Unsullied Recap, Game of Thrones Season 7 Episode 6: Beyond the Wall

Beric Dondarrion flaming sword Beyond the Wall

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Ladies and Gents, a man has returned from the frozen depths of hell to bring you the Unsullied, untenable recap of shock and awe that could only be matched by the coldest shower you can imagine.  I felt like I needed a blanket for the entire duration.

This shit was cold.

Beyond the Wall was chock-full of revelations and realizations that maybe we thought possible along the way and then ultimately came to fruition. Let’s be honest… the episode had its issues. But the inaugural meeting of ice and fire has been recorded, and for the first time, I honestly feel like it’s all happening wayyyy too fast…

For all of the remarkable things Beyond the Wall brought us, it arguably towed with it some equally frustrating moments. You guys and gals know that I’m somewhat of a pushover for whatever the show gives us. But throughout, I’ve also tried to be brutally honest even when my recaps were partially negative.

So, let’s be clear… I loved the episode. But there were glaring issues that at times screamed, “let’s get this shit over with.”

Previously on…

I completely approve of the “previously on” segment featuring old occurrences that may have been fuzzy to a casual viewer. We were taken back to Season 1 multiple times with refreshers relating to Jon and Sansa.

706 - Beyond - Jon, Tormund, Gendry, Jorah, Thoros 2

The Significant Seven

Whoever wrote the dialogue for the scenes depicting the Seven on the trek to catch a Wight did a very entertaining job (credited to D&D).  I’ll point out my fav quotes as usual below, but here are some highlighted points:

Jorah Jon Longclaw

  • Tormund talks to Jon about not bending the knee and how it got Mance and lots of his people killed over his pride.
  • Thoros explains to Gendry why they sold him off to Red Velvet.
  • Jon and Jorah talk about their fathers leading up to Jon attempting to give Longclaw back to him. Of course, Jorah refuses.
  • Tormund and the Hound’s dialogue together was television GOLD. Tormund’s description of Brienne made the Hound realize who he was referring to.  They’re going to make monster babies together. It is known.
  • Jon and Beric dialogue was great all-around. Beric points out that Jon doesn’t look like his father. They discuss serving the Lord of Light and that they’ve both been brought back. When Jon asks why, Beric says that they are fighting the enemy. See quotes below. Beric Dondarrion is the coolest-talking fucker on the show.

The crew eventually come to the arrowhead mountain that the Hound saw in the flames.  Indeed, they are close.

706 - Winterfell - Arya 1

It’s Getting Cold in Winterfell

Arya recalls memories with Sansa about her growing up shooting arrows, knowing what she was doing was wrong but doing it anyway. Then Arya reads the note Sansa wrote to Robb asking him to swear fealty to Joffrey. Sansa pleads that she was a child and was forced to do it, but Arya is having none of it, pointing out that being child was not an excuse and using Lady Mormont as an example.

Sansa points out that Arya didn’t come running up to save Ned either, but Arya snaps back that she didn’t betray anyone in order to get what Sansa ultimately wanted… to be the Queen.

Sansa then takes credit for the reason they are both standing in Winterfell at all and that the Knights of the Vale came for her while Arya was off “traveling the world.” She attempts to tell Arya what she has been through which has little effect. Sansa then exhibits concern with what Arya will do with the letter, knowing that she could quickly lose support of the Northern Lords. To be continued…

706 - Dragonstone - Daenerys 1

The Fire Was So Delightful, But Wasn’t

Dany and Tyrion were warm until they weren’t. Dany voices her appreciation of the fact that Tyrion is not a hero, always attempting to outdo someone else. She names Drogo, Daario, Jorah and Jon and Tyrion points out that they were all in love with her.

The dialogue then shifts to Cersei and how she is likely setting a trap. Once again, Tyrion tries to reason with Dany about not using deceit and mass murder, reiterating the conversation Tyrion had with Varys about getting Dany to listen. The “how are you different” theme emerges again as well and then Tyrion boldly tells Dany that she has been known to lose her temper.

Tyrion continues by telling Dany of the importance of understanding her enemies and thinking long-term about carrying on her work after she is gone. Dany responds that she will worry about it after she is on the throne. Her responses may have been more troubling if not for the events later on that will likely make Dany reflect on exactly what Tyrion was trying to get across.

Wight Bear Game of Thrones Beyond the Wall

The Bear Beyond the Wall

Back up North, the situation is about to get ugly. In the distance, the men spot a bear (a “big fucker”) with blue eyes. One of the wildlings gets obliterated and then the rest of the crew are attacked by the snow bear from Hell.

The Hound attempts to help Thoros but is still haunted by his memory of fire. Then Thoros gets the Leo Dicaprio Revenant treatment before Jorah takes it out. Thoros survives for the moment, has a drink and then gets seared shut by the flaming lightsaber.

706 - Winterfell - Sansa, Littlefinger 1

The Dirtball is Effecting

LF meets with Sansa to discuss her concerns with the Lords finding out about the letter and them not needing a good excuse to go home. Sansa tells LF that Arya would betray her if she thought she was going to betray Jon. He brings up Brienne and that she is sworn to protect both of them. If one of them were going to harm the other, she would be forced to intercede.

The assumed effect: Divide the sisters even further, and get Brienne out of the picture.

Sandor Jorah wight

Capturing the Wight

The band of Brotherhood come up on a small group of Wights and a White Walker and attack from behind. When Jon destroys the Walker, conveniently all but one of the Wights disintegrate giving them their prize. This would set off a string of issues in my mind in what followed.

Gendry Tormund warhammer“Don’t run with a hammer, dumbass.”

The army of the dead would encroach shortly thereafter prompting Jon to send Gendry back to Eastwatch to get a raven to Dany telling her what’s happened. Apparently, that meant, “tell her we need some fucking help.”

Why was the ice cracking? I realize this is somewhat nitpicking, but how freakin’ cold is it supposed to be beyond the wall? After all, it is snowing pretty heavily in Winterfell. It would be logical to surmise that it is likely a hell of a lot colder north of Eastwatch, and that shit should be solid.

However, it did setup the waiting game as the weight of too many wights obviously is enough to break through the ice. And give Dany time to get there. OK.

Tyrion Daenerys White Outfit Beyond the Wall

But how long does it take for Gendry to get back to Eastwatch? How long does it take for a raven to fly from Eastwatch to Dragonstone? How long does it take for Dany to fly with three dragons from Dragonstone to beyond the Wall?

I am well aware that time as we knew it before in this world really does not depict a true continuum. I have been one of the writers who has defended it… up until this point.

This scene was remarkably different as it depicted a group of men in a dire situation in real time, none of whom had any business surviving this predicament. And let’s be honest… even if you could overlook the jetpack, “beam me up, Scotty” scenario, the cold alone should have been enough to kill them.

Once the Hound threw the rock and the wights began to encroach, they were incredibly outnumbered. And even at the pace in which the wights were making it to the platform where they were trapped, all of them should have realistically been killed.

Of course, we’re talking about dead people attacking half-frozen people. So, realism is somewhat checked at the door when you enter anyway.

We could nitpick this and other details all week, and many of us probably will. Let’s come back to this in a minute with a more positive outlook.

Sansa Brienne BTW

The Invitation

Sansa receives an invitation to come to King’s Landing and decides to send Brienne. The big woman states that it is not safe to leave Sansa there with Littlefinger, but Sansa sends she and Pod anyway.

Later, Sansa snoops around Arya’s chambers and finds the faces. Arya tells Sansa about the simple game she used to play in Braavos that revolved around telling the truth. Arya tells her about being able to be whoever she wants to be and makes Sansa believe that she may, in fact, kill her.

I can only see this going one of two ways… either one of the sisters is going to kill the other, or one (if not both) of them is going to find out that LF is pulling strings and they are going to kill him.

I just hope this whole “sister act” thing ends up netting something relevant to the overall story.

Frozen Lake Beyond the Wall game of thrones

Back Beyond

Let’s attempt to move forward while admitting there were issues but also realizing the importance of what was about to take place.

RIP, Thoros of Myr. Paul Kaye has always been one of my favorite actors in the series. Pour one out for Paul.

Again, they all should have been dead. With seven episodes remaining and Dany in route, we all knew that wasn’t going to happen. But when Tormund got taken down, the joyous idea of Tormund and Brienne living happily ever after and raising monster babies waned quickly. Yet, the Hound somehow saved him.

In a scene that resembled many before, Jon looks around and believes this is it.

Dragons flame Game of Thrones

But then the dragons swoop in with Dany on back and save our boys from the frozen hell.

Just as it appeared that the five remaining would make it out, the Night King grabs his dragon-killing javelin and launches it, striking and sending Viserion to watery grave. I assume there is some kind of significance of the ice spear taking out the fire-breathing dragon so easily. Maybe we’ll find out. But regardless, then there were two.

Night King spear Viserion Beyond the Wall

As the Night King reloads, Jon orders them all to leave. As he is running back, he is tackled into the water by dead swimmers and the others are forced to leave him behind. Jon somehow escapes the ice-water and is saved by out-of-nowhere Uncle Benjen. who puts Jon on his horse and takes one for the team.

Hound Beric Tormund

The Hound gets put in charge of transporting the wight as Dany watches over the Wall for any sign of Jon. Once he is there, Jon and Dany share a moment on the ship and Dany not only realizes the person Jon truly is, but that their enemy is common. And it’s not Cersei.  Jon says that he will bend the knee if he could, and we almost had our first Targaryen kiss-action.

And just when you thought it was over…

Viserion eye Beyond the Wall

 

Episode 706 Personal Awards

Favorite Action Sequence: The javelin taking out Viserion was a fucking shock. The Night King was a former olympian.

Favorite (or significant) Quotes:

“Down south the air smells like pig shit.”

“You’ve never been down south.”

“I’ve been to Winterfell.”

“That’s the North.” -Tormund and Jon

“Walkings good. Fighting’s better. Fucking’s best.” –Tormund

“Your lips are moving and you’re complaining about something.  That’s whinging.” –The Hound

“This one’s been killed six times. You don’t hear him bitching about it.” – The Hound

“I didn’t betray him. I didn’t betray Robb. I didn’t betray our entire family for my beloved Joffrey.”- Arya

“You never would have survived what I survived.” – Sansa

“You want to suck my dick, is that it?”  “Dick?” “Cock.” “Oh, dick. I like it.” -Tormund and the Hound

“Not with her yet. But I see the way she looks at me.” -Tormund about Brienne

“Death is the enemy. The first enemy and the last. The enemy always wins. And we still need to fight him. That’s all I know.” -Beric

“We can defend those that cant defend themselves.” -Beric

“I am the shield that guards the realms of men.” -Jon

“He’s too little for me.” –Dany referring to Jon

“You need to inspire a degree of fear. But fear is all Cersei has. It’s all my father had, and Joffrey. It makes their power brittle because everyone beneath them longs to see them dead.” –Tyrion

“You need to take your enemies side if you are going to see things the way they do. And you need to see things the way they do if you are going to anticipate their actions, respond effectively, and beat them.” –Tyrion for President

“I just got bit by a dead bear. Funny old life.” -Thoros

The “Ow, That Shit Hurts Award” goes to: Thoros getting seared shut, the random Wildling getting torn apart, and Viserion getting the business.

Jackass Award: When this award is given, you know LF will be involved. But Sansa sending Brienne off seemed odd. If anyone needs protection, it’s Sansa.

Overall Thoughts: Look, I loved the episode even with its missteps and inconsistencies. The locations and scenery were breathtaking and with the CGI, there is no question where the budget is going.

Could this episode been split in two? Yes. In fact, it may have helped with the timing of the raven getting to Dragonstone and then Dany getting to Iceland. A week’s break in between may have made this whole ordeal a little more reasonable.

Plus, I came to the realization last night that we only have one more episode and I’m admittedly pretty pissed. I understand the reasoning, the budget, the other variables involved, etc. But it doesn’t mean i have to like it.  This episode made it feel more rushed. Then again, maybe I just don’t want to see it end.

