It’s the episode we’ve spent the last six weeks building up toward, full of moments the world is still talking about the following evening and will likely remain talking about for days to come. Yes, apparently it was leaked by hackers but that didn’t stop it being the must-talk-about event of last night, with moments so incredible they probably broke the Internet. And why wouldn’t they? Last night’s show was simply incredible. I was on the edge of my seat for half of it and sat there for forty minutes after it was done just talking about it all, talking about what we’d just seen, what it meant and where we can possibly go from there for the next season. We had twists and turns that I don’t think anyone can honestly say they were able to predict, and that’s what made it one of the best episodes we’ve had yet.
If you’ve not seen the episode then do yourself a favour and stop reading here and come back later. This is WAY too good to have spoiled for you. When I found out it was hacked yet my friend and I had an agreement to watch the simulcast at 2am last night I basically stopped looking at the Internet for over a day just in case. He managed to accidentally spoil one moment for himself while trying to avoid things, and I was so very glad that I didn’t. The setup to this last week was incredible. That ending last week, with Viserion dying and then being brought back from the dead, plus Jon Snow bending the knee to Daenerys while recovering, were two of the most amazing events of this season, and I’ll fully admit that I was a little bit worried we were going to get a somewhat uneventful, more “teasing for the future” episode as the season finale. I’m so happy to be wrong. That said, sometimes I hate being right with some of my predictions for this episode too. Well, I say I hate it… but seeing it happen was way, way cooler than I could have hoped for when I wrote those predictions. So, shall we get on with it? For the final time this year, these are my Talking Points!
Getting Ready For War
We started off this week with the Unsullied and the Dothraki, seen undoubtedly as foreign invaders by many, showing their strength, and oh boy do they have strength. But on the other side of that we had another scene with one of the best duos in the show.
Every scene with Jaime and Bronn is always fun to watch. This week, as they stared out at the army of the Unsullied standing there silently, and then the horn blowing and the Dothraki arriving on horseback, was no exception. I love the way Bronn reacts to things like this. He always seems to take everything in his stride and with a pinch of humour, even what could well be his impending defeat. Jaime, meanwhile, seems extra glum as he looks out at the massive army that Dany has put together. Yet their conversation is a great one to kick off the show as Bronn orders the men, who’ve already prepared five hundred barrels of oil, to prepare five hundred more (and it likely still won’t be enough) before discussing things with Jaime, and the conversation they have isn’t about the army, or tactics, or how they can hope to hold their ground. It’s about the Unsullied and the fact that they don’t have cocks. “Men without cocks. You wouldn’t find me fighting in an army if I had no cock”, Bronn informs Jaime. “What’s left to fight for?” It’s an interesting question and it tells us a lot about the way they both view the world as they discuss it.
To answer the question of what’s left to fight for Jaime replies “gold”, to which Bronn informs him that he’s spent his life around soldiers and asks what Jaime thinks they spend that gold on. He has a point. We’ve seen that a lot throughout the seasons. “Family” is Jaime’s next response, to which Bronn quickly replies “not without a cock you don’t”, both bringing a sense of humour to the situation but again driving home the point. Jaime’s two answers – gold and family – are clearly the two reasons he fought. I think “fame” rather than gold would have been his driving force, and oh boy did he get the fame. The family aspect, the thing that’s possibly the most important thing to him, he was prevented from publicly being a part of in the way he’d undoubtedly have liked. One thing he didn’t say, which surprised me, was “honour”. It’s clearly something that Jaime has always cared about, and it’s something that we’ll see later is such a huge part of him. But it’s family that Bronn continues down the route of talking about when he points out that “your brother has chosen to side with the cockless”.
“Yes, he’s always been a champion of the downtrodden” Jaime informs Bronn. There are so many things he could have said right there about his brother, so many chances to insult him, so many chances to talk down about him, but instead he chose those words, to actually talk about his brother in a positive way, which shows us the strength of Jaime’s love for his family. He knows that Tyrion had nothing to do with Joffrey’s death. He’s always known that, even before he learned who truly was. And it’s that attitude, that commitment to his brother in spite of the fact that everyone else in his family would have happily seen Tyrion dead years ago, that I think makes Jaime such a great character, in spite of his many flaws. He’s been on the villainous side of the show since day one, and it would have been so easy for him to have been such an irredeemable character over the years, but he’s always been one of my favourites, and a character that I’m truly hopeful WILL find some redemption before season 8 is over with.
My only disappointment about this particular scene – and the one that follows it – is that while we see the strength on display that we saw from the teaser, that of the combined forces of the Unsullied and the Dothraki making for an incredibly intimidating sight, and all of Euron Greyjoy’s fleet in its glory as Tyrion and the others approach on one of four ships sailing head first toward that enormous gathering of ships, is that nothing actually came of it. Was the first scene in Highgarden? It seemed like it should have been. The setting, and the castle they were standing on the wall of, seemed very much like Highgarden, and yet besides gathering the forces right outside nothing came of it. Then the next time we see Jaime and Bronn they’re back in Kings Landing with no explanation as to what happened or how they got there. I’m therefore wondering if perhaps that wasn’t Highgarden but rather Kings Landing, the opposite side from the ocean and Dany’s just out to show her army’s might, which would make more sense that the army didn’t march in and take the place… but it’s still a pity that we couldn’t have seen more with that fantastic army. I do love seeing the Unsullied and the Dothraki do their work… but then again I guess we’re going to get plenty of chances for that next year, aren’t we?
