We get it: It’s Monday….Work stinks….Chaos is a ladder – All the usual stuff. BUT Mondays bring with them all these people who love to talk to you about what they enjoyed as well as what they didn’t care too much for. Being here means that you’ve already devoured Sue’s recap with more book insight, and Oz’s recap with less book insight. But you’ve finished all your chores, and you’ve done the dishes already, so why not kick back with some of your favorite critics from around the web? Dive in!
Alan Sepinwall, UPROXX – In which he loves the battle, but wishes that Jaime’s plot was concluded in this episode instead of next episode.
Alex Mullane, Digital Spy – In which he positively geeks out over Arya’s character development.
Alicia Lutes, Nerdist – In which the word “Hype” doesn’t begin to describe the hyperactivity contained within.
Alyssa Rosenberg, The Washington Post – In which she titles the episode an ‘outstanding piece of television.’
Andrew Snell, Mirror – In which he points to the long shadow cast over by Cersei, who, despite her brief on-screen minutes, is felt throughout the episode.
Bennett Madison, Vanity Fair – In which he reminds us that GOT is rapidly running out of Stark reunion pairings.
Dave Gonzales, Thrillist – In which he walks us through the different battle tactics employed by the armies on the Battle over the Roseroad (‘The Loot Train Battle’ is a silly title even by GOT standards).
David Crow, Den of Geek – In which he tells us that this episode finally answers the age-old question “[What] if Daenerys finally lived up to the words “Fire and Blood” by raining holy hell upon the fields of Westeros?”
David Malitz, The Washington Post – In which he commends the good humor coming from Pod and Davos.
David Rosenblatt, SquintyOverAnalyzesThings – In which I (yes, me, of me fame) explore the theme of the episode, which I dubbed as ‘things or people are not always what or who they appear.’
James Hibberd, Entertainment Weekly – In which he was on set for the filming of the ‘Arya comes home’ scene, and tells us that Maisie’s initial response to the bumbling guard duo was “Fuck off, I live here.”
Jen Chaney, Vulture – In which she discusses the numerous unsentimental, unsettling Stark reunions.
Josh Wigler, Hollywood Reporter – In which he very strongly doubts that we’ve seen the last of Jaime Lannister.
Kaitlyn Tiffany, The Verge – In which she goes through the many complicated emotions that could be conflicting in many GOT viewers’ heads right now.
Kim Renfro – Business Insider – In which, among zillions of articles posted in the last 24 hours, she calls it “one of the greatest episodes.”
Laura Hudson, WIRED – In which she fascinatingly explores how each of the three trueborn Stark children have become “more of themselves, not less.”
Laura Stone, Hey Don’t Judge Me – In which she does her one of a kind Laura Stone thing and if you don’t like it gtfo.
Lauren Sarner, Inverse – In which the phrase “jousting a fucking dragon” is my favorite.
Melanie McFarland, Salon – In which she astutely acknowledges that this episode played like a double feature, involving a story of a family reuniting and adjusting to their new world, which is then bookended by an action film.
Mike Bloom, Salon – In which Westeros World News (™) tries to make a quick buck by having a ‘Fire Sale.’
Myles McNutt, The A.V. Club – In which he charts the curious path our living may have left in their journey.
Neil Miller, Film School Rejects – In which he alludes to aspects not commonly touched upon, by exploring the battle through Tyrion’s lens, and the Brienne/Arya fight through Sansa’s.
Nina Shen Rastogi, Vulture – In which she runs us through the complicated emotions Tyrion must be feeling in those last moments.
Rob Bricken, io9 – In which he drools over the dialogue between Sansa and Arya in the crypt.
Sean T. Collins, Rolling Stone – In which he pauses to do a quick check in on who’s dead, and who’s still kicking.
TK, Pajiba – In which he thinks the episode bounced back after “last week’s minor stumble.”
Tom Huddleston, The Guardian – In which he makes a surprising number of very effective film and TV references.
All in all, seems like there was pretty much universal praise for the episode. Whose reviews did you love/hate, with all due respect of course, and as always?
Hodor!
serum,
You win!
Honestly, it sucks that it takes groundbreaking work for critics to stop being needlessly cynical and fatigued.
How are there any negative reviews for this masterpiece?
http://www.syfy.com/syfywire/does-the-spoils-of-war-rank-as-one-of-game-of-thrones-best-ever?__source=Blastr_Vayner_Syfy_Facebook&utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=best_got&utm_term=genre_interest&utm_content=link_ad
Another enjoyable review. Those poor horses that Bronn and Jamie got torched! 🙁
Needlessly cynical and fatigued? Sounds like half the posters on Watchers On The Wall… 😂😂😂
Ser Broccoli McBroccoliface,
Honestly, at this point,
I am looking forward to this season being over and escaping this fandom for 1.5 years.
Well, the biggest Stark reunion has not happened yet. 🙂 Will we get it this season??? (fingers crossed)
I have absolutely no use for reviewers who complain about Cersei’s hair not growing out yet. They are just watching different show than me.
That Nerdist ‘review’ is pretty bad. Rambling and fangirlish. And it contains this sentence: Dany took matters into her own wings and descended upon Jaime and Bronn and the Tarly boys and their armies with Drogon and a couple thousand Dothraki who did not die at Casterly Rock.
The Dothraki at Casterly Rock? LOL! And this person feels qualified to write a review?
elizabethe,
I agree! I have an aunt who has maintained the same hairstyle (same as Cersei’s). She’d go to a salon and have a hair trim every month and it’s not hard to imagine Cersei having a hairdresser at her beck and call.
Sounds like the kind of thing Markus Stark would complain about. How D&D could have overlooked that. I mean, if only they showed some dialogue where she mentions she gets it cut regularly now. How else can it be explained? Poor writing, clearly!
Don’t take this as a complaint, but I would have preferred the completion of the scene for Jaime on the end as well. Nobody thinks he drowns, and I mean nobody, so making that an “oh no” cliffhanger of sorts wasn’t effective. Four or five minutes of that on the end would have made it a normal length episode.
It may have been difficult to make work though. He obviously can’t stay in the water long but then Daenerys and Drogon were probably going to be there for a bit. So, how would they explain Jaime not being captured or killed. If that was going to happen they’d end the episode with that or what they did. That’s more exciting than he and Bronn slipping out of the water unnoticed. Still, I would have liked that at the end with them shocked with the sight of the aftermath.
Let’s not get into ad hominem attacks, shall we? It’s a big sandbox and we can all have fun here.
I promise not to annoy folks by brooding on Cersei’s Beatlesque mop-top but I will obsess and fuss about the meticulous braids in Dany’s hair, especially while she’s riding Big D! 🙂 Geez, that well-threaded, flame-retardant assembly holds together amazingly during chaos!
lol, it is obviously by choice – even her handmaids cut their hair short – either it is the new ‘in’ style, or it is symbolizing Cersei’s new attitude with a more traditionally short masculine hairstyle
Oh its extremely anecdotal! Criticism of the most trivial matters is his forte. And Im having a great time with this dont worry 😁
But theres no dialogue to support this. Clearly lazy on the part of the writers!