Ok… enough of the whinging. Question: does a wight dragon breathe fire or ice? Reference: How to Train Your Dragon Part 2. 

What did you guys and gals think? Am I being too harsh? Are my emotions surrounding the fact that we only have one more episode skewing my thoughts?

Let me know! Until next week, hang out and stay awhile. Invite an Unsullied to join us. And may there always be peace in your realm.  –Oz

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 **SPOILER NOTE: The Management of this fine site would like to remind you that spoilers (book or leak) are not allowed in Unsullied posts.  This includes spoilers covered by code or otherwise.  Personally, I appreciate feedback from Sullied and Unsullied alike, so long as they do not include any type of hinting or conversation related to the written verse.  However, spoiler coded comments do tend to lead to further Sullied conversation and for that reason, we ask that you please refrain from posting any SPOILERY content whatsoever in Unsullied posts. Thank you for the coop. -Oz

172 Comments

  1. “But how long does it take for Gendry to get back to Eastwatch? How long does it take for a raven to fly from Eastwatch to Dragonstone? How long does it take for Dany to fly with three dragons from Dragonstone to beyond the Wall?”

    Like wow.. lol

    Holy crap?!? do people do this when they watch a two hour movie?

  2. Bad:

    Sansa/Arya plot. I like nothing about it.

    Dany being a B to Tyrion

    Timing of raven/Dany. Also, how long should it take that ice to refreeze? 20 minutes? 30?

    The Night King turning into Henry from ‘Rookie of the Year’.

    Good:

    All the dialogue

    CGI and Action

    Acting between Kit and Emilia on the boat

  3. Sansa sent Brienne away so that if Arya tries to kill Sansa (which is what Sansa is thinking), Brienne wouldn’t intervene and kill Arya.

    Even my friend who was half paying attention got that.

  4. I thought it would be pretty cool if Bran could have send Danny a vision instead of the raven arriving. Not sure if he can do that, but it would be pretty cool and it would fix the continuity issues.
    But I did love the episode. When Tormund was being pulled into the lake I couldn’t stop yelling. And I loved every single line he had.
    Arya is annoying as shit, because after of seasons of seeing her evolve as a fighter, we see she still has a very infantile mindset. Then again, she’s supposed to be what, 14, 15? Makes sense to me. In the beginning of the show I liked Arya and disliked Sansa, and now it’s the complete opposite.
    I also liked Tyrion saying so many things I wish I could say to Danny.

  5. Lord Parramandas checking in! First of all, I enjoyed reading your recap, Oz, like I always do. I may not agree on everything but still very enjoyable to read.

    Second of all, I really really enjoyed this episode and it could be my favorite up to date. The key reason… well, the characters themselves in this episode and the movie-vibe this episode gave me. Also, this episode may contain my favorite Dany scenes up to date (as many of you know, she’s not my favorite character). On the other hand, Arya was outright disturbing to me in this episode and I hope this siblings rivalry doesn’t reach the worst outcome in next episode. More details in my review on usual forum thread (and yes, I forgot to write a review previous week and i’m sorry for that).

    Third of all and also the least good one: I plan to step back a bit with my comments on these posts when it comes to this episode as I feel this episode contains some controversial scenes and plot points that may spark heated arguments and I don’t want to be part of them. You can still find me on my forum thread though.

    With best regards from Lord Parramandas.

  6. “But Sansa sending Brienne off seemed odd. If anyone needs protection, it’s Sansa.”

    Another super obvious thing: Sansa sent Bri away so that Bri doesn’t kill Arya. She is catching on to LF and his scheming.

  7. The boys were marching and walking for what look like a day (likely with some food and stuff on them). After the bear attack, the attack of the first group of wights and sending gendry to east watch likely took half a day.. and the subsequent events another half day

    They survived the cold because its only a day. Beric can light his sword on fire to keep them warm every once in a while.. and well, didn’t Leo Dicaprio survive a whole movie in the cold?

  8. Since there was no scene of a raven arriving at Dragonstone, I simply assume that 1. Dany just got sick of waiting and decided to go even before Gendry got back to Eastwatch, and 2. Jon sent Gendry away to a large extent to keep him alive because, despite his best intentions, boy was clearly unsuited for fighting. I’d prefer not to, of course.

    The raven does stink of a rewrite, so I wonder, maybe Joe Dempsie was bad at fighting scenes? Maybe the choreographers had problems with so many heroes to follow?

  9. Now that my rants are over, here is my over hyped, over happy, disgustingly positive comments. LOL

    Well.. there it is.. the big episode 9… and well.. this was big.
    Another fantastic episode…
    Great direction, cinematography, CGI, score, visuals, acting, writing… everything.
    I have never felt so many emotions while watching an hour of television… excitement, laughter, happiness, sadness, anger.. fearrrrrr! ARGHHH

    Let me start with my thoughts on Winterfell:

    – I have absolutely no idea where this story is going… but I am going to go out on the loop and say this. Sansa is catching on to LF’s scheming…. She had Brienne purposely SENT AWAY so as to avoid Brienne actually having to deal with either her or Arya.
    – Arya gave the dagger to Sansa as a challenge.. “here it is girl, use it”
    – I really wish Bran was involved here.
    – The acting of the scenes at winterfell were absolutely fantastic. Maisie and Sophie KILLLLLLLLLLED it.. and they killed it even better together.
    – I am super nervous but I have this dark feeling that after yesterday’s episode filled with tons of foreshadowing, Sansa is going to die in the process of taking LF down. Before the season started, I was okay with this. Now, I am not. Sansa has spent the entire season trying so hard to restore winterfell and keep her family together.. its heartbreaking to be frank.

    Now on to the rest of the episode:

    – The table at dragonstone being the opening scene was GENIUS… super mega foreshadowing
    – Dany and Tyrions conversation was very interesting to me… especially discussion of an heir. Makes me nervous.
    – Every single conversation beyond the wall was golden.
    – The hound is the best. Who calls a dead skeleton corpse a cunt? Lol
    – My baby Jon looking mighty fine… the slo mo shot of him… him almost dying… aghhhhhhhh FEEEEEEEEELS
    – Re: comments on Dany arriving at the wall… looks like a flight from Dragonstone to eastwatch would be around 4-5 hours. Not super out of the questions guys. Use some logic and common sense, with little bit of imagination….cause dragons aint real also.

    Epic things
    – Killing one walker and his raised dead falling is something we should have put two and two together before because it makes sense. But this to me is a huge revelation. This will help them kill large numbers of wights in one shot. Of course, the Night King himself is really the one who raises most of them (see hardhome lol)
    – Dany walking to her dragons was a gorgeous scene.. her white dress made my jaw drop. She looked like a true WARRIOR QUEEN. The dragons looked so beautiful.
    – Dany’s arrival beyond the wall was epic.. I was screaming and yelling like I have never before. The minute I saw her arrive… I knew what was going to happen. Ice Dragon coming. I was so frantic and scared. The scenes of the dragons destroying the wights breaks my heart… because these poor dragons risked their lives.. dany risked her life on an unknown.. and they are just all so brave.
    – The looks on the men’s faces when they saw the dragons.. aghhghghipeahiehjr
    – The NIGHT KING was waiting for them to arrive. He knew they were coming and he wanted those dragons. Man he is powerful… and so scary. It was nice (not actually nice, but interesting) to see the other walkers a bit better, their different looks, etc.
    – Finally… this moment that will forever, and ever haunt me.. and be vividly in my memory. The shooting down of baby V… was absolutely heartbreaking and gut wrenching. I really have to give it to HBO and the show creators, for making me (and I am sure millions of others) have such an emotional effect on them after shooting down a CGI Dragon lol… seriously I cried somuch… and the camera shooting of the reaction of the men, of jon, and most of all, Daenerys was incredible, the screeches of baby V… so sad.. so well-acted, so well shot and scored.
    – Dany’s face when she was waiting for jon to hop on Drogon.. omg
    – Finally Dany.. waiting for jon.. Raeghal scoping out the landscape looking for Jon.. MY HEARTTTTTTTTT CANT TAKE THIS
    – Jon arrives, on benjens horse, a call back to benjens horse arriving without him.. amazing.. Dany’s face… and her reaction to his scars on the boat… priceless.
    – Dany and Jon’s boat scene will go down in my top ten scenes in the history of the show. Their chemistry is outstanding.. Emilias emotions for Baby V and her other dragons, her acceptance of the NK.. her saying she will fight with jon to defeat him, to save the world and avenge her baby.. Jon bending the knee… perfect… the hand holding… and Dany saying she hopes she deserves it <3 they are family after all. So amazing. I was crying so much

    – I did see some comments about people crying because jon bent the knee… just go back and listen to what tormund earlier in the episode about not bending the knee and what it did to Mance and his people. He is right, and Jon did the right thing.

    100/10. YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS
    I may have missed some shout outs but this is what I have for now. Such. A. Good. Episode.

  10. Tinfoil hat prediction:

    Winterfell gets its name because that’s where the NK is finally defeated

    Time traveling Bran goes back in time and names it so.

  11. Dee Stark:
    “But Sansa sending Brienne off seemed odd. If anyone needs protection, it’s Sansa.”

    Another super obvious thing: Sansa sent Bri away so that Bri doesn’t kill Arya. She is catching on to LF and his scheming.

    See, I don’t know if it was just me imaging things, but I felt like after LF said the whole Brienne bit, Sansa figured out what his plan was. She seemed to have a look like “Ahhhhh. I get it now.” If Brienne kills Arya, LF has one less Stark to deal with (and a very dangerous one at that). If Arya kills Brienne, then Sansa loses her primary “protection”. If they both kill each other, that man was going to throw a party.

    I felt like, in that moment, she figured out his angle.

  12. Alas, poor Thoros.

    My favourite Thoros quote:

    Anguy: [about Hot Pie] Half the country’s starving, and look at this one.
    Thoros of Myr: Maybe he’s the reason half the country’s starving.

  13. Great summary Oz

    I thought this was an amazing episode—so glad I kept away from spoilers.

    Yes, a viewer (1) had to assume that the Mag 7 (minus Gendry) could survive on the island for five+ days in the freezing cold (and accept a time lag that was not shown, but can’t we assume it? I know it felt like real time, but I assumed that away) and (2) had to guess at an explanation as to why the NK brought anchor chains from destroyed ships so he could pull viserion out of the lake (eg, could see the future; needs chains to pull down castle walls; or something else entirely).

    If a viewer (understandably) couldn’t get past those two, then it probably seemed like a whopper; I was able to suspend disbelief on both. After that, I could waive off the other far-fetched elements (eg, let’s put Jon on Bronn’s Westeros swim team after Jon was able to emerge from the frozen lake while being weighed down in his furs).

    In my mind, what was awesome about this episode was in my mind:

    1. The theme of we can win if we fight together: thoros saves the Hound, Jorah saves Jon, the Hound saves Tormund, Tormund saves Jorah, Danerys risks all to save Jorah and Jon (and the others), and Danerys final scene that they will fight the NK “together” (and probably others), with Jon agreeing to “bend the knee”. Perhaps beyond the wall title suggests something around beyond the walls we build around ourselves?
    2. Jon finding meaning of being “shield for the realms of men” connecting his Nightwatch oath with his current story arc.
    3. Jorah recognizing that he is the past and Jon is the future.
    4. Tyrion being confirmed as a visionary, yet not accepting that sometimes one has to risk everything. His arc remains uncertain.
    5. The set up that to end the war they must kill the NK (we knew that of course, but they give that conclusion narrative power) to end the army of the dad – perhaps Jon and Rhaegal die killing the NK and undead Viserion?
    6. Danerys finally finding a real human/male/love connection for the first time since season 1.
    7. As you noted, the Iceland cinematography was amazing; Taylor did an amazing job on all that.

    I am holding out on the WF action to see how they handle it all in the finale (LF must die to truly unite the realm). Perhaps the subject of a different post.

    Answer to your question: Death Dragons use ice breath!

    So much excitement for the finale! Here is fingers crossed for no spoilers.

  14. RosanaZugey,

    I am 150% set on that as well.. that’s what was going through her head.

