Game of Thrones Season 7, Episode 4 “The Spoils of War”
Writers: David Benioff & D.B. Weiss
Director: Matt Shakman
Runtime: 50 minutes
Content Warnings: TV-MA: Adult Content, Adult Language, Graphic Violence
Video Preview: The Spoils of War
Official Synopsis: Daenerys fights back. Jaime faces an unexpected situation. Arya comes home.
Tonight.
“The Spoils of War” premieres at 9PM on @HBO. #GoTS7 pic.twitter.com/0FIIwfyAjO— Game Of Thrones (@GameOfThrones) August 6, 2017
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Please use spoiler coding when discussing ASOIAF book or filming spoilers- any material that has not aired or been discussed on Game of Thrones. Please do not post ANY leak spoilers in this Chat post- no discussion, teases or hints about the episode at all before it airs on HBO! Open leak discussion is only permitted in our Quarantine forum. We realize episode 4 has leaked early- you’re free to discuss it to your heart’s content anywhere in the Quarantine forum. If you haven’t yet joined our Community Forums, now would be the perfect time to do so! Thank you for your consideration.
General guidelines: Spoiler coding is required in the Chat post prior to “The Spoils of War” official airing (9PM EDT tonight!). Please cover and label your spoilers appropriately. After the episode has aired, you don’t have to cover spoilers from the episode anymore. Have a great night and enjoy the episode!
Hodor! First time! In all these years!
I’m so hyped!
Fire and Blood!
Even though there is
Do you think Arya just comes out and tells her or is Sansa going to piece several comments and actions together and be like WTF Arya?
Omg that preview! I’m so in!
I watched the leaked version, cause I just couldn’t wait.
Very much looking forward to watching it again tonight with quality picture and sound. I’m even more excited to hear everyone’s thoughts about it afterwards.
Enjoy!
Snape kills Dumbledore!!!! Mwaaahaaahaaahaaaaaaa…
Stark Raven’ Rad,
ta-dah! congratulations!
Hard to believe tonight is the middle episode of the all-too-short season. When WotW started the countdown clock it was something like 130 days. Now the end and then The End is in sight. Sigh.
Judging from the episode summary above and previews, this is going to be my favourite type of episode.: equal mix of spectacular action and emotional power. I’ve seen a few articles online lately about the show being rushed or the timelines confusing. Knobs! So far IMO the quickened pace has caused nothing jarring. I hope for a Hound appearance, as his story in Ep 1 was funny, moving, and eerie. We do need funny. And Arya coming home at last after trying so many times…well, I hope that reunion works better than Bran’s. I’m glad Jon and Dany have been duetting with “Getting to Know You”, but if only he’d be there when his sister arrives Home… Sigh. I haven’t mentioned here how much I’ll miss the QoT. Her barbs always drew blood, her candor always drew approval, and her roasting of Cersei was just what the doctor ordered. Diana Rigg has proved there is truly nothing like a Dame.
Just to reiterate in case people are skipping over the spoiler warning- I get that some people watched the leaks, but I don’t want to see ANY discussion of the episode in this post in advance of the episode airing. That means no posting hints or teases of any kind. Those posts will be deleted. Let people experience the episode and judge it for themselves.
Middle episode – it has to be pivotal, the point about which this whole season turns.
But can I stay awake… ???
Samson,
Arya is not a serial killer. She is a dispenser of justice. ⚖
As for disclosing her hobby to Sansa, all I want is for Arya to explain to Sansa why the sadistic Kingsguard who bloodied Sansa’s lip on the footbridge and punched her in the stomach in the throne room – won’t be doing anything like that to anyone ever again. 😊🔪⚰
Sue the Fury,
No spoilers disguised as “predictions”, hopefully.
Ten Bears,
I hope Sansa finds out that Arya was the one that killed him!
I’ve not watched leaks and resisted all spoilers this year!!!!!
Guesswork
Arya comes home says to Sansa what the fuck is littlefinger doing here????
Then she murders him with needle badly
OMG that preview! I’m super excited for that, as well as (of course) Arya coming home. Just not sure at all how well that’s going to go, or how much she (or Bran) will tell Sansa about what she’s been up to.
Molestown bastard,
Surely Arya would never do anything badly – grotesquely, maybe but only on purpose… 😀
Just a little something from last week:
“You really do love her. You poor fool. She’ll be the end of you. She’s a disease. I regret my role in spreading it. You will too.”
(Olenna to Jaime)
Jeanne Moreau died the day after this episode aired, last Monday (RIP). But she left behind “Each Man Kills The Thing He Loves” (from R.W. Fassbinder’s film “Querelle”, lyrics taken from Oscar Wilde’s poem “The Ballad of Reading Gaol”, put to music by Peer Raben). Some notable verses:
“Each man kills the thing he loves; some strangle with the hands of lust, some with the Hands of Gold”
Here’s Laibach’s cover:
Wait… The “Official Synopsis” says “Arya comes home.”
I hope they’re not going to have Arya stroll around WF incognito as Random Waitress #3…only to have her pull off her face mask and reveal herself in Minute 49. They can’t do that. Can they??? 😳
spaewife,
I just can’t see her messing about now
Littlefinger ( or Varys) will have zero affect on her
I can see her going north with Jon
Ten Bears,
I don’t think so… by the old gods and the new, I hope not!
I’d think she comes home as her. But we’ll see in an hour and a half!
Eavelyns,
Yup! And how Arya gave Meryn Fuc*ing Trant a little more than just a bloodied lip. (I happened to rewatch yesterday Sansa’s scenes on the footbridge getting smacked in the face by MFT and in the throne room when he punched her in the stomach and tore her dress. He was enjoying every minute of it.)
I’d like Sansa to know that her wild baby sister took out MFT – in detail.
Ten Bears,
I loved your dialogue about that. As far as I’m concerned, D&D could use it too. 🙂
Ten Bears,
They’re trolling us for sure!!!! That’s way too spoilery!
Stark Raven’ Rad,
I miss the Queen of Thorns too. After the episode ended I was kind of hoping that because we didn’t see her die onscreen that somehow her body would resist the poison…I’m still hoping…
You guys I’m soooooo hype
This episode has 9.9/10 wtf!!!!
On Sky, ep 7.03 is just starting to re-run. Only a bit over an hour to go…
Dee Stark,
Yeah! I didn’t think we would have a 9.9 ep this early lol
Apparently a lot of people watched the bootleg. I resisted because I’d rather see the real thing on the best screen we have. Only one more hour 7 mins 21 secs! Cheerio for now.
spaewife,
Random semi-connected thoughts relating to the child actors growing up over the past 6-7 years….
• Last week, when Bran showed up and said “Hello, Sansa”, for a second I thought Sansa was going to say, “Uhhh…. Do I know you?” (S7 young adult Bran looks quite different from S1 little boy Bran).
• I went back and rewatched Arya’s S1 scenes with Sansa. S7 Arya looks nothing like S1 Arya. So instead of using a faceless man mask, I wonder if Arya could simply stroll into WF without being recognized. (In S1, she was often mistaken for a boy, and spent most of S2 passing herself off as Arry the orphan boy. But as Hot Pie so astutely informed her: “I can’t believe I thought you were a boy. You’re pretty!”)
Ackkkkkk!!! One hour and 5 min to go! If Arya is really making it back home after all this time – no fake outs – I’d better get my full box of Kleenex and decoy sliced onion ready if anybody passes by while I’m watching.
Beyond hyped for this episode. Been waiting for the endgame of this series for so long and now it feels like it’s actually happening. All those meetings and battles and clashes and twists and turns are finally happening!!!
“The suspense is terrible. I hope it’ll last.”
The wait for this week’s episode has felt even longer than usual. Maybe it’s because I was traveling last week, so I didn’t notice the passage of time on Thursday through Sunday quite as much. Maybe it’s just because last week’s episode was so phenomenal, and I can’t wait to see what happens next! Whatever the case, the wait for this week’s episode is now down to less than an hour, and thank God for that! My hype for “The Spoils of War” is reaching extraordinary levels!
Enjoy, everyone! 🙂
Pheeew! Time to breathe a sigh of relief since Friday’s news of the leaked episode resulted in a total social media celibacy for me!! I hope all of you fellow unsullied managed to stay spoilerfree as well. One more hour…Everyone excited??
There’s sooo much I’m hoping to see, but above all I reeally reeeeeally want to see if LF’s smug, complacent smile fades away, as our little assasin rides through the gates of WF! 🙂 Maybe even get an indication whether or not LF actually recognized her at Harrenhal back in S2. (Please D&D – I’ve been wondering for five freaking years!!)
Well guys, it’s waaay past midnight in Europe. Time for a short nap…and THEN: “Spoils of War”!!! Let me hear whatever GOT snack-setup you’re preparing 🙂
Jared,
You’re always awesome Jared. Enjoy the episode.
Show has been consistently good! I can’t complain. 🙂 Just read the synopsis and can’t feel more excited to watch this episode!!!
It’s liberating actually to be mostly offline. 🙂 Thankfully/miraculously, I did manage to avoid spoilers.
Best of luck to Matt Shakman on his first GOT episode! 🙂
I’m sure it’ll be great!
Dee Stark,
Can’t wait Dee…I have a feeling tonight’s episode will be a doozy!
😉
Sam,
I skipped the synopsis for extra surprises lol but I saw one line about arya lol
Chuck,
A DOOZY!!! Hypeeeeeee
Edward,
Thanks, Edward! You as well!
stefan666,
Stark Raven’ Rad,
I can’t believe people watched the leak!!!!!
But I’m so excited
I know. Don’t worry, we still don’t know how it will happen. Or will it REALLY happen??? lol Let’s keep ourselves surprised. 😀
Plot schmot, I want to see some giant flapping-wing dragon action tonight!
Arya comes home.
So, we should start a countdown clock for how long it takes for LF to be killed by Arya. I don’t see LF lasting much longer at Winterfell when Arya arrives. 😉
Sam,
Yeah I think they’re trolling us
Arya has never made it to family… she’s been close… sometimes I think she won’t!!
Dee Stark,
Seems to me that family — the Starks, the Lannisters, the Targaryens — is this season’s theme, so I’m betting on Arya showing up in Winterfell tonight. Sappiness ensues. 😉
Jared,
Jared – I always look forward to reading your comments the most … Do you usually post your episode reviews in the sullied of unsullied recaps?
Ten Bears,
I wonder if Arya will ever feel comfortable enough to talk to Sansa about that kind of thing though. Their time together pre-Joffrey’s ascension gave me the feeling Arya didn’t trust her. She didn’t tell her about Needle, she didn’t back her up about Mycah not attacking Joff, and I’m sure there are others… I hope they overcome that and come to trust each other as family. Plus, they both suffered trauma. Yeah Sansa was horribly traumatized by the Lannisters, Ramsay, pretty much everyone. Everything that Arya has gone through has been deeply traumatic as well. We’ll see….fingers crossed for the wolves!
I have a feeling that our little show is about to take it to the next level tonight. QOT (rip) had a scene that set a tone from the good old days and I cannot wait to see more more more!
Arya. Wow, I mean “Tito, get me a tissue”. And look out Littlefinger. She’s gonna see you… And will there be fireworks at Dragonstone? I hope I hope.
Ten Bears,
Eight minutes now.. time to get the oatcakes, cheese and Dornish Red ready…
Not to mention the tissues and (in case anybody is passing) onions…
5 minutes
Well, it’s 7:57 here in the midwest. Here we go…
The North Remembers…
Enjoy, everyone! I’ll be back after the episode. Need to focus on the TV. 🙂
Once again, I expect all my predictions for this week’s episode to be wrong and I don’t care a wit. I love this show!
I watched the leaked episode, but the quality was arse, I’m still excited to see it, this time in HD with surround sound 😀
Here we goooo! Let the game(s) begin 🙂
OOh Bran. OOh Meera. OOh Starks – and my heart bleeds…
😉
Rock art!
Oh! “The Queen is gone”
“Where did she go?”
I think we all know where we goes… Lannister Army… 😀
Fasten yer seatbelts, kids!
“Where did she go?”
Lannister bbq.
FLAMING HELL !!! lol
Man, I hope Bronn makes it to the end of this show. He just makes so many scenes that much better.
Go Dany!!! Avenge your step-abuelita!!!!
Oh goodness!!! This episode. One great scene after another. I’ve got to gather my thoughts first. 🙂
That ending was lit.
Literally.
OH MY GAAAAAWWWWWWWWWD
WTFFFFFFFFFFFCCFF
I was shaking the entire last 20 minutes. I don’t know how I’ll sleep tonight!
Bloody Hell!!
LOL Wow …just WOW!
There were some terrific scenes in this episode but that last 20mins just blew my mind.
I was so Shocked when Drogon feel from the sky. (I felt sure he was doomed)
… and then Jamie performed that suicidal hero move and I was Absolutely Positive this was his death scene!!! (could still be if he doesn’t unstrap his armour)
And who thought Jon and Dany were going to ‘grind the beans’??? lol
Most favourite Episode of this Season so far…!!!
I still miss Miguel Sapochnik for something like this, but this was a pretty freaking good effort.
Holy crap! What a great episode. The final battle was so epic.
Shoot those piece of shit dragons down
I also was shocked and worried when Drogon got hit and fell from the sky.
And when Jamie attacked, I was almost sure Daenerys and Drogon wouldn’t die, but since you never know with this show, I was worried that at least Drogon would die. Fortunately none of them died.
And I think this is the Episodes where they spoke of breaking their own record of setting people simultanously on fire. Altough it could also be Episode 5 , 6 or 7 (most likely of them Episode 6)
Dee Stark,
I know! This show!!!! 😀
OH MY GOD!!
I was holding my breath and now I’m just sweating.
What an amazing battle scene!
Wowwwwwww
Bravo Matt Shakman! Finally….”Be a dragon!”
Bronn pulling the trigger that felled Big D was fucking epic!
what an episode!!! One of the best of the show! Everything was perfectly placed and paced…
Tyrion looking on like 😑😑😑😑
Ending was very much like Tyrion sinking with the Stone Men! Can we drown Cersei next?
Arya is just the best. Shouldn’t Podrick be getting better by now?
“Fewer.” “What?” ❤
I love the Arya and Brienne scene!!!!!!!
Just incredible…. 10/10!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Who saved Jamie at the end??????? Dickon?
Easily the top 5 best episode of this series for me. Fooking amazing.
Much better episode. Winterfell scenes and the Field of fire v.2 scenes were equally great.
Uhhh but why didn’t Bran say anything about Littlefinger to Sansa/Arya? He obviously knows, “Chaos is a ladder”…
What the heck did Tyrion say at the end? I listened 5 times and couldn’t make it out. When he sees Jamie about to charge?
“(Blank), you idiot”.
That single running shot of Bronn through the field of fire was incredible. *Round of Applause*!
The North Remembers..
Great – and now I have to sleep (how after that!)
Best episode of the series hands down. The Stark reunion, Arya/Brienne sparring, Bran/Littlefinger, Jon/Dany, Jon/Theon, and that mind blowing battle. This is one for the ages 😲😲😲😲😲😲😲😲😲
Only thing better would have been all three dragons!
That was a pretty dumb move by Jaime. He saw that Drogon wasn’t incapacitated so it was silly to charge. He wasn’t thinking clearly.
Littlefinger doesn’t appear to understand how much his situation has gotten worse with Bran and Arya returning.
“Who taught you that?”
“No One.”
So who threw Jaime off his horse? Bronn? And does Jaime sinking in his armor mean he’s dead or just a cliffhanger? We’ve seen so many real deaths off screen and a couple of fake ones, with the Hound coming to mind. Surely Jaime cannot be dead, right?
And from the preview, how does Jon still at Dragonstone know what Bran saw? A raven from the three-eyed raven?
Amazing episode. Knee jerk reactions:
The Arya reunion at Winterfell was nicely done. Clearly one of the main themes in ASOIAF is that actions have consequences and nobody goes through life unscathed. Sansa has been affected and changed by what she has endured, Bran, and of course Arya as well. But it was believable and moving to see Sansa’s and Arya’s reunion. The writers of course want us to believe LF will create some havoc and pit the siblings against each other, but I think they (most likely Arya) will kill him. His story is near an end.
Jon Dany scenes in the cave was interesting….seems like they are gradually warming up to one another. Jon and Theon was an interesting twist I didn’t see coming.
Anyways the battle was fookin epic! The Dothraki are no joke, but Drogon was unreal. Just an absoutely nightmare and the director depicted his savagery damn well. Part of me keeps wishing Jaime had his sword hand back so we could just see for once how good he used to be (with real hand the best swordsman alive according to G Martin, at least now that Selmy is gone).
Will be interesting to see what the consequences are going forward. Dany had a clear victory here but Drogon was injured and goes to say that multiple bows like that could kill a dragon.
Ryan,
“Flee, you idiot.” I think I’m remembering that correctly.
“Who taught you how to do that?”……………”No-one”
Arya is my hero.
Also relieved Bronn wasn’t roasted. Fantastic ep.
“Flee”
THIS IS WHY WE TUNE IN EVERY WEEK TO WATCH GAME OF THRONES!
BECAUSE WHEN A HIGH WATER MARK EPISODE COMES ABOUT, IT IS EASILY THE BEST FREAKING THING ON TV EVER!
OMG DID ANYONE ELSE’S EYES TEAR UP WATCHING THIS???
WHY AM I TYPEING IN ALL CAPS? IDK, I AM SO EXCITED!!!
Jack Bauer 24,
Fuck yeah Jack!
That spiral pattern again in the Obsidian cave; somehow I don’t just think it’s the equivalent of a sigil for the WW, but an encoded message about defeating them??
Or I’m being too literal and it’s just a prominent symbol to make the subject of the glyphs absolutely clear…
My rational mind is trying to melt from the Awesome of this episode, holy crap this exceeded expectations!
