So, taking the Iron Throne isn’t going to be as easy as striding into King’s Landing and demanding it, now is it?
This week saw some hard lessons for the ladies of Game of Thrones, just when it seemed they were going to be on top. (Exempt from this turnabout: Missandei.) Littlefinger’s gonna leer, Spider’s gonna keep swimming, and Theon’s gonna… Reek.
Spoilers for the currently published George R. R. Martin novels are discussed in the review and fair game in the comments. We highly suggest not discussing early preview chapters, but if you must, white it out. Have courtesy for the patient among us who are waiting and waiting (and waiting) for The Winds of Winter. Play nice. Thanks.
I suppose my brain is still too in the books, because I thought for sure the great “prize” Euron was planning on giving Cersei was a certain dragon-controlling horn. But, it’s probably more immediately pleasing for Euron to give his intended bride the Dornish snake-mom in open rebellion against the crown, who was also responsible for poisoning Cersei’s daughter.
So, even though I knew Euron’s haute couture fleet was out there somewhere, I was not thinking that he’d cross paths with Theon and Yara so soon. Even though parts of this episode felt a million years long. Time passes so strangely in Westeros.
But, while I still think it’s a bit unfair that Euron was able to pull off such a devastating ambush—watching four seasons of Black Sails has made me an armchair pirate—the sneak attack itself was terrifying and tense. Greyjoys gonna reave and rape. That last bit will be particularly concerning to Euron’s new captives, which most definitely include Yara and Ellaria, but also possibly Tyene? Please don’t make us watch.
I’m so conflicted; I hate Euron, but he killed 66% of the Sand Snakes, who I also hated. I used to be so pro-Greyjoy, but I am just not here for this swaggering kraken version of Euron. Euron is no Ramsay, who was no Joffrey. Euron’s not even a Viserys. At least Viserys provided a dramatic foil for Dany, so he served an important character function. It’s clear Euron’s going to be the new Big Bad of the season, fucking everything up for everyone with magical plot devices that I already hate. And the way they telegraph this fact is that Euron easily kills characters who, by rights, should be way more skilled in combat than him. Come on, I loathed the Sand Snakes, but it’s just insulting that they were taken out by such a Greyjoy.
A one-liner spewing Greyjoy, no less.
“Give your uncle a kiss.” I’d say this was the worst line in Game of Thrones history, but it came 10 minutes after Ellaria made a terrible innuendo about “foreign invasions” of Yara. Seven Hells.
Also rubbish? Cersei’s new anti-dragon defence crossbow. Okay, so I guess Dany’s dragons are Smaug now? What are the chances you can get that close to a direct hit on a dragon as it’s breathing fire down your neck? Cersei is so hilariously doomed.
Cersei doesn’t know it, but she can breathe a little easier on her throne for a few more episodes because Arya decided to go North once her bud Hot Pie (!) told her Jon is King of the North. It’s wild how there are people who exist in Thrones who know nothing about Jon Snow! I forget that. Arya’s whole demeanor changed.
Dany really doesn’t know Jon Snow and doesn’t seem open to the idea of a King of the North. But I’m sure after an initial meet-not-so-cute, she’ll fall under the spell of Kit Harrington’s curly hair and insane abs, like so many a woman, and all will be forgiven. I still think Dany is the Prince that Was Promised; Missandei correcting the translation of Melisandre’s prophecy was perfect. Dany may not wield a literal sword of light, but, what if she can control the arm who does? Everything else about Azor Ahai seems to fit the Mother of Dragons.
Meanwhile, Jon is not the best at inspiring confidence, which is why I have a hard time picturing him ultimately taking the Iron Throne at series’ end. King of the North, sure, but it’s clear his expertise is strictly in the North. He’s a war-time King, but not like Robert. While Dany may be naive to think she can so easily bring peace to the Seven Kingdoms, she’s more prepared for it and while I see some of that Targ madness creeping around the edges of her, she’s in battle-mode now herself. She needs to be the Dragon now, not a more nurturing mother. So, I agree with Olenna to an extent, but don’t want Dany to completely disregard clever men like Varys and Tyrion, either. As morally gray as both of these men are, I do believe they care more about the bigger picture of the small folk they want to govern.