    Im in the minority who have thought this way, so we could be super wrong?

  15. Dee Stark:
    Like wow.. lol

    Holy crap?!? do people do this when they watch a two hour movie?

    Not if it’s done well they don’t. The reason almost everyone is having problems with this episode is that the storytelling was flawed and the suspension of disbelief was lacking. Lots of examples of characters just being lead around by the plot too, which may not have been so noticeable had the execution of said plot been better.

    I hadn’t thought about this episode potentially being a two-parter but yeah, that may have fixed the structural problems.

    Anyway … things to like of course but lots of silliness and inconsistencies too so overall disappointing. Hopefully next week leaves the season on a high. So far, only episode 4 has been excellent for me.

  16. I have my thoughts on the Winterfell drama, but I’ll hold off on them until it all plays out. To me, I won’t know how to ultimately feel about all of it until we know how it’ll resolve. I’ll just be glad when it’s over though. I’m a bit tired of the forced drama at Winterfell going back to last year with Jon and Sansa.

  17. Sending Brienne away is open to interpretation: Sansa hurting Arya or Arya hurting Sansa, and Brienne getting in the way no matter what. It rather depends what you think Sansa is planning.

  18. I actually tend to enjoy the finale episodes more than the penultimate ones, so I’m very much looking forward to next week. I can’t wait too see so many of the main characters be in the same place at the same time.

  19. RosanaZugey,

    see for me , what I got out of it is this is all a part of LF plot/scheme … he knows the only one that can protect the starks is Brianne and she is the only one that can get in his way right now… so I think he purposely said those things knowing the sansa would think one way and not want brianne to intervene.. when in reality, that’s what he wants so now he has no one to get in his way of dividing the starks at winterfell.

  20. msd:
    Sending Brienne away is open to interpretation: Sansa hurting Arya or Arya hurting Sansa, and Brienne getting in the way no matter what. It rather depends what you think Sansa is planning.

    msd,

    I agree. If Sansa knows what Littlefinger is up to then I don’t see how sending Brienne AWAY would help or be useful in any way. Sansa could tell Brienne that Littlefinger is trying to drive a wedge between Sansa and Arya, so Brienne wouldn’t think about having to kill or defend any Stark sister against the other.

  21. Dee Stark:
    RosanaZugey,

    I am 150%set on that as well.. that’s what was going through her head.

    Im in the minority who have thought this way, so we could be super wrong?

    No. From what I’ve gathered, I see a lot of people got that as well (i.e. what we’re thinking). Fact of the matter is that a significant amount of people simply don’t like Sansa and see evil, nefarious intentions where there are none. Or people don’t understand or can’t fathom a scenerio where she does something to protect her family that goes against her own interests because she’s “so treacherous!!!!111111!!1” *Rolls eyes so damn hard* It is what it is. But alas, no, I don’t think we’re wrong and we’re not the only ones who thought it.

  22. Thanks for another great recap, Oz! No worries, it’s perfectly fine to express your views of the show whether they’re positive or negative. 😀 At work today, surprised that majority of the people had a lot of issues about this episode. I understand where they’re coming from but hey, I still love this show. I have hope that the lose ends will get neatly tied up in the final episode.

    I’m glad to note your list of significant quotes is long. While the action sequences in this episode were great, the dialogues/verbal interactions among the different characters (in all 3 places) were the highlights for me (Jon-Dany, Tormund-Hound, Dany-Tyrion, Sansa-Arya, etc.). I also liked Jon-Beric’s talk about being brought back from the dead. Finally, Jon was able to talk about it with someone who understands what he experienced.

  23. I actually quite like the Arya/Sansa storyline – if the end goal is that they end up united and on the same wavelength, I like that there has to be a conflict along the way – after all Arya is a mass murderer and Sansa did sentence half of Jon’s army to death so that she could win the Battle of the Bastards for herself – they both have grown dark personality traits that they need to wear down if they’re ever going to be sisters again

    Plus we can still see even though their tension has increased they still have a connection. Arya threatens/scares Sansa with a dagger then hands it to her and leaves. Littlefinger tells Sansa that Brienne would defend her against Arya and Sansa sends Brienne away.

    These girls don’t want to fight deep down, they just have SO many issues to get around

  24. Where do you get chains that big and hook them up to a dragon under the water when they can’t go in the water?? This scene ruined the season for me.

  25. Mr Derp: msd,

    I agree.If Sansa knows what Littlefinger is up to then I don’t see how sending Brienne AWAY would help or be useful in any way.Sansa could tell Brienne that Littlefinger is trying to drive a wedge between Sansa and Arya, so Brienne wouldn’t think about having to kill or defend any Stark sister against the other.

    Telling Brienne that wouldn’t stop Arya from killing Sansa. She can tell Brienne all she wants. The only thing that would result is Brienne ends up WATCHING Arya kill Sansa (and then she can feel guilty for the rest of her life for not stopping it. Yay!)

  26. RosanaZugey,

    Yes, but IF Sansa is already on to Littlefinger, then she should tell Arya as well. I think that would squash it, though neither of them are acting as intelligently as they should be right now, so who knows.

  27. Seven Hells what an episode!!!!!!

    Ice Dragons big as……..????? Other dragons????

    Losing Viserion was heartbreaking.

    Really liked all the talking and banter between the Wild Bunch. As you pointed out Oz there are some amazing quotes.

    Now for some of the complaints about the episode.
    I don’t mind that the dragons came in and saved them, cause I figured this would happen anyway. But I thought the dragons would’ve come on their own, given the scene between Jon and Drogon last week. Itwould have been a nice followup to that and the fact that they have sensed when Dany was in danger and that Tyrion told us they are intelligent creatures. To me this would have made more sense.

    Though I don’t necessarily have a problem with the time jumps. I think at least a day and a half have passed between Gendry leaving and the attack on the frozen lake. While the raven may be a bit of stretch, I can definitely see the dragons go fast enough. As Doreah said “One flap with their wings and they are somewhere else.”

    Loved the episode! 10/10

    Great recap as always Oz!

  28. I also feel like if Arya and Sansa had a nice catch up right after they met and DIDN’T have issues with the fact that Sansa was placing her ambitions over her family at the Battle of the Bastards and at Winterfell or that Arya is a murderous child soldier then it would feel super lazy. Like when they didn’t address the issue that Jon had been brought back to life and believed in white walkers and wights to Sansa, who had never seen anything magic before in her life.

  29. About Sansa and Arya: my interpretation of the scene is a bit different. I really liked the way it was written. At first it seemed like Arya is threating her sister, saying I could wear your face, wear your pretty dress and being you, and approaching with the dagger. But giving her ultimately the dagger is actually Arya saying to Sansa, you could also be whoever you want, you could be also me. The two of them have always been opposites and the only way for them to work together for each to see the world through the eyes of the other.

  30. RosanaZugey,

    I don’t think Brienne would ever just watch Arya kill Sansa or Sansa’s men kill Arya. She’s very loyal. She’d definitely intervene, as LF rightly said to (or “wickedly, snakily reminded”) Sansa.

  31. I assume that eventually, Arya could take over Brienne’s role of protecting Sansa while Brienne is away. Afterall, Sansa herself stated that “No one” can protect her.

  32. Mr Derp:
    RosanaZugey,

    Yes, but IF Sansa is already on to Littlefinger, then she should tell Arya as well.I think that would squash it, though neither of them are acting as intelligently as they should be right now, so who knows.

    Here’s the thing, I feel like ALL of this could be resolved with a bottle (or two) of Moscato and a long conversation between the two, but sadly, we’re not going to get that. 🙁

    Alas, I’m not sure that Sansa just saying LF is playing us would work with Arya. I mean, Sansa’s been trying to explain to her the reasons why she’s doing (or has done) the things she’s doing/done and Arya isn’t listening. And that’s really frustrating. I mean, I understand that this relationship has always been rocky and I was totally expecting tension between the two, but I was not expecting it to turn threatening or violent. I was not expecting Arya to be unrenlentingly suspicious and never once stop to reason that her sister could be a very different person now and if Jon left her in charge its because he trusts her. I feel like they’re doing a disservice more to Arya character than Sansa’s. Arya isn’t some unreasonable psychopath who would legitimately hurt her own family. Its such a disservice. But alas, I’m hoping they’ll make this better (or at least make it make sense) in the finale.

  33. Ryan:
    Tinfoil hat prediction:

    Winterfell gets its name because that’s where the NK is finally defeated

    Time traveling Bran goes back in time and names it so.

    I like your theory!

  34. Mr Derp,

    Sansa doesn’t need Brienne, she has Ayra. This gets their beloved Brienne out of danger and the girls will work together. LF said to Sansa that he didn’t know where she’d got the letter so what happens when Ayra tells Sansa exactly where she found it???? It’s true they didn’t get on when they were young but there’s been way too much water under the bridge now. Family will come first.

  35. Marta M,

    Nice, I like that way of thinking. I think that the importance of the line of Arya’s that went “The world doesn’t let girls decide what they want to be” is being overlooked somewhat because of the implied threat that directly followed it. It’s more of a warning to Sansa that she may well have more need of the dagger than Arya does.

  36. Mormont:
    I actually quite like the Arya/Sansa storyline – if the end goal is that they end up united and on the same wavelength, I like that there has to be a conflict along the way – after all Arya is a mass murderer and Sansa did sentence half of Jon’s army to death so that she could win the Battle of the Bastards for herself – they both have grown dark personality traits that they need to wear down if they’re ever going to be sisters again

    Plus we can still see even though their tension has increased they still have a connection. Arya threatens/scares Sansa with a dagger then hands it to her and leaves. Littlefinger tells Sansa that Brienne would defend her against Arya and Sansa sends Brienne away.

    These girls don’t want to fight deep down, they just have SO many issues to get around

    Agree ! While I feel it is a bit strained now, I have faith this story line will come together.

  37. RosanaZugey,

    I think the point is that Arya can tell when Sansa is lying (because of the game of faces) and she’s been able to tell that Sansa was lying previously about her loyalty to Jon with the Northern Lords – For Arya her family is her core value and her identity as we saw last season in Braavos, so she hates that Sansa is putting clever, probably sensible planning with the Northern Lords over complete loyalty to Jon and also hates that Sansa won’t be honest with her about it. Meanwhile Sansa is a little scared of Arya being a murderous assassin, and how different she is from when she was young, so they’ve got quite a while to go before they’re ready to share a few bottles of Moscato and catch up.

    I don’t think they’re just having conflict for the sake of having conflict because in their first scene together they both hug each other twice, so they clearly still love each other

  38. I can see everyone’s points. I’m just ready for the superfluous sibling squabbles at Winterfell to end so we can move on to the more pertinent plot points.

  39. I enjoyed the episode immensely, in spite of the pacing issues and the horrific Winterfell wastes of time, but I’m really starting to resent D&D’s decision about the abbreviated seasons. They claimed that there wasn’t enough material left to stretch it out to 10 episodes, but the way some episodes have felt ridiculously rushed, I’m starting to suspect that it was just an excuse, and they simply wanted to be free of it as quickly as possible in order to move on to their next project, the controversial “Confederate”. If next season feels as rushed as this one, I’ll be going all in on a storytelling fail accusation. But I realize that I’m whinging and that I will just have to wait and see.

  40. Marta M:
    About Sansa and Arya: my interpretation of the scene is a bit different. I really liked the way it was written. At first it seemed like Arya is threating her sister, saying I could wear your face, wear your pretty dress and being you, and approaching with the dagger. But giving her ultimately the dagger is actually Arya saying to Sansa, you could also be whoever you want, you could be also me.The two of them have always been opposites and the only way for them to work together for each to see the world through the eyes of the other.

    Hummmmmm. That’s an interesting way of interpreting that scene (especially with Arya giving her the knife) I like it! Extremely thought provoking.

  41. Ryan:
    Tinfoil hat prediction:

    Winterfell gets its name because that’s where the NK is finally defeated

    Time traveling Bran goes back in time and names it so.

