Visions, long-awaited returns, and troubled families were at the root of this week’s episode of Game of Thrones. Was the wait worth it? Let’s take a look.
Spoiler Note: This post is for those who have read the A Song of Ice and Fire series. The post and the comments section will contain spoilers from the novels! Because no, we are not all Unsullied now. If you haven’t read the books yet, please check out our non-book-reader recap. Thanks!
We’re off and running this week, with Meera dragging Bran along with wights hot (cold) on their tail. They’re the only survivors from the Three-Eyed Raven’s cave, and it’s not looking good as she desperately tries to press on in the snow. (Let me say, Ellie Kendrick is really selling this- Meera is at the end of her rope here. What an incredible burden Meera has had to carry, figuratively and literally.)
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Dealing with the real world and dragging Bran’s dead weight along, Meera finally collapses in the snow. Then Bran wakes up. The wights are almost on them, but they’re saved by a mysterious rider who handily dispatches the wights with a flaming ball of kickass. The rider tells Meera to come with him, and us nerds recognize that voice and the eyes above the mask- that’s Uncle Benjen, hot damn! But the official dramatic reveal won’t come until later.
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Nearing Horn Hill with Gilly and the baby, Sam is getting nervous about seeing his family for the first time in years. His abusive father forced him into the Night’s Watch, but Sam does believe that Randyll Tarly will take Gilly and the baby in. However, he hasn’t told them that Gilly is a wilding, and she sort of calls him on it- she is on fire in this episode.
The difference between Sam and Gilly’s lives is never more apparent than when we see the courtyard of the beautiful castle Sam grew up in, the bright greenery and the loving mother and sister. What a world away from Craster’s Keep beyond the Wall. The women of his family surprisingly give Gilly a warm welcome, with his mother instantly taking to baby Sam. And who could blame her? See what happens when you let the baby age after three years of being four months old? You get a cute expressive toddler!
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Back in King’s Landing, Tommen and the High Sparrow have another chat. The king is worried about Margaery’s Walk of Atonement, set to happen soon. I can understand Tommen’s actions to a degree, even if they are strategically stupid. He did nothing to prevent his mother’s walk, and hated himself for it- it’s understandable he’d want to not make that error when it comes to his wife.
Tommen visits with Margaery and it appears she’s given into the Sparrows’ brainwashing praising the High Sparrow and, denouncing her previous self- and yeah, I don’t buy it.
Margaery is smart, she knows she has to get herself out of this and that Cersei’s high-handed methods didn’t work- that she has to be more clever. Now, she has to maneuver Tommen into a place where he’ll help her accomplish what needs to be done.
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Listen, Gilly got the full She’s All That makeover and Sam is loving it. Nice work, Tarly women.
As for the Tarly family dinner…
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You know it’s not going great when Randyll Tarly’s eyes are burning furious holes in Sam from the get-go. (I hope this is not the last we see of James Faulkner this year, because wow.) Poor Gilly is just trying to work out the silverware while the Tarly women and Sam’s jock bro make conversation.
The hunting discussion is notable for spawning the line, via Talla Tarly to Gilly, “I think our father could learn a thing or two from your father!”
The dinner dissolves into open hostility when Randyll realizes that Gilly is a wildling, as she speaks to defend Sam from his father’s bullying. Randyll lays into Sam even more and he just takes it, knowing he can’t risk the possibility of not being able to leave Gilly and the baby at Horn Hill, in safety.
Sam’s mother finally calls an end to the tension and the dinner. And it seems to me that Sam’s mother is where he gets his strength, not his father.
Sam has to leave Horn Hill though. He bids farewell to Gilly and the baby, only to return a moment later. He’s not leaving her there after all- they’re sticking together no matter what.
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He does swing by the dining room to swipe the family sword. And Gilly is keeping the new dress, and praise be because I couldn’t handle Hannah Murray being subjected to that sack for another year.
Heartsbane, the Tarly family sword, is Valyrian steel. Handy against White Walkers and priceless. Will Randyll chase after Sam to retrieve it? I should think so. It was an incredibly ballsy move on Sam’s part nonetheless. After Gilly’s passionate defense of Sam at dinner and his moves tonight, it seems to me that these two are perfectly matched for their courage.
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In Braavos, Arya watches the players put on a Westeros performance again. This time, it’s the Purple Wedding, with Arya the only one laughing and smiling as the troupe’s Joffrey dies a painful mock-death. Her target, Lady Crane, delivers another beautiful performance as the grieving Cersei, and Arya sees the Eve Harrington knockoff waiting in the wings and coveting Lady Crane’s starring role.
We’re also treated to their version of Tyrion bumping off Tywin. Arya takes the distracting scene as her opportunity to slip backstage and poison the actress’s rum. After accomplishing her goal, Arya runs into Lady Crane and makes the mistake of sharing a personal conversation with her target, with the actress reminiscing about how she first saw the theater. Arya gives her advice about changing her speech (one much more suited to the vengeful Cersei) and gives her name- Mercy.
Mistaking Mercy for a girl who is simply enamored of the theater, Lady Crane asks, “Do you like pretending to be other people?” And it’s a moment of truth for Arya. Does she?
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Amid the complaining actors backstage, the actress is about to drink her poisoned rum, only to find it knocked from her hand by Arya. She tells her the other actress wants her dead and leaves. It’s then we see that the Waif has witnessed this entire exchange, and Arya is in serious trouble right away.
Arya runs back to the dock where she hid Needle and retrieves her blade. Meanwhile, the Waif reports back on Arya’s failure. Jaqen (absolutely chill while slicing off faces) gives the Waif permission to take Arya out. She very much wants personal permission to take care of Arya, and I wonder if Jaqen is using this also to test the Waif in some way. The Faceless Men aren’t supposed to have personal feelings about delivering death, but clearly the Waif is as flawed as Arya.
Needle by her side, and on the run from the Faceless Men, Arya hides. She can’t go back to the House of Black and White and pretend to be other people anymore. She has Needle, and she’s Arya. Now she just has to stay alive.
In King’s Landing, the Lannisters and Tyrells make their move against the Sparrows. The impressive Tyrell troops (that flower armor, my god), led by Mace Tyrell in magnificent feathers, join up with Jaime to confront the High Sparrow on the steps of the sept of Baelor.
The High Sparrow is giving one of his stellar TED talks when they arrive to break up the crowd. Jaime and the Tyrells demand Margaery and Loras back, and come close to action…and then the High Sparrow drops his bomb- Margaery has helped him bring Tommen over to their side. The Kingsguard by Tommen’s side now wear seven-pointed stars on their armor. The faith and the crown are one, and the Lannisters and the Tyrells have been outplayed. The commoners roar with approval.
The High Sparrow is thrilled. Jaime is fucking pissed. Mace is just…really confused.
The High Sparrow played well. Why have a queen when you can have a king as part of your cause? But what does this mean for Loras? Will he make his own atonement, possibly in the trial by combat also mentioned tonight? Very few would be willing to fight the Mountain, but Loras Tyrell might.
Jaime has even more problems than a nephewson who has found religion- he’s been fired. Tommen informs Jaime he’s in trouble for acting against the faith, and now they’re sending Jaime away.
In tonight’s episode, Walder Frey makes his grand return (uncomfortable young girl by his side- new wife, Walder?), berating his sons for losing Riverrun. The Blackfish, as Littlefinger reported, has taken that castle back, and Houses Mallister and Blackwood are also rebelling, plus the Brotherhood without Banners are causing trouble.
There is lots of exposition in this scene. Basically the Freys are not doing well in charge. Walder thoughtfully refreshes the audience’s memories that these two sons are the ones who killed Talisa and Catelyn at the Red Wedding. (Except one of them is a recast.) So, everything is going to hell for Walder, except he still has a pretty sweet ace up his sleeve. He orders his sons to get Riverrun back, and to use the reminders of the Red Wedding, including their hostage- Edmure Tully (Tobias Menzies).
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So that’s Stark kid uncle #2 making his return tonight. It is quite the family-centered evening, isn’t it?
Speaking of Riverrun, Jaime stops by Cersei’s place to let her know he’s being sent to the Riverlands to handle the situation. If he was expecting a sympathetic ear, forget it. She tells him to do what he’s been ordered to do, and she’ll be fine in King’s Landing, as she has FrankenMountain to take care of her trial by combat.
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Back up north, beyond the Wall, we find Meera and Bran again, safely away from the wights. Their companion is quickly revealed to be none other than Benjen Stark, the long-missing uncle of the Stark children, who went missing after a ranging.
He doesn’t look great. Benjen looks half-dead, and from the sound of it, he is. He explains that the White Walkers killed his ranging group, and stabbed him, but before their magic could take hold in him, the Children of the Forest intervened. They used dragonglass in his heart, like they did when they created the White Walkers, Benjen explains. It’s also clear from Benjen’s words that he has some sort of connection to the Three-Eyed Raven, and knew him during the years he was gone.
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“The Three Eyed Raven is dead.”
“And now he lives again,” Benjen says as Bran wakes up.
He also warns that the Night’s King is headed for the world of men and- that Bran will be there waiting for him.
After that, I don’t give a fuck about anything else. Sorry, Dany. I think they should’ve ended the episode with Benjen’s reveal because how do you top that? They didn’t.
Headed back to Meereen with the khalasar, Dany’s had time to think on the long horse ride. She’s crunching numbers and they’re not adding up in a great way. They need a thousand ships for all their people and horses, and they just don’t have that. But she is still weirdly confident- she’ll get them one way or another.
Annnnyway, she decides to go for a little pick-me-up jaunt and disappears for a bit. Then we see overhead, Drogon has returned finally. And he’s not alone. Soaring in the sky, holding on, Daenerys rides her dragon.
She lands and makes a big speech in Dothraki about them all being her bloodriders, about how she’s going to ask a lot of them (doesn’t she always?), and it’s loud, and I’ll be honest, I wasn’t that into it. It probably didn’t help that the desert setting didn’t mesh well with the CGI of the dragon.
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The only thing I found interesting was Daario’s reaction, and the fact that the camera made it a point to highlight and capture his reactions. As Daario watches, he doesn’t look totally sold on this moment…or he doesn’t speak enough Dothraki to follow what she’s saying. The vibe was off for a stirring speech, and I find myself puzzled a bit by it.
Riding a dragon is only that exciting if there’s an emotional payoff and there really wasn’t one tonight in Dany’s scene. It’s a strange thing when I’m more excited by a character simply standing there like Edmure or Benjen, than I am by a dragon soaring in the sky. But there you have it- the characters will always be more exciting than the speeches and tricks. There were a great many satisfying character moments and big returns tonight setting up the second half of the season, and they far outshone any fire and blood.
Coldhands
Loved dany scene the speech drogon and music and darrio speaking dothraki ..dany is boss whether she rides drogon or be it silver. Please no complain about CGI of dany riding dragon ..do remember its still a TV show not a movie.
Only complaint is ike I said in the last thread I wish that scene of dany had been the episode opener of last episode ..
Loved arya scenes finally rememeberimg her who she is accepting she is a arya stark and it happens in the same episode dany accepts her house words ..
To all those people who say why did GRRm say coldhands is not benjen ..ofcourse its completely possible that they both can be different ..
Is Jaime now Lord of Castely Rock??
I can’t believe Jon and Jaime got out their oaths in the same season. This amazing, i am so happy i don’t care about him Cersei, they will never see each other again.
Jaime is of to Riverlands and his own arc.
Also Bran had a vision with all the important things (Ned, Wildfire,WW,Dany, Jon….and Jaime) . As Jaime’s fan i am happy to see him become so important in the game.
Isn’t he Tommen’s heir as now, that his vows are no longer valid?
Ok we get it. Dany is cool. She has cool dragons. They don’t need to end almost every episode with her being a narcissist. I mean for God’s sake..
Where are the dosh khaleen for that matter did we see any female dothraki ..and I can’t see single dothraki carrying a bows which they are known for .. Last week i was picked apart for saying the same thing that it would have been nice to see if dany had some sort of talk with dotharki before marching and thats exactly what happened in this episode.
And those who are saying that this proves dany is turning to villain.. People still need to answer who she is going to be villain cersei ,freys or dorne or tyrells or euron or vale ..which are the only powers left in westeros ..
And if dany is this much powerful what you think will happen it only will take two mins to finish a battle ..
I can see tyrells and other houses destroyed even before dany lands and dany is left to unite whatever is still left in south and fight WW .
the WW are unstoppable and the answer to who can stop them comes with dany ..
Its not a coincidence whenevee we get how unstoppable Nk is with his wights and WW …we get dany giving us the answer to who has a chance to stand against them fight them and help win against them ..
Just take Hardhome it finishes with hopelessness and how NK will be unstoppable ..but in the next episode we get dany riding dragon ( which show runners mention as proving her as chosen one ) ..giving us hope ..
Last episode we again see that NK and WW power but now we get who will be opposing them dany and dotharaki .. I know people will respond with dothraki are not suitable for winter but why don’t you guys wait and see next season how they behave in winter.
Hold the Door!
I strongly agree that the episode should have ended with the Benjen reveal. That Dany scene was random as hell. Was it necessary to have that in this episode?
I really liked the episode overall. I’m relieved arya decided not to be no one. I loved seeing benjen/ cold hands. Sams scenes were very powerful and well written. Dany was awesome too.
My main dissapointment is Jamie. The show seems to have completely forgotten about his redemption arc. When is he going to be over cersei? Ugh. Hopefully he will forget about her when he runs into a certain character in the riverlands who will be a better match (keeping it vague since it’s hard to do spoiler text on my iPhone)
I’m really scared for Loras 🙁
I feel like with the show taking a break from killing people this week, they’ll be making up for it next week.
“‘Burn them all’ he said, burn them in their houses, burn them in their beds.”
I find it very interesting we started the episode with Aerys Targaryen going bat-shit insane and we ended with Daenerys on the precipice. Seriously, I can’t be the only one who saw a glimmer of crazy in her eye at the end.
I think the showing of the Mad King also adds fuel to the theory that Bloodraven tried to warn Aerys but instead made him go insane, hence why he wanted to stop Bran from figuring out he can influence the past.
This 20 second vision is perhaps the most interesting thing in this episode. And that’s not a knock against the rest of the stuff in the episode, I thought it was top notch. Everything flowed great. People might overlook this episode because there’s a lot of set up, but it’s done very well.
Even the stuff in King’s Landing. I know a lot of people were expecting a clusterfuck battle resulting in several dead characters, but I think it’s better like this. This is some classic ASOIAF style scheming going on here, what is the High Sparrow’s game? He can’t honestly think a Trial by Combat is a good idea. He’s a player in this game for sure. There’s a twist awaiting us in the finale I feel. A good conspiracy is something we needed and the High Sparrow is delivering. My bets are on a Trial of Seven that doesn’t include the Hound, come on lets be real here. The Hound is alive for sure, but he’s lame and is a pacifist now, he’ll get squished like a bug. Sorry Cleganebowlers, it would be awesome but it ain’t happening.
Arya – very good. Her story is actually moving now, and I like it. Again a lot of set up, she’s going to have to break for it, to escape back to Westeros. She’s so going to stab the Waif with Needle, now residing under her pillow. She is not no one, she’ll never be no one, she is Arya Stark. Loved it.
Dany…. well, it was okay. Character goes here, pick up Dragon, comes back makes a warmonger speech. Okay…. By no means do I hate the Dany story, but I do get annoyed when everything goes her way all the time.
All-round great episode, but as I said it will be overlooked by many people due to it being mostly set up for the second half of the season. I actually enjoyed this one more than Episode 1, 3 and 4. Bringing my ranking so far to.
1. Episode 5, ‘the Door’
2. Episode 2, ‘Home’
3. Episode 6, ‘Blood of My Blood’
4. Episode 4, ‘Book of the Stranger’
5. Episode 3, ‘Oathbreaker’
6. Episode 1, ‘The Red Woman’
And I don’t give a fuck on anybody else not giving a fuck, the episode ended where it was supposed to end, and sorry, but seeing Dany finally riding Drogon like a true Targaryen , was a moment I had been waiting for a long time to see! When all three of them will ride, now that will be a sight to see!!!
Benjen “Coldhands” Stark, seeing a bit of Aerys The Mad King, the High Sparow’s cunning and ruthlessness, Sam and Gilly, Arya returning to her roots, the Freys and Edmure returning to the fray…not much more left to ask for!
This season has been stellar and each episode a gem like the entirety of this show. Not its not perfect, but who wants perfection! Fuck perfection, I’ll take “Game Of Thrones” over it any day!
PS And oh yeah, once again…fuck you Walder Frey!
The promised prince,
Actually this post allows book spoilers right? So I’ll say her name. Brienne. I thought brienne/ tormund was funny but her true love is Jamie. Yes I ship them.
Benjen! Benjen! Benjen! Benjen! Benjen!
That is all.
Oh Benjen. You’re as pale as I am now. So happy to see Joseph Mawle back after all these years (hey, Jon! No, really this time! Hey!).
Just let us know when WotW does a breakdown of Bran’s vision. Some stuff I caught, some stuff I already know I missed.
White Walkers. The North Remembers. Arya on the run. Even King’s Landing. I almost don’t care if Dany gets to Westeros (and frankly, she doesn’t deserve to rule it). We need the dragons for aerial assault. That’s about it.
Seeing the Uncles (Edmure & Benjen and even the Blackfish in the advert for next week) was far more exciting than that weak ending scene. What was the purpose of that? No pay off at all. Was a really good episode otherwise. Wasn’t Randyll Tarly brilliant/an asshole. Look forward to seeing more of him.
House Applebee,
I agree on many things…A quiet episode: didn´t love it but I liked it enough…Super happy to see they included THE MAD KING!! and barely recognized Joseph Mawley,the actor who plays Benjen…I can see he has quite a story to tell and knows quite a lot;it looks like he was learning with 3ER,as well…another crazy fan theory that comes true!! Color me amazed!!! 🙂 🙂 🙂 ps.I saw a connection between ¨Burn them all! ¨and the WW ,and between what Benjen says and what Jaqen says:One way or the other
I’m a big Dany fan, but mostly agree that the scene wasn’t right. It felt out of place and would have been better off elsewhere in terms of developing Dany as actually having the Dothraki support.
Benjen reveal should definitely have ended the episode, but I also feel like they didn’t quite do it justice in terms of its dramatic affect. Just my opinion, but I feel like it could have been more emotive.
I wish they did the Dany speech in the previous episode, before she sent off Jorah. It would have been great to see Iain Glen’s reactions to having season 1 Dany returned, harder and stronger.
In addition to the Benjen reveal, there were at least two moments in this episode which I found more powerful than Dany’s speech – Arya blowing out the candle and Edmure’s face.
“Blood of my blood” did turn out to be an uncle-centric episode – Benjen, Edmure, Brynden, and Jaime.
The more I think about it, the more I wish that Dany scene had been moved to last week’s episode. It just somehow didn’t fit for me. It wasn’t a bad scene by any means. Just misplaced. At least it should’ve been the 2nd last scene. I think they’ve just gotten so used to ending episodes on bad ass Dany moment that they don’t know anything else.
ETA: Ninja’d by Aabe!
AlexG,
It’s the green of the Wildfire 😀 We don’t get enough emerald green in this show.
House Stark in season 6 – “What is dead may never die, but rises again harder and stronger”
House Applebee,
Haha!! True!!! 7 Up Green,some would say 😉
Don’t be
AlexG,
Haha well if you think about it 7up along with Mountain Dew are both actually piss-yellow, they put it in a green bottle to make it look more appealing.
Agree Sue. The Dany scene didn’t work for me either. Everything else was stellar.
By the way, was that Tim Mcinnerney as Lord Glover in the preview? OMG, how am I going to see him as anything other than the foppish characters he played in Blackadder??
House Applebee,
Ohhh!!! It´s a good thing I´m a Coca-Cola girl!! and NO,I do not wanna know what´s inside that! 😉 Ps2…Did you catch what looks like an image of Lyanna´s dead bloody hands?!!
Personally I thought the entire episode was great including the Dany scene. Drogon looks amazing. One thing I think the Dany scene does show is that she seems to be more “in control” of him than the last time she rode him. Also it confirms she is dead set to finally go to Westeros.
The North scenes are still the standouts this season though. Benjen Coldhands fire chain was awesome. Ellie has really killed it as Meera the last two weeks. Right now I think she would have my vote for best supporting actress. Bran’s reaction after waking up was a little weird. He seemed pretty calm. I wonder if that was to show he has basically become another person as he now is the full on Three-Eyed Raven. No mention of the loss of Hodor and Summer was kind of disappointing but hopefully we will hear that in a future ep.
Horn Hill looks great, one of the best castles we’ve seen so far. The sets continue to amaze. I loved Gilly standing up for Sam. It was funny seeing Dickon laugh at the mention of Sam killing a White Walker. When they were talking about hunting I kinda wanted Sam to be like, it’s great you can hunt down and kill a stag but up north I hunt Thenns and White Walkers. But it goes to show Sam can’t handle the shame his father has forced upon him. So it was nice seeing Gilly stand up for him even if his family didn’t believe her.
Braavos and King’s Landing were solid scenes as well. Overall I’d say an 8.5/10 episode.
Who else thought that Meera and Bran were going to kiss when she bent down to hold him? I can’t be the only one ahahah.
I realize that I’ve said this after virtually every episode of this season (and series). But that’s because it’s what I truly feel and believe. This episode was So. Goddamn. Good!
I was jubilant from the moment when the Mad King appeared in Bran’s vision, and my enthusiasm never waned. Hats off Bryan Cogman, Jack Bender, David Benioff, Dan Weiss, and everyone else who had a role in shaping that hour. It was superb.
I was so caught up in everything that was happening that I didn’t even realize that this was the first episode of this particular bloody season not to feature a major onscreen death outside of a flashback. I also didn’t particularly miss Jon, Sansa, and the North, even though that’s been my favorite story of the season so far. That’s OK, because it looks like we’ll be seeing a lot of them next week.