Pigeon,
I, too, have been wondering how Podrick has been unable to learn anything. Perhaps that’s part of his charm (besides the …obvious…). He never really learns how to be a proper fighter, but he was squire to hand of the king and Jaime Lannister and Brienne of fucking Tarth and killed a King’s guard…but he’s still clumsy and silly.
I thought it was AMAZING. Easily the best of the season and one of the best episodes ever. Not one wasted moment, I was on the edge of my seat throughout the whole thing.
– All of the Jon/Dany scenes were good, I finally felt something in them. So yay!
– The ‘King Snow, no, that doesn’t sound right, King Jon?’ was gold from Davos. But every moment with Davos was gold per normal.
– The conversation between Davos and Missandei about why she served Dany was great too.
That stuff was just great though, the really, really fantastic stuff though…
– The callback to Arya getting to Winterfell and trying to enter but being stopped by stupid guards. The difference in how Arya entered was such a brilliant way of showing the difference in her character.
– The little moments between her and Sansa where you saw the heart and humanity of Arya shining through (“We’re still here”).
– Arya and Sansa talking about Joffrey. I liked that he did come up and what happened (or rather did not) and the reference to both of them going through so much (not pleasant).
– Sansa realizing that Arya’s list of people she’s going to kill is real when Bran mentioned it as well.
– And OHMYGOD! the practice between Brienne and Arya was utter perfection. Brienne’s dawning realization at just how good Arya was. Arya’s enjoyment at sparring with someone who wasn’t going to hurt her, but would give as she got. Sansa watching and seeing just what her sister had become (and clearly not quite comfortable with it). Littlefinger squirming but facing Arya with that weasely smile on his face.
– Oh, and that whole finale sequence on the fields of fire was so, so well done. Not just the effects, but the character moments. From Bronn reminding Jaime that he still is owed a castle to laughing out loud at finding out “Dickon’s” name. Jaime’s determination to not leave his men to Bronn leaving his gold behind and actually showing loyalty to Jaime. Tyrion seeing his brother on the battlefield and quietly telling him to flee once, and then even more profanely again. And, of course, the Dothraki and Drogon just laying waste to the Lannister and Tarly forces. It was outstanding all the way up to that final moment when Drogon nearly burnt Jaime Lannister to a crisp before Bronn pushed him into the water… possibly dying himself in the process? YIKES!
So, so, soooooooooo good. And the special effects of Dany on Drogon and Drogon flying overhead looked better than ever.
Inside the Episode!
Ryan,
flee you idiot!
HOOOLY M***** F….AArgh!!! It just does not get better than this show! Can’t think straight…! Must…calm…down!!
Ryan,
“Flee, you idiot” I think.
Ginevra,
Bronn yeah…
I think Jamie is still alive…the opportunity for him and Tyrion to interact is too delicious for the producers to pass up. Bronn who knows…
short but sweet. Where were the other 2 dragons?
And the cave paintings were a surprise.
Ryan,
Flee, you idiot!
What did Bran say to Littlefinger at the end of their talk? Chaos is a ladder? So, Littlefinger knows he’s in trouble.
Holy Molly, that battle was intense ! Brilliant direction and fantastic special effects all around.
Tyrion continues to have one of the most important and interesting arcs this season (yeah!). He could not have been more right to say that a smart ruler does not fight on the frontline (can Jon take notes ^^) and was correct to insist his queen stick to the plan, in spite of the many setbacks. Like Jon, he gets the symbolic dynamics at play in Westeros better than Daenerys who, for all intents and purposes, operates according to an Essosi frame of references. His reaction to the devastation caused by his “messiah” and his visceral affection for his brother were terribly moving and introduced what is bound to become his main dilema this season.
Jaime was remarkable of determination and decisiveness. He did everything he could without flinching and led his men as effectively as humanly possible. He better swim back to the surface, goddammit !
Daenerys… Oh boy ! Like Stannis in seasons 1-3, she claims her right to the title of “protector of the realm” without actually doing anything to protect said realm. Well, she is now Queen of the Ashes. I am certain her disciples will have no problem with that…
MVP : Bronn ! Not only because he shot the arrow but also because he giggled at Dickon’s name and that made my day ^^
Most WTF moment : the Dothraki rider who smugly declared that Tyrion’s people cannot fight deserves a smack across his lovely face. The Lannister and Tarly men stood their ground against a whole hord and a dragon ; when was the last time the Dothraki fought against anything even remotely comparable and won ?
Arthur,
ME RIGHT NOW
WTF THIS WAS AMAXING
Ryan,
Flee.
Ginevra,
Bronn was on the other side, I think. It has to be Dickon
Who the fuck saved Jamie
Was really hoping he would die
Winterfell scenes
I can’t believe this
Omg
Arya everything wowowowowoowwowoowow
Omg, omg, omg, omg, omg
That was incredible…from the field of fire to the scenes in WF. Littlefinger’s days appear to be numbered since 3-Eyed Bran clearly knows about his double dealings. I gasped when he said “chaos is a ladder.” Loved Arya and Brienne.
I’m still in awe.
Goodbye to Meera. You are my hero and you deserved a better send-off.
Yeah that was Top 10 for me. Amazing.
Well where to begin. Everything leading up to that last battle was great. Drogon shots were great, but my god whoever wrote and choreographed that battle scene had absolutely no clue on how cavalry fights. I have to say it was beyond terrible to me watching everything wrong with the Dothraki. Cavalry doesn’t start the charge from two miles away. They would only gallop for about the last fifty to seventy yards. Horses won’t charge through fire if they have another place to go, and they WILL not run into a line of spears and shields since they tend not to be suicidal. Is it too much to ask for just a little bit of realism. Was it an epic scene, yes without doubt, but it could have at least tried to be a little authentic to the period of our history the show and books are based on.
Dead Dane Walking,
Did you see the preview? I was staring at the TV shocked, not realizing it ended already. And then the preview… it’s just dawning on me now it’s bound to be another amazing episode next week!!!
Please Sers, give use more of that!
Wow. Just….wow.
So much to think about and talk about, but what I most loved about this episode was the fact that I was on my feet or that entire battle, pacing around the room, absolutely unable to figure out who to root for or what I wanted to see happen. All I could think was, “Please stop fighting!” This, at the climactic moment when the dragons are brought out for the first time, the moment we’ve all been anticipating since the final episode of season 1.
If GRRM wanted the book series to emphasize the brutality and horror and pointlessness of war, this episode was utterly to true to his intentions. Fantastic work, everyone involved.
Intended to post all through the episode, but I was too mesmerized to type. Ye Gods did this episode move along fast. I’m rewatching it now – tell me what Cersei wants the Golden Company to retrieve for her? At least we know that Tycho makes use of some sort of specialized army to help collect his debts. Tycho looked absolutely giddy at the thought of total repayment, didn’t he? I wish Meera had had more time, but I loved loved every minute of Arya. She’s a grown woman now, seeing her with Sansa soothed my heart. Jon and Dany in that cave were captivating, and yes, I thought they would kiss, right up until she said Bend the Knee. Relentless bitch, isn’t she. Bronn was amazing and Drogon stole the show.
Clob,
I don’t think Jamie really knows that the dragons are smart and have a mind
To turn and protect his mom
You mean Rickon, don’t you? (Channeling Jaime) 🙂
Call back to Arya trying to get into Winterfell? When else did she go back?
I am somewhat ashamed to admit it but the fight between Arya and Brienne made me laugh. Unless the former has the same density as depleted uranium, the laws of physics say she is unable to generate the kinetic energy necessary to block even one of Brienne’s strikes. Plus, Needle is so thin it should have shattered after the first blade-on-blade impact. It was thoroughly unbelievable and hilarious to me but I am a cynical person so there 😉
mind blowing ep.. I am still like shaking
the Official Littlefinger Deathwatch has begun..Bran has your number and Ayra has you in her sights.. your screwed little man…totally screwed
Dany and Jon in the cave… O M G the feels.. will be watching that on repeat
(and did you see how he just took charge..with the holding of the arm and the turning…gaaaaah)
“she has a big heart”
“i’ve noticed you staring at her big heart”
Jon’s a bewb man.. who knew 😛
and that battle.. i cant.. that ALMOST beat Hardhome… that was AMAZING
scott4567,
Yep. Maybe it’s just me, but I noticed a strong Sam Raimi influence in the action scenes tonight. As an old-school Evil Dead fan, that just warmed my heart.
CHAOS JS LADDER
KILL THAT FUCKING SLIME BALL PLEASE
That Ep.5 preview!!!!
Loved so much focus on Bronn this episode. Don’t know why he makes me happy.
Clob,
TBH I am thinking Jamie is courting a death wish now, and I pity him. Think about it: his children are all gone, his love is slipping in to madness & he feels he cannot openly be with her, QoT made it undeniably clear (if he chose to believe her) that Cersei greatly wronged his brother-the one family member Jamie had an almost untainted relationship with-effectively trying to get Tyrion murdered due to her irrational hatred.
Even without being under 20 feet of water in full plate Jamie is in a very bad place right now, and I’m certain Cersei’s reaction to the loss of both the gold & foodstuffs was factoring in to his all or nothing charge against Dany.
A Stark Reunion!
The Arya bits, especially the sparring with Brienne, were my favorite of this entire wonderful episode!!!
Shoutout to the throwback to the Jon / Tormund line
“Isn’t their survival more important your pride?”
Glad my friend was able to talk the hotel IT guy into putting HBO on the floater channel.
That was definitely worth not waiting for HBO GO to stop being overloaded (usually takes till 5 am next day).
Arya vs Brienne was classic.
Battle: Much fire much blood. But where were viserion and rhaegol? Not that they were needed…
Need to watch again with an HD signal.
Killjoy.
Ginevra,
Ty Ginny you’re the MVP 🙂
You guys I can’t deal
With this
I’m shaking
Somebody help me
I could barely breathe watching that battle. It was spellbinding, majestic, and horrifying all at once. We’ve idolized the dragons throughout this entire series, and for good reason – they’re spectacular creatures, the embodiment of wonder. And we’ve seen them burn people before. Many people. But never like this.
More than any other scene in the show, this sequence gave me a real sense of what it would be like to be a soldier on the ground, facing off against a nigh-unstoppable, fire-breathing monster – namely, terrifying. That shot of Jaime screaming at his men to take cover as Drogon swoops in, and then he looks over … and his men have been reduced to columns of ash, blowing away in the wind! Incredible. That long shot of Drogon flying by, torching wagons and soldiers alike! Breathtaking. And Jaime charging Daenerys and Drogon in a desperate attempt to kill the dragon queen and end the war as Tyrion watches his brother and his liege from a distance, begging him to flee?! Instantly iconic.
And Bronn! The man wounded a dragon, and saved Jaime from a fiery death. Give him whatever damn castle he wants!
That was one of the best, if not the best, action scenes that has ever been shown on television (and far better than most movies). One of the best episodes of the entire series. Absolutely Top 10. Maybe Top 5. Possibly higher. I need to calm down a bit first.
And that doesn’t even cover Jon and Dany’s beautiful scenes on Dragonstone, or Arya, Sansa, and Bran at Winterfell! And that sparring match! Seven hells, this episode was SO GOOD.
Chuck,
Bronn and Jamie both cleared the dragonfire, but Jamie is sinking in the armor.
Dee Stark,
Bronn!!
From first shot to last, this is some incredibly amazing intelligent television. How D&W will top this is beyond me, but it won’t surprise me one bit when they do.
First rate, five stars, ten catspaw daggers.
Ryan,
Flee
For the shortest episode ever, that was amazing!
ACME,
Actually, size is not the deciding factor in these types of fights. That was very realistic fight
Loved everything about that battle (and the whole episode, really). That being said, I’m pretty shocked that the Scorpion (I think that’s what they’re calling it?) was used/demolished without a dragon being lost in the process.
Thoughts on Drogon suffering a fate similar to his namesake’s? Festering wound/poison in the arrow?
I honestly have a hard time believing that if/when we lose a dragon, it’ll be Drogon. But thought the possible link was worth mentioning.
Ryan,
flee
Ok. Is no one going to cry BS about the hyper speed gold wagons making it back to King’s Landing BEFORE the grain shipments?
My two favorite quotes from this episode were where Bran said to Littlefinger, “Chaos is a ladder,” and where Arya said to Brienne that she learned sword fighting from “No One.” So wonderful!
Dee Stark,
SO LF said that right to Varys?
Daenyrus was epic in this episode
Everything!!!!!!!
I am still in awe, I had to take my dog out to pee and just walked around my yard in circles thinking of that episode.
As we all know, Game of Thrones is a great series but never in my life have I experienced such high intensity excitement and emotions watching this show.
When Game of Thrones has a money episode, it hits me like no other TV show ever has by at least 10 times the emotion.
This was a top 10 episode for sure, this battle scene will be viewed on YouTube over and over millions and millions of times.
Even without the battle scene this was a good episode but the epic scale of that battle with the edge of your seat emotional excitement it brought, still has me shaking!
JenniferH,
Special effects better than most movies these days. Awesome episode easily in the top 5. Not one wasted moment
the best part of all that.. Drogon burned the heck out of the crossbow thing.. THEN swiped his paws through it.. basically saying “not gonna be using THAT again”
lovoved it
Ryan,
And a callback to “will your men want to fight for you when they find out you wouldn’t fight for them” Jon to Ramsay
Daeny said something similar about fighting for her people.
Dee Stark,
Dee, I wish I could help you, but I’m shaking too. What did we just witness!?
I just finished replaying Arya and Brienne about 20 times. F*cking amazing. And Ioved Sansa looking on with a mixture of pride and ….”holy f*cking sh*t look at my little sister the ninja warrior beating Big Brienne!”
And Arya sure did look fabulous in her new warrior princess outfit. Finally! After six years of grubby boys clothes and Fsceless Men nightgowns!
On, and I loved the callback to S1 when the two dimwit guards wouldn’t let her into the Red Keep.
Damn! Great job Shakman!
(Oh, and the dragon/Dothraki vs. Lannister battle was cool too. Thought for sure Bronn was toast.)
Only sad part…poor Meera realizing Bran has become a robot. 😟
Wouldn’t it be funny if Jon drew those cave pictures himself with the help of Tyrion?
Chuck,
Ye she said that to him in the episodes the climb
So bran knows things
Randyll Tarly said all the gold was inside the gates though…I was really hoping it would all get blasted and Cersei would get screwed by the Iron Bank…
Hihi! 🙂 That’s my favorite scene. I love the dance between them two. So beautifully filmed. I’m also amazed at how Maisie has learned to “fight” so well with her left hand, just like Arya in the books.
selena,
“THEN swiped his paws through it”
That was adorable and made me lol during a very tense moment!
OMG If Jamie dies then that guarantees that Tyrion Lannister
Ryan,
Flee you idiot.
Dee Stark,
Bran doesn’t drink and knows things
Jared,
I have no idea. I cannot believe this
This was a 47 minute TV SHOW WTF
I can’t!!!!!!!!
So…. when Jamie is saved from the water…. He will be hanging out with Tyrion now, right?
What an amazing episode. I think I have said that after every episode this season. It is easy to see why the show only has 9 more episodes left. Events are going faster, characters are grouping together. It is all glorious.
I hoped one dragon would die to even out the odds.
Jaime, Bronn, Arya, Sansa and Davos were just awesome this episode. I loved Sansa saying Yes to the question of whether Arya had to call her Lady Stark. It was such a big sister thing to do. And then her frustration at realizing that her family is not really her family anymore.
I totally had the feeling Miss Sunday will betray Danny from that conversation.
Chuck,
Hahahahaa
Love it!!
I had wondered if Arya might not borrow Littlefinger’s face and head south to meet Cersei.
Wonderful , truly wonderful , but how did Dany know where to go with Drogon and her Dothraki to fight Jaime and hes Lannister Soldiers ?
Any words on what next episode going to be called?
Just a thought…. Dany stepped down on the mainland of Westeros for the first time, and within a minute somebody tried to kill her.
Drogon was awesome. The infantry battle was a little lackluster, but everything involving Drogon more than made up for it.
Four episodes in and I’m REALLY bored with what’s going on at Winterfell. New Bran isn’t fun to watch, if his job is to head off the WW he hasn’t started yet and the way he treated Meera pissed me off. Littlefinger has been a complete waste of an awesome character for about 8 episodes in a row now, and I’m getting tired of watching Sansa taking laps around the castle scowling. Is this really going to go on until the finale? The least they could do in all of this boredom is to give us some cool flashbacks from Bran about Ashara Dayne or Rhaegar. Nothing so far.
Highlight of this episode: no Euron. The cheese meter dropped significantly with him out of sight.
Pigeon,
Ha ha ha ! I know… I cannot even defend myself against the accusation because it is quite true. It is just that the scene looked like pure wish fulfillment to me. There are many perfectly believable ways in which Arya could have defeated Brienne using the techniques she actually learnt with the Faceless Men yet the writers went for a trope I find endlessly laughable : the physics-defying pint-sized powerhouse. If the basic laws of the universe do not apply to Arya, why should they apply to Brienne ? The Maid of Tarth should be allowed to fly to even the odds ! 😉
Chuck,
Thanks!
Babeko,
Eastwatch
What an episode! One great scene after another. It gave me all I can ask for – tender/heartwarming moments, funny moments, action. So many highlights for me:
– Dany/Drogon’s entrance to the battlefield with that music (glorious!) and the ensuing action sequence
– The entire Arya homecomig sequence – starting from her on the horseback up to the time the three siblings were walking in the courtyard – with the Stark theme in the background (I love that music, makes me tear up all the time)
– Arya/Brienne sparring, especially when the music kicked in, and seeing Arya smile like a little kid again (Oh and Brienne, she’s not lying – No One trained her indeed!)
– Sansa saying she remembers Jon was happy to see her and his heart will probably stop when he sees Arya (so accurate, Sansa!)