    Hmmm, you might be onto something here. I’m recalling the second Stark family motto:
    “There must always be a Stark in Winterfell”. Ominous words, indeed. Makes me ponder some of the Bran theories I’ve seen, also.

  42. What if Sansa sent away Brienne but it’s actually Arya wearing Briennes face? Quick trip to knock Cersei off the list?

  43. I’ve never lived in the frozen North. So, I have no reference to how the nature reacts to cold in this region. It appears this cold in Westeros is a record breaker. it is conceivable that the wight army could walk around the Wall at Eastwatch, if they were held there long enough into Winter. And, does the ocean being right there mean that there are spots of give and take between the dominance of the water and the ice all up and down this coastline? Could the water surrounding the solid island that our boys are on have underwater springs feeding into it controlling the thickness of the ice from time to time. Do you consider the uncertain ability of the terrain at all in reasoning the passage of time?

  44. Maz9791:
    What if Sansa sent away Brienne but it’s actually Arya wearing Briennes face?Quick trip to knock Cersei off the list?

    Maz9791,

    It would make much more sense for Arya to use a face that would actually help her gain admission into King’s Landing, like a Lannister soldier or something. I don’t think using Brienne’s face would be particularly useful to get into King’s Landing, at least not close enough to get to Cersei.

    That would be like using the face of the Mountain to gain admission into Winterfell.

  45. I think my thoughts reflect Oz’s. I was excited while watching the episode, and was satisfied when the credits rolled, but there are a few nagging problems that keep this from being “one of the greats” in my book. So I think it is totally consistent to say that you liked the episode but had issues. It’s not one or the other.

    I have not had a problem with the stretching of credulity earlier this season. One, some of the criticisms I just never even agreed with (Jaime arriving at Highgarden could have easily happened days after his scene with Cersei in the same episode, “minutes” translate into “long time” often in movies and television). Other times, when they kind of had a point (like Euron arriving at Casterly Rock so soon after the Unsullied got there), it wasn’t such an essential plot point for it to bug me.

    But in this episode, the resolution of one of the key conflicts in the season was resolved with glaring and distracting time problems. I don’t think it’s nitpicky to be bugged by it. Suspension of disbelief is a very important thing in dramatic storytelling!

    Even if you loved the episode, can you really argue that it wouldn’t have been a bit stronger if they had a slightly more realistic timespan? Or communicated their timeline more effectively? I think the idea of the warriors spending a couple days on that lake, rationing food and waking up every day to zombies waiting to kill them would not only have solved the logistical issues but would have been dramatic and interesting! Maybe they even break some of the ice around them to delay the zombies before Dany comes.

  46. Dee Stark: – Arya gave the dagger to Sansa as a challenge.. “here it is girl, use it”

    Mostly this:
    “Arya gave the dagger to Sansa as a challenge.. “here it is girl, use it”.

    I feel like Bran never would have given Arya the dagger if he thought she would use it on Sansa or vice versa. Bran knows better than to let his sisters do each other in. I want to lean on your side of thinking that Sansa is catching on to LF, if not both girls catching on to his schemes. I’m fairly certain Bran knew the outcome when he gave her the dagger in the first place.

  47. Marta M,

    This is a great interpretation. I know a lot of people are disliking this whole Sansa-Arya thing (and some are even taking sides and hating one of them!) but I find it interesting and each one is acting how they’re supposed to given their past experiences. Yes, it seems like the girls are being “silly” (why don’t they just have a heart-to-heart talk???) but both girls have issues with trust! Hence, this is not easy for them.

    For what it’s worth, here’s my own take of this supposed “sisterbowl”:
    – Arya astutely guessed that in Sansa’s heart, she should be the QITN, not Jon.
    – Sansa having such thoughts is not a sin, however. She truly believes she’s more capable to rule than Jon and that she won the BOTB, not Jon. She tries to “bury” these thoughts though, as Arya again rightly guessed, but couldn’t stop herself from completely erasing them from her mind.
    – What Arya’s been trying to figure out is which one is stronger – Sansa’s ambition/desire to be the QITN or her loyalty to the family (and it’s not just about Jon). It doesn’t help that these two had a history of “betrayal” (remember the whole Mycah tragedy?), so Arya’s concern is understandable. (Then, there’s that damning letter that Sansa wrote.)
    – In their scenes this episode, Arya was testing Sansa. She knows how to read faces (that’s how she guessed Sansa’s deep desires) and she watched closely Sansa’s reactions to what she’s telling her. In the end, Sansa “passed the test”, hence Arya calmly handed her the dagger.
    – Now that Arya “knows” Sansa can be trusted, she can now work with Sansa in finding out who set them up. I’m certain the two can put two and two together next episode. We just need to wait and be patient. 😀

  48. A question for the experts here, did anyone notice that the night king/white walkers had 3 javelin nuke´m all speers with them? Did the night king know about what will happen? 3 speers, 3 dragons (if so, he is the allah of game of thrones, the greatest deceiver of them all). Would be explain, why they waited so long for an attack on the hero team, the dragons had to arrive in time. Dany/dragons would not have attacked if they all were dead. Maybe the only way for him to penetrate the wall was always an undead dragon and the NK needed at least one of them.
    Episode was good, except the speedrace, it seemed like a sunday afternoon thing to me. And there was a much lesser threatening feeling from the undead in genaral. The jon/WW fight was too easy. hip hop, dead. The WW he killed looked like a cartoon version with his mustache.

  49. Does anyone else think the Night King doesn’t look scary anymore? Richard Brake had a look that was much more otherworldly and distinct. The current version of the NK just doesn’t have that.

  50. What a great name-day episode for me! I really loved it all minus the Arya/Sansa parts. Flying covers more ground faster so I didn’t see it as an issue considering it was with ravens and dragons. For a split second I was thinking how easy this should be with dragons against the dead but that changed very quickly didn’t it!? The action was great but the dialogue also really made their scenes stand out. The Hound and Tormund had some of the best lines. I though Rhaegal would come back for Jon but Benjen surprised me instead. I’m really glad Jon got so see him one last time and am also relieved most lived. I’m definitely going to rewatch this again!

  51. I read somewhere else that someone had a problem with the conceit of the mission in the first place, which dampened their enjoyment. While I had a different reaction watching it, I think they have a point. Even if showing a zombie convinces Cersei or Jaime to take the threat seriously (more likely the latter), from a character perspective, it’s hard to imagine anyone thinking this was a feasible plan, or that the end result (an end of hostilities with Cersei) was realistic enough to justify the suicide mission.

    I hate being an armchair showrunner (if GRRM had given me the reigns to adapt his story to television, I promise you, it would be much worse than what D&D&Cogman have given us so far) but I wonder if an attempt to assassinate the Night’s King would not have been a more compelling mission. Obviously they would not know that killing the Night King would kill every wight and zombie yet, but maybe that can be some valuable information that Sam finds in his reading and sends to Jon. Tormund takes them to an area he thinks the wight army would have to pass in order to get to Eastwatch, they wait in hiding with dragonstone arrows, ready to shoot, but the plan goes to shit somehow (maybe that scouting party comes by, one wight escapes and runs back, which pushes Jon to send Gendry back to Eastwatch to ask for help, knowing their plan to sneak on the wights is screwed and that they will be facing an army soon). And, y’know, why not have the army advance maybe the day after Jon sends Gendry to find help, and make the arrival of Dany make more sense.

    You can still then have the exciting fight on the lake, Dany arriving with the dragons, and the Viserion casualty, but the premise of the mission would be stronger, and the absolute failure of the plan would make the convenient survival of 6/7 of the Magnificent Seven easier to swallow.

    I’m sure this is actually worse than what they did lol but it came to my mind and I felt the urge to put it down.

  52. Dee Stark:
    “But how long does it take for Gendry to get back to Eastwatch? How long does it take for a raven to fly from Eastwatch to Dragonstone? How long does it take for Dany to fly with three dragons from Dragonstone to beyond the Wall?”

    Like wow.. lol

    Holy crap?!? do people do this when they watch a two hour movie?

    They do yes when the sheer implausibility breaks the suspension of disbelief. But now we know dragons can break the sound barrier when Daeny is worried for her bae.

    That’s one fast 1000 mile raven too. (They are smart enough to make use of the jetstream that Euron discovered on maps found in Old Valeryia.)

    But I still really enjoyed the entire episode. I’m also hoping the out of character puppet show the Stark sisters are putting on is for Littlefinger’s benefit.

  53. Hodor Targaryen,

    As indicated previously, I was able to suspend belief on all this but I agree with you: the episode would have seen less jarring if Taylor/D&D had communicated the time lag on the island more effectively.

    Eg, Jorah: That was the last of my food. Jon: Clegane ran out two days ago. Jorah (back to actual episode dialogue) We will freeze to death soon…

    They must have decided that this was unnecessary or that the narrative tension was better if the timeline seemed linear. Maybe Taylor will enlighten us.

  54. Sam:
    Marta M,

    For what it’s worth, here’s my own take of this supposed “sisterbowl”:
    – Arya astutely guessed that in Sansa’s heart, she should be the QITN, not Jon.
    – Sansa having such thoughts is not a sin, however. She truly believes she’s more capable to rule than Jon and that she won the BOTB, not Jon. She tries to “bury” these thoughts though, as Arya again rightly guessed, but couldn’t stop herself from completely erasing them from her mind.
    – What Arya’s been trying to figure out is which one is stronger – Sansa’s ambition/desire to be the QITN or her loyalty to the family (and it’s not just about Jon). It doesn’t help that these two had a history of “betrayal” (remember the whole Mycah tragedy?), so Arya’s concern is understandable. (Then, there’s that damning letter that Sansa wrote.)
    – In their scenes this episode, Arya was testing Sansa. She knows how to read faces (that’s how she guessed Sansa’s deep desires) and she watched closely Sansa’s reactions to what she’s telling her. In the end, Sansa “passed the test”, hence Arya calmly handed her the dagger.
    – Now that Arya “knows” Sansa can be trusted, she can now work with Sansa in finding out who set them up. I’m certain the two can put two and two together next episode. We just need to wait and be patient.

    Yes to all of this

  55. Sam,

    I agree with a lot of what you are saying concerning Arya and Sansa. The idea that they would just have a heart-to-heart and clear everything up is strange to me. Human beings aren’t like that, especially with estranged family!

    I think you are right about Arya’s perception of Sansa. She is accurately perceiving Sansa’s ambition for power, resentment of Jon’s elevation, and temptation to take that power for herself. I’m not sure, however, whether Arya is testing Sansa. I think she just sees that temptation in Sansa, and assumes the worst of her, which makes sense given their history and Arya’s traumatizing experiences. I took the scene to be Arya threatening Sansa in case Sansa comes for her, letting her know (creepily) that she can kill her easily if she wants to. I admit, though, the giving of the knife makes more sense in your version.

  56. John:
    Does anyone else think the Night King doesn’t look scary anymore?Richard Brake had a look that was much more otherworldly and distinct.The current version of the NK just doesn’t have that.

    John,

    I feel the same way. It doesn’t bother me, but the current one looks more like a cartoon version.

  57. I’m putting it out there, I think Dragonstone is roughly 1000 miles as the raven flies, Gendry made it back to Eastwatch in 7 hours.. adrenaline, Baratheon strength. They dispatched the fastest Raven.

    Flight speed 55 mph.. flew straight for 10 hours, had a hours rest ate some berries, flew another 8 hours got to dragon stone. Dany got her damn hot snow outfit on. Whispered to Drogon.. “Fly as fast as you possibly can”. Lord of light thinks “Not having my boy Jon die again” give them an extra 10 Mph.. they cruise at 2000 feet at a steady 120 mph.. there fiery bodies keeping Dany toasty!!!

    8.3 hours to your destination.. arrowhead mountain lake.

    Gendry 7 hours
    Raven prep 20 minutes
    Raven flight plus meal/rest -19 hours
    Dany prep 10 minutes
    Dragon prep 30 minutes
    Dragon flight 8 hours 20 minutes

    Total time – 35 hours 20 minutes or 1.472 days

    7 Hard men warming there hands by a flaming sword. Easy as you like

    Lake freezing time not long.. Night King letting them live so he can bag himself a Dragon.. as long as it took… he isn’t an evil greenseer counter to Bran for nothing.. clever bastard.