In terms of the Jaimie cliffhanger
Seems to be callback to Bran falling out the window, eg he doesen’t die but his life is altered forever, never mind the Cave it’s the pilot episode where Bran really died
In this case, Jaimie won’t die but his Army is cripplied, he lost his sword hand but still had an Army and his home and now in a sense he has lost that and so the fall while in the water is thematic of that
Ser Broccoli McBroccoliface,
Clearly D&D are lazy hacks and GRRM is genius.
Also the burning question now is who rules in Dorne? This needs to be answered as soon as possible or it will show that D&D don’t care for nuance and they are rushing things.
I know you have said the above ironically/as a joke but honestly, I for one don’t mind that the pace has picked up this season. I know that some people who definitely prefer books to show say that the two Ds’ show ending won’t be the ‘real ending’ of ASOIAF but at my age (fairly close in age to GRRM) while I hope I’ll be around in 10 years’ time if it takes that long for the book ending to make it into print I don’t have any guarantee that I will. So at least the show ending will provide some resolution – how alike the two endings are will have to await the books being published I guess.
I did say on another thread that as Bill Shakespeare used “double time” in “Othello” I’ll cut the two Ds some slack in this regard.
Something I haven’t seen mentioned in a satisfying way in the reviews and recaps I have read is Bran’s question to Littlefinger. “Do you know whose this is?”.
If Bran knows that LF said to Varys that chaos is a ladder, then he also knows that LF claiming to know to whom the dagger belonged is what started the wars and destruction of his family. He also no doubt knows to whom the dagger actually used to belong.
What I am interested in finding out is why he asked, since he already knows. Was he trying to give LF a chance to be honest? Just curious to see what kind of lie would come out of LF’s mouth this time?
The more I see of the show the more I am actually looking forward to reading the books to come.
These are interesting conversations I’m looking forward to seeing, but probably will never see, because show is in a hurry:
* Brienne and Arya talking about what it means to be a woman warrior in Westeros
* Arya and Sansa talking about what is wrong with Bran and will they ever be normal again
* Arya and Sansa talking about THE HOUND
* Arya talking about killing her enemies, Sansa reflecting on that
* Jon talking to Dany about Aemon, and how Dany was not the last Targaryen
Hodors Bastard,
Her braids were gorgeous! I agree. I was mesmerized by them as well.
There are some continuity criticisms worth making but the haircut one just signals to me that the reviewer is a different kind of viewer than me. It’s quite useful actually because then I can scroll right by.
Kattimaijanen,
One big one they missed is Theon finding out Ramsey is dead. You would think that would be important for his arc!
“Who taught you how to do that?”
Arya “No one.”
Homer – The Odyssey: Book IX :
“Polyphemus came awake with a roar, tore the spike from his eye and began groping for us in his blindness. His screams of frustration and rage brought the neighboring Cyclopes to the mouth of the cave.
‘What is it, brother?’ they called inside. ‘Is someone harming you?’
‘It’s Nobody!’ bellowed Polyphemus.”
I generally only read comments from certain posters, yourself being one, of course, and then I skip over the vast majority of those whom I’d label as Princess Grumpypants. In this way, I’m sure I miss a great deal but I see a much more positive side of the fandom.
Ha! She did look especially effing glorious, I’d noted, right when Jaime decided to spear her.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9XILi5K8nSc
Lance her. A lot.
Thanks you David for your very helpful rundown and all of your time it took to read through all of these. I was able to choose the rundowns that peaked my interest without taking forever.
Regarding Cersei’s hair, I see this as Cersei deciding to own the look. Her “Shame” experience made her stronger and more determined (that’s an understatement) and she has totally owned who she is now. Her children are dead. In the past she was softened some by her love for her children, but that is all gone. She no longer hides sleeping with Jaime (for example). It’s very much in line with owning being a Bastard for Jon or owning being a Dwarf for Tyrion. It is amusing how she made her handmaidens take on her look too though.
re: Cob:
(sorry for this rant..but I got a bit carried away here)
I am very much not looking forward to the season being over so soon. It’s going to be a long 1+ years. I am enjoying this season and all of the days in between the episodes to discuss what happened. I have already re-watched “Spoils of War” three times. I watched the 14 minute behind the scenes “anatomy of a scene” video of how the “Loot Train” battle was shot. It’s amazing how much was real and not CGI. I for one enjoyed the cliff hanger. I did think Jaime could have been dead. Call me naive. That’s OK. I will own it. I thought that seeing him float down… slowly sinking with all of his heavy armor could have been his end. I am not a huge Jaime fan and I felt myself floating down with him. He was truly “Sir” Jaime. I have never seen such a heroic sequence as the one where Nikolaj grabbed the lance and charged through the flames at Drogon. The way it was filmed I was right there with him. The look on Nikolaj’s face as he realized Drogon was turning to char him to a crisp was perfection. I am so much looking forward to the rest of the season. I’ll stop my rant here.
elizabethe,
GRRRRRR that bothers me so much…
My mom once had short hair and she cut it every month to keep it short.. Why is that so hard for idiots to understand?
right?
Is the top picture indicating that we can look forward to a ‘Jontheon’ soon?
Answers on a post card.
Sam,
OH MY GODDDDDDDDDD
Will it?!?!?!?!
AHHHH
I would die if all four are together. I really think D&D are out to get me
But lets see…. Jon is at Dragonstone. Jon will go North (I think – I may have seen something in the trailer but I only allowed myself to watch it two or three times so I don’t know the details of what I saw in the trailer)…. Will he stop at Winterfell before going north??
If he does stop at Winterfell…. will they all still be there?
UGH I DO NOT KNOW The wait is killing me
awol,
I think LF needs several things. To know what Bran is made of (what kind of person he’ll be dealing with), so he needs to introduce himself to the Lord of Winterfell (remember that that is how LF would consider him up to this point). And, well giving a gift, for LittleFinger, is always about being in someone’s good graces (and it is customary too). But not only.
LF needs to know more about two things at least that he will try to trigger Bran into telling :
*First, giving him the dagger and reminding him of the story of the cutthroat to see if he knows/remembers what (why it) happened (Seeing Jaime + Cersei = protecting this secret is one of the things that started the war but also leads to LF’s guilt)
*Second, another account of what’s beyond the wall. Folks, from the start, he’s been quiet about the Army of the Dead. We do not know what he really thinks. Does he believe it ? And skeptical as he is, and/or as crucial as information/knowledge is to him, LF would want to know from another source than Jon or Tormund the Wildling.
Look at his face right after he says : “I imagine you’ve seen things most men wouldn’t believe…” (wait for it…. and nothing from Bran)
He doesn’t get an answer and he’s a little annoyed by it.
Now pay attention, he presses the issue in a different/subtle way, still hoping to get Bran to talk about it – what he saw – but is interrupted…(Chaos is a ladder).