In the meantime … Dany is finally going west … with Fire and Blood! Benjen Stark returns – as Coldhands*! Jaime’s going to war**! Walder Frey is back, and he’s as fantastically loathsome as ever! Arya has her needle again! And not only does Gilly look damn fine in that dress, she gives one hell of a speech as well.
I doubt it will be many people’s favorite sequence, but after watching the episode twice, I honestly think the scenes in Horn Hill were the highlight of the hour for me. I loved Sam and Gilly in that setting – Sam’s reaction to seeing Gilly don southern clothes for the first time was everything I’d hoped it would be (I’ve got a bit of a schoolboy crush on Hannah Murray. Judge that however you like). Melessa and Talla are delightful. Randyll is an utter bastard, but magnificently so. And Dickon … well, he’s Cormac McLaggen, isn’t he? Transported into a less forgiving universe. I also loved seeing Heartsbane make its debut … with Sam stealing it! I doubt Randyll will take kindly to that, but I’m very eager to see how it ties in to the rest of the story.
*In the Inside the Episode video, Benioff and Weiss referred to Benjen as Coldhands. I was never a big fan of Coldhands in the novels, in large part because I viewed him mostly as a mere avatar of the Three-Eyed Raven, and his apparent destruction in ADWD killed any interest I might have harbored in unlocking the mystery of his identity. The reveal in tonight’s episode that Benjen is meant to be that character rekindled my interest in the role this undead rider has to play in Bran’s story.
And yes, I’ve seen the Texas A&M manuscript in which GRRM scribbled in the margins that Coldhands isn’t Benjen. Perhaps that’s still the case in the novels, and the show is departing from that text. Or maybe Martin’s plans have changed since he submitted that particular manuscript to his editor. Regardless, I can safely say that I feel far more invested in this version of the character than I ever did in the novels, whether he’s riding an elk or not (or rather, perhaps because he’s not).
Also, I love Meera Reed, in both mediums. I never believed that she and Bran were doomed, but when she threw herself over him and said “I’m so sorry!”, I got a little misty-eyed. Props to Ellie Kendrick, and to the little crannogwoman who is one of only three people in this entire series who we have seen kill a White Walker.
**I enjoyed all of Jaime’s scenes in this episode, including everything with Cersei. And no, I don’t care that he hasn’t broken from her yet. Their relationship is different on the show, and Cersei in particular is a much different character – the myriad infidelities that facilitate Jaime’s split from here don’t exist (her affair with Lancel is set up more as a pale substitute for her relationship with Jaime). I think that the show has kept the Lannister twins together to set them up for a more definitive and tragic ending closer to the end of the story. I’m happy with that outcome. In the meantime, Jaime will probably meet Brienne as soon as the next episode. Looking forward to that.
Through 6 episodes, Season 6 is my favorite season of Game of Thrones. Season 4 still holds the overall belt because its second half was so strong, but if Season 6 keeps this pace, it will surpass it comfortably. It’s like drinking from a tap of straight wildfire, and I love every second of it. That may make me Aerion Brightflame, but I don’t care. Burn, baby, burn!
May I shout out to Ellie Kendrik & David Bradley: both of them nailed their scenes. Ellie with desperation & grief so sharp you can taste it.
I didn’t know it was possible to hate Walder Frey more….and still giggle snort at his pissy old man cantankerousness. “How could you loose it? It’s a castle not a bloody sheep!”
aabe,
weirwoodtreehugger,
That’s what I have been saying as well ..
Last episode should have opened with dany talking to darrio and jorah and then drogon comes dany gives speech ..dothraki follow and dany leading the way on top of drogon while dothraki marched outside of vaes dothrak..which jorah watching from afar .
I loved Jamie’s facial expressions during Mace Tyrell’s speech to his army:) LOL.
Connor,
The possibility did briefly cross my mind during that sequence. I’d be surprised if that element were introduced now, since the show hasn’t really explored Bran’s crush on Meera to the extent that the novels have (and even there, it’s just a few sentences) . It was really the first time that the show even opened the door on that idea.
Again, I really don’t expect that anything will ultimately happen. I think that Meera’s gesture in that moment was simply protective, born of a desperate moment between two people who have been through hell together. But I certainly wouldn’t be adverse to seeing things develop further in that direction. I guess we’ll see.
AlexG,
I did catch that. Tower of Blue Balls part 2 hype for episode 10 I bet.
I liked the Benjen reveal, but was expecting it so I wasn’t shocked, found it more interesting than amazing. Loved Bran’s quick clips of Westeros history and possibly future, very cool.
Margery is definitely manipulating both the HS and Tommen. Not sure why all the hate for the HS, I commented on the open chat that the poor and common of KL and all over the seven kingdoms have been screwed by the Lannisters, Tywin, Cersei and yes Jamie too. They have done terrible things and the HS in a metaphorical sense represents the downtrodden of the seven kingdoms and while he is a fanatic he is a clever fanatic and whatever bad things happen to the Lannister’s, save for Tyrion, is just desserts for all of their many crimes. So not quite sure why people are rooting for the Lannister’s against the HS, he is pissed as are all the poor and they want some justified payback.
Nice to see Walder Frey is as much as of an ass as ever, lol. Edmure Tully the weak is back and I don’t see the Blackfish giving a flying crap about his wimpy nephew. I certainly have no sympathy for Edmure.
The family dinner at the Tarly household was great, well acted and man the dad is a horse’s ass. Sam’s mom is awesome and Gilly was brave. Loved that Sam took the sword.
Arya has made her decision, but I am not sure if the faceless man is testing Arya by sending the Waif. Obviously Arya knows they will be coming after her and has decided her recent experience of being blind gives her an advantage in a pitch black room and that will prove to be the difference against the Waif. When Arya prevails will she escape Bravvos for the seven kingdoms or will the Faceless man bring her back into the fold? Not sure how they will play that one out.
I love Dany, but have to agree with some other posters that the scene didn’t fit in well with this particular episode. Should have saved if for next week. The other problem was the sound editing! Thousands of Dothraki should be really loud, but it sounded more like fifty guys were cheering. For goodness sakes steal the sound editing from any show that has people roaring in a huge stadium and play that, argh.
The Old Bear,
Rallying your army is “narcissist”. Hmm. That’s new.
Damn, Drogon has gotten huge. Did Dany feed him her horse?
To those who ask what this dany scene proved ..a couple of things actually .
1- that she controls drogon fully.
2 – and that all the dothraki will follow dany to westeros ..many spike about how it can’t happen and all ..but this puts an end to it..
Regarding 1000 ships do remember that GRRM compared dany to nymeria who once crossed the narrow sea with 10000,ships .
Am I the only one who got the feeling maybe dany will now fly for volantis alone while the dotharki and darrio march for meereen ..
She may know that volantis will have that many ships and go there looking for ships and freeing the people along the way and get to meet with yara and theon there in next episode ..
And join tyrion and darrio in episode 9 ..
I know it wont happen but still i would like to see that ..
Here’s something I find very interesting. The farfaraway website that releases episode photos released this one last year under Season 5 Episode 9 (and 2 others like it). Arya retrieving Needle.
http://www.farfarawaysite.com/section/got/gallery5/gallery9/hires/8.jpg
This was posted during Season 5 and before filming for Season 6 even started. So was this a scene that they’d filmed over a year and a half ago, and held on to for this long? Has to be. Pretty neat.
Looking forward to seeing screencaps of Bran’s visions. Tried to see as many details as possible, but when the images are coming at you that fast it’s hard to pause and slow down with hbo app. Wildfire. Hardhome. Ned’s life and death. Mad King. What’s not to like?
In the books, Bran’s crush on Meera is apparent. In the show, it’s good to see that she clearly has some emotional attachment to him. Perhaps this is an episode devoted to young love? Bran/Meera, Sam/Gilly, Tommen/Margery…
Interesting that while Coldhands in the boom is obviously not Benjin, they decided to make the Benjin that we are reunited with have coldshandy traits. What kind of monster is this, Bran?
Arya has moved on to the next step in her journey. So much for the theory that she will go to Oldtown and impersonate a pig boy while the Waif takes the Arya face elsewhere, but a future showdown with the Waif may be in her future.
And the line from Lady Crane asking Arya how she would rewrite the story…dig from D&D towards book fans, challenging them to do better?
Dany dragon scene may have been out of place, but it mainly served to reestablish the respect she gets from the Dothraki from being able to mount and ride a friggen dragon, especially sense she wasn’t on Drogon when they found her at the end of last season.
With the alliance between the crown and the faith, and Tyrion’s alliance with the Red Church, and whatever is going on in the Iron Isles, the survivors of the Westerosi civil war may soon find themselves in the middle of a holy war next…
Liked the Sam stuff, but I can’t wait to see how the show handles Oldtown and if Pate, the Sphinx and Lazy Leo get to be in the show.
Oh one more thing…Mace’s armor was so hillarious, almost as funny as the fact that he still needed is mother to signal to him to make the troops stand downm
Okay, I am not a big Dany fan but in this episode I felt she took advantage of Drogon’s return and achieved something great. I mean if I were a Dothraki at that point I would be so hyped I believe I would even cross that fucking salty sea on real horseback. I don’t care if I would drown…that woman knows how to hype……Benjen is a half white walker so I guess he can’t cross to the south of the wall….mmmm Tommen just pissed me off so much if he dies at any point now I will not feel bad……let rewatch and come back for more
Connor,
I swear, I thought the very same thing! Glad I’m not the only one! ?
Loved the bran and arya scenes.Sam’s were really good too and having Walder Frey back is great.And I see where they are going with cersei and Jaime.Now dany I’m not buying it fam I know we are supposed to cheer for her and all but the whole time I was thinking or maybe you should just chill and leave these people live their life.I don’t know but I have never liked conquerors I hate entitled people.
So we got a bunch of WW scenes with Aerys saying “burn them all” over them.
And we know that Aerys heard whispers telling them to “burn them all”.
So not too far out to believe that the 3ER was influencing Aerys, telling him to burn them all.
Everybody hating on dany:( It’s all been building up to this. Jon and Dany. One or both will die towards the end. I honestly think it will be dany, I hope not but she is definitely a bad ass. Mother of dragons!
1. Yeah I gathered that. My problems with the scene don’t really have so much to do with that, it just feels oddly placed. Most of the screen time is spent in southern Westeros and Beyond the Wall, and at the very end of the episode we just have Drogon added to her army. It just feels odd. They could have easily placed this short scene in the previous episode, although this episode was already quite short, so maybe they needed something else to happen here.
Another thought that occurred to me is that they were trying to make more of a connection between her and her father, Aerys. “BURN THEM ALL”. If that’s the case then this scene could be very ominous indeed.
2. We kinda knew that would happen in the last episode. It may not have been said, but it was implied.
I honestly have no idea what the finer points of the end of this season will hold for Dany. I think it’s quite obvious we’re going to get a Siege of Meereen. Tyrion will command the battle but will begin to lose, similar to the Battle of Blackwater Bay, and Dany will be the sweeper, as we always need a sweeper in every battle in the series, whether it be Tywin (Blackwater), Stannis (The Children), and it even seems the Vale forces under Littlefinger will be the sweepers at Winterfell. After all the battle is done however I think she will leave for Westeros – possibly. There is still the unresolved issue of Quaithe and Qarth, who may have a role in the Jorah Connington Greyscale plot. That whole “to go forward you must go back” prophesy may come into play. I don’t think she’ll go to Volantis though, 4 episodes left now and she is still in the Dothraki Sea.
Bran and meera were so sweet I loved it.Sam and gilly too,holy shit they both have big fucking balls.But I missed the north so much I almost cried a little when I didn’t see kit and Sophie in the credits haha
Randyl Tarly was perfect. I was critical of the show spending time going to Horn Hill, and was even worried that it would be Dorne 2.0, but I was pleasantly surprised. Loved Sam stealing Heartsbane. Now I wonder who will wield it? Surely Sam isn’t going to.
I liked the Dany scene. But it should have been the second to last scene last episode. Drogon looked amazing and the dragon riding looked better than last season. Dany is a conqueror. It is what she is best at. Now, I hope she gets to Westeros before the WW invasion makes its way south, and she actually faces off with human enemies.
Bran hearing the mad king yell ‘burn them all’ interspersed with visions of the wights reinforces that he will warg one of the dragons, IMO.
Benjen! I still doubt he is Coldhands in the books, but I don’t care if he is in the show. I just loved seeing him back.
At least Jaime is leaving Cersei, though not by his own choosing, ugh. I’m convinced D&D are choosing to keep him devoted to Cersei in order to make him being the valonqar more shocking. It’s just a shame we are missing out on seeing him kick Cersei to the curb sooner.
The Faceless Men are not that impressive in the show. Glad to see Arya leaving. Not sure what exactly she learned and why we spent so much time seeing her get smacked around. I understand not wanting to lose Maisie, but it’s odd to see her doing a hit with her own face and appearance. Isn’t using different faces what the FM are known for?
Tommen has absorbed some of fAegon’s plot in the books, though I’m not sure he’ll be around long enough for Dany to burn him to a crisp.
Jaime is gone. Now I assume we will get crazy Cersei. Bring her on.
Overall, I enjoyed the episode. It would rank behind a few of this season’s episodes, but still quality stuff. They are rushing through a lot of stuff, and that is my only complaint for this season. But they have ramped up the excitement. And if that’s what this show is moving forward, then so be it.
Is it safe to discuss the preview for episode 7 here? Thanks in advance either way
Just off the top of my head (and please correct me if I’m wrong), I believe that the scene with Tommen, Jaime, and Kevan was the first time we’ve seen the Iron Throne since Tyrion’s trial in Season 4, Episode 6 (“The Laws of Gods and Men”). Exactly two full seasons. It’s an interesting commentary on how the dramatic center of the series has shifted away from the object that was so central to the show’s appeal in the earlier years.
loco73,
I’m with you. Great show. Top notch from beginning to end.
Love this recap. Okay, watched it twice and it’s playing in the background again 🙂
I love Meera so much. And Bran’s whole storyline this season. That was an intense struggle and it was clear she was trying so hard to protect him. When she touched his face there was so much concern and fear. Loved it. And those visions? TONS of wildfire. In fact most of it was on a loop-Jaime and Mad King, pyromancers, wildfire explosion and Night King’s army–it kind of emphasizes the importance of those images and we hear burn them all over and over (We should all watch Jaime’s hot tub speech to Brienne again. The king had wildfire hidden all over the city and I don’t think they cleaned it up). My spidey senses were tingling. But we also saw Bran seeing his family die, Ned’s hand bloody beside Lyanna? (OMG) and the dragons.
Bran is sort of distant and out of it when he wakes up. No sadness, no fear and I think he’s just got so much going on in his head. All the memories of-no doubt-every greenseer and weirwood since the dawn of time. He’ll never just be Bran again. As Benjenhands (OMFG so happy) said, he is the three-eyed raven now. The vessel. Neo completely hooked into the Matrix. Also-fyi-did I mention Benjen? As soon as I saw his black fingers I jumped, then saw his eyes and knew. Dragon glass is magical 🙂 I only hope they let him follow Bran beyond the wall because, you know, he did promise to have a talk with Jon…
Sam. I just want to hug him. His father loathes him. He isn’t just disappointed. He actually looked like he wanted to walk calmly over to Sam’s seat and stab him for being born-shades of Tywin. The rest of his family is great-his mother especially. But watching Sam shrink deeper and deeper into his chair and actually look like he was being attacked-it was worse than the first time they trained at CB. You could see where that came from and it was well done. This is my favorite Gilly episode ever. She came from a keep with her sister wives and father husband and didn’t know anything else, and she more than held her own and gave Sam exactly what he needed. And I’m glad I was right about him taking that sword. He needs it and his father doesn’t deserve it at all.
Also baby Sam is super cute now. 🙂
Marg is the best and most underrated game player imo. If she’s really converted I’ll be totally shocked. When she was hugging Tommen you saw the smile slip for a second-you saw her saying what she was supposed to say and instantly gauging his reaction and realizing he was never going to get subtle hints-so she dove into her part and brought him along. Not only did she repeat “lies and stories” from HS speech, but she said something about herself that showed amazing insight and had enough truth to make it believable. That she was kind to the poor only when she knew people were watching. This isn’t a complete lie and it reminded me of her trip with Joffrey where she got out and spoke to the children.
Mance’s armor and Olenna’s commanding fan were both perfect-as was Marg’s surprised expression when they showed up, since she knew what was about to happen and they obviously didn’t.
The HS looks so smug and cocky at the end of that scene I wanted to punch him but then…
My least favorite scene for multiple reasons, Jaime and Cersei. I do appreciate his James Dean impression “They’re tearing our family apart!” And I was struck by Cersei not seeming to give a single fu** about her last remaining child being stolen by the HS after what he’d done to her. I’m pretty sure she’s written him off at this point. The prophecy. I guess that’s why she says Jaime is the only person that matters and they have this “kill them all-I’m so turned on” make out session that feels super out of place. I know, Jaime is show Jaime who has retconned his amazing acting and character growth from season 3, but come on Cersei. Your son just fired his father and sent him away before your trial AND is buddies with the guy who made you walk naked through the city. Is this the time?
I actually think she’s just waiting for Jaime to leave now so she can sic the Mountain on everyone. But guess what? I also don’t think that she’ll get an easy trial by combat fix. Why? Because she is saying she will every five minutes. She’s too cocky about it. HS has something else up his sleeve.
Arya-my favorite episode of hers this season-in particular that moment of true emotion during her conversation with Lady Crane. When she was talking about how Cersei would feel at losing her child-there were so many layers. Remembering how she felt when her family died. Realizing that other people suffer. That it was Cersei in particular she was discussing… Maisie did a great job with those expressive eyes.
Loved the conversation between the acting troop too. I hope she does go with them-I want to see more of them.
Dany looked really cool on the dragon 🙂 But yeah, I was mesmerized and wanted more Benjen fireside chat as Bran calmly drank a cup of blood. PS-didn’t even cringe. His weirwood-brain must love the taste of freshly squeezed rabbit juice. Mmmm
Also really missed Jon. Wasn’t this supposed to be his season? He hasn’t had a lot of dialogue. But I admit there really wasn’t time. I think this is the first episode of the season Tyrion wasn’t in either.
The preview though…is it next Sunday yet? House Mormont and the Glovers! Blackfish! Bronn!! LSH!! ….okay maybe not that last one-but everything is set up for it now. Everything. BWB attacking the Freys, the siege, Brienne and Jaime in Riverlands…
I can’t believe there are only 4 more episodes.
Good set-up episode. I like the quick cameo of the Mad King. Wonder if Bran’s going to find out that Jamie is the one who crippled him.
Looks like they’re setting up Dany as an antagonist when she goes to Westeros. She reminds me a lot of Khal Drogo in season 1 when he announced his intention to invade and terrorize. With the Dothraki savages, sellswords, Unsullied and possible ironborn army by her side, she’s going to bring ‘fire and blood’ to get the iron throne. I wouldn’t be surprised if Jon, Starks and the survivors from the Great Houses are going to team up against her. Unless Tyrion bridges the gap between two sides… but he himself has a bad reputation as kingslayer/kinslayer.
Randyll Tarly was awesome! That is, the actor portraying him was awesome. Same goes for David Bradley and Walder Frey. Bradley does such a good job you almost start to half like the old geezer. Then Danerys Stormborn, of House Targaryen, give me a second to find my Arakh and a horse and I’ll be right along. Great stuff tonight. And best of all, welcome back Benjen!
As much as I hate it when the show goes full Dany-fag, that last scene was pretty damn good. Made me buy the Dothraki following her much more than her walking out of a building naked, and it was a pretty good speech. And the visuals, oh my god…
Best episode of the season so far for me. 9/10
Maybe they originally planned to have her kill Meryn Trant with Needle, and then changed their minds after filming that scene. It looks like the oyster tray that she was carrying when she followed Meryn into the brothel is sitting on the rocks where Needle was hidden.
Pigeon,
I remember that photo. That’s curious indeed! Maybe they shot that sequence last year because they knew they wouldn’t be returning to that particular location for filming? In Season 5, many of Arya’s Braavos scenes were filmed in Kastel Gomilica, but ultimately the show returned to Croatia only briefly for Season 6 (the only scene that I know was filmed in Croatia during this production cycle was Cersei and the Mountain waiting for Myrcella’s return in the Royal harbor, as we saw in Episode 1).
The place where Arya retrieves Needle from the rocky outcrop seems like a simple enough location to replicate, but if the writers always knew this was coming (as I expect they did) maybe they thought it was easier to shoot this very brief scene then. Of course, that wouldn’t explain why the photo was released last year, unless it was a mistake or plans changed. We may never know, but it’s an interesting possibility to consider.
That’s an idea. Don’t play the Needle card until last….I liked how she heard someone coming, and blew out the candle. She knows she fights better ‘blind’ now.
I loved the Dany scene at the end. Come on! She is now a true Targaryen! She’s meant to go to Westeros! Finally!!! Was a really great scene!!! Com’on… even with all the forshadowing, most people didn’t remember Benjen to be the end of the sixth episode of this season. Though I liked to have him back.
And the best part… the Freys said something about the Brotherhood without Banners… oh My Lady Stoneheart… I’m hearing you coming :3
Excellent episode overall. Interesting that Jaime and Cersei are so united this season. The Tarly lands are so beautiful – one of the prettiest places in Westeros.
I really hope the Wall comes down this season and changes the landscape of the North.
Yes! Loved that scene for that very reason.
But I also agree with others who’ve said that this scene should have come in the last episode. Her storyline (and in the books too, I bet) is very, very thin, and they play it in miniscule bits to cover the season. Basically, she’s this distant part-magical figure who will be needed at the last minute to save Westeros. Also, I didn’t like how they completely bypassed what happened to the Vaes Dothrak widows. That should ALSO have come last episode.