Final Thoughts:
- “That’s not you.” Nymeria! I loved that reunion scene. I loved how it echoed Ned Stark’s words to Arya way back when she was given a dancing instructor. You can’t domesticate a direwolf. Will Arya, like the Hound, ever be able to live a simple, domestic life after everything that’s happened to her? Will her encounter with her direwolf make her rethink her decision to go home to Winterfell? I sure hope not.
- Last week, Game of Thrones ruined lentil soup; this week it’s chowder. Damn, the last two episodes’ editing was brilliant. But also I liked lentil soup and chowder.
- Maybe there’s hope Jorah will live out his days in Dany’s Friendzone, after all, instead of a Valyrian leper colony!
- Let’s put Littlefinger in a leper colony. Just, no. I’m glad Jon wasn’t going to take Littlefinger with him to meet Dany, but nothing good will come of him skulking around Winterfell with Sansa.
- Oh, Theon. I was completely surprised but also not surprised that he chickened out on saving his sister, but it was definitely foreshadowed with Ellaria’s lame joke earlier in the hour. He will never be completely recovered from his trauma and I think that speaks to a certain mature delicacy of handling PTSD.
- While Theon couldn’t find his courage, two other victims of years of systemic abuse as slaves took a great leap forward to confront their fears. I legit got a lump in my throat when Grey Worm talked about being afraid of Missandei and the vulnerability his love for her gave him, the bravest of the Unsullied. While this was the scene I felt went on a few beats too long—and the mature folks at my viewing party were annoyed that we never got a peek at what exactly was going on with Grey Worm’s worm because apparently it matters to some people—I’m going to give it a pass this time because I’m happy that these two finally got some sexy payoff. Isn’t it funny how Grey Worm did a Tyrion move without even knowing it? Now they really have something in common to discuss for a real conversation.
- I got two takeaways from the Game of Thrones panel I managed to sneak into at San Diego Comic-Con: fans really love Gwendoline Christie and Varys looks SUPER WEIRD with hair. Watch the new trailer below:
Game of Thrones airs Sunday nights at 9PM E/PT on HBO.
Theresa DeLucci is a regular contributor to Tor.com covering TV, book reviews and sometimes games. She’s also gotten enthusiastic about television for Boing Boing, Wired.com’s Geek’s Guide to the Galaxy podcast and Den of Geek. Reach her via raven or on Twitter.
It’s blasphemy to get all these new plot points from the show instead of from GRRM himself in books 6/7. Being a book reader first carries a certain curse with it, even if you enjoy the HBO version. I just don’t like that it takes away some anticipation from the next story, and I worry that GRRM is allowing the show to influence his writing while it should be the other way around.
Basically I’m whining while still watching every episode, so I’ll shut up now.
I saw footage from a signing panel at a convention of some sort last summer, and I completely agree with you about Varys with hair. I watched them scroll through and I was saying to myself, “There’s Sansa, there’s Sam, there’s Missandei, there’s Ramsey, there’s…who the heck is that?” I had to see Conlyth Hill’s name in the video description, and then look him up before I recognized him.
I actually loved the scene between Arya and Nymeria. And while it’s completely possible that we’ll never see Nymeria again after this episode, I’m going to hope that she saves Arya’s life at an opportune moment.
They really need to stop with the jump cuts from disgusting to food. It’s just…wrong. Although, when I was in Ireland some years ago, I was eating chicken vol-au-vents, and couldn’t help thinking they looked a lot like the pies in Sweeney Todd, so I can’t complain too much.
I think there is one thing good about Littlefinger remaining in Winterfell. He’ll be there when Arya gets back. He’s one of few for whom I’ll make an exception to my concern about Arya. While I’m concerned about the dark route her storyline is taking, I love that Arya turned away from King’s Landing. It shows that, despite the list, despite her personal vendettas, she is still Arya Stark of Winterfell.
With Davos joining Jon en route to Dragonstone, I have to wonder how they’ll take to finding Mellisandra there. Was Davos’ threat to last year limited to her returning to the North? It’d be a little unfair to kill her when they’re walking into her, instead of the other way around.
And the Little Bear makes another strong point to Jon, although in this case, it’s against his chosen course of action.