Wonderfully played by Alan Gillen: notice the close-up of his long stare at Bran, then the slow blinking of his eyelids, and then after Meera makes her entrance, he quickly exhales, turning towards Bran again, taking his leave. That’s great acting, imo.
In the end he does not leave empty handed really. As secretive as LF is, I’m thinking about his ability to show different faces to different people, there are very few people who know his views (and ambitions) on politics and largely life : Varys, Cersei, Sansa. Three characters he had long and meaningful scenes with. “Chaos is a ladder” is such a specific mantra to him that a northerner lordling who was lost these past years in the North cannot possibly know this without his sister Sansa telling him or… magic. I’ll choose the last option. He knows now that Bran has some kind of seer power.
Now Arya Stark coming is another challenge for him. If he wanted to know what the other Stark sibling was made of, he knows with that sparring scene with Brienne. No need to introduce himself in a creepy way with a creepy gift. In one stare at each other, he knows he’ll never get in her good graces. Notice the music of the House of Black and White when Arya stares at him leaving the balcony ? Ominous.
So ****TLTR**** : Littlefinger is fishing for information/knowledge, “the gold of schemers”, as it enables them to act or let’s say move his chess pieces more effectively.
Random question – is there a way to search through comments? I thought I saw someone mention in a comment a few weeks ago…I only view the site on iPhone and could use any navigation tips beyond the jump to top/bottom (and endless scrolling/visual searching),
Tuttle,
no spoilerssssssss lol
I doubt it though
Ginevra,
Princess Grumpypants! LOL!!!!
People who think they want all these little interactions and haircuts explained and spelled out are just assuming good TV is easy. If all that stuff was in the show it would be monumentally boring. The viewer has to connect some dots for it to be compelling.
You think Dany will give Jon a lift back home to meet the rest of the family? It is the decent thing to do! The Starks are her cousins too!
I think everyone, Jon and the Brotherhood, are going straight to Eastwatch. It’s dire.
I’m really enjoying Alex Mullane’s reviews from Digital Spy this year. And of course, Sean T. Collins is top-notch as ever. All in all, a more informative and satisfying group of reviews than in weeks pasts, although that could be owed in part to me dropping several reviewers that I know from past experience will only aggravate me with their tedious fixation on things (e.g. the passage of time) that I don’t care about in the slightest.
On a lighter note, I loved this bit from the end of David/Squinty’s review …
This is the spinoff we need, if not the one that we deserve. Or the spinoff that we deserve, if not the one we need. Either way, greenlight this immediately! 🙂
I think it’s artistic choice, not so much trying to fool anyone. As others have noted, it mirrors the end of S1E1. And the charge is such a major heartstoppimg moment…for me it’s kinda cool to just leave us all adrift with Jamie after that.
The “cliffhanger” is a minor one…how does he get out, what are the consequences and where do we go from here? I am trusting that it makes for better scene/flow in next episode.
If he isn’t captured though, and they just cut right to him and Bronn escaped somehow…it will feel supercheap to me. I don’t mind time jumps, but implausible, unexplained, unhinted plot developments that are conveniently offscreen are jarring and I have a mid level tolerance for the magic wand.
Of the old gods,
If you’re in the default browser safari, first you go to the bottom. It’s the same button that you use to add to favs or message (the third next to back/forward page). From there scroll the bottom (add bookmark, add to home screen etc…) until you see a magnifying glass “Find On Page.” This should do it.
No Episode 6 title yet?
Also, where on the HBO site does it officially call episode 5 ‘Eastwatch’? The episode page doesn’t list a title.
http://www.hbo.com/search?type=schedule&seriesIds=PMRS1663&q=GAME%2BOF%2BTHRONES
Gfx,
Thanks! That’s embarrassingly easy, would never know that I work in technology 😳didn’t even occur to me to look for generic safari solution as I’ve never felt the need to search a web page beyond this site!
Of the old gods,
Haha no problem! I actually didn’t know either since I’m usually doing Cmd/Ctrl+F on desktop computers instead. So I learned something new too 🙂
Dee Stark,
My sentiments exactly! I’m gonna be a mess when the whole pack finally gather together (and survive together, I hope). We only have 3 more episodes this season, and I’m wary for Jon to go home already. I did watch the trailers and saw some action scenes with Jon and co in the north. I’m not sure if he’d go to WF before or after that. The anticipation is killing me! 😀
Tuttle,
I like your take on the Bran/LF scene. However, at the time of that conversation, the only confirmation of a person in WF outside of Meera that knows of Bran’s seeing abilities is Sansa. And she’s not telling LF anything personal about her family. LF definitely went on a fishing expedition but it was Bran who came away with information on LF’s manipulation (or else what’s the point of the preview telling Cat he lost the dagger to Tyrion). Also after reuniting with Arya and discussing her list, he gives Arya the dagger commenting someone wealthy wanted him dead. With these clues, should we conclude LF will be added to Arya’s list? Or perhaps as Bran is focused on the NK the dagger is meant for Cersei as she stands in the way of a united kingdom. Either way that dagger is taking out more than WWs.
Sam,
Oh my God… you are right.. he doesn’t need to go home… hes going to take those weapons and head straight to eastwatch im sureeeeeeeeeeeeeee
OH NO 🙁
As this is the written-recap post, allow me to share my own review, which I only stopped writing a couple minutes ago due to my yesterday’s writing being interrupted by my real-life stuff. I know… it’s long as hell but this is what happens when I encounter such an amazing episode.
S07E04 – THE SPOILS OF WAR
*Side note: All historical events mentioned in this review are part of »Histories and Lore« videos and are therefore canon to the show. The review also contains a bit of my personal speculation of the trailer (prior to this episode). Otherwise, it’s strictly show-related.
Lord Parramandas before watching an episode: Oh, no… this episode is only 48 minutes long. This surely cannot be one of the better episodes and I guess I should get ready for more average one.
Lord Parramandas after watching the episode: But no! It was not the case at all! In fact, it was even a step up from previous episode. Beautiful and epic at the same time.
Hello again everyone and welcome to the 4th review of Lord Parramandas! Yes, we crossed into second half of S7 with this episode and I’m proud to announce S7 has been a climb so far. We’re going even higher on my ranklist with this episode which surely deserves to be in at least my top 10. I will surely decided when I reach the end of my review.
Before starting the recap and analysis, I first need to mention that I’m so satisfied overall with S7. THIS is the tone I prefer overall. Less characters and a lot more focused story and that way, even those that I’m not a big fan of have a big chance of me liking them. Like it happened with almost every character in this episode. I would say this episode gave me »LOST vibe« when it comes to being so deeply invested into characters and getting so many special feelings in the process. But enough of my rambling, let’s go to episode itself.