Making An Entrance
Every party in the meeting we saw in the teaser ultimately knows how to make an entrance. From the Unsullied, Dothraki and Dany’s followers representing her to Cersei bringing her followers and The Mountain with her, to Dany’s late arrival in fantastic style, they all know how to make an impression on one another.
“Why isn’t she with them?” Cersei asks as we begin, finding Jamie now standing with her, furthering my belief that that first scene must have been Kings Landing (despite what my friend, and Wikipedia, seem to say). As she prepares for the meeting, which as mentioned last week in my preview Dany is at first absent from when it comes to her arrival, she gives The Mountain a very specific set of instructions. “If anything goes wrong, kill the silver haired bitch first. Then our brother. Then the bastard who calls himself King. The rest of them you can kill in any order you see fit”. You’ve got to believe that if anyone there is capable of fulfilling that particular demand then it’s Gregor Clegane as well, and if there’s anyone I’d want to be my bodyguard then it’s him as well. Perhaps not the zombified version of him that does his Queen’s bidding now, but then again is the zombified version even more intimidating than the original? Then again, while The Mountain may be the most intimidating person there, I’d be equally as scared of Dany’s few Dothraki who accompanied the main characters. I’d certainly take their limited number over the guards who Bronn marches up with. You just can’t help but feel like they’d cut down that whole troop without breaking a sweat.
Before we get to the big meeting there were some great smaller ones taking place. The Hound meeting up again with Brienne was particularly memorable, with them talking about Arya and Brienne informing The Hound that when it comes to Arya the only ones who need protecting are anyone who gets in her way. The Hound just smiles at that. Then there was Podrick meeting up with Tyrion again. It’s been a long, long time since we last saw those two together. And Bronn and Tyrion meeting up again as well, with Tyrion telling Bronn to “remember his offer” and questioning his allegiance to his current employers. Bronn claims he’s looking after himself, and that he’s put Tyrion in more trouble than Tyrion’s put him, but they’ve still got a solid friendship there despite everything. There were also looks exchanged between Jaime and Brienne, which you can’t help but love. My favourite of these reunions though was The Hound and The Mountain, with the brothers face to face again for the first time in a very long time, and proving that absence between them as made neither heart grow fonder. The Hound leaves that meeting with the threat of killing his brother… and isn’t that something we’d all love to see? It was certainly a moment that got me imagining a future in which that could happen.
Cersei’s impatience as they’ve all sat down is fantastic, and the reaction of everyone but Cersei when they see the dragons coming in is equally as great. Every person there is up on their feet except for Cersei, who’s just sitting there on her seat trying to look unimpressed. There can be no doubt however that when it comes to winning the game of entrances then it’s Dany who walked out the winner hands down. Drogon will do that for you, I suppose. Even after he’s left though and Dany walks up to the others alone she still strikes the most confident presence, and her lack of sincerity when she gives her “apologies” for being late also tell you that this is a woman who’s grown so much in confidence since the beginning of the show. Tyrion seemed a little worried by that confrontation, but Dany sitting down next to him makes for such a great shot that it was almost the picture that accompanied this section, if not for that awesome one of Drogon a little earlier. It’s hard not to think of Dany’s gathering of advisers as that much better than Cersei’s as well, even if so many of them have switched sides over the years. In one place you’ve got Varys, who was once in a great position of power back in the beginning of the show on the opposing side, Tyrion and Jorah, all of whom have been working for the crown at one point and are now sat alongside the invading wannabe usurper. It shows how’s Dany’s influence has grown so much next to the evil schemers who surround Cersei.
Yet before we can move on to the actual reason for their visit there’s a detour, both in the narrative of the show and in my Talking Points for it…
Greyjoy vs Greyjoy
This began just as Tyrion was about to begin his speech, and it ended in superb style later in the show. It’s a subplot that bubbled under the surface for the last few weeks, but is undoubtedly going to lead to something good in season 8.
Just as Tyrion is about to begin, Euron stops him by calling across to Theon and warning him that he has his sister and if he doesn’t submit right there and then then he’ll kill her. Jaime and Tyrion exchange the greatest look that seems to have Tyrion ask what the hell he’s doing and Jaime almost sigh without either actually making a sound. Then Euron is on good form, claiming Tyrion is the “smallest concern there”, and Tyrion coming back by claiming Euron explains his jokes at the end, which always ruins it. Euron is so outmatched in a confrontation with Tyrion, if not physically then definitely verbally and intellectually. Jaime warns Euron to sit down, and it seems like he’s going to continue to do his own thing until Cersei warns him and then the Mountain steps forward and Euron wisely retakes his seat. Given what we find out later however was that truly dissention between Euron and his potential future bride or was that all part of the plan to set things up to make it all the more convincing when Euron bolts out of there and takes his fleet back to the Iron Islands with him? I hate to say it but I get the feeling, looking back, that it was probably more the latter than the former, and if so then it’s another performance that Cersei played brilliantly.