– Davos’ repartee with Jon – “A good heart? I noticed the staring at the good heart”, “Would you forgive me if I switch sides?” 🙂 (I nominate Davos for Best Wingman)
– Jon and Dany at the cave except that bit when Dany asked him to bend the knee (Jon looked so hopeful when she said she would fight for the north. And then she dropped the bomb: “When you bend the knee.” LOL)
Imma sleep happy tonight! 😀
I love that 12 (?) year old Maisie insisted on learning left-handed from the start! What a firecracker she is!
Meera deserved better, although I know Bran was simply being truthful. I think any of of would shut down emotionally if we learned every painful detail there was. I was very glad Meera brought up Jojen, Hodor and Summer, as so many of us were a bit stymied as to why Bran didn’t seem to care last year!
Dee Stark,
I wish I could help you. I’m stuck in a perpetual replay loop of my girl Arya showing up Brienne.
Was it just me or did Bronn running through the fiery field and Jamie charging Daeny remind anyone else of Jon during the BotB?
Is episode 5 titled Blood of the Dragon
Ginevra,
That’s a good idea!
Arya against with the list reference, still has more people to gank……
9 episodes left 🙁
Sansa’s Knight,
It’s titled Eastwatch as shown on hbo website
Lol, the suspension of belief is my ally in these situations…and it just occurred to me that Littlefinger would have noticed that Arya has the catspaw dagger!
Did anybody notice that Arya was standing just like Syrio Forel when she was fighting Brianna? It is the small details like this that make the show awesome.
https://youtu.be/X17pjukf8rA?t=5m35s
Clicking the settings wheel at the bottom right to set the speed to 0.25 and pausing often, this does look like Bronn’s fingerless gloves and unarmored attire to me, without Dickon’s breastplate and all.
Pigeon,
Yes! She’s so dedicated to the character. Love it!
That’s the heartbreaking part of the episode – Meera realizing Bran “died” in that cave. 🙁 Hence, he’s seemingly more and more unfeeling/emotionally disconnected as days go on. So sad.
HOLY BALLS!!!! That was amazing! “Epic” doesn’t do justice to that battle. And every character I care about (except Sandor–sob!) was given part of the spotlight. This episode is in my series top 5. I think HBO should attach a health warning, though. For kicks, the spouse and I took our blood pressure. We daren’t tell the doctor what it was.
Emotional highlight–Arya finally at last and unquestionably HOME and the reunion with Sansa. Then Bran (he hugged her a bit!). Then proving herself against Brienne. And the dagger. I could write a speculative essay about that dagger. Speaking of daggers, her eyes shot sharp ones at Littlefinger. And those two guards were callback to the Gold Cloaks stopping her from re-entering the Red Keep in S1. And poor Meera.
Just remembered–Brienne called Arya “My lady” and Arya didn’t say “I’m not a lady”.
Plot highlight–the interaction between Jon and Dany, the Caves themselves, Dany offering Jon (conditional) support,Theon nearly being throttled and wanting to rescue Yara,, Dany asserting her inner dragon.
ACtion highlight–obviously the Field of Fire, including comic relief from Bronn, my action hero MVP of that segment. Though props to Jaime for charging Dany and Drogon. And for Dany’s daring in battle. And to Tyrion, for caring so much about his brother.
Question 1–How much of the Gold Train got through? It seems very little, but can Cersei proceed without satisfying the Iron Bank? Question 2–Those Lannister soldiers Arya met in Episode 1 helped make me care more about the incinerated soldiers. How much of the Lannister army is left?
Babeko,
Russian websites have the title as being something similar to “Queen of Death”, but I have a feeling that it will probably end up being “Queen of the Ashes”.
Hold the line!
Davos:
“A good heart? I noticed you staring at her good heart.”
“Will you forgive me if I switch sides?” LOLOL
Why in the fu** was Littlefinger looking so happy to see Arya doing so well at the fake duel with Brienne? How in the devil can he be happy at that? What is that creepo up to?
Do you think Jon Snow bent his knee to Daenerys?
firstone,
Actually I didn’t even think of that!!!!
Good question!!!
Maybe??????? Ahhhh more things to think about
I’m gonna watch that sequence again and again and again. 🙂
Red Viper,
Thank you! I usually post my thoughts on the Sullied review. Sometimes in the forums, bow, if they get too long. I’m trying to reduce the word count so my ramblings don’t take up half the page. 😉
DireWolfHeart,
You’re welcome.
firstone,
Nah, Jon wont bend the knee to Dany.
The easy fix is for him to marry Dany then they will be united as equals.
Noone has to bend the knee to anyone.
Jon and Dany are going to get married, it is known lol…
Also, I want a print of those adorable little white walker cave drawings. 😉
BenesHacha,
Yes – I was so disappointed that their plunder reached King’s Landing. Grr
Randyll Tarly : “all of the gold safely through the gates at Kings Landing.” Shit. Cersei is going to be a wildly tough enemy.
Bronn: What, they didn’t teach you that at Fancy Lads school?
Arthur,
Plus that would be cool because they are Ice and Fire and this is their saga.
Right?
Sark Raven’ Rad,
To answer your Question2, it looks like many were still left, based on the ep5 preview.
Clob,
I think that he did it because he thought he might be able to kill Daenerys, even if it meant that he would have died himself immediately afterward. Jaime doesn’t know Dany, but he did know her father. My guess is that he assumed however bad Cersei was, another Aerys would be worse.
Wonder if this is the end of Jaime… he’ll have to ditch that armor quick if he wants to swim back up to the surface.
Great line to have Jon say: “There’s no time for that.” Many of us have been wondering for decades if these two would get together. And if so was time left in the show to get them together. Guess that debate is over now.
Ryan,
He said ” Flee you idiot” so worried for Jamie!
And not just anybody, but the same guy who killed her father.
Kudos again to the editor, Katie Weilan. Your Emmy awaits, milady!
ogre7775,
Dude. Seriously?
IKR?!!! When the fighting got tough and especially when Bronn lost his purse and shit hit the fan, I really expected all of those sellsword quotes to come true and for Bronn to turn tail and run. But he stayed loyal!!! Loyal to the wrong side, but loyal nonetheless.
Dee Stark,
Size does matter, unfortunately (^^). So do body volume, mass as well as muscular density and cross-sectional area.
As far as I can tell, Arya looks about 5 feet tall and weighs no more than 50 kg. Brienne must be at least 6’2” and weigh twice as much as Arya (I am not talking about Gwendoline Christie’s weight, of course). Considering the Maid of Tarth has been handling and training with heavy weaponry for all her life, her upper body strength is bound to be far superior to that of a 16-year-old who has only been practicing intensely for a couple of years.
I am sorry for being redundant for I believe I had mentioned it in a past thread but there is a reason why all competitive martial arts have weight classes and it has nothing to do with the lighter fighters being less talented than their heavier counterparts. It is simply due to kinetic energy. A featherweight, no matter how remarkable, cannot generate as much of it as a heavyweight…
Dee Stark,
I think he did not. It would have been shown if he did bend the knee. Oh, our Jon looked so hopeful when Dany said she would fight for him/the north. And then she added: “When you bend the knee“. Oh Dany, you made him think for a sec he got you! LOL!
Why is Littlefinger taking up precious minutes of the final act of this series. Are they keeping him around because he’s going to do something crazy that will matter in the final plot? As a viewer no one cares about the Knights of the Vale anymore unless they play some central role, so we don’t need their boss. I like the actor and character, but why drag out his departure from the show?
Everything was great! Amazing episode!
Just one thing though.. where’s the Old Tarly? I didn’t see him in action.
Have some milk of the poppy! I’m right there shaking along with you guys… THIS IS SO CRAZY!!!
* Loved so much how they slowed down the pace at Winterfell for the Stark to reunite.
* Could someone please cut LF in half already?!?! I’m so sick of lookin’ at his smirky grin!
* Awesome Briarya-training!
* Bronn ftw – so perfect in the role and hilarious 🙂 🙂 I think he was the one “saving” Jamie…
* And the battle…oooh boy the battle…and…and..
Can’t believe this was only 47 minutes. I didn’t miss a thing in this episode, and from now on, they just get longer and longer…EP7 with almost 1½ hours!
Shakman has my approval!
OMG SO AMAZINGGG!!
I’M SHAKING!!!
I CAN ONLY IMAGINE THE LAST 3 EPISODES OF THIS SEASON!!
Loved this episode. I now have a crazy theory about the catspaw dagger, but not sure if I can share in this forum. So many thoughts…and it was too short. Time to re-watch.
Shock Me,
I didn’t get the impression they made it back. I think Cersei just got word that it was coming….
That bit of exposition about her seemed a little out of left field in a short ep to be incidental. Good catch.
ogre7775,
They do when there’s a big-arse firebreathing dragon leading them on! 😉
So glad you guys liked it.It was epic wasn’t it.Can’t wait for next week.Jon is meeting his cousin apparently.
Arthur,
I know Targaryens practice incest, but still, she’s his aunt….ugh….
I’ve always found it interesting that Targaryans got away with it but Jamie and Cersei have to hide it – well, maybe it’s because she was married to the king….
My primary reaction is great relief to discover that the ‘spoiler’ I accidentally saw (‘Bronn dies in this episode’) was just someone trolling. Maybe next week, but at least he got a bit of heroic redemption first, and he might even get in another quip or two.
Am I the only one who was desperately rooting for Bron to succeed in stopping Drogon? Not that I wanted Dany to fall off and die, but that was no fair fight. Having dragons is like having nukes.
MVP for this episode: Davos, again. Mostly for ‘fewer,’ but also for flirting with Missandei. If Grey Worm bites it, she’s got a Silver Fox waiting to pick up the slack.
Arya was pretty awesome as well.
And I loved the cave art! The music track for the cave scene was terrific as well.
‘Fly, you fools!’ ‘Flee, you idiot.’ Tyrion = Gandalf. It is known.
Ryan,
Flee
Jaime redeemed himself on the battlefield. He held his own. That’s good to see. But did Dany burn all the food wagons when she had just been worrying how to feed her army?
Yes, Sansa seemed exceptionally interested in who else was on Arya’s list, and she’s proven her adeptness with Brienne and with what I’m certain Bran knows of House Frey, and so I’m sure she’s not finished her assassinations just yet.
Sam,
She’s playing hard to get !!!
Ginevra,
I think we have to consider that Jaime might be dead. He’ll have to ditch that armor right quick if he wants to be able to swim to the surface…
Shock Me,
Nope. 😉
They did specifically call out the it was taking too much time to gather the grain and such.
Sark Raven’ Rad,
Easily in the top 5 so far
http://www.hbo.com/game-of-thrones/episodes/7/65-65-eastwatch/index.html
Episode 5 title revealed: “Eastwatch”.
stefan666,
Right???????
I don’t know what to do with myself. That was packed full.
Arya home at Winterfell, sparring with Brienne like Syrio and being a leveled up ninja.
Seeing the three of them together talking beside the Heart tree? I had chills.
Bran (only time he showed emotion. Not with Meera, not with LF, but when Arya arrived)
also Holy**** Chaos is a ladder? You scared now Baelish? And who were you sending a letter to?
I don’t know for sure but I think Iron Bank guy is a FM. He was too nice. (I’m suspicious of everyone now-even wondering why Davos keeps mentioning Missandei is from Naath. Is she not from Naath?)
Davos was the best. Good heart *wink* He is so matchmaking there. I love it. I love how he is with Jon.
Also was I the only one that wanted to spend a lot more time in that cave with Jon Snow? He knows things now.
Dany is scaring me a little though.
Field of Fire: The Reckoning WOW. I didn’t know who to root for. I’ve never been that confused in a battle. I wanted Drogon to live, I wanted Bronn and Jaime to live. I was even iffy about Dickon of all people. Not Randyll.
I felt as conflicted as Tyrion looked.
I’m going to say it again as someone who has never been a Sansa fan. These last few episodes have shown so much development and warmth in her that it’s startling. In a good way. Lady of Winterfell is absolutely my favorite version of Sansa.
Also so sad Meera is gone so abruptly-and so painfully. But she’ll probably be safer with her father at this point.
Oh and one last thing. WHERE THE BLEEP IS GENDRY?! There are only 3 episodes left!
Okay I’m done lol
Jared,
Yes – did you see, while the soldiers were waiting in formation, one in the second row, visibly shaken. Terrifying indeed. Wondered if the soldiers that Arya met were in that battle.
This whole episode what so over the top amazing – Im gonna stay up a few hours and watch it again. I’ll regret it in the morning when I have to get up at 5, but not really 🙂
What is going on with the acting? Every actor is so robotic and emotionless. There is zero chemistry between Jon and Daenerys. Tyrion watches Jaime charge a dragon and emotionlessly utters an expletive. All the Stark kids are creepily robotic. Even the reunion scenes were wooden. The writing is becoming preposterous. For example, there is absolutely no conceivable reason why Bran, who sees everything that has ever happened, does not say to Sansa, “Hey that creepy little man, Littlefinger, who is always hanging around you started all the events that destroyed our family. He engineered our father’s death. You need execute him right now!” No, instead Robobran chooses to remind Sansa about Ramsay raping her. Absurd! Thankfully the the dragon scenes saved what would have been one of the dumbest, dullest and shortest episodes so far.
Davos’ Luck,
Oh eff me.
Ravyn,
“That bit of exposition about her seemed a little out of left field in a short ep to be incidental. Good catch.”
That or Tyrion did suggest to Jon last ep that he speak to some of Daeny’s followers from Essos. Who else would that be other than Missandei when GW is out of town? The content was about her freewill in order to establish for Jon that Daeny really did free slaves in Essos and not free slaves only to enchain them to her cause instead.
Meh, that was my take anyway.
Even spouses bend the knee, I think. One is the regent and the other just a consort.
I wonder if the rest of the episodes are gonna be rated 9.9 on imdb as well.
I loved that music in the cave (the last part). It played again when Dany asked for Jon’s opinion on the beach. It sounded similar to the TOJ theme to me. Was it the TOJ theme?
Thronetender,
Re: food wagons, LOL. Worth it?
Wow! Definitely in the top 5 episodes or so of the entire series. Matt Shakman is now in my own personal top-tier of GoT directors.
Interesting!!!! I was wondering why she was looking at him so long at the end of the fantastic Brienne sequence since he is not on her list. Plus, I can’t recall what happened in that scene in season 2 at Harrenhall (sp?) where LF was there w/ Tywin and Hary/Arya was filling the cups. Interesting speculation.
And thanks for posting the videos!
Or Lyanna and Rhaegar already were Ice and Fire, with Jon being their song.
Sunfyre,
200%
A remarkable episode ! I have already expressed my admiration for the battle scene so there. The Queen of the Ashes is coming ^^
The North : Arya is back and I am chuffed ! Yet, and perhaps it is just me being cold-hearted, those Stark reunions no longer pack much of an emotional punch for me, I have to admit. The first reunion was momentous for it represented a complete paradigm shift both for the characters and for House Stark’s fortune. Every reunion since has been and, I believe, will be a watered down version of that.
Still, delighted to see Arya back at Winterfell and even my cynicism did not prevent me from appreciating the subdued beauty of the Stark sisters’ meeting. I liked that Sansa guessed Arya would go to the crypts, as the Starks always do when they arrive and leave home. I liked Arya’s joke about calling her sister “lady” (nice book reference ^^). I really liked the emotional confusion and possible misunderstanding about Arya’s list : Sansa laughed, seemingly believing her sister was joking, and Arya joined in, perhaps to cover her slip-up. It was artfully done on both actresses’ parts !
Intriguing to see Littlefinger observe the fight between Arya and Brienne and endeavour to gauge Sansa’s reaction to it. I wonder what he was thinking about.
Bran and Catspaw : I am torn about the “chaos is a ladder” reference for Bran quoting a private conversation between Baelish and Varys gives the former some insight into the extent of the Three-Eyed Raven’s powers… If I were Bran, this is precisely the type of card I would want to keep close to my chest for as long as possible. Why bother playing the taunting game ? Either Bran knows of Littlefinger’s betrayal of Ned for certain, in which case he should say so immediately, or he does not yet, in which case he should play “dumb” and wait.
Regardless, he gave the dagger to Arya so we can all guess where this is going. ^^
Meera is too good for this world and unquestionably too good for the Starks. Obviously no one in Winterfell bothered to give her good clothes and Bran dismissed her with as little humanity as his new persona allows. If Meera decided to kill everyone at Winterfell and seize control over the region, I would support her coup !
Sidenote : why is no one in the North busy investigating the Dreadfort ? I am sorry to ask about that again but the Boltons’ former home is famously built on a volcanic vent and obsidian is a volcanic rock (as mentioned by Tyrion in last week’s episode). If Northerners want dragonglass in the very near future, the Dreadfort is a location they should at least check out.
Dragonstone : lots of very good things !
The conversation between Daenerys and Jon in the caves was not quite as interesting as last episode’s but it was still fine. I suppose I had a bit of a hard time really getting into it because it felt a touch “utilitarian” to me. The writers obviously want these two characters to reach a certain destination (let’s call it that ^^) and so they engineered the journey leading to said destination. In and of itself, it is not a problem in the slightest ; after all, last week’s interaction between Jon and Daenerys was just as pointedly performative yet it was beautifully organic. This time, it was a tad too visibly mechanical for my taste.
Still, their exchange on the beach was very good. Jon’s advice to Daenerys was perfectly sound and demonstrated a clear understanding of the symbolisms involved in the present power struggle. I am starting to believe the air of the south does wonders for the King in the North’s political acumen ! ^^
However, this take is somewhat moderated by his reaction to Theon… Can someone please tell Jon that a monarch does not choke / grab / shove people just because he is mad at them ? Good rulers do not behave so petulantly. Also, it is the second time Jon lets a potential foe know he is making a life/death decision based on his sister’s safety (threatening Littlefinger, sparing Theon). Efficient rulers do not broadcast their pressure points.
