Episode 73: The Iron Throne

“What unites people? Army? Gold? Flags? Stories. There’s nothing in the world more powerful than a good story. Nothing can stop it. No enemy can defeat it.”

Major Plot Points: Daenerys finally achieves her goal.  Jon sacrifices love for duty.  Tyrion gets a new job.  Bran wins.  Sansa gets her kingdom. Arya sails to discover the West Indies.

Observations from a Book Reader:

1. GRRM claims that the show’s ending will closely mirror his own book ending.  With that said, there will still be significant differences, and I am sure he will get us to the end in a way that feels more natural. 
2. Daenerys never saw a vision of the Iron Throne in a destroyed castle.  This was a show-only addition to her visions in the House of the Undying, and she re-enacted it this episode as she approached the the throne.
3. The Grand Maester is known as the personal Maester to the King, and is also regarded as the wisest and most senior of all the Maesters.  Obviously, Sam gets the job, but it really seems like he cut the line a bit. While he does have experiences that no other Maester  could dream of, I still don’t know if I can believe that the Arch-Maesters in the Citadel would allow this to happen.
4. Westeros wass always called “The Seven Kingdoms” but at this point, it’s more like 9.  The Iron Islands and the Riverlands used to be 1 kingdom (The Kingdom of the Isles and Rivers), and an additional region, the Crownlands, was added by Aegon Targaryen when he conquered Westeros.  So with the North gone, it would technically be the 8 Kingdoms.
5. Dorne was the last kingdom to kneel to the Targaryens.  If the North were to secede, then it is likely the Dornish would not be far behind.  So much distance separates these 2 kingdoms from King’s Landing, that being included in the Seven Kingdoms was really only a formality. 

Other Points to Notice

1. While it may seem a bit unrealistic that Tyrion was able to find his sibling’s bodies in the rubble, I am going to give the writers some artistic license, just for the fact that we get to see Tyrion really understand what his actions in following Dany have led to.  It did seem like the whole basement collapsed last episode though.
2. In her heart, Dany truly believed that she was liberating the common people from the Lannisters.  The men and women in King’s Landing were not innocent to her, and she saw it as a necessary evil in killing them.  In her last scene with Jon, we see that she hasn’t changed into an evil madwoman overnight. Disturbingly, she still seems pretty much the same.  She even tells Jon that the two of them know what is right, and they don’t have to worry about other people’s opinions on the matter. It was at that moment that Jon knew she would never see reason.
3. Jon being a Targaryen ended up being a major contributor to his tragic downfall.  It drove a wedge in between him and Daenerys, and it gave Sansa the perfect weapon to destroy Dany’s inner circle.  Because of his honest nature, this secret that Ned spent his entire life trying to keep, ended up pushing Daenerys over the edge.  Jealous of his claim, and worried about her advisors betraying her, she was driven to using fear as her primary method of leadership.  I believe that if Jon never knew about his true parents, or at the very least, never told Sansa/Dany, King’s Landing would not have burned.  Jon also had to pay for his honesty, by spending the rest of his life as an exile.
4. Tyrion’s speech to Jon was by far my favorite part of the episode  “Everywhere she goes, evil men die, and we cheer her for it. And she grows more powerful and more sure that she is good and right. She believes her destiny is to build a better world for everyone. If you believed that, truly believed it, wouldn’t you kill whoever stood between you and paradise?”  In a way, Tyrion is both talking to Jon, and the viewers of the show.  Looking back it does put Dany’s story in a different perspective.  But it wasn’t until Tyrion brought up Jon’s sisters, that Jon actually realized what he had to do.
5. Drogon choosing not to kill Jon may be simply due to Jon being a Targaryen.  It was always stated how the Targaryens were the only ones who could calm dragons.  And while it was a bit campy that Drogon destroyed the throne, I did appreciate the symbolism.  It was the throne, and the desire for power that killed Daenerys, just as much as Jon.  A better writer than me once proposed that the Iron Throne was nothing more than GRRM’s version of the One Ring of Power from Lord of the Rings, and it’s impossible to dispute that fact now.
6. Bran as King makes sense, since he really would be the wisest and least biased person to rule.  But I really wish we saw more examples of him using his powers for constructive purposes before this sudden change.  Even in the small council scene (worst scene of the episode BY FAR) he merely smirks and rolls off before we can see his judgement in any real matters.  Also, the idea of a council picking a new ruler whenever an old one dies seems like it could have a really bad ending. 
7. Brienne writing Jaime’s entry in the White Book of the Kingsguard is a nice cap to his story.  In season 4 we saw Joffrey ridicule him for his entry only talking about killing the Mad King.  At least now he leaves behind some sort of a legacy.  Also I guess this means that Brienne is the Lord of the Kingsguard now?
8. In season 6, when Arya was under the care of the actress, Lady Crane, she tells Crane that her dream is to one day sail west of Westeros.  At least she is consistent. 
9. I assume that the new Night’s Watch is basically just the new Westerosi prison.  They obviously have no wildlings or White Walkers to look out for now, so I cant imagine they have much to do.  Thankfully we got to see Jon reunite with Ghost and actually pet him this time.  Some believe that Jon becomes King-Beyond-the-Wall, but I don’t think he would ever want that.  I think he spends the rest of his life exploring the north, and enjoying his rest.  With the Night King and Dany dead, he really has nothing left to fight for.  He was the Frodo of this story, sacrificing his own happiness and a normal life, to save the kingdom. 
10. I really wish we got to see Yara react to her brother’s death. Also are we supposed to assume the Iron Islands are going to be cool with the “no reaving/pillaging” policy Dany once made them swear?