It is, when it’s Daenerys. 😉 Now, if it was a Stark (esp. Sansa and especially Jon), it would obviously have been something wondrous! Hehehe……….
bloody hands after Ned asks “where is my sister”
Good point as well, and it’s the same location down to the large stick (boat tie-up?) behind her. Same outfit, same expression and movement. I never could figure out last year why that didn’t show up in the Episode, figured it was scrapped or maybe the storyline was originally cut much shorter.
Did Jon claw his way out of his mother’s womb?There is so much blood in that vision poor Lyanna
Pigeon,
I did also remember that photo!! 😛
Poor Septa Unella, didn’t even get to ring her bell. She must have been really disappointed.
I just had a horrible thought. In the same episode that Mama Tarly coos over baby Sam (who is really Craster’s should-have-been-an-offering to White Walkers boy child) we got Bran’s visions. Along with wildfire and mad king and insane amount of wights-we also saw the baby (little Sam’s brother) at least 3 times in the vision loop.
Found this screenshot breakdown on Imgur http://imgur.com/gallery/5WMdv
And now I’m worried about baby Sam. And I’m even happier Sam the Slayer has Heartsbane.
i loved Dany scene, it was epic
as for Benjen not much, he was just some minor character hardly appeared in season 1,probably only hardcore bookreaders interested him
House Applebee,
1. I have said that too ..the placement of this scene they got it wrong ..
And I believe its because they think dany needs to be in atleast 8 episodes ..so they cut her scenes into small ones and place them in each episode..
I would be happy if they have had given hee arya treatment less episode and more screentime ( when they habe decided not to show more of dany’s past or her inner struggles )
Lets be honest here that comparison with her dad will be made even if that dany scene didn’t appeared in the episode..
I don’t know when will people get that she is not going to be aerys and that there is actually cersei present for that ..
The books have beaten to death about how she is rhaegar’s sister and if you hear anything from the way they showrunners speak they dont intens this as well..
2..yes but people would have still said that dany will leave them in meereen..
DireWolfHeart,
Well, considering he’s been cast as the title character in Netflix’s the Iron Fist series, it’s not very likely he’s going to be on GOT much longer.
Kay,
El-Bobbie,
What do you guys expected..
On the other hand iam starting to wonder how funny it would be if reason behind aerys turning mad is because of bran or BR ..
I would love to see the reactions..
I have always thought that his madness was due to the conspiracy of maesters and they poisoned him ..kind of how they played a part with destruction of dragons and summer hall tragedy ..
Jenny,
I saw that too. Wondered if maybe he had to be cut out to save his live, a la Caesar.
Liked the episode, not the best of the season but I liked it.
I will go in more details later, perhaps in the unsullied post, as I have work right now….
But I will say this because I saw it mentioned couple of times. Book stuff.
If Cersei is going to burn the sept or the city in the final episode, then i’m sure A+J=C+J… it would be so obvious !
Regarding tyrion and varys may keep dany in line ..
Or that tyrion and varys will abandon her .
Let us remember that varys was the one who came up with the idea of marrying dany to dothraki so they can come to westeros( ofcourse in books he wanted dany to die in the dothraki sea and intended another to be a perfect Prince but the point is he still wanted the westeros to be destroyed )
Tyrion this is the guy who kept savages as bodyguards
And why should tyrion suddenly start realizing that placing dany on the throne means Tommen to be overthrown ..didn’t he know already that’s how it will happen..
Whenever I see this type of comments its make it look like dany can’t think for herself ..she isn’t going to kill tommen in the first place if he was defeated ..
This type of comments was seen last year also that tyrion will talk sense into her and make her keep jorah by her side …but then look at what happened..
Sometimes people need to put their personal preference aside and focus on what the story is actually telling ..
Dany embracing her house words does not mean she is going to be stop thinking or mind blocked to just kill everyone right ans left ..aegon tye conqueror was someone who showed how to use fire and blood ..
And dany is aegon with tits
Its similar to how arya embracing her stark name and needle.
Nice epoisode. A respite from all the previous action-packed episodes.
I have mixed feelings about the last scene.
I disliked how they handled Daenerys’ mounting Drogon last season (visually speaking) and in my opinon the made up for it with this scene. I am 100% convinced by the CGI.
However, her speech was uncalled for and repetitive.
As though the writers were trying to get us excited but there was not get excited about.
blckp,
This.
I like that Benjen is back, but I wasn’t that excited…he never truly was a important character and honestly I never got the ”hype” for him.
I want her to see my dragon… I named it Mini-me
Mihnea,
Are you serious he is a STARK that alone will make people excited ..
But he is just not stark but he is UNCle Benjen the one who was supposed to be darrio the one was supposed to be Euron..
I wonder what secret identity will people come up for darrio at the end of this season..
Him being euron is out .,benjen is out .,and a harpy will be out as well.
I really didn’t feel that connected to Drogon arriving to Dany this week, either, mostly because it seemingly came out of nowhere. There wasn’t that emotional beat of Daznak’s Pit and it seemed like an odd choice to close out the episode. I would have even gone with Sam taking Heartsbane with him. They could have used a triumphant ending after the downer of last week. https://goo.gl/OGHPF9
Like you Pigeon, I’ve been wanting that Needle screenshot explained since back when it came out. Arya retrieving Needle is a *big* moment so as soon as I saw her in those same clothes (last week?) it had to be coming any time now. I had thought it’s probably why they dressed her like that again now, to marry it up with that previously filmed scene. I was tickled to see it happen in this episode finally 🙂
My initial reaction was it wasn’t up with the better episodes this season, that it was more set-up, but i liked it more on a second watch.
I particularly loved Arya and the players. I hope that’s not the last we see of them. Lady Crane is just great. I’d watch a spinoff series on that group. It made me think it could be really interesting if Arya meets up with Cersei. She’s learnt how to consider other points of view.
Benjen appearing was a relief. Bran and Meera are safe now to the Wall.
Jamie is good to be away from Kings Landing at last.
Connor,
I was waiting for it too. They have good chemistry 😛
Wow!
Dany is her father’s daughter fo real!
She don’t deserve the Iron Throne, she’s mad!
And I hope Daario kill her just like Jaime did to her father
Weastrose don’t need any more madness!, and please don’t say she’ll help with the WW situation , because clearly she don’t care about it!
I hope she die and Tyrion can control the Dragons
The Blood of Winterfull,
That’s what you took away from that scene? That she’s mad?
Poor Reekmure Tully
Poor Meera
Poor Benjen
Poor Walder’s new wife
The Mad King looks like he’s auditioning for King Lear.
Did Lyanna get a C-section? Jon’s birth starts to sound like it came straight out of Macbeth.
Agree with you. It was a bit of a forced scene. I have epic speech fatigue from Dany as well. It looked great though.
Rosehawk,
I thought the same, but oddly enough it was Macduff who sprung to mind. He was also “untimely ripped” from his mother, and seen as a good/holy character who heroically ended Macbeth’s rule over Scotland. However the Caesar analogy works better, given how Jon died (and also the potential formation of a triumvirate!).
[/reaching, I know]
Edit: lol Flayed Potatoes! You beat me to it 😉
I don’t necessarily agree with this. He usually only has one or two scenes per season. He could do both.
Also. Trivia: this is the first episode in season 6 that doesn’t start at the Wall.
Still, it starts in the north just like the other 5 episodes.
No
That what I took away from the last 3 seasons + reading the books
“I will take what is mine”, huh!
That look on Daario’s face was the cold realization that Dany is just like every powerful man Daario’s ever seen, only worse, she’s got three dragons to make life extra miserable for everyone.
Her speech tells you everything you need to know about Dany going forward: She’s a new mega-villain headed for Westeros; The Fire headed up from the south to match The Ice descending from the north.
Where once she spoke of being the breaker of chains, now her aims are every bit as selfish as the worst tyrants of Essos (many of whom Daario has probably worked for in the past); “Cross the water, kill the men in steel, tear down their stone houses, etc…”.
Do those sound like the words of the benevolent ruler Dany claimed she wanted to be, or those of a would-be tyrant?
Note the look on Daario’s face, and his tone of voice, when he says “You’re a conqueror.”. That’s the look of a disillusioned man.
It’s strange, but I wonder now if Dany’s latest experiences changed her into this…or was she always just a smarter, female version of Viserys who also figured out how to hatch dragons?
Further Thoughts:
I’m calling it now: Cersei’s a goner before the credits roll on S6-E10.
Rules of The Game #1: The more confident you are that you’re going to be just fine, the more likely it is that you’re about to die.
The more she talks about her trial, the more it feels like foreshadowing of her inevitable demise.
Unless D&D have decided to throw out the old rule book for the rest of the series, which, admittedly, would make things very interesting, Cersei’s days are, per Rules of The Game, numbered.
(Jaime not only leaving KL, but also being so dead set against it seems a touch foreboding as well, doesn’t it?)
Final Note:
Benjen said that the WW’s left him to die…but TCoTF saved him.
Does this mean Benjen’s still bound by his Night’s Watch oath? (Unlike Jon, who died, thus his watch ended.)
iridium,
“Tell thee, Jon Snow was from his mother’s womb
Untimely ripp’d.”
The forests are coming to Winterfell!
Too bad we didn’t get Rickon as the ghost of Winterfell to terrorize Ramsay. 😛
“Blood of My Blood” is named for the Dany scene, so yes, it did have to be in this episode. But they could’ve meshed it better with Westeros.
****
I’m loving the Felicia Day cameo! I didn’t even know she had been cast in Game of Thrones.
I also love the insight about the data dump from Bloodraven! I just thought of the sequence as a randomized floating that happened to be poignant as Bran tried to come out of the greenseeing, but it makes so much more sense that BR would be releasing all of the big moments to Bran – all that they will never share together. But hopefully Bran can piece these together and realize that wildfire and Dany are keys to the solution. I imagine he’ll be getting more keys later on as he travels to the Wall, especially in Episode 10!
Gorgeous pics this time, especially Horn Hill! Heartsbane! And look at Meera’s badass sword. I totally missed that. If only it was Valyrian.
That thought definitely crossed my mind!
I just thought it was really interesting that as part of the flashbacks/visions, we got a shot of Jaime sitting on the Iron Throne. Simply because that doesn’t seem to be a relevant part of why/how he killed Aerys.
This was an easy episode on the heart and the brain …..
whatever happened in that dany scene needed to happen last episode ….it was almost like instead of the start of the football (soccer) match ….The coach is giving players pep talk in the middle of the game when they are actually 5-0 up….
…
but it was good though …seemed like dany was enjoying it having a good time …..
ahh kingslanding is fun ….High sparrow played it well …..but what is Margaery’s plan ?? tommen is being played like a volleyball ….someone is soon gonna smash him …..
The play was funny ….and arya was cool this episode …next episode seems like it’s gonna be huge for her …
those bran scenes raises a lot of questions in my head ….
and star of the episode for me randyll tarly ..man James faulkner bowled a perfect over …yorkers bouncers …..short pitch ….everything ….He took sam’s stumps out of the ground …… (((((hello cricket lovers )))))))
it was intense …..and Sam made a good comeback …interesting ….stuff……
………..great episode …….loved it …….
I did a breakdown and video in the other thread in this post: here. I hope the link works.
Lord Farstark,
You know… What Daenerys has in mind is basically what Robb, Stannis and Renly have alreadyd one..
The only difference? She was clear about it. To win the iron throne/avenge her family, men will die.
Now. Were Stannis, Robb, Renly and the others antagonists just because their goals involved bloodshed? No.
Rosehawk,
Yeah maybe.If ned cut him out with dawn that he would literally be born under a bleeding star haha.I don’t know how that would work though.Wouldn’t lyanna immediately die and not have time to get any promises out of ned?
Not necessarily, she would die quickly but without anaesthesia I would assume she would still be conscious long enough to utter that one question.
First-time commenter! On Coldhands/Benjen: I don’t think this means that Coldhands is Benjen. My guess is that Coldhands is like Beric Dondarrion, a character to introduce ways the dead can return in the GOT universe. Through Coldhands we learn that all the wights/white walkers aren’t man-killing machines. However, I do wonder if the magic makes the walker a servant of who created him, thus making Benjen a servant of the Three Eyed Raven. And now that TER is dead, Benjen is magically tied to serving Bran.
I think the Dany scene would have more emotional payoff if we got to see the moment she found and reunited with Drogon. The show built up her emotional relationship with the dragons so much, so it’s weird to see them together without any of that included.
I would like someone to make a gif of the khalasar cheering so I can use it to express my hype for Cleganebowl & Bastardbowl.
That Benjen fire ball has to be one of the coolest weapons on the show.
pras,
Only if you had given mitchell johnson reference, it would have fitted better (only other than slower ball ofc) lol
In the far right of this picture, isn’t that her “oysters, clams, and cockles” tray she carried around in the wheelbarrow? https://i1.sndcdn.com/artworks-000119842007-h4iqsw-t500x500.jpg Is she not hiding Needle there?
Lord Bastien,
You know, they don’t have to be related to be mad, right? Jaime is on the ball, he’s not insane, and since they are twins that pokes a big hole in your logic. It’s far more likely that Tyrion is the son of the Mad King, unconfirmed of course. Honestly I would prefer if all the Lannister children were Tywins, but Tyrion could well be a Targaryen. Cercei though? No, being a Targaryen isn’t a prerequisite to be mad.
Here we go.
A much enhanced version (to say the least) of Bran’s vision from season 4’s “The Lion & The Rose” (an episode title mentioned during the play in Braavos).
LatrineDiggerBrian,
Just leave him be, on this subject at least.
No point in trying to argue, he made his mind…. Just let the story hit him in the face..
dragonbringer,
I’m not suggesting she’ll be Aerys, but that scene paired with the start did make me feel uneasy. I don’t think she’ll end up completely insane, I think’s she’s 50/50 on the whole issue. She might go a little overboard in the future, but I think she’ll stop herself from taking the last step to insanity. People get this from all of the crazy shit she’s done. She has warped logic at times, and has made many morally questionable decisions. Who knows though, maybe it’s Quaithe messing with her head.
The Blood of Winterfull,
How can she care about something she doesn’t know about?
iridium,
You mean Lord darling!
Who loved Maces speech?
Up until that final scene with Dany, this was a decent episode; not great but good. We’ve seen the inspiring speech and people worshipping Dany schtick over and over again; it isn’t interesting now, it’s tedious. Maybe if they’d put it near the beginning of the episode and played it as a less triumphant thing, but as the climax? No, it just didn’t work. It also, annoyingly, impacted on the two things that actually had emotional resonance: Arya abandoning the Faceless Men and disfigured Uncle Benjen returning.
I now i’m in a minority here….but I wasn’t that excited about Benjen being back, I honestly never got the ”hype” about his character…
Loved the Sam and Gilly scenes. I knew he’d make off with that sword – he’s going to be more useful with it than his wicked Father. Maybe his father will track him to Oldtown and Same will save him with it! (Didn’t I see a scene of an Oldtown invasion?
Benjen has changed – flaming awesomeness! I like him as a character. Just as it seems the Starks are nealy down and out – Jon comes back and can leave Castle Black, Arya is herself again, Sansa escapes Ramsey’s clutches (waiting for Sansa to know she’s pregnant and deciding to butcher the infant in front of Ramsey! (I know that’s really bad but imagine Ramsey’s reaction). And Benjen!
Dani being Dani. Cool dragon shots.
As for the visions, Bran needed to see the Mad King and wildfire – good way for those without Valyrian steel or dragonglass to take out the armies of the WW.
Bored with Cersei, but loving Margaery and her scheming (I hope she is scheming).
Overall, more low key episode but more emotionally satisfying.
I loved Sam making off with his father’s sword.
When I saw it hanging above the mantle, I knew Sam would (and should) take it.
Lord Eddard Stark carried Ice daily. Heartsbane was a show piece that I doubt Lord Randyll could have wielded.
Seeing Benjen again was fantastic.
I was thankful it wasn’t another gut wrenching episode a la Hold The Door.
(After watching The Door for the third time, I still cried like a baby at the end)
HODOR4LYFE
Once again, the episode title did not give us any clue what this episode would be about. Actually, I still don’t know why this episode was called “blood of my blood”. Sure, we had the family reunion with Bran and Benjen, which for me was the highlight of this episode. But I don’t really see the connection. Especially since the expression “blood of my blood” is something you would rather connect to the Dothraki and Danys storyline, which, however, did get almost no screen time except this rather pointless speech at the end that did not really introduce any new or exciting aspect to Danys story. Plus, the speech did not have any connection to the meaning of the words “blood of my blood”. So I don’t really get it.
As glad as I am that Benjen is back, I didn’t really buy the story about the children bringing him back with some kind of dragonglass magic. We saw how that turned out with the White Walkers. So what do me make of that? Do we have to assume that Benjen is some kind of “instrument” of the children or the 3-eyed raven? Or is it good old Benjen, who just came back from death. If its the latter, I think by now theres far too many ways in GoT to come back from death – its almost nothing special anymore. Like, when Jon and Benjen meet its like “Hey Jon, its me, your uncle Benjen. I’ve been resurrected.” “Ah, what a coincidence. I’ve been resurrected, too!” ^^
That is definitely the oyster tray in the still photo, but when she hid Needle, she was wearing the House of Black & White robe (the one she wears during training). She didn’t get the oyster cart and dress until later.
The photo is almost identical to the scene in season 6 episode 6 where she retrieves Needle, but they either refilmed it without the oyster tray, or just digitally edited the oyster tray out.
My guess is that they originally planned to have her kill Meryn Trant with Needle, and that this scene was going to be after she first spied on him in the brothel (she was carrying the tray in that scene).
Dan Stark,
Captain Darling or Lord Percy – both classics!
“Coffee, Darling?” <- if you know that reference, you'll know which scene I've just been watching! It's really easy to fall into a youtube hole watching old Blackadder bits. Rowan Atkinson, Stephen Fry, Hugh Laurie, Rik Mayall, Tony Robinson and Tim Mcinnerney all in the same show. Bloody genius.
Also, the comments about how Bran could be the reason why Aerys became the Mad King and that there’s a link between his ‘Burn them all!’ and the White Walkers (as in: he’s literally talking about burning them rather than King’s Landing) don’t seem to take into account that he didn’t just suddenly go mad/become evil that day in the Throne Room – even years and years before Jaime killed him, he was paranoid, tortured and burned people and their families and entire Houses when that he considered enemies, raped his wife, plus of course he executed Ned’s father and brother in a horrifying way and he had wildfire prepared and stashed under all of King’s Landing in preparation.
I don’t see how this might be linked to Bran/a vision of the White Walkers.
Watched the Marg/Tommen scene again and it was clever how she drew him out, gave him the licence to admit to finding the HS appealing by hinting she did as well.
With Dany: I think she’s feeling on a high at the moment being decisive and knowing what to do after the long misery of Mereen.
I haven’t seen anyone mention it yet, but did you guys pick up on the dinner table mention of Lord Umber’s apparently bad ass daughters? That has got to be a foreshadow for some epic housecleaning at Last Hearth! I still think Smalljon is a genuine turncoat, but that doesn’t mean the rest of his family isn’t still loyal to the Starks.
House Applebee,
THE HOUND will get squash like a bug?
I will take a guy you fracturated his foot over a guy who was poisoned, his body started rotting and then was reanimated.
Enjoyed this episode, fairly quiet in many ways but some great tension with pieces being moved into position for the end of the season. A lot to think about
Loved Lady Crane’s comment about Arya’s eyebrows 😀
Ser Not Appearing in this Series,
And that little moment about everyone giving their opinion on the writing.. I smiled.
I can kind of understand wanting to bring the character full circle and resolve the arc but really hope the books don’t go this way. Sometimes things are best left a mystery, which does not necessarily mean a plot hole.
Not to leave out a bit of reverse swing too – Randyll is the Waqar Younis of Westeros 🙂
Ser Not Appearing in this Series,
I like that he’s back, don’t get me wrong, even if I was fully satisfied never knowing his faith.
From a story-telling perspective I also like that they combined him with CH, it makes Bran’s story much more personal, it’s better then having NW guy #73.
I just never truly understood all the ”hype” around him, it was a very nice moment but I wasn’t so blown out as others seem to be…
Mazzie,
Mazzie,
I thought that scene is a teaser for the events leading up to the killing of Aerys by Jaimie – everyone accepts Jaimie was a traitor and a kingslayer without knowing what Aerys had just ordered Jaimie to do ( kill his own father/burn the city) Then straight after there was a big altercation between Ned Stark and Jaimie when Ned arrives after the sacking of KL to find Jaimie on the iron throne (the flashback) happening moments after Aerys is killed. I’m guessing the accepted Ned Stark version of this scene is not what really happened? Perhaps another Tower of Joy moment where we find out Ned is not so perfect and History has been distorted?
Lol…gotta agree with ur criticism on this occasion. Epic-Daney-scene-fatigue for me.
What dissappoints me more is that the reason the Stark direwolves are dead/lost n so underused is the CGI cost n budget n all that – only for them to use it wastingly on drogon. Theyre tryin so hard to give Targ-dragons all epicness ….while the actual deserving saviours are the Starks.
Also, Drogon’s entrance into S6 is also downplayed frm how awesome he shouldve been – due to this unthrilling scene.
Arya storyline was really good this episode and Bran/Benjen stuff. Shame that HBO Nordic had so crap quality once again that I couldn’t really see anything of those visions :/ Something felt seriously off to me about that last Dany scene, and I even thought the Dragon CGI was good, speeches in Dothraki I suppose, can’t take that seriously.
Ox of House Larson
That was probably set up for something.
Interesting that the show decided to parallel Jon and Jaime ending being lord commander.