That’s the Jon I love and want to strangle : moments of utter brilliance mixed with instances of WTF-ery ^^
Missandei embodies perfectly why believers / disciples are dangerous in the realm of politics. Her repeated refusal to acknowledge Jon’s monarchical status proves her faith in and devotion to her queen is more extreme than even Daenerys’s. Not a good feature for an advisor to possess.
Mark Gatiss is a delight as Tycho Nestoris. I love his calculated coldness and conditional enthusiasm. He is a Braavosi and does not deal in sentiment. Good for him !
I am most interested to find out what Cersei meant when she said she intended to regain control over the continent and every single person on it. The camera angle the director chose to frame that scene was most intriguing… After the loss of her loot, the Queen is cornered. And a cornered Cersei is a supremely dangerous Cersei. I cannot wait !
Davos wins the “quote of the episode” game for his “fewer”. Seaworth has inherited Stannis’s grammar nazi trait and I love him for it ! 😀
I know! Poor Jon. 😀 Wanted to give him a hug.
Two words:
Poor Meera.
She did not deserve this.
Princessmara,
Really? I mean… I think we watched different episodes.
Ginevra,
You are right I think. Dany will be queen (like Aegon), John will be sisterwife (like Rhaenys and Visenya).
I’m almost speechless.
This was maybe only the 2nd or 3rd time in the entire series I’ve jumped up and screamed “YESSSSS”. Drogon flying in was epic.
The whole episode was epic.
Arya/Sansa: It was sweet and, given their pasts together and apart, entirely believable and fitting.
Bran/Littlefinger: Righteous. The ladder of chaos is about to collapse. Not only does Bran see everything, but don’t forget Arya heard LF plotting against the Starks with Tywin all those years ago.
Meera/Bran: Meera is just a lovely character and this scene broke my heart.
Arya and Brienne training? Goosebumps! And of course Pod still sucks. he isn’t a warrior at heart.
Jon/Dany: The cave/mine was a cool scene and I thought the hiroglyphics were a nice detail. I still feel like any chemistry between the two is – at this point – contrived. IF, and only if, they continue to work together (or fight each other) from now until the very end might I be willing to accept the duo as a couple. The Bend the Knee command was obnoxious and her obsession with it weakens her as a potential ruler. Unlike Missandei and the rest, whom this episode goes to great pains to make clear chose Dany as their queen, she is trying to command obedience instead of earning respect. Enough already Dany.
Jon/Theon: Part of me was hoping against hope that Jon would go in for the angry threat-grab and at the last minute give him a big old hug. Once upon a time they were great friends. And they’ve both been through so much. Yes Theon was a traitor, but he ended up tortured for it and when it mattered did what he could to redeem himself.
Jaime/Bronn/Dany/Drogon/Tyrion (aka THE BATTLE): Oh. My. God. Cinematic history. Exciting. Terrifying. Suspenseful. Heart-wrenching.
EXPLOSIVE.
(And I couldn’t even decide who I was rooting for!)
Armor doesn’t float well and the silent ending didn’t bode well for Jaime. But if Jaime was really going to die in this episode, I’d think the writers couldn’t resist making a Jaime-kabob. Hmm, have him die by dragonfire, or by drowning?
Nah, he’s not dead.
Those shots of Dany and Jon exiting the cave were just so epic.Loved it.I’m glad Dany took Jon’s advice.She didn’t attack the city.The army is fair play though she needed to do something.Cersei still got the gold though lol and that wasn’t even one third of the army.
ACME,
Arya is a ninja warrior princess. She knows how to use the laws of physics to her advantage. And Brienne was using a practice sword. Even so, nothing beats Needle.
(And now she’s got a VS dagger!!! Watch out Night King. A Girl may just add you to her List.)
ramses,
I agree. I thought that was the intention of that scene. It’s established for Jon/Davos that Dany does care for the people. Tyrion did suggest for Jon to ask around about Dany.
Ginevra,
Songs can have many verses…
Ten Bears,
oh ok, thats what the reference was. Knew it was something
This was his first GOT episode, wasn’t it? Wow, truly an awesome job!
Yes – really, all that she went through to help him, to keep him alive. I hope he realizes it, even if he can’t express it.
Chuck,
Hahaha!
YES and yes…It’s going to be another epic episode! It’ll be another loooong ass week of waiting. Hopefully without having to dodge as many spoiler-bullets this week though 🙂 I’ve started The Spoils of War again…can’t resist and CAN’T WAIT for next week 🙂 (The Ep5 title has been released btw)
I loved this episode, but my favorite part had very little dialogue; Bran, being pushed by Arya, with Sansa walking behind them and the old man along with Brieene and Pod looking on. Podrick telling her how pleased Cat would be and Brieene checks herself and thanks him.t Those kids in that scene was a emotional peak to me.
my mom and my sister were both like “are they holding hands.. ARE THEY HOLDING HANDS!??!”
they are such shippers…..hehe makes me proud
I like how Daenerys asked Jon Snow for advice…
Jon Snow gave Daenerys advice and
Daenerys used Jon Snow’s advice to the fullest extreme!!!!!
onefromaway,
You’re welcome.
ACME,
“Meera is too good for this world and unquestionably too good for the Starks. Obviously no one in Winterfell bothered to give her good clothes”
HAHA! Yeah, WTF? Give her some new attire Starks.
Davos’ Luck,
I’m not scared for Tormund at all. *rocks in a corner*
God I hope that horrible dragon dies of his wounds
Heh…Monty Python would be proud. 🙂
The Bastard,
Or will he be held captive, a bit of de ja vu (sp?)
Oh, I’m sorry to be the grumpy one on the board. But it was unwatchable for me because my HBO Now kept reloading the page. I got the gist and will be able to rewatch it – but HBO really needs to fix this problem. They charge more than any other channel they can surely work out the bugs.
Mark my word, fellow Watcher, Meera will return badder than ever!
(Fingers crossed thrice)
Jenny,
For a second there I thought they were holding hands.
And one refrain.
I’m worried about Tyrion. His plans have failed and Dany is starting to question him. Also, it looks like he’s not happy w her in the preview for episode 5. I don’t like this.
Also, was very surprised that I would rather have Bronn die than Drogon. Any one else?
selena,
LOL I did wonder that myself!
..but thought “ooeer …that cheeky director just filmed in that way to make it ‘look’ like they come out of the cave holding hands” !! 🙂
“Flee, you idiot!”
Ginevra,
Not necessarily.They have been cases of co-regents in real history.Ferdinand and Isabel,William and Mary etc.It can happen.
Davos’ Luck,
HARDHOME 2.0
Fuckkkkkkkkk
That’s my first thought the moment Bran handed her the dagger. She’s gonna kill some white walkers soon. Book it. 🙂 (I’ll be disappointed if that doesn’t happen.)
So IMDB got it wrong: with “Blood of the Dragon”…
Packed a punch! Boom! Bri and Arya⚔️
Demon Monkey,
Nope me Too lol
😂😂😂
ACME,
Get.
A.
Life.
I don’t know why but I absolutely hated Bronn for even daring to fire that thing at Drogon, like I actually wanted Dany to roast him then and there. It has also made me realize how Bronn, even though he is needed as a comedy relief character, isn’t actually important to the story whatsoever and could in a sense be replaced by any other random soldier at this point in the story. His relevance has, to me, long expired.
What I Loved:
-The Battle of High Garden
What I Liked:
-Arya fighting style
-Jon and Dany in cave
What I Disliked:
-Arya guards scene
What I Hated:
-Continuing trend of armies appearing out of thin air
-Lot of annoying dialogue
-More confused Sansa characterization
Overall, the stuff before the battle was subpar imo. Just a lot of flat / filler scenes. The battle of course was great, in my opinion better than BoB and Hardhome, but it still didn’t redeem the episode for me as I’m more a fan of the character moments than the big battle moments.
I’m just really confused about what they’re trying to do with Sansa. One moment she’s calling the shots, next she’s listening to Littlefinger again (why is he still around and why is he able to go near Bran?). Is she jealous when she sees Arya fighting Brienne? Whatever.
Also, the whole war strategy of the season has been very convoluted. Dany’s strategy has been terrible (and has Tyrion lookling like a dunce again). Plus you have armies popping out of thin air all over the place. It’s all just really meh. They’re moving pieces around on the chess board without that much rhyme or reason and it’s just amounting to whatever.
Didn’t Tarly tell Jaime at the beginning of the scene that the gold was safely behind the walls of KL? I could have misunderstood, but I was under the impression that the wagons were filled with grain and the gold was safe.
That’s not my thought nor that of a lot of people’s, and we already have dialogue in the show referring to J & D as Ice and Fire. I know some try to make the entire series just about Jon but i don’t see that. This is the story of the two of them, not just Jon nor about his parents. imo
Dead Dane Walking,
Oh, the wait! We can do this, as we’ve always done. I didn’t catch the episode title. Is it “Queen of Ashes” as someone in this thread mentioned?
OK all I have to say is this:
S3 ep 4 – “Dracarys”
S6 ep 4 – “Unburnt pt 2”
S7 ep 4 – BWAHAHAHAH BURN CERSEIS ARMY YAAAAS MY KWEEN!! *kneels*
P.S. Where The #(@* is dragonbringer?!? This whole battle was FOR him/her.
..times a thousand!! &”%*# The shit’s gonna go down and get ugly, Dee!
Jenny,
Great! That’s far from automatic but a possibility here, especially if Jon’s precedence to the throne is revealed to make Dany humble enough to accept a coregency. Even then, I don’t ship the two. I’d be okay with a dalliance but I’m not rooting for a permanent relationship.
Sam,
episode 5 is titled “Eastwatch” according to HBO site
Lol
I think most GoT fans prefer their physics in the form of R+L=J rather than F=ma. 🙂
thisgirlhasnoname,
That was my understanding as well. The gold had already made it to King’s Landing.
ACME,
Re: Bran; the showrunners seem to have flipped a switch for how they want Bran to behave this season. Seems like they want to convey the extent of those powers to the audience as much as they can, but I think you are right that they might be overdoing it at the expense of the plot. Could be that they want to portray Bran as so uninterested/unaware of the political goings-on that he just doesn’t care enough to play along, or it could be that D&D are trying to convey that he is having a hard time adjusting to his new powers and so makes cryptic comments like this to everyone he meets. Are we to expect then that he does this to random people who work around the castle?
Gerold: “Hello Lord Stark, my name is Gerold, I’m here to bring you food and change your bed linens.”
Bran: “You have chronic flatulence”
Gerold: [sets food down, backs away slowly]
Rampant speculation on my part. Hard to know anything for sure, as we have no book-material inner monologue to go on.
Pat,
Someone on another site suggested
What I hope is that he lives, kills Cersei and then joins Dany and Jon to fight the WW. But that might just be me dreaming of rainbows.
Reading this is a 1st time director to the GOT universe and he did a remarkable job. Have just finished 2nd viewing and their were Alot of sweet parallels in this episode..
Arya arguing at a city’s gates to be allowed in.
Jon entering another cave with a hot woman.
Bronn firing another arrow that could end a battle.
Jamie about to add ‘Queenslayer’ to his infamous titles.
Two “I’m not a Lady” characters involved in a very uncharactoristic femine trait…
Are there more…? 🙂
QueenofThrones,
Love this comment Hahahahahahaha
I always wonder the same!!! Come back dragonbringer
Dead Dane Walking,
Big timeeeee
BTW question – how did the dothraki get there, I thought all the ships were gone. And are the Unsullied still at Castely Rock?
Dee Stark,
HI DEE IM HERE TONIGHT FOR THE FIRS TTIME THIS SEASON AAAHHH OMGGGG
stefan666,
I think (hope) Bronn still has a role in bridging the gap between the two brothers.
Ginevra,
Yeah I watched it really slow and think I noticed Bronn’s longer hair as well.
Well, that’s my theory and I’m sticking to it. I understand that others and perhaps even most disagree. And I’m completely okay with that. Believe what you will.
No One can complain now that short episodes are not as good as longer episodes.
The Spoils of War – 50 minutes – 10/10
Demon Monkey,
Me too. I don’t want Bronn to die either, but between the I’ll always choose Drogon. What a emotionally conflicting scene!
Preview has Varys saying something to Tyrion like you have to make her listen maybe they are talking about (not) executing Jaime.
There’s no way Jaime Lannister goes out that way. Not withought some bro time yo.
Plus he has to say something to Dany about Aerys.
thisgirlhasnoname,
Oh yeah, that would be a great reason to keep him alive actually. But other than that I can’t think of anything else.
Even spouses bend the knee, I think.One is the regent and the other just a consort
It depends. Isabella and Ferdinand ruled as equals iirc.
Demon Monkey,
Thought the exact same thing, tho I really do like Bronn.
So does Cersei still get the gold?
on the beach Tryion said they had enough ships to get the dothroki to the mainland….I am gonna assume the Unsullied are still in control of CR and arent gonna have any qualms using the available..err protein resources they have (dead lannister soliders anyone?) to survive….they would not be the first army to resort to that.
ogre7775,
I agree with you that it seemed odd, especially given what I have read about it (I have no experience in warfare, involving cavalry or otherwise).
Whenever I bring things like this up to my wife she’ll say “You do realize that there are dragons in this show right? And you are complaining about this?” LOL
Oh, thanks! The focus next episode will be on the wall/north/WWs then. Exciting!
Why didn’t Bran act this distant/weird with Benhen, but now all of a sudden he is?
HereBeDragons,
Wow good catch on all of those (esp the first one)
QueenofThrones,
I am so happy to have you here
I usually come on and express my excitement and then go to bed
But it’s a holiday tomorrow in Canada tomorrow and I can’t sleep!
DITTO 🙂
Jack Bauer 24,
Bran was half dead when he was with Benjen..hadnt really even begun to process anything..it was AFTER Benjen left him and meera at the tree, when he “connected” and we got that crazy montage of EVERYTHING that THIS Bran came about
ash,
Another claimaint to the title of Azor Ahai! That is the last thing we need 😉
I hope he is alive too, I want him to live long enough to see Bran again…
Jaime: “Listen, Bran, about pushing you out that window…”
Bran: “I saw you take a bath with Brienne of Tarth”
Jaime: [backs away slowly]
Agree. I was like, you have a lot of cheek… to even think you have a right to do that.
Also I was talking to the husband about Bronn… honestly what does this guy really offer. He’s snarky and good at killing people but has no other redeeming qualities – he’s basically a hedonist. Was hoping he’d be killed. I suspect he’ll switch sides to Tyrion again and we’ll be stuck with his snark-ass to the end of the series. *sigh*
Those last underwater shots were very eerie, and methinks Jaime has been captured. I hope Cersie, the poor dear, won’t be too upset.
Jack Bauer 24,
Because a lot has changed since he saw benjen.. he has learnt more things from the visions
Randyll Tarly died on the Field of Fire. He was briefly shown falling to his knees, screaming and on fire, just before Dany and Drogon come in against Jaime (“take cover!”) skimming above the water.
The fate of Dickon is unknown.
I’m over Jamie
Die!!!
Steel_Wind,
I didn’t catch that
Must be because I was hyperventilating the whole time
IMDB character list for Ep 5 is interesting.
thisgirlhasnoname,
Guysssss if you discuss this use spoilercoding lol
Standing ovation for the director Matt Shakman. Finally, someone worthy to walk in the footsteps of Miguel Sapocknik. Kudos to the writers as well for an outstanding script.
There were so many beautiful moments and they were incredibly well-stitched together. Here are a few of my faves:
*Littlefinger’s face when he realises Bran can see right through him
*Meera’s face when she realises she actually lost Bran back in the cave and has been left with a stranger
*The two knucklehead guard’s conversations with both sisters.
*Arya showing some warmth towards her sister
*Brienne realising she’s finally fulfilled her vow to Caitlyn
*The swordplay between Brienne & Arya, a callback to the last time they met.
*The intimacy of the moment between Jon and Daenerys in the cave
*The sound of the Dothraki hoofbeats over the hill
*The way Bronn switched from laughter to concern in a heartbeat. He’s such a survivor and never forgets what’s important
*The Dothraki standing up on their horses in battle as a sign of what child’s play this is for them
*The conflict on Tyrion’s face at the end
*That closing scene of Jamie sinking into the water
Question: Will Arya use LF’s own knife to kill him? That would be a beautiful callback.
deleted.
Well, we could chalk it up to some mumbo-jumbo and connecting with the Weirwood for the first time after that 3ER died in the cave.
And I suppose the “official” story is that. Though Bran was always connected, even after the 3ER died. That’s how we got “Hold the door”, after all.
Practically speaking though, (the REAL answer): it’s because D&D decided to go in this new direction with Bran when they were writing Season 7. They had not come to that decision about a sudden change in his demeanor when Season 6 was being filmed.
D&D are doing some “gardening” of their own as they write these seasons of scripts.
thisgirlhasnoname,
Ugh lol
That promo pic with Team Tag and Jon/Davos looking out at something in the distance…was that in the episode? I didn’t see that angle.
Sadly, yes. Randyll Tarly said to Jaime that the last wagon of gold just entered King’s Landing (the remaining wagons had food). So… maybe the city will starve, but with the credit of the iron bank they can buy more.
ash,
I’m dreaming of rainbows too. 🙂
HereBeDragons,
There were tons of memories if not outright callbacks too
-Chaos is a ladder
-Brienne finally fulfilling the oath she shared with Jaime (Arya and Sansa safe ftm-and both Pod and Arya mentioned it and the more I talk the more I’m now afraid for Brienne so…zipping it)
-Arya seeing LF who she hasn’t seen since he was scheming with Tywin when she was cupbearer
-Yeah Jon in a cave with a woman-I definitely noticed 🙂
-Also I’d forgotten that! Bronn did shoot an arrow that cause the wildfire explosion on Blackwater and again this time. Wow. Tons of parallels. Last time Davos had to dive under water to avoid the flames, now it’s Jaime and Bronn.
Pat,
And with 1 hand that seems… not likely.