Stray Observations:

1. With Jaime and Cersei dead, I guess that means Tyrion is the Lord of Casterly Rock?
2. Grey Worm really acts like a dick. (get it?)
3. Loved the shot of Daenerys with dragon wings behind her.
4. This is the first time in years we hear Tyrion speak about killing Shae.
5. Tyrion clearly read my blog, he brought up the same points I did about Dany killing mass groups of people.
6. Every woman that Jon has ever slept with, ends up dead in his arms.
7. Dany says she imagined a throne too high to climb.  That pretty much describes what the throne looks like in the books.
8. Eagle eyed viewers believe that the man sitting next to Edmure Tully, is none other than Howland Reed, Meera and Jojen’s father.
9. Classic dumb Edmure.  I really could have done without all the fucking gags this episode.  Edmure stubbing his toe, everyone laughing at Sam’s democracy pitch, and the brothel gag in the small council room really deflated the mood.
10. We still never hear the end of Tyrion’s jackass and honeycomb joke. Third time was not the charm

RIP: Queen Daenerys Targaryen; Stormborn; Breaker of Chains; The Unburnt; Khaleesi of the Great Grass Sea; Mother of Dragons; Queen of Meereen; Queen of the Seven Kingdoms; Protector of the Realm; Queen of the Andals, the Rhoynar and the First Men; Lady of Dragonstone.

Things I Liked:  Jaime and Theon had great resolutions to their arcs, even though Jaime’s was super rushed at the end.  I also like how Jon did not end up sitting on the throne, it wouldn’t have made sense for him.  Sansa as Queen in the North is also a nice touch, but it seems the Starks really came out as the ultimate winners in the end.

Things I Did Not Like: The Long Night had too many death fake-out moments for my taste.  I understand that the Night King had to lose at that point, but there really should have been more consequences for it.  Daenerys also was painted in a worse light than she deserved.  Her burning King’s Landing may have been inevitable, but we could have gotten there in a more natural way with more time. Everything with Euron sucked.  Really my biggest complaint about this season is insane, and uneven pacing.  Almost every narrative mistake happened because the writers had to bounce characters around with no regard for realism, and had to rush arcs that we barely had time to digest.  And why was Sam not in the crypts the whole time?

It’s finally over.  After a decade of watching, reading, and arguing on Reddit, Game of Thrones is finally done.  This last season was certainly divisive, but I think in the end I did like the broad plot points, just not really how we got to them.  The writers seemed to acknowledge this problem in the series finale, and used Tyrion and Dany as mouthpieces to speak to the audience on why things were happening the way they were. Both Tyrion telling us why we should have known Dany would kill all those people, and Dany explaining to Jon how through her judgement alone without any other voices, the world could be unified, seemed to be spoken directly to viewers.  I suspect in years from now people will enjoy these last few episodes more, but for now the rushed nature of it all skews things in an unfavorable light. I’ll see you all next year when I restart this blog to cover the spinoffs

Episode 72: The Bells

“I hope I deserve this. Truly I do. I hope I’m wrong. Goodbye old friend.”

Major Plot Points: Daenerys breaks bad.  Jaime and Cersei reunite. Cleganebowl. Jon is sad. I am sad.