HIGHGARDEN: After a crushing defeat of Tyrell forces in last episode, Lannisters had the gold to repay the Iron Bank and a large amount of grain to survive through winter. But there was a teeny tiny little problem… there is a long way ahead to reach King’s Landing and who knows what kind of trouble they can encounter on the road. Well, we heard in another scene that the gold safely made its way to the city, but I cannot say the same for the rest of the stuff…and men. But more of that later. In this episode, we also saw the return of Bronn, another one of my favorite character. And at this point, he was getting very displeased about the lack of reward Jaime has been promising him since S5. A castle and a suitable wife. I really enjoy all the scenes Bronn appears in and these were no exceptions. But I felt there was a darker tone in those scenes… Bronn seemed more of a killer this time and Jaime was clearly displeased with something. I would say the days of lighthearted funny moments are over.
KING’S LANDING: Our ruler of the Seven Kingdoms got another win… she repayed the debt to the Iron Bank, something I never imagined to happen before. I guess team Targaryen will have to earn the throne a hard way. Also, this was the first time Mark Gattis appeared in more than one episode inside a season.
WINTERFELL: The feelings again… we had Sansa/Jon reunion in previous season, we had Sansa/Bran reunion in previous episode and now we also have Sansa/Arya reunion and Arya/Bran reunion. I find it really interesting how Sansa, who is the least Stark-ish in many people’s eyes, is the most heavily involved in all these reunions. And not couting Jon, all the Starks are together in this episode and there is such significant scene of them walking together in the courtyard with Littlefinger uneasily staring at them. Yes, lord Serpent among the wolves, your plans are surely threatened now. So if I touch Sansa/Arya reunion a bit… unlike Sansa who was freely allowed to enter Castle Black, Arya had a bit of trouble entering Winterfell and it was such a nice callback to the scene back in S1 when the gold cloaks didn’t allow her to enter Red Keep. Any way, Arya managed to smuggle herself to the crypt and there she met Sansa, a sister with whom she never went along. This reunion was a bit more »official« but I could still sense the sisters were happy to see each other. I especially liked how they first cracked some jokes on their old rivalry… how Arya needs to call Sansa »lady Stark« but Sansa smiled afterwards and tenderly hugged Arya.
But of course, everything wasn’t so sweet as Arya revealed to Sansa she’s been killing people on her list, something that Sansa didn’t believe at first, but it became quite clear to her when Arya and Brienne were practicing fighting in the courtyard, Brienne with typical medieval fighting and Arya with water-dancing and it ended in a draw. There was some sort of unease on Sansa’s face after seeing it… there has been a lot of discussion on this subject and I think it was not jealousy, but concern and maybe a bit of fear. Her siblings are back, but it’s not the same… Bran is different and Arya is a killer. I can imagine it must be hard for Sansa at this point, despite her going through some absoulte horrifying stuff. But what I’m more worried about is the look LF gave to Sansa and then Brienne… what is he planning?
Speaking of Bran, I found it interesting how Sansa sounded sad when she revealed to Arya that he’s back as well. And there was also that scene with Meera, when she said goodbye to him and he was quite cold overall. Yes, being the »Three Eyed Raven« takes its toll as Bran was no longer Brandon Stark only, but a person with memories of all previous three-eyed-ravens (which I believe it’s just a title for the most powerful greenseer). »You died in that cave« – quite a sad scene from Meera and I also wonder if this episode was the last time we saw her. Her character really grew on me in previous season and I will be sad if we never see her again. Another thing I need to mention is that LF gave the dagger to Bran, the same one he nearly got killed with. Rule with LF: don’t trust a word he says and I’m really worried what he’s planning to do next. Bran gave this dagger to Arya then and it really makes me wonder if there is more to this scene and if this dagger will come in handy later… just my speculation though.
DRAGONSTONE: Our dragon queen is losing all the allies. Yes, the »mighty« alliance between Targaryens, Tyrells, Martells and Greyjoys has come to an end, thanks to Lannisters, Tarlys and different Greyjoy. Olenna is dead, Ellaria is in the dungeons of the Red Keep, Yara is Euron’s prisoner. All that remains is Theon who returned to Dragonstone in this episode. But before I deal with this alliance stuff, let me touch Jon first. After really tense scenes between him and Daenerys in previous episode, he »impressed the girl« in this episode. Yes, it really seemed to me that he was flirting with her. He took her to the cave, where he planned to mine the dragonstone for dragonglass weaponry and Dany was stunned by the beautiful sight. But this was not it… he took her further to an old cave where the Children left their marks… how them and the First Men united together against the common enemy, White Walkers. Dany was provided official proof of these demons’ existence and she promised Jon to help him fight them… as long as he bends the knee to her. DON’T…BEND…THE…KNEEE…JON! Thakfully, he didn’t, at least not yet. Well, I would be fine with him bending the knee if he was allowed to keep the »King in the North« title. Also, I was able to really warm to Dany in this episode. As I often said, the character is the best in her tender scenes and the scenes in the cave were a great example of it. Despite calling herself »queen of Seven Kingdoms«, there is so little she knows about themand I liked how stunned she seemed in this episode.
But after these heartwarming moments, the news finally reached Dany about Tyrells’ defeat and she immediately went into rage mode to the point that even her advisors seem to feel uneasy. After all, she’s still a Targaryen and there is history of particulary violent kings (Maegor, Aerys). Any way, she wanted to attack KL with her dragons despite the number of possible innocent casualities… but there was a slightly better plan that would only include the soldiers casualities and would indirectly damage KL without even needing to attack it. More of it in next chapter as I also need to focus on another reunion… Theon and Jon. Unlike all the Starks reunion, this one was not pleasant at all. Jon, being a typical Northman, angrily confronted Theon and revealed that the only reason he’s still alive is because he helped Sansa escape. But now to the big stuff….
THE REACH: Good news… gold reached King’s Landing. Bad news… it was the only thing to reach King’s Landing, all thanks to horse-riding screamers and a giant winged fire-breathing reptile. Yes, I’m talking about the expected battle between the Lannister forces and Targaryen forces which ended with a firm defeat of House Lannister. Here follows some past speculation from the trailer: I remember seeing the Dothraki charging and Lannister army marching. And there were so many comment »Only a fool would meet the Dohtraki on the open field« and I was like »Please don’t make Cersei THAT stupid that she would command Lannister forces to meet Targaryen army on the open field.« Everyone in Westeros knows the story about the infamous Field of Fire (also mentioned in S1 Histories and Lore) where three dragons defeated the combined army of the West and Reach (similar to Jaime’s army in this episode), resulting in one king’s death, submission of the second king and the surrender of the third king who wanted to spare his own people a similar fate.
No, Cersei wasn’t that stupid because this new »Field of Fire« was more of an ambush. And the thing is that if the attack consisted only of Dohtraki, Lannisters might have won due to the pikemen wall they formed. Here I remembered the story of Khal Temmo (narrated by Jorah Mormont in S3 Histories and Lore) how a couple thousand Unsullied defended the city of Qohor from a massive khalasar as the Dohtraki kept repeatedly charging into their wall of spears instead of being tactical enough to surround them and attack them from sides. And first, it seemed it will be like that here as well… but the Dohtraki weren’t alone in this case, as they had a dragon protecting their back. Drogon with Daenerys on his back did just enough damage with his fire to break the Lannisters’ pike wall and the Dohtraki were able to break through. Without pikemen, the infantry is helpless against the cavalry attack and so it happened here. On top of that, Drogon occassionally helped the Dothraki with his fire and also burned all the carts with supplies. So King’s Landing will be left without food and it would be only a matter of time before riots start.