Sue, you’re a real recap artist.
“The dead don’t rest” (Benjen Stark)
– On an episode titled “Blood Of My Blood” the only blood we got was the rabbit’s.
And in Bran’s “megaupload” 🙂 vision:
on Karsi’s face and -most importantly- on Ned Stark’s hand (next to Lyanna’s) from the upcoming Tower of Joy part 2 conclusion (episode 10, folks).
And no deaths, except the few in the vision, as pointed above (the Wights don’t count).
– Who will wield Heartsbane? The only ones I remember wielding greatswords were the fabulous Clegane brothers (the pit fighter in Meereen doesn’t count).
– Aerys Targaryen screaming “burn them all” edited next to persistent shots of wildfire and the Army of the Dead certainly give credit to the theories about Bloodraven whispering into Aerys’ ear, and could be foreshadowing the way Daenerys’ and/or Cersei’s storylines evolve.
– The shots of Drogon flying against a cloudy backdrop is an inverted shot from season 5, episode 5, when Tyrion first sees a living dragon while sailing with Jorah through the Valyrian ruins.
We got a similar shot last night, though this time Drogon flew in front of the Sun.
– The scorned final sequence actually accomplished quite a lot, besides naming the episode [how many bloodriders now, 100.000 or more?]:
*The Dothraki were following a Targaryen who killed 7 Khals at once (along with 8 of their bloodriders) and is fireproof.
Now they are following the one riding the reincarnation of Balerion the Black Dread – The Stallion Who Mounts The World suddenly in front of them in the flesh.
*Daario “promotes” her from liberator to conqueror. “I take what is mine” is a very relative notion.
Brings to mind this seminal line by Jorah in the first season:
“Forgive me, Khaleesi, but your ancestor Aegon the Conqueror didn’t seize six of the Kingdoms because they were his right – he had no right to them. He seized them because he could”.
The Sybian,
God I loved that last quote!
LMFAO, Unlike Jamie, I thought it was great:)
Assuming that was Lyanna in the Bran vision, does her name show up on the post-credit list?
dan,
Seriously? Have you not read A Feast for Crows, or are you just high?
The Hound is not only lame, unable to be as great a warrior as he was, but he’s also a pacifist now. Also, why would the High Sparrow risk a trail by combat? He’s more likely to opt for a Trial by Seven. I’d place money on that.
Jinx47,
It was good!
My impression on it though, was that this was person who heard/read stories that said, the general has to give a speech to the soldiers.
A pompous, dramatic speech… And Mace did it!
Mihnea,
Right before the greatest choice he ever made.
Shivers…
Bit worried about this season
– production details (10/10)
– CGI (10/10)
– Fan Service (9/10)
– Acting (8/10)
– Script (7/10)
– Action (7/10)
Then…
– Character development (5/10)
– Mystery/Intrigue (3/10)
– The Unexpected (2/10)
Still time to change but currently what we have is a different show. Something that was once ‘mysterious medieval political plotting’ is now ‘slightly more realistic LOTR’. Hope there are some surprises to come otherwise that old show is dead.
Whether that’s good or bad is up for debate of course.
So remind me of what exactly that last scene was for? As if we didn’t know already – after that so called epic scene at the end of the fourth episode – that Dothraki would go anywhere whit her. I’m so sick of her repetitive speeches about conquering everything and everywhere (and i’m not a Dany hater mind you, i mean why should i hate a good natured character? People who does have serious problems IMO). If they didn’t want to include Sansa and Jon in this then they should’ve ended the episode with Benjen reveal. Top notch episode overall with return of both Benjen and good old Walder.
Also to my huge relief LF didn’t lie about Blackfish like so many people speculated.
Ps : now please Brienne don’t get distracted by anything including Jaime ok? Remember you’re on a very important mission from Sansa. Also as much as i appreciate Jaime’s development as a character throughout the years i’m so against him now that he’s about to lay siege on Riverrun and can’t FUCKING wait to see Blackfish again.
The Sybian,
It is interesting that in the visions, it doesn’t seem to be one scene/image of Jon or Tyrion, or even his sisters. He sees the Daney and Drogon, Aerys, Jamie, lots of shots of wildfire, WW and wraiths… father, mother, Robb being killed… but no Jon? wonder how they selected which scenes to use, and how are they are relevant – hope they discuss it a bit in the after show video.
Even if Deny does not get cray cray, there is still something big needs to happen with her or around her to give her something to do in the remaining season(s). If she lands in Westeros by end of this season, she arrives at a time when she has no castles to burn, nor masters to slay. She ends up drinking tea in Dorne with Ellaria and Olenna until WWs walk in?
And I think that’s what they may be setting up, there should be some conflict inside Deny’s camp. The look Daario gave her tonight was telling.
viki,
he sees two screenshots of jon at hardhome but other than that nothing
-Dany liberates the slaves, is called “Mhysa” – “what a boring character, move your ass to Westeros and become involved with the rest of the story”.
-Dany abandoms her Mhysa persona, embraces her targaryen heritage and makes it clear she’ll finally head to Westeros – Mad Queen confirmed, only thinks about herself and the IT, will not help against the Others (who she doesn’t even know exist, not even Tyrion believes they exist but ok, lets shit on Dany).
Some people will just complain. Even if I do agree the scene should have been shown in the last episode, her finally being able to fully control Drogon was a fucking big scene. Plus finally embracing her conqueror persona again.
If that was any other male character talking about conquering Westeros it would be ok, but a super powerful girl can’t have the same ambition? Also enough with these “daughter of her father” comments. D&D never suggest it, just some fans who madly want it to happen because they think she’ll only become interesting if she goes nuts when it’s clearly been foreshadowed if there’s any Queen becoming mad it is Cersei. If people here haven’t noticed, those wildfire scenes from Bran’s visions aren’t from the past since Aerys never used those wildfire cashes, but from the future most likely. But who do we know who knows about those wildfire cashes and has said countless times she’d burn KL to the ground? But of course it’s always easier jump to conclusions about Dany becoming mad simply because “I don’t like the character”.
I was disappointed about the KL scene. Was expecting some confront but damn Tommen, you uselles shit.
Couldn’t care less about the Benjen scene. They just couldn’t deliver the drama the scene should have presented.
Arya Stark finally back. Since we know she’s not dying anytime soon, can only expect her to kill the waif now.
fear for Loras. reckon Marge will convince him to atone for his sins by becoming faiths champion. Tommen will be on her side as Cersei gets to live and Marge rid herself of her now embarrassing bro.
Jenny,
Even in those screenshots, it was the Valyrian Steel sword that was in focus that’s all. Apparently it was not even important for Bran to know of his death and resurrection. This whole resurrection thing seems entirely purposeless now, tbh.
I agree with one of the posters above that the end might be that they basically abolish monarchy in a way. I heard that in the war against WWs, they will need to melt the Iron Throne as it is the most significant amount of the type of steel they need to forge enough weapons? So some symbolism there…
Some thoughts:
Is Jon going to be born via a Westerosi version of a C-Section?
Gilly informs Randyll about WWs beyond the Wall and all he cares about is that she is a Wildling? Lol, talk about misplaced priorities.
What is the reason for the prominence of the Mad King and “burn them all” in Bran’s visions? I hope this does not mean that the 3ER was responsible for his madness.
I loved the Bran and Arya scenes. The more I see Meera, the more I love her.
I agree with Sue, Dany’s scene seemed misplaced and tagged on to this episode. That scene should have happened in ep5 itself. I guess it was added into this episode to maintain Dany’s episode count.
I didn’t mind the Dany scene. Sure we get a lot of her, but I think that’s the point. And watching back, I actually love Daario’s reaction. He got this forced smirk on while watching the Dothraki cheer and he’s like, “Ha. Ha. Yeah, go Dany.” meanwhile he’s starting to question… is this girl going to get a lot of people killed because she’s a tad bit entitled?
I also enjoyed seeing Drogon’s new size, especially relative to his siblings, who he’s quite outgrown at this point.
Wasn’t a great episode closer, but not a lot of this episode would’ve been. They needed to introduce Benjen before the end so we could get his explanation and all that. Everything here was moving the pieces into position for an explosive few ending episodes. Did we need another Dany speech? Maybe not, but we needed to see her get Drogon, and the added bonus of Daario’s second guessing was good. We’re also reassured Dany is going to Westeros and that the Dothraki are willing to follow her there (yes, we knew they were following her, but not across the narrow sea).
Funny parallel Jon is out of The Night’s Watch and Jaime out of The Kingsguard. Wonder if Jaime will play a part in the North or White Walkers. Also it would explain why one part of prophecy was omitted and Cersei will go down with King’s Landing in wildfire after losing Tommen. He’s bound to die this or next season.
“I’ll always be a STARK”
HELL YEAH BABY, LOVE YOU MORE THAN EVER.
Off to mentally prepare myself for next week because it’s going to be mind blowing for me.
ghost of winterfell,
Burn them all might foreshadow Cersei’s madness. We saw in one of Daeny’s visions that King’s Landing was nothing but ruin and ash filled with falling snow. Means that probably Cersei will burn it to the ground, something Mad King didn’t do and Daeny arrives into devastated land instead of glory and happy people. Winter will be in full swing.
Geralt of Rivia,
This.
The Sybian,
In the inside episode they said there was 21,people inside the hut
When did jorah say that I don’t remember him saying that .
House Applebee,
Will she do questionable things… Yes for sure
But the important thing one needs to remember is doing questionable things does not equal to becoming mad ..
Like you said one doesn’t need to be a targ to be mad .
And likewise doing questionable things will not make her mad ..
Someone needs to shut dany up!! She was screeching. She’s going from inspiring to irritating.
Over all it was more of a *Lets tie loose ends episode & throw in some info while we’re at it*
Ep1-5 Action-Episode6(knowledge bridge to remaining episodes) – Ep 7-10 Action hopefully!!
As for who Daario might turn out to be, maybe the unmentioned
Prince Quentyn Martell of the House Martell and if it is so I see this targaryean-martell alliance doomed much like Elia-Rheagar.
LOL are people really saying that out of everyone darrio is second guessing dany
What exactly darrio learned new from this episode before he says she is a conqueror… That she can ride drogon..
Do people have no bounds when it comes to making dany look bad .
I guess I found out what role will people theorise now that benjen and euron is proven false…it will be from now on people will be calling him as stabbing dany when he realizes how mad she is …just like Jamie did with aerys ..
Braavos (B): Arya’s choice was dramatized competently enough, and there’s an undeniable thrill to seeing her retrieve Needle. My real issue with this whole plot is the Waif, who just doesn’t make any sense as a character; why does she hate Arya so much, to the point of having made Jaqen promise she could kill her and being visibly upset whenever she makes progress? This is the exact opposite of what the Faceless Men are supposed to be about. It feels like the writers thought there needed to be a signposted heel in this plot.
Horn Hill (A): Now this is quite a change of pace for the show these days, since most of these scenes aren’t especially plot-relevant, perhaps beyond the appearance of Heartsbane. But it’s quite a nice group of character-developing scenes, and the guest characters create a very believable dynamic. I’m not sure I quite understand Sam’s plan to steal Heartsbane and then (as far as he knows) hang around Oldtown for years.
King’s Landing (B+): Solid episode, other than Jaime’s continued status as Cersei’s lapdog; he’s even going to the Riverlands in that capacity. Sigh.
Beyond the Wall (B+): Cool to finally see Benjen, though as with Brienne’s rescue of Sansa and Theon at the start of this season, he was really the only option to help Bran and Meera, given how dire their situation is. So far this season, the star of this plotline is really Meera, as far as I’m concerned. And I didn’t find her all that engaging in prior seasons, at that.
The Twins (A): Brief, but very fun. David Bradley is a delight whenever he’s onscreen.
Dothraki Sea (B): So is Drogon tamed now? Anyway, other Dany speech. Not much else to say about it.
You don’t know anything of that. We haven’t seen the Hound yet, so we can’t know how well his injuries healed or his state of mind. You are using your perception of Book Hound Reborn, at a time when we don’t even know if Book Hound Reborn is a thing.
Paraphrasing Gandalf: “Books are of no more use here”.
The Old Bear,
This. I couldn’t have said it better.
Good episode, certainly not on a par with the last couple of weeks but certainly solid.
Loved Benjenhands confirming Bran will go south, followed by the NK…The Wall is falling!
One thing that occurred to me was the frequent shots of wildfire explosions in the catacombs under Kings Landing. Could this be an indication of what’s to come in the capital? Another option is that the frequent references to “burn them all”, at the same time Benhands arrives with his flame yo-yo, prompts the realisation that wildfire/dragonfire are what’s needed to win the war.
Also, not sure why there was so much of Aerys’ death, or indeed why it was shown at all. What is the significance here? I know that Isaac mentioned that Bran will be some sort of “kingmaker”, but does this mean he had a hand in Jaimes Kingslaying? Seems a bit of a stretch (although anything is possible given his powers).
Dany’s scene was perfect. She needed to address the Dothraki, address their fears of the water and ships, and show us some sort of communication post-fire scene.
Also, that she is a DRAGON queen, and she is riding that dragon like she is supposed to.
I loved it. Perfection.
D&D end episodes with Dany because 90% of the viewers love her badass endings, as opposed to most of people here.
I love them also.
Other than that – So excited for Arya, was so happy to see needle, I am really nervous for what’s to come. Uncle Benjen, EFF YAAAAA. Epicness. Visions with Mad King, Jamie, Bran seeing everything that has happened to his family, Dragons again, young Ned (will we get the rest of THAT vision?).
Everything else was amazing.
Also, no Ramsay again, yay 🙂
10/10 , again. Just reminds me why I love Cogman episodes!
So far I am looking at 10/10, at least, for the entire season.
Edit: Walder Frey is back, and I thought I was getting over the red wedding, but definitely not. All my feelings came back, and I want his head on a spike. Now.
Or needle in his heart. Wtv
dragonbringer,
People are already saying he’ll be the queenslayer lol. I just saw admiration in his eyes when looking at dany.
kargaryen,
Yeah, I didn’t see him ”questioning” her or anything like that, to me he looked quite happy…almost smiling even.
Apollo,
1. I must have missed that. I only counted those on-screen.
Even better for her!
2. Season 1, episode 7, “You Win Or You Die” (0:17 on this video):
Zaman,
Why are there so many book theories were someone is someone else?
Lol.
Its ridiculous.
On a trivia note, since Dinklage, Harington and Hill sat out this episode, there’ll be no actor in all ten episodes this season.
Sean C.,
Interesting..
Has this ever happened before?
Dee,
The long wait mostly……
Mihnea,
nah its silly
every time I read a theory its like oh is daario actually this person is the high sparrow actually this person
like come on
why cant they just be themselves hahah
Arya, Bran and Sam were great, and Benjen returning was awesome. King’s Landing was very disappointing.
I thought the Daenerys-Drogon scene was very awesome, but just too short. I don’t know what it is with the Daenerys-hate on forums. No matter what she does, it is never good. Some call her boring, others over the top. Some call her mad, others call her white-washed, etc, etc…
Don’t get me wrong. You have every right to your opinion on Daenerys. I don’t think my opinion on her is better, but I just don’t get the negativity.
There is definitely a connection, but I feel it’s another one. In the last part of the vision we hear the words “burn them all” several times, together with extensive pictures of a bunch of scenes of the NK’s army marching forward.
I guess this is what she has to do: Burn the White Walkers and their undead army.
Given how much scenes around wildfire and the hidden widlfire storages under King’s Landing we’ve been shown, the “crazy queen” part will probably be played by another woman…
Dee,
Sometimes we love a thing so much…we end up hurting it.
Dee,
It is. Call it the curse of the reader. Since the show and book plotlines merge and diverge whimsically it keeps us lot (reader) guessing.
Jack111,
I haven’t had one solid argument convince me that she is going mad. Haters just make that shit up
ghost of winterfell,
I think the purpose of his death appart from giving him ptsd was to get him out of the night’s watch.Considering Jon’s character nothing short of that would make him break his vows.Also Bran did see a shot of Jon’s birth lol tbh I think they didn’t put him in it so when the reveal comes in episode 10 it’s more dramatic
Dee,
Ehhhh he did Unbowed, Unbent, Unbroken. That kind of staines his reputation.
Jinx47,
omg that’s terrible
I don’t know if I should write off this website till the end of the season. theyre good with leak protection but god you never know
Dennai,
Yeah, but they’re not going to change that. It’s one of the most important aspects of the entire book series.
House Applebee,
I love that episode 🙂
House Applebee,
That episode is in my top 15.
Mihnea,
Seasons 3 and 4. In Season 1, Headey and Gleeson were in all ten; Seasons 2 & 5 had Dinklage in all ten.
Dee,
While I agree with your point about general audience ..I still feel this scene should be in last episode ..
To me I think what makes me worry is there are episodes dany appear only at the end of the episode and not before …mhysa, now is watch is ended and breaker of chains comes to my mind ..
While I liked both mhysa and this scene …they seem to come out all of a sudden and straight away things happens ..
I have to make a list of all episode enders and what characters get how many episode enders …
And how long those episode enders have been in terms of screentime ..
And how many episode enders had a scene earlier in the episode from the same storyline..
Iam surprised no one has done a list already on this .
Jinx47,
I bet it has something to do with TOJ. Why just people can’t be nice to each other and not to spoil stuff from the future.
dragonbringer,
meh, that stuff doesn’t bother me. so minor
Sean C.,
Damn, didn’t realize Joffrey was in all 10 episodes..
I think Sue and many others just tune out and stop paying attention whenever Dany begins to make a speech. It reminds me of readers of the books that only remember that she called the STarks Usurpers a couple times (because she lacks relavent information) and know literally nothign else that happens in the chapter.
Dany’s speech was a crafted specifically to the audience. Dany is very good at changing the tone, and content of her speeches as the audience warrants. In this case:
1) She used Drogo’s speech as a template, knowing many there had heard it in person.
2) She changed several key lines (in particular the RAPE and ENSLAVE parts).
3) She took a cultural touchstone (blood riders / blood of my blood) and altered it to follow her own more egalitarian principals.
What we are seeing here is Dany gradually bringing the Dothraki over to accepting her values, by cementing them to her personally. It’s going to be a slow process but this was a very skillful speech and a great starting point.
She’s going to continue to speak to them as Dothraki, and to others as a Westerosi, or as the blood of old Valyria, or a Free Cities woman. Dany is very good at inspiring people because she knows and understands people. It’s what she does. AND it’s also why she will be a vital part of the ruling triumverate. The charismatic, personal leader part which I think gets too little love but its equally important to people like Tyrion in a monarchy. Tyrion failed as a ruler in KL because everyone f’ing hates him. He needs Dany or someone like her, period.
dragonbringer,
Will you? That’ll probably lead to some new theories. I’m looking forward to that. 🙂
Geralt of Rivia,
I would hardly call that a ”holy shit!!!!” moment….
At this point we all preaty much know the truth about that……
Geralt of Rivia,
just hope no one gets spoiled here…
Geralt of Rivia,
I have always felt that Jaime will play a part in whatever goes down with the WWs. Ever since the dream he had in ASOS with the flaming sword. I don’t think he is AA or anything, just that it was foreshadowing Jaime’s part in the fight against WWs. I also think he will be the one to kill Cersei, probably in S7. Cersei herself won’t die in the Wildfire, but a lot of her enemies will, imo, including all the Tyrells.
The Sybian,
Thanks for the link.
Yeah even I counted only 15 but we are not even given who are khals and who are not ..some say those who were standing also khals ..but those who are standing must be blood riders for sure ..
But D&D says she kills 21 .
So I don’t whether we have to count it as 15 or 21 ..
Good thing we dont get to see dany adding bells in her like in the books aftrr a khal is killed..
The Old Bear,
But they do, so they can set her up as the evil Conqueror of Westeros, bringer of savages. She’s as much a threat to the Starks as the Whitewalkers. 😉
QueenofThrones,
This.
Jinx47,
No KL last episode..
EDIT: Thanks, I tried avoiding spoilers since EP2…they dimished my enjoyment of the opening episode preaty good. I would really hate to get a spoiler of EP10…. Just don’t mention in it at all, that’s the what the mods themselves said we do.
No it is not that. It is most likely fake though.
A lot of complaints about Dany’s scenes, and I as well agree it should have been done last episode at Vaes Dothrok and let Coldjen finish this episode off.
But the Dany scene for me was prophecy and her excepting who she was and remembering who she is her dragons know and now she does. The speech was way to Hollywood and yes the CGI sucked in the setting. We need to have the Dothroky make her an awesome saddle.
Oh but Where oh Where could we possibly find 1000 ships hmmmm if there was only someone who could Build me a 1000 ships within the next say 13 episodes. Do the show editors actually read some of the crap they write?
Sams dad is every bit the asshole we had hoped for but his mother is the true strength, not bad for the Sam and Gilly scenes this week.
Bran stuff was ok, moving along the plot and all but I really wish they would have done more with Coldjen and explanation.
Kings Landing, Lena as always knocking it out of the park. Cersie is certainly scheming I believe she is playing everyone including the HS. And Jamie can now get the redemption arc going with everything cerise is doing I am more convinced than ever he is the Valonqar.
Arya, She is a Stark, I personally believe waifbow will happen next week and after Arya will flee back to westeros and run again into the BWB and with them will be the hound (I don’t thing HBO will do the quiet isle at this point) and then together they go to find Jon and Sansa and it will be a “HOUND” that does kill Ramsey. Hey I can certainly deal with 3 or 4 episodes of Arya and the Hound and rumor is Winterfell has a lot of chicken.
We saw in Bran vision the scene from Jamie killing Mad King, the one from the trailer called RED BAND did anyone notice it ?
Daughter of Winter,
My expectations from the Northern storyline for ep 7 took a nosedive after watching the preview, lol.