Observations from a Book Reader:

1. One of the main reasons Aerys was known as the Mad King, was due to the way he would imagine enemies at every corner.  He always suspected people of treason, even his own son Rhaegar.  Daenerys shows these symptons as well when she begins interrogating Tyrion about who betrayed her.  She assumes everyone is now against her.
2. Varys has spent his whole life planning to put Aegon on the throne (book only character from Essos).  He never was a Daenerys supporter.  He likes Aegon for the same reasons he likes Jon in the show, he sees him as someone born to rule, with the right temperament to make hard decisions.
3. When Aerys was convinced to open the gates of King’s Landing to Tywin Lannister, the city was completely wrecked.  Known as the Sack of King’s Landing, thousands of innocent people were killed and raped by Lannister and Northern forces.  At the end of it, when Ned saw Tywin present to Robert the bloody corpses of Rhaegar’s infant children, he was so disgusted by the whole ordeal that he stormed out, and did not talk to Robert again until 6 years later during the Greyjoy Rebellion.
4. This ending is supposedly in line with GRRM’s.  In the books, through Dany’s POV it becomes much easier to see this happening.  She was always absolutely hellbent on the throne and came off as very head strong the entire time.  While in the desert with Drogon after flying from the Fighting Pits, she even begins hallucinating, an event that helped book readers begin theorizing about a new Mad Queen of Westeros.
5. Cersei always believed Tyrion would kill her, due to the prophecy she heard as a child that said “When your tears have drowned you, the valonqar  (means little brother) shall wrap his hands about your pale white throat and choke the life from you.”  Jaime was also her younger brother, so fans believed this meant he would kill her.  But in the end, he did wrap his hands around her throat as they both died.  Prophecies are always a bit fucky.

Other Points to Notice

1. Varys asks his child spy about Daenerys, specifically if she’s been eating yet.  It is very possible he is using this girl, who works in the kitchens, to attempt to poison her.  This is reinforced by the way he says “The greater the risk, the greater the reward.”  It was a tough sell to get Jon in on his treason though.  If he really knew Jon, he would know this attempt was futile.
2. It does seem abrupt that Daenerys has gone this far into “madness”. With a few more episodes to show the transition, it would have made more sense.  But the pieces were there for us to pick up on.  In interviews, Emilia Clarke explained that in Dany’s head, all of the people who actually cared about her were dead, and the ones remaining had done nothing but hurt her cause. She lost Jorah, Missandei, her 2 dragons, and her relationship with Jon.  She had nothing to lose, and no reason to show any mercy to anyone.  She brings up this lack of love with Jon. Fear is all she has.
3. When I first saw Tyrion letting Jaime go, I was pretty upset at what I thought was an idiotic move.  But then he began telling Jaime his real reason for it, and it all made sense.  Tyrion knew he would be killed for it, but he also knew he had to save the one person in the entire world who ever actually loved him.  I am positive that he knew Jaime would not be able to get Cersei to stand down, but he did it anyway.  It was an touching moment between the two brothers, and the last one they’d ever share.
4. I have no qualms with how easily Drogon destroyed the scorpions, or the Iron Fleet.  He is a fucking dragon.  But it does make it really dumb how easily they were able to kill Rhaegal with pinpoint accuracy.  How much better would it be if the Iron Fleet killed Rhaegal through some sort of trickery, and not an ludicrous snipe shot. 
5. Daeneyrs wins the battle easily.  As she hears the bells, she looks at the Red Keep, and there she is reminded of all the things Cersei, and this city in general, have done to her and her family.  It was not enough for her to just win, she wanted to annihilate everyone there. 
6. When looking back through the series, this brutality from Daenerys is something that was always there, hidden beneath the surface.  In S1, she calmly watched as her brother’s skull melted, and her dragons only hatched after she burned a woman alive.  In S2, she tells the masters of Qaarth she will one day burn cities to the ground.  S3 shows her completely burn alive all the masters of Yunkai, and her Unsullied massacre even more.  S4 she crucifies 100 other people, some who did nothing against her.  S6 she burns all the Dothraki Khals alive.  Generally in later seasons, she always wanted to take the path of violence, but was talked down from it by her advisors and close friends who kept her grounded.  She never outright murdered innocent people, but to her the people of King’s Landing were not innocent. Obviously, this is no excuse for her actions, but it does help explain this horrible turn of events.  As an audience we always rooted for her when she killed groups of people, and now that it happens to a city we are invested in, we see just how terrible it can be when a dragon is led into battle by someone trying to conquer.
7. Jon does not do much this episode, except watch in horror as his men attacked civilians.  Grey Worm however, seems to lose all empathy for his fellow men. He burned Missandei’s collar, and with that lost the rest of his humanity.
8. The Jaime and Euron scene served no purpose at all.  Jaime died with Cersei anyway.  Euron should have died on the boat. Waste of time
9. The show did an incredible job with making the Cleganebowl an actual meaningful battle.  The Hound was able to convince Arya that the path of vengeance is a disease, something he learned from his late Septon friend in Season 6.  Arya then departs the Red Keep, trying to help everyone she can, but not before she thanks Sandor and even calls him by his real name.  I believe she is finally ready to move on.  And the fight between the Hound and the Mountain is perfect. I liked how the Mountain was shown to still have some of his old self inside, since he became hyper-focused on killing his brother. 
10. It’s a bit strange that Arya is in King’s Landing at all, but her journey through the streets is filmed so well that I didn’t even care.  Through her eyes we see the actual devastation of the battle, and she tries to save a mother and child even as she is terrified.  The white horse she finds could also symbolize her taking the righteous path, by leaving her anger and revenge behind her as she gallops out of the city. But who knows, she may kill Dany next episode.
11. Jaime was on a path of redemption from Season 3 onwards.  But in the end, even though he did grow immensely as a person, he chose to be with Cersei in her last moments.  Some wanted Cersei to be killed by Jaime, but that act of violence would have been a rough ending to a character we saw grow into a better person throughout the series.  Jaime’s story ends in truly tragic fashion, he was so close to finally shedding his past. It doesn’t negate the good things he did though, especially his choice to fight the Night King’s army.

