On our next episode, a podcast will head back to Dragonstone — now with the perspective of extra days and secondary viewings. Needless to say, there are things that must be discussed.
After the cut you’ll find three questions we’ve asked ourselves, and will be disputing as the show records. It’s the week of the first episode for a few more days, let’s do this!
What do you believe?
1. What gift will Euron bring Cersei?
2. Why is Beric still alive? Why are they with Sandor Clegane? Why are they here?
3. Jon and Sansa disagree on what to do with the Karstarks and the Umbers. Ultimately, Jon decided to let them keep their lands. Was this the right decision? How will Jon and Sansa’s relationship impact future politics of Winterfell and Westeros?
4. BONUS: Your best SOUP LOOP jokes!
That’s it. Let us know what and why in the comments below! Make sure to listen for your thoughts, theories, and input once this episode is released.
Somebody call the cops
1. What gift will Euron bring Cersei? Knowing what I know about Euron, I am guessing it will be multiple body parts.
2. Why is Beric still alive? Why are they with Sandor Clegane? Why are they here? WHY? We don’t need a why. BwoB is one of the more nostalgic groups in both mediums. Theirs is story is about the non affiliated heroes. The silent, mysterious protectors. This story needs more robin hood types, not IT plots 😉
3. Jon and Sansa disagree on what to do with the Karstarks and the Umbers. Ultimately, Jon decided to let them keep their lands. Was this the right decision? How will Jon and Sansa’s relationship impact future politics of Winterfell and Westeros? The right decision would be to make certain PoV characters cross paths but aren’t attached at the hip. Get these two away from each other.
1. What gift will Euron bring Cersei?
Given he specifically described himself as the gift in the past, I think Tyrion will be Euron’s target. But any enemy of Cersei’s could serve the same purpose. Whomever it is, I don’t think it bodes well for them.
2. Why is Beric still alive? Why are they with Sandor Clegane? Why are they here?
My assumption is that Beric’s life continues through magic. And I don’t want to think about what that could mean for Jon! I do think Beric has a role to play in the up-coming war, though I have no idea yet what it could be. Though there are disagreements and antagonisms, I think they see a bit of a kindred spirit in Sandor Clegane. They are all a ragtag bunch who want to do good in their own, unconventional ways. The Great War has been identified as something they can help with, and they are heading north to do what they can.
3. Jon and Sansa disagree on what to do with the Karstarks and the Umbers. Ultimately, Jon decided to let them keep their lands. Was this the right decision? How will Jon and Sansa’s relationship impact future politics of Winterfell and Westeros?
I do think Jon made the right decision – the Night King is heading for all of them and bringing together the living Northerners makes sense. He doesn’t care whether his victims relations fought for Jon or Ramsay – he wants to kill them all. Ned Umber and Alys Karstark are both willing to bend the knee, and should be allowed to do so. Stannis offered Mance that option, though he did not take it.
In season two, Sansa was punished by Joffrey whenever Robb won a battle – she knows how it feels to be the person punished for something they were powerless to influence. Joffrey was wrong to punish Sansa for Robb’s victories, and in turn it would be wrong to punish Ned and Alys for the crimes of Smalljon and Harald. Sansa herself tells Jon that he is as far from Joffrey as can be, and his decision to pardon Houses Karstark and Umber proves it.
Jon and Sansa need to start working together. He needs to listen to her point of view, but she cannot call him out in front of the entire North as she did in Dragonstone. Cat counselled Robb in private, not in public – and Sansa needs to do the same with Jon. They have to show a united front when speaking to their bannermen, as every little thing they disagree about publicly is ammunition for Littlefinger.
1. What gift will Euron bring Cersei?
A dozen cases of Mad Dog 20/20 should suffice.
2. Why is Beric still alive? Why are they with Sandor Clegane? Why are they here?
(a) Medical marijuana?
(b) He has a prescription
(c) All of the above
3. Jon and Sansa disagree on what to do with the Karstarks and the Umbers. Ultimately, Jon decided to let them keep their lands. Was this the right decision? How will Jon and Sansa’s relationship impact future politics of Winterfell and Westeros?
If a friend of mine, the son of Holocaust survivors, can opt to buy a Volkswagen, as he did recently, anything is possible.
4. BONUS: Your best SOUP LOOP jokes!
“Waiter, there’s an archmaester in my soup!”
1- the person(people) that the promo pics and videos showed being paraded through kings landing in chains. Duh. (Name(s) withheld for spoilers)
-definitely not dragon binder.
2- a,b and c cuz its a fun story.
3- i think it was a good idea to not punish children that did nothing wrong, tho i think jon should take heed from sansa and have rewards for loyalt folk(like giving eastwatch to any group of wildlings willing to defend it…. oh i guess he already DID use the only good advice she gave)
3b- he will learn a little pragmatism from her, before she learns her problems are trivial when the night’s king just wrecks shit.