Have to say absolutely loved the Dinner scene, that faulkner guy playing Randyll Tarly was simply fantastic, had a strong presence and really took away a sense he was genuinely bullying his Son etc
Can really see him being at the head of an Army and probably the most potent General in Westeros. If they’ve taken the trouble to cast him I hope that means we see more of him
Lol, had a feeling by the look in Sams eye he was going to “borrow” Heartsbane for study
Absolutely loved Arya’s scene, thematically it was a nice touch that they tied in the WoW Chapter with the notion she is giving the “gift of Mercy” rather than “gift of death”
Can understand why they have merged Benjen and Coldhands, they are tying all the loose ends up so may as well merge those two given the broad-brush of Benjens book plot is vague and there’s no material to adapt, tbf they are doing this with other characters, eg Rickon and Sansa with respect to the Northern rebellion figurehead plot and Sansa’s Vale/RL ascension to power plot
Also, for all the whingeing us book readers do about things, the timing of the RL AFfC stuff is turning out OK and is tying in with KL and other stuff like the North nicely enough
IMO, they wasted money in the CGI used for this episode in Jaime’s and Daenery’s scenes that could have been used in better scenes with the dire wolves, specially if Summer was going to die. I still hope Nymeria plus pack of wolves make an appearance.
Dee,
I hope so too. I got spoiled for the first episode and Mel’s picture.
Mihnea,
I know a lot of people who knows next to nothing about this. They don’t even know what’s the big fuss is about but as Iam thinking about it. Maybe the wall or King’s Landing wildfire explosion? That would be holy shit moment. Other than that hard to say.
ghost of winterfell,
If Jaime is the one to kill Cersei, which is likely. Tyrion won’t be the one as too obvious to me and wildfire will take care of Sparrow and others. Tommen got to go. I always imagined that both of them will die together as he loves Cersei but he had this dream in the books. He can’t fight that much anymore and commanding armies? We got people to do it.
ghost of winterfell,
ugh
I didn’t see the preview
why 🙁
Rumor has it that SKY (Germany) revealed the names of Episodes 8 through 10 – or is trolling everyone…
As for the vision,
I do recall in the books there were still Pots of Wildfire found around the place, think Jaimie just killed the Pyromancers to prevent them being lit but may not have actually dealt with them…
She did have some idea to use it before Tyrion took it over for Blackwater episode
This of course happening while Jaimie is in RL could be what turns her off her ala AFfC and towards Brienne etc
Interestingly, I do wonder what happens immediately after QoT says that “stupidity” remark with SRS right beside Cersei…hey they are killing lots of people and if the secret Tommen told Cersei was that Ser Loras blabbed about QoT killing Joffrey she may get killed after having organised a confrontation between Tyrells and Sparrows which discredited the Tyrells to the KL public
Of course Jaimie was also discredited but he is back in charge of Casterly Rock presumably and where she wants him in charge of the Lannister field armies where he can re-assert their dominance across Westeros
Dee,
I saw it and really can’t see what’s to hate.
He dislikes it because we have Dvos/Sansa speaking but not Jon. Don’t worry after seeing the preview the North is the story I’m looking foward the most.
QueenofThrones,
Well said ..
Mihnea,
What did I miss.
Zaman,
Sure but I guess I have to do that once after ghw season ends ..
Unlike the book I am 100% ready for Jaime to Valonquar Cersei, but I really hope he survives it, too. Jaime is getting played so hard by this smarter, quieter Cersei. I know it annoys people but I find it 100% believable. Look at each time they interact. Instead of ordering him to do horrible things, she is quiet, vulnerable, but fiercely devoted to Jaime and Tommen. She even apparently made a legitimate alliance with the Tyrells (call me shocked). She has stopped harping about how Tyrion has to die, or Sansa. The more she pulls back and appears vulnerable and beaten, the more protective rage comes out in Jaime, the desire to put his family first before everything. From Jaime’s perspective Cersei HAS changed, and for the better. He doesn’t know the details of waht happened leading up to the WoS – how could he? And even if he did, it doesn’t matter – he’s done horrible things too and wants to believe he can change, why not the woman he loves too? What kind of a monster would he be if he abandoned Tommen and Cersei right now?
Meanwhile I think that Cersei knows since Season 3 that Jaime has changed, and that he wouldn’t accept her murdering people at random, whatever he says about it being “us vs. them” in the heat of the moment. Ever since the scene where she ordered Jaime to murder Tyrion and he called her “hateful”, she’s known she has to manipulate more carefully. I’m pretty convinced now that Cersei actually wants him out of KL so that she can “Choose Violence”, just like when he went to Dorne…
So what truths will Jaime find out that change his mind about Cersei? I do think Lancel probably will drop him a line before he heads out and that will be a little bug in his brain… And he’ll be reminded soon in the person of Brienne what real honor looks like.
Sean C.,
Iam glad peter was absent for once ..
QueenofThrones,
Agreed with the rest as well. Nicely written.
Mihnea,
Oh okay..
Honestly, Jon isn’t going to be the one to CONVINCE the northern lords to join the fight.
This was Sansa’s idea, she had to convince Jon to fight for them… and obviously the letter received pushed him over the edge. But he wasn’t passionate about this, like he was say, at Hardhome, because he is tired of fighting.
I want more Jon conversation about himself, how he feels coming back to life, what that means to him, I need something.
But I really didn’t expect him to do all the convincing, when he was the one who needed to be convinced.
Sam,
someone is going to say something 🙁
QueenofThrones,
But sadly he will die along with her while whole red keep is burning ..
They both came to world together and leave together .
Where jamie once succeeded he will fail second time at preventimg the KL burn .
After that, I don’t give a fuck about anything else. Sorry, Dany. I think they should’ve ended the episode with Benjen’s reveal because how do you top that? They didn’t.
Lol, tbf the way I saw it, it actually followed on from what Benjen said
Because for Westeros Dany is just as apocalyptic a force as the Night’s King, and so Bran has to be “ready” for Dany just as much as the Night’s King
Can kinda see the sense of it, eg there’s Fire, and there’s Ice but there also the “Earth” element (eg Children being the ones who sing the song of the Earth) and in electricity terms there’s Positive/Negative and the Earth element to help balance things etc
Think about it, the Wights are bound to the White Walkers and Night’s King, now the Dothraki are somewhat blood-bound to Dany, which is no small thing given how much they hate bloodmagic and there would be some among them who recall MMD’s tent etc
At least the Night’s King isn’t burning down Weir Trees which is more than can be said of followers of R’Hlorr cough MelatStormsEnd cough so consider where this is going when we have Kinvara last week talking of “worshipped and obeyed”
Perhaps no accident thematically that “Burn them all” is introduced in the opening scene as the closing scene features full on Fire + Blood Dany (which as Daario mentioned is more interesting than Queen of Mereen Dany but there’s an issue here she may not end up being the Feminist icon some no doubt want her to be)
As for Tommen, look at what happened when Stannis combined the Baratheon sigil with the religious one (flaming heart) so the combining of the Seven-pointed star with the KG at least she be sounding alarm bells
Yeah, but all this drama over his death, both on-screen and off, and the only reason for going down this death and resurrection route being, to give him an out from his NW vows , it just seems lame to me. And as for his ptsd, I do hope this is part of a proper arc where there is adequate payoff at the end, as in something happens to snap him out of it. And he just not get miraculously cured of this ptsd when it is time for him to fight a battle. I have done a lot of complaining about Jon’s arc or lack of it, lol. I will stop now.
Well, I hope not. He needs to rise above his love for her and see her for who she is and kill her and get on with undoing some of her wrongdoing, instead of turning to ashes with her. After that he can die, hopefully somewhat heroically, something befitting the redeemed man he is. For the world wouldn’t mean much with Cersei & the children dead.
I don’t hate Dany but I do find her one-note, ditto for the tone and content of many of her scenes now. I started zoning out in this episode because I’d seen so many variations of it before. As I said, if they hadn’t tried to make Dany the climax it might have worked better. But they did, and it rather threw the episode out of whack. Some of the Dany problems have been inherited from the books – that makes them understandable but it doesn’t stop them from being a problem. Clarke also isn’t the strongest actor, which tends to emphasise weaknesses in the writing.
ghost of winterfell,
hug
I feel you
On a Jaime-related note, does someone have a screenshot of Jaime sitting the IT after killing Aerys? I somehow missed it and as it’s one of the most iconic moments in the entire history of Westeros I must see…
I’d be down with this. I hope that Cersei is in some way responsible for Tommen’s death, but it will probably be Deus ex Sandsnake. I don’t remember, does Show!Cersei have a connection to the pyromancers? I somehow only remember Tyrion meeting with them in the books and don’t recall whether they included the bit
How and when will Jaime find out that Cersei has done this? If he gets there before it happens, why would he kill her rather than just overpower her (of course, same question could be asked about Aerys, but Jaime isn’t in love with Aerys, so…)? And are you thinking that Jaime will fail to save KL this time and they will go down together? Maybe Brienne will save his unworthy ass from death-by-wildfire. :p
Yeah same here, I always seem to get snippets which irritates me as I can end up figuring things
As for Jon and Sansa, seems Jon will play a role in convincing the Wildlings, seems Davos may convince little Lyanna Mormont because, well she’s just like Shireen isn’t she 🙂 and Sansa perhaps will convince “clenched-fist sigil” Lord who I will have to guess will be the Glovers? as this makes sense geographically (North-West)
And makes sense he’d have questions for her marrying Ramsay and escaping with Theon Greyjoy given they occupied Deepwod Motte until a few episodes ago
There’s a larger question still in the air about the whereabouts of the Sellswords who abandoned Stannis with all that Cavalry which by rights should still be in play as it would take time for such a force to move en masse…and Stannis’s Naval forces of course…
Next week with White Harbour (Southern tip of the North) and Blackfish/Jaimie makes sense as it recalls the Red Wedding for everyone
Saw it captioned in an Emergency Awesome Top 10 WTF if you want to do a screen grab?
Who is the “we” of whom you speak, kemosabe? Book readers are a modest minority of the audience, as are those who bother to read news articles about the show and have managed to spoil themselves. It was “holy shit” to you once, too.
Noooo! I’d be especially bummed if it’s about TOJ/Jon. I’d like to be surprised/see it as it unfolds on TV.
Chad Brick,
7th time Chad, 7th time… Geez..
Sam,
yeah
I don’t want to know anything
people neeed to stop discussing it haha
Chad Brick,
Can we please stop talking about *IT*
I sincerely don’t want any spoliers taking the wow factor out of the season finale.
Moderators please!!?
Dee,
I am sure Jon will come out of his shell. Especially when it comes to the Mormonts. not only was he friend with the old Lord Commander Mormont but also now has longclaw. Their family sword.
Zaman,
SAVE US hahahaa
Leak talk is strictly forbidden here.
redxgod,
I forgot about that connection 🙂
ghost of winterfell,
Tbh, this may relate to his book arc more than the show, but you watch
In book 1 on an individual level he goes from outcast bastard to respected member of NW society, this is reflected in him being gifted Longclaw as a personal weapon which has prestige
He then goes on to become a respectable enough member within Wildling society once he passes the rite of climbing the Wall if you like, and then NW society by becoming Lord Commander – so straddles two opposites and we can kind of see a Mel/Val blend here etc and he starts to blend the North and Wildlings as seen with book Thenn/Karstark marriage etc
Next step upward relates to the North, even though he’s a bastard he can still serve as Regent or Hand until Rickon comes of age as King in the North for the same reason Aurane Waters was made Master of Ships I guess, and for all intents and purposes in books and show he is effectively the General of Stark military forces and we see this now as he’s wearing Stark themed armour and was given the “Ned cloak” as a reflection of the head male of the Household
This gets tricky in terms of the show because like Jeyne Poole merge they are having to blend whatever Sansa’s Vale based ascension arc is into the Northern plotline and it is quite a juggling act
Next step up from that is combining North and South which would go into Stark-Targaryen identity, which would perhaps involve Dorne. This is why I am quite curious as to whether he interacts with book Arianne etc. Would make thematic sense if it takes him back to where he was born (ToJ?) and come into possession of Dawn (Lightbringer?)
Dee,
I’m with you! It’s okay if Sansa does the speeches. She’s the true Stark after all. I also understand that Jon being quiet actually shows his inner turmoil. But, I want to see him talk about it to someone – Davos, Mel, maybe even Tormund. 🙂 For my own sake hahaha!
I did!
And to me it even sounded a bit twisted and sophisticated (Mace may have a good ghostwriter working for him):
“Madness has overtaken this city and grasped in its claws my children.
And now we must drive it back under the rocks whence it came.”
To me, this sounded very much like he was not only speaking of the HS, but also of Cersei Lannister: the Queen of Madness delivered his children to the HS – and “back under the rocks” reminded me instantly of Casterly Rock…
We aren’t done with Bran’s relevant visions! We’ve definitely got more origin-story for Jon coming in his episode, Episode 10, and that might be where Bran gets FTW and the resurrection – or before. By the time we get to the end of the season, Bran will make it to the Wall and be ready to face the WW and NK with most of the relevant knowledge pieced together.
Ghosts Lunch,
Or maybe you know the answer lies with dany..
The one who can actually stand a chance against NK and WW ..
So let me get this straight the men who came to westerosn started cutting down trees …are they worshippers of red God ..
And what about dany who is the leader in position ever thought about what will be her stand against the religion ..instead of giving your own version ..
She is believer of seven and new gods ..she prays many times to them.
And let’s look at her followers ..
Dothraki who worships horse
Lhazreen who worships lambs
Freed men who worships ghiscari
Freed men who worships rhllor
Unsullied who worships the many faced gods and others.
Ironborn who worships the sea god..
Jorah who worships old gods
Why does it have to be only red god that she will turn to when there are people from all kind of cultures are following her .
Ghosts Lunch,
Thanks! Done and done.
Class envy.
Which is making me wonder what the plot has in store for her.
Sam,
I agree. I just need one conversation. 3 mins. that’s all I ask.
That’s another thing, Mel has been quiet as well. But I think she has learnt her lesson since Stannis… shes going to do what JON tells her to do, and not the opposite, like she did with Stannis.
Jack111,
Join the club
Ginevra,
Bran will face the NK at the wall in episode 10???
Already? you think?
Yes, they did – Tyrion is told about Cersei”s wildfire plans by Lancel in S02E05, then learns more of the background when he visits the alchemists / pyromancers.
I know that, but wasn’t sure that’s what this was relating to… You could be right.
So really his visions here serve to emphasise plot points for the audience, rather than events of significance for Bran as the new 3ER/ the war to come?
Dee,
Thank you!!
Overall I though S6e6 was a very good episode and gave everyone a chance to breathe before the S6 end game starts. I though Dany’s speech was a little out of place/context and should have been kept for her armies just before boarding the ships to Westeros? Arya storyline and the theatre troop has been very good last 2 weeks. A all-Stark reunion before the battle for Winterfell? that could break the GoT internet.
This! It’s not about who get the speeches. It’s about not reducing him to a background character. If Jon’s arc is about him dealing with ptsd, then show us how he is dealing with them. All I ask is a couple of scenes with Mel/ Davos/ Tormund.
It’ll get to a thousand, as long as you keep posting as many objectionable comments as you do. You consistently post some of the most hyperbolic and hate-laden posts on this site. You have no right to tell people they can’t respond to them.
Now, back to my point. Just because most people around here are spoiled on a particular “holy shit” moment doesn’t mean most of the audience is. Nor does it mean it wasn’t “holy shit” for you and I once too.
Dee,
He needs to do something partially at least. If he’s to lead them against Ramsay, it’s given. Of course Sansa as trueborn Stark will have the strongest say, Davos could say something smart but Jon has to contribute in some way. Just standing there and letting ohers do the work is the exact opposite of Daeny is doing.
I am hoping Arya joins the theatre group permanently at the end. She fits so perfectly in there and clearly enjoying it.
Chad Brick,
8th.
Jinx47,
That would be a sweat ending.
Sergei Walankov,
My feeling is its more jealousy as Arya has been a favorite of Jaqan.
I’m re-watching last night’s episode and my goodness, Maisie’s scene with Lady Crane was superb (when she told her about her expressive eyes). She’s such an amazing actress.
redxgod,
This. He clearly liked her so he gave her quite some preferential treatment.
Mihnea,
It’ a she 🙂
This. The hype becomes reality. Lots of Red Wedding reminiscences in this episode and we were even shown Catelyn dying. Arya and the actress talking about how a mother would get not only sad but very angry when her child is killed. Brotherhood was mentioned and Thoros will return.
Not even talking about
😉 .
Need we say more?
There must be something much bigger behind that faceless men plot then just her journey of self-discovery. They have dragged it for more than 3 seasons now. It should culminate in something huge related to the big picture.
Sam,
Th moment Fake-Joffrey died and she started her short monologue it really got me, even if this is Cersei and Joffrey we are speaking about.
Amazing actress and scene.
redxgod,
You think Arya will get to winterfell in two eps?
omg hahaha doubt it though
ghost of winterfell,
Sorry! 🙂
Really hard to guess on the internet.
I know the feel though! Many thought I was a women!
What if Jaqen meant it’s Lady Crane’s face or the Waif’s face or your face? What if Jaqen wanted Arya to choose the path of compassion and empathy? Yes, I know, that would be very unlike No One, but the Waif is very unlike No One: perhaps Jaqen is just better at pretending to be No One.
Essie Davies so underrated. Everyone should check out her filmography. Thank you, Australia! for continuing giving us such talent.
Agreed. I thought the CGI was fantastic. Best Drogon has ever looked and Dany looked a lot better on him then in Daznak.
The speech gave me goosebumps and I’m not even a big Dany fan. Emilia has been fantastic this year. I could see an Emmy nom for her.
ghost of winterfell,
May i ask why?
What was that mask of that Arya looked at on the table?
Dee,
People magically come back from the dead but everyone seems to go crazy when someone gets from point A to B in ‘X’ time. Is it really more plausible that she gets to the Freys?
What 10second clip are ya’ll talking about and where do I find it
The pacing of the next episode will be interesting. It’s only 51 minutes and we should see Mereen since it wasn’t in this episode. Same with Winterfell since Ramsay wasnt and in this episode and we have to see Rickon again.
On top of that the preview showed Riverlands, Team Jon and Volantis with Theon and Yara.
And on top of all that, we should see Ian McShane.
That is a lot of stuff for the shortest episode since the premiere.
You’d have to do that on your own. This site does not allow links or leads to leaked content (thankfully).
Green Chili,
Thanks for the reminder!
I fully support Cersei burning down KL, tbh. It’s gone to hell and the tension must be relieved! I feel bad for Loras/Marg/QoT dying but I think they are truly goners…
As a bonus it would perfectly set up the apparently burnt/destroyed throneroom with snow falling from Dany’s’ HOTU vision Hell yeah. By the time she gets there, the throne is irrelevant, everyone’s turtled up in their castles or are refugees, and the only thing left to “conquer” will be the White Walkers. It’s going to be a great S7 moment for her…
Jack Bauer 24,
There is also Olenna/Cersei showdown.
Loved those Mad King-Dany bookends for the episode as well. Blood of my Blood. So many extrapolations on that topic throughout the episode. Absolutely interesting beginning and end.
I think people overestimate and also expect too much of Jon Snow. In my opinion, the evidence that is being given to us more recently depict his dwindling importance in the War that matters. It’ll be Bran and Daenarys who lead mortals against the dead. Only magic can beat magic and Jon Snow is nothing more than human.
How horrible! Has anyone told Sue yet?
At first, I thought you meant book spoilers and I was like, but this is the book thread.
redxgod,
Jet packs don’t bother me… I actually like them. I hate when some things move slow. Like just get to the point.
But I meant that, I thought she would have more to do on her way north… like maybe stop by the twins.
Ginevra,
no theres a leak apparently
#annoying
I was so excited about Benjen that it went past me that we just saw another Stark reunion. May we see many more reunions! I’m so ready for Jarya for next season. 🙂
Mihnea,
So agree. And yet when I made the comment earlier someone snidely commented that Cersei pulled a thread from her dress and that also indicated that that was further evidence of her unraveling. Arguing plot points is becoming less and less important to me as the show races to the end. Much will be revealed in the next 5 weeks
Jack Bauer 24,
Also, it looks like Team Stark will cover 3 sites – Wildllings, Mormonts, and Glovers. It’s going to be a jam packed episode.
Good, I hope there isn’t. Avoiding it would be annoying. Especially since E10 is the first episode I will be able to watch along with the rest of the planet since Season 1 (moving back to the US soon!)
Jack Bauer 24,
I actually think we may not see Ramsay until the big battle. He’s killed off the characters with whom he could have meaningful interactions, and I could do without seeing a random scene of him tormenting Rickon.
In one of Bran’s visions, just after we see pyromancers pouring wildfire, there’s a quick shot with a big wildfire explosion in a basement. King’s Landing is going to burn really soon, guys! That whole vision with the Mad King and “burn them all” and Jaime killing him was some strong foreshadowing about Cersei.
ghost of winterfell,
Let’s hold out hope that we’ll get that soon. 2 more episodes before ep9. Who knows, maybe he’d feel the need to unburden his feelings before he goes to the battle. 🙂
Chad Brick,
No I am explain to Ginevra that apparently there is a leak going around.
🙁
I hope its not and its a fake…
Wow!!! what an episode to watch live:)
I spent two weeks in china for business and it was hard to wait a day to watch the episode (just two). cant imagine how you’ve done it hahaha
Chad Brick,
its a clip of Michelle Farley (Catelyn) from something else she has done that people were incorrectly saying was from this season of GOT
Sean C.,
I hope not
so over him
Mihnea,
It could be taken in different contexts I think. Either a warning to not assume that it is your “divine” right to rule Westeros or that you can take it whether it’s really yours or not. And there are probably other ways. How did you take it? Also do you think wildfire will play a role in the battle with the whitewalkers? It could take out a multitude of wights but could it affect whitewalkers?
selena,
Oh for crying out loud!