But there was another not-so-pleasant revelation for Daenerys as she realized her dragon is not invincible and neither is she on his back. During all the chaos, Bronn unveiled the giant scorpion and started shooting at Drogon. Yes, there was an event from 300 years ago (also mentioned in Histories and Lore) how one of Aegon’s orignal three dragons got killed when a scorpion bolt pierced his head. And Drogon was in the same danger here. The first bolt missed him, but the second one hit him in the shoulder, crippling his right wing and nearly causing him to crash. Not only Drogon, Daenerys was in danger here as well as she was on his back at this point. Sadly (or happily…depends on character’s perspective), Bronn wasn’t able to fire another bolt as Drogon spotted him and burned the scorpion to ashes with Bronn very narrowly escaping from being burned himself. I must say I considered both possibilites of Bronn and Drogon dying. I initially believed that Bronn will die in S5 (due to my mind still being influenced by books in that case) and here, I was a bit worried as well. But I can say it would be really epic if he died in this scene. On the other hand, I’m thinking what could be the worst possible thing that could happen to Dany. And that would be the death of one of her dragons so Drogon dying would add more bittersweet taste to Dany’s victory.
Before I wrap this story, I must also say that I liked how »grey« the battle felt for me. I couldn’t fully root for one side. Jaime and Bronn are among my favorite characters and on the other hand, I have Tyrion and also Jon and Daenerys tries to do more good to the realm in general and it’s something I cannot overlook. And judging by Tyrion’s look in this episode, he was conflicted as well… on one hand, he fought for »good of the realm«, on other hand, he watched »his own people« being burned. And on top of that, his brother and his friend Bronn were part of this battle as well.
So after Drogon got crippled, Jaime, overwhelmed with deaths of so many soldiers, made the final charge on Dany who was trying to remove the scorpion bolt and the only thing that saved her was that Drogon spotted Jaime and tried to burn him, only for Bronn to push him out of the way in right time. And then we see Jaime going deep into the water. Did he die? If he did, he went down like every knight should…if he didn’t, I will be even more happy as that means more scenes of him. I also liked how selfless Bronn seemed in this episode, first leaving the gold on the floor while running towards the scorpion and then saving Jaime from death.
So this is it! I think I wrapped everything with this review. It was a really epic and beautiful episode at the same time and that’s the best combination when it comes to my personal enjoyment of episodes. On my ranklist, I decided to put this episode on rank 4, behind »The Winds of Winter« and ahead of »The Door«. And of course, that’s the area of my 10/10 rated episodes. This season is really epic so far and I hope some episode reaches new heights of my ranklist. It will be tough to beat my top 3, but everything is possible.
With best regards from Lord Parramandas.
Wahhhhhhh that does make sense 😭But I so want him to see the fam!!!
TBH, I am ok with “saving” the Arya reunion for later, but I will be devastated if they don’t get a happy one…that is like the biggest thing I’ve looked forward to for years!
Dee Stark,
You know, at this point, all I’m asking is not one of them dies until they all reunite – no matter if it’s this season or next or even the very last episode of the series. LOL. I just want that “pack getting back together” scene. 🙂
Of the old gods,
Same here! Jon’s got to see Arya using Needle so well in a fight. That gift he gave her, in a way, was what kept her from becoming fully No One. It reminded her a few times of her family and who she truly is: Arya Stark of Winterfell (loved it when she said it to Jaqen).
Tron79,
Go ahead and own it, last laugh will be on everyone else if he’s dead!
Honestly, I think this is one of those ways in which leaks & filming spoilers permeate in a subtle way. Because while many Unsullied, myself included, may come away thinking “nah, I don’t think he’s dead” for various reasons, we don’t know for sure. I still don’t. But when there is a large segment of the population that KNOWS things (as may be the case here), I think that confidence – while not spoiling anything outright – spreads into generally accepted common belief, to the point where everyone (who follows a fansite or the media) will be very surprised if they pull his dead body out.
I’m not ready for Jamie to go, and will feel like a sucker punch in next episode now if that’s the reality!
To be fair, part of that confidence also comes just from the level of analysis in fandom for what would and wouldn’t make sense. My gut feel was that he will survive this one (in part because if he’s going to die, wouldn’t the dragon fire be the way to go? think of the horrific visual for Tyrion and us, very GoT! And more of a heart-stopping climax) and similarly-minded people reinforce that. It’s a small trade off for enjoying all the discussion and rehashing of details, and very worth it IMHO 🙂
I am enjoying every minute as well!
Of the old gods,
I KNOW>>> ARYA + JON reunion is the most important one.. considering the NEEDLE scene they had. My heart will break if they don’t have a reunion that’s slightly happy
Sam,
I know.. that’s what I want… that’s all I ask for really… 🙁
It says Eastwatch on the preview video for season 7 episode 5
awol,
I thought the same thing too.
Yasssss and I don’t care if critics call it fan service or tropey or whatever!!! To have a “happy” moment – as if there is ANYTHING that can ever erase or make up for the horror, devastation and wrecked lives! Just a consolation crumb lol
firstone,
I noticed on the HBO Now stream Sunday night it didn’t have the episode title or description- maybe that’s normal and I never noticed? But I wondered if it had to do with keeping things under wraps until the week before, then getting all the updates made.
Of the old gods,
Fuck those critics lol
they owe us some fan service. we never get it lol
I know how D&D like to drop foreshadowing in their dialogue, so this little bit from “The Spoils of War” has me concerned:
Sansa to Arya about seeing Jon Snow: “I know how happy he was to see me. When he sees you, his heart will probably stop.”
Please tell me this is not some type of foreshadowing and I’m reading too much into it!
Mr Derp,
I’m hoping that they are just trolling the fan base now!
Or that it stops…and restarts again. Without losing a bit of our beloved Jon Snow lol
Of the old gods,
Dee Stark,
Preach! “Fan service” is one of those terms that has been so laughably and grotesquely misused by so many people that it has lost any shred of meaning for me (see also: “filler”, “fan fiction”, and “plot hole”). Whenever I see anyone use it as a criticism, I laugh – and not in a kind way.
Just because something good is happening in this incredibly dark tale does not automatically mean that is “fan service”. Sometimes – far more often than not, I would argue – it is a natural development inherent to the characters’ logical narrative progression in the story. The Starks reuniting in Winterfell is not “fan service”. It’s a logical step in their story at this late hour. It’s unfortunately easy for people to label it as such because the show has trained us so well with so many cruel developments and close calls. But no matter how subversive some stories can be at the beginning, all stories need to rely on such tropes by the end, or they become a bleak and unfulfilling mess. The ending is supposed to be “bittersweet”, not pitch-black. I think too many people overlook the “sweet” part of that descriptor.