…. and jon MAY have to kill her…. or marry her
4- nah, the scene was SHITTY and i dont wanna talk about it
In the books, Beric’s final function was to give the Breath of Life to Catelyn when Thoros got squeamy about trying to rez a corpse that had already been in the water for three days. Since Lady Stoneheart has been written out of the show, I suspect that Beric is being saved to do the same thing for another character. I just hope it’s not Jon again – he’s had enough of being recycled. Might be the Hound, though, if he’s the one destined to wield the flaming sword.
1. What gift will Euron bring Cersei?
I think the gift will be either Tyrion and/or Ellaria and sand snakes (Ellaria killed her daughter)
When you care enough to send the very best…victim she can torture.
2. Why is Beric still alive? Why are they with Sandor Clegane? Why are they here? Something I’ve been thinking about is how they’ve managed to get to things in the show that were in the books in such an interesting way-sometimes the long way around for a nod-but still-it’s there. Clearly the Hound has a purpose, and I think Beric and Thoros are almost like his guides-giving him a direction until he gets where he needs to go. As for B and T? Beric was sent to Riverlands originally by Ned Stark to bring the Mountain to justice in order to protect all those poor people he was just slaughtering for kicks and chaos. Then Brotherhood formed to continue to protect the people from the war raging around them. I think Thoros is with Beric to the end, and Beric’s end has to be in that same vein. Protection. I see him going out like a hero for-since they’re heading North and Ned is the one who originally gave him his orders-Jon/Bran/The Hound (maybe even Arya, though I’m pretty sure she can handle herself at this point)
3. Jon and Sansa disagree on what to do with the Karstarks and the Umbers. Ultimately, Jon decided to let them keep their lands. Was this the right decision? How will Jon and Sansa’s relationship impact future politics of Winterfell and Westeros?
Jon’s decision was absolutely right for the North during wartime, and I think he took the right lessons from the past: see Theon’s betrayal, Sansa’s treatment and Jon vs Cat
After all that-it seems silly to be punishing the Umber and Karstark children for the grownups siding with Bolton-which the Karstarks only did because Robb beheaded their dad-which he only did because Karstark killed two innocent Lannister tweens because his king in the North wouldn’t let him kill the prisoner who killed his son… Whew. Jon just wants to stop the madness.
I don’t know when or if Sansa will ever be able to trust Jon completely. Or any man, ever again. After the last few years, who can blame her? She didn’t even flinch at a giant–but maybe a wight or two will wake her up to the true danger Jon is trying to protect everyone from. It’s like going to space and realizing how small you are. KL games don’t matter anymore. They did when Ned and Robb were alive-but they don’t anymore. With winter arriving, Dany arriving, Bran/3 eyed raven arriving and the Night King on his way, the rules have completely changed.
It’s just going to take other people a few minutes to catch up. **As long as Jon doesn’t go to KL while Cersei is alive, because she didn’t get the game change memo and she’ll probably have him killed**
4. BONUS: Your best SOUP LOOP jokes!
I’m going to save that for people with stronger stomachs lol
Firannion,
Agreed, I believe he is on his “last” life and going to give his spark or whatever it is to someone else. The hound has the redemptive arc going for him so would make sense. Or maybe this power dies with Beric (if he dies). I find it interesting that Beric features prominently in the show. As you said, he has taken the place of LSH without the revenge arc to a degree.
viki,
Good stuff, thanks viki.
1. Im going to go with Dragon. Or a SS head. Or both.
2. Beric and Jon are equally alive. Honestly I feel like Beric is close to 100% human, whatever he said to Arya in S3.
3. They both had good points. I lean toward Jons choice.
Several mistakes in that video. For one, it wasn’t Littlefinger who gave the dagger to the catspaw assassin; it was Joffrey, trying to impress Robert. Littlefinger just wanted to sow discord between the Starks and the Lannisters because chaos, so he made up the ‘It was mine and Tyrion won it in a wager’ story for Cat’s benefit.
Also, the chain referred to in the song ‘Hands of Gold’ is not the chain that Tyrion built across the Blackwater. It’s the necklace of golden hands that is a mark of office of the Hand of the King, with which he strangles Shae.
Some good observations, though.
My only thought about “Dragonstone” was what Sam knows near the end:
In Season 6’s finale, Sam still thinks Jon is the Lord Commander at Castle Black when he The Citadel at Oldtown for the first time.
In Season 7’s premiere, we then see Sam writing a letter to Jon about Dragonstone, but it’s not clear whether if Sam knows about Jon being away from The Wall and that he’s back at Winterfell as the new King in the North.
Bryan Cogman wrote the next episode (Episode 2), so I hope he noticed that detail and made it so that Castle Black gets the letter and someone sends or relays it to Jon down south, or shows that Sam ended up learning about Jon’s new position and his relocation at Winterfell. The montage in the premiere seemed to have implied that time was passing, but a clarification of Sam having learned the news would be nice.