Really loved everything in Winterfell and Dragonstone. Dany confronting Varys about his loyalty was well done, but probably should have happened on the boat ride from Essos. Arya’s scene with Nymeria was also very moving. But I found everything else pretty cringe inducing, which was probably what they were going for with Sam and Jorah. But that sea battle was laughable in its execution on a tactical level and just as a scene in general. Captain Jack Greyjoy is just so laughably evil, I hated Joffrey and was repulsed by Ramsay. But man Euron can do nothing but make me laugh at him and cringe at him in turns.
GoT has spun so far from the book ‘verse that I don’t think there any grounds for comparison anymore. However the series ends may have little to do with how the books do.
I don’t think it is an accident that the Sand Snake that survives is the one who was flirty with Bronn. I have a bad feeling they undermined Prince Doran’s character so that a certain sellsword ends up Prince Consort of Dorne.
Tyrion’s plan of attack may have its merits as far as the political situation is concerned, but it is a bit self-serving to immediately target the holding Tyrion believes he was unfairly denied being made heir.
Sam finally discovers a good use for the Bolton’s family hobby after there are no more Boltons.
Jon still apparently does not give Sansa a meeting outline before announcing major decisions
Did Yara forget that the reason they went to Dany was because Euron was hunting them? They seemed surprised that there was any real naval opposition.
@1,
I doubt the show is influencing GRRM’s writing. Its pretty clear to me that he’ll never finish the series because he’s lost interest in it.
@3 – Yes that sea battle was really poorly done and rushed. Yara didn’t post a watch? The first time she knew the enemy was near was their shots? She was supposed to be the really competent one.
They were also really vague about who was in the fleet. Was that fleet just talking Ellaria and daughters home? Seems like a lot of ships to ferry 4 women. How did they get to Dragonstone? Does Dorne not have a single warship? Who else was on those ships? Had they started ferrying Unsullied and Dothraki to the Kingdom of the Rock? Very confusing and sloppy.
Also – are we supposed to assume that Dany just lost her entire fleet and her army now trapped on Dragonstone (except her dragons)? That might make her real happy to see Davos Seaworth.
That sea battle… No. Just no.
That is not even vaguely how sea battles work under wind power, particularly with the rigging of those vessels.
@@@@@ 6, I suspect it’s more a matter of GRRM knowing where he has to go but not sure how to get there. Focusing on other projects can help writer’s block.
@6 Sadly, I think you are right. He doesn’t even care enough to hand over his notes to somebody like Sanderson who has a work ethic and would finish it.
Sad because the series is just a very incomplete shallow unfocused reflection of the books.
i still believe the prophecy will be fulfilled by a group of people. dany is an obvious contender, jon snow – after he shattered that white walker at hardhome – made my list, and i’m open on the rest. but the story seems to be saying that this thousand-year battle will require a greater force than the last one did. “the last hero” or whatever he was called, will need his friends and their weapons to defeat the night’s king. maybe the red priests’ part is to resurrect the fighters and keep sending them back into battle. they’ll never have the numbers to match the army of wights. they are dead everywhere. how many in winterfell’s crypt alone?
seemed like forcing littlefinger to go to dragonstone was ideal. it would keep him away from sansa, maybe he’d help deal with daenerys – and if not, maybe she’d burn him – and he’d be kept away from secretly reaching out to cersei for awhile. all jon had to do was sell it to the lords of the vale first and they would have supported him.
why were the sands on yara’s ship? didn’t they sail to dragonstone on their own, plushly appointed ship? one like the one they gave jamie and myrcella to go home on? and why were all of them traveling? they didn’t get the memo about leaving an heir on the family seat at all times? i’m guessing cersei will give the sands to qyburn and call the lords of dorne for their support.
now, maybe dany should just send the dragons to burn euron’s fleet in the harbor. (that giant wooden crossbow is a joke. surely qyburn has a poison up his sleeve. he was a maester after all.)
I was pretty disappointed in 7.2, perhaps the more because I really liked 7.1. The plotting is getting really bad and so is the treatment of some of the characters. Aside from the issues others noted above let’s talk about ravens. Jon got a raven from Dragonstone. He got a raven from Oldtown. But he hasn’t gotten a raven from Castle Black telling him that his brother, who’s been thought dead for years, returned from north of the Wall after surviving an encounter with the Others and the wights and is now at CB.
I was under the impression that the woman Theon (Reek) saw hanging from the prow of the ship was Yara? Euron wants them both dead, so I assumed he had killed her after Theon (Reek) jumped ship and that final scene was him seeing the repercussions of that decision.