Stray Observations:

1. I loved how calm Varys was about his execution. He burned the evidence and removed his rings.  He was ready for this moment his entire life.
2. The shot of Drogon emerging from the shadows was one of my favorites.
3. If Jon just made out with Dany a little harder, many people would have lived.
4. This season is the best acting Emilia Clarke has ever done. She kills every single scene.
5. We absolutely did not need the slapstick comedy scene where Tyrion tried speaking Valyrian to the Unsullied.
6. Lmfao at the Golden Company.
7. Some were surprised the “honorable” northern soldiers engaged in rape, but way back in season 2 northern soldiers attempted to rape Brienne.  They were just as violent as the Lannister Soldiers.
8. The shot of the Mountain looking down at the Hound as a dragon flies over. Are you kidding me?  I need that poster yesterday.
9. Cersei was one of the best villains in tv/movie history, and Lena Headey deserves unlimited praise for it.
10. The sad rendition of the Rains of Castamere playing as Jaime and Cersei died was a stroke of brilliance by the show’s composer, Ramin Djawadi

RIP: Varys. Homeless Harry Strickland.  Ser Jaime Lannister, the Kingslayer.  Queen Cersei Lannister.  Euron Greyjoy.  Gregor Clegane.  Sandor Clegane.  Qyburn. 

Episode 71: The Last of the Starks

“I would murder every woman and child for her. She’s hateful, and so am I”

Major Plot Points: Daenerys heads south.  Jon gossips with his sisters.  Euron hides in plain sight.  Cersei looks down on her enemies.

Observations from a Book Reader:

1. Jon calling the fallen soldiers “the shield that guards the realms of men” is of course a direct callback to the oath every member of the Night’s Watch takes.  In fact, if you pretend Jon is giving this speech at a Castle Black funeral, it still really works.  He basically just recycles a eulogy he probably heard a million times before.
2. Stannis is still technically the Lord of Storm’s End.  But Aegon (the potentially fake Aegon from Essos) and the Golden Company now hold it. 
3. There are many theories about what Bran will do once he is the Three Eyed Raven.  Will he use his new powers to manipulate the politics of Westeros? I am certain he will have a larger part to play than just revealing Jon’s true parentage.
4. Sansa and the Hound have an even weirder past together.  When he approached her to leave King’s Landing with him, he drunkenly kissed her.
5. The Prince of Dorne is still Doran Martell.  If he died, it would go to his daughter Arianne.  Since she is out of the show, I have no idea at all who this new prince could be.  Possibly someone from another house, like the Daynes. 
6. Bronn is correct about the origin of great houses.  The Lannisters became a major house because their ancestor, Lann the Clever, stole Casterly Rock from the Casterlys.
7. Ballista crossbows exist, but they wouldn’t work against a dragon.

