We’ve waited for what felt like an eternity, but folks – it is here. It’s time. The FINAL season of HBO’s hit Game of Thrones is underway. Join me every week as I hit the highlights of the latest episode and discuss little news and notes you might’ve missed along the way. LFG – Winter is here.
Recap (SPOILERS)
Just a quick recap before we get into the main storyline breakdown. Last night was all about setting up the rest of the season – reunions, introductions, moving around the chess pieces, etc. etc. Very little action, but I don’t doubt that there’s plenty of that to come.
The episode opens with Dany’s arrival in Winterfell. She meets Sansa, who welcomes her to Winterfell in a rather cold and dry way. Bran tells them there’s no time for pleasantries as The Wall is down and the Night King has himself a dragon now. Lots of posturing in Winterfell between Jon, Dany, Sansa, Tyrion, Arya, and a lot of the lords of the north. Everyone still wants Jon as their king.
Euron Greyjoy brings The Golden Company, 20,000 deep, to King’s Landing. He also finally succeeds in getting Cersei into bed. Cersei really is starting to lose her mind. Elsewhere in King’s Landing, Qyburn gives Bronn a new order directly from Cersei – if Jaime and Tyrion somehow survive the war, Bronn is to kill them.
Theon rescues Yara from Euron, and they sail back to the Iron Islands. Yara tells Theon to go north to fight alongside the Starks (it’s what he wants to do) while she goes home. If things go sideways, Dany will need somewhere to retreat to after all!
Jon hops onto the back of a dragon, and he and Dany have a nice little day trip to a waterfall where they kiss and snuggle and the dragons watch along creepily. Jorah introduced Dany to the man who saved his life, Sam. “Nice to meet you, Sam – I sat your dad and brother on fire” is pretty much how this goes and then John Bradley absolutely steals the show with his performance – the full emotional spectrum on display just from his facial expressions. Really phenomenal stuff.
Bran is being all weird in the courtyard, when he tells Sam he’s “waiting for an old friend.” He follows that up by telling Sam they need to tell Jon about his true heritage right away. Sam has to be the one to do it. So, he finds Jon down in the crypts and spills the beans – he is Aegon Targaryen, the son of Rheagar Targaryen and Lyanna Stark, rightful heir to the Iron Throne, and has been banging his aunt.
We catch up with Tormund, Beric, and their crew (they survived, yay!) at the Last Hearth, which has clearly seen better days. They run into Edd and the boys from Castle Black and discover that little Lord Umber has been killed, turned into a White Walker, and hung up on the wall with human arms and legs affixed in the emblem of the Night King. Welp.
The episode closes with Jaime Lannister arriving in Winterfell, where he comes face to face with Bran. *GASP* We’re back where this whole damn thing began.
HE KNOWS
“You’ve never been a bastard.” – Well, there it is. We’ve known for awhile, and now Jon knows. His reaction is of disbelief at first – but between Sam reading all the damn books in The Citadel, and Bran doing his weird Bran thing, Jon realizes it’s the truth.
Now – this is where things get hairy.
What does Jon do with the information? It’s clear that the folks of the north still want Jon as their king. It’s clear that Sam, Sansa, and Arya are still behind Jon. But, Jon has never wanted a crown. Not to mention, this will likely drive a wedge between him and Dany, who he very clearly loves.
I expect Jon will try and keep it a secret, only to be outed by Sam or Bran. The truth is going to come out eventually. Then, we have a whole different mess on our hands.
Dany isn’t going over well
Between Jon’s true heritage being revealed to him, and with how the northerners are reacting to Dany’s arrival, I don’t feel like we’re heading towards a very positive place with her. Northerners aren’t very trusting of outsiders to begin with, but now, they’re looking at her as the woman who took Jon Snow from them.
Once these people find out that Jon is the true heir to throne, it’s over for her (which is why I think Jon will try and keep it hush hush). My theory is that she ends up challenging Jon’s legitimacy before putting two and two together that the dude just casually hopped on the back of a dragon.
And, no – I don’t think there’s going to be some scene where the dragons burn him alive and he walks out triumphantly like Dany did earlier in the season. A) While I do think there’s a chance now that Dany ends up going Mad King 2.0, I don’t think it’s going to happen with the snap of a synapse. We just don’t have enough time to get there before this war starts. B) Jon isn’t immune to fire – he burned his hand fighting off the White Walker at Castle Black early on in the series. We already know that. So, I think it’s much more likely that either Dany will wisen up because of how the dragons behave towards Jon, or they’ll actually follow his command.