And yeah, the Sand Snakes got completely nerfed in that battle. I can’t imagine the whip-wielding Snake would be stupid enough to NOT let go of the whip if someone pulled a move like Euron did. But then again Ser Barriston got killed in a situation that he shouldn’t have either, so the show has a history of pulling that move.
These episodes feel shorter every week.
HOT PIE!!!
Man, that boarding bridge (or whatever you call it) from Euron’s ship just FLATTENED A DUDE!!!
I don’t know much about the books, but why should the Sand Snakes be so much better warriors than Euron?
Also, Tyrion, morally gray? I don’t think so, at least not in this world.
Sam trying to cure Ser Jorah is awesome, so loyal to Lord Jeor!
As for Arya meeting Nymeria, reconsidering her decision to go North was exactly what I saw from that scene.
@5 – Crusader75: My viewing party and I were asking when Bronn would show up. We miss him. And Tyrion’s decision to attack Casterly Rock is completely understandable.
The whole show is ridiculous. Sansa continues to bring up only sorta-decent points in the most inappropriate way possible. Jon continues to be the only one who sees the big picture. Various characters make invariably stupid decisions that go against everything else we know of them. Only redeeming moments to this episode? Arya and Nymeria (and Hot Pie, natch), and Jaime and sort-of Cersei doing some impressive political PR with the Reach lords, and then Randyll Tarly in particular. Those scenes rang true; Cersei’s incompetence stems from her paranoia, selfishness, lack of self-awareness, and shortsightedness. But when it comes to manipulating the opinions of others, she’s actually intelligent and canny, and that showed through her. I even liked Jaime being a team players and reinforcing those ideas with Randyll.
@14: I’m pretty sure the 2 dead women were the 2 Sand Snakes.
I think that Theon left because of more than the Post Traumatic Stress. Granted it played a part but also his rushing his uncle would not save his sister. If Theon attacked from the distance he was at Euron could have easily killed Yara without much effort and then killed or captured Theon. It is odd but it is possible that he jumped ship to save his sister.
Direct action would have directly killed her. Escaping means he could find a way to rescue her (call back to her trying to rescue him, if unsuccessful) or he could report what has happened and get people on their side to rescue Yara.
I realize that the character is traumatized but I also think that in rescuing Sansa the character could have developed some insight into how to fight in a non confrontative way.
Dany might want to think twice about trusting Melisandre too much. The lady likes to burn people.
@19 – Dany can handle Mel, she does not take to being burnt, after all.
When it came to the Greyjoy/Sand narrative in this episode, what left me scratching my head was Yara’s tactical ineptitude–that Euron’s armada could so easily sneak up on Yara’s flotilla like that. It made no sense to me. Wouldn’t she have a enough fast boats to deploy as scout vessels? Isn’t there anyone among the Ironborn who can warg a gull or an albatross for aerial recon? Euron’s victory was way too easy, which made it unsatisfying to watch. Would an epic Greyjoy-versus-Greyjoy naval battle with clever ship maneuvering strategies on display be too over-budget?
Euron’s toughness, too, was otherworldly. He took some debilitating hits from Sand Snakes but still seemed at 100% when fighting Yara. And aren’t Sand Snakes’ cutlery supposed to be coated with poison? Does Euron have mutant healing ability, like Marvel’s Wolverine?
What did make sense to me was Theon’s decision to abandon ship. Attacking Euron would have been suicide and wouldn’t have been successful, anyway. At least now there’s a chance he can get back to Dragonstone and make his report to Dany & Co., so they can adjust their plans accordingly. Theon did the smartest thing he could have done under the circumstances.
Loved Arya and Nymeria!! And I’m so glad she’s going to Winterfell. Is Littlefinger on her list? Oh, I hope so! I do fear for Sansa with him in the castle, fomenting discord, and trying to get in her pants. I hope John does kill him. Or Arya. Or Sansa! I hope she’s as canny as she lets on.
And Jon really should pow wow with her her before the big meetings, get her on board. I do love his grasping the big picture. I hope the lords of the North are truly on board with him. I don’t trust Sansa to be as wise. I fear she’s learned to much from Cersei….and Littlefinger. I’m not sure she trusts Jon, in spite of her fine words to him about how good he is at being King.