Other Points to Notice

1. We see Daenerys whisper something into Jorah’s ear.  According to Ian Glenn, it was a very personal message from Emilia Clarke that he says was extremely touching.
2. Tyrion and Davos have a interesting conversation about the Lord of Light.  They both acknowledge that he does probably exist, but they have the same questions we do.  Is he still around? Was his only role in this story to defeat the White Walkers?
3. Tyrion comes off slightly cruel in his drinking game with Brienne.  More in line with book Tyrion, in the show he is usually not as much of a dick.
4. Daenerys begins feeling increasingly isolated.  She sees everyone celebrate Jon riding a dragon and defeating the White Walkers, both things she also did.   It makes sense why she grows increasingly hostile as the episode progresses, the goals she has worked her entire life for are being thrown away to someone else just because he’s a dude. 
5. Kinda weird that the writers decided to make Sansa happy about her experiences.  It almost makes it seem like they were trying to justify the whole “rape” plotline, and it understandably irked some people the wrong way.
6. You can see the desperation in Dany when she begs Jon to keep his lineage a secret.  She is entirely correct, even if Jon claims he does not want the throne, his family and the North would never let him abdicate.  Even honorable Ned Stark understood this, and never told his wife about it.  Also Sansa tells Tyrion immediately.
7. I wish there was a scene between Arya and Sansa after Jon reveals his secret to them.  I’d like to see their reactions, plus Arya goes from saying how much her family means to her, to leaving Winterfell immediately.  It was really sudden to me.
8. The scene with Bronn is hard to believe.  I can stomach him sneaking into Winterfell I guess, but what was the purpose of this conversation? He just takes their word that he will get Highgarden? This seems to me like a plot-line created just to get Bronn in one last scene with the Lannister boys. 
9. Sansa knew exactly what she was doing by telling Tyrion about Jon.  She is planting the seed to sow discord in Dany’s court, a very Littlefinger move.
10. It’s very possible this episode shows us certain characters for the last time, like Gendry, Sam and Gilly.  Tormund however could be back, and he left it open that one day Jon may return to the true North.
11. It is unlikely Euron was able to hide an entire fleet and catch Rhaegal unaware.  I get why he would be waiting in the waters near Dragonstone, but the show could have done a more realistic job of depicting his fleet being hidden from an airborne Daenerys. 
12. For all his talk about “helping the realm” Varys really flip flops his allegiances constantly, which ultimately hurts the realm.  Daenerys is rightfully upset at losing her 2 closest friends, her 2 dragons, and her potential happiness with Jon.  Any normal person would be angry at this point, and Varys just blames it on her being mad.  I could be wrong here, and we will see soon, but Dany hasn’t as of yet done anything to justify Varys leaving.
13. Jaime and Brienne getting together is something that was years in the making.  They both clearly had feelings for each other, and it was nice to see them come to terms with it.  But then we see Jaime leave her, to go back to Cersei.  When I first watched, I thought he was leaving to go kill Cersei, but now I believe he is going back because he feels that he does not deserve the new life and redemption he found in Brienne.  In the end, his story will be about how close he actually came to becoming a better person, but failed just when he got there.  This story would have been a lot better if it were spread out over the course of a season, and not over 20 minutes, but here we are.   RIP Jaime.
14. Did anyone really think Tyrion would convince Cersei to stand down?  Also I wish that Dany’s armies were not so close to the ballista, because it would be in character for Cersei to have her men shoot at them.

 Stray Observations:

1. The title confuses me a bit.  The Starks didn’t lose anyone this episode.
2. Theon finally got that Stark swag he always wanted.
3. The Hound was able to *sniff* out Gendry’s intentions with Arya very quickly
4. Arya shot Gendry down harder than Euron shot Rhaegal down.  I saw that on twitter unfortunately its not an original. 
5. Sansa could have been a bit kinder to Daenerys in the council room. She really hates her.
6. At least we got Arya and the Hound together one more time.
7. Glad they brought Ghost back for an unceremonious goodbye.  I mean how much more money would it cost for Jon to go pet him. God damn it.
8. Poor Brienne.
9. Qyburn walking out from King’s Landing reminds me of the Mouth of Sauron emerging from the Black Gates in Return of the King to negotiate with Aragorn. 
10. Missandei’s last words are up there with my favorite from the show. She basically tell Dany to kill all her enemies.

RIP: Rhaegal, and Missandei of Narth.

Episode 70: The Long Night

“Theon. You’re a good man. Thank you.”

Major Plot Points: Jon yells at a dragon.  Dany uses a sword.  Sam cowers.  Arya does her spooky assassin thing. Theon Greyjoy kills Reek.

Observations from a Book Reader:

1. The episode title describes the battle, but it also references the first fight against the White Walkers thousands of years ago.  Called “The Long Night” or “The War for the Dawn”, the Children of the Forest and the First Men joined together to push back the White Walkers.  Presumably the Wall was built shortly after.
2. The Long Night is also where the legend of Azor Ahai comes from.  He of course was the mythical hero of the Lord of Light, and it was foretold he would one day be reborn.  Mel once thought Stannis was Azor Ahai.  After this episode, I think that the prophecy was always kind of a bait and switch.
3. Thoros was able to light Beric’s sword on fire, and Mel did the same with Stannis’ sword.  But in this show Beric can light his like a lightsaber, and Melisandre lights about 500 Dothraki blades at once.  It gives an incredible affect when you see them turn off one by one, but it does seem a tad overpowered. How could anyone not believe in the Lord of Light after this?
4. The White Walkers are able to bring winter storms with them wherever they go, and utilized this tactic well against the Night’s Watch at the Fist of the First Men.
5. The Night King does not exist, and the White Walker’s motivations are completely unknown.  If the next books come out, I really hope we get more explanations into their conquest of Westeros. 
6. Azor Ahai reborn will probably end up being a combination of Daenerys and Jon.  Or neither.

