Spoiler note: The discussion in this post is primarily for non-book readers (book fans can discuss the show-only here). We ask that all Sullied book-readers refrain from posting any mentions/references to the books in the comments here, veiled or otherwise. No spoilers, at all! This show is best viewed without knowing all the surprises beforehand or afterwards, so please be respectful of your fellow fans. Thank you!
I’ll say this first: I’m very happy with my choice to wait until the episode aired to watch the events of Game of Thrones last night in HD rather than a low-res version just so I could see it 48 hours earlier.
A man brings you the Unsullied recap of epic proportions in an episode that may have made an overworked person drowsy for the first half, but ensured that they would get no sleep with what happened in the second.
The shit hit the fan. The shit got real. And assuredly, many men shit themselves. Let’s dive in like Jaime, but without the heavy-ass armor.
Finally, Bronn dialogue
We pick up with the Lannister forces leaving Highgarden with an understandably pissy Jaime (considering what he just learned) and a wagon full of gold destined for Tycho Nestoris, your friendly neighborhood debt collector.
Bronn gets shoved some gold as promised to which he replies, “thanks, but where’s my fucking castle?” Jaime talks Bronn into helping the Tarlys obtain wheat from the locals and rides off into the sunset.
Meanwhile at the ranch, Cersei tells Tycho that payment is in route and Tycho states that he hasn’t seen this much debt repaid this quickly ever. He suggests an investment in a current venture and Cersei remarks that she needs to expand. Then, the Golden Company is brought up and I’m not sure who the fuck they are talking about. Sounds like bounty hunters. Or contractual debt collectors. Or an advanced group of Cirque de Soleil performers.
Regardless, Tycho voices his support, as long as the gold shows up.
Dirtball and Catspaw
It didn’t take long for Baelish to get in front of Bran and do what he does best. He offers up the dagger that was used to try and assassinate Bran and tells him that he is at his service for whatever he may need.
Littlefinger doesn’t recognize Bran’s talent until Bran says, “chaos is a ladder.” The biggest mistake here is that Bran showed his hand, so to speak, and LF realizes that he can see events from the past as well as the fact that Bran can not/will not be the Lord of Winterfell.
How will Dirtball maneuver this one?
Meera walks in to say goodbye and due to his cold response, we get a better understanding of just how disconnected Bran is from the people surrounding him. This transformation may be my biggest issue with the season thus far. I understand the responsibility Bran must feel is immense in his new role, but IMO, the show didn’t do the best job progressing it throughout the last two seasons. It’s like Bran appeared and had to be completely emotionless in what should have been the most emotional as he is reunited with his family.
Speaking of…
Arya Home? Fuck Off
Arya gets a warm welcome from the guards at the gates of Winterfell and manages to get in before killing both of them. Henk and Koner may be the two best names for dufus guards in the whole series. Arya remembers the past as she looks around her childhood home and retreats to the crypts.
Sansa knows where she is and reunites with her sister in the crypt. Sansa learns of Arya’s list and Arya remarks about Ned’s face not resembling him (she is good with faces, yes?).
By the way, Bran is home too… but not really.
Bran and Arya reunite where they briefly discuss names on the list and the dagger from LF. Bran states that he doesn’t need it, gives it to Arya and is shuttled back inside the castle as Brienne, Pod and LF look on. The entire reuniting of the Stark kids has been largely lackluster primarily due to Bran’s complete lack of emotion. I’m hoping that the missed opportunity for the show to give us a celebratory moment is made up by whatever Bran is able to contribute later on.
Missandei Got Kissed, and Almost Told
Back at the Stone, Missandei and Dany stroll down the walk as Dany inquires as to what happened between her and the Worm(less). Jon takes Dany into a cave to show her the dragonglass but to also show her the ancient drawings by the Children. He shows her the illustration of the Night King as well, and just when everyone thought we were about to have a romantic interlude, Dany buzzkills with “bend the knee.”
The Bad News
As Dany and company emerge from the cave, Tyrion exposes the defeats at Casterly Rock and Highgarden and immediately gets an imperial scolding for his failed strategies. Dany is ready to fly a dragon to the Red Keep and asks Jon his advice. Jon tells her not to burn the castles and the cities, and she apparently agrees.
Don’t Lunge
Pod’s training continues, albeit slowly. Arya asks to train with Brienne since she is the one that beat the Hound and we see how skilled Arya has become during their sparring session. Sansa and LF observe as well, and Sansa walks away in a manner that was difficult to decipher. My fellow Watchers had multiple viewpoints on why she exited the way she did. I’d like to hear yours.
Littlefinger just sees money signs.
Back at the Stone, Davos inquires as to what Jon thinks of Dany and we get a Stannis “fewer” reference. Missandei gets educated on the definition of “Bastard” since people from Naath don’t get married. “That sounds… liberating.”