The battle of the Greyjoys isn’t something we got this episode, but it’s something that has been set up for season 8 rather brilliantly. Let’s forget the real reason that Euron is doing what he’s doing. Let’s forget the fact that he’s working with Cersei. Let’s focus on his claim that his niece is still alive, and let’s focus on Theon Greyjoy because despite everything he’s done wrong, he’s finally beginning to come into his own and work toward his own redemption it seems, and that started this episode with his talk with Jon. He wanted to know how to balance the fact that he was raised as part of the Stark family, with all their values, in spite of how badly he’s betrayed them, with the fact that he’s also part of the Greyjoy family. He also wanted Jon’s forgiveness for everything he’s done. Jon, being Jon, was willing to forgive what he could, but told Theon that he doesn’t need to battle between being a Stark OR being a Greyjoy, he’s both a Stark AND a Greyjoy, and that seemed like wisdom that Ned would have been proud to impart. It was a good moment for Theon as well, who’s been lost for so long, has played so many roles in support of others, and who ran like a bitch rather than fight for his family before. Now he’s finally found some guts (even if he has no balls left).
Those guts led him to the beach, to stop his countrymen from fleeing, to stop them from sailing away, reminding them that they pledged to follow Yara. For once he’s full of honour here, and he’s finally willing to fight. “She would never leave one of us behind. We’re not leaving her behind”, he says, before being reminded that he left her to die. The leader of the group wants to know why they should listen to a coward. He’s spat on, and told to run away, and a fight breaks out that’s simple but brutal, and in a weird way it’s also a showing that everything that Theon has been through up to this point finally makes him who he needs to be. While brutal, this fight is particularly funny when the deserter tries kneeing Theon in the groin a few times and Theon just stands there practically unaffected by it all. What must the others have been thinking? Perhaps the people from the Iron Islands don’t gossip as much as everyone else, because that definitely seems like something you should know about someone, doesn’t it? “Hey, did you hear that Theon had his dick cut off?” Apparently not. And it finally puts Theon not in the position of a helpless coward but as a potential hero… but we’ll have to wait until next year to see how heroism works out for him.
The Contents Of The Crate
Back to the earlier meeting however and Tyrion’s speech beautifully sets up the reason they’re all there, but the reason they’re all there makes a terrifying enough statement all of it’s own.
“This isn’t about living in harmony… it’s just about living” Jon Snow informs Cersei when she mockingly asks Tyrion if their meeting is all about living together in harmony. They only agreed to meet up because those were the stakes, however. This is the gathering of the living, after all, and what they’re going up against, as Jon Snow so rightly points out, is something that should concern all of them. I suppose it’s hard to believe when you’re told these stories, isn’t it? Cersei still doesn’t believe, and when Jon Snow informs her that the million people living in the city could become a million more soldiers in the army of the dead she quips that “for most of them it would be an improvement”. That attitude is soon changed however when she sees what’s in the crate that The Hound carries in on his back (which is no small feat considering the size of it). The actual moment with the crate is almost humorous as well. It’s been set up so well before then so the audience knows exactly what’s going on. The Hound had earlier tapped on it when it was in the boat bring brought to Kings Landing and we saw it shake and the undead wight inside groan. This time, however, as he unbolts it and steps back, afraid of what might come bursting out… the crate just sits there for a moment and nothing happens. It’s almost anticlimactic, and while the others tense up, and even Jaime looks concerned, Cersei just sits there with an arrogant and unimpressed smile. That quickly changes…
I loved that as soon as The Hound flips the crate over it’s Cersei that the damn thing charges straight for. Perhaps evil can sense evil! Being that close to something that’s clearly been dead a damn long time and yet is screaming and about to kill her if The Hound didn’t stop it by grabbing it’s chain would probably have been enough to wipe that smile of Cersei’s face permanently, but then when The Hound cuts it in half to stop it and the two halves keep crawling toward him, in spite of being completely separated from each other (hell, even the legs were still moving toward him, what would THEY have done on their own?) there’s no doubt left over just what they’re up against. While everyone else is rightfully scared of this damn thing the only thing Qyburn can do is get up and start examining one of the pieces that The Hound cuts off it. What was going through his mind? It’s truly a worrying sight when the Hand of the Queen sees an undead creature and his first thought seems to be wanting to control it or examine it, rather than wanting to destroy it. He would as well, wouldn’t he? He’d probably do so gleefully, no matter the lives he’d have to sacrifice for his experiments.
