Episode 69: A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms
“She never fooled you. You’ve always known what she was. And you loved her anyway.”
Major Plot Points: Jon acts weird around his aunt. Sansa and Dany have girl time. Davos serves lunch. Sam slays. Arya and Gendry make up for lost time. Jaime is a good guy now.
Observations from a Book Reader:
- Jaime did not stab Aerys in the back. Figuratively he did, but he literally stabbed him through the front. I feel like there is a big difference.
- The Golden Company always had exactly 10,000 men, no more no less. As soon as one was killed, one more joined. Here they have 20,000 men.
- Daenerys telling Tyrion that she will find another Hand, is extremely reminiscent of her late father Aerys. Aerys went through 5 different Hands during Robert’s Rebellion alone. First Tywin, then Owen Merryweather, then Jon Connington, then Qarlton Chelsted, and finally a crazy pyromancer. He actually burned Qarlton alive when he protested Aerys’ plan to burn down the capital.
- Brienne was constantly tormented as a child, and as an adult. Her father tried finding her a husband when she was younger, but they all jeered and rejected her. She never outgrew this pain, and legitimately could not fathom Jaime being kind to her.
- Tormund tells other ridiculous stories to Jon. He claims to have at one time wrestled a she-bear, and mated with her. It has to be true.
- Brienne is a descendant of Ser Duncan the Tall, a legendary Commander of the Kingsguard who was the main protagonist of the “Dunk and Egg” series of novellas. The name of this episode A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms is a reference to both Brienne, and Dunk. The name of the Dunk and Egg anthology is A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms.
- Jeor Mormont’s dying wish to Sam, was for Jorah to come home and take the black. We did not get to see this in the show. When Jorah takes Heartsbane from Sam, he says he will guard the realms of men. A nice callback to the old crow.
- Podrick sings the song of Jenny of Oldstones. This song is about a woman who fell in love with a Targaryen heir, and he abdicated the throne to be with her. They both tragically died in a fire that killed almost all of the remaining Targaryens in their keep of Summerhall. It was in this fire that Rhaegar Targaryen, Jon’s father, was born. Seems oddly prophetic that the scene after this was where Jon tells Dany about his real dad.
Other Points to Notice
- Daenerys is rightfully angry with Tyrion. If you count season 6, he has now been wrong about: the slave masters, taking Casterly Rock, and negotiating with Cersei.
- When did Arya learn how to throw daggers? I guess she learned a lot of things off screen in Braavos.
- There may be a little of Bran Stark left inside the Three Eyed Raven, he seemed a bit personally invested with Jaime. It is possible him asking Jaime, “How do you know there will be an afterwards” foreshadows Jaime dying.
- It seems like Cersei is really pregnant, or at least Jaime believes so. I highly doubt the child will live past birth though.
- “At least Cersei won’t murder me.” Tyrion may be surprised when Bronn arrives.
- We had a great scene between Sansa and Dany. These 2 characters have had similarly dark paths, and really should like each other. But at the end, Sansa sticks to her guns and asks Dany questions that she is not ready to answer. This plot is not over yet.
- Theon has finally found the home and acceptance he’s always looked for. He’s back in Winterfell, fighting with his real family. Sansa embraces him, and in that moment we know his real struggle is over. Of course, this is an absolute death sentence for him, and now he can die honorably in peace next week.
- The little girl with the facial scar is a clear callback to Shireen. Davos almost cries just talking to her. Of course, Davos wasn’t the only one to have loved Shireen, Gilly was also taught by her how to read. She also notices the connection and shows kindness to her. All the while, Shireen’s theme music plays over the scene.
- There is a chance that the Night King is not with his army marching on Winterfell. We know that there are over one million people in King’s Landing. That’s ten times the size of his current army. He could be flying there alone, to get more recruits.
- Tyrion hears Bran’s story about becoming the Three Eyed Raven. We also hear many times this episode how his intelligence is still his greatest asset. My personal theory is that before this all ends, Tyrion will have one last stroke of genius that allows Dany/Jon to defeat Cersei and/or the Night King.
- Sure it’s a bit weird to see Arya knocking boots with Gendry, but her character is 18 so it’s kosher. Plus no one seemed to care when 14 year old Tommen banged Margaery.
- Brienne tells the group that she never wanted to be a knight. Obviously she is lying, due to her constant fear of being belittled. She doesn’t even believe Jaime when he first offers her knighthood. It shows how much she respects Podrick, because she looks to him for advice.
- Jaime is a completely different character in this episode than we have seen before. No jokes, no mask of arrogance, and most importantly no Cersei. He is pretty much guaranteed to die at some point in a final redemptive act of sacrifice, but whether this will be during the battle at Winterfell, or while taking down his sister, remains to be seen.
- Dany’s first response to Jon telling her about his true parentage; is to get angry that he may be trying to steal her throne. Jon clearly does not want the throne, he was more concerned about their relationship. He seems hurt by Dany’s reaction.
Stray Observations:
- Jaime’s face when Bran tells him “The things we do for love.” is hilarious.
- I think Sansa is wearing armor in this episode.
- Jaime losing the blonde color in his hair could be a way for the writers to symbolize him losing his ties to the Lannister house, and Cersei.
- If Jorah lives, he could be the one to help Daenerys see reason in the end before she totally loses it and burns everyone alive.
- It’s wild to me that Davos is the lunch lady of Winterfell. What a guy.
- Tormund really stole that hug from Dolores Edd.
- Grey Worm gives the classic “when this is all over” speech that almost certainly means he is going to die.
- GHOST SIGHTING! The fact that none of the characters mention him makes me think that the directors really just expected us to believe he was always in the background.
- Tyrion’s whore abstinence is due to Shae’s death still weighing on him.
- “I fought for you, didn’t I?”
- First time we see someone being knighted in the television series.
- Unfortunately, the trailer ruined the fact that Jorah receives Heartsbane. It’s still a cool moment to see Sam giving the sword to Jorah.
- Podrick singing right before a battle is eerily similar to Pippin singing to Denethor before the Battle of Pelennor Fields in Return of the King.
- The crypts were mentioned 4 times as being safe this episode. I counted. Seems foolish to keep women and children by corpses that could be re-animated.
RIP: Probably 80% of the main cast next week.
TV talk with Mr. Lemons 