Theon emerges from the gray depths of the sea and is lucky Jon doesn’t kill him on sight. He says that he came to ask Dany to help him get Yara back, but momma ain’t home…
Burning Lions
Randyll Tarly approaches to tell Jaime and Bronn that the gold has safely reached the gates of Kings Landing. Jaime apparently stayed back with his slow-moving men while Randyll ensured the gold arrived (nicely explained with dialogue, although it was a quick mention).
Bronn gets the best laugh of the night with the Rickon/Dickon fumble and everything seems to be in good shape until, that noise…
The Dothraki army are incoming while Jaime yells, “spears and shields.” Bronn pleads with Jaime to go to KL but he will not leave his army and believes that they can hold the horde off. That is, until Drogon shows up.
Mass destruction. Not only are the Dothraki a force on horseback, but the true might of a grown dragon is displayed as Drogon obliterates anything he wants. Jaime collects a group of archers to fire on the beast, but they bounce right off.
Jaime then orders Bronn to go shoot Qyburn’s scorpion and enters the battle himself. Dickon makes a save for Jaime. But Bronn finds himself in trouble when his horse is chopped down by one of the Dothraki. He’s able to get away from him due to a burning wagon rolling into the path. When he catches up, Bronn fires the scorpion in a shot that resembled the Giant’s arrow at the Wall.
Bronn reloads as Tyrion appears on the hill overlooking the battle. At the same time, Jaime sees the destruction and the agony of his men through the fire and ash being left in the wake of the dragon. Bronn shoots the scorpion and just misses Dany and Drogon while Tyrion observes and recognizes the danger.
Bronn reloads again, only this time, he hits his mark. I was convinced that this was it for Bronn… I figured he would hit his target but would be toasted in the process. Watching it again, I’m still not sure how he survived.
Dany dismounts to try and pull the spear from Drogon, and Jaime sees an opportunity to take her out. Under his breath, Tyrion calls Jaime a fucking idiot as he charges toward Dany. But just as he approaches, Drogon lights it up and Jaime is tackled by Bronn into the adjacent lake. Jaime survived the fire. But will he survive the water?
Holy. Shit.
Episode 704 Personal Awards
Favorite Action Sequence: Littlefinger and Bran meet. Just kidding.
Favorite Quotes:
“Queen of Thorns give you one last prick in the balls before saying goodbye?” – Bronn
“You can count on the Iron Bank support, as soon as the gold arrives.”- Tycho
“Chaos is a ladder.” –Bran
“You died in that cave.” –Meera
“The only thing in the kitchen you’ve put your cock in is the liver.” – Dialogue between the two Winterfell guards as Arya approaches
“Do I have to call you Lady Stark now?” –Arya
“But if you use them to melt castles and burn cities, you’re not different. You’re just more of the same.” –Jon
“I noticed you staring at her good heart.” –Davos
“Will you forgive me if I switch sides?” -Davos
“Men shit themselves when they die. Didn’t they teach you that at fancy lad school?” –Bronn
The “Ow, That Shit Hurts Award” goes to: Every Lannister soldier that got cooked or got hooked.
“Edge of the Couch” Award: Bronn running through the burning chaos. I really thought he was a goner multiple times, but I’m glad he’s not.
Jackass Award: Dirtball wins again. LF just won’t go away. And he’s not going away. All of this is falling right into his plan which is to let everyone else fight it out and destroy each other while he quietly makes strategical moves. The fly in the ointment for him is Bran, and he’s got to figure out how to manage it.
Overall Thoughts: It never ceases to amaze me. Making a fucking dragon look realistic is hard enough, but to make it look so authentic in a battle sequence is something to behold. The episode was beautifully shot and I thought Shakman did a fantastic job. What else needs to be said? We can overanalyze later. For now, I want to bask in the glory and carnage of what we witnessed.
What say you? Were you not entertained? Holla!
Until next week, hang out and stay awhile. Invite an Unsullied to join us. And may there always be peace in your realm. –Oz
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**SPOILER NOTE: The Management of this fine site would like to remind you that spoilers (book or leak) are not allowed in Unsullied posts. This includes spoilers covered by code or otherwise. Personally, I appreciate feedback from Sullied and Unsullied alike, so long as they do not include any type of hinting or conversation related to the written verse. However, spoiler coded comments do tend to lead to further Sullied conversation and for that reason, we ask that you please refrain from posting any SPOILERY content whatsoever in Unsullied posts. Thank you for the coop. -Oz
‘Eastwatch’ better be WW heavy…. I feel like it’s been false advertising with the Night King being the promo this year…. 4 episodes in and we’ve seen 30 seconds of the army of the dead.
Top Five episode, 200%!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
That is all.