Now to Dany….Will romantic sparks fly? I am wondering if Varys, having worked for Dany’s father, knows who Jon is? Isn’t Jon carrying the sword that the old dead Targaryen head of the Nights Watch gave him? I liked Tyrion speaking well of Jon. And I liked Dany’s interrogation of Varys….and his answer. I’m so looking forward to this meeting! I hope they join forces.
Someone above mentioned they think Dany is the Prince(ss) that was promised….but isn’t Jon truly, Ice and Fire?
The scene with Sam helping to cure Jorah was totally revolting and went on WAY too long. I am not a squeamish person, but I couldn’t watch. ug.
Cerise….what a nasty piece of work she is. I had hopes when she and Jaime were talking in the map room, that Jaime was actually seeing her for what she’s become, but then he’s on team Cersei with the Tarly’s. Whatever.
Euron is way over the top. There was a whole lot of wrong about that scene…no watch? Why so many ships? How did Euron get all those fancy new ships so quickly? Glad to see the Sand Snakes disappear however.
I don’t think that was all of Dany’s ships. She was also sending Grayworm and an army to Casterly rock. And I loved Lady Oleana’s advice to “Be a Dragon”. Burn Euron’s ships. Burn Cersei and her army. Then go burn the Wights with Jon.
Yay Grayworm and Missandei!! About time!
“Also rubbish? Cersei’s new anti-dragon defence crossbow. Okay, so I guess Dany’s dragons are Smaug now? What are the chances you can get that close to a direct hit on a dragon as it’s breathing fire down your neck?”
I can’t disagree with you more on this, in the lore, one of the few consistent ways of downing the dragons is barrages of arrows/bolts. They aren’t going to use just that one single crossbow, he said that he’s having many made. Dozens of those prepared to unload at dragons at a distance really comes across to me as a solid plan to attempt to kill the dragons. Questioning needing to get that close comes off kinda ridiculous like you’re just digging for anything to complain about. It was a demonstration indoors, of course in execution outside they’ll be shooting from much further away, and even if not, as a dragon gets close to blast one, the dozens others around would then be at a great close range to hit it.. honestly when it was qybern that says they’re making a solution I got annoyed expecting some magical nonsense and I was pleasantly surprised that his big plan is just a down to earth logical “let’s shoot it with as many of the biggest most powerful crossbows as we can make”
Medieval anti-aircraft fire. Seems funny nobody’s tried that before….
@14: @17 is correct. It was the two Sand Snakes.
The actress that played Nymeria (Whip Snake) is also in Iron Fist as Colleen Wing. According to her interview with Entertainment Weekly, originally her schedule was going to prevent her from appearing on GoT. She literally had 2 weekends and Christmas break to film. Because of that, GoT was limited in what they could do.
http://ew.com/tv/2017/07/23/game-of-thrones-jessica-henwick-nymeria/
@9 I agree about the sea battle. My wife had asked me about the rigging of the ships earlier in the episode, as she had never seen a lanteen rigged ship sailing wing and wing. I told her it could only be done when the wind was on your stern. As Euron sailed away wing and wing after wreaking havoc, she commented that he must always have the wind on his tail!
And have Theon and sis ever heard of posting lookouts? They were totally unaware until the enemy right on top of them. That seems to stretch plausibility, even at night. Even from the deck, you can see at least 20 miles at sea, and further from the crosstrees. But at least it interrupted that creepy sex scene.
And Euron didn’t have enough buildup on the show, just popped out of nowhere when it was time for him to impact the plot. If you are going to use Chekhov’s gun, you need to show it exists much earlier in the narrative.
They were totally unaware until the enemy right on top of them. That seems to stretch plausibility, even at night. Even from the deck, you can see at least 20 miles at sea, and further from the crosstrees.
I had the same reaction, and I have almost zero knowledge or experience about ships and sailing. It wasn’t even a moonless night! We see the moon when Theon’s in the water.
Sam’s half-assed surgery had me asking one question. The infirmary in the citadel doesn’t stock milk of the poppy?
Comparing the show to the books now is like comparing reality to fiction. I guess they’re both technically fiction, but only one of them is tangible.
I enjoyed this episode, but maybe it would’ve worked better with a different director. That sea battle in the end was cool, but it felt like something was missing. I wonder how Miguel Sapochnik would have framed it.
Or maybe I just didn’t care that much about these characters. I did like the last scene with Theon, Euron and Yara – we could see her heart breaking when Theon devolved into Reek. Great acting by everyone involved.