This LSH thing won’t die even after the show ends…..
I wonder if Bran is going to tell Benjen that half his family has been killed?
Prob my favourite episode so far this season. Lots of manouvering and laying down of important plot and story. The Faith taking over the crown wasn’t something I saw coming but could be interesting. Jaime is geographically in the right place for whatever he does next but still a bit confused as to why they’ve not distanced him and Cersei more yet.
The Aerys flashback was interesting. Perhaps it was a bit of a reminder in regard to Dany may well become power-crazy or maybe Jaime’s killing of him had some relevance. Must say it would be interesting to see Jaime apply his Kingslaying skills to the Nights King!
Nice to see Walder Frey and Benjeb back. It seems that they’ve amalgamated Benjen and Coldhands which is fine (Benjen can’t be him in the books but won’t go into that here) as it ties things up neatly and gives Ban more guidance.
The Tarly tuff was good but I found it hard to really care too much about it. Thankfully it was a one episode thing and Sam et al are on their way to the Citadel now.
Arya’s storyline appears to finally be going somewhere. Pretty sure it’ll be the waif who’ll end up getting the wrath of The Faceless Men as she seems to really hate Arya for no apparent reason and wants her dead. I sense she’ll end up dead and Arya will get a pass but kicked out by them.
Dany…I just don’t really care anymore. Was an incredibly random scene and again just seems to be trying to remind people of naked flame dragon Dany from the first season when everyone liked/was interested in her. At least they didn’t go full corny and have her say about needing to find two other dragon riders which I thought she was going to do at one point. Only interesting part was Daario’s reaction and his talk about her being a conquerer. Was it to show that Dany is no better than any who’ve gone before her or does he have a plan to betray her?
I think now the show has got past some of the transition between books and what hasn’t happened yet (quite messily for the most part I’m afraid) hopefully it’ll be able to improve from here. This is the first episode that has had pretty natural pacing and doesn’t appear to have tried to throw really blatant shock value at the viewer.
I did a picture with two shots from Bran’s vision :
http://image.noelshack.com/fichiers/2016/22/1464617890-montage.jpg
Clearly there’s a wildfire explosion in the pyromancers basement under King’s Landing. The Mad King never achieved his plans, so it’s not a vision from the past… It’s from the future! Mad Queen is coming!
I know it was Jaqen removing the face this week, and not the Waif, but after hearing a theory about the Waif being a secret Bolton a few weeks back, that’s all I can think about every time the Waif asks if it’s time to kill Arya yet. Such lust to kill a Stark that it seems personal, standing there while a face is being flayed off a body…
Time is actually passing and there is no reason to think it isn’t. Just because we are seeing a bunch of different scenes in one episode does NOT mean that time is the same in all locales. 🙂
Kargaryen,
It’s almost as Dany has two natures in her Mhysa and Fire and Blood and the two have fought each other for control and fire and blood has won. It just seems that there is more duality to the conflicting natures in Dany than others. She’s either one extreme or the other. To me that may be why she’s so polarizing. Her heart is in constant conflict with itself. Perhaps she will have to face a situation that will cause her to question fire and blood. Otherwise she will blitzkrieg Westeros faster than Guderian France
It was a solid episode. After last week few things could amaze me but still I feel like many things that could have been awesome were just meh. Most notably Dany taking control of Drogon. She just walks behind a corner and that’s it. Really? No character progression whatsoever and to think how cool her bonding process with Drogon was in the fifth book.. I wonder if the unsullied viewers even understand why she was suddenly able to ride him. And I love this girl but I’m sick to the guts of her constant speeches. I’m 100% confident that she will sail to Mereen at the end of this season. They simply can not drag this on any longer.
Arya’s story gave me a similar sentiment. Her tuning into Stark mode could have been awesome. Now she just changes her mind, picks up Needle and hides in a dungeon. I feel like her story in Braavos has suffered a lot due to the show not establishing her connection with Nymeria. This could have been so cool.
Samwell visits daddy. I know lots of people love this character but all I see is an uninteresting cliché of a nerd finding his inner strength. I feel like there has been no need for Samwell scenes this season. If they want him to become a maester they simply could have done it the Bran-way. Make him disappear for a season and let him come back as a changed man. As for Bran, again a character in danger is rescued by someone who rushes to the scene in the last minute. This time around it’s Benjen as we all knew. No surprises there. The visions of Mad King and the emphasis on wildfire were the best part and gave room for a lot of speculation. Will the wildfire be used against the white walkers or will Cersei just burn it all to dust? Perhaps Dany accidentally blows everything up with Drogon? We’ll see.
King’s Landing was – finally – the best part of the episode. It will be interesting to see who manipulates whom. I don’t believe for a second that Margaery has turned to faith. But what will this union of the faith and crown mean in principle. Will the High Sparrow now sit in the great council? And although the relationship between Cersei and Jaime is the total opposite of what it is in the books, I’m digging it big time. There is so little loyalty in this story that it’s just so endearing to see a power couple watching for each other like that. When Tommen decided to send Jaime away I was praying it would be to Casterly Rock (when will we see it?), but it turned out to be Riverrun. How convenient. I’m not quite sure where the logic here is but I guess the writers just needed an excuse to send him to a place he’s in the books. Also, I was so happy to see Edmure. I just love it how this season is bringing up previous seasons!
House Applebee,
We noticed Daeny unhinged as well. 😀
I was cheering when Sam took Heartsbane. Sam the Slayer!
Ellie Kendrick was incredible in this episode. As was Hannah Murray.
I assume that Bran will eventually realize who pushed him out that window.
Lord Farstark,
Do those sound like the words of the benevolent ruler Dany claimed she wanted to be, or those of a would-be tyrant?
To me, clearly the latter. But there’s no convincing some people. To them it’s unfathomable that a once innocent, tender-hearted girl who went on to be so special as to hatch cool dragons after sleeping on a pyre could ever be capable of tyranny in the future. To them she’s hero of the story and it’s hard to let go of your hero. they think she’ll always be that “free-er of slaves with a good heart who just wants to sit on a throne that should be hers to begin with” what bad can come out of that? Hmm I wonder. Dragons are “fire made flesh” and what does fire do? It consumes and destroys. it’s obvious that whatever is behind the powers that were bestowed upon her when she “birthed” those dragons is a force to be reckoned with and has chosen to use her as a channel. Kind of like Bran is a chosen one on the north, old gods, Ice (whatever u want to call it) side of things.
Oh and I’m sure there are people who think because much of Westeros is full of shitty people like the Lannisters, Freys, Boltons etc that it’s a good thing what Daenerys wants to do in bringing them all to heel with her powerful blood and fire reign. But they’re doing a fine job by themselves offing each other and unfortunately, by the time she gets there, I have a feeling that the ones that areleft for her to fight are the innocents, including our favorite Stark family.
I must say WOW…this episode hit all the marks as far as I am concerned. Course I don’t usually complain too much but just WOW…Benjen/Coldhands, Arya and Needle, the MEGA download to Bran, Meera was amazing, steps of the Sept was a bit of a shock when Tommen walked out the door and that armor! I know Margery is playing a game, but I certainly hope that she can bring Tommen back from the edge…we all know he won’t be around forever but him tossing Jaime on his butt? I didn’t see that coming, but I probably should have….flashbacks: there aren’t enough words but King Aerys “burn them all” made me have goosebumps! Sam and Gilly take the cake topper though. Brillant of both of them and when he grabbed that box to stand on to get Heartsbane I was bouncing up and down. Loved his mother and sister, but his father…another WOW moment for me. I did enjoy Dany’s speech at the end sitting atop Drogon…I just love the dragons and his shadow over the valley was perfect. I think the problem was after everything else it just wasn’t a WOW moment..lol…I could go on and on and I’ve taken up way too much space, but I for one have to say these episodes seem to be spot on and I’m loving GOT this season more than ever!!
If we assume GRRM would give his work a fairytail ending i.e peace and prosperity for all eternity, then there is no way Daenerys Targeryen wins the game of thrones. She cannot have children and she is not immortal so immediate questions will be raised of what might happen after she dies.
I think the King/Queen’s rule system will be abolished to be replaced by something more modern. All magic elements will cease to exist.
Well, I’ve watched the episode twice and didn’t even notice one of the flashbacks in Bran’s vision was the Mad King saying – ‘Burn them all’ . How many milliseconds was that shot !!
Perhaps its my age, but these flashbacks shots happen so fast I can’t take them all in. Only the scenes from earlier episodes that I remember.
Thanks to The Sybian for doing a frame by frame breakdown else I’d be none the wiser 🙂
MakeThemBurn,
Unsullied viewer here – she rode him in season 5… not shocked she was able to ride him again.
oh and shes a dragon queen – lol duh
Dee,
I guess some might wonder whether he has a higher purpose than being her bed warmer at this point. I’ve read several essays that suggest he represents her fire and blood persona “all rulers are butchers or meat” but less do on show than books
Overall, it was a nice ep but I kind of missed that Bran didn’t blame himself or even feel sorry for bringing death to so many good people (and a direwolf!) Hopefully this will come up next episode.
As for Dany, for me it’s really interesting to watch how completely different she is from Jon. I mean Jon is humble, caring, never asked for power yet became a leader simply because men trust him and want to follow him. Dany, on the other hand, can only babble about her birthright and about killing literally everyone in Westeros. She is no leader. She would be nothing if it wasn’t for her dragons and the fact she is fireproof.
As for Jon, I thought this is his biggest season yet, no? I kinda have the feeling that we didn’t really see him doing anything and there are only four episodes left!
Don’t want to sound too negative though – season 6 has been one of my favs so far!
Sooo I think Cleganebowl is cancelled. Now that the Crown and the Kingsguard are serving the Faith as well, Cersei won’t be able to use FrankenMountain because it’d be a conflict of interest for him. Right??
BranTheBlessed,
But why have magic work on him then? Why bring him back to life if he’s not important to that end?
Yeah we do have Beric but he’s not a main character, I thought purpose was more like a set-up to introduce realism when it does happen to Jon.
ghost of winterfell,
There’s a question to your response. Don’t fall for it, could be a trap lol.
It was Ned’s fake decapitated head.
Okay lets use your scenario and say that she’s headed North to fight the Starks. You don’t believe that once she found out about the white walkers she wouldn’t help the Starks?
Benjen,
I choose violence is still coming!
loco73,
I have commented a lot on this topic and don’t want to repeat again. I only hope we see some focus on Jon too, that’s all ?
Mihnea,
People complained about Sansa’s plot turn at WF, her being used by LF and abused by Ramsay and how we couldn’t wait to see her finally escape and acquire some agency. Well now people have complaints about Jon being minimized and seemingly a kind of shell of his former self. The thing is….at least we spent time with Sansa and felt her as still being important character even during that part of her story line. There is just the worry that we’re only going to get any real POV with him at the one episode 9 and that’s it because for some reason it looks as if they want him to take a backseat now.
Just because Dany wants to conquer the 7 kingdoms I think for some people it’s just easier to compare her with the Mad King -because they want it to happen- than compare her with Aegon the Conqueror or Nymeria I suppose, when she has a lot more similarities with these two.
ygritte,
I already answered, but I don’t think he is baiting though. He is a regular poster here.
I think he has a role. He’ll be a player but not the boss player, if you know what I mean. Jon Snow , at this moment, has nothing pointing to him being the major protagonist in the war against the Others. He has neither a gift-say a unique skill or magic-nor an army. Its Daenerys who has both-as is repeatedly reminded to us on the show. And Bran-well, its practically being said by a number of characters that he is the one who will stop the Nights King’s plans.
Can’t really see Jon pulling out Lightbringer out of nowhere.
Jay Targ,
I have no clue. She would obviously have change of heart when faced with this revelation, become a friend to the Starks and the north and be a bad-ass WW killer but it all depends on when those ice lords arrive in Westeros….before or after she rides in to take the throne.
I took that as a confirmation that there indeed will be no LS. Her role in the books is to make BWB do exactly what Frey said that they are already doing – hence no need for LS.
Okay then I think we’re somewhat on the same page. I just think that the WW will have already crossed the Wall based on the House of the Undying vision in season 2.
I think that Dany’s final scene was SO unnecesary… Imagine the very same scene, but just before sailing to Westeros. That would’ve been awesome for sure!!! This episode should’ve ended with Benjen’s reveal…
Despite Dany’s finale, I loved this episode very much. I mean, it was like going back to season 3. I loved the political drama and all the set ups. It felt like a story again!!!
BranTheBlessed,
If true I just don’t understand why he was built up as this rise from lowly bastard to leader, faced down the Night king, dies and comes back through magic priestess, and I remember reading on the net after I binge watched the show that many people were saying the culmination to the story has a lot to do with him, being the song of ice and fire (Rhaegar’s prophecy) which the book series is named after.
ghost of winterfell,
Don’t mind me. I see that now 🙂
I loved Mace’s speech, too, albeit for different reasons. The irony of speaking of madness with such outrageous indignity while three huge plumes are poking out of your head is absolutely freaking hilarious.
Bran will at the Wall on the south side by Episode 10, and the NK likely will be at the Wall, too, though on the north side. I don’t think we’ll see a corporeal face-off this episode. Like many others, I think the Wall will fall just before a fade to black for the season.
I have to say, I find criticism of Daenerys’ latest speech a bit harsh. Fore signs of a mad queen it is being said, but can I ask- In what universe is the rallying cry a commander gives out to his troops before heading out to war considered madness?
I mean, you can’t rouse a bunch of Dothraki by some ‘rainbows and butterflies’ speech. Some may call it madness, I call it smartness. Know your audience before you speak if you hope to make an influence. Contrast the words she says to the Dothraki against the words she spoke to Unsullied in Astapor and you’ll see what I mean.
That. Of course she’s made some wrong decisions before but she knows how to inspire her people.
Whew! Thank goodness. I cannot wait until we see the BwB (next episode?) and that Littlefinger Winterfell Godswood scene so we can put the LSH rumors to rest – until Season 7, that is. And then Season 8. And then, when she’s still No-Show Stones, they’ll be making a followup movie of nothing but LSH.
Sean C.,
What? Lol. that was funny even if it didn’t make sense 🙂
Anyone have thoughts about who will actually wield Heartsbane in the final battle(s)? No offense to Sam but it won’t be him… 🙂
Seriously though, who is a good enough swordsman and strong enough to wield it that doesn’t already have a VS sword? It’s a hugeass Greatsword so it’s got to be someone pretty strong.
The Hound would be an awesome candidate, if he wasn’t dead…
Otherwise who do we really have?
Davos (nah he’s “not much of a fighter”)?
Tormund – YESSS but he’s more of an axe-guy I think. Plus I’m worried he’s going ot die this season. 🙁
Jaime? I don’t think he’ll ever be very good again, and besides he is a longsword specialist. If he gets a VS sword it would be to take up Oathkeeper if Brienne dies (noo…)
Bronn – he’s good enough… but it seems like he’s just happy to stay in retirement with Lollys. And is definitely not the “save the world” type.
Any other ideas?
Also, we have Joffery’s VS sword (widowmaker?). I assume that Tommen has it now, but I would enjoy very much if Arya somehow got her hands on it, since it’s small enough for Joffery she could probably handle it.
BranTheBlessed,
The main vision Bran’s story has been building up for him to see is of Jon. Jon’s lineage is important. The dragon has 3 heads, and those are Dany(Fire),Bran(Ice), and Jon(Ice and Fire). As much as some would love to see Dany be opposing Jon and the Starks, I just don’t see it. Literally nothing in the books or show hints at that. These 3 characters will unify. Dany and Bran will be the aerial assault team, and Jon will lead the ground troops. It’s my belief that Jon will be the one to kill the Night’s King in the show.
Kargaryen,
What are you talking about …those two who she is actually compared in the books and show and by GRRm himself doenst fit with the fantasy dany becoming mad tyrant ..so you can’t bring those name here ..
And I like how people get to say why people love dany and gow wrong it is ..
Whats hee crime here doing a duty as last survivor of a great house to take back what they lost through war ..
In a book based upon families and their duties and wars..I sometimes wonder is dany only one who is fighting or bringing war to the Peaceful land of westeros ..
QueenofThrones,
Theon Greyjoy. But I don’t see Sam giving up his ancestral sword so hope that doesn’t mean he dies.
BranTheBlessed,
What criticism
Well if you just look at all the comments and recap itself ..
You will see no one bothered with what she actually said in the speech or what she omitted in the speech of drogo ..
But only complaints about how boring and look she gets another ending scene…or take that one line about tearing down the stone houses ..
Why do I always have Monty Python scenes in my head every time Walder Frey talks to his two sons? ?
While we just keep jumping from one week after another what is supposed to be bleeding star, smoke and salt that will make fit jon as AAR or TPTWP .
We just had the confirmation that dany is TSWMTW the one who united all the khalasar under one banner and will ride to end of the world ..
One down two more to go .hope we get the definite answer about AAr and TPTWP as well.
Horrible writing for Dany’s scene, she’s becoming really unsympathetic for me…. and how exactly does she call and control Drogon??? Why didn’t she do that on her way to Veas Dothrak??? That ending made this episode the weakest of Season 6 IMO.
I think the temporary return of Edmure Tully is to have him killed in a moment of zeal by one of the Freys.
We have not established that Edmure has had a child by the Frey girl. If he has not, and he is killed, Riverrun would pass to the Eldest Stark heir (Catelyn was older than Lysa). With Bran missing and Rickon potentially dead or in a bit of trouble…
The knife across Edmure’s throat makes Sansa one of the most powerful nobles in the Seven Kingdoms. Kill Ramsay and seal Sansa’s power with a marriage to Robyn Aryn, almost certainly the most powerful in the Seven Kingdoms.
In short. I think the purpose of bringing Edmure back is to have him killed. This Sansa Stark vs. Jon the Bastard Snow thing is building towards something on the show, however briefly lived it may be.
Speculation: Margery has schemed to free herself and her brother. Keep in mind how much she hates Cersei for what’s she’s done to her family. Tommen is easy enough to manipulate; I’m sure she planted the seed to send Jaime away.
My guess: Marg knows Cersei will opt for trial by combat and has warned HS.
HS will think he’s outsmarted Cersei with some sort of ace up his sleeve, but we know (thanks to his spoilery interview) that things don’t turn out the way he expects.
During the trial or event Cersei will burn the place with wildfire, accidentally killing Tommen.
OR she commands the Mountain to kill all the faith militant during her trial, Tommen is killed during (possibly by Sand Snakes) and THEN she goes nuts and burns it all.
QOT leaves for Dorne seeking powerful allies to continue the destruction of House Lannister before the showdown once her great grandchildren are freed. She probably feels it’s safe to do so as Marg can handle herself.
Pretty confident Arya will kill the Waif and board a ship for the wall, since all the Starks seem to be converging back in one place. Finally!
I’m hoping Gendry comes back into the picture by Sam meeting him in Oldtown. Sam can read about how to forge Valyrian steel and shares the info with Gendry the blacksmith.
But what do I know?
dragonbringer,
I think you didn’t understand what I was trying to say. I said some people want her to be “the mad queen”, being similar with her father but can’t see that the similarities she has is with another caracthers, in this case, Aegon and Nymeria, who clearly aren’t mad, but conquerors.
ghost of winterfell,
Oh i see, well i’m with you about the need for a Jon/Mel conversation, i mentioned it myself. But i don’t understand the complaints about Jon being sidelined with Sansa around, i honestly think that balance between them in co-leading is there and showrunners handled this very well so far and i’m sure they’re going to share the dialogues next episode despite the preview showing only Sansa do the talking.
Anyway i hope that you enjoy Jansa’s storyline for the rest of the season.
Ps : i wasn’t trying to bait or anything, i don’t know why ygritte thought that way (i mean seriously???)
Why wouldn’t Sam give the sword to someone who can actually use it to save everyone? Sam knows he’s no fighter, that his skills are in knowing things, not killing things. What’s the point of taking the sword if it’s not going to be put to good use?
Interesting idea on Theon. But he’s way too broken to fight as well, I think.
Kargaryen,
I understand what you said..but I guess I was not clear in what I said .
Of course she is being compared to aegon and rhaegar in both books and show..
And GRRm himself comparess her to Nymeria
But if those are compared with dany …then she will end up on the great side of the coin which is flipped..
So when people are desperate have her end up on the other side of the coin as a mad villain thatcomparison with aegon and nymeria will not sit well with them ..
I think GRRM has already said that the “Hold the door” reveal will be different in the books. So this sequence probably doesn’t exist in the books or will be completely different.
Coldhands clearly isn’t Benjen in the books. GRRM has stated as much.
My guess is that whatever happens in the books, it’s Coldhands who saves Bran. Benjen is probably long dead in the books. The show, however, is fond of merging two different characters into one, or giving Character A the storyline of Character B. That’s likely what happened here. Benjen (who has more connection to the audience) was given Coldhands’ story, and the show also spoiled how Coldhands came into being.
People use the word “mad” and synonyms of it to describe Dany more than they do to describe Ramsay or Joffrey. :/
It’s definitely sexism. Even if that sexism is unintentional.
There’s no real evidence to suggest that Dany is going mad. She’s most likely not going to be a perfect and pure hero and benevolent ruler in the end. That’s not really how these books/show work. But imperfect does not equal crazy.
Sergei Walankov,
Death by Arya?
I think you’ve grouped these men together incorrectly. Stannis and Renly were trying to win the throne for personal reasons and were viewed as antagonists by everyone in Westeros (other than their own men). They were happy to shed blood to obtain these goals.
Robb marched south to liberate his father and along the way, was crowned and had his goal shift from liberation of his father to supporting of the Riverlands and fighting Tywin’s army. For Tywin, Robb was also an antagonist but for the reader, he’s meant to be the most sympathetic of the bunch.