Because the show is beyond the books, some people who idolize GRRM as this eternal breaker of tropes cling to the idea that he would never give the people what they want like D&D would. But this idea that GRRM never does anything his audience would ever expect or want is blatantly not true. If Martin – whose last final unpublished book was once reportedly titled “A Time for Wolves” – never brings the Starks back together in his novels, his story will be lesser for it. Or he will paint himself into a corner trying to do something “unconventional”, and never finish. Fortunately, I believe that he’s far smarter than those fans of his who worship unrelenting bleakness and trope-breaking above all else.
In the interest of fairness, I would acknowledge something like Hot Pie’s return in Episode 2 to be “fan service”, because that character didn’t strictly need to return – Arya could have learned about Jon defeating the Boltons and becoming King in the North some other way. But it was awesome, heartwarming, and made total narrative sense, given where he had been. Reflexively defining “fan service” as a sign of “bad writing” – another term that gets grotesquely misused and overused – is reductive, and to put a fine point on it, lazy criticism.
Gfx,
You can also just type in the address bar and “On This Page” will autopop matches. Unless I am misunderstanding.
Mr Derp,
Talking to my colleague today and we said the same thing. In fact there is a lot about hearts ie stabbed in the heart, she has a kind heart has been said numerous times of course it could be coincidence.
Yes. A nice reference. And D&D have said (I think it was them) that Arya’s return was in part modelled on that of Odysseus.
Mr Derp,
I noticed it. Bran saw how the Night King was made, he knows how to do it. They stuck the dragonglass straight into the man’s heart. Not sure if that means anything to this, but you have Dany wondering about Jon “taking a knife in the heart for his people”, Jon talking about Dany having a good heart, now Sansa’s line about Jon’s heart stopping, and remember the Hound taught Arya where the heart is. All of this is coincidence? I doubt it.
I don’t know what it all means but it’s probably nothing good.
Unlike Odysseus, when she was reunited with her faithful dog, it didn’t wag its tail joyfully and then keel over dead from old age! So that’s a plus. I suppose all the male Freys were the cognate of Penelope’s suitors?
Regarding Cercei’s hair – it’s not the HOW (obviously, there are handmaidens and barbers in Westeros). It’s the WHY.
If this is not a clumsy oversight, clearly it’s a choice on Cercei’s part. Which is strange. This haircut was imposed on her by someone she hates. That’s not empowering or Cercei-like. Thinking through it, the answer seems be she’s kept it because it makes her look like Tywin and it ties in with the rest of her costume.
The handmaidens mimic their queen because that’s how fashion works. I doubt Cercei notices their existence long enough to impose a hairstyle on them.
I’m giving Laura Stone’s all my cookies!
I put that down on Jon making Davos draw all night in the cave tio make his point to Dany, but definitely could go with Jon skeches lol
Yesssss! “No one” my foot. That’s all Syrio *heart* (fine, maybe some Faceless Assassin too but mostly Syrio)
THANK YOU! I feel like I’m the tone deaf dudette in the room no more.
Lmao. You so mean! Santa is real, everyone knows that.
Jared,
THIS SOOOOO MUCH THIS!!!!
Though, I don’t agree about the Hot Pie… I think its nice to have light cute moments like that and bring smiles to people, which I am sure his appearance did.
Dee Stark,
Oh, on a personal level, I totally agree about Hot Pie as well! I loved that scene, and I’m so glad that the character returned, especially in that context.
I was just attempting to provide an example of a positive story development that was less intrinsically and inextricably critical to the plot than Arya, Sansa, and Bran – the three surviving trueborn children of this story’s central family – coming together once again after seven seasons apart. The former is designed to make us smile and convey necessary information – both incredibly important things. But the latter is a landmark moment for the entire show. Without it, the story loses something absolutely essential – which fundamentally immunizes it from being tarred with such lazy pejoratives as “fan service”, IMO. It had to happen, and so it did. 🙂
Jared,
yes I agree 100%
Jared,
Ugh, yes. “Fanservice”, “plotholes” and “fanfiction”. If I’m honest, the lack of these moments is my main criticism of earlier seasons. As much as I enjoyed the story, I wasnt’ ablet to deeply attach to characters because everything seemed so controlled. These are moments I especially value on rewatches, the moment that give me those special feelings which usually grow stronger on every rewatch. So I’m VERY thankful for all those so called “fanservice” moments, not to mention they make perfect sense to the plot.
Oh, and “plotholes”… I nearly lost my patience in LFU a couple days ago over this word. Missing information or unanswered question is NOT a plothole because it can be answered with a simple use of imagination. I felt like a broken record in that case… “Call them gaps or unanswered questions” – And you know what I got back as a response? “Plotholes is a widely accepted term among fandom. Don’t act so smart.”
Firannion,
Hah! could be… 😀
orange,
😱😱
Stop you’re scaring the children and by children I mean me!! Lol
This show doesn’t devastate me like it did in the early days, but I suppose I should brace myself for what’s to come *agonized sigh*
to this day, if I start to rewatch bits or all of season 1, I feel a sinking pit of despair starting with the end of E1. Maybe because the happy Stark family is too fresh at that point? Lol
On my first rewatch (after missing S3 and S4 without HBO access, rewatched S1 and S2 to refresh before catching up) my sister started to watch but was exhausted from her job and kids and couldn’t stay awake enough to follow…I told her it was just as well, I had forgotten how much it tore my heart out!
Jared,
Not GoT related but this is me arguing about so called “plotholes”. I couldn’t find the exact one that I mentioned above but this one was already frustrating enough.
http://i.imgur.com/7xxzQP6.png
http://i.imgur.com/wagyGdl.png
I’m not picking up ‘sexual tension’ either – but am picking up curiosity and some feelings of similarity or similar goals which neither seems to know how to express. Awkwardness. There’s a bit of ‘sexual’ curiosity in that, but set aside by both, particularly Jon (as he expresses to Davos) there being other things that are crucially important.
There is, though, the possibility for other developments here…
Lord Parramandas,
You’re a braver man than me for carrying on this particular battle in the Lost fandom, my friend. I adored that show, and I still do. But once it ended, I fell away from all the old groups that I used to frequent, in no small part thanks to issues like this. It’s good to know that there are still people like you fighting the good fight on that front.
spaewife,
I quoted Laura Stone’s review. She’s funny.
Yes, I got the curiosity part and working toward an alliance and common goal closeness, but think there’s a big difference between curiosity and sexual attraction. I also think Davos had to say it because it advances that idea of Jon being attracted to Dany which seems to be where it all leads according to the Inside Episode.
I will hold my Ygritte/Jon/Val close now. Y’all let me be.