    I will hear no more on the subject 🙂

  58. Davidneverreadthebooks,

    Exactly. I mean, you’d still have people pointing out they would have frozen to death with their hoods down or whatever, but those are the kind of logistical problems I’m okay having.

    When rewatching the episode, I’ll just go in with my own timeline in my head and I will probably enjoy it more. Actively suspend that disbelief, I guess. But the episode would be stronger if I didn’t have to.

  59. Dee Stark:
    The boys were marching and walking for what look like a day (likely with some food and stuff on them). After the bear attack, the attack of the first group of wights and sending gendry to east watch likely took half a day.. and the subsequent events another half day

    They survived the cold because its only a day. Beric can light his sword on fire to keep them warm every once in a while.. and well, didn’t Leo Dicaprio survive a whole movie in the cold?

    They also spent the whole night on that rock. The sun did set while they were sitting there.
    The Night King is cruel.lol he was just gonna watch them freeze to death.

  60. Hodor Targaryen,

    Yes, since Arya does things in such a weird way now, it’s hard to interpret what exactly she’s doing. 🙂 The reason why I thought it was a “test” was because she wanted to play the game of faces with Sansa. She said, “if I catch a lie, you lose”. So giving her the dagger in the end looked to me like Sansa “won” or “passed the test”.

  61. Sacred Lime:
    I’m putting it out there, I think Dragonstone is roughly 1000 miles as the raven flies, Gendry made it back to Eastwatch in 7 hours.. adrenaline, Baratheon strength. They dispatched the fastest Raven.

    Flight speed 55 mph.. flew straight for 10 hours, had a hours rest ate some berries, flew another 8 hours got to dragon stone. Dany got her damn hot snow outfit on. Whispered to Drogon.. “Fly as fast as you possibly can”.Lord of light thinks “Not having my boy Jon die again” give them an extra 10 Mph.. they cruise at 2000 feet at a steady 120 mph.. there fiery bodies keeping Dany toasty!!!

    8.3 hours to your destination.. arrowhead mountain lake.

    Gendry 7 hours
    Raven prep 20 minutes
    Raven flight plus meal/rest -19 hours
    Dany prep 10 minutes
    Dragon prep 30 minutes
    Dragon flight 8 hours 20 minutes

    Total time – 35 hours 20 minutes or 1.472 days

    7 Hard men warming there hands by a flaming sword. Easy as you like

    Lake freezing time not long.. Night King letting them live so he can bag himself a Dragon.. as long as it took… he isn’t an evil greenseer counter to Bran for nothing.. clever bastard.

    I will hear no more on the subject

    Thank you for this! I will copy it and keep it in my mind when rewatching, lol.

    Two days on the isle sounds about right to me. That’s also assuming they didn’t get that far out from Eastwatch (although I’m also willing to believe the distance travelled by seven people walking over a long timespan can be overtaken by one fast guy running consistently in about half the time).

  62. Sam,

    Agree. I look forward to see how they work it out. As we know, the lone wolf dies but the pack survives.

  63. Dee Stark,

    Love your enthusiastic review. I agree – there were a lot of epic, unforgettable moments. The death of Viserion is just the latest addition to a long list of heartbreaking losses.

    RosanaZugey,: Here’s the thing, I feel like ALL of this could be resolved with a bottle (or two) of Moscato and a long conversation between the two, but sadly, we’re not going to get that. 🙁

    Alas, I’m not sure that Sansa just saying LF is playing us would work with Arya. I mean, Sansa’s been trying to explain to her the reasons why she’s doing (or has done) the things she’s doing/done and Arya isn’t listening. And that’s really frustrating. I mean, I understand that this relationship has always been rocky and I was totally expecting tension between the two, but I was not expecting it to turn threatening or violent. I was not expecting Arya to be unrenlentingly suspicious and never once stop to reason that her sister could be a very different person now and if Jon left her in charge its because he trusts her. I feel like they’re doing a disservice more to Arya character than Sansa’s. Arya isn’t some unreasonable psychopath who would legitimately hurt her own family. Its such a disservice. But alas, I’m hoping they’ll make this better (or at least make it make sense) in the finale.

    I highly recommend a conversation over a bottle of Moscato. That’s what I sip while watching GOT and it works wonders. All of this tension could be resolved with conversation, with an attempt to understand what the other has been through. They were and still are very different people.

    I like Sansa and Arya but I agree that a greater disservice is being done to Arya with this story line. I’m sure that this issue will be resolved and, with Bran’s help, LF will be dispatched to the great beyond. However, I worry about Arya’s adjustment in the long term. How does she view her place in Westeros?

  64. Sacred Lime,

    I was going to write a post on the timing logistics, but yours is far better, lol.

    The one thing I will add is that sunlight is probably much less frequent beyond the Wall compared to in the south. So, even though it seemed the sun had just come up when they woke, it could well have been a lot later than it seemed.

  65. Sam,

    Yeah, you know what, you kind of convinced me. I will rewatch it with your idea in mind. The one hiccup is what did Sansa say that “passed the test?” I dunno, I might be forgetting parts of the scene, but I mostly remember Sansa repeatedly asking “what’s up with these faces?”

    Connected with your idea, maybe Arya was impressed Sansa stood her ground as she was being threatened. Never backed away, kept eye contact.

  66. BigMac,

    Yeah good point, I just think people will enjoy the episode much more. Like Hodor Targaryen said. justify it in your mind, move past it. If the logistics of Westeros travel times is getting in the way of your enjoyment.

  67. Why does Sansa have an invitation to the Dragonpit anyway?

    As the Lady of Winterfell, she’s the steward of the North in the king’s absence, but the king will be present and representing the North at the meeting, so she doesn’t need to be there. Which party does she represent that Jon doesn’t that would require her to travel for bloody miles to attend?

    She’s clearly been given an invitation, not for any sensible political reason, but because the writers want to maintain some significance to her character in events (which is still rather confused IMO). And also to provide her with the opportunity to say ‘no I don’t want to go’ and send Brienne – another key player – instead.

    Sansa has sent Brienne for no other reason than the writers want Brienne at the Dragonpit – she doesn’t need to be there. Brienne wasn’t sent as a part of any strategy by Sansa at all. The plot just requires her to travel to a key meeting of main characters and so she was sent. Sansa can’t go because the writers have something in mind for her in her continuing stort with Arya and LF – a plot that I have enjoyed, but is what it is – a manufactured plot meant to keep WF in the story while bigger events are taking place elsewhere.

  68. This will be in video recap, but this description of the ground breaking effects GoT continues to do is amazing.

  69. Hodor Targaryen,

    You’d notice that Arya was looking at her intently. So while Sansa didn’t say anything (and she didn’t need to as the game was about faces), my guess is that Arya was able to “read her face”. She even said, “All I’ll need to find out, is your face.” Right after that, she handed her the dagger. Brilliant scene, if you were to ask me. 😀

  70. Yes Oz, you don’t want this to end, so you’re whinging.
    I tell you, I would have sued HBO had they cut the episode in the middle, leaving us with a cliffhanger of the Magnificent7 chilling it out on that rock, hoping that the (flying) cavalry would arrive in time.

  71. Did anyone pick Gendry’s hammer up?

    So we have all that build up with him picking it up in the smithy, only to have to give it to someone else before the fighting began and then for them to leave it in the North?

    He’ll be whinging at Clegane again when he finds out.

  72. Farcical_Aquatic_Ceremony,

    I think the opposite. I think this should have been the last season with 10 extra large episodes. If that was the case they wouldn’t need to find a way to keep Cersei and Euron around. And they need them for the last season if they don’t want humans vs monsters at the end.

    Seven seasons was the best option.

  73. The original Stargaryen,

    I know Arya is not the Waif but Arya’s personality seems to be very similar to the Waif’s personality.

    Arya acts towards Sansa kind of like the way the Waif acted toward Arya at the house of Black and White… I am sure there is a reason for this and I look forward to seeing it happen.

    I liked how Sansa stood her ground against Brienne of Tarth and I like how Sansa stood her ground against Arya but I wish Sansa was even more assertive with Arya… Sansa could of said “I am the Lady of Winterfell now, if you can’t handle it go to Kings Landing and kill Cersei.”

  74. Hodor Targaryen,

    The problem was writing in that scene in E5 at Dragonstone. They should talk about the South, not only Cersei.

    I still can’t believe how D&D didn’t realize how important that change for the plot was. 95% of fans thought that this season will be only Cersei vs Dany. If you are going to change that, which I like, you need to sell that change to the audience. And they didn’t. And it was so easy to do.

    This reminds me of mistake they made in original pilot when they didn’t explain that Cersei and Jaime are brother and sister.

    It seems that they convinced each other that this development makes sense and didn’t do enough with the characters.

    It’s such a shame, because this episode was great and they created controversy around it for no reason.

    I can only expect the reactions next week when it becomes clear it was all for nothing.

    But I don’t know what else they could have done with overall plot. Maybe the best option for the show was to have only S7 with 10 extra large episodes. Or maybe that wasn’t possible because of money.

    The WW hunt isn’t natural climax of the season. Battle for KL would be. That’s the problem.

  75. Violator,

    Agreed! Plus with all the converging and characters coming together they have fewer storylines to switch between and cut to. Look at the next episode, apart from Sansa and Arya, every major character will at some point be in KL. So many characters in one place didn’t happen since the first episode and there we had Robert Baratheon and his court travel from KL to WF in about 10 min. Later when there were a lot of storylines they could easily ignore one for an episode while they were traveling, because they had so many others to pay attention to. They don’t anymore.

  76. I loved this episode. Sure, that raven was Usain Bolt on wings, but you know something, I don’t care.
    I loved the scenes at Winterfell, so claustrophobic… I just hope they get relevant to the main story.
    My only trouble was with that boat scene. Although beautifully played, where did this “Danny” come from? Unless Daenerys is a common name in Westeros and Danny its even commoner short. Like calling Elisabeth Liz or something. Otherwise it felt strange.

  77. Ryan,

    Oooh, I like this theory A LOT.

    As far as the timeline issues, I put all of that aside a couple of seasons ago when Varys appeared to have warp-speed winged sandals. Another fun episode that I watched half of through my fingers yelling “NOOOOOOOO.” Good times.

  78. This is one of those episodes that I need to watch multiple times to really get a better gauge on how I feel about the episode.

    Usually after watching the episode on Sunday night I have to immediately get ready for bed because of work the next morning, so it kind of makes a lot of the details in the episode a blur for me the next day.

    Not that I need an excuse for a rewatch, but I’m particularly looking forward to this one due to the divided reviews of this episode.

  79. Dee Stark,

    > Jon arrives, on benjens horse, a call back to benjens horse arriving without him.. amazing.. Dany’s face… and her reaction to his scars on the boat… priceless.

    It also seemed to mimick when he came back in 3.10, then from the south, when he lost his love, now the other way round.

  80. Mr Derp:
    I can see everyone’s points.I’m just ready for the superfluous sibling squabbles at Winterfell to end so we can move on to the more pertinent plot points.

    100%

    I’ve been reading along and still don’t know where to begin… I’m still just trying to catch my breath and digest “Beyond The Wall” I’ll will be watching it again tonight, to pick up on more details and possible foreshadowing…

    I’m completely fine with either way the WF plot is going and to be honest, I’m as much in the dark as many others. No matter what their opinion or interpretation may be, I try to accept the variety and different angles in my quest for understanding with what limited information and hints the show gives me. That’s what I love the most about it – and why I choose to stay unsullied.

    Simply because, no matter how many inconsistencies there may be, I’m so thoroughly entertained, when a show like this can keep my head spinning, leaving me with no chance of knowing where it’ll go next and where it ends! E.g. DIDN’T EXPECT AN UNDEAD VISERION AT ALL before NK picking up his icy olympic spear! Then I knew where it was going and yelled at the screen for the first time ever in six years 😀 JUST…OMFG! Odds are even now – and I like it!!