Bran reminds me of the title of the British folk song, “He’s Young But He’s Daily Growing,” also known as “The Trees They Do Grow High.”
thisgirlhasnoname,
My heart!
Dothraki got there by boat. Realistically from Dragon Stone to where Lannister men were at which is the Grassy Vale should only take no less then under 10 hours to get there. Specially the way Dothraki ride.
Not all the ships are gone. Tyrion literally said in the same episode that they still have enough ships to carry the Dothraki and to call Greyworm back. Which then Danny replied enough with clever plans
Steel_Wind,
Are you sure? I didn’t want to get my hopes up. (does that sound mean?)
Pictures aren’t literally from filmed footage, but the scene was when Theon’s boat came ashore, right?
My guess is that he is found in the Black Cells beneath the Red Keep, by accident, by Ser Davos and Tyrion, who are there to rescue Yara. He’ll be an unlooked for bonus.
Davos will go because there is nobody better who knows how to make a quiet landing by sea at King’s Landing – and Tyrion will go because he knows the secret passages beneath King’s Landing (and the Red Keep). Davos using his smuggling skills to help in the rescue will be Jon’s way of lending aid to Daenerys.
Dee Stark,
Sorry, I just edited both of my comments, but I didn’t say the name in either one to be sensitive, and linked to a publicly available source (IMDB) and the info is usually provided to them by the HBO team. Sorry, I wasn’t aware that was considered a spoiler.
D-R-O-G-O-N!!! Finally to see your utter magnificence!!
That was breathtaking! I watched the episode twice back-to-back and the first time, I was on the edge of my seat. The end battle sequence was the best battle sequence I have seen on GoT, bar none. Stupendous! Also wonderful was the beautiful and romantic Targaryen cave sequence, the illuminating Missandei-Jon-Davos chat, Theon’s charged meeting with Jon, and the wonderful reunion at Winterfell of the three last Starks. A fantastic episode!
Pat,
hahahahah
So…..who did the dagger belong to before? And who is Arya going to kill with it?
Those were my two other big questions, aside from the obvious, “Is Jamie going to survive this?” (To which I think the answer is “yes.”)
I suppose Arya will use the dagger on LF, but the look on Bran’s face when he handed it to her suggested he was fulfilling some kind of major, fated thing.
No because Dany wasn’t there when Theon arrived.
Ginevra,
Dany wasn’t there for that
ACME,
ACME I really do love your comments, but just a reminder – this show has dragons. This being the case, the laws of physics might just have to take a night off for this show (besides which, Brienne was using a training sword and was probably being careful not to use her full strength) 🙂
Cersei doesn’t have Yara.
thisgirlhasnoname,
Well the link shows through your spoiler coding hahaha
It’s not technically a spoiler but imdb isn’t considered official so I thought it would be based on people’s knowledge of the leaks
Oh well no biggie 😊
This episode was too good for me to be upset about a potential giveaway!!!
QueenofThrones,
That is interesting, I assumed Jaime was dead but you are right. It would make a much better story to have him survive so he can meet Dany.
Jaime: “Listen, about stabbing your Dad…”
Someone has to do away Cersei also, and if Jaime is really gone there is only one valonqar left…
Pretty sure. I went through it several times in slow motion to verify it was him. I admit it is not 100% conclusive — but after rewatching that small bit six times in a row, I am in the “95% sure” camp.
Randyll Tarly is dead; slain on the Field of Fire by Drogon.
Maybe because the visions a slowly mentally draining Bran. He’s seen his sisters offscreen which tells you he’s seen some darker stuff. He looks exhausted and I would too seeing a lot that’s happened.
Steel_Wind,
I don’t think Randall Tarley died because they would have made his death more obvious.
Jack Bauer 24,
That appears to be another angle of the shot on the beach when they are looking at the dragons..right before Jon gives his advice to dany
The first time Bran connects to the weirwood network on his own is after they escape with Benjen’s help and Benjen leaves them outside the Wall. So his brain hasn’t been overloaded when he talks to Benjen.
Princessmara,
Not sure what you were watching but it wasn’t what saw.
Last we saw her. she was in chains being lead out of the throne room of the Red Keep.
While I suppose Euron could have paraded her through the streets of King’s Landing, only to then drag her back to one of his ships – I don’t think so. He doesn’t trust his own men with her; not all of them and not for a lengthy period of time. If he wants her still alive and unable to escape because an Iron Man turns his cloak, the safest place to keep Yara is in the dungeons of the Red Keep.
No way Jaime is dead. I think his death will be a bit more intimate and definitely not off screen.
Hodors Bastard,
Hahaha!!! Nice one!!
ACME,
Completely agree… but I chose to suspend my disbelief. 🙂
Absolutely!!! The way the Starks treated Meera is completely unforgivable! No new clothes? No Finnish sauna? No foot massage? If Meera decides to turn her back on House Stark she will be more than justified!!!
Fierce as a Wolverine,
In my head that dagger was originally Visenya Targaryen’s (Aegon’s sister wife) and a companion to (if not broken piece forged from) her blade Dark Sister.
So Arya has/is Dark Sister.
But I have no facts to back that up. 🙂
You’re right. It must have been coming out of the cave, then, although I don’t recall them looking at much at that time.
Princessmara,
You are reaching soooo hard and I can see through it.
Unfortunately it did. Right for the mouth of Randyll Tarley
Where’s Gendry?
He’s forging ahead, of course.
And, as always, I’ll see myself out…
Maybe. But I don’t think D&D went through the big presentation of a Valyrian steel dagger to Arya so that she had it to kill Littlefinger with.
Arya could kill Littlefinger with a stew fork or a soup spoon. She doesn’t need a Valyrian steel dagger to kill him. The writers didn’t go to those lengths for that simple plot point.
She got that dagger because she is going to have it when it counts. That’s means against a white walker, not some jumped up commoner from the Fingers.
Did anyone think it was strange how Jaime was pushed into the edge of the water (a river?) he was riding next to (in at foot depth) and then he appears to be sinking 30-40 feet with lots more to go?
How could the water be so deep right at the edge?
Ps, loved the episode, still completely psyched brah!
Princessmara,
Spot on. I felt like I was watching The Lobster the way the characters were reciting their dialogue.
So does Bran know LF was behind it all?
So how wounded is Drogon by Bronn´s arrow hit , thoughts?
selena,
Ok, thanks for that! I had some trouble hearing at the beginning and my caption wasn’t working for some reason….
I think it won’t be just any white walker either. I have a feeling it may be the Night King himself.
That was amazing! Great battle! I also really liked the cave carvings. Finally some actual proof that can back Jon up!
No, he didn’t.
We don’t really know. In the books, the dagger was in the Royal carriage and belonged to King Robert. He got it from the Targaryens when he took the Red Keep.
The books suggests that it was taken from the Royal carraige by Prince Joffrey who, along with a bag of 30 silver stags, gave it to a straggler following the Royal Procession to kill Brandon Stark, partly out of Joffrey’s idea of mercy, and partly because Brandon had literally beaten the stuffing out of Tommen in the practice yard.
Tyrion puts this together when Joffrey proclaims he is “no stranger to Valyrian steel” when he firsts picks up Widow’s Wail at the gift presentation before the wedding.
But that’s the books. I don’t think the show is adopting that explanation from the books. I would guess we are to think it was LF. An explanation I am not a fan of.
HereBeDragons,
All I know is that I’m adding S7 Arya-Brienne training session + S1 Arya-Syrio training session to my “mix tape” rewatch list.
Syrio would be so proud. 🗡
BTW: I liked how Maisie did that twirl of the VS dagger when she unsheathed it to show to Brienne
Steel_Wind,
O Well that solves it then…
In GRRM’s fucked up, bittersweet world, Arya’s going to use the dagger to kill Bran when he tries to warg into Nymeria.
..And then Drogon will roast all of them.
…? 🙂
lol
Done
The NK is Jon’s.
Back from my ‘double viewing sesh’ on Sky Atlantic.
Bloody ‘ell – that episode was FUCKING EPIC. It may have been the shortest GoT episode running time wise, but certainly one of the best ever.
Arya’s treatment by the guards when she turns up at the gate of WF was reminiscent of the time she jumped off Sandor’s horse and approached the Frey men boasting about how they had killed Rob’s direwolf and stitched the head onto his headless body? They told Arya to ‘Fuck off’ also and look what happened to them! Those two guards were lucky they didn’t end up dead also 😉
Loved Arya’s and Brienne’s fencing match. If it was for real Arya would have killed her. Brienne was well impressed of course and I had to chuckle when she asked her who taught her those skills and she answered ‘No one’ 😀
As for the attack on the Lannister’s by the Dothraki and Dany riding Drogon what can one say… DRACARYS perhaps! The cinematography, SFX, CGI was brilliant. Good to see that even when Drogon was injured and brought down, he still managed to destroy Qyburn’s ‘scorpion’ with a lash from his tail – All that hard work by the KL blacksmiths for nothing 😉
A great episode in EVERY respect.
There just is so little going on in this show anymore. I know people will be like OMG DRAGONS FIRE BATTLES PEOPLE DYING but like, there’s nothing going on between the characters. Most characters don’t really have arcs and are stagnant, stuck in place somewhere while D & D move the army pieces around the chess board. It’s just not a very impressive post book showing from D & D. I don’t feel anything while watching this show anymore.
Jack Bauer 24,
I think they’re showing Bran as still slightly jumbled. Like he has so much in there he can’t sift through it unless he’s reminded.
LF saying the word chaos made him look up and repeat that line. Remember that moment with Varys.
As soon as he felt Arya coming he knew something that disturbed him.
A lot of people are thrown by his new behavior but it makes perfect sense to me. He’s still in there-drowning in data-but you have to watch him really carefully.
Arya: “They say you killed Joffrey. Did you?”
Sansa: “I wish I had.”
Arya: “Me too. I was so angry when I heard someone else had done it.”
Buuuuuuurrrrnnnnn
I’ll buy that. All the grain wasn’t already in the convoy. Good enough. That works for me.
Catspaw Assassin,
I hadn’t made that connection but when I was even younger than I am now I really liked Pentangle. Sadly (you probably know this) the two guitarists of the group Bert Jansch and John Renbourn are no longer with us but Jacqui McShee is still singing.
Getting back on topic I think that GRRM said at some time that Bran would be the one to save the world (as in Planetos). If Bran can see so much now I wonder if he will be able to communicate with the Night King.
Where’s the Hound and BwB?
Could it be Sansa? Cersei has already gotten her revenge over the Ellaria/the Sand Snakes, and Olenna… she mentioned Sansa in Ep1 when she was walking over the floor-painted map.
I can’t imagine the Golden Company attacking the snowy North though…
So glad to see you changed your tune – and this time for the better Jack 🙂
No more whinges then about reduced budgets, a short (or only 7) episodes or lackluster battles, huh 😀
How does Arya know someone else did it?
Jack Bauer 24,
She consulted Wikipedia
I guess it’s left unsaid, but I’m unclear how Cercei isn’t completely defeated. Even with the support of the Iron Bank, and therefore he Golden Company, they only number 10,000 men. Even I fthey are an elite fighting force, they are hopelessly outnumbered and that doesn’t even include the dragons? Anyone have insight on how the wars not essentially over?
Ginevra,
Imio, Rhaegar (I apologize if I’ve spelled that wrong) was never king (in certain kingdoms before the clear establishment of patrilineal, not partible inheritance, that matters). It’s likely he never married Lyanna and even if he had, it’s not clear polígamy would b accepted (pretty sure those days had passed in Westeros). Therefore, Jon is a bastard and would not supersede his aunt. That said, he could challenge her.
What it always come down to in these situations is ambition and support. Dany has both in spades. Jon doesn’t want the iron throne. This point, imo, is moot.
I could add more arguments against it. But I don’t think we need them. They won’t fight each other over it.
There was some obvious sexual tension. I’m not sure what to think of that. This isn’t a romance for effs sake.
Jon has no interest in ruling the 7 kingdoms. As Indria said, Dany winning is a bit on the nose for D&D. I’m thinking corule for them is not in the picture. What do u all think?
Jack Bauer 24,
She was referring to someone other than herself.
She said she was angry because she heard someone else got to him before she did, she found out in season 4 when the hound got attacked by rorge
A Dornish Tyrell,
She wants the other kingdoms that r in rebellion. That’s how I took it.
Something seems off
HBO has episode 5 as Eastwatch
IMDB has episode 5 as Blood of the Dragon
Given the preview for next week and what we know is coming I’d say next week should be Blood of the Dragon and episode 6 should be Eastwatch which means we only need the last episodes title now
I hope HBO doesn’t stuff up and air episode 6 before episode 5 . I know it sounds stupid but stranger things have happened and Cersie is still ruling the 3 Kingdoms 😂
Yanno, you can watch these things before making proclamations. At least, with certainty.
I’ve watched it many times. I’ve watched it again. He takes off his helmet as he is dying so that we can tell it’s him. And the Hunter’s Bow badge of House Tarly that was pinning his sash on his right shoulder has fallen back and edges of it are visible here above his shoulder.
No, I am not 100% certain. But yeah, that’s why he removes his helm as he drops and why Jaime’s eyes widen just before the camera cuts to him as we see his men drop and then Tarly rip off his helmet and fall.
http://imgur.com/a/BWKzh
DireWolfHeart,
I think he’s discovered the possibility to end the rebellion with one stroke. After killing Dany, rebels would be in disarray.
During the battle you can see when he’s beginning to understand the situation they are in and that fighting against dragons is pointless.
I’ve seen interviews with the WW veterans (World War, not the White Walkers!) and some of them mentioned that the only way to not be paralyzed by the fear during combat and to fight as hard as they can is to accept that they’re already dead. And if by some miracle they’re not gonna get shot, it will be a surprise.
I think Jamie thought the same.
Jesus H Christ! Have patience Jack – you have seen the trailers with Beric and his flaming sword? Rest assured they will appear soon. We still have 3 more episodes to go – and they are LONG ones 😉
The golden company went with stannis to fight the wildlings…
Shock Me,
My issue was Dany burning up the food she should be taking. But I guess it’s hard to get the soldiers and leave the grain? I was yelling ‘Don’t burn the supplies!’ Sadly, she didn’t listen to me.
Those Starks can be ungrateful bastards, can’t they ? 😛
The girl dragged their brother for miles, sacrificed the last of her strengths to save his life, lost her sibling to the greater cause that is Bran’s continued existence and they did not even give her a decent jacket ! That is colder than the Night’s King’s soul.
I could not agree more. At this point, I am starting to think that the Starks just gave Meera a bowl of soup as reward for her troubles ! She should just make a deal with the Night’s King and take over Winterfell because she deserves it more than all the Direwolves put together.
She will do none of that because she is a saint but bloody hell, she should !
In Westeros, kinetic energy truly has no potential 😉
Shock Me,
Not BS. Sent it there express. Like it was a priority so it was allowed to move up the line. I was disappointed, but I don’t think it’s BS.
Johnny Utah,
I thought this was weird too…
Henry v,
And then they deserted when Stannis burned Shireen.
Demon Monkey,
That would mean spreading thin the Golden Company (or what’s left from it) all over Westeros. I don’t see it. Maybe attacking Dragonstone? :/
Lol. Needed Ash to stand up and shout “alright you primitive screw heads, This is my Boomstick!! “
He was Crown Prince, moreover, it is clear that the Valyrians could marry their next of kin. It happened often in the Targ line – that is why the Blood of the Dragon still exists.
And we also know he married Lyanna before he rode north. That’s why the Kingsguard were still there at the Tower. Rhaegar was dead; Aerys was dead. The Kingsguard must be with the King, guarding the King. “The King must be guarded at all times”. That’s the oath of the Kingsguard. That’s why 6 rode off with Rhaegar, and Jaime remained with Aerys.
If Rhaegar had not married Lyanna, they would have gone to Dragonstone because that’s where Viserys was. But they did not; they stayed at the tower. In the book, it’s where the Lord Commander of the Kingsguard was, too (there were three in book who stayed at the Tower, not two). They stayed not because dead Rhaegar told them to, but because that’s where their King was.
That’s the story we’ve been watching/reading for 20 years. It’s not really up for realistic debate at this point.
Ten Bears,
Ha ha ! Needle’s magic shall save the day 😉
Had Arya actually used the laws of physics to her advantage, I would have found the scene superb. As it was, I merely thought it was delightful schlock. Nothing awful, just silly ^^
ash,
I know, I know… I am being somewhat silly with this. But, even in a world littered with giant fire-vomiting lizard and ice zombies, I want gravity to work normally 😛
The scene had potential and was a perfect opportunity for Arya to showcase the specific skills which she acquired precisely in order to overcome her structural disadvantages (short stature, low body weight and muscle mass). That, to me, is what was at stake : diminutive Arya using techniques unknown to traditional Westerosi fighters to achieve victory in spite of the very physical limitations that should disqualify her.
If said physical limitations are ignored and the younger Stark sister can suddenly defy the most basic laws of physics, if her methods are entirely similar to her opponent’s, and if Brienne does not fight at her full potential, then the scene becomes narratively meaningless. Still adorable but meaningless ^^
You know, I just want to say, Game of Thrones is the only show that pulls my whole family together. Everyone is off their iPads and iPhones, no one is in their room on their computer or watching their own TV.
When Game of Thrones comes on we all go into the living room, many times with guests, turn on HBO at 9pm and watch GoT.
Its like a break from reality and we all just go off into GoT fantasy land together and are all entertained.
Love this show!
I really hope HBO brings us a spinoff that has all the same elements as GoT, so we all can continue this journey together.
A Dornish Tyrell,
Indeed, but they still ventured north, the trustworthiness of sellswords was never a question, I was simply addressing your statement about them not going to the snowy north
“The let me show you this cave I found,” line doesn’t work on blondes the same way it does red heads; does it Jon?