Other Points to Notice

1. While I am glad that Melisandre made an appearance, I think they could have had her arrive at the end of last week.  It seems a bit strange she is able to appear right in front of the undead army. 
2. Jorah being one of the only people to return from the front lines seems like an unnecessary flaunt of plot armor.  Obviously he dies later in the episode, so why send him out there at all?  Characters living through battles is a mainstay of thrones, but putting them in ludicrous situations where they have no right to survive seems like nothing more than stirring up fake dramatic tension.  This episode has quite a bit of that. 
3. Sansa entering the crypts with the women and children is very similar to her entering Maegor’s Holdfast with Cersei during the Battle of the Blackwater.  She demonstrated leadership skills there by getting all the women and children to join her in singing a hymn.  Apparently there were cut scenes in this episode of her calming the people in the crypts as well. 
4.  Jon does not do much during this battle.  He could have at least used Rhaegal to light the trench on fire.
5. Arya’s library scene is probably the best display of her non-lethal assassin skills we get.  If anyone is able to sneak up on the Night King in the entire world, it’s her.
6. Hard not to make the blatant (somewhat on-the-nose) connection between Beric with his arms up against the doorframe, and Jesus dying on the cross.  Beric even dies so Arya can live.  Melisandre tells this to Arya, and reminds her of all the “blue” eyes she will shut.  This is enough to make Arya realize what her true purpose in this battle is.
7. In the Season 7 episode Beyond the Wall, Drogon leaves a huge trail of dragon fire on the ground.  The Night King walks through it without any problem.  Because of this, we knew there was no chance of him dying to dragon fire
8. Great visual when the Night King brings all his soldiers, and the Winterfell soldiers, back to life.  But it does bring the plot armor issue into light again.  We see simultaneous shots of Jon completely surrounded, and then the next shot he is back in the open.  This happens with Jaime, Brienne, and Tormund too. Again, there is nothing wrong with main characters surviving (the idea of main characters always dying in this show is VASTLY overstated) but it is annoying to see them put in impossible situations they have no chance of overcoming, and then getting through them unscathed.  Main characters living is not new to this series, but these unrealistic situations are way more prevalent in later seasons. 
9. Drogon surviving all of the undead climbing on him is not a surprise to me.  It takes insane force to pierce a dragon’s scales (Just ask that creepy fuck Qyburn), and lil zombie boys with daggers probably couldn’t do him any real harm.
10. In the end, no matter how this series ends, I hope people can look back and remember just how incredible of a job both the writers, and Alfie Allen did of portraying Theon’s story.  Best redemption arc I have ever seen.  It ends with him running head first against an opponent that he knows is better than him, and it makes up for him doing the exact opposite against his uncle. Bran even forgives him at the end, which proves that a little piece of Brandon Stark still lives. 
11. Bran gave Arya that dagger last season.  Fitting the dagger that was once used to almost kill him, ends up being the exact dagger that saves him.  We also see Bran look past the Night King’s shoulder, which makes it seem like he knows Arya is on her way.
12. The Night King dying 3 episodes before the finale was a huge shocker, but it actually begins to make a lot of sense when you think about it.  GRRM always claims how he finds vanilla “good vs evil” conflicts to be a bit boring.  Obviously, the White Walkers were always built up as the main threat of the show, but the political intrigue and house warfare was what made ASOIAF so unique to begin with.  GRRM also talks about how he enjoyed the post-Sauron LOTR content immensely.  In the books, the hobbits returned to the Shire to find it in ruin, and under the control of Saruman.  They had to use what they learned to overcome this final obstacle.  With 3 episodes left, I expect it to be a similar situation for Jon and Dany.  We have a lot of characters left on the board and for the first time in the entire series, it actually is all about the Iron Throne.  This also makes me feel like we are going to see real conflict between the Starks and Daenerys.  I expect many more actual main characters to die to get to the bittersweet ending. 
13. For all intents and purposes, the Night King and his army won this battle.  There was no way any of the living characters could escape him here, and Arya was able to use her assassin skills as a hail mary to stop him.   If the Night King doesn’t die during this battle, there is no realistic way he would ever be defeated. 