One way or another, the big takeaway out of this episode was that this truth is going to come between Dany and Jon, and the North is already set up to reject Dany.
What is Cersei up to?
In King’s Landing, Qyburn approaches Cersei with terrible news – he tells her that The Wall has fallen, to which she replies, “good.” I know the simple plan is “let everyone fight and deal with what’s left over,” but she’s clearly either underestimating the situation or overestimating the security of King’s Landing.
The crossbow thing was weird. Paying up front for Bronn to assassinate her brothers. It’s all weird – something doesn’t add up with that little nugget of plot point. Why wouldn’t Bronn just take the money and run? Why would Cersei trust a known associate of Jaime and Tyrion, regardless of how questionable his loyalties are? I mean, you don’t risk that! She’s essentially sending him to Winterfell with the murder weapon and the motive. So, is it possible she has something up her sleeve? Maybe an ally already in Winterfell that could help her divide the forces and plant evidence?
I know – I’m getting tinfoil….but that scene just tripped me out.
Also, why on Earth does she feel confident that her army can take on what’s left of the war?!?! I don’t get it – I know I said I could see Dany going Mad King 2.0 out of resistance to Jon’s secret, but it certainly seems like Cersei could be going Mad King 2.0 as well.
The Night King has passed The Last Hearth
Why was that scene particularly important? Because it gives us an exact idea of where the Night King and his army are. He tore down The Wall at Eastwatch, and started heading down to Winterfell. The Last Hearth is about halfway there. Take a look at this master illustration showing the Night King’s path to Winterfell:
Winterfell doesn’t have much time to prepare. I’d say we see that army of undead pricks at the gates of Winterfell by the end of the next episode.
Notes
*I’m going to plant this idea more firmly in your heads than the conjecture I’ve alluded to previously in this article: I think there’s a good (interesting) chance that Dany ends up being the main bad guy by season’s end.
*Maybe there’s too much plot pushing that needed to be done, but where was the strategy? Do y’all have a plan? Or, y’all just gonna run out on the battle field and hope for the best?
*Does Bronn do it? Does he not? That’s the big question – personally, I think it makes his development complete to finally stand up for something right. But, it would make perfect sense for him to follow the money. We’ll see.
*The scene with Tyrion and Sansa was excellent – if you can’t respect how far Sansa has come throughout this series, then you can GTFO.
*It’s hard to see exactly how the Iron Islands are going to play into all of this – the easy bet is that it’s going to be a place of temporary refuge once the Night King’s army runs roughshod over Winterfell. But, if you’re into the zany tinfoil hat theories, there’s some pretty interesting stuff out there about the kraken and the Night King.
*I loved The Hound and Arya’s reunion – seemed like both showed respect for the other without being overtly emotional. Two cold ass bitches being cold ass bitches. Respect.
*By the way, how badass is the idea of The Hound out there swinging around a massive axe made of Dragonglass?
*Arya’s weapon looks badass – could it be envisioned TO KILL AN ICE DRAGON!?!?! I don’t know, but her reunion with Gendry was pretty fun, too.
*Jaime has become one of my favorite characters in this whole thing. His arrival in Winterfell is significant. For one, let’s not forget that he’s one hell of a battle commander. For another, he brings with him the important information of Cersei’s intentions. Lest we forget, in the prophecy the witch showed Cersei when she was a child said that her younger brother would kill her. I still say Jaime’s the one to do it.
*A lot of the previews for this season featured scenes from this episode, which is exciting! It means the rest of the season is completely new to us. The exception I can think of off the top of my head is Arya running through the crypts at Winterfell. That one’s gon’ be good.
*It feels like the saga against the Night King could be wrapped up sooner than expected – maybe within the first 3-4 episodes, with the last 3-4 being about the war for the throne. Just a personal aside there, but we’re one episode in and the armies are already at Winterfell.
Try to function this week – we’ll do this again next Monday.
Stoney Keeley is the Editor in Chief of The SoBros Network. He is a strong supporter of Team GSD and #BeBetter. “Big Natural” covers the Tennessee Titans, Alabama Crimson Tide football, the WWE, and a whole wealth of nonsense. Follow on Twitter @StoneyKeeley
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