Jon’s demonstration is up next, burning the hand that Qyburn was examining and then stabbing the main body of the creature with a dragonglass blade, ending its life while explaining that if they don’t destroy the threat then that creature is the fate of every person in the world. Then we get that epic quote from the teaser and from all the promotional material for the season, and Jon’s not wrong. What else matters next to the entire world becoming those things? What could possibly be more important than that? But while Dany informs them that she’s seen at least one hundred thousand of the dead marching on the wall and Jaime seems rightly concerned, Cersei is still busy plotting how she can use even this to her advantage. Euron chooses this moment to inform them that he’s been around the world and this is the only thing he’s ever seen that terrifies him before he leaves as well, back to the Iron Islands where they can’t get because they can’t swim. If only that were true, eh? And Cersei seems for a moment to have come to her senses, and accepts the truce… but only if Jon Snow will extend the truce and agree never to take up arms against the Lannisters. She’s just almost died at the hands of an undead creature and still the only reason she’ll help fight something that could kill every man, woman and child in HER kingdoms is if she can gain a tactical advantage in the war that would follow. Doesn’t that say everything about Cersei? Oh, I thought it did until later on… but I’ll get to that.
This whole scene up to this point was beautifully done, and it shows the differences in the characters both from who they once were but also from each other as well. Dany has grown so much from the naïve and scared girl we were introduced to in season 1. Jon Snow has become the ultimate protector not just of the Nights Watch but has taken the promise he vowed to upon until his death far beyond it, now negotiating with the people who killed his “father” because he knows that the threat that the dead pose is so much greater and more important than any war for who sits on a throne. And Cersei is still Cersei, the most cold blooded and evil bitch the show has seen (and that’s saying something given the cold blooded assholes who came before her). What I also loved about this though was the fact that Cersei mentioned that she asked for the vow from Ned Stark’s son. Was she trying to drive home the dagger? She knows Ned Stark’s son will be true to his word, because she knows that Ned taught him what honour means… and Cersei doesn’t even know the meeting of the word, does she?
You Know Nothing Jon Snow… Including When To Lie
So, Cersei will accept the truce, she’ll agree to destroy the one threat to all of them alongside the others but in exchange she wants Jon Snow to keep the North out of the future conflict. Jon can get what he wants. He can protect the North from the undead. But… he knows nothing, doesn’t he?
It seems like a no-brainer. Agree to her terms even if you don’t mean them. Everyone else there would likely have done exactly that. Even Dany, who’s arguably the “goodest” character in the whole show in the terms of the things she’s done and the horrible, horrible people she’s dedicated herself to getting rid of, would have happily lied if Cersei would have asked the same thing of her. But Jon Snow won’t, and he even has no problem in telling her why. “I cannot serve two queens,” he tells Cersei almost proudly, “and I’ve already pledged myself to Queen Daenerys of House Targaryen”. It’s a fantastic moment to be sure, and the look of anger on Cersei’s face when she realises that even the King in the North has pledged to serve her enemy is a great one. What’s even better though is the look on faces of both Davos and Tyrion. Did someone forget to tell them both that Jon had bent the knee?
The look on Tyrion’s face is explained moments later when the disgust that comes across Cersei’s face has her storm off. She can’t get what she wants so she’s willing to let the North deal with the dead and, insanely, believes that they can deal with whatever is left. Is she bluffing, or does she really think that that’s a possibility? After all, if the dead win then it’s not just what’s left of the dead she’ll have to deal with but also all the army of the North reanimated to fight alongside them as well! As she storms off even Jaime looks like he’s unable to fully support that decision, but that’s Cersei for you, isn’t it? She doesn’t care about anyone. She wouldn’t care if the dead killed every one of them – her enemies and her subjects alike – as long as she’d somehow win at the end of it all. My favourite moment in all of this is the look of confusion on Jaime’s face when Brienne stops him and tells him “fuck loyalty” when he informs her that he’s loyal to the crown and she’s loyal to his enemies. She pleads with Jaime to talk with Cersei, but Jaime isn’t sure how he can. He’s right as well, he can’t. There’s nothing he could say that could change her mind. But yet is it this “fuck loyalty” moment, inspired by Brienne, which has a major lasting effect on Jaime? You can just feel the conflict in Jaime has he walks off following Cersei. As I said earlier, Jaime’s motives were questioned but honour is still a major part of his life, perhaps the biggest thing he has left, and right then it’s honouring his commitment to Cersei still… but that won’t last.
What follows is a conversation between Jon and Dany which says so much as she informs him that she’s grateful for his loyalty but that Viserion died to get them here, and if it’s all for nothing then he died for nothing. Jon looks pained over it as well, leaving Tyrion to come to the rescue by talking with his sister as the others nervously wait to find out the outcome. Notable things about this for me were the fact that Dany gets up to talk to Jon almost privately, rather than sitting there addressing him in front of everyone. When they first met it was the opposite, where she sat there with the others around her and Jon was left far below to talk to her from afar. Now, such a short time later, Dany is walking over to Jon to discuss things with him in private, rather than talking down to him in front of everyone. How much things have changed, huh? Tyrion interrupting with the idea that Jon learn to lie every now and again, “just a bit”, is great. Jon’s honour prevents that. “When enough people make false promises word’s stop meaning anything,” he explains to Tyrion. Tyrion’s response is simple, that the more immediate problem is that they’re fucked.