    I love the confusion at WF… The not knowing… The ONLY thing that bothers me about WF (and why I agree so much on your comment about moving on) is the fact, that they seem to force the Arya/Sansa/LF “stand-off” to linger for such a long time, considering how fast everything else is going and how far those plots have come… I don’t feel there’s enough substance in that stand-off, to justify it’s continued prolongation!

    Key point being: Over the course of several weeks (weeks being a fact, since Sansa said it herself), it seems the writers purposely refuse to use of all the damaging knowledge against LF finally under the same roof within Arya, Sansa and Bran (if they ask him the right questions I guess). Don’t get me wrong… The not knowing is fine, I like it, just not for weeks and weeks.

    Yes, Arya and Sansa have their guards up against one another, which will obviously would slow down the “sharing is caring process” a bit, but come on…move it along please! And for crying out loud, include Bran – we all know he’s right there behind the camera with all of his fragmented archives!

    I really hope it’s all to make it feel SOOOO GOOOOD if/when LF draws his last breath.

    Another thing I haven’t seen people talk much about – with good reason after such an episode 🙂 – is Tyrion and Dany at DS. I’ve commented on this a few weeks ago, when it was about Varys and the dream of democracy rule in Westeros, being a man of and for the people… I think they made it very clear last night, that Tyrion is foreshadowing the same kind of world, making GRRM’s bittersweet ending come true – as in:
    Non of our heroes will “win” the great war and followed by a total rule from the Iron Throne.

    Tyrion stated that the rule he thinks Dany (and he) is dreaming of, will probably take more than a lifetime to establish. This is not the case for a totalitarian King or Queen after winning a war…

    Oh well…enough rambling from me for now. I truly LOVE this show more than any other I’ve ever seen and just want everyone to feel the same joy instead of waisting their life with negativity and on to re-visiting Dragonstone, Winterfell and beyond…

  81. fdr:
    Dee Stark,

    > Jon arrives, on benjens horse, a call back to benjens horse arriving without him.. amazing.. Dany’s face… and her reaction to his scars on the boat… priceless.

    It also seemed to mimick when he came back in 3.10, then from the south, when he lost his love, now the other way round.

    You’re a romantic, you.

  82. RosanaZugey:
    Sansa sent Brienne away so that if Arya tries to kill Sansa (which is what Sansa is thinking), Brienne wouldn’t intervene and kill Arya.

    Even my friend who was half paying attention got that.

    What ??? Please explain that if you haven’t already done so.

  83. And by the way:

    Personally I tend to like the final episode the most, and as sad as it is to remember it’s the last episode coming up…IT’S freaking 80 minutes to look forward to!!

  84. I didn’t read thru all of the comments, so forgive me if this has been proven, but I could’ve sworn the SEVEN were isolated on the mound for an entire night? I remember it getting dark once they were there… then the next scene it looked brighter, and they had more frost on their chinny chinn chinns…. No?

    The whole episode was epic. Do we think Viserion will breathe ice? Or will he still breathe fire? Was I the only one that thought Jon was going to come up out of that lake riding Viserion!? The song of Ice and Ice!? No? OK…

    And if Bran doesn’t warg into the Ice Dragon, can he really even be considered the 3RE? 😉

  85. mau,

    Totally agree about the number of season.
    The problem coming to to the end of the story is that Martin doesn´t know what to do with some characters and other have become totally minor now.
    D&D cant kill them yet because the might play a part o could be used for some plot.
    HBO wanted to have more season but I didn´t make sense to complicate the show even more, so they decided to do shortened season and try to close the circle by having everyone together and just touching the big points so all fan favourites have a meaning. Of course is not perfect but I think they are doing it okay

  86. RosanaZugey:
    Sansa sent Brienne away so that if Arya tries to kill Sansa (which is what Sansa is thinking), Brienne wouldn’t intervene and kill Arya.

    Even my friend who was half paying attention got that.

    Sansa is playing Littlefinger. She sent Brienne away to earn his trust and allow him to think he’s manipulating her to his own goals.

  87. Dee Stark,

    Why would Brienne kill Arya ?
    If Brienne sees friction between the sisters she’d intervene to protect both of them. But without Brienne around, Sansa as Lady of WF has all of the household guard and Northern Lords at her command.

    I didn’t construe “intercede” to mean Brienne would hurt or kill either sister.

    I wish they had made the motivation for dispatching Brienne to KL a little clearer….

  88. RosanaZugey: Sansa sent Brienne away so that if Arya tries to kill Sansa (which is what Sansa is thinking), Brienne wouldn’t intervene and kill Arya.

    I don’t get this…if you mean those are Sansa’s thoughts, it would imply she’s is pretty much suicidal!?!?!

  89. Ten Bears: I wish they had made the motivation for dispatching Brienne to KL a little clearer….

    Dead Dane Walking: I don’t get this…if you mean those are Sansa’s thoughts, it would imply she’s is pretty much suicidal!?!?!

    Lol, this is exactly why I need to get my ass home and rewatch this episode asap. When it comes to this scene I truly know nothing.

  90. Ten Bears: I wish they had made the motivation for dispatching Brienne to KL a little clearer….

    As I didn’t get the reason – obviously like many in here – those were my thoughts as well right after watching last night.

    Instead of trying to figure out Sansa’s fll motivation for sending her off, I’m (still) trying to look ahead and see where the writers want Brienne’s arc to go in KL…for instance near Jamie! Haven’t got any clear thoughts on that subject at this point though 🙂

  91. Dee Stark,

    Don’t you feel bad for the poor wight who’s got to spend the whole voyage from Eastwatch to KL getting kicked, smacked and called names by The Hound?

    My second favorite part of the episode: a bored Sandor throwing snowballs/rocks at the wight army. I thought somebody would scold him: “Clegane, PLEASE do not piss off the zombies. Gawd. Can’t take you anywhere.”

  92. Chump Force 1,

    It’s possible Sansa is playing Littlefinger. The theory goes that Sansa heard Littlefinger mention Brienne and realized that “He’s hoping Arya kills Brienne and I’m out my bodyguard. Or Brienne kills Arya and that’s one less Stark. Or, they kill each other.”

    I mean, that still removes Sansa protection, against Arya, against any Northern lords that are sick of following her or anyone else, including Littlefinger himself. So, I mean, good job, Sansa?

    So, why is she snooping around Arya’s stuff? To burn the letter? To find something else? Seems easier just to tell the Maester that Littlefinger’s library card is revoked.

    But we also thought it was possible that Arya had some kind of plan when the Waif stabbed her in broad daylight after Arya all but painted a bullseye on her own chest. We thought it was possible Sansa had a plan for the Battle of the Bastards that didn’t involve getting 75 percent of the troops killed before bringing the Vale in.

    It’s possible they are just f—ing stupid and are being written that way.

  93. Well! I must agree, I was freezing and shivering the whole episode! I had to turn up the heat and put on a robe! Psychosomatic winter! My one thought other than what all of you have been saying is that it feels like this season “off book” has been a bit too Hollywood. What happened to the unpredictable shock deaths of main and beloved characters? I don’t think we can quite consider Viserion a main character as tragic as his death was. So far this season D &D have only culled the less significant characters. I really thought Jamie should have died or at least one of the more significant motley crew. Not that I am sad mind you, but it seems less GoT somehow to have all these Hail Mary saves? I think back to that famous “If you think this is going to end well, you haven’t been paying attention.” Well, I can almost see a happy ending to this all rather than the bittersweet one Martin had in mind. Hollywood has a hard time sticking to tough endings. I just feel it has lost some of its rough edges. What made it unique from other stories. Oh well, I am still enjoying it immensely so I guess that is what matters. This is supposed to be fun…right?

  94. Dead Dane Walking,

    Ten Bears,

    I don’t think its suppose to be clear exactly what she did and why
    But I think you are supposed to come to the conclusion that she sent her away, doing exactly the opposite of what LF had told her. I think Sansa figured out that LF is trying to rid of Arya.

  95. mariamb:
    Dee Stark,

    Love your enthusiastic review. I agree – there were a lot of epic, unforgettable moments. The death of Viserion is just the latest addition to a long list of heartbreaking losses.

    I highly recommend a conversation over a bottle of Moscato. That’s what I sip while watching GOT and it works wonders. All of this tension could be resolved with conversation, with an attempt to understand what the other has been through. They were and still are very different people.

    I like Sansa and Arya but I agree that a greater disservice is being done to Arya with this story line. I’m sure that this issue will be resolved and, with Bran’s help, LF will be dispatched to the great beyond. However, I worry about Arya’s adjustment in the long term. How does she view her place in Westeros?

    Thank you 🙂

  96. Dead Dane Walking,

    Trust me, I’m working on it, but I’m stuck at work for another hour and a half.

    Perhaps I should send out a raven to Dragonstone, so a dragon can come by and fly my ass outta here! It obviously won’t take very long for that to happen 😉

  97. Mr Derp,

    What if Arya only wanted to evoke reactions out of Sansa in order to be able to take her face? Then face shift into Sansa to get next to LF…likely to kill him or at least uncover his treachery…

  98. Lord Parramandas checking in again (due to seeing the comments are quite nice in this post)

    Thing I really liked about this episode is that it was officially revealed dragonfire is useless against WW themselves and only effective on living dead. I had many arguments with this in the past, including in that GoT FB group (where I got kicked out for defending Sansa as a character)… I kept believing that WW are immune to dragonfire as with dragons, they would be very easy to defeat. But I always got responses “valyrian steel was made in dragonfire, so dragonfire surely destroys WW”. I’m glad my prediction proved right. In fact, this episode was a double punch… not only that the WW are immune to dragonfire, they even obtained a dragon, evening the odds in the process. A dragon can take down another dragon.

  99. Dee Stark,

    Actually I thought Sansa sent Brienne away so that if she (Sansa) wanted to get rid of Arya then Brienne wouldn’t be around to stop her, since Brienne would be obliged to protect either one of them from the other.

  100. Dee Stark:
    Ten Bears,

    hahahaaha
    that was gold!!!!!!!!!!

    Did you notice The Hound actually nailed the poor thing onto one of Drogon’s spikes?! 😀 Sandor totally had a humiliate the dead-theme going.

  101. I don’t think a wight dragon breathes fire or ice. The dragons are somewhat magical, otherwise they couldn’t fly with their mass to wing ratio, even without 1500 lbs of our heroes on its back. But they are the least magical that they can be. They have two legs and two wings, like a bird that has evolved its front legs, rather than four legs and wings like a thing that just popped into existence. We have seen Drogon running out of fire when he rescued Dany from the fighting pit. That means his fire isn’t magical. His body produces flammable liquid that he somehow ignites. If it’s not magical fire then it can’t be replaced by magical ice. If he’s not alive he can’t produce more of the stuff. On the other hand, Jaime and Jon have now survived scenarios that are certain death so I’ve given up on the show being a fantasy that’s grounded in reality.

    Anyway, I believe the dragon has lost its main weapon. It’s still a force to be reckoned with. And it can still fly the Night King and some buddies right over the Wall, raise up a new army and attack the Wall from behind, then let the main army walk right through.

    I don’t think Tormund and Beric are long for the world.

  102. Lord Parramandas: Lord Parramandas checking in again (due to seeing the comments are quite nice in this post)

    Welcome back 🙂 I wasn’t too keen on commenting for the same reason as you, but it’s been quite nice in post today!

  103. Dead Dane Walking: Did you notice The Hound actually nailed the poor thing onto one of Drogon’s spikes?!

    “Is this your first time flying with Ryanair?”

  104. The main problem with this episode (and Season 7 as a whole) is that the plan to send out a small group of men to capture one wight from a massive army of wights was beyond stupid. Moreover, they sent the King in the North and some very valuable companions out on this idiotic suicide mission. And not one person in Dany’s council of imbeciles objected to this horrible plan!

    I can overlook some timing issues and even things like the Night King somehow having massive chains, but I can’t overlook the incredible stupidity of Tyrion-Jon-Dany. I think D&D just want to get this show over with.

