglass to be found at Dragonstone. This will be invaluable information to Jon, who already told his men at the beginning of the episode that they must find as much Valyrian steel and dragonglass as possible. Will this dragonglass be the very thing that gets Jon to Dragonstone? Will this be the basis for Jon and Khaleesi to meet? But back to Sam… While making his rounds for pickup, he is nearly grabbed by a man with a disfigured arm. We quickly realize that this is Jorah and his greyscale disease has gotten pretty bad. The assumption is that he’s come to the Citadel to try and find a cure, but it’s unclear whether he’s being held against his will. He asks if Khaleesi has arrived to Westeros yet and it is unknown whether he will reunite with her.

IN THE FIRE

In the Riverlands, The Hound continues to ride along with Thoros and Beric Dondarrion and they stumble upon a small farmhouse that The Hound stayed at with Arya. As a refresher, a farmer and his daughter lived in the house, and provided food and shelter to The Hound and Arya. On their way out, the Hound wounded the man and stole his gold. Arya hated The Hound for doing this. Of course, nobody was thinking about this so many seasons later, but Thrones once again shows its masterful storytelling, as this comes back to haunt The Hound years later.

His character evolution in full swing, The Hound immediately recognizes the house and suggests that they stay away. He was obviously troubled by the memory of what he had done, which was only worsened when he saw the two dead bodies. The old Hound would not have cared — killing and dead bodies was a way of life for him. But the new Hound is showing that he can still be human. As Beric said to him last season, there’s still time for him to do some good.

Later, The Hounds looks into the fire with Thoros and sees not only The Wall, but also White Walkers marching. This is significant for several reasons. First, it reaffirms that validity of the Lord of Light and those that are following it. If The Hound, a man that has shown no interest in religion and has cursed the gods his whole life, is now seeing visions in the flames, then there’s something to the Lord of Light. Second, there is a great irony here, in that The Hound absolutely hates fire after his brother, The Mountain, burned his face as kids. The Hound has stayed away from fire at all costs, and his willingness to now not only get closer to the fire, but to accept the flames and see visions in them, speaks great volumes to the changes he is going through. Moved by what he has seen, The Hound decides to bury the two bodies and he even makes an attempt at a prayer. The evolution we are seeing of The Hound is spectacular and though it still seems unclear what role these three will play in the coming wars, it is clear that it should be a big one.

DRAGONSTONE

And so we end at Dragonstone, in many ways the place where it all began. To appreciate the enormity of Khaleesi’s arrival at Dragonstone, it is critical to understand the history of this castle. For hundreds of years, the Targaryens lived in Old Valyria and ruled over much of the land with their dragons. However, about 500 years ago, a Targaryen girl named Daenys had a dream that Valyria was going to be destroyed. She told her father, Aenar, about the dream and he decided to relocate his family to a small island off the coast of Westeros, naming it Dragonstone. Aenar became known as Aenar the Exile, a nickname given after he deserted Valyria. History would remember his daughter as Daenys the Dreamer, after her dream proved to be true. 12 years after relocating, Valyria was wiped out by The Doom. Just like that, all of House Targaryen (and their dragons) was wiped out, except for Aenar and his family who had moved 12 years prior and built Dragonstone. Over the next 100 years, the Targaryens strengthened their bloodline from the seat of Dragonstone.

After 100 years on Dragonstone, Aegon Targaryen had a plan that would change the world forever. Along with his two sisters, they flew their three dragons from Dragonstone to the Westeros mainland with the mission to subdue all of the independent kingdoms and unite them into the Seven Kingdoms. Aegon’s Conquest was successful and after conquering Westeros, he became the first king of the Seven Kingdoms. Aegon decided to build a new castle to rule from, and symbolic of the first location he landed when he flew from Dragonstone, the new capital city of Westeros he built would forever be known as King’s Landing. And while Aegon’s Conquest is arguably the most important historical event this world has ever seen, the important takeaway here is that it was from the castle of Dragonstone that Aegon planned his entire takeover of Westeros. 300 years before Stannis did more recently, it was Aegon that stood over the wooden map table and strategized how he would conquer each kingdom of Westeros. It is incredible to imagine Aegon Targaryen, standing over that map and figuring out how to conquer Westeros. Now, 300 years later, it is Khaleesi that has arrived at Dragonstone, the ancestral seat of House Targaryen, faced with very same task of figuring out how to conquer Westeros.