The conversation of which one is going to most likely be murdered between Tyrion and Jon if they go to talk to Cersei alone is hilarious to finish this scene off. “I don’t want to be murdered either” Tyrion informs Dany as Dany says she didn’t come all this way to see her hand murdered, before informing Jon that “she’ll definitely murder you” if Jon goes to talk to her instead. What follows are two amazing stories unfolding before us, as the Lannister family talk for the first time in a long time, and Dany and Jon fill the time they have to wait.
The Lannister Family Meeting
I’ve waited for a moment like this for so very long. It lived up to everything I wanted from it. It was even better, in fact, than what I originally wanted with Tyrion capturing Jaime when Jaime was knocked off his horse. The meeting with Tyrion and Cersei was just damn perfect.
From the long, daunting setup with The Mountain accompanying him down the long corridor, to Jaime and Tyrion talking and Jaime informing his brother that a lot of people – Cersei included – think that he was an idiot to trust Tyrion, and Tyrion counters that he’s about to step into a room with “the most murderous woman in the world”, so which of them is the bigger idiot? “I suppose we should say goodbye, one idiot to another” Jaime tells him. And yet again, as Jaime watches Tyrion walking toward the sister he loves entirely too much it just brings you back again to that opening conversation with Bronn and what really matters to Jaime. He still loves his brother. Nothing is ever going to change that. Cersei hates him so much, blaming him for everything that’s gone wrong, blaming him for killing the father that wanted him dead, blaming his actions for the deaths of two of her three children, and blaming him for the death of her mother giving birth to him, while Jaime has lost all of those things as well and still loves Tyrion so much. It’s incredible to highlight the differences between the two of them and muse over where it’s going to all lead in the future. I still want to see Jaime kill Cersei before the series finally ends and achieve his redemption for everything he’s done so far.
Tyron’s slow walk into the room with Cersei was great as well. So much hesitation in going to meet with the “most murderous woman in the world”. Cersei is once again incredible in this scene though, even from the beginning. “I shouldn’t be surprised I suppose, she’s your kind of woman: a foreign whore who doesn’t know her place”. Yep, that about sums up the way Cersei thinks. As is her way of thinking that Tyrion wants to bring an end to their family. Tyrion insists that that’s not true, that he’s the one trying to SAVE their family, and that he even hates himself for killing their father. The moment where he says he’s never been more sorry about anything when she implies that him killing their father had the knock-on effect of both her other children dying is such a moment for Tyrion, but of course Cersei won’t have any of it. And when he had a drink of wine I was genuinely scared for a moment he was going to keel over. Why is it that I just can’t help but think that everything Cersei touches is poisoned? I’m actually a little surprised it isn’t. First the arrow that Drogon was shot with, that I’m surprised wasn’t poisoned, and then a great chance to kill her brother by poisoning him with wine she must have known he couldn’t resist. The most murderous woman in the world is slipping, it seems.
Tyrion bating her, telling her all the things that he’s response for and then bating her to have The Mountain kill him, is great. The relief on his face when she DOESN’T give the order is classic Tyrion. He called her bluff and she didn’t go through with it. Why, I’m not sure. It’s not because he’s family. Is it because she knows that doing so would result in the dragons setting fire to the building she’s in and killing her? Probably. Their conversation, with Cersei demanding to know why Tyrion would have had Jon Snow bend the knee and him saying honestly that it’s because he believes Dany will make the world a better place, and that despite the fact that she WOULD have burned Kings Landing to the ground to conquer it she chose Tyrion to stop her because she chose an advisor to check her worst impulses rather than encourage them, is again a great moment that focuses on the differences between the various characters, in this case our two Queens. But Tyrion finding out that Cersei is pregnant again – and not even needing to guess at the father – is a moment that I can’t help but feel is going to have a long knock-on effect. Tyrion loved her kids, in spite of how much he didn’t love her. What does that mean for a man who also still cares about his family despite all they’ve done to him?
Dany Hates Small Things
Last time out we found out that Jon Snow is “too small” for Dany. This time out she’s looking at the bones of the dead dragons that once lived in the arena and is disgusted at how much they wasted away and became small…
Her talking about the dragons – that they were extraordinary, and that her family weren’t extraordinary once they locked the dragons in the arena to waste away and die – is a touching monologue. She says that without the dragons they were just like everyone else, and Jon is quick to inform her that she’s not like everyone else, and that her family isn’t done yet because she’s still there. Cue Dany informing him that she can’t have children, and finally explaining why she thinks that – the witch told her all the way back in season 1, even if it didn’t happen in the show to my recollection – and Jon’s comeback that she might not have been a reliable source of information is a touching moment between them. Goddamn does Dany need to have kids. Her family can’t end with her… even if it won’t because of Jon. Neither of them know that at this point however, and this conversation between them just seems to bring the two of them closer and closer. You can’t help but root for them as well, much like him and Ygritte way back in the old days. Who doesn’t enjoy a good love story in amongst all this chaos, right?