Dany seems to also be evolving from liberator to conqueror and by embracing her family’s way of Fire and Blood, she will most definitely be seen as an antagonist in Westeros. The interesting part is whether Martin will have the reader see her that way or will there be the intent of sympathy here, too, as with Robb.
Would it be possible that the girl standing next to Walder Frey is a recast Roslin? She seemed really distraught when they brought Edmure in. And Roslin is supposed to be still alive, right?
Bran’s scenes continue to be the best this season. The supporting acting by Frey, Randyll Tarly, and Lady Crane was outstanding. Didn’t like Dany’s scene as an episode-ender. I think I would have liked Arya more at the end – the waif gets sent to assassinate Arya, Arya blows out her candle while in hiding, cut to black, roll credits. Just nitpicking though.
I like the Coldhands/Benjen amalgamation. It just makes more sense for the show.
Not sure what Sam’s game-plan is at this point or where he will go next.
Looks like we get to meet the Glover’s and the rest of the Mormont’s next week. Excited for the return of Blackfish, Bronn, and potentially the return of The Hound. I need Ian McShane to deliver the Broken Men speech.
dragonbringer,
The show doesn’t care about prophecy. The books fulfilled that part during FTW. I would ask you where was the salt in Dany’s pyre moment? But it doesn’t really matter. She is obviously one of the 3 heads of the dragon. Drogon is clearly TSWMTW. If you want to go on believing that Dany is every single prophecy rolled into one, go ahead. You probably think she is the song of ice and fire too.
Great episode!
Randall Tarly was dripping with evil, Gilly’s makeover was awesome, and you go Sam. Swipe that sword. Now, how on earth is Sam going to hide at the Citadel? It’s not like daddy doesn’t know where he is headed.
That Bran upload flashback was a very pleasant surprise. I was super excited to see the Mad King. And welcome back Benjen. May you survive more than two episodes.
I’m liking the theory that Marjory is faking it. She is her grandmother’s granddaughter after all, and I recall a scene where the Queen of Thorns told Marjory “I was good…I was very good. You’ll be even better.” or something along those lines. It will be interesting to see Marjory’s end game.
When Jamie got fired…the look on his face was absolutely priceless.
Walder Frey…I just can’t wait until he gets his comeuppance. Oh, who will it be? Arya?
Or the ever controversial LS? It’s this season or never. Book readers would rejoice! And this would blow show watchers away.
I loved Dany and her ultimate horse…I’m always wanting to see Drogon, so I’ll forgive the fact that the special effects weren’t perfect. I don’t think it has been done before, but wouldn’t it be awesome if they could do the series finale as a major motion picture? Imagine what they could do with a motion picture budget. Game of Thrones has been a groundbreaking television event…why not send it out with a bang?
My final thoughts, I hope Jaqen will un-name Arya. I was really thinking that he genuinely cared for Arya (as much as a faceless man could) and wanted to help her. He knew what had happened to her family and that she wanted revenge. Her betrayal shouldn’t have surprised him a bit. This would really bother me to know that he has truly turned on her. The FM are like the Terminator, they won’t stop until she is dead. This would not be good for her to have a target on her back for the rest of the story. Fingers crossed!
Tyrion Pimpslap,
Of course I do ..
It was told in ADWD ..
Mel tells Jon that stannis is the one because he was lord of dragonstone because its the place of salt and smoke ..
Jon thinks himself that Mel is wrong that stannis never was born there only a lord ..
We know who born there ..
We have a line in the books telling dany child of three and drink from cup of fire and cup of ice ..
Please don’t make me one of the fanatics …I too first thought it will be dany Jon and tyrion ..you can check it in westeros.org ..
But after several rereads there are too many foreshadowing and clues all over five books to simply ignore them ..
I don’t think it’s been shown that she won’t help against the Others. In fact, I’d say the show has set up just the opposite if we consider their version of the HotU. That most definitely supports her heading to the Wall rather than grabbing the Throne.
As for believing they exist, it looks as though we’re heading for everyone to believe. Eventually. Tyrion will most likely be one of the first of the Southroners to believe.
The promised prince,
That ship sailed bro. He will be a jerk and its all playing up to LSH imo
There might be now, I think. Director Jack Bender says that we should be “a little horrified. She’s not Hitler at Nuremberg, but she’s got the power.”
Am I the only one here who thinks the 1000 ships needed to transport the dothraki being referred to is the fleet Euron intends to build?
Swiper, no swiping!
Slayer, no slaying!
Another week is over and it is Lord Parramandas’s duty to write his (brief) review:
A perfect phrase to describe this episode would be “Quiet before the Storm” but as opposed to other build-up episodes, the scenes in this one were actually very good.
Daenerys: I agree with Sue on this one and I think this shouldn’t have been the last scene. What was supposed to be a highlight of this scene? Drogon’s return or Daenerys’s speech? Well, I’m glad that they again avoided “The Stallion Who Mounts The World”. But what I really liked is Daario’s statement “You were not born to sit on the iron chair. You are a conquerer.” I really hope this actually foreshadows her fate. Even though I started to like her more in the last couple episodes, I don’t want to see her on the IT.
Bran & Meera: God, I loved Ellie Kendrick’s performance in this scene. Prior to this, she was always overshadowed by other characters (Jojen, Three-Eyed Raven) but now she has a chance to shine. And Benjen is back! I can say that a revelation wasn’t really surprising for me because I recognized the actor’s voice while he was still disguised. But Joseph Mawle is actually an actor who was absent for the longest time. And God, Benjen looks like a living corpse… What does the dragonglass mean? Is he slowly turning into the WW? Side note: I have to remove “presumed dead” on my character apperiances list, change his status to “alive” and add his flashback episodes to the list.
King’s Landing: Prior to this episode I thought the confrontation on the stairs would be the climax to Sparrows’ storyline and that there would be some major casualities (Tommen or Margaery among them). Now I see that this scene was another part of the build-up towards the climax. Mace’s speech was great by the way and I can easily imagine why the soldiers follow him. He makes a better soldier than a lord. Tommen basically pulled Jaehaerys I. (except for the part about weapons) and Jaime was expelled from the Kingsguard! So the reason for going to RL is not breaking up with Cersei. That actually foreshadows a certain prophecy from the book.
Horn Hill: Easily my favorite scene of this episode. The performance of all the actors was great, especially the one from James Faulkner. If I hated Randyll even before he actually appeared, I hate him even more now. God, what an awful father! At least Tywin recognized Tyrion’s political abilities… I really liked the scene where Melessa and Talla leave the table and I was worried that Dickon will be another ass to Sam, but he was actually very nice. And Gilly was so pretty in that dress. Heartbane was a nice addition to the storyline and I really liked the fact that Randyll lost what is most precious to him. So Gilly’s storyline apparently does not end at Horn Hill. I wonder if that is a spoiler for future novels…
Braavos: I would say Arya is in big trouble. The Waif is coming for her. Last time, I thought she will actually replace Bianca as Sansa, but now I see it’s not the case.
The Twins: Walder and Edmure are back and the latter one does not look well. I wonder if this is the last season for these two…
Bran’s visions: One thing to point out: The explosion of wildfire in the cellar is probably from the future and I’m almost sure, who is responsible for it.
I missed Sansa (who I can easily proclaim as my favorite character at the moment) in this episode but I pretty much enjoyed most of the scenes. My biggest complaint is, that neither scene particulary stood out so my final judgement is……………. a good 8. On my rank-list, I would put this episode on rank 30 between Sons of the Harpy (rank 31) and Mockingbird (rank 29), which makes it better than The Red Woman and slightly worse than Oathbreaker (which actually managed to join the 9s because of Tower of Joy).
I’m pretty sure that was mentioned in another post here lol.
http://imgur.com/0fi3fWn
dragonbringer,
But you are a fanatic. Which is fine, we all are. But you are every bit as biased as those who are trashing Dany. Being born on Dragonstone has nothing to do with the funeral pyre or the whole “reborn from salt and smoke” line of the prophecy. Darkness did not gather. The stars did not bleed before her birth. If the prophecy is something that could be fulfilled over the course of a lifetime, then damn near every character could be an option. I’m not arguing against Dany being AA/tpwwp either. I’m just saying if you are going to nitpick about Jon, you can do the same with Dany. Nothing in the books leads us to believe that Dany has anything to do with ice. It’s also true that not every vision in the HOTU has to do with Dany. What does the Red Wedding have to do with her, for instance? So drinking from a cup of ice and fire is hardly more telling than actually being the son of ice and fire.
I think I’m going to have to take Mihnea’s advice and simply agree to disagree….until you ask this same question next week. 🙂
So happy my prediction came true and we’re going to see Team Jonsavos in locations other than Bear Island. I wonder if one of them (Bear Island at least) will appear in the intro next episode. I’d like a new location.
Lord Parramandas,
Nicely written. Agreed that the scenes were good but nothing spectacular or outstanding.
I gave the episode a 4……out of 5 😛
Grumpkin,
Re Benjen
Like LSH, I don’t care how it happens. As long as they stand in front of a camera and say there name I will blindly follow. I never thought we’d see CH so I’ll take what I can get.
I am really curious where Sam and Gilly go next. My preference would be the Citadel but I am thinking a huge ABP on that “hot” item is being sent out now.
Arya and the Waif has me a bit confused. Is the Waif Faceless or not? Maybe I am mixing mediums. I thought taking revenge was a no no.
Dany, oh sweet Dany. I give Emilia credit for doing these scenes in a different tongue in front of a green screen. I could not take my lines seriously if that were me. I do prefer wolves to dragons. My main issue is that Dany’s back to needing ships again. Plus there’s a war brewing still. Tyrion’s plan can’t be more than temporary. It just seems like more Mereen. Giving screen time to sellsword companies was just not feasible but now Dany’s enemies (in slaver’s bsy) are just not intimidating.
For all the dislike of Dorne and Ironborn in Affc, the KL plot is the real grind for me. I will take superfluous world-building and magical items over Cersei v HS any day. At least have more Qyburn. I thought he was the best part of Ceesei’s pov in affc. In show, how many lawyers does Cersei have working the appeals process? Let’s get this trial started already.
I think I am in the minority of readers who enjoys Affc. Maybe it’s all the prison pov. I am happy to see Jaime and Brienne head to RL after their detours. The whole northern and dornish plots have changed with their characters there. I think Jon’s post-rez, showing him truly alone, will be more powerful than the super friends route. And I think the lack of dorne since the premiere exemplifies how D&D feel about dorne post Jaime.
Does Jamie being released from his vows put him next in line to inherit the throne? All of Tommen’s brothers and uncles are dead (but Jamie). Could make things interesting if/when Tommen dies.
Tyrion Pimpslap,
Please so you are using my own words against me
If a cry does count it as salt ..there was salt in pyre as well ..
If you want to nitpick the prophecy I have started a thread in book and show section.. You can go over that..you will find all the answers for your questions already answered there
Yes am a fanatic maybe when people just rub her off as a red herring..or just simply deny her to name as promised one.. Name one thing that drogon matches the TSWMTW prophecy …so if Jon is not near dothraki then it should be drogon not dany ..
Will you say that ghost is AAr/tptwp.
Of course can’t doesn’t been part of ice ..are you going to say she will not be playing the important part in war of dawn
Why stop there say that Jon will take over drogon and tyrion and bran other two remaining ones
I’m pretty sure “mad” is used with Dany more than any other character because there is a lot that is pointing to her following her family’s footsteps into madness. No sexism. Just genetics and history. It remains to be seen if she, or any other Targaryen for that matter, is really be mad or not.
As for Ramsey and Joffrey, they’re more often than not referred to as psychotic and sociopaths, regardless of whether those terms are being used correctly or not. Probably because their characters are known for doing horrific acts.
I’m really unclear where you feel sexism comes in. People are projecting a path of insanity for Dany that will match her father’s, not because of her gender. And no, that’s not because she’s being set up to be less than perfect but because it appears that she’s being set up to be the next mad Targaryen ruler. Gender is not a factor. Of course this ending may not be the case but it’s hardly far fetched to see the possibility of this outcome being seeded.
That was insane, I loved it. Is that what’s called a flail? Or just an instrument of awesomeness?
For me, it’s more that he’s the last Stark of his generation. And he meant a lot to Jon and Ned both (and could know the answer to who Jon’s mother is). Of course, I really like the actor as well, and the mixing of the Coldhands character is pretty neat, even if he has a bit of an anemic Smurf look now.
dragonbringer,
No, Drogon is Dany’s. I believe Bran will warg one of the other two. And I believe that one of them will die. Jon will command the ground forces. But my argument isn’t that Jon is everything and will get a dragon too. And he will be the one true savior and the fulfillment of every prophecy, as you do with Dany. My stance is clear. Dany,Jon, and Bran are the 3 heads of the dragon. Dany and Jon are both AA reborn/pwwp. Drogon, being one of Dany’s “children” and an extension of her, is TSTMTW. Dany and Drogon are one in the same, IMO. So I will not argue against you saying Dany is TSWMTW. My disagreement with you is strictly in this idea that Dany is everything. What you say Jon fans do, is exactly how you are acting with Dany. This isn’t a story with one “chosen one”. I’d hope that George would find a way to circumvent that trope in a clever way. But I do believe there will be characters who fulfill some of these prophecies, but I hope the way in which these characters effect the story will still surprise. This is one of the reasons many people hope Dany or Bran or even resurrected Jon would become a darker character. Of the 3, Dany has the weapons of mass destruction and a lust for burning her enemies. I was happy to hear Jack Bender mention that the audience should be somewhat horrified by Dany and the power she wields. I don’t think she will go insane, or that she is even crazy, but I think she will be viewed by most of Westeros as an enemy. And those dragons will cause a ton of collateral damage and be nearly as much of a destructive force as the White Walkers.
But hey, this is just my opinion.
They already have one character who wants to blow up the rich and powerful, and another whose main claim to be leader is the size of his dick. I guess they needed some balance.
Benjen Coldhands confirmed! That was the highlight of this episode for me, hands down. Glad Jaime is finally going to get some action (Nic has deserved much more activity than what he has been getting), and it will be an interesting reunion between him and Brienne.
Great analysis and I totally agree about the last Dany scene. The only thing that is keeping me somewhat interested through all of the many many speeches and incessant wandering is, is she going to be as power hungry and mad as the King by the time she gets to Westeros?
Can someone explain to me how originally you had to look at events through a weirwood tree or a person or an animal, and now apparently you can see anything at anytime from absolutely no point of view source at all?
Where do you all think Arya is going to be when she sets foot on Westerosi soil again? Eastwatch? The Riverlands? Kings Landing?
Are we going to see Alleras (Sarella), Marwin and or a glass candle when Sam gets to Oldtown? Or will he just take the sword and head back up to the Wall?
I enjoyed the episode, it was a quieter one but still excellent. This has probably been the best season after season 4.
It was nice to have Tyrion and Jon/Sansa sit this one out. People complain that Jon isn’t getting enough screentime/speeches but he is pretty much getting a whole episode (again..) so don’t really get the complaints there.
Beyond the Wall: Totally unsurprised by the Benjen twist but glad he was around to save Bran and Meera. Hoping D & D aren’t just bringing back characters (Jaqen, Osha (sorta), Benjen) as fan service as opposed to adding to the plot. Bran’s visions were cool, I think it’s pretty obvious where the Mad King/Wildfire aspects are appearing in the current story. I wonder if Bran will find out how he fell from the tower. I always felt he and Jaime will meet again.
Horn Hill: I thought I would be annoyed at this Meet the Family scenario taking up screentime when it feels like every storyline could have a little more. However… I actually really enjoyed it. Sam and Gilly were really sweet and it was nice to see that outer strength isn’t the only strength needed in Westeros. And his mother was lovely. Wow Randyll was scary, would quite like him to crack on to KL to sort out shit but he’d better hurry up if that’s gonna happen! Knew Sam was taking that sword and bravo to him for doing it. Nice to see Hannah Murray who’s been made to look plain for years get a chance to look beautiful as Gilly.
KL: Tommen, Tommen, Tommen… what a complete and utter plonker though I get it. He was incompetent enough allowing his mother to be publicly humiliated and holed up in the Red Keep (pretty sure she hasn’t been outside all season) but now he’s done this. Though interestingly everyone thinks they have the upper hand (or seems to have a sneaky plan), it will be interesting to see who will be successful. “I Choose Violence” has to be soon… come on! The Starks will avenge the Red Wedding before any action is taking against the sparrows at this rate. Cersei seems too calm, she is very calm… and sober. Something is happening. I always find Jaime/Cersei getting intimate a but icky – especially with their matching hair cuts.
Vaes Dothrak: Like many people have said before the pacing seemed off – why was this the end of the episode or even in this episode. I hope Dany doesn’t let this get to her head. Can see her running into the IB pretty soon in her quest for ships.
Where Dorne? is it just gonna vanish like the Riverlands til it’s needed again in 2 years?!
Arya: Arya is probably my 2nd favourite after Brienne and it’s good to see her getting a solid storyline this season. I actually want her in most episodes to see what’s gonna happen next. The Waif is not gonna last long as a Faceless Woman, she is way too personally involved. I liked the theatre troup, it was rather silly but nice to have some lighthearted moments and Essie Davis was excellent.
So was Maisie. Maisie and Sophie have been my standout actors this Season both have managed to deliver very subtle but emotive performances. Nothing against Emilia but it will be a shame if it’s her (again) who picks up the Emmy nod when there are others more deserving. I love Lena and her performance over the years but she’s not had very much screentime this season so would be surprised if she got the nod.
Walder Frey is the worst but David Bradley kills it as the awful slimeball that Frey is. Nice exposition there too to remind viewers of the Red Wedding etc. In a certain light I see his new wife looking a little like a scruffed up Arya. Ominous.Hope the Tullys manage to rise above the Frey/Lannister army. I love how the show gets the best actors even for the little roles like the Frey sons and theatre actors. Everyone was on top form.
Final mention to Mace Tyrell. What a hoot! That hat along with the Tyrell armour was just spiffy and excellent!
I was happy to see Benjen returning, even if he isn’t quite alive – Coldhands or not Coldhands – and Drogon bigger, the greatest means of transportation. Nice parallel with Arya finding Needle again as a proof she can’t and won’t be No one and Sam taking possession of Heartsbane – there’s never enough Valyrian steel in Westeros. Glad to finally meet the Tarlys and discover a ruthless antagonist in the father and loving, pleasant people in the mother and sister. I enjoyed the family resemblance, very good casting as always. And Gilly looked beautiful and her behaviour, maybe not “wise”, warmed my heart.
Art said that he has some scenes with Ramsay, so we should see Rickon before episode 9.
All of this! This is the only thing I was disappointed about. I was really looking forward to the ‘mother & son’ reunion. I love the bond they share. But hey maybe later this season she’ll bond with Viserion and Rhaegal for once.
It seems that he’s not quite dead, either. And Bran did learn something very useful: an Obsidian blade to the heart will stop someone from becoming a wight.
I do now wonder if the resolution might involve some major “sacrifice” to undo what the Children did and restore the Walkers to being human. Of course, how they would glean the ability to do this, I have no idea. Either the Children did not know, or because they consider humans to be nearly as bad as Walkers, they did not deem it a solution.
I think that it would have hugely diminished the impact of the scene if we knew exactly what was happening before the Dothraki did. Oh, most of us probably suspected: but it was more powerful to see the effect that Daeny can create.
At any rate, we already have seen Daeny and Drogon reunite twice. Why rehash that?
Ah, but it is (in part) a story about the how much it tears a person in two to be a “chosen one.”
Whay nobody has noticed the possbility that the Waif has something to do with the Frey’s ?
IMO none of those ‘ass’pirants is making it to the Iron Throne. And Danys current mode puts her inline with those two. She’s tipping the scale, where’s the balancing ¿!!
Shy Lady Dragon,
Hi my friend – biggest of hugs – how are you doing? You must be really busy right?
You enjoying this season? What do you think of Sansa so far?
Tyrion Pimpslap,
I so agree with this.For one there is no way in hell there is only one hero that fullfills every prophecy.And I don’t think anybody is saying that dany is evil and will replace ramsay that’s not gonna happen.But how can you watch that last scene and root for her?She is taking a dothraki horde to westeros.I don’t want her to fight the men in their iron suits or tear down their stone houses yes not even the lannisters.We have watched the show for years and watch westeros bleed.The last thing it needs is a horde of foreign invaders even more so that when she arrives all the characters standing will probably be the most sympathetic to us.Also I find it ridiculous for a character to have this much power:100.000 dothraki,the unsullied,the second sons,the priests from volantis,varys and tyrion,the iron born and their fleet,I bet she’ll get dorne soon enough and three freaking dragons which are nuclear weapons on top of her being fireproof.At this point it seems she can take the white walkers down in three hours lol.It’s not the easiest to root for a character who has everything and has been on upward trajectory with minor setbacks compared to other characters for years now.
Loved this episode! So many treats for the book readers! While I agree that the Benjen scene was the best and strongest, I think the Dany scene was all right. And far from pointless because A.) we’ve been waiting for her to get back on her dragon, and B.) She really acted like she forgot all about Westeros for awhile, so it was good to see that she remembered it.
However instead of awe or glee, which I imagine the showrunners were going for, all I got out of it was a sigh and “It’s about damn time.”
Just re-watched and realised that Benjen gives Bran rabbit blood to drink! Could this be show version of Jojen paste?
Was it really NCW who was on horseback when he Jaime climbed up the stairs of the Great Sept?
iridium,
I thought it was him too, I posted a comparison photo in the open chat thread to see if anyone agreed. What this show really needs is Lord Percy from Blackadder II. In fact he’s what most shows need! 😀
DireWolfHeart,
Mmm interesting idea, I like it.