Stray Observations:

1. I really don’t understand sending the Dothraki out first.  Seems destined to fail
2. If Davos executes Melisandre in the beginning of the episode, no shot the human team wins.
3. Sam spends the whole time on the ground, and gets Edd killed.  He really should have stayed in the crypts, it’s a bit unrealistic he survives the battle the way he does.
4. Random thought.  I wonder if we will ever see Edmure Tully again.
5. I really hope Bran was up to some elaborate scheme, and didn’t just warg into ravens for the whole battle.
6. The Night King gives his giant a weapon.  Why didn’t Jon give Wun-Wun a weapon during the Battle of the Bastards?
7. We all saw the crypt revival coming, but all named characters surviving seems unfair at best.
8. Dany really should have taken off with Drogon immediately. 
9. Sansa and Tyrion pulling out the daggers almost gave me the feeling they were going to kill themselves.  Similar to how Cersei almost poisoned Tommen when she thought Stannis would win the Battle of the Blackwater. 
10. Incredible music choice for the end of the battle as the Night King slowly walks up to Bran.  We see everyone at their most dire moment, and then bam, Arya attack.
11. Jon completely gives up in the end, and screams at Viserion.  Poor guy really just wants to rest.
12. Melisandre, always the exhibitionist, of course dies while taking off her clothes. 
13. In a way, this episode marks the end of the series.  To me, the rest is the epilogue.  And for once I have no idea what is going to happen next week.

RIP: Theon Greyjoy,  Beric Dondarrion, Jorah Mormont, Lyanna Mormont, “Dolores” Edd Tollett, and Melisandre the Red Woman of Asshai.

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:

1. 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.
2. 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. 
3. 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.
4. 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.
5. 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.
6. 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.
7. 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. 
8. 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

1. 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.
2. When did Arya learn how to throw daggers? I guess she learned a lot of things off screen in Braavos.
3. 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.
4. It seems like Cersei is really pregnant, or at least Jaime believes so. I highly doubt the child will live past birth though.
5. “At least Cersei won’t murder me.”  Tyrion may be surprised when Bronn arrives.
6. 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.
7. 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. 
8. 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. 
9. 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.
10. 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. 
11. 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. 
12. 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. 
13. 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. 
14. 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:

1. Jaime’s face when Bran tells him “The things we do for love.” is hilarious.
2. I think Sansa is wearing armor in this episode.
3. 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.
4. 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.
5. It’s wild to me that Davos is the lunch lady of Winterfell.  What a guy.
6. Tormund really stole that hug from Dolores Edd.
7. Grey Worm gives the classic “when this is all over” speech that almost certainly means he is going to die.
8. 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.
9. Tyrion’s whore abstinence is due to Shae’s death still weighing on him.
10. “I fought for you, didn’t I?”
11. First time we see someone being knighted in the television series.
12. Unfortunately, the trailer ruined the fact that Jorah receives Heartsbane.  It’s still a cool moment to see Sam giving the sword to Jorah.
13. 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.
14. 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.

Episode 68: Winterfell

“You gave up your crown to save your people, would she do the same?”

Major Plot Points: Daenerys arrives in Winterfell.  Sansa lets everyone know how dumb they are.  Arya rekindles an old flame.  Jon finds out he has even more dad issues than he thought. Jaime meets an old friend.

Observations from a Book Reader:

1. For the first time in the show, we see the town outside of Winterfell, aptly known as Winter town.  It’s hard to tell in the show, but most people in the area actually live in the farms and fields outside of Winterfell, since the actual keep could not hold a large population.  During summer, the town is mostly empty, then when winter comes, the people all move back to Winter town and set up camps and houses.
2. When Sansa left Tyrion, it was clearly established that they were still legally married.  It was never officially annulled, and this was brought up a handful of times by both of them in POV chapters.  The show never really brought it up, and Sansa was married to Ramsey without a second thought.  When her and Tyrion meet up here, it is still technically as husband and wife.
3. Harry Strickland, the leader of the Golden Company, is the great-grandson of an unnamed general who died in a Blackfyre Rebellion.  He is recruited by Jon Connington on behalf of Aegon Targaryen (not Jon Snow, Rhaegar’s other son who may be a fake) and invades the Stormlands in Westeros late in the series.  He is reluctant to fight and appears quite cowardly.  Either way, he doesn’t fight for Cersei.
4. A dragon will only take one rider in its lifetime, unless that rider dies. When Jon rides Rhaegal, that means no one else will ever ride him.  Also, it is said only someone with Targaryen blood can tame and ride a dragon.  These points are hugely significant but neither Jon nor Daenerys seem to know them.  It is very fitting that Jon rides the dragon named after his true father. 
5. If Jon has his heritage revealed in a similar way, it would be very hard to prove this claim.  Why would anyone believe Sam’s reading or Bran’s visions?