Ther were so many lovely callbacks in this episode. Dany to Jon re: your ppl’ lives or your pride (Mance), Davis to Jon: fewer (thank you, Stannis, for the grammar lesson), Arya being kept out of the gate. I know there were more and I loved them all! Can’t wait to see someoeyliat them out.
It’s not really out of left field because in the episode before this, Tyrion had encouraged Jon to talk to the people who were Dany’s entourage and find out what they thought of her, and why they followed her. This dialogue happened on the cliff in 7E03, when were both brooding. Jon and Davos were just doing what he’d recommended they do, since they were still technically stuck on the island until Dany gave them their boat back.
I think you are completely right. The loot I was referring to was the food which the inhabitants of King’s Landing must really need by now. Furthermore, Cersei suffered a spectacular defeat (bad for the queen who wants to look like the winning side) and lost her brother. It is not the end of the war, by any means, but it seriously compromises her position. A scenario to which Cersei is bound to react with her customary reserve and moderation, I am certain…
Pat,
The idea of an omniscient oracle with no filter tickles me endlessly, I have to admit. I shall keep my fingers crossed and hope to see Bran turn into the Seven Kingdoms’ Gregory House.
Jack Bauer 24,
They’re in the only story arc that travels in real time 😛
Henry v,
Oh ok!! I apologize for the misunderstanding. Yes, you are correct in that sense… They could easily come back and attack Winterfell.
Did anyone notice how deliberate Bran was in giving Arya the catspaw dagger? It was like he was intentionally setting something in motion – something that he had seen and knew exactly how it would play out…
The Golden Company is with Jon Connington, and departs for Westeros with “Young Griff” (aka False Aegon) to get involved in the fight for the Iron Throne allied with Dorne.
While that storyline has been cut from the show, the mercenaries with Stannis were not the Golden Company. It seems that D&D are bringing the Golden Company back in to the end game of the story through another path.
Demon Monkey,
Yea, since Rhaegar died before Jaime murdered Aerys, the next in line to the throne was Viserys, then Dany. Having any Targaryen blood is enough to stake a claim though, many in history have staked claims to thrones on much less and won them.
Not sure that Rhaegar would have cared, it is anyones guess though. If he did end up putting down Robert’s rebelion, then he certainly would have had to fight Dorne if he had ultimately chosen to scorn Elia and marry Lyanna.
If Jaime and Randyll Tarly are captured/killed/ etc., then is Cersei without a general to command her army? Is their anyone left?
Love that Dany has watched Jon’s scenes in prior seasons and keeps repeating his lines back to him.Apparently there isn’t good reception at the Wall so Jon has not done the same with her scenes but now Missandei is giving him the previously on.
I have watched it, more than once. Pretty certain it’s not him. But I’m sure we’ll find out if he has a curtain call. 😊 I don’t mind being wrong.
In hindsight, battle would have been more reasonable if the plan was for Dany to burn a path through the shield wall and then have ALL of the Dothraki charge through the hole, flanking the shields and saving a lot of casualties on their side. Still could have had the bit with Bronn, the Scorpion, Drogon, Jaime, and the lake. This would have avoided the absurdity of horses charging into the shield wall and would have shown a better thought-out strategy. Better strategy yet would be a stealth dragon-only attack followed by a quick retreat of the dragon before the Dothraki show up.
The scriptwriters really need to talk to more people.
Having said that criticism, though, I have to say this was a great episode!
Steel_Wind,
I do not see how we know that he married Lyanna, given what you have said, and per Westerosi laws, he cannot have two wives. Therefore, Jon is a bastard.
And being crown prince may be enough in westeros or anywhere if the conditions are right. But sometimes, not being crowned or proclaimed king per the traditional customs was used against the descendants of a ‘crowned prince’ by his relatives who who successfully shut them out (or usurped, if you prefer). It comes down to support and ambition. And Jon has neither for the Iron Throne.
So I respectfully disagree that Jon and Dany will fight over a throne Jon doesn’t want.
Randyll Tarly was not wearing a helmet. The soldier shown on fire and removing his helmet was a random red shirt. It was meant to show Jamie seeing his troops being decimated which led him to the poor decision of charging Dany with Drogon right there.
She didn’t lose her brother.
Steel_Wind,
I’m sorry, what is not up for realistic debate at this point?
Demon Monkey,
I don’t think they will marry, certainly not anytime soon, but they are def gonna bone.
For now the sexual tension/mutual attraction will be both annoying and at the same time leveragable. That is, neither can be totally dispassionate / rational in their negotiations anymore (since they would like to suck each other’s faces rather than burn them off). They’ll both be trying to disguise that but covertly look for signs in the other.
Then eventually, they’ll get frustrated enough with the goings on that they’ll bang or at least a make out sesh. Then they’ll probably separate for awhile and have akward convos where they try to pretend to other people nothing happened. But they’ll be trying to help each other and will go to each others aid.
That’s my cheesy fanfic version anyway.
Dude! There’s dragons flying around and you’re focused on the sword fights being unrealistic…? Just enjoy the show.
No, the line traces through the issue of the first male heir until it fails, then it goes back to the next in line. In the Six Kingdoms, that’s the next male. In Dorne, it’s the first born whether she is a man or a woman.
Put in real world terms, if Prince Charles were to die tomorrow, with Queen Elizabeth still alive, the next in line to the Throne is Prince William. It isn’t Princess Anne, nor Andrew nor Edward. It’s William. There is no doubt about that at all.
The Royal Line of succession continues without regard to whether they were crowned or not before they had children.
When you are “Crown Prince” you are the Prince who is in line to inherit, as Rhaegar was. Jon is his lawful heir, not Dany.
ACME,
Don’t underestimate Arya! Last mistake you’ll ever make 😉
Also Needle is made of castle-forged steel brother, I doubt it would break, especially given that Brienne was using a blunted sword.
Just finished watching. Holy shite the emotions. What an amazing sequence that field of fire was. Those men on fire, poor Jamie and Tyrion. So intense. I cannot stand behind Daenerys Targaryen at this moment. Not after seeing that.
Pat,
No No it doesn’t work like that.In Westeros or in real life.The succession line goes through Rhaegar cause he was the eldest child and heir.The eldest of his legitimate children gets the throne.It doesn’t matter when he died and that he was never king.Obviously the Targaryen were overthrown but that is the claim Dany is following.See her speech to Jon last episode.
Steel_Wind,
Thanks for the clarification! I bow to your knowledge of English and Westerosi succession laws 🙂
Everyone has already said everything I’m thinking and feeling! Loved everything about this episode!
A few questions:
Was Sansa jealous of Arya, or was she thinking that Arya was bad ass and would come in super handy in a fight? Jealousy seems a bit petty at this point and not really conducive to the plot moving forward. However having a sibling that can do some damage would certainly be helpful to the Starks. Sansa would have two Briennes.
Was Brienne holding back? (I just loved this scene! Arya was like nanny nanny boo boo! dancing around Brienne like a little pecker gnat.)
There was an interesting look on Bran’s face when he handed Arya the dagger, like a “knowing” look, as if he knew she was meant to have the dagger. Can Bran see the future too or just the past and present?
And I was thinking that Dani was going to get the gold leaving Cersei in a bad way with the Iron Bank. Is it possible that the Iron Bank will take the payment from Cersei, and then NOT back her in future ventures, leaving the throne broke with no way to get another loan to help with their war? I was really thinking that the Iron Bank was out for blood.
And last question: why did Dani burn the food instead of taking it all back to Dragonstone? Seems like such a waste!
This is one of my very favorite episodes of the series.
Arya was given the valerian steel dagger for a reason. Bran can see the future. I think we’re being set up for a good fight between nobody and a white walker.
Jenny,
Thanks! I clearly need to brush up on English and Westerosi laws of succession. 🙂
I have been a long time lurker of this site, always reading the recaps and comments, but never participating in the conversation. This one time, because of the conflicting emotions I feel at the end of the episode, do I feel I necessary to express my opinion.
Jaime should have died by Dragonfire.
As a book reader he is one of my favorite characters, and his arc is much more satisfying than his (lack of one) is on the show.
And that is fine, his show persona is what it is and I can accept that. However, my non-book reader husband even pointed out how much of a cop out the saving of Jaime was. I realize that his purpose in the story is bigger than this battle, so why even have the possibility of his death occur at this point in the story.
We are in the last 10 episodes EVER, and main/loved characters need to start dying off. When the battle first started, I wanted everyone to die via Dragonfire, except Jaime and Bronn. Then, when I assumed that at least ONE character that people cared about needed to die, I sacrificed wanting Bronn to live, as long as Jaime survives. Then, all too coincedently, Bronn hits his “target” and it seems likely that this will be his swan song and he will die for a purpose . But he doesn’t.
Then, while tending to her wounded dragon, we get a sense that if Jaime is going to go out, it will be in a blaze of glory, from Kingslayer to Queen/Dragon Slayer. He rushes forward, underestimating the connection between dragon and rider, and in that one look in the eyes of the dragon his fate can be accepted. Literally, as it was happening, I accepted that Jaime could die in this manner and I would be ok with the death if one of my favorite characters (in the show). And then, glory be, he is swooped out of harm’s way by a former sellsword of questionable loyalty. Sure, he could be drowning to death in his Lannister armor, but nobody realistically believes that this, after all he has been through and all he has to do, is how his story ends.
Afterwards, when my husband and I were so discussing the episode and trying to wrap our heads around the “what-the-fuck”edness of it all, we felt like we should have been having a toast to a deceased Bronn or Jaime and almost feel cheated of some main character blood. It seems that for so long, a main theme in the series was not to get attached to any characters, because they will be killed off at will. So maybe the fault lies in me, for anticipating that “all men must die”, and at some point all the characters that I love or hate face this fate.
And now I’m sure I’ve jinxed myself and all my favorite characters will be dead within the month, because of my main character bloodlust, lol.
Well that’s my story and I’m sticking to it, maybe a touch too much red wine was drunk during this episode…
Was it Tormund or Mance? Remember when youn tried to convince Mance to bend the knee to King Stannis…
ygritte,
lol When have YOU ever stood behind Dany!?
That is Cerseis army. It is the same army that killed so many Northmen and Riverlanders in the last war and slaughtered the Tyrells army in their own home last episode. Now that army won’t be slaughtering anyone else.
Dany avoided killing as many as she could to achieve destruction of her target – the goods stolen from high garden – the spoils of war – won’t be sold to pay for mercenaries. Now Jaime is the spoil of war…
LatrineDiggerBrian,
Don’t watch then. Simple as that, no one’s forcing you to waste your time in a show that does nothing for you. You can watch another show, read a great book, plant a tree. I don’t know, the world is large, the possibilities endless, life is infinite.
Pigeon,
Notice they made Dickon likable for some reason, maybe the elder Tarley dies and he ends up with Sansa or something.
They are not ultimately going to fight over a throne that Jon doesn’t want. But unless Dany marries Jon, she condemns the Seven Kingdoms to go through the War of the Five Kings all over again in 30-40 years time.
Being Mother of Dragons might allow you to seize the Iron Throne, but being Mother to Princes and Princesses is the only thing that will allow you to keep it. And she isn’t that and isn’t going to BE that, either.
If Dany cannot have children (and she has said on the show that she can no longer bear living children – and Mirri Maz Durr said as much in her prophecy, too) then unless she marries Jon, she has no way of getting a Targ heir and the dynasty dies. As soon as she gets older and the Iron Throne appears up for grabs with no legitimate Targ heir, it’s war all over again before her body goes cold.
Jon can marry another as well as Daenerys, to produce a Targ heir and keep the dynasty alive for the betterment of the Seven Kingdoms.
I am guessing Tyrion and Varys are going to be pointing this out to Dany at some point. It’s frikkin obvious. The whole story has been rushing forward to this point for 20 years.
Johnny,
She’s gonna kill the king white walker in the last episode with the valerian steel dagger. That’s my guess.
I did notice that…dammit! Lol. Not that he was a complete jerk last season, but they are making him sympathetic, softer (than his father, certainly). Saving Jaime and getting that nod in return…dude’s alright.
Only 3 more weeks of this and The Long Night begins. Never be another show like this.
Johnny,
Yes. That whole scene felt very important.
ash,
Well said! Even if the soldiers that Arya met weren’t in this particular battle (they did say that they were headed to reinforce the Twins, though obviously they could have joined up with the main army later), they were on my mind when Drogon started torching the Lannister lines.
This sequence would have had an enormous emotional impact regardless, but thanks to that earlier scene, we got to know some fundamentally decent Lannister soldiers, and to establish that they aren’t all faceless, unquestioning stormtroopers. We’ve seen that there are bad apples in every army (even the Starks – remember the ones who hanged the serving girls in the Season 2 finale), but they’re outnumbered by the common folk who are so easy to overlook while we’re cheering (fairly) for the majestic badassery of dragons. A lot of good-hearted sons, fathers, brothers, and friends died in those fiery infernos. They were more than the armor they wore.
Steel_Wind,
p.s. Your comment has me thinking of all these alternate universe scenarios now where Rhaegar won at the Trident. Things would have gotten very complicated for him very quickly. If he wins at the Trident then there is probably no sack of King’s Landing (as Tywin would have had no reason to bet against him at that point), which means that Elia Rhaenys and Aegon are alive and well. What does Rhaegar do then with Lyanna and Jon? Could be that he would have tried to marry them both…
I’ll stop before I start worrying too much about a hypothetical outcome to a fictional historical event.
When has GoT ever ended on a cliffhanger like that?
Some Targaryen kings had two wives, starting, if I’m not mistaken, with Aegon the Conqueror who actually married his two sisters! They stopped doing so, but there is a precedent in Westeros of the situation.
How is Jaimie going to take off that armor fast enough with one hand?
A Dornish Tyrell,
One way or another, Cersei is coming for Sansa. Not only did Jaime probably not send her a raven to tell her Olenna was the real culprit of Joffrey’s murder so the queen still believes Sansa is guilty but the North, over which the elder Stark sister rules in Jon’s absence, is also in open rebellion against the Crown so if there is one thing the Lioness would probably like to retrieve, it is Sansa’s head.
Could the Golden Company be involved ? It is entirely possible.
Still, Cersei had other potential targets. If she wants to ensure her control over the Riverlands, she could try to retrieve Edmure; if she wants to create a mess in the Vale, she should target Sweetrobyn; if she wants to get personal, she may go after Tyrion.
So many heads Cersei could ask the Golden Company to fetch ^^
What is that at the bottom of the lake? Dragon skeleton? Weirwood roots? Freshwater kraken?
John Snow’s death.
In the books, because that is a prophecy they are using in that more complicated plot, the question is whether there are three heads of the dragon, and if so, who that is.
For a number of convincing reasons, most especially Illyrio Mopatis’ and Varys’ own admissions that they were first backing Viserys to take the throne and not “Young Griff”, we know that Young Griff is a fake; a false dragon created as a backup plan.
Because Griff is so much better qualified than Viserys ever was, and because he was always in their power, if he was real, (and the additional benefit of being the true heir) they would always have backed “Aegon’s” claim first. But they don’t. They back Viserys. That means Aegon is a fake.
There are convincing arguments which point to Tyrion as a Targaryen bastard. I think this is the truth as well.
As for Azor Ahai and the “Prince Who was Promised.” It’s both Jon and Dany. It dpends WHEN you ask that question as to how it is. The answer shifts in time because of the operation of the Oath of the Night’s Watch:
Night gathers, and now my watch begins. It shall not end until my death. I shall take no wife, hold no lands, father no children. I shall wear no crowns and win no glory. I shall live and die at my post. I am the sword in the darkness. I am the watcher on the walls. I am the fire that burns against the cold, the light that brings the dawn, the horn that wakes the sleepers, the shield that guards the realms of men. I pledge my life and honor to the Night’s Watch, for this night and all the nights to come.
Jon is the Prince who was Promised until he swears his vow. At that point, he no longer is. He is no longer a Prince. The prophecy shifts to the next in line and it is Daenerys. She obviously fulfills several things promised by the prophecy, most especially waking the stone dragons. The comet in the sky is her sign.
Later, when Jon is slain, his body is stored (in the books, in an ice cell),whereas in the show, he is brought back to life quickly.
No matter the cause, when he is brought back, the Oath to the Night’s Watch is at an end. As Jaime points out in the show in Episode 02, “it’s only for life”.
At that point, Jon is reborn and is Azor Ahai. His impairment due to the operation of the Night’s Watch Oath has been lifted as he died. He now can win crowns and glory. From that point on, he is once more the Prince who was Promised – and the one who will bring the Dawn.
Steel_Wind,
Yea. It seems possible that Dany might even have a child with Jon before the story ends.
I just finished reading about the war of succession after Henry I died. Sometimes even if there is an heir people will duke it out anyway, especially if the throne is big enough; they don’t get much bigger than the Iron Throne. I am wondering if GRRM will plant some seeds like this at the end, especially now that there is this talk of sequel shows to the books.
Gary g,
I enjoy it plenty, I assure you. I did not dislike this scene at all; as I said, it made me laugh ! ^^
Pat,
Normally, I would agree with you wholeheartedly but I seem to recall Aerys bypassing Aegon and identifying Viserys as his heir after Rhaegar’s death. I believe that is why he sent his own son (and pregnant wife) to safety on Dragonstone while he kept Ellia and her children in the Red Keep. It that is indeed what happened, politically speaking, Rhaegar’s line was discarded in favour of Aerys’s so Daenerys’s claim, as heir to Viserys, is better than Jon’s, heir to Rhaegar.
But I feel all of this may be purely academic ^^
Ginevra,
Exactly! Bronn may be a fundamentally self-interested individual, but he does possess a surprising degree of loyalty to his employers. A lesser man – and virtually any other sellsword – would have fled at the first opportunity when it became clear that the battle was lost (which was almost immediately). Bronn not only stayed and followed orders, he faced down a dragon twice and put himself at direct risk of getting incinerated in order to save his commander’s life. He’s gone above and beyond the call of duty for both Tyrion and Jaime. Keeping this sardonic sellsword and up-jumped knight close may well be the best investment that Tywin’s sons ever made.