Relatively speaking, a very weak episode for me. Some of the blame is mine. I think most of this episode’s entertainment-value would have come from all those returning character moments, but I knew about Edmure Tully and Walder Frey from using this website (a fanatical process I’ve decided against repeating next year), and I knew about Benjen because last week I was stupid enough to go on Quora.com’s home page for a minute (I was going to create a question about travelling… sigh).
Hey by the way, one has to despise the “Previously, on Game of Thrones!” segments at the start of each episode, right?? They totally give it all away before you’ve even started the episode lmao. I don’t watch them, personally, but I amuse myself by going back and seeing how bad they are when I’ve finished with the ep. The amount they telegraph, the amount of pacing in the story they undermine? It’s laughable.
Anyways, speaking more positively, I enjoyed the heck out of the Tarlys and Arya. I’m surprised that moment where she blows out the candle in that hideout didn’t get used as the episode’s curtain-closer. I mean sure, a Khalasar and a dragon teaming up is technically plot progression, but it didn’t FEEL new. We know Dany’s awesome and we knew the dragon was going to be there because of the trai- oh wait I said I was going to end on a positive haha. I like the actress who plays Meera.
BranTheBlessed,
Totally disagree. Fire does not hurt white Walkers that has been proven many times. The wights yes but not the WW. They will need to be killed by the valerian swords. Don’t see Bran nor Danny fighting with a sword. Jon is one of the major characters and it will be proven in episode 10.
Coldfeet,
Nope. The crown would go to someone on the Baratheon side.
Lulus Mum,
Heyyyyyyyy Mum – lots of hugs – how are you doing? I hope that you’re enjoying this season (and our girl) so far.
Ser Pounce FTW,
But Dany is not like Joeffrey or Ramsay : they didn’t free slaves from the masters or an army of Unsullied. She can’t be completly mad : she already demonstrated that she can be crual, with the masters for example (but only with them, right ?) but she thinks doing it for a good reason. Moreover, she is aware of her mistakes : she realized that she must have the support by the fre -slaves and the ancient masters both when she talked to Barristan and then Tyrion. Also, she can’t ignore the fact that Grey Worm and Missandeï were both slaves before she freed them. Indeed, she always hesitates because of her emotionality but she tries to choose the most diplomatic solution with the help of her advisors. I don’t think this is something Joeffrey or Ramsay would do.
How about baby Sam!! He just stole the scenes he was in. Loved the way his little face would go back and forth to look at whoever was talking. And that smile he gave Big Sam’s mom. Sooooo cute
Ginevra,
I may be wrong, but didn’t you say that your favourite Mr. Darcy was the one in the 80ies series, played by David Rintoul? Reading Sue’s recap – which always makes me feel like watching the episode again – I was amazed to find out that he was the briefly seen Mad King. I should have known better by now, but I discover again and again what valuable actors are cast even to play the smallest parts.
Lulus Mum,
I immediately thought of you when Mace and his splendid feathers appeared. Hope you enjoyed them!
Don’t you ever dare to mock Ser Feather!!!!
Daughter of Winter,
Lots of hugs back! Not too busy to read a little bit on WOTW every day, though not as much as I would like! And you?
I’m certain that Sansa is not going to plot against Jon or betray him, I wept when I watched their reunion, I could see genuine feelings there. About keeping her meeting with Littlefinger secret, I don’t know what she had in mind, whether she had planned something or it was just a sudden disposition which prevented her to mention that. She has been through hell and so has Jon – withdrawals and misunderstandings are bound to happen. I know GOT has surprised us for many times, but this is not one of these times – maybe seeds for our doubts are planted just to be proven wrong in the end.
You know, that was so cool I initially thought they must’ve digitally inserted Nikolaj’s head onto an experienced horseman. I’m about to re-watch the episode and will pay special attention if I can see an effect.
Daughter of Winter, Shy Lady Dragon,
Hi guys *jazz hands waving* big hugs for both of you 😀 😀 I am loving this series. Some people think it’s a bit rushed but if we can only have 10 episodes a year I prefer this cracking pace. Our girl is going great guns, she’s really coming into her own here. Bit of a shaky start understandably but now she’s somewhere safe and can be proactive she’s taking names and getting things done. Woohoo! Go Jansa! Mace’s helmet is fabulous and I want one, although I’d arrange the feathers in more of a peacock fanned out display and add some glitter to mine, having the advantage of living in the 21st century and being a real person and all 😉 Hope all is good with both of you!
1. But I didn’t say she was completely mad. In fact, I would say she is rather sane, at this time. However, she has made statements and chosen actions that look like they could be a slippery slope for Dany to follow in her father’s footsteps.
2. I believe this is the whole exercise for Martin when it comes to Dany. He’s given us her POV so we can always understand why she does something. But of course, from the outside, her actions may not be perceived as good or even logical. If it plays out as I think it will, I believe he will write Dany as an antagonist in Westeros who always believes she’s doing the right thing while continuing to have the reader feel sympathetic toward her. But of course it doesn’t have to play out that way. I just think that’s what’s being set up.
3. Let’s see if she’s still trying to be diplomatic in the next books/episodes.
4. I’m not implying that Dany will ever do what Joffrey or Ramsey did. Her story is rather different, imo.
Yes! Every show needs a Blackadder character! Edmund would fit very nicely into this world, I think. His scheming and cunning plans (“so cunning you could pin a tail on it and call it a weasel”) would rival Littlefinger’s. And of course, he’d come to a gruesome end as always, which fits GoT too.
(also, Baldrick would make a fantastically hapless Frey).
Ha, nice! The Scottish Play is my favourite of the Bard’s works, so if they’re referencing it I approve. Saw Hugo Weaving as Macbeth on stage Sydney a couple of years ago. F’ing incredible.
Funny you should mention the rabbits blood. Upon re watching the episode (well ok a few re watches) I began to think to myself, we’ve seen a lot about rabbits through the entirety of the series. There’s a recurring theme which we may have not thought about. I am unsullied so I have no idea how they play out in the books. But with last nights episode, it made me really wonder. Especially when Benjhands tells Bran he will learn to control his new powers, and will be ready to face him when the time comes. He then immediately gave him the cup of rabbit blood.
Then through Sam which were my favourite part of this episode are the Tarlly scenes. Especially Sam when he re enters the room and leaves with Gilly and little Sam and then grabs heartsbane to hopefully study and learn. At the Akward Supper, he mentions in the north it’s mostly rabbit that is available. Another rabbit reference. Is it just dialogue? Has it foreshadowed something of importance we don’t know yet? I’m interested. If this is known or been said before, my apologies.
By the way, long time reader, but only started commenting this season. Well I figured this to be a great season so far so I wanted to express my thoughts. Hello everyone. Great (for the most part) discussions in here!!
Lady Snow,
Reg Faceless Men after Arya: my theory is either she escapes long enough to get revenge in a majorly satisfying way only to be killed. Or she gets revenge and when faced with peace after her list is done she turns herself in to the faceless men; which would seem more poetic to me. Either way I think Aryas face has to end up on that wall.. 🙁
Does anybody else think that the whole point of Benjen’s explanation of what the Children did to him to stop him from changing is to set an inverse precedent for how the Night’s King can be killed? I.e. Somebody (probably Jon) is going to have to reverse Leaf’s mistake and pull the dragonglass out of his chest. Not only would that be a (potential) mirror to how Jon was born, but how cool would that look on-screen if he pulled it out, held it in the air and the remaining wights/white walkers just dropped to the floor during the Battle for the Dawn? Maybe that moment/the retrieved blade is a much less obvious, less literal ‘Lightbringer’? Am I completely mad in thinking this?
Also I’m starting to think that Bran’s days will be lived out in the weirwood tree in the Godswood at Winterfell. That way he gets to fulfil the ‘There must always be a Stark at Winterfell” thing post-War for the Dawn.
Even though the ep was boring by this season’s standards, there’s a lot to chew on. Can’t help but agree that Dany’s bit at the end felt tacked on though, although Daario’s reaction intrigued me too. Hmmmm.
Tyrion Pimpslap,
Why not when you ask me that I would probabaly believe she is also ice and fire …does that not imply that she can’t be ice and fire and only one can be called as song of ice and fire ..
A character being chosen one doesn’t diminish the other character importance… They will still play the role they have given ..
I thought dumbledore and Hermione and Snape as more important than Harry itself ..
Like I said I started in forums believing that Jon as TPTWP and dany as AAr ..
Its only later became clear that both are same person ..
You keep accusing me of that …that I somehow wanted to give everything to dany …when I don’t .
You see I very clearly address the only other candidate besides dany is Jon when it comes to AAr/TptWP ..I never ignored him that he can’t be the one ..
I don’t make dany to be all like soem people come up with jorah Jamie beric davos as AAr ..
She is straight up called as AAr/tptwp in the books and she will be TSWMTW..
Even the haters only argument sometimes is that she fulfills the prophecies to the point so its obvious and it can’t be that obvious ..
So no one can deny that her role as said three promised princess and one can agree that I don’t simply conjure up this out of nowhere because I am fanatic ..
The fact that people debate who is TSWMTw in itself proves my point that some people just don’t want dany to do anything with a prophecy or called as promised prince .
Yes, I did say that! And reading Sue’s recap is also where I found out. I was very excited, to say the least, although suffice it to say that Aerys doesn’t turn me on the way he used to. Thirty-six years ago. When I was seven.
Connor,
she has no dialogue if its not in another language
The Old Bear,
True. Too much!
El-Bobbie,
I realized this too that “burn them all” was cut with wildfyre and scenes of white walkers and wights, like Aerys was touched a little with the greensight but went crayzo because he couldn’t interpret them or didn’t have a teacher….
That was badass! I was wondering the same thing. After watching the scene again a few times I think it was in fact him, or it was really great CGI. I was relieved the horse didn’t roll an ankle!
Thank you for this! I was wondering the same thing.
Regarding the high sparrow, I completely agree! Villages burned, women raped, common people literally starving, travelers attacked on the Kingsroad by bandits. The crown wasn’t taking care of its people because they were too busy warring. Granted, we aren’t really getting the big picture on the show, but in the books the high sparrow has his sparrows escorting travelers along the roads, protecting villagers, feeding people. Seems to me if I was a Kings Landing resident, I wouldn’t mind the High Sparrow one bit! Cersei deserved exactly what she got. That being said, I don’t think Loras or Marjory deserved to be locked in cells. They aren’t evil doers, and this is where the problem lies. While the high sparrow is doing good, he’s also going overboard in a fanatical way. And why hasn’t Jamie been hauled in? They accused Cersei of incest, why not Jamie too? Yes, she confessed to sleeping with Lancel, but she’s still standing trial for the things she didn’t confess to: murder and incest with her brother. So if she was accused, why haven’t they accused Jamie as well? At this point the High Sparrow is playing God, and who is he answering to?
Ginevra,
I was ten or eleven when watched it and was mesmerized! Every Monday, in school, I was daydreaming, looking forward for a new episode. One evening I asked my father, God rest his soul, to take pictures of the TV screen and, although he wasn’t watching as a rule, stayed a whole episode with me, waiting for the right moment to freeze time for me. I wonder where are these photos. If I knew that a time would come when people could download pictures on a miraculous thing called computer… I must admit I’m old 🙂
Anyway, My favourite Mr. Darcy is, still, Colin Firth, but I have quite recently watched an episode or two starring David Rintoul… Wow, he was handsome, and the series seemed untouched by the so many years passing. A lot of good actors!
Blood of my Blood:
-Dany and the Bloodriders (Not biological, but the Bloodriders are like Brothers/loyal Co-Warriors)
-Dany and the Mad King (Shes Blood of his Blood)
-Uncle Benjen & Bran (Blood of his Blood)
-Sam & Tarly Family
-Sam, Gilly and little Sam (not biological blood of his/her blood, but the have a bond thats family-like)
-Jaime and Tommen
-Young Ned touching Lyannas Blood
I don´t get why People don´t understand the Title.
I Think it fits.
Ser Pounce FTW,
I agree, haha.
I’m looking forward to both these predictions of yours.
Connor,
Yeah, the Dany scene was basically the only reason for the Episode title. It didn’t fit in with the episode at all. I didn’t mind it cause I just love this show. But no idea why that was in there and why that was added. Rousing speeches are fun and all but for what purpose there? Dany’s big grandiose scenes make me chuckle a bit at this point. I don’t think they are setting her up as the villain, just setting up the show to have two sides that we like going against each other: Dany’s side vs All the good people left in Westeros side
Jack Bauer 24,
dte421,
Why cause all 3 minutes he has taped so far took 9 months to shoot?
dragonbringer,
I think someone as a crush on Dany? I don’t think Dany is Aegon and I don’t think Dany is Aerys either. I think she has a large army who wants the 7 kingdoms, will help to bring down the walkers, and then be an opponent to current Westerosi occupants. Not saying she is bad but I am not saying she is good. I think the show isn’t setting up an antagonist instead possibly setting up characters we like vs other characters we like. Biggest thing I worry about is her lack of being able to compromise. Hope she can’t get better at that the same way she is better riding drogon.
iridium,
Baldrick for the Iron Throne! He’d make a good team with Dolorous Edd I reckon 😀
HeHeldThatDoor,
Don’t think anyone’s said hello yet, so hi and welcome to the Wall! 😀 Don’t be put off by lack of replies, most posts don’t get any, especially in threads with lots of comments. Just carry on joining in and you’ll find people to chat to in no time.
Not a book reader so I have no idea about your rabbit theory I’m afraid. There’s quite a lack of animals in the show as a whole unless they absolutely have to be there. I guess they’re a pain to organise, no point in shipping in a flock of sheep and all the hassle that would cause if you can mange without them? Single rabbits are easily transportable though so it could possibly be just for convenience sake on screen but have more meaning in the books? ?
The title of the next episode is “the broken man”
Is this The Hound making a return?
The High Sparrow has chosen his targets wisely and deliberately. The faith has little to gain from targeting Jaime at the moment. By targeting Cersei and through her Walk of Shame, they stripped her of her power, especially with the people. By targeting Loras, they got to Margaery. By targeting Margaery, they got to Tommen. By getting to Tommen, they control the crown, King’s Landing, the Crownlands, and the Seven Kingdoms. Well done, High Sparrow. You know exactly how to play the game.
That said, the High Sparrow is definitely being played by Margaery at the moment. Unless he keeps Loras hostage, this holy alliance won’t last long. Never play a player, especially not the Princess of Thorns.
The Colin Firth edition is on iTunes, but unfortunately the David Rintoul version is not. Both versions were on Netflix at one point in time, although only Firth’s version is available now, and it’s not available for streaming. I imagine Netflix is how folks have stripped pictures and videos from the series.
I wish iTunes would get all of the classics. I see they now have The Holy Grail, finally, but it took them forever to get that. That movie should have been one of to go on iTunes, obviously. And they should really have Rintoul’s P&P, too.
ETA: Ooo, I see that Amazon Prime has Firth’s P&P for streaming. I know it will be different where you are, though, Shy Lady Dragon, but you might have some of these. It’s worth checking.
QueenofThrones,
damn!! Great idea, Arya steals widowmaker or whatever the hell Joff VS sword is called lol
Nuncle Kingsmoot,
damn another great one! Sam and Gendry forging VS swords… great brocom! haha
Definitely. It could be a later episode, but it most likely is this one.
Mazzie,
Bit late to this reply but it was quite important. At that point he held the future of the Seven Kingdoms in his hands.
“Lord Tywin’s men, led by Ser Elys Westerling and Lord Roland Crakehall, burst into the throne room in time to see that Jaime had killed the king. Jaime told them to advise all who were still fighting that the king was dead and to spare anyone who yielded. Lord Crakehall then asked whether a new king should be proclaimed as well, indicating that it could be Lord Tywin or Robert Baratheon or that even a new Targaryen king could be installed. Jaime mused for a moment on the possibility of choosing Viserys Targaryen or Rhaegar’s son, Aegon, as the new king with Lord Tywin as his Hand, but, realising that both boys shared the same blood as Aerys and thus the same propensity for madness, Jaime declared to Crakehall that it was all the same to him. He then seated himself on the Iron Throne, waiting to see who would come to claim it. He was found sitting there when Lord Eddard Stark rode into the hall with his men to claim the throne for Robert Baratheon.”
Since Lulu mentions that no one responded, I’ll throw in my two cents, as well. Sam’s mentioning that there wasn’t much deer and elk but mostly rabbits and squirrels sent off alarm bells with me, as well. I wondered if that was a hot vs. cold thing, but I definitely think Canada and even Alaska has much more moose, elk, and bear game than we do in Tennessee. Big game hunting. Whereas what Sam is talking about is all small game: rabbits and squirrels. If rabbits are able to survive the weather north of the Wall, then moose, elk, deer, and bears should be able to, as well.
This sounds much more like a big game vs. small game problem: there is still some small game but not much big game. You would definitely want to hunt for the biggest game that you could because the bigger the game, the more meat you have. I think the lack of big game must point to something bigger (or higher on the food chain) that is hunting. It wouldn’t be the few Night’s Watchmen, for sure, and it probably isn’t even the Wildlings. Do the wights and Others eat?
Jinx47,
Awesome! I keep telling my friends the theory of melting down the iron throne but they never take it seriously. I think it would be quite poetic if they did do that, the one thing everyone is fighting for will be melted down to help the realm in a more practical way.
Ginevra,
According to Turmund there were bears at least at some point!
I think it might have been easier for the smaller animals to sustain themselves during the long winters/snowfall..meera mentioned eating moss so there is some green left even now?
Can’t imagine the wights eating anything,considering what’s left of some of them…
Would be interesting to see what the WW do, they were human at some point
Maybe no need for food?If I remembrr correct they made an artwork out of horses at some point.Seems rather inefficient use of resources othrrwwise? This ties in with what they do with their time in general, stand around like in Brand vision?
QueenofThrones,
I enjoyed your analysis on Jaime’s and Cersei’s characters a lot. I fully agree with you!
Ginevra,
Thank you so much! I am the happy owner of the Firth&Ehle variant, present from a dear friend.
Hey Ginevra and Lulu! Thanks for the welcome and the reply. Forgive me if this is taken wrong, it’s not my intention to disrespect. My point of the post is not really the availability or lack there of, certain animals, rather the fact that rabbits just seem to pop up a lot in what seem to be important scenes. Then that cup of bugs bunny blood just made me stop and think “hmmph, could rabbits be a key to stabilizing Bran’s powers?”
I know it’s probably nothing at the end of the day, but as a lot of you feel the same as I about heavy foreshadowing, we didn’t even realize was occurring, anything is possible at this point in the game.
And I am Canadian, so ya we get lots of game up here!! 🙂 Cheers from the North!!
HeHeldThatDoor,
Drinking blood can help keep you warm in the cold, my people drink it out on the land for that purpose. Greetings from Nunavut fellow Canuck.
Some have theorized that Tormund’s bear was south of the wall, but even so, I think there are some large game – just not many. Perhaps the Others are killing large animals and warging them the same way they do humans and for the same reason: as weapons and fighters in the wars to come.
HeHeldThatDoor,
I’m not a fantasy fan so the more magical/supernatural elements of the show tend to pass me by. I try to suspend disbelief but it just doesn’t work so I’ll leave it to others to work out if there is any significance. You may be on to something though and our big toothed friends hold the key to more secrets. If all else fails they’d be good at nibbling things which might come in handy somehow, you never know! 😉
Shy Lady Dragon,
God i’m so glad that you’re not one of those who argued Sansa wasn’t genuine in her feelings for Jon and was manipulating him??? Those people officially broke my heart last week. Can’t wait to see further developments in their relationship.
It’s good to talk to you my friend, it’s been a while.
Lulus Mum,
She’s a “boss ass bitch” this season as Sophie promised haha and i can’t be happier than this obviously.
Those arguments about pacing never ends i’m afraid, last season it moved slow and this season they’re rushing it they say. I disagree with both cases really, D&D are doing a magnificent job as always.
Ps : i would love to see you wearing Mace’s helmet.
HeHeldThatDoor,
Sam mentioned in the same episode that they could only find rabbits near the wall for hunting … so maybe he just wanted the blood of any animal.
What are the chances that we get a full Stark family reunion by the end of this season???? Jon and Sansa are together and going to Winterfell. Rickon is already there. Bran must be in his way to the Wall and he might return to Winterfell after the Battle. Arya is done with the Faceless Men. I hope she returns to Westeros, kill Walder Frey and with a teleport she could also return home on time. Of course, this is too much happy ending for GOT, but Rickon might die, so maybe it’s possible.
Yup he sure did! Which is kinda where I base this theory on. Not only that, but the countless other references throughout the series. If you look back, you’ll see them. I completely agree with you and this just could be the writers, feeding these chacaters throughout their journey. But if you look back now as I have, these all happen in important scenes.
Nothing? Probably…
But as I said, I can’t help feeling that this late in the game, and from this season alone, anything is possible.
Thanks for your comment. I love a good discussion!
Ser Pounce FTW,
Maybe I’ve just missed your posts, but it seems like I haven’t seen you around in quite a while. Nice to see you! 🙂
Well said! Princess of Thorns…I love that! Kudos
The Blood of Winterfull,
“please don’t say she’ll help with the WW situation , because clearly she don’t care about it!”
huh? How does she clearly not care?? She doesnt know about it. How can one care bout something that they have no knowledge of?
Mazzie,
Did they have a White Walker problem during the Mad King’s time? It seems like it wouldn’t make sense to warn the Mad King of something he wouldn’t even have a chance to deal with during his lifetime.
Jinx47,
Are there any valyrian steel swords in the throne? It doesn’t seem likely.
Green Chili,
God point! That does kinda fit and would make a nice subtle dig at Jaime & Cersci.
A. Lupin,
No you’re not the only one thinking it!
aabe,
NCW???
Nymeria Warrior Queen,
Thanks! Looking forward to commenting on this week’s episode.