It’s another aside from the group. It’s another moment just between them, It’s another moment where they’re vulnerable with each other, perhaps more so than with anyone else. And it’s a moment where Dany can be honest with Jon about wanting to help him while also not wanting to lose the battle to Cersei. Thankfully one small thing that Dany does love shows up with good news for her at just that moment, with Tyrion returning from his sister and then Cersei following on behind to pledge her armies in support of Dany’s and Jon’s and to fight the great war side by side. And everyone believes her, including Tyrion. What’s most incredible is, right in front of her brother, she informs them to call their bannermen and inform them of the new plan, and Jaime is also completely taken in by her. It seems like she’s uniting for the good of the kingdom in one fantastic moment, but deep down inside we still knew she was scheming, didn’t we?
They Play A Lot Of Games In Winterfell
Time for a trip away from the main plot, to Winterfell and a subplot I was worried about in the teaser with Sansa sulking and Little Finger continuing to play his games.
Last week we saw a very particular game being played, not with Little Finger but rather with Sansa and Arya: the game of faces. You don’t want to play that game with Arya either. You won’t win. But there’s a different game being played this week. It seems in the cold and the snow there isn’t much to talk about. Little Finger talking about Jon potentially wanting to marry Dany, and that he was named King in the North and “he can be unnamed”, is where his plot finally seems to start to come along. Sansa says that even if she wanted to “unname” her brother then Arya would never allow it, and this is where the game comes in. Little Finger has played this perfectly, and he’s in good form here. Sansa seems afraid of Arya, asking Baelish if he knows what the Faceless Men are, which he seems to. They’re killers, aren’t they? And Sansa seems afraid of that. But Baelish tells her that when he’s trying to understand people’s motives he plays a little game. “Sometimes, when I try to understand a person’s motives, I play a little game. I assume the worse. What’s the worst reason they could possibly have for saying what they say and doing what they do? Then I ask myself, how well does that reason explain what they say and what they do? So tell me, what’s the worst thing she could want?”
Sansa goes along with it. What’s the worst thing that Arya could want? Why did she come to Winterfell? Why did she unearth the letter that Cersei made her right? And, after she murders Sansa, what does Arya become? Of course, Sansa provides all the answers that drives her exactly in the direction that Little Finger wants. He’s the master of this. He’s got Sansa exactly where he wants her. And I’ll admit, I thought that he was about to get exactly what he wanted. The only question in my mind at this point was when, not if, we’d see him make his play. This has been such a great subplot the last few episodes. While the far more important things have been happening, the story with the Starks has been compelling in an entirely different way, and while everything else has been moving so fast, with so much happening, this one has been building nice and slowly. This kind of story is why I fell in love with this show in the first place, and Baelish has always been the master of it. How many times have we seen him do this? How many people have we seen him manipulate into doing what he wants? He’s the best there is at it, and it seemed for all the world like Sansa was about to fall for it hook, line and sinker just like the others…
You Stand Accused Of Murder. You Stand Accused Of Treason. How Do You Answer These Charges… Lord Baelish?
After Baelish’s manipulations we don’t have to wait until next year for the conclusion to this story, as we’re finally going to see the big confrontation it’s all been building toward as sister faces sister… right? Or… perhaps not.
When Sansa made that walk I was worried about down through Winterfell and demanded “have my sister brought to the great hall” I couldn’t help but wonder where this was going to go, and as Arya walks in surrounded by the guards I did wonder just how well trained she was. Was she going to fight her way out of there? And then the sisters are face to face, and Sansa claims that honour demands she defend her family, and the North, from those who would harm them it seemed for certain like it was going to go one way, and didn’t Little Finger look confident? His manipulations put him exactly where he wanted to be. And then everything changes in one beautiful moment and the look on Little Finger’s face is going to be a meme for years to come. He thought he was in control. He thought he’d gotten what he wanted. But oh boy was he ever wrong, and the smile on Arya’s face as she looks at him is just priceless. We thought that he was playing her. He WAS playing her, right? But maybe she was playing him as well after all…
This scene is one I happily described as “perfect”, and it was. Little Finger being caught off-guard was great. His attempts to defend himself, with claiming that their aunt was “troubled”, was good, but there was no way he was going to get away with it, right? And Sansa seemed to know things she couldn’t possibly have known, things that shocked Little Finger, including the fact that the entire conflict between the Starks and the Lannisters was started by Little Finger, and that he conspired with Cersei to betray Ned Stark. Of course he denies things, until Bran speaks up and reminds him exactly what happened. Yeah, it’s hard to lie to a guy who can literally see past events, isn’t it? And Little Finger is finally trapped. He has nowhere to go. He even drops to his knees and pleads for mercy as he realises every one of his lies has finally come back to haunt him with Arya, Sansa and Bran having caught him in every lie, and his own words from earlier are turned against him. What’s the worst reason that he has to turn Sansa against Arya? Then THE moment occurs, when he has nowhere left to go, and it’s of course Arya who kills him with one cut across his throat. “There’s no justice in the world, not unless we make it. Thank you for all your many lessons, Lord Baelish”, Sansa tells him right before it happens… and finally Little Finger got what he’s had coming to him for a very long time. And it was utterly and completely perfect.