  105. Does anyone else think that there may be people in KL that might think Jon looks like Rhaegar? Beric already said he doesn’t think Jon looks like Ned. Maybe there won’t be time next episode, but I’d love to have someone say that.

  106. Mmmm not sure he looks anything like Rhaegar however I’m not sure how well Lyanna Stark was known in Kingslanding and there can’t be many people left who knew her anyway, apart from Cersei if indeed she did. But you are not on your own, l have thought that myself. We shall have to wait and see. 🤔

  107. Dee Stark:
    Dead Dane Walking,

    Ten Bears,

    I don’t think its suppose to be clear exactly what she did and why
    But I think you are supposed to come to the conclusion that she sent her away, doing exactly the opposite of what LF had told her. I think Sansa figured out that LF is trying to rid of Arya.

    So…I just finished watching the episode again and the Sansa/LF-scene like 4-5 times. I’m still not able to pin out anything for certain, but I will say this much: At no point (except maybe in the last few seconds) does she look like someone who has matured into a politically savvy “gamer” fully aware of LF’s scheming – on the contrary! From the very moment the two of them comes into the room (and Sansa locking the doors in a hurry), she looks and sounds so much more like someone confidingly speaking with an ally/mentor… ONLY at the very last moment is there in my opinion a distant possibility, her skepticism could be triggered by LF mentioning Brienne.

    I’m beginning to lean towards two scenarios:

    1) Sansa is not in any way near the match for LF and is still being played… Likelihood = HIGH! Since she was, until recently, a gullible teenaged pushover, and LF is…well, he IS the most lying, conniving, scheming, murderous masterprick in all of Westeros 😉 The writers just want to throw us off by luring us into this option.

    or

    2) They just needed Brienne away from the Arya/Sansa/LF-triangle and into the vicinity of Jamie, Sandor “The Undead Joker” Clegane and Tormund to finish yet unknown storylines…

    I don’t know what to believe and that is awesome! Just need that LF-story to move on, that’s all…

  108. Loved seeing Grey Worm in the preview of next week’s episode! It’s good to know the Unsullied didn’t starve at Casterly Rock.

  109. Dee Stark:
    Ten Bears,

    I think youre supposed to construe that. What else could he have meant?

    First of all, I almost feel guilty harping on an ambiguity in the Sansa-Brienne-Arya dialogue in E6. I’ve always said that 99% of GoT is awesome – but it’s the occasional misfire that gets disproportionate attention. Also, forgive me if I’m channeling my inner Stannis aka the Grammar Nazi Who Cared. With those provisos….

    •. I thought “intercede” means to mediate, conciliate, or attempt to reconcile a dispute between other people; or sometimes, to intervene on behalf of one side to defuse a volatile situation. The usual connotation of “intercede” is to resolve amicably, not by violence.
    But I could very well be wrong. I’ll check out the dictionary later. It’s never too late to learn.

    • My impression* was that Sansa wasn’t as afraid of Arya actually whacking her, as she was of Arya disclosing the letter to the Northern lords.
    * (Well, at least until Arya’s show and tell with the dagger, and pondering what it’d be like to wear Sansa’s face and clothes. ☹️)

    • The MOST troublesome part (for me) was Sansa brushing off Brienne’s well-founded concerns about leaving Sansa alone with LF. Brienne tried to warn her, and even begged to have Pod stay behind, but Sansa turned up her nose and dismissed Brienne, who is duty-bound to follow Sansa’s orders.

    As Yogi Berra once said [paraphrasing]: “It’s like deja vu all over again.”
    In S5e2, Brienne offered her services to Sansa (after Pod recognized her sitting with LF at the inn), but Sansa, egged on by LF, turned her down. When Pod then suggested that Brienne could abandon fulfilling her solemn oath to Lady Catelyn, Brienne asked rhetorically…

    Brienne: “You think she’s safe with Littlefinger?”
    Pod: “No my Lady.”

    They resumed the mission, trailing Sansa and LF to WF but unable to rescue her while LF’s stupid Bolton-marriage plan left Sansa a raped and brutalized prisoner inside WF.
    In S6e2, after Brienne was finally able to save Sansa during her escape, Sansa admitted: “I should have gone with you when I had the chance.”

    Now here we are a season later, and Sansa is making the same choice/mistake again: ditching Brienne and listening to LF.
    That Brienne felt so strongly that LF posed a clear and immediate danger to Sansa should’ve been enough to dissuade Sansa from sending her to KL. But yet again – for reasons that elude me – I guess Sansa (with LF’s cajoling) somehow concluded she could restrain Arya and conceal the letter if Brienne weren’t around to intercede.

    • This is the last thing I’ll have to say about this subject. (I managed to go through the entire work day without getting any work done. Not unexpected after a GoT Sunday. 🙄)

  110. Dead Dane Walking: Did you notice The Hound actually nailed the poor thing onto one of Drogon’s spikes?! 😀 Sandor totally had a humiliate the dead-theme going.

    And there you have the scenario for the next Seth Meyers GoT parody skit: Sandor Clegane, flight attendant.

  111. Ten Bears: And there you have the scenario for the next Seth Meyers GoT parody skit: Sandor Clegane, flight attendant.

    LOL…Absolutely!

    Btw. well put in your earlier comment about Brienne/Sansa. I see we agree to a wide extend on Sansa more or less being an idiot towards Brienne – her protector by choice and bound by vow (in the forest with Theon).

    Sorry to hear you didn’t get any work done today – a testament to the effects of this magnificent show, I guess 😉 I’ll be checking out of WotW myself now, as we’ve reached midnight at my place and last night’s GoT-show + debate stretched until 04:45 AM for my part.

  112. Dee Stark:
    I don’t think its suppose to be clear exactly what she did and why
    But I think you are supposed to come to the conclusion that she sent her away, doing exactly the opposite of what LF had told her. I think Sansa figured out that LF is trying to rid of Arya.

    Littlefinger begins by saying that Arya would never betray her, using reverse psychology. Sansa immediately comes up with the scenario where she believes Arya would betray her.

    Littlefinger then reminds Sansa that Brienne isn’t just loyal to her but also to Arya. In any conflict between them, Brienne would get in between. Sansa immediately gets rid of Brienne.

    We know what Littlefinger wants. He wants Sansa to rely totally on him. Now she’s surrounded by her family and Arya and Brienne clearly don’t trust him. So he’s created this conflict between them to drive them away and Sansa to have to come to him and Sansa has completely fallen for it.

  113. Johnny Utah:
    Does anyone else think that there may be people in KL that might think Jon looks like Rhaegar?Beric already said he doesn’t think Jon looks like Ned.Maybe there won’t be time next episode, but I’d love to have someone say that.

    Well Rhaegar was a typical Targ, Jon is dark haired/eyed… I’d say no.

  114. Dee Stark,

    Amazing review!!!! I cannot agree more! I’m still so incredibly amazed by this episode. I don’t understand even one of the critical points people make. This episode has been full of dramatic changes and surprises. Even if one could sometimes see things coming, I was still always surprised and emotionally thrown from one side to the other. I cried so much when Benjen came.. finally.. and it was no trap causing Jon’s death.. and Jon got rescued and Benjen, his uncle, whom he has so missed and loved.. because of whom he wanted to go to the wall freely and self-determined.. Benjen, dying for him, having suffered great pain but getting relieved by fulfilling a last purpose. Boah, this was jam-packed of great scenes.
    And even if I never foresaw Dany and Jon action – because I thought it would be too obvious or lame – I really love it and it hits me with surprise – Emilia Clark also improved on her acting a lot this episode!! I really felt her emotions and was on Dany’s side for the first time really. And then the ice dragon in the end!! Phhhheeew!! Amazing things are coming!! Best episode ever!

  115. JemFX,

    I don’t understand this criticism either… I honestly feel people are overanalyzing stuff or they allow the novels to take away their enjoyment. I always felt GoT was about the characters themselves and that’s the impression I get all the time in S7.

    And yes, Emilia’s performance has really improved in my eyes as well.

  116. Okay, so we have the Night King who can touch a baby and turn it into a White Walker.
    He has super human strength, and can lift his arms and raise the dead into a rabid, indestructible army….
    But some people find it unbelievable that he can throw an Ice spear hard enough to bring down a full grown dragon. Well, of course he can!

  117. I’ll be quick.

    This episode had me acting a fool for the last 30 mins.
    The first 40 was a little on the slooooow side.

    All in all though I’m pretty sure my heart-rate topped 150 during multiple scenes.

    My only beef……WHERE THE F DID THE WIGHTS GET SOME BIG ASS CHAINS FROM??!@?! I didn’t see a Home Depot north of the wall.

    I mean c’mon man, just send 1000 wights down the water and carry the dead dragon up.

    Anyway, I digress. Action packed episode

    And I’m pretty sure Undead drags still breathe fire…

  118. RosanaZugey:

    Here’s the thing, I feel like ALL of this could be resolved with a bottle (or two) of Moscato and a long conversation.

    Cheers, mate. They do need to chill, but they might also need a taster 🙂

    Alas, I’m not sure that Sansa just saying LF is playing us would work with Arya. I mean, Sansa’s been trying to explain to her the reasons why she’s doing (or has done) the things she’s doing/done and Arya isn’t listening.

    Arya would likely be open to it, but words do not equal communication. Sansa’s attitudes, words, body language undercut the reasonable things she says. And Arya’s been able to read people since she was 11. Sansa does not treat her an equal, but as an child and underling. She’s patronising and threatening. “You should get down on your knees” and “Cutting off heads might be very satisfying to you”. Instead of ignoring it or asking, “What would you have said or done in my place?” she boasts “I won the Battle of the Bastards. Jon lost.” Admittedly, Arya’s own voice comes across as threatening even when the words don’t. Unless Sansa shows genuine affection AND respect, she’ll never reach Arya. And that’s not Arya’s fault. Lady Crane showed her a dollop of kindness and support, and Arya risked her life to spare her. Arya is a visitor in the home she tried so hard to reach, until Sansa stops keeping her at arm’s length and makes her feel like she belongs.

    Arya isn’t some unreasonable psychopath who would legitimately hurt her own family. Its such a disservice. But alas, I’m hoping they’ll make this better (or at least make it make sense) in the finale.

    At least you realise that. Some people don’t.

  119. Ten Bears,

    Appreciate your detailed reminder of Sansa’s first rejection of Brienne’s service in favor of staying with LF. That did not work out so well and Sansa later acknowledged that fact. It is frustrating to see her repeating the same mistakes and she knows she should not trust LF! I actually had forgotten some of that material so thanks bringing it back to mind. I can only hope she will have a break through soon and see LF for what he is and get him out of her life. I suppose it is possible she is more aware than I think she is, I hope so, but if so, I want to see more evidence of it.

  120. Dee Stark:
    Let me start with my thoughts on Winterfell:

    –I have absolutely no idea where this story is going… but I am going to go out on the loop and say this. Sansa is catching on to LF’s scheming…. She had Brienne purposely SENT AWAY so as to avoid Brienne actually having to deal with either her or Arya.
    –Arya gave the dagger to Sansa as a challenge.. “here it is girl, use it”
    –I really wish Bran was involved here.

    Now on to the rest of the episode:

    –Dany walking to her dragons was a gorgeous scene.. her white dress made my jaw drop. She looked like a true WARRIOR QUEEN. The dragons looked so beautiful.
    –Dany’s arrival beyond the wall was epic.. I was screaming and yelling like I have never before. The minute I saw her arrive… I knew what was going to happen. Ice Dragon coming. I was so frantic and scared. The scenes of the dragons destroying the wights breaks my heart… because these poor dragons risked their lives.. dany risked her life on an unknown.. and they are just all so brave.
    –The looks on the men’s faces when they saw the dragons.. aghhghghipeahiehjr
    –The NIGHT KING was waiting for them to arrive. He knew they were coming and he wanted those dragons. Man he is powerful… and so scary. It was nice (not actually nice, but interesting) to see the other walkers a bit better, their different looks, etc.
    –Finally… this moment that will forever, and ever haunt me.. and be vividly in my memory. The shooting down of baby V… was absolutely heartbreaking and gut wrenching. I really have to give it to HBO and the show creators, for making me (and I am sure millions of others) have such an emotional effect on them after shooting down a CGI Dragon lol… seriously I cried somuch… and the camera shooting of the reaction of the men, of jon, and most of all, Daenerys was incredible, the screeches of baby V… so sad.. so well-acted, so well shot and scored.
    –I did see some comments about people crying because jon bent the knee… just go back and listen to what tormund earlier in the episode about not bending the knee and what it did to Mance and his people. He is right, and Jon did the right thing.