Lol Dee, I think to the “fan service” critics, that might be their definition? But I agree with you and frankly I think it adds to the quality to bring some continuity and tie-back in a show that is so sprawling with so many characters – most shows don’t bother. It’s not like it was some sappy or horribly contrived reunion.
And yes to everything Jared says, except I’m not as dismissive when I see those terms, as I am still interested in people’s perceptions/opinions because I new to paying attention to reviews and analysis. But I admit to rolling my eyes at some of the extreme “trope!” accusations…something is either earned and makes sense to the story and characters as Jared says (I’m paraphrasing) or it doesn’t.
For me, being pointedly opposite to something is just another side of the same coin, not particularly original.
Jared,
It’s because our LFU group consists of very positive folk in general, those who like and appreciate the series in its entirety, including “The End”. Comments like this stand out because there are so few people like that in the group and I know people will back me up in this “battle”.
. But when it comes to official LOST site… I can say the comments people make there make me sick and my only business there is to find new (positive) people for our group and they’re usually very eager to join in the process. It’s pointless to fight battles on a site like that one. But there are always some negative folk in the group and what’s funny is that I very rarely see these people comment.
This in particular was a thread of one web articles about “15 unanswered questions of LOST that will make you mad at the show” and I scrolled through the post and I immediately noticed most of those questions can be answered. And the original maker posted this as a sign, how silly the article is and most of the LFU members agreed with him and disagreed with the article. But some “bad eggs” can be always found like in this comment thread.
Tuttle,
Interesting, but I think you misunderstood me. I was not asking about Littlefinger’s logic, I was asking about Bran’s.
Bran now knows that Littlefinger once claimed to know to whom the dagger belonged, even though Littlefinger now claims NOT to know. In other words Bran knows that Littlefinger lauched the war of five kings with his false claim that it was Tyrion’s. So why would he ask Littlefinger and pretend not to know? Does Bran use interactions with people as a way to focus all the info in his head?
It was a curious exchange and I am interested to learn in future episodes about BRAN’s motivations there.
Aye. With you.
I think that at this point, he does. He is ‘drowning’ in data, and when somebody speaks to him he is able to focus on what they say and to pull up the memories/data on that.
It may be that the writers intended Bran’s ‘chaos is a ladder’ to be a warning to LF, but I think not – I think it’s him echoing the word and person into his ‘memory banks’ which he’s still sorting out and producing the phrase from there.
When he asks ‘to whom’ he may be referring to the recent past or to the far distant past – might the dagger have belonged to one of Aeron the conqueror’s sisters, or to another notable person? Or both far past, recent past and present at once – which is possibly how he is seeing things just now.
And so, what is the link in giving it to Arya?
Someone needs to have a talk with Arya because Arya has totally changed… She ether turned into the Hound (example is Arya eating and drinking like the hound and “acted” like the hound with Hot Pie) or Arya is “acting” like LSH. Arya has changed as much as Bran and in the same way… robotic. Arya used to be so real and have so much personality. Arya’s whole story line is about her list of people to kill and killling people…. aka: LSH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It’s no spoiler because Arya is not LSH but she is acting as morbid as LSH. Arya meets Sansa in the crypt at Winterfell… LSH. I am not saying Arya is bad or it sucks but I think it is something that has happened.
It wasn’t your fun I was fretting over.
I actually find posters applying critical thinking to the show to be much more interesting, thought-provoking reading than posters who think everything in the show is perfectly wonderful. And I have little patience for those who advocate that fans who aren’t “positive” enough should be kicked out of the fandom, as if this were Tiger Beat magazine and we were tweens kvelling over boy bands.
I’m sure I’m not the only regular visitor here who finds the comments of the person you attacked to be of interest. Your “trivial matter” is another viewer’s pet peeve (and likely vice versa), and there’s absolutely nothing wrong with that. This is a DISCUSSION group. If everyone agreed, there would be nothing to discuss.
State your position, bolster it with well-thought-out arguments. But don’t single out people with whom you disagree and put them down personally for having a different opinion or different tastes in storytelling/cinematic approaches.
Dee Stark,
I cry just thinking about it.
Anyone else find that the ending reminded them of the scene in Deathly Hallows where Harry jumps into the frozen pond to retrieve the Sword of Gryffindor and Ron pulls him out? Maybe Jaime and (presumably) Bronn will spot a glowing white doe walking away when they poke their heads out of the water. I wonder if he’ll be plus or minus a magic sword when he emerges, too…
Firannion,
Or maybe LOTR when Gollum pulls Frodo out of the marshes.
spaewife,
‘Aegon the conqueror’ – apols for typo. I had to get dinner out the oven fast and had no time to fix it until now!
spaewife,
The dagger needs a cool name. Any suggestions ?
(If they could somehow conform it to “canon”, I’d like…. Dark Sister.)
‘Catspaw Dagger’ is the term that I’ve seen in common use throughout the fandom. I’ve also noticed that this has led to some pretty widespread misuse of the term ‘catspaw’ as a synonym freely interchangeable with ‘assassin,’ rather than its broader actual meaning of ‘someone being used as a (not necessarily lethal) tool by someone else in an attempt to preserve anonymity.’
spaewife,
It may be what’s going on. I’ve puzzled over that a bit. But I initially thought that him voicing these things has a purpose.
Bran could keep the memory he’s pulling out of the info dump to himself but he doesn’t. And he’s specifically saying things to Sansa and Arya that makes sense in the context of their relationships though they may seem weird said without emotion:
1. he is sorry for his sister’s rape and faith at Winterfell which completely understandable if he saw it, while it was completely tactless considering Sansa’s traumatic experiences which she probably wants to keep to herself for now.
2. converses about Arya’s unexpected return as he sees her for the first time after all these years. He didn’t expect her to come North so it was a lot like saying “Gods it’s been a long time! I thought you’d never think of coming home!” Except with the creepiness of seeing her decision making moment.
Both are in a way related to what he feels about the person in front or on the topic at hand.
The “Chaos is a laddah” is just weird and based on one single word grabbed on from Petyr’s speech. I really thought he was sending a message there imo and I think Petyr got it by the look on his face when he processed the fact he was quoted on something he said with only another person in the room.
Or maybe thinks oh-oh this guy thinks like me. Better watch out LOL
firstone,
I have a feeling Sansa is going to have a talk with her about that. She looked freaked out and completely disoriented to me when she saw how her little sister held her own against Bri. And then there’s the darn list. She initially laughed at it, but in the end asked: so who is on your list?! Kind of hope she tries to reach Arya. To me the younger sister is still a child. Looks so lost and disconnected when she meets familiar and loving faces. Maybe Jon will do the same.
I like how Bran doesn’t have a filter (or at least an obvious one). He’s like the Google “I’m Feeling Lucky” button, except with the Westeros version of “luck.” 🙂
I’m rather enjoying (and dreading) how he makes folks feel uncomfortable. I do hope he gets to speak with Jon soon. My dire prediction is that their conversation may be one of the final lines of the season!
I am a complete newbie to the site, but not GOT. I suppose I am Unsullied since I never read any books. This episode is the first to cause me to write in. BTW loved it!