I Don’t Believe You
Speaking of perfect, then there was an incredible scene between Jaime and Cersei, with Jaime preparing to do exactly what she said and honour her commitment to pledge their troops to fight the army of the dead… he should have known better, shouldn’t he?
Brienne earlier said “fuck honour” when it came to this situation. Was that still fresh in Jaime’s mind when Cersei took him aside as he was planning the exhibition north and called him the “stupidest Lannister” for believing that they should fight alongside the Starks and the Targaryeans. “Are you a traitor, or an idiot?” she asks him before telling him outright she says whatever she needs to say. “Our child will rule Westeros”, Cersei tells him as he’s arguing with her about them fighting alongside the others. Jaime clearly believes they should, and he’s willing to stand up to Cersei over it so you know that, for once, his honour outweighs his commitment to her. Rightfully so as well. Jaime’s seen the threat. He knows what’s coming. And he believes they should fight, whereas Cersei is once again looking for the way it can benefit HER. “Our child will never be born if the dead come south”, Jaime counters in his commitment. And worst still, he has the best point to counter her madness, that when the battle in the north is finished, someone will win. “If the dead win, they march south and kill us all. If the living win, and we’ve betrayed them, they march south AND KILL US ALL,” he screams at her, and still she’s not swayed from her evil.
Cersei only saw two dragons. She thinks that means that the dragons were weak. But they can’t win, can they? Jaime points out they don’t have the support, but Cersei believes they can buy the golden company, with the fleet that Euron Greyjoy just took back to “the Iron Islands”. “No one walks away from me”, Cersei says in another moment of evil, as she reveals that she’s going to hire the Golden Company to fight for them, that the mercenary army is all she needs to win, and that she’s schemed this with Euron and not told Jaime. Jaime, the commander of her armies. Jaime, her brother and her lover and the father of her unborn child. And, at long last, Jaime stands up to her. It’s a wonderful moment, as is when he tells her he pledged to ride north and aims to honour that pledge, which Cersei claims is treason. When she told the Mountain to stop him, and the Mountain drew his sword, I actually believed for one long moment that she was going to have him do it. I actually believed that Jaime was done for, because “no one walks away” from Cersei. He argues he’s all she has left, and yet it doesn’t sway her. Jaime, the one person who’s always been by Cersei’s side, then walks away… and is that the end for them? Is he going to tell the others what she’s planning? Is he going to lead whatever parts of the army will follow him? This was so beautiful that I’m dying to know what happens next, and I’m so hopeful it ends with Jaime adding “Queenslayer” to his resume by being the one who finally kills Cersei.
Ice And Fire… And Love
Elsewhere, Dany and Jon are beginning to plan their tactics for the great war ahead of them and how they can get their troops into position, and Dany listens not to Jorah, her oldest advisor, but to Jon, her newest…
While talking about how they get their troops into position, with the Dothraki riding north, and the Unsullied in ships with Jon Snow and the others, all heading to Winterfell to meet up with the army of the North so they can stand together, Jorah has a different plan. If Dany goes north then she’s going into enemy territory. So many people hate her family and see her as an invader, and all it would take is one bolt from one crossbow to end her. Maybe she should fly north, as she’s flown other places before? But Jon suggests that if they’re allies then the north should see them as allies. If they’re together then it sends a better message. And Dany believes he’s right. They’ll sail together. Jorah looks unhappy about it, and Tyrion is notably quiet on the subject. I wondered why at first. Did he think that Jon was right and didn’t want to say anything? Did he think that Jorah was right and didn’t want to contradict Jon? Did he not have an opinion of how she should travel? Surely the last one is wrong, given the fact that he begged her not to go north before to save Jon and the others and she didn’t listen. So maybe it’s because he knows that she’ll make up her own mind no matter what and respects that? Or maybe it’s because he wanted to sit it out and watch what would happen, and I think that’s the most likely one of all. Tyrion is working so hard to make the right moves here, and as much as he may be happy to see Jon bending the knee, I think he wanted to see just how much influence Jon had over Dany’s decision making. Turns out, a lot.
Then, as we’re building toward the ending, it feels that much more amazing as the we see the snow falling over the south, winter FINALLY having come, and we see that Dany and Jon are together. But to get to the biggest moment between Jon and Dany we need to talk about Sam and Bran meeting up again and talking about Jon. Well, Bran knows that Jon isn’t his father’s son. He knows that he’s the son of Rhaegar Targaryen and Lyanna Stark, and he believes his real name should be Jon Sand, because he was born in Dorne. Only that’s when Sam tells him that his real name ISN’T Sand. He tells him about the citadel. He tells him about the ceremony, which we then see in a flashback of Bran seeing it happen. He sees Rhaegar and Lyanna wed. He sees that everything that Robert’s Rebellion was about was a lie. And while this revelation is happening we see Jon and Dany, and Jon visiting Dany’s room and heading inside, and then we learn the thing we’ve all been waiting for. We learn what Lyanna whispered to the younger Ned Stark right before she died, even as we see Jon and Dany finally giving into their desires and making love.
