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)
Whew – a lot more fat to chew on after this dramatic episode, particularly leaving a Starbucks cup in the episode.
This week’s episode starts off with a sobering look at all of those who we lost in last week’s Battle of Winterfell. Jon delivers a speech about honoring those who died, and honestly, it’s one of his best. How can he pull stuff like that and then be like, “nah, I don’t want to lead?” I couldn’t help but feel like that fire was a little dangerous, though. Maybe that’s my PTSD kicking in – not like Winterfell has a stellar history with fires.
Afterwards, we see a feast inside Winterfell, during which our heroes are taking a load off. Dany awards Gendry Storm’s End as an effort to earn favor with the Northerners and everyone drinks to his honor. But, she becomes a little uneasy when she notices how much the people of the North adore Jon. Folks, this ain’t gonna be easy. All the while, Varys notices Dany noticing how much everyone loves Jon.
We find out Brienne is a virgin. Gendry shoots his shot with Arya, getting down on one knee and proposing, but she shoots him down. Later on, we finally get that steamy love making sesh between Brienne and Jaime that we’ve all been dying to see for years.
Back in Jon’s quarters, Dany comes to pay a visit. It looks like we’re going to get more aunt on nephew action, but something’s bothering Jon. He wants to tell Sansa and Arya of his true heritage, but Dany doesn’t think it’s a good idea. Far from it, actually, she pleads with Jon NOT to tell anyone. It’s a bit of a threat, and Dany puts on some crazy eyes like we’ve never seen on her before.
The council is drumming up their war plans – Dany says, “we’ve won the great war, now let’s win the last war.” Meeting adjourned – but, Arya steps in front of Jon on his way out of the room. The Stark clan wants a word with him. They’re not on board with Dany, and that’s when the truth comes out. Jon swears them to secrecy (lol like that’s going to work…), and Bran tells Arya and Sansa who Jon really is. Here we go.
Bronn arrives and threatens Jaime and Tyrion. Tyrion promises Bronn Highgarden if he doesn’t kill them. In a weird way, this kind of felt like a pep talk from Bronn. Don’t believe he had much interest in killing either of the Lannister brothers, but more or less said, “y’all better get this shit done!”
Jon and his forces are gearing up for the trek south, ready to take on Cersei’s army in King’s Landing. Jon says goodbye to Tormund, who is taking the free folk back north. Sam and Gilly tell Jon if they have a boy they’re going to name him Jon. A couple of emotional goodbyes and then we cut to the army sailing south.
Varys and Tyrion discuss their options – obviously, Tyrion has told Varys the news, and Varys is a little more vocal about his concerns over Dany’s state of mind.
The dragons are flying freely overhead when BOOM – a giant bolt hits Rhaegal. Then another. And another. And, Rhaegal plummets into the ocean. Another dragon down. Euron and the Iron Fleet sail out from behind an island. Not sure how they missed that, but whatever. We’re here now. The Scorpions that Qyburn designed seem to be working and they’re mounted on every ship. Euron starts firing into the ships. Tyrion jumps into the ocean, and next thing we see is most of our heroes coming ashore. Grey Worm flips out when he can’t find Missandei.
Cersei reveals that she’s pregnant to Euron, whose eyes light up.
We get more Varys and Tyrion action, and at this point, Varys is effectively suggesting treason. I got some weird murdery vibes from the guy, too. This scheming ain’t good. Tyrion is still resisting the idea that Dany may not be the best ruler, but Varys is really pushing it.
Jaime catches Sansa and Brienne talking about the ambush, and Sansa tells him she wants to be there when they execute his sister. Later that night, Jaime loads up and heads to King’s Landing, breaking Brienne’s heart in the process.
Dany and company arrive at the gates of King’s Landing. Tyrion and Qyburn present their terms, but it becomes apparent that Tyrion isn’t going to get anywhere with him. He approaches Cersei, who is perched high atop the wall. Tyrion pleads with her not to engage in this war…to surrender. She doesn’t say a word to Tyrion. Instead, she instructs The Mountain to lob Missandei’s head off in front of everyone. We end the episode with Dany enraged.
Whew – okay, breathe.
They’re breaking Dany
For seven seasons, they have made Dany look damn near unstoppable. There hasn’t been much in the way of character development this season, but holy shit – they are breaking Dany down.
A lot of people are drawing the comparison to the Mad King, saying that Dany will inevitably end up just like her father. Just this season, she lost two of her closest allies in Missandei and Jorah. She’s down to just one dragon. People very clearly respect and admire Jon a lot more than her. And, now her advisers are even kicking around the idea that maybe she isn’t “the one” after all.
She wants to rage on King’s Landing and it takes Varys point blank telling her that would be a mistake before she concedes. Does anyone think she’s going to concede now? After what Cersei did to Missandei? She’s heading toward out-of-control in a hurry.
Notes
*Couldn’t help but feel like we said our goodbyes to Tormund and Sam this week. I mean, their arcs are pretty well wrapped up. I don’t know of much they could do in the battle south and it doesn’t make sense for the wildlings to go. Think this is where these two dip off.
*Sansa knew exactly what she was doing in telling Tyrion the revelation about Jon’s identity. She doesn’t trust Dany. She outright said as much, and now she’s using all she learned from Littlefinger to put Jon into power. That’s my bet, anyway.
*Why THE FUCK wouldn’t you go pet Ghost? Ghost is the goodest good boi in all of the seven kingdoms. You give that sumbitch cuddles before you leave, Jon. How dare you.
*Euron has to figure out that Cersei’s baby isn’t his, right? If Tyrion’s been in the North, how would he know that Euron JUST put a baby in Cersei’s belly? That shouldn’t add up to him, but then again, Euron doesn’t exactly strike one as the sharpest tool in the shed.
*Personally, I think Jaime is riding to King’s Landing with the intent to kill Cersei. He listed off all of the terrible things he’s done for Cersei, all for her to just send Bronn to Winterfell to kill him and Tyrion. I just can’t see him, after all he’s been through recently, going back to try and be with her again.
*I loved the nice little tribute to Theon Sansa made by putting the Stark pin on his body upon the pyre.
*Fun little note about the ‘Mad Queen’ theory – Missandei’s last word was ‘dracarys’ which is Dany’s command for the dragons to start burning shit left and right. People are drawing the parallel between that and the Mad King’s repeated uttering of “burn them all” as evidence of Dany’s downward spiral.
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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