It is also significant to note that Khaleesi was born at Dragonstone, making her return all the more powerful as she is truly coming home. During Robert’s Rebellion, as the rebels got closer to King’s Landing and the Targaryens were at risk, the Mad King sent Khaleesi’s mother to Dragonstone for protection. She went with Khaleesi’s older (and now dead) brother, Viserys, and during the night of a great storm, gave birth at Dragonstone to Daenerys. The storm was so legendary that it earned her the nickname Daenerys Stormborn. Now, years later, things have come full circle as Khaleesi returns home to the place she was born, the place her ancestors built.

What was also quite special about Dragonstone in this episode was the way it was presented. We’ve seen Dragonstone many times throughout the years, but it’s always been a very zoomed-in version of it. We’ve really only gotten to see Stannis in the map room, along with a few other rooms here and there, and it has generally been a dark presentation of it. But, what we’ve never gotten is context. We’ve never zoomed out to understand the enormity or grandeur of this castle. But, that’s exactly what we got in this episode. As Khaleesi takes her first step onto Westeros, we see the full context of the island and castle, with its extravagant architecture. As Khaleesi’s dragons fly overhead, we finally get the feeling that they are exactly where they are meant to be. And as the episode comes to a close, Khaleesi stands over the table, ready to get to work, she asks “Shall we begin?” With Dragonstone being quite close to King’s Landing, Khaleesi is within definite striking distance of the capital. The Iron Throne has never been closer.

04.21.14

by throneslifeblog

Episode 3 Recap: Breaker of Chains

SANSA’S GREAT ESCAPE

As the episode begins, Sansa, led by Ser Dontos, attempts a suspenseful escape of King’s Landing — the torturous prison that has been her home for what seems like years. For so long, Sansa has dreamed of a hero freeing her and escaping the cruel and miserable life she has been forced to live in the capital. And now, that moment has finally arrived. Yet, as she finally makes it out onto the open water, things appear a bit more eerie and unsure. The scene becomes dark and a foggy haze fills the air. We soon learn that Ser Dontos was following the orders of Littlefinger, who plotted the rescue and escape of Sansa. Though, Lord Baelish’s motives are unclear, and Sansa appears wary, especially after Littlefinger kills Ser Dontos, the unlikely hero that saved her life. Littlefinger holds Sansa close and tells her, “You are safe now with me, sailing home.”

“AM I STILL QUEEN?”

Margaery sits with her grandmother, Lady Olenna, asking her whether she is still the queen, now that Joffrey is dead. Lady Olenna confirms that she is still technically the queen, and that the death of Joffrey was more pleasant than would have been a life married to him. She also reminds Margaery that the Tyrell alliance is very important to the Lannisters, and that a life married to Tommen, rather than Joffrey, will be better for Margaery.

ONE KING DIES AND ANOTHER KING IS READIED

In the Great Sept of Baelor, overlooking the corpse of Joffrey, Lord Tywin questions Tommen about the virtues that make a good king. As Tommen mentions several characteristics, such as strength, holiness and justice, Tywin points out many great kings that possessed each of these virtues, but ended up dying or being killed. Finally, Tommen understands it is wisdom, the characteristic that all these kings lacked. Tywin points out that the wisest of kings acknowledge what they do and do not know. “A wise young king listens to the advice of his counsel until he comes of age. The wisest of kings continue to listen long thereafter.” As Tywin walks out with Tommen, Cercei looks on, perhaps realizing that she has just lost another son to the “game” of thrones.