Other Points to Notice

1. Right off the bat we are treated to a new opening theme.  We see a more intimate look into both Winterfell, and King’s Landing. We also see on the ring different depictions of scenes from the show.  They are hard to make out, but I believe one shows a flayed man holding a wolf head, which of course describes the Red Wedding.
2. The first scene mirrors one of the first scenes of the show’s pilot.  We see a queen and her army entering Winterfell, as a young boy climbs up high to get a closer look.  Robert Baratheon’s theme music even plays.
3. Tyrion calls Dany’s army “the greatest army the North has ever seen.” This is very similar to when the late Mance Rayder once claimed to light “the greatest fire the North has ever seen.”  Hopefully it works out better for this crew.
4. Arya does the same running hug to Jon that she did back in Season 1.  This is the most real emotion we have seen from her since Robb died.  It’s pretty sad to think about how she has to lie to Jon about how many people she’s killed. 
5. I wonder what Cersei’s motive for sleeping with Euron is.  Maybe to make it seem like her new pregnancy is not from her brother?
6. We hear the whores Bronn is with talk about a ginger Lannister soldier named Eddie who had his eyelids melted off.  Ed Sheeran’s character was a ginger soldier named Eddie.  This is the showrunners apologizing to us.
7. If it wasn’t obvious, the crossbow given to Bronn by Qyburn is the same one Tyrion used to kill Tywin in Season 4.
8. If you are wondering why it was so easy for Theon and company to rescue Yara, remember one key fact about Euron Greyjoy.  His entire crew is composed of mutes.  This strategy has some serious downfalls.
9. Such a heart warming moment between the Hound and Arya. He even calls her an icy little bitch. Love those two.  Also the weapon Gendry makes her is going to be sick.  My guess is a quarterstaff with dragonglass on one end, the valyrian steel dagger on the other.  And it can come apart into 2 separate weapons.
10. I absolutely hate the scene with Jorah, Dany, and Sam.  It’s a great scene, but fuck does Daenerys come off psychopathic.  Sam is justifiably distraught about finding out his father died, and Dany just stands there.  Sam is the one that has to ask for privacy, and Daenerys tells him about his brother so coldly.  I feel more and more strongly that she will end up being the villain.  For those wondering why Sam was so upset about his awful dad dying, John Bradley, the actor who plays him, said he based his performance on studies that children grieve even harder for parents they had bad relationships with.  This is because they die and you feel like so much was unresolved and unsaid.
11. Another incredible Sam scene when he tells Jon about his real father.  First, you notice Jon by Ned’s statue, then when he finds out, he walks right in front of Lyanna’s statue, his real mother.  Sam also brings up an incredible point about Daenerys that Jon needed to hear.  Unfortunately, I doubt she would ever give up her crown, since to her it’s become all she really cares about at this point. 
12. When Tormund is standing in front of Ned Umber’s corpse, you can see the eyes turn blue before he screams.  I found that even better than the jump scare.
13. Jaime’s entrance into Winterfell could not have gone worse.  Looking forward to his conversation with Bran.

Stray Observations:

1. What does Bran mean when he says he is almost a man?
2. Hilarious that lil Lord Umber was hiding behind a large man.
3. We never really see the agreement Tyrion and Cersei came to last season.  Sansa finds it obvious that Cersei isn’t coming to help them, and it is weird Tyrion isn’t suspicious.  Maybe he knows something.
4. Good to see Yara isn’t a mute.  Euron is growing soft.
5. No way Bronn kills Jaime or Tyrion right?
6. Man, they are foreshadowing Daenerys running to Pyke.  I expect a devastating loss against the Night King this season.
7. There is a strong possibility that Tyrion is in love with Daenerys, which explains his upset look when he sees them about to bang in season 7.  This, coupled with his weird decisions around Cersei, and the face he makes when he sees Jon riding Rhaegal, give fuel to the theories about Tyrion betraying Jon.
8. Lol at Bran “waiting for an old friend.”  Poor Jaime.
9. In the end, I hope Jon understands why Ned kept his real father a secret.  In a way, it actually was the most noble thing Ned ever did.
10. Every single point Sansa made this episode was correct. The dragon’s food consumption, Cersei’s betrayal, and Jon’s true motives for siding with Dany. People should probably listen to her.
11. Guys. Where the fuck is Ghost? Remember him?

RIP: Lord Ned Umber.  Poor lil guy.