My take on it was that she realized for the first time how much Arya has changed. It’s one thing to be told your sister has a kill list. It’s another to see that she’s capable of it. Sansa’s reaction actually reminded me of Ned in S1 when he first watched Arya sparring with Syria.
ACME,
Yes, I agree. The Mad King would have made everything even more complicated given how much we know he disliked the Dornish, Elia and her kids.
firstone,
LOL at the “laws of physics” people. Arya can put on other people’s faces by magic.
Also, the Dothraki aren’t a “cavalry,” they’re a horde.
Bronn tackled him into the water and he doesn’t have heavy armor on, so he will most likely be the one to drag Jaime to safety. Boy does he deserve that castle.
Danny,
I don’t have any life outside of the show so you’re stuck with me.
LatrineDiggerBrian,
Also, the whole war strategy of the season has been very convoluted.
You get that the whole point of this battle is that Dany is doing her own thing now right? She’s been listening to Tyrion’a strategery and it’s not working so she’s decided to “be a dragon”.
KweenInTheNorf,
I thought the ending was a bit silly as well, assuming that Jaime is alive. If Jaime is dead then that is an ignominious way to go out, but plenty of great men have died in battle with little ceremony. If he is alive (seems more likely) then they are just teasing us because they can.
Jack Bauer 24,
S05E10. Jon’s death.
ACME,
Yes, I could see Cersei (the GC for that matter) attacking the Vale: most of its army is in the North, it would be a way to take it back from LF and punish him for his support to Sansa and House Stark… It will force the Night of the Vale to go home to defend it, leaving the North more vulnerable without the support of an important ally… And Sansa closer to lioness’ claws
I like that there wasn’t any build up to the epic loot train battle in the Spoils of War…
The loot train battle was unexpected and surprising like another epic battle … Hardhome.
OMG that adds a whole different dimension to things. You are probably right. I couldn’t figure out what she could want, but of course, she’s high on revenge, she wants/needs more to keep her high. Good thing Arya is there, although I don’t know what one little girl, even one as talented as Arya, can do against a whole military unit. I hope Bran sees this and gives Sansa time to prepare.
Did anybody notice that in the scene where LF was overlooking the courtyard, the sound of a raven could be heard. Do you think he got so aggravated at being dismissed by Sansa, he contacted Cersei. I always thought he would. Speaking of LF, couldn’t they change his scenes a little by having him do something besides lurk? Wouldn’t he need to go out and check on the soldiers of the Vale, to make sure they are training, to see if they have everything they need? Just seeing him stroll around the courtyard is getting annoying.
thisgirlhasnoname,
Jon and Theon were never great friends. Jon did not like Theon at all, he had great disdain for him and thought he was a prick. Because he was: “That one is yours Snow. The runt of the litter.” “Jon always said you were an ass, Greyjoy.”
Robb and Theon were close which is why his betrayal of him was so awful.
That “His heart will stop when he sees you” line really struck me. It sounded like some classical tragic foreshadowing, much in the vein of something that GRRM would write–and this season has definitely been heavy on foreshadowing. Especially in combination with the haunting pre-BotB Jon/Mel scene in which he wonders if and when he’ll die again (which had to have been included for a reason) and the fact that there seems to be more to his resurrection than meets the eye, and I think there’s a stronger than ever argument for Jon dying a second sacrificial death before all is said and done. He’s the “selfless savior” character, after all–one of the only characters who is not motivated by power–and once he fulfills his new purpose to defeat the WWs, all bets are off.
This episode was incredible.
Yeah, I think she has a bit of admiration – and then a growing sense of unease and disquiet.
And as well she should. Arya may be a fan favorite, but when she kills Meryn Trant, it’s rather disturbing, to be blunt. Her joy from slitting Walfer Frey’s throat was rather unnerving, too. To say nothing of the pies. This is a young girl who is a trained assassin who is in it for personal revenge. Over- the-top revenge, too. Just ask the Freys – if you can find one.
Arya is a killer. And to go back to the Hound’s speech to Sansa, she is surrounded by killers. Even her own sister. She is profoundly disturbed by the confirmation of that.
At least we know Sansa’s human heart is still working.
ACME,
p.s. I thought you were replying to another comment of mine when I responded to you about the Mad King. Thanks for setting me straight about the claims, others also pointed out my poor understanding of Westerosi (and English) laws of succession. Shame! 🙂
Just finished reading about the wars of succession to Henry I of England. Crazy stuff, even if Dany does secure her claim you never know if some people two few generations down the road might tear the place apart at the peril of the common folk.
Agree or Neil Marshall, I found the choreography off, miss Miguel Sapochnik.
BoB and Hardhome were way out in front of this as an action sequence.
Also this is the most awkwardly set up action sequence they have done.
….. and Dany has no fighting duds!? What?
I wish I could rattle off chapter and verse from the books and show it convincingly disproves this sense of unease you felt with that line.
I can’t; I felt it too. I hope we’re both wrong.
Yes, they can, and have, in the episode where Tyrion and Jorah went through Valyria. They got attacked by the stone men, Tyrion was shown sinking into the water, the screen went black for a few seconds, we thought that was the end of the episode, then it showed Jorah trying to awaken him. They messed with us for only a few seconds there. Now we have to wait until next week to see that Jaime was rescued. Hmmm another call back to a past episode, now that I think of it. First one brother almost drowns, then the other.
Boojam,
The director does not do fight choreography. Or costumes.
Nice recall! I agree with you and Ravyn.
Thronetender,
If that’s the case, I truly hope Bran warn Sansa before the GC arrives… Could Cersei hire a faceless assassin? In that case, Arya would be very useful in protecting her sister, since she could detect one.
So is Jaime a prisoner now? Hope we get a Jaime/Tyrion scene next week.
I didn’t have the same reading at all. For me it was just a nice self-aware way of Sansa acknowledging that Jon and Arya had a closer bond than she had had with either of them. No sense of foreboding for me, imo.
I thought it was pretty damned good though. The call back in shooting style to tracking Jon on foot in the BotB in the chaos of battle is convincingly done with Bronn, too. The whole sequence showing him in tight frame as the Field of Fire explodes around him is very evocative of that memorable scene with Jon in the BotB.
I thought that was some rather masterful work. Credit where it’s due. The ash effects on the Lannister Army were impressive and well done.
Really, this was feature film level television here. Nothing else comes close.
ACME,
That’s just rumours,no real proof or documents.Not to mention Aerys was mad and more importantly that has never been mentioned in the Tv show.
Thronetender,
Ha ha ! Remember when Dorne was just a patio ? Well, now the North is just a courtyard through which all the characters, Littlefinger included, meander aimlessly. ^^
Pat,
Your understanding of laws of succession is flawless ! It is simply that, in this particular case, Aerys might have ditched traditional rules after Rhaegar’s death and decided to proclaim his younger son heir instead of his grandson, if I remember correctly.
I think you are entirely right to question whether the legitimacy of this or that character will eventually matter. Westeros already has a bastard king, a queen regnant and a deposed heir in play. The traditional laws of birthright are severely compromised so anything could happen.
ACME,
The Mad King, what a guy!
Jack Bauer 24,
And Jaime/Daenerys!
“Listen, about killing your Dad and then doing nothing while my Dad supervised the rape/murder of your sister-in-law, and then the murder of your nephew and niece… it’s complicated…”
Sansa is also a killer. Who quite enjoyed having dogs eat the face off of her enemy. Or maybe that kind of vengeance is fine or doesn’t count because she didn’t technically do it herself, aside from opening a door? She is fine with killers when they are useful to her.
QueenofThrones,
Well, I was prepared to get on board with her once she arrived to Westeros to kick that mean queen Cercei off her throne, depending on how she handle things, and especially if my boy Jon gets on her side. I just didn’t anticipate how horrible it would look when drogon goes burning through the soldiers and leaves them in agony. And Jamie has never been one of my favorite characters but for some reason I felt sympathy for him here. Go figure lol.
Azor Asshai:
That “His heart will stop when he sees you” line really struck me. It sounded like some classical tragic foreshadowing, much in the vein of something that GRRM would write–and this season has definitely been heavy on foreshadowing.
At this point I think I’m getting paranoid. Every single thing means something.
-When Bran mentioned the dagger being wasted on a cripple and holding it out oddly with his right hand I thought-Wait, Jaime? Is this about Jaime?
-Then thought the same thing when Sansa told Arya Jon’s heart would stop (basically that they won’t meet again-not with both of them alive. The first book mentions something about Arya and needle-so either one of them could be dead. Either way-sob-they need to meet again!)
-Wondered why Naath has been mentioned 5 times in last two episodes-and got suspicious about Missandei.
-Heard the raven while LF smiled and think he’s giving info to Cersei (though that’s not paranoid, it’s realistic)
-When Pod mentioned Brienne’s job was basically done I wondered if that meant she was going to die. NOOOOOO
-When Arya looked up at LF I thought she might take his face to kill Cersei
-Also spent some time thinking about just how many people can now fit the Last Hero/Azor Ahai/Promised Prince prophecies. Hint: A lot of people
I’m a mess of conspiracy theories right now. 🙂
Demon Monkey,
Jon has no interest in ruling, which is a huge part of what makes him a better ruler than those who desperately want it. Rhaegar being or not being king has nothing to do with the line of succession. The fact that Rhaegar was next in line to be king makes him and his heirs be ahead of all others, just as Wills and Harry are ahead of Andrew and just as Wills and Kate’s kids are ahead of Harry.
Jon being a bastard still would inhibit his claim to the throne, true, but R+L=J is completely pointless if the bastard turns out to be a secret bastard. He’s definitely legit, in my opinion. And legit Jon would place him before Dany in the line of succession.
Arya Snark,
Yeah but still it’s been armies kind just popping up out of no where, like no one was expecting them coming. I know they have to streamline things, but this season has been a little out of control.
Lady Lyanna Mormont for the iron throne!,
I had no problems, I can’t recall ever having a problem with HBO Now.
And I think Sansa is impressed by the level Arya is reaching for on her list. The only name Sansa knows is Joffrey, and if Arya really is capable of taking out Joffrey singlehandedly, then can Sansa ask her to go south and take out Cersei?
I agree that the pic is unclear. It does look to me that there is the ruin of a Hunter’s Clasp on his shoulder. I am not certain, but if you look at the clip, you can see my reasoning.
I am however, doubting it now that it might be Randyll because he was not wearing a helm previously. That is a very good point.
There are spoilers, which are inconsistent, which suggest it might not be him for other reasons, but as I said, these are inconsistent.
I expect we shall see, one way or the other, by next Sunday.
Correcto
Indeed I actually have a quibble about the Arya Sansa scene, you see Sansa is ahead of Arya until…she got married to Tyrion
So Sansa becomes either Lady Lannister in the books, and in the show universe she became Lady Bolton, so she’s Lady of the Dreadfort
So..the unmarried Arya is now ahead of Sansa…but anyway apparently Arya has to call Sansa Lady Stark now…
Jon being Rhaegars bastard may open up a Blackfyre situation. However I personally reckon R+L married in front of a Weir Tree, meaning Jon is a legitimate Targ
Which would put him in front of Viserys and Dany but not in front of book Aegon if he should be legit
Lady Stark does not lose her claim to Winterfell because she was married. Her last name changes, but that does not affect her claim to the North. If she had a claim that is, which she doesn’t, until Bran disclaims it. Even then, the Bannermen of the North have sworn fealty to Jon as King in the North. Sansa’s technical legal claim is better, but it is a warrior society – and they follow strength.
Yeah it’s interesting and will take a few goes
I think Sansa was surprised when Bran reinforced the idea of Arya’s list, and a little shocked and jealous when Bran gave Arya the dagger, as it shows Bran knows Arya is capable of using it firstly but secondly it is also an item of great symbolic prestige
I got the impression that she was slightly shocked to see Arya is changed but also slightly jealous as Brienne is split amongst them and not just Sansa’s right-hand-woman to do her bidding type thing. Ah sisters fighting over clothing etc…
Hmmmm. Now that is a possibility for Season 8. I know it does not match the Valonquar prophecy, but I think we are off script on that one anyway.
An interesting premise.
Yeah she can launch a loose claim, but she still falls behind the pecking order a full-blood unmarried Stark and direct sibling and Arya still comes in front of her
She may be ahead of a cousin though, eg if Benjen had a son
Have to read through Lady Cats thoughts when Robb is considering making Jon his heir to get an idea of how name-changed family members come into it
Think the Showrunners have worked around it though, eg Bran is interested in being 3-eyed-Raven and Arya “doesen’t want to be a Lady” anyway and is more interested in “her list”
OMG this episode !!
I love GoT !
I cried, I cheered, I screamed !
I need to watch it again.
I don’t know what you are talking about here. When Cat is upset with Robb, it’s because once he declares Jon a true-born it cannot be undone and he becomes his heir. Which is what Robb does in front of all his Lords Bannermen. Robb’s letter is a plot point set up long ago which will emerge to cause problems in the novels.
As for Sansa, in the book, LF’s entire plan for the throne rests upon Sansa’s claim as the eldest surviving Stark, as he believes there are no male heirs. In Book LF’s schemes, Sansa is:
Heir to Winterfell and Lady of the North;
A marriage away from being Lady of the Vale; and
Lady of Riverrun, if Edmure dies without issue.
That’s LF’s entire plan to ultimately put Sansa on the Throne; it all hinges on her claims to all, despite marriage (indeed, as with the Vale, because of it).
(Neither Robb nor LF had any idea that a certain Queen may have escaped Riverrun, and is pregnant.)
Marriages of a female to another House don’t extinguish their claim. They never did under English law, either. It was just rare that it happened as the claim had to go through every son first before it came to a daughter. That’s the law of male primogeniture.
We know that the Six Kingdoms follow this law, as GRRM explains as LF recounts to Sansa why Harry the Heir is Harry the Heir.
The law in England has only recently been changed a few years ago by Parliament. Now the claim goes in order of birth without distinction for gender. Essentially, England as of 2013 follows Dornish law. But that is entirely a new development.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Succession_to_the_Crown_Act_2013
praedictus,
Realisticaly making the scene with one dragon was probably incredibly difficult and expensive to include all 3. But i am sure we will see them all 3 in action by the end of this season.
Possible reason would be Dany not being able to control them as well as Drogon. She can control him well when she rides him, but the other two being without riders could cause more harm than good in the battle.
The episode we just got had effects and an epic scale on par with just about any Hollywood feature film you could name, No, it wasn’t quite Lord of the Rings, Battle of the Pelinor fields level of epic, but it was in the conversation.
And for a television show, that speaks volumes.
Honestly, compared to what quality television is doing now, feature films don’t interest me nearly as much as they used to. Television has much more time to tell a story; and the best series use that to their advantage in a way that most feature films cannot compete with.
Well that was fucking thrilling
A lot of what Arya was doing was dodging and deflecting Brienne’s sword, plus Brienne wasn’t really trying all the hard at first – she was going easy, feeling for her skill level and then slowly coming to the realization that Arya had some skills – thus the knock down and knocking the sword out of her hands. It never showed that Arya was stronger, they were sparing – neither was going all out… all it displayed was that Arya was quicker and more agile (no heavy armor), but still needed training and that Brienne was impressed.
The show has made a real point of always showing Arya going through Syrio’s training routines and just practicing in general, plus all the Waif workouts – those were also about dodging and finding openings to strike… she needs real training, but she hasn’t just picked up the sword for the first time either.
I’m sure mentally Arya has been fighting in her head for years – I really loved her genuine smile during the fight – like finally she has meet someone who will take her seriously and give her real training!
RBloodworth,
Nah I like the fact that they used somebody else to direct this episode. Everyone has different styles and you could see it with this field of fire 2.0 battle. Sapochinik’s style could start looking too repetitive and stale if they keep using him for every big battle.
The only ships Daeny has left are the ships that brought the Dothraki to Dragonstone. It does look like the Unsullied hold the Rock but they may still have to abandon it since Daeny just burned all that grain instead of capturing it.
Much to my annoyance she does get all the gold. Except for the bag Bronn dropped in the fighting.
The only upside is that she will have to right back to the Iron Bank to borrow money to buy food for the Army she still thinks she has. The other plus is that it will be difficult to bring in conscripts to defend King’s Landing if the Dothraki control the rural areas outside.
This would feed into one of my theories – Alys Karstark was made to be a Sansa look-a-like on the show (She is more northern Stark looking in the book, dark hair), so if someone comes for Sansa, she could be mistaken for her – if they are still hanging around Winterfell, or did all the lords go back to their holds?
The director is responsible for the entire composition of the visual narrative, sure is a difference in the way Sapochnik and Marshall conduct and Matt Shakman. Actually D&D are also accountable , I think they did a bit of fumbling here.
Because Arya knows it wasn’t her and now knows for sure it wasn’t Sansa. Therefore, someone else did it.
Yeah, I guess. I guess I am just going to have to assume that getting all those horses on the ships takes longer and sailing a short hop to westerns takes than driving heavily laden gold wagons across the continent.
I did see that. Well done acting by Isaac. I’m still a bit chuffed about the decision to make a robot Bran. Maybe they can tone it down a bit overtime. His treatment of Meera kinda PO’d me. Now it looks as if she’ll just bounce and we’ll never meet Howland Reed.
But yeah. I can’t blame her for leaving. Still holding out for Howland though.
The White Walkers win, Jon survives and goes as far south as south goes, and is
later proclaimed King in the Naath.
Matt Shakman’s like The Russo Brothers – Someone best known for comedy, who turns out to be a better action director than Michael Bay or Christopher Nolan (I know Nolanites are sensitive to any criticism of their master, but HE IS NOT a good action director).
ACME,
Lol…I thought same thing too. 🙂 We’ll attribute it to Faceless Man magic.