As Jaime clears the Sept, he and Cersei stand over the body of their dead son — a son that Jaime was never able to truly father. Cersei insists that Tyrion has murdered Joffrey and asks Jaime to kill him for it. Jaime refuses and defends Tyrion as their brother, who will receive a fair trial. As her grieving turns to lust, Cersei kisses Jaime, but pulls away after being reminded of his golden hand. Jaime exclaims “You are a hateful woman. Why have the gods made me love a hateful woman?” He then forces himself upon her, tired of being rejected and pushed away.

“I JUST UNDERSTAND THE WAY THINGS ARE”

As Arya and the Hound continue towards the Eyrie, Arya asks him where he will go once they reach their destination. He says that he has considered crossing the Narrow Sea and becoming a sellsword in Easteros. Arya responds that she too would like to go to Easteros and that she has friends in Braavos. As they stumble upon a modest man of the Riverlands, Arya pretends that the Hound is her father, a man who fought for the Tullys of Riverrun. Believing they support the same houses, the man takes in Arya and the Hound. Over dinner, the man discusses the Red Wedding and reminds that Walder Frey committed sacrilege that day, breaking the ancient and sacred law of Guest Right. “The gods will have their vengeance and Walder Frey will burn in hell for what he did.” The man also speaks of the impending attacks from Wildling raiders and mentions that the “whole country has gone sour.” The man offers the Hound fair wages for fair work, but the Hound rather steal the man’s silver than work for it. As expected, Arya is outraged after the Hound steals from the innocent man who took them in, and as viewers, we were too. But, as happens so often in this world, our perspective quickly shifts after the Hound explains himself. “They will both be dead come winter and dead men have no need for silver.” After Arya tells him that he is the worst shit in the Seven Kingdoms, he poignantly replies “There are plenty worse than me. I just understand the way things are. How many Starks have they got to behead before you figure it out?”

Like the juxtaposition of their relationship as a whole, this powerful exchange underscores the diametrically opposed philosophies of these two characters. Arya, a character fighting desperately to defend the ideals of the world as she sees it — more than anything, wanting to achieve justice and preserve whatever good is left around her. Versus the Hound, a character with a more realistic perspective of the world around him. He has been exposed to the evils that exist and understands the way things are. In his dialogue to Arya, he points out that the romantic ideals of House Stark have gotten many of them killed, and perhaps it is time for Arya to abandon these notions and to start realizing the truths of the world around them — and what must be done to stay alive.

WE NEED AN ARMY

At Dragonstone, Stannis receives word of the death of King Joffrey and believes this to be another validation of the magic of the Lord of Light. Though, time is running out and he tells Ser Davos, “If I do not press my claim, my claim will be forgotten. I will not become a page in somebody else’s history book.” Ser Davos promises to raise an army for Stannis and has the idea to seek from the Iron Bank of Braavos the funding needed to raise an army of sellswords.

LORD TYWIN & PRINCE OBERYN

Back in King’s Landing, we continue to see the way the Dornish customs differ from the rest of Westeros, as Prince Oberyn enjoys the sex of both men and women. The room clears as Lord Tywin enters to discuss more important matters with Prince Oberyn. After discussing the murder of Oberyn’s sister, Elia, and her two babies, Lord Tywin denies giving those orders to the Mountain. Tywin proposes an allegiance: he will provide Prince Oberyn the opportunity to serve justice to the Mountain, if Oberyn will serve as a judge to Tyrion’s trial and help serve justice to the king’s assassin. However, this arrangement is only a microcosm of the alliance that must be strengthened between between Dorne and the rest of Westeros, should they want to survive the impending evils that Lord Tywin speaks of. He tells that Stannis still presents a threat, while Wildlings march south from beyond the Wall, and across the Narrow Sea Khaleesi has raised three dragons. Tywin reminds that Dorne was the only one of the Seven Kingdoms which Aegon was unable to conquer during his Conquest, and that Dorne and the rest of Westeros need each other.