Hot Pie! Just looking at him made me smile. It didn’t feel right when Arya barely reacted to seeing him again. She’s so detached from everyone. We did see something when she heard about Jon, so maybe she’s not completely gone. It’s a shame they’ll probably miss each other. I don’t think Sansa can bring Arya back, but a sisterly reunion is better than nothing.
On that note, Sansa is finally in charge. Does she want this? What does she want, anyway? We know Jon doesn’t want power, but in my experience people who seek power aren’t well suited for it. Dany seemed pretty overbearing, as usual, when dealing with her council. She did listen to Tyrion, and yet I wonder how she’ll react after this crushing defeat.
On Jon vs Dany and who would be a better ruler, I don’t see either of them as great leaders. They’re almost polar opposites. Jon doesn’t care about it, while Dany cares way too much. There must be a happy medium.
As an afterthought, Grey Worm and Missandei was actually bearable. Missandei’s actress is incredibly attractive. She probably won’t have trouble finding work after GoT. Back on topic, I wonder if Grey Worm is going to die now. If so, Dany is going to lose even more people. Which is pretty surprising, considering how unstoppable she seemed.
@28: My thoughts exactly. He gave him rum and told him to bite some strap…I guess he didn’t have access to the Milk of the Poppy storehouse?
I was quite disappointed with Yara. She’s supposed to be a good enough captain that even as a woman she can still persuade Iron islanders to follower her (is there any kingdom more misogynistic than the Iron islands?), and yet even when she runs on deck and sees her uncle’s boat bearing down, she doesn’t issue any orders or attempt to take command in anyway, allowing Euron to ram them perfectly amidships.
That anti-dragon crossbow doesn’t look all that. Sure, it can get part of the way into an old dragon skull, but that was at about fifty metres. At one hundred metres I doubt it would do as well against a live dragon, with tough hide covering it, and I would suggest that being one hundred metres away from a dragon that you have just shot is probably a very, very bad place to be.
#31 My thoughts exactly. That Maester of hers is not the sharpest knife in the drawer, only the one who has survived the longest.
This episode and the first made the impression that the Lannisters are beaten for good and Dany has nearly all the power now. Also I HATED the last scene I like that the power balance did shift again.
Plus: The dragon weapon looks frightening. I wouldn’t assume it’s no danger at all.
Good question however:
Who spies for Cersei on Dany? Why did Euron knew where to find the other Greyjoys?
I thought we see both Ellaria and her daughter slaughtered at the boat in one of the very last frame of the episode. Must be wrong, though. Have that been Oberyns other daughters which we already saw dead before??
#34 Those two were the previously killed sand snakes displayed with their weapons. (Spear fighter impaled to the prow, whip fighter hanged from the prow by her weapon)
Sounds like the Series is busy killing off characters to get them out of the way.
#31 & #32 – Nah, we saw that the dragons could be hurt by someone throwing just a regular spear at Drogon. So I think that super crossbow would surely do some major damage to a dragon.
@21 – Makestuff: When have we seen any house having wargs? The only wars we’ve seen are Bran and wildlings. One of the points of the series is that magic has been absent from westeros, at least south of the wall.
Uh, a-j-walter, remember what happened to the guy who threw that spear?
This condemnation of Theon is just aggravating. It can’t be that Theon did the ONE THING that ensured he and his sister would survive.
Also, I think people are counting chickens with Arya. I thought Nymeria’s reappearance was going to lure Arya home. But no. Nymeria showed up to tell Arya that “going home” isn’t WHO SHE IS ANYMORE.
which is why I have a hard time picturing him ultimately taking the Iron Throne at series’ end.
Why do so many people who watch this show labor under this false idea that there will BE an Iron Throne at the series end?
Frankly it doesn’t look like there’s going to be anybody left standing at the end of GoT the series.
#39 – Oh I’m not saying that the individual or individuals that shoot the dragons won’t end up as toast or dragon treats, just that the dragons can be damaged and even killed by such weapons as a super crossbow. And since I’m sure it’ll just be some Lannister lackey pulling the trigger, it won’t mater much to Cersie how many of her troops die as long as a Dragon is taken out.
@40 Aeryl: I completely agree. By the end of the series, I think the concept of a single King or Queen of Westeros will be out the window.