I also didn’t like Bronn’s loyalty thing. He’s a sellsword, and it would have been awesome to see him run with the money, then get captured and wind up with Tyrion again.
The battle scene was awesome. I’m especially glad one single arrow didn’t kill Drogon! I would have loved a scene or two of Dothraki fighting fully armored knights (thinking back to Jorah’s scene amongst the khalasar talking to one of Dany’s blood riders about the pros and cons of their different fighting styles).
Wauw, I feel like we’ve watched completely different episodes! The battle was amazing yes, but I think all the scenes before were emotional and very important. Generally I loved how they in the first half hour finally managed to step a bit of the gas pedal compared to the first three episodes. Especially letting the Starks have screen time for their three-way reunion.
* Meera/Bran…OUCH that hurt!!!
* Tycho Nestoris explicitly declare the Iron Bank’s fealty to Cersei. (Without it her warmongering would be over this very moment).
* Dany/Jon spending more time with each other is important too, if we’re to believe in the two of them coming together against the WW…and perhaps as many hope (not me), as a couple. The cave paintings gave me chills!!!!
* Arya/Brienne reunion – so cool! 🙂 I always hated how stupid she looked whielding Needle, but finally her fencing skills and martial Waif-moves looked believable.
* Arya and Sansa finding there’s still some love and sisterhood between them.
* 3Eye…oh boy.. you can tell LF is feeling the pressure now with desperate acts of goodwill (giving the dagger to Bran.. bowing a little too much to Arya from the balcony, but all without conviction and upper hand we’re used to see).
Bran delivering the “Chaos is a ladder”-line to LF may be a game changer!! With 3Eye back in Westeros, LF’s base for conniving and conspiring has vaporized. In a way you can say chaos no longer exist as everything is known…it is known! 🙂
On that Missandei -note: There is seriously something going on with Davos constantly asking her about Narth!! Does he suspect something? He was a great smuggler and they have to have good contacts everywhere as well. And he has been in every harbour…
On being confusing about Sansa: if that’s how you feel (I do too), then I’d say D&D have succeeded in doing exactly what they set out for. I think we’re supposed to be very confused about her at the moment.
If Sansa turns on LF, he’s done for! She’s the only person “protecting” him, but remember she’s is also the only character to actually have first hand-knowledge of him killing Lady Arryn/Tully (a highborn rightful heir). That should be a direct death sentence, if she tell the other lords (I bet Yohn Royce would volunteer to swing the sword).
BUT on the other hand: If she or 3Eye doesn’t expose him, then The Lord of the Vale is very much a pivotal and dangerous player in control of the backbone of the entire Northern army… as long as he is not exposed by any of the Starks.
Oh wait..the battle 🙂 WHAT A FEAST!! Thank you, Shakman!!!
In the third and fifth novels, Melisandre states “When the red star bleeds and the darkness gathers, Azor Ahai shall be born again amidst smoke and salt to wake dragons out of stone. The bleeding star has come and gone, and Dragonstone is the place of smoke and salt. Stannis Baratheon is Azor Ahai reborn!”. While Dragonstone (a volcanic island) can indeed be considered as place of “smoke and salt”, Stannis was not born there but in Storm’s End, and so far has not woken any dragons from stone; Daenerys, on the other hand, was born on Dragonstone, and has hatched fossilized dragon eggs into live dragons, in a miraculous ritual under the red comet at the pyre of her late husband Drogo. Apparently Melisandre is unaware that Daenerys is more likely to be Azor Ahai than Stannis, based on her own words.
Jamie has none of these traits.
Danny is Azor Ahai.
I meant getting back into the Red Keep. I missed a few words when typing that. Too excited. Sorry.
Maple Leaf Civic Day, right?! …LUCKY LUCKY YOU!!! Three weeks of summer holiday’s gone and I’m now stuck in slowmotion at work after watching that feast of an episode twice in the middle of the night here!!!
Feels like my brains will fry the next 6 days! Already more than halfway in Season 7… 🙁 Can’t think straight!!
THIS
SHOW
IS
JUST
SOOO
DAMN
GOOD!
🙂
Steel_Wind,
Frankly speaking i cant remember any fantasy movie with these effects. Lord of the Rings maybe considering how old it is. But when i compare this to the Hobbit for example, Hobbit is just pitiful. The CGI is just so obvious and visible. Here its almost seamless. Amazing job.
I though it was also a callback to season 1 when Arya confronted the guards at the Red Keep after the scene when she overhears Varys and Illyrio
GUARD1: Off with you. No begging.
ARYA: I’m not a beggar. I live here.
GUARD1: D’you want a smack on your ear to help you with your hearing?
ARYA: I want to see my father.
GUARD2: I want to f*ck the Queen, for all the good it does me.
GUARD1: You want your father, boy? He’s lying on the floor of some tavern, getting pissed on by his friends.
ARYA: My father is Hand of the King! I’m not a boy. I’m Arya Stark of Winterfell and if you lay a hand on me, my father will have both your heads on spikes! Now are you going to let me by or do I need to smack you on the ear to help with your hearing?
I know… i am in martial arts and i know what you mean
What i am trying to say is that this was not a real duel and Arya was for the most part dodging most of her strikes… and because she is smaller and faster she is better than her
She did kick Arya and Arya went flying
Watch connor Mcgregor and the mountain on youtube!
Dead Dane Walking,
yessssssss 🙂 🙂
Steel_Wind,
I guess I would need clear examples from Westeros. Because that’s not always the case. But I think it doesn’t matter much anyway what the custom is, as much of the story was based on the War of the Roses, where a kings son was usurped for his uncle or cousin or something. I don’t know English history as well as I would like. And like I keep saying, Dany wants it and has the support whereas her nephew is indifferent.
On the other hand (and subject), I am really worried for Drogon. I think that arrow (not sure of the terminology) was laced with poison and barbed so it cannot be pulled out.
Grahamers,
Yea I hear ya. I think Jon’s claim is almost as good. That is the problem with ambiguous prophecies though, until/if-ever they are fulfilled there never be any certainty. If one has to kill/sacrifice the other in order to defeat The Others, that person is probs Azor.
“Facts”? Who needs facts?
I’ll buy into your theory. Arya now has Dark Sister!
RG,
The writing has been so inconsistent this season , much of it eye roll-worthy. That line from Davos about Jon snow staring at Dany’s heart (chest) was beyond eyeroll-worthy. Could be the line about Jon is a sign of things to come, could also just be a throwaway that the writers put in there to try and remind the audience how much Jon loves Arya.
No offense but I wish you’d give up. I’ve lurked for years and seen you do nothing but whine. I’d be very unhappy, personally.
Shock Me,
If you noticed the earlier scene with Tarly, he had taken a column of 1000 soldiers and the gold laden wagons ahead of the main force. Usually an army of that size is so monstrous that the head of the column is setting up camp for the night while the tail end has just broken camp and set off. You must look on time in these final seasons as you would a movie, days or weeks pass between location jumps.
Ser Not Appearing in this Series,
Yes, very true. I had forgotten that Arya was also confronted by guards at the gates of the Red Keep.
I like the way GoT occasionally gives us scenes and events that are reminiscent from a previous season.
That’s the best thing I’ve ever heard haha!
Ten Bears,
headcanon accepted 🙂
Everyone else has already summed up my feelings for this astounding episode, makes my top ten list of favorite episodes. One name drop that freaked me out was when Cersei mentioned to Holmes senior that Q has approached the Golden Company…I squealed with delight on hearing this. The GC are without peer, 10,000 strong and even the unsullied are no match for them. The GC will come in handy for Jon come the war for the dawn.
ACME,
I think you are right and Cersei wants to go for Sansa, she wants revenge for all her children:
– She kills Lady Olenna who had some responsibility for Tommen’s death (as Cersei had to blow up the crypt because of Olenna’s scheming, which lead to his suicide)
– Dorne snakes are goners
Only child not revenged is Geoffrey at this point.
If Sansa is kidnapped, it may cause King Snow to choose between saving his sister or stopping the NK (bitter sweet moment?). Whatever Cersei does with Sansa, Jaime knows that she has no role in Geoffrey’s death and this may cause him to kill her for her cruelty (I can see that they could have a “she is innocent” “nobody is innocent, I don’t care that she is innocent” dialogue).
M
ACME,
Steel_Wind,
Oh, I know the backstory in the books. But the way Bran said, “Do you know who this dagger belonged to?” suggests a much deeper history – as does the fact that it was in that book that Sam was reading. So I’m just curious as to people’s theories about this deeper history! 🙂
RG,
I like that theory! Who needs facts anyway? 🙂
Either way, Arya is definitely a dark sister herself, so it would fit.
Tara,
Didn’t Ygritte take Jon to the cave….
Fierce as a Wolverine,
”
Steel_Wind,
She got that dagger because she is going to have it when it counts. That’s means against a white walker, not some jumped up commoner from the Fingers.
I agree. She can and surely will use it for that. But Bran can see the past and glimpses of the future. He must know its history (probably owned by a famed Targ), its potential (magical and by virtue of its dragon-bone, dragonglass, gold and Valeyrian steel elements) , and its significant target(s). He must realise Arya’s a tad magical herself, and that in her hand especially, this could be a world-changing weapon. I don’t know whether he chooses her, the dagger chooses her, or fate chooses her. but she is meant to have it. I hypothesise it can kill Baelish, Cersei, the zombie-Mountain, White Walkers, even the Night King. Unfortunately, it could be the death of Bran, Jon, Sansa, or Arya herself. And RG, your theory that it is Dark Sister, which IMO always seemed foreshadowed for Arya, sounds right. So the chronicles wrongly called it a sword—history footnotes are full of minor inaccuracies. 🙂
When Bran asked Baelish, ‘Do you know who this dagger belonged to?’ (or words to that effect), I don’t think it was an informational-type question. I think he was saying, ‘If you knew what I know about this dagger, you wouldn’t be giving it away so frivolously.’
I was thinking about that dagger and it occurred to me that since the show really hasn’t address it outright, there is still wiggle room to play with on the show… I could see a scenario where it was Cersei that sent the assassin to kill Bran, and now Bran knowing about Arya’s list, gives the same dagger to assassin Arya knowing that she will finish her list.
DT,
Drogon won’t die from that, he didn’t even really bleed. It wasn’t as effective as Cersei and Qyburn hoped, Drogon was hurt more at the the mereen fighting pit but that was because he was going through puberty, his scales have hardened since then. The only way a weapon like that would kill Drogon is if they got him through the eye as that is a vulnerable spot and how they took down a previous full grown dragon
MrsJonSnow,
Incest is on two different levels in Westeros, parental and siblings are considered wrong and disturbing in Westeros with the exception of Targaryen’s as they are different, cousins/Aunt/Uncle marriages are considered normal in Westeros they happen in all the houses including Starks as they had both cousin/Aunt marriages in their line even Ned’s parents were related, Tywin also married his cousin Joanna who he loved yet his reaction to Jamie/Cersei shows the different levels of incest
thisgirlhasnoname,
Yes but all that gold goes to the Iron Bank, they didn’t get any of the food and per EP1 Jamie says they don’t have enough food for their army never mind the people in Kings Landing, so yes Cersei can pay back the Iron Bank but everyone will starve.
Clob,
Agreed, GRRM didn’t write such a large story and over a 1000 characters for the whole story to be about one singular character, this isn’t Harry Potter. I don’t doubt Jon and Dany are part of the Ice and Fire, though I think many elements in the story mean ice and fire, summer and winter, ice vs fire, white walkers and dragons, humans struggling with keeping their morals in Grey situations etc
Pat,
Ginevra,
Steel_Wind,
The line of succession doesn’t even matter anymore, Jon even said so to Dany in EP3 that yes she has the name Targaryen but the Targaryen’s were overthrown so all that no longer matters. If Dany wants the Iron Throne she has to take it, same as Jon he would have to fight for it, it’s not gonna be simply given to anyone. So if either Jon or Dany take the Iron Throne no matter which one of them would have originally had more right to it, whoever takes it starts a new succession line and the other one has no right to it unless they name them their heir. Though all this is pointless as I can never see them fighting over the Iron Throne, this storyline in S7 is leading to them becoming comrades and allies not rivals for the iron throne
Valaquen,
Well I mean I do say positive things too, but all people seem to focus on is my negative comments. It’s true, I’ve been more negative than positive the last 2 seasons, but I think I’ve been very fair if I’m being frank.
Dead Dane Walking,
I agree the Jon and Dany scenes have been great and in general, all the scenes on Dragonstone have been strong.
Meera / Bran was whatever, Meera is such a minor character that we know little about and that was them getting rid of her (for now at least).
Arya / Sansa was good overall, minus annoying guard’s scene. I don’t like how they’re making Sansa out to be jealous of Arya if they’re going in that direction.
LF / Bran didn’t add up to me. Why would he think handing Bran this dagger would get him in his good graces and why would he even bother to give Bran a dagger? What’s he going to do with it? Oh wait he needs to give it to Arya so she can fight White Walkers later on in the season. And why LF even be allowed to have a sit down with Bran? Why is he still lurking around Sansa?
And that goes back to Sansa’s characterization which is all over the place and I disagree that it’s supposed to be that way. It’s been inconsistent, and now if they’re forcing a feud with her and Arya I’m just gonna be like, what? Same as how I felt with her feud with Jon.
And yeah I think Davos is a sly old dog. He sees Greyworm out of the picture, and now he’s trying to move in on Missandei.
Mel,
Right of conquest! The only right that bows to no other. I always think of the quote attributed to Pompey during his conquest of Sicily, when some people tried to appeal his conquest on a technicality of Roman law: “Cease quoting laws to us that have swords”. Laws are useless to those with no means for enforcing them.
Technically speaking though Steel_Wind and Ginerva are correct about the laws of succession. But yes, people flouted them when the stakes were high enough (in real life and in Westeros). If you go back far enough the Targaryen line itself was established by conquest. They even called him Aegon the Conqueror, doesn’t get any clearer than that how her line got started.
Fire and Blood!
I only noticed it during a rewatch. But yes you are correct. I guess what confused me is that Bronn and the Tarleys left to hurry the grain and Jaimie departed with the god after paying Bronn.
Then they are all back together again after an unspecified time later and it is Tarley telling Jaime the last of the gold made it through the gates of King’s Landing. How would he know if they were off gathering the grain?
I imagine now that perhaps Jaimie only left with part of the gold immediately with Randyll Tarley following from behind.
Why I loved on rematch though was that the Lannister arm was caught while fording the Blackwater Rush. Even an unopposed crossing puts an army in am awkward place. It is so much more wonderful than some contrived open field battle.
So good.
DireWolfHeart,
The gold made it back to Kings Landing, Dany only burnt the food. Randyll Tarly confirms the gold and the majority of the army has made it safely back.
Sam,
I took that part as a plot device for Meera to go home and later return with Howland Reed who can confirm Jon is the true heir to the throne as he was at the Tower of Joy.
Firannion,
I was also hoping Jamie would kill Dany and Bronn would kill Drogon but they have plot armour until the final few episodes. Same as Jamie, you know he is going to survive on the assumption he takes out Cersei this season as the Valonqour.
I loved the battle though, it was great because the majority of viewers couldn’t really pick a side they just see the horrors of war even if Dany wins it comes at a clear cost – Tyrion losing faith in her.
Nice to see the intrigue around Littlefinger spinning its course – in the previous episode he is seen overhearing new Maester telling Sansa that Maester Luwin kept copies of all raven post in Winterfell. This episode, we see him at the background of what may be raven rookery and clearly hear ravens caw. Which could imply he has access to those records?
I have a strong suspicion that Jamie and Cercei are children of Mad King, and Dany is Cercei’s Valonquar. The suspicion is mainly stemming from the books, but it’s also been well established both in books and on screen that gender reference in prophecies is ambiguous, and if they are indeed related – Valonquar can as much mean “little sister”.
Demon Monkey,
I’ve called it before but I’m growing more convinced both Tyrion and Varys are switching to team Jon.
Without them Dany has Missandei, three dragons, a lot of Dothraki savages and what ever is left of the Unsullied if they survive at Castlerly Rock. I’m expecting her to support Jon in the North but teams are forming for what ever happens afterwards – I assume some power conflict between Jon and Dany.
stefan666,
Are you still supporting Dany even after that? I do agree though logically Bronn should have got roasted, he’s just hanging around as a support character now with no real purpose.
QueenofThrones,
She’s going to pay the Iron Bank and hire the Golden Company to fight for her was how I understood it. I expect them to retake Casterley Rock and wipe out the remaining unsullied unless she is de-throned before that can happen.
Demon Monkey,
Jon’s parentage hasn’t been revealed yet for a reason, it’s almost certainly going to change the relationship between Jon and Dany when it does. I believe this will be the story in the final episode once things are resolved with the White Walkers. I’d guess this season we will resolve the conflict in the South with Cersei defeated by the end of this season but Dany going North instead of becoming Queen. Assuming she doesn’t die in the North then it sets up the “conflict” between Jon/Dany regarding who should rule. Dany has three dragons for now but Jon has the better claim and wider support of the people (with Tyrion and Varys also looking like they will switch).
I just can’t see Dany going OK Jon you take it but equally I can’t see her surviving the story and just leaving without the throne.
Gary g,
I think the White Walkers situation will be resolved in the penultimate episode (i.e. 8 episodes time) as George has always said he wants to show what happens afterwards.
I never said that I wanted Dany to be killed (even though I find both character and performance tiresome). I just believe passionately in nuclear disarmament, and dragons are the nukes (or at least the carpet-bombing jets) of Planetos. Regular ground combat, with people killing other people one at a time, is bad enough.
LatrineDiggerBrian,
We really must be watching different shows… It’ll be way too much writing back and forth, since I seriously dont agree we you on one single point of what you wrote about Monday’s stellar episode, so let’s just leave it at that. We’ll se how it all turns out in the coming weeks.. Enjoy whatever show it is you’re watching 🙂