Even if Jaime and Bronn come out of the water, they will be in front of Drogon and in the middle of a conquering Dothraki army. This leads me to ask … Who is Dani telling to bend the knee or die in the next episode? Could easily be them, among others. IMO this provides opportunity for Tyrion to step in and rescue them, even though it could be hazardous to his own health. That then sets up Jaime telling Cersei that Tyrion is innocent of Joffreys murder.
I hope I haven’t pissed off the moderator, I am just trying to make sense of it all.
Yes!
Also, hoping our old rowing friend returns sometime soon, I would love to see him and Jon to have a convo about Ned.
Boojam,
Heh, good call, that.
There is an archive of posts, but not comments. I’ve wished for the same thing; wish there was an easier way. I also have asked for a way to bookmark posts that I would like to return to, and to be able to mark on a post where I left off so I can return to it easily without jumping back and forth.
Mr Derp,
no you are not, I had the same premonition. So hope I am wrong!
Dothraki Scum,
Welcome! Hope you like it here. 🙂
Whether or not Jaime and Bronn wind up being captured may depend on how long it takes Bronn to extract Jaime from his armor underwater and haul him to the surface (and where he hauls him to the surface). If it takes them long enough, or they emerge far enough away, then Drogon and Dany may have left that particular bank, believing them dead. At that point, it’s not outside the realm of possibility that they might be able to grab a pair of riderless horses and escape. If Jaime and Bronn are captured, however, then yes … it will be up to Tyrion to save their lives, even if he risks Dany’s wrath in doing so.
As for who Dany is directing to bend the knee or die in the trailer for next week’s episode … it’s the surviving Lannister and Tarly soldiers, what few of them there are. That may include Jaime and Bronn, if they are captured. It may also include Randyll and Dickon Tarly. We never saw either of them die.
Jared,
Thanks for the welcome!
I seem to recall a screenshot of Jaime looking a bit dazed, walking through a scene of devastation and fire, but he is alone. When I saw it, I thought it was post battle so you may be right. I kinda hope so, I would like to see his continued changes.
Up North, I am hoping nobody on our side has to fight a resurrected Tormund. Only for that reason, I would not have sent the Wildlings to Eastgate.
A question … Has the art of smithing dragonglass been rediscovered?
Dothraki Scum,
I think you might be referring to Valyrian steel. Dragonglass is mined, not smithed – that’s what Jon is doing on Dragonstone right now. As for Valyrian steel … no, I’m afraid that the art of how to forge it has been lost. There are theories about how it’s made – most of them involving magic and dragonfire. But no one knows precisely how.
There are a few smiths in the world who know how to rework existing Valyrian steel – Tywin recruited one of them from Volantis to reforge Ice into the two swords that became Oathkeeper and Widow’s Wail, and Gendry was apprenticed to another in King’s Landing. But that’s about the best they can do.
Maybe Sam will discover some clue about the art in the Citadel. But I think that’s an extreme long shot.
spaewife,
Yes, I agree giving it to Arya was about much more than just her being more likely to need such a weapon. I agree with you that it also probably has something to do with why it was featured in the book Sam was reading. If it was in that book, where he discovered the obsidian mine at Dragonstone, on a page mentioning that Targaryens used obsidian to decorate, then it stands to reason this dagger used to belong to a Targaryen. Looking forward to finding out who.
As for Bran, if he does use interactions to focus his info, then it starts to make sense why his conversations have all been so weird. Basically every time anyone speaks to him he is dealing with a new mass download of realated info at the same time as trying to answer.
Lady Lyanna Mormont for the iron throne!,
Ugh
You need to use spoiler covering when you say things like that.
got a wierd vibe from sansa re: arya, like she is afraid of arya, and when she asks arya who is on her kill list…am i the only one who thinks sansa is afraid she is on arya’s kill list? it’s not like they got along that well before.
Hodors Bastard,
Yes! I can see Bran freaking out Jon with the talk of “I saw you on the other side”.
I got used to this Bran now. I particularly loved the Petyr / Bran scene and the quote was delivered exactly as one would to make LF feel naked. I can’t remember when anyone made him feel like that. Kinda a love it.
Lady Lyanna Mormont for the iron throne!,
It’s as good as a spoiler, so thanks for that. Not.
That is something I very much look forward too as well (fingers crossed). On the topic of Arya and Brienne, I would also like for them to discuss the Faceless Men…
One of the most traumatic events in Brienne’s life is the loss of Renly, not only because he was the first person to treat her with kindness and respect her skills and devotion but also because he was murdered in front of her, leaving her devastated both personally and professionally, so to speak.
Now, the manner in which Renly was killed was in many ways similar to the methods used by the Faceless Men : assassination performed by a supernatural killer (just replace the magical death mask with a shadow baby ^^). Given those parallels, I wonder how Brienne would feel about the Faceless Men’s practices, so far remote from her definition of honour and chivalry.
Lady Lyanna Mormont for the iron throne!,
🚱🚱🚱🚱🚱🚱🚱
Come on! This isn’t the first time you’ve been reminded not to contaminate the Comments sections with “leaks” or “spoilers.”
Why not go over to the the Quarantine section of the Forum page, and let the rest of us discuss the show without being infected, so we can enjoy the show when it airs as it airs?
At the very least, you could’ve used greyscale spoiler coding to conceal what you “read” about upcoming episode(s).
Thanks !
*****
awol,
I agree, it was most curious exchange but I don’t know if Bran has a logic, if he “calculates” like LF and Varys I mean. The “data” concerning his different interlocutors might be triggered as he talks along with them ? As if the LF files were popping up on his desktop 😀
About the dagger. If the dagger is not Tyrion’s whose is it ? And is it important to know that ? Even if it is Tyrion’s it must have belonged to someone else before. I think I read somewhere that the Lannisters had lost all their valyrian steel weapons. Which is why Tywin made the two swords out of Ned Stark’s Ice. Could the dagger have belonged to Rhaegar ? With the incrusted red ruby ? But is it relevant to the story to know all of this ? The most important should be to untangle LF’s web of lies. I’m looking fwd to see where they’re going with this dagger item (taking a lot of screentime) and Bran’s involvement in all of this.
****
Tywin’s Ghost,
I think that LF can at least suspect that Bran has a seer power of some kind when he says “Chaos is a ladder”. This is so specific and accurate. LF might need confirmation later but he was clearly taken aback in that scene (the long close-up on his face is meant to show us that). I think that one of the purpose of this episode was to show to LF (but not only) that two Stark children come back with powers of heir own. They are a threat to LF. If he cannot get what he wants, he will act. He will be radical. The writers are setting up his motivations for his future actions I’m pretty sure. When a beast is cornered, bad things happen. He might take down someone with him ? Brrrrrr…. Another Stark casualty ?
My pleasure! It is the sacrifice I took, on blood oath to serve until I die.
I’m glad someone caught that! Someone call Les Moonves and get this started ASAP!