@36 princessroxana: I think that’s exactly it. The last season (two seasons?) were spent killing off people who are still alive in the books. I’m not even convinced Stannis is going to die. That is exactly why I saw the sand snakes as fetting killed…tthey were just continuing to cull the heard.
As for the Iron Throne being around at the end, well of course I would want the series to end with Westeros establishing some kind of democracy or republic, but I’m fully prepared for Dany and Jon to be dead and the last shot of the series to be Cersei sitting on the Iron Throne and smirking, or possibly Little Finger. It seems like Jaime could be the volanqar who kills Cersei, but I wouldn’t put it past the show to forget about that plot point and just have her ‘win’ at the end to troll the audience.
I’m having trouble keeping track of what’s happening in both the book and the show these days, so my one quedtion is, where’s Daaaario this season?
I gave up trying to figure out GoT when it started splitting off insanely from the books. The intention seems to be to narrow down the character list and storyllines to something more compatible with television.
@44 crzydroid:
Dany left Daario behind in Mereen, under orders to keep the peace when she broke up with him last season (final episode IIRC).
@22 Tektonica (Hi!):
IIRC Jon has the Mormont Family Sword (Valyrian Steel), and it was given to him by the Old Bear.
Like somebody mentioned, I too expect Bronn and the remaining Sand Snake to meet up again, after their flirt in the Dornish cells.
All in all, I liked this episode, and didn’t care about the sea battle too much. They only have seven episodes this season, so I was expecting bold strokes, plotwise.
BTW, I think Yara’s fleet was a small part of the whole, to ferry Dornish armies to King’s landing; this was discussed during the war council at the beginning of the episode. Plus, in the season trailers we’ve seen Unsullied in action in what was presumably Casterly Rock, and a battle between Lannister soldiers and Dothraki.
EDIT: somebody mentioned Ravens, and why none were sent from Castle Black. I assumed that is because there is no Maester there, and nobody is taking care of the communication part. Maybe they don’t even have ravens left, with no way to ship in new ones.
However, a rider could have been sent. But then again, Bran and Meera might as well travel south themselves. I wouldn’t be surprised if that is what they are doing and they arrive after Jon’s departure, giving Littlefinger an excuse to start littlefingering on Jon’s legitimacy as King of the North, either thorough the presence of Bran or through Jon being a Targaryen (there was a scene where one of the Stark bannermen shouted how Targaryens cannot be trusted).
I don’t buy the lack of a maester as the reason; Dany, for example, has no maester, yet she sent one. If nothing else, Bran can warg ravens.
@44, Dany left Daario when she left Essos, duties of a queen over her own desires, that type of thing.
@47, Yes, but Dany has a vested interest in communicating with people, wanting to be Queen and all. When Sam left the Wall, they were down to just a few people who could handle the ravens. With the Wall mostly manned by Wildlings now, the population who could use the ravens is even slimmer.
It’s also likely that what happened with Bran happens out of time sync with the rest of the story, along with geography, at this point, time is also an illusion. We’ve seen the show spin by weeks worth of story for some characters, while checking in with other characters like hourly. So the moment we saw with Bran returning through the Wall, could be something that happens well after the scenes with Jon and his council.
Aeryl @48
It’s also likely that what happened with Bran happens out of time sync with the rest of the story, along with geography, at this point, time is also an illusion. We’ve seen the show spin by weeks worth of story for some characters, while checking in with other characters like hourly. So the moment we saw with Bran returning through the Wall, could be something that happens well after the scenes with Jon and his council.
Or before. All we know is that Edd was Lord Commander when Bran and Meera arrived. Battle of the Bastards might not even have happened at that point, let alone the NW knowing of the outcome.
I seem to be alone in being unsurprised by the Iron Born being ambushed. Like, why would a bunch of rapists and killers post watches? Who wants that job when they could be doing something horrific instead? These ones in particular, are the worst of a vile culture, the only people garbage enough to betray the already scummy viking analogs. They are doing soldier cosplay, not actually trained. They took after their leaders, and Yara and the Sand Snakes aren’t exactly models of naval professionalism. In the battle of Ironborn vs. Ironborn the winner is gonna be whoever attacks first, cuz the odds are pretty good that the defenders will be drunk and screwing.