Catspaw Assassin,
/sprays whiskey all over computer screen
1. What gift will Euron bring Cersei?
Someone from Dany’s team: ideally Tyrion or Ellaria Sand.
2. Why is Beric still alive? Why are they with Sandor Clegane? Why are they here?
I think Beric’s job is to convert the Hound to the Lord of light. And maybe to pass on that flaming sword when he finally dies. So that the Hound can play his part in stopping the apocalypse.
3. Jon and Sansa disagree on what to do with the Karstarks and the Umbers. Ultimately, Jon decided to let them keep their lands. Was this the right decision? How will Jon and Sansa’s relationship impact future politics of Winterfell and Westeros?
They were both right but they should have discussed it in private first. Sansa should have known better than to call Jon out in public. Jon should have listened to her advice (and that of Davos, who looked like he had a few choice opinions on the matter) and then ultimately done what felt right to him. Allowing children to keep their lands was honourable, understandable and probably the right thing to do but hopefully it won’t weaken the defences of that part of the North if or when the wall comes down.
Responses:
#1. Sorry. Really don’t care about anything Greyjoy or Iron Islands. The Drowned God stole my favorite baseball pitcher last year. (The Many-Faced God tried to turn my favorite player into a Faceless Man with a fastball to the cheek two years ago, but I digress.)
#2. Because Sandor is the Warrior of Light. Relearning his humanity first. (So sad when he buried Rabbit Stew Sally.)
#3. Jon was right. He is the Great Concilaitor. That is what the world needs now. That is why he is the Prince Who Was Promised.
1. What gift will Euron bring Cersei? Eliria
2. Why is Beric still alive? Why are they with Sandor Clegane? Why are they here?
3. Jon and Sansa disagree on what to do with the Karstarks and the Umbers. Ultimately, Jon decided to let them keep their lands. Was this the right decision? How will Jon and Sansa’s relationship impact future politics of Winterfell and Westeros?
It was the right decision but think that sending members of both those houses to Castle Black would have been a good idea.
1. What gift will Euron bring Cersei?
Gendry! I hope not… but he’s been on that boat for quite a while, so it makes sense that Euron would have seen him once or twice. My more realistic guess would be the sand snakes.
2. Why is Beric still alive/with Clegane/here?
I’m assuming they will meet the wildlings at the wall. Beric will likely play a significant role in some way, but I have no good guesses as to what that role will be..
3. Jon v. Sansa 2k17 Jon was right, there’s no point turning houses away when they need every person possible – and the treasonists are all dead. With that being said, Sansa had a good point – and she’s going to get frustrated having no voice over all of this. Lady of Riverrun, perhaps?
Catspaw Assassin,
A clever joke! Impressive considering the material you had to work with!
The gift – I think one or all of the sand snakes. But a poster above said Gendry which I never thought of and think is an interesting option (but hope it is not him!).
Why Beric and Sandor – They have a role to play in the wars to come. Plus, I wonder if Beric will be fulfilling his mission to stop the Mountain via Sandor at some version of Clegan Bowl. For example, Sandor kills the Mountain but is mortally wounded then is brought back to life by Thoros to go on to fight in the North. Regardless, they have a role to play. Like Hodor, they ain’t going no place until they get their job done!
Jon vs. Sansa – Jon, hands down. As he says, ALL the living North has to band together to fight the NK and Co. His other reasoning was sound and compassionate. I understand Sansa’s points but right now, they need to unify, not divide. Besides, if they were to punish the Umbers and Karstarks by taking their castles, how would they split up the castles, land, etc. quickly and equitably – what an administrative nightmare! And the squabbling over that, ugh! They have more important things to do, Jon’s reasoning is solid, unite, and prepare to fight.
I’m not witty enough to come up with a joke, but I laughed at Catspaw Assassin’s joke!
1. What gift will Euron bring Cersei?
Episode synopsis refers to Cersei retuning a gift. I believe the original “gift” in question was Myrcella’s necklace from Dorne, which represented her murder. Cersei has a chance to return the gift with the death of Ellaria and/or the Sand Snakes.
Why is Beric still alive? Why are they with Sandor Clegane? Why are they here?
Not sure about Beric but it’s a useful way to bring the Hound to the North, and Winterfell (hopefully). Sandor was there at the betrayal of Ned by Littlefinger in the throne room, and witnessed the latter put a knife to Eddard’s neck. My, my, wouldn’t Sansa and Jon love to find this out.
3. Jon and Sansa disagree on what to do with the Karstarks and the Umbers. Ultimately, Jon decided to let them keep their lands. Was this the right decision?
Absolutely. As a character theme, that lines Jon up with future allies Dany, Yara and Tyrion. Harkening back to Dany’s convo with Yara: “Our fathers were evil men, all of us here. They left the world worse than they found it. We’re going to leave the world better than we found it.” Putting Jon philosophically on the same page as Dany is groundwork for a union.