“His name is Aegon Targaryean”
What does this mean? Jon is a true blood Targaryean, he’s never been a bastard, and he’s the rightful heir to the Iron Throne! Dany has no idea. Jon has no idea! Nobody knows but the two people in that room, Sam and Bran, and yet Dany and Jon have finally given in. While the subject of the love between one Stark woman and one Targaryean man provides the backdrop we see the love between a Targarean woman and a Stark man playing out before our eyes, and it’s so beautiful even if it is so very, very worrying. He’s pledged himself to Dany, right? He’s pledged to serve her. Now he’s fallen in love with her, and her with him, so does this mean they’ll rule together? And Jon is the rightful heir to the throne, so does that make him King, and Dany his queen, or does that make her Queen because he pledged himself to her? Either way it means that the love between the Targaryean and Stark families is what’s gotten us to this point, twice. Yes it’s incest, but it’s between aunt and nephew, not brother and sister, and it’s between two people with no idea they’re related, two people who have earned their rightful places where they are, the two best characters in the show… so is it still wrong? And what if Jon is right? What if the witch was a terrible source of information? What if Dany ends up pregnant now? Targaryean’s have intermarried for generations, so it’s almost a family tradition for them both. Royal families have done it throughout the years to keep their blood lines “pure”. But will these two? Then there’s Tyrion looking on as the door shut. He knows what’s happening, and he said nothing. Is he happy, or is he worried? He knows the hold they have on each other, he knows what they’re willing to do for each other… that’s not good for tactics, is it? This could have been an amazing end to the season, but NOPE… the true highlight and ultimate talking point was still to come.
The Only War That Matters Is The Great War… And It Is Here!
That quote had to be the final talking point, even if it happened far earlier in the show, because the dead haven’t just reached the wall… oh no, they’ve headed straight through it.
The army of the dead approaching was a beautiful moment. The wights, and the giants, and the dead horses, and everything else slowly walking toward the wall was a stunning sight, but that was nothing compared to the sight that came next. Viserion, holes in his wings, a dead colour running through him now, and the Night King on his back, flying through the air was utterly amazing. The blue fire was even better. Yes, there was blue fire! And it looked even more stunning than I imagined it would. Major, major love goes out to everyone who worked on the effects for that glorious scene, because they were beautiful beyond words. What was not beautiful however was seeing the guards on top of the wall – the Wildlings, but more importantly Tormund and Beric – fleeing in terror as the wall began to crumble under the attack from Viserion. That blue fire smashing into the ice was something special, wasn’t it? So special it needs twice as many screen captures to fully bring the magnificence of it to this blog. And as the fire smashed into the wall, taking out large chunks of ice, the inevitable happened under that kind of attack… the wall fell.
Eastwatch is no more. It’s gone. That whole section of the wall just crumbled. Then we saw that army, that had stopped and waited as the Night King rode Viserion to take out the wall in front of them, begin to march again through what was left of the wall, and with the dragon flying overhead they began their slow march into Westeros at long last, and toward Winterfell. That is the next stop, right? And Bran is there. How long before he realises this has happened? Is there enough time to warn people? How long until the armies of the Dothraki and the Unsullied are in position? How long before the Lannister’s army – if any of them even come, led by Jaime – come to aid them? They needed weeks in the planning, apparently, and Jaime told them they don’t have weeks but do they even have time to get them up to help? Where are Drogon and Rhaegal if Dany is going up by boat? Can Dany get them up to helo? And can even those two together stop just Viserion, let alone everything else? What if the Night King has more of those spears? Is it even worth the risk that they could give him yet another dragon? But then what else can stop a damn undead dragon? And while the battle may be huge, and there are so many dead, all they REALLY need to do is kill the Night King, right? If they kill the Night King then all those he’s created will fall, and when they fall then all those that those ones created will fall, and every single thing in the army of the dead will be gone… but how the hell do you even get close to the Night King to kill him?
Suffice it to say this was what it’s all been building to for a long time, and it was an AMAZING ending to season that’s built it up so well, and oh boy did it deliver on its promise. I can’t even put into words the goose bumps I got watching it the first time, and I even got goose bumps watching it the second time as well before writing this. To end the season of three huge moments like that – Jaime and Cersei possibly ending their relationship, Jon and Dany only starting theirs while the truth about Jon is now known to two people, and then the Night King riding the dragon and bringing down the wall – makes it unfair how long we have to wait for the next season. It may be a full year away, debuting around this time next year, or it may be even longer. It’ll only be six episodes, but rumours are that we could get a few 90 minute episodes in there, and perhaps even a two-hour finale, so while it’ll be shorter in terms of episode count it may be longer than this season in overall minutes. We’ll need it to because there’s so much still to tell. And it’s been so much fun writing this that I’ve written entirely too much and spent entirely too long on it, but I hope you enjoyed this episode as much as I did, and if you want to talk about it then feel free @AlexisEbdon on Twitter and AJEbdon on Facebook. I may also do some actual talking about this in the week, and I have no doubt I’ll want to write more about my thoughts on the season overall, and the future, and everything else Game of Thrones, so until then these have been my season finale Talking Points.