Very nice to see that there is still a decent person buried deep down in Arya. I was rooting for her to head back north, and she did. Then when the wolves showed up I had the strangest impression they were gonna kill her, so GRRM surprised me with mercy twice in an ep.
John/Sansa was a really interesting clash, as he continues to hold firmly to the Clue Stick despite everyone demanding he do dumb stuff. Yes, obviously he has to go to the person with Dragons and a mountain of obsidian, but she has a bit of a point too. Need more conflicts with both parties having reasonable POV’s.
I feel like the evil Maester’s crossbow is only part of the plan. Dragonbane poison maybe? And it feels like you need a way to get the dragons to sit still for a moment. Considering Cersei’s character I’m thinking a peace meeting that is really an attempt to assassinate the dragons is in the offing.
I hope Sam’s dad isn’t fooled by their fearmongering about ‘The Mad King’s Daughter’, but he is totally gonna be.
Very excited to see where this goes from here.
The Mad King’s Daughter with DRAGONS! Of course everybody in Westeros expects the worst of her.
My predictions: Sansa will not give up the north back to Jon. Mellisandre will bring resurrect Kahl Drogo to life for the biggest battle ever. He is the true prince who will take the iron throne. And Dany will be happy with this.
Why Euron would certainly think Theon as good as drowned, he hasn’t counted on Gendry to be present on a sea rescue duty for the last 6 years, going round and round the Dragonstone.
-I really didn’t mind at all that Euron was able to dispatch the Sand Snakes so easily. If any thing, it just seemed to hit home that the Sand Snakes are basically just talk. Granted, in the books they were more legitamately competent, but in the show…eh. I kind of wonder if it was just a nod to the fans. Anyway, I can’t speak to the accuracy of the battle/attack but I think it was pretty well shot, and the last scene between Yara, Theon and Euron was really great in terms of what was going on with their faces, etc. Euron’s laugh kind of sold me on his character, to be honest. I also wonder of Theon, even it wasn’t fully conscious, has set the seeds to save his sister’s life, since attempting to engage him would probably not have ended well for either of them. And perhaps he’ll have another shot at redemption. (Although I’d still like to see him acknowledge how wrong it was to kill the miller’s boys).
-Watching Dany school Varys was kind of a mix of awkward and enjoyable in that ‘I’m watching somebody get in trouble way’.
-I kind of love the Ladies War Council. :)
-Cersei’s big speech was a good example of the ‘Villain Has a Point’ trope. From Westeros’s perspective, they have every right to be wary given Dany’s reputation (and we know she isn’t above razing a place), the Unsullied and definitely the Dothraki. Even if we as viewers like Dany and she’s making an honest effort to minimize collateral damage (although on the other hand, the whole ‘I was born to rule so I’m gonna take’ it attitude isn’t one, as a person who grew up with democracy, that I am wholly sympathetic to). And Tyrion at least understands this although I’m not sure how sending the foreign hordes out to Casterly Rock (I sense a bit of revenge motive there) is really going to seem any better. And while Olenna’s ‘be a dragon’ is kind of inspiring in a way, one gets the sense that she really doesn’t care much about her own survival and motives (I’d kind of like to see her and Littlefinger face off, actually. Did we see that in an earlier season?).
-“Give your uncle a kiss.” I’d say this was the worst line in Game of Thrones history, but it came 10 minutes after Ellaria made a terrible innuendo about “foreign invasions” of Yara. Seven Hells.” Thanks, I nearly spit my coffee on my computer here.
-I don’t think the crossbow is such a bad idea, really. Elegant in its simplicity. And really, what else are they gonna do? I guess they could launch wildfire at the dragons but that would just burn down the whole city (not that Cersei would care).
-The Hot Pie scene, yay :) I think this will certainly be a turning point for her character, and I’m glad she and Nymeria came to terms. But now off she goes to find her pack :)
-Again, I think Jon is mainly doing the right thing, and again, he should have convinced Sansa of this in private so they could have a united front. Leaving her alone with Littlefinger is probably not going to go well; he’ll come back to the whole place turned against him. And while it was SO SATISFYING to see Jon finally go off on him, he basically just made a very dangerous enemy. Also: Melisandre is there, and Davos is not going to like that.
-I do not envy Jorah and Sam, not at all. But really glad we got to see more of Archmaester Slughorn :)
-Glad Missandei and Grey Worm finally got to have their heart to heart.