    100/10. YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS
    I may have missed some shout outs but this is what I have for now. Such. A. Good. Episode.

    SANSA did the one thing LF wanted the most, got rid of the most formidable protector of both girls. I don’t think he gets just how dangerous Arya is. He could easily use SANSA as a figurehead ruler while he figures out what to do about Jon. Arya and Mr. Instant Replay could have an accident or be locked up. LF has no idea what he has in the other Stark kids as he’s only interested in what he wants which may or may not include SANSA.

    Danny’s Winter Coat should get an award.

    Can’t even talk about V.

    Jon’s bending the knee was foreshadowed in his conversation with half of the Monster baby making team. I feel that Jon realized that Dany does care for her people and would risk herself for them. Some would call that a weakness but it’s something that gets people to follow you.

    This gets me to why Dany has been pussy with TYRION. He sided with a cautious approach and I think Dany feels she should have done more, sooner.

  121. onefromaway,

    Reading these comments in a nicely mannered and polite thread/forum has been a blessing. As a book reader, it has been interesting to read the theories (some amazingly fresh and considered) given in a less menacing manner. Sometimes in other forums posters seem so intent on defending their opinions which leads to a narrow mindedness. I just hope the series does not go too Dr Who ish in that in its last few series, glaring plot holes and character actions and events unexplained lead to incredulity when watching. There has to be some basis of logic, even in a fantasy story. Yes, they could have cut this to two episodes and utilised Bran as he saw events unfolding so then we see his character knowing what is going on. Regarding Sansa and Arya-will we see the death of both? The dialogue for me seemed stilted as if the writers were leaving things vague at the cost of explaining why Arya suddenly became all high and mighty regarding her opinions, and testy to Sansa. Also shots of Sansa near the conversation’s end seemed to make her look more childlike and naïve as opposed to the ruthless streak people talk of. All together next week in King’s Landing suggest Cersi may get the upper hand with her tricks-after all it is a pit-could we all fall in? Unless somehow a pact is made which forms season 8-all together opposing the Undead? Anyway thank you to posters thus far-a pleasure to read this thread.

  122. Dee Stark:

    Well.. there it is.. the big episode 9… and well.. this was big.
    Another fantastic episode…
    Great direction, cinematography, CGI, score, visuals, acting, writing… everything.
    I have never felt so many emotions while watching an hour of television… excitement, laughter, happiness, sadness, anger.. fearrrrrr! ARGHHH

    ….100/10. YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS
    I may have missed some shout outs but this is what I have for now. Such. A. Good. Episode.

    Thanks Dee, exactly my thoughts!
    It was a mindblowing episode, I don’t even know where to start!!! I loved every single bit of it! They have taken TV to a whole new level and from now on whatever is filmed for TV to me will be compared to GoT level!

    I loved and hyped about every second Beyond the Wall. The magnificent 7 were indeed Magnificent, their chatting and interaction with each other was pure gold! And then a fooking WIGHT POLAR BEAR????!!!! And the scenery was outstanding – Iceland was worth the trouble!!! The battle scenes had me on my toes – I was seriously afraid for all of them, and at one moment I was shouting ‘someone help Tormund now’!!!!! Luckily the Hound heard my screaming!! 😀

    What can I say for the Dany rescue team sequence or about the moment Vicerion gets killed: it was awesome and heartbreaking! We’ve seen those creatures get born, and grow up and even if they aren’t real I was attached to them – and then to see him turn into a wight; I hate you NK!!!
    Of course I never been happier to see Uncle Benjen, they had me worrying over Jon for a second!!!
    I also liked that while all that was going to happen, they gave our heroes a bit of insight about how to kill more wights – kill as many WW as you can. Kill the NK and they are done! That can certainly be handy in the future!

    Dany’s and Tyrion’s chat was very good too. Tyrion raised many important issues, and gave his thought structure that explained his previous choices and Dany explained her views. Tyrion’s words were wise and Dany made some good points too. I hope they can find a middle way to do things soon.

    About the Winterfell action. I think that Arya was pushing Sansa trying to see her reactions and judge whether she’s loyal to Jon and family, or if she’s been influenced by LF.
    It may be unfair to Sansa but what she said to Arya (that she wouldn’t have survived what she has been through, underestimating Arya and Jon and taking too much credit for the Vale troops) was unfair to Arya too. They have both been traumatized, they have both been through ugly stuff and survived.
    Now LF wanted to create friction between them and it seems he made it. He said that Brienne has sworn to protect both Stark girls, suggesting that if Arya tries to harm Sansa, Brienne will have to protect Sansa, and if needed, kill Arya.

    I agree that Sansa thinks that LF might talk to Brienne and persuade her into taking out Arya before she harms Sansa. I think this is why Sansa sends her away – in a way saying ‘this is between me and my sister’. Arya gave the dagger to Sansa, like saying deal with that dirtball and show where your loyalty lies or else I will.
    I believe that Sansa and Arya will manage to unite and when they do LF will be history. He already is, he just doesn’t know it!

    And finally that incredible sweet bonding moment between Dany and Jon! I love how they’ve handled their relationship so far, slowly bringing them closer and giving them the time needed to form an attachment. I love Emilia’s and Kit’s chemistry. I’m all for Dany& Jon getting together, and I was glad to find out that Mr Martin wished it so too from the start. It makes sense, it’s inevitable, it’s fated from the story that these two must come together and the fact of that will take the story forward.

    All in all, thumbs up once again, I will be re -watching this episode tonight to see if I have missed any important clues about the future!! 😀

  123. Ten Bears: The MOST troublesome part (for me) was Sansa brushing off Brienne’s well-founded concerns about leaving Sansa alone with LF. Brienne tried to warn her, and even begged to have Pod stay behind, but Sansa turned up her nose and dismissed Brienne, who is duty-bound to follow Sansa’s orders.

    I think she feels safe with Arya. Arya and Brienne training together was shown for a reason. Major foreshadowing that Arya could be just as good in protecting Sansa or anyone else.

  124. Leuf:
    I don’t think a wight dragon breathes fire or ice.The dragons are somewhat magical, otherwise they couldn’t fly with their mass to wing ratio, even without 1500 lbs of our heroes on its back.But they are the least magical that they can be.They have two legs and two wings, like a bird that has evolved its front legs, rather than four legs and wings like a thing that just popped into existence.We have seen Drogon running out of fire when he rescued Dany from the fighting pit.That means his fire isn’t magical.His body produces flammable liquid that he somehow ignites.If it’s not magical fire then it can’t be replaced by magical ice.If he’s not alive he can’t produce more of the stuff.On the other hand,Jaime and Jon have now survived scenarios that are certain death so I’ve given up on the show being a fantasy that’s grounded in reality.

    Anyway, I believe the dragon has lost its main weapon.It’s still a force to be reckoned with.And it can still fly the Night King and some buddies right over the Wall, raise up a new army and attack the Wall from behind, then let the main army walk right through.

    I don’t think Tormund and Beric are long for the world.

    what if the ice dragon now breath an ice- cold breath that freezes everything including the sea at the end of the wall, and this is the way the deads can pass the wall? just a thought, there are things we don’t know, about the night king and his powers, maybe he can turn fire into ice… and there is magic in the wall, so not so easy to break it: why not going around it?

  125. I mentioned that earlier too… That the dragon would now breathe ice. I think that would be a pretty cool idea. A new challenge for the squad.

  126. RosanaZugey,

    That’s an interpretation. But also if Sans a has in mind to make a move vs Arya, it’s better Brienne is not there. And I think that’s what littlefinger wanted, it is in his best interest if Brienne is not there. I don’t like the fact that LF is still able to manipulate, I hope Sansa has something up her sleeve. But Brienne away is on paper a good result for LF

  127. I’ve been reading about a thousand comments on this episode (literally), and I don’t remember seeing this anywhere. Apologies if it’s already been mentioned and I missed it.

    This is probably implausible as all get out, but the thing with Longclaw’s eye being “closed” when Jon was in the water … I wondered, what if it wasn’t closed, but was just white. Could it be possible that Bran, who is supposed to be a powerful warg, could warg into something like Longclaw?

    It might explain then why Uncle Benjen was so johnny-on-the-spot. I seem to recall that when he rescues Bran and Meera from the wights in season 6, he says something like “The Three-Eyed Raven sent me.” Could Bran have some type of communication with Ben, and had him lurking somewhere nearby, ready to send him in if needed?

    This is probably waaaaay off base but I can’t help feeling that Longclaw’s eye may be significant, and it would give at least some sense to the Benjen ex machina part.

  128. Dee Stark:
    “But how long does it take for Gendry to get back to Eastwatch? How long does it take for a raven to fly from Eastwatch to Dragonstone? How long does it take for Dany to fly with three dragons from Dragonstone to beyond the Wall?”

    Like wow.. lol

    Holy crap?!? do people do this when they watch a two hour movie?

    Yes. My thoughts also.

  129. Yaga:
    Since there was no scene of a raven arriving at Dragonstone, I simply assume that 1. Dany just got sick of waiting and decided to go even before Gendry got back to Eastwatch, and 2. Jon sent Gendry away to a large extent to keep him alive because, despite his best intentions, boy was clearly unsuited for fighting. I’d prefer not to, of course.

    The raven does stink of a rewrite, so I wonder, maybe Joe Dempsie was bad at fighting scenes? Maybe the choreographers had problems with so many heroes to follow?

    In my logic I have Dany having a dream and leaving prior to the raven arriving….

  130. RosanaZugey,

    I hadn’t thought of it that way, but the enthusiasm you guys have for the idea has me like 90% convinced… despite the fact I still don’t actually see how sending away Brienne is a better idea than just getting her and Arya together and telling them both “yo fuck this guy” if indeed she has Littlefinger figured out.

    where is Bran? quit groping trees and straighten this shit out.

  131. I hope Emelia Clark is up for emmy noms but am I right in thinking that due to different broadcast dates, this season cannot be nominated for 2018 awards?

  132. grumblygrew:
    I hope Emelia Clark is up for emmy noms but am I right in thinking that due to different broadcast dates, this season cannot be nominated for 2018 awards?

    It will be qualified for the 2018 Emmy’s.
    The Emmy season is June 1st through May 31st of the following year.

    Series have to air six episodes before May 31st to qualify for that same year Emmy Awards (and then the remaining episodes past the deadline qualify for consideration). GoT was on the edge last year but did begin early enough. Season 7 falls entirely into the 2018 Emmy Awards next September, and why it doesn’t have any nomination for 2017. It kind of sucks when shows air so far in advance of the nominations and the selections because it feels like the chances are worse….

  133. Dead Dane Walking: I don’t get this…if you mean those are Sansa’s thoughts, it would imply she’s is pretty much suicidal!?!?!

    Another way to see it would be if SANSA is more attached to LF she would get rid of Brianne so her sister would have less protection from possible accidents.

  134. Dee Stark:
    Ser Shiz of Renia,

    I truly believe that the Night King knew they were coming.
    He can see things just like Bran.

    I wholheartedy agree. This is where D&D’s decision not to split this episode & make more of the fact that the undead could of attacked at anytime.

    The Mag 7 were just bait as the NK knows as much as Bran.

    I feel a little short changed that the final seasons are upon us way too soon.
    The whole ASOIAF really should of been at least a 10 episodes a season 10 season long epic.
    I do look forward to the rumoured 4 spin off mini series but feel that GRRM could of stamped his foot down about the way we seem to be hurriedly brought through his, (Without adequate storytelling) epic final yet to be published book.
    Alas it will all be over way too soon

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