TYRION & PODRICK

Tyrion’s squire, Podrick Payne, visits Tyrion in his cell and informs him of the trial that is to take place. Podrick was offered knighthood in exchange for testifying against Tyrion, though Podrick refuses the offer. Fearing for his safety, Tyrion demands that Podrick leaves King’s Landing. Tyrion tells him that this is farewell and with much emotion, tells him that “there has never lived a more loyal squire.” In this moment, our perspective once again shifts as we realize the power of this relationship — one that we probably took for granted and never gave much thought. Perhaps more so than anybody else, Podrick knows that beneath all the wine and whores, Tyrion is a good man with a soft heart. And conversely, Tyrion recognizes the unwavering loyalty of Podrick and the true care that he has for Tyrion. And just like that, after all those years, Tyrion must insist that this is farewell.

THE WILDLINGS RAID

Further north, we see the first major Wildling raid on a small village as they savagely murder the men, women and children. There is a clear vengeance about them — they are coming for blood and appear unwilling to let anything get in their way. They spare one child and tell him to run for Castle Black and let the Night’s Watch know that the Wildlings are coming.

When the Night’s Watch find out, they first call for retaliation, but Jon Snow reminds them that if the Wildings get past the Wall, they will raid a thousand more villages before they come upon an army that can stop them. As such, they cannot leave the Wall — they must stay put and prepare for the Wildlings that are coming. However, a moment later two brothers return from beyond the Wall — brothers we have not seen since the mutiny at Craster’s Keep which resulted in the murder of Lord Commander Mormont. They inform the Night’s Watch that the brothers who conspired are still at Craster’s Keep and Jon Snow tells that they now must go north of the Wall to murder these brothers. It is a matter of security — they know the truth that there are only about 100 men at the Wall, and if Mance Rayder were to learn this truth, he would descend upon the Wall immediately and smash the depleted army of the Night’s Watch.

BREAKER OF CHAINS

Khaleesi finally arrives at Meereen with her armies, and we see grand city for the first time — reminiscent of an ancient Egypt with great pyramids. Meereen sends out a rider to champion the city and Daario Naharis is selected by Khaleesi as her champion, after Grey Worm, Ser Barristan and Ser Jorah all offer to fight for her. A strategic fighter, Daario Naharis kills with ease the champion of Meereen, setting the stage for Khaleesi’s speech. Rather than speaking to the masters, she speaks directly to the slaves, telling them that it is not her, but rather their masters who are the enemy. She notes the freed slaves of the city of Yunkai and Astapor that now stand behind her and offers them the same opportunity. She tells them, “I bring you a choice. And I bring your enemies what they deserve.” She then catapults into the city dozens of barrels filled with broken slave chains. The episode ends as one slave picks up the broken chain, realizing the immense power and symbolism of a chain that has been broken, before looking back at his master.

04.17.14

by throneslifeblog

Ser Barristan Selmy

Ser Barristan Selmy is a celebrated knight of Westeros, having served as a member of the Kingsguard during the reign of the Mad King Aerys. Ser Barristan became a hero when he saved the Mad King during the Defiance of Duskendale. He continued to serve loyally during the reign of Robert Baratheon, but was dismissed by the council of King Joffrey, likely because he was too honorable to be bought by the Lannisters. After being dismissed, he crossed the Narrow Sea and arrived to Easteros to serve under Daenerys Targaryen, daughter of the Mad King.

ThronesLife

Understand it better, love it even more

Tag Archives: targaryen

Season 8, Episode 6: The Iron Throne

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?

A Mess in King’s Landing

Duty Over Love

One Strange Council

Back to The Wall

SEASON 7, EPISODE 7: THE DRAGON AND THE WOLF

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.

SEASON 7, EPISODE 6: BEYOND THE WALL

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.

SEASON 7, EPISODE 3: THE QUEEN’S JUSTICE

SEASON 7, EPISODE 1: DRAGONSTONE

Episode 3 Recap: Breaker of Chains

Ser Barristan Selmy