I’m thinking the edge of the couch award should go to the ending with Jaime being pushed from the dragon- esque frying pan into a possibly watery grave. I started to think ‘Noooooooo!’ when I realised armour is not the best swimwear.
The battle was magnificent, I have thought Dany riding the dragons was cheesy but it was so well done!
I wouldn’t be surprised if we see don’t see the WW again for the rest of the season. Maybe in the last episode we see them again, either close to the wall or somehow destroying the wall and crossing over into Westeros. But the WW and NK conflict feels like something that will be heavily featured next season.
Where’s Wimsey? I want to know what he thinks about Chekhov’s VS dagger.
Holy crap!! What an episode!!! That was something else!! Move over BoB. Welcome Matt Shakman!
That battle was amazing. Simply awesome from start to finish. The buildup with the rumbling and than hearing Drogon. Shit was on!!! Bronn shooting at Drogon!! Jaime charging at Daenerys!! Unreal!! I love that you don’t know who to root for. I want Cersei to lose, but I don’t want to lose Jaime or Bronn in that process. But finally score for Team Dragonstone!
MORE STARK REUNIONS!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Simply seeing them stroll around Winterfell was just….. it’s still hard to describe. Arya arriving was a great callback to her trying to get back into the Red Keep in season 1.
The reunions are so wonderfully realistic, you can feel the weight of all that has happened between them. They are not the same anymore. What I thought was a nice touch in the Arya and Sansa reunion was that Arya didn’t hug Sansa back in the beginning, but at the end she did.
Still sad to see Bran so distant, especially in his scene with Meera. And yeah Bran died in the cave as well.
I like to give a big shout-out to Ellie Kendrick. Hopefully this is not the last we see of her. Amazing actress!!
And Arya sparring with Brienne???? Was that actually happening???????? Still can’t believe it!
Chaos is a ladder. Littlefinger freaked out there a little. I assume this means that Bran knows.
Very intriguing to see those Children of the Forest cave paintings. Good to see Dany turning around a bit. Even though she is still asking Jon to bend the knee and him refusing. And yes there is sexual tension between them as much I try to ignore it. Man I really hope they don’t go there. Though it was great to see her asking Jon for advice when she gets the news about Highgarden and Casterly Rock.
Oh and almost forgot the Jon and Theon reunion. Poor Theon. Good to see Jon not killing him.
I thought this was one hell of an episode. I was kinda shaky after this. 10/10
Other thoughts:
Loved Bronn laughing at Dickon.
Jon get your ass back at Winterfell, you’re missing out! And please do so without fucking your aunt first!
Shout-out to new GoT director Matt Shakman! Welcome!
It’s not TV, it’s HBO. Yeah no shit!
Daenerys/Jon 1 (though maybe a 2 with all the supplies destroyed)
Cersei 2
Great recap as always Oz!
Fully agreed! Cannot even imagine watching this in 360p.
Miscellaneous observation:
In 99 out of 100 Hollywood movies, as soon as a character’s bag of gold is dropped and rips open, he/she scrambles after it and gets killed five seconds later.
I’m glad GoT didn’t follow this cliche. I’m also glad Bronn didn’t get roasted.
The first 3 episodes were pretty good, but man, episode 4 just went and got all TURNT UP
Littlefinger is like a bad case of herpes, you just can’t really get rid of him. I hope he dies….horribly….soon.
Sansa seemed a bit jealous of Arya after the sweet sparring match. Not sure why she is, or if it has something to do with Brienne
The Dragon battle scenes were flat-out awesome, makes me wonder why she even brought the Dothraki.
I sit next to an idiot at work who has gone and read up on all of the leaked stuff, lord please give me strength so that I don’t murder him over the next 3 weeks.
Dickon…poor lad, least he showed up when it mattered.
I must say though, Dany is toeing the line of being a ‘good’ character vs a ‘bad’ one IMO. She seems focused on the throne for all the wrong reasons.
Anyway, I digress… last scene of sinking Jaime mad me think back to Bran falling out the window. Nice touch
The thing is it’s not Bran anymore. Meera: “You died in that cave”. The 3ER says he has memories of being Bran but he has everyone’s memories now so Bran only makes up like 0.00000001% of his mind. Yes, it makes the Stark reunions bittersweet but I think that’s the point.
Hello, Dee. Happy as always I see. Haha, I’m struggling myself where to put it on my ranklist but it surely goes at least in my top 10. When I started watching it today and I see “48 minutes”, I was like “oh, another short one”. But then the vibe was so…unusual and in a good way. I would say it gave me “LOST feelings” in a way how much I attached to characters in this episode, even those that I’m generally not a big fan of. Beautiful and epic episode at the same time for sure and I like how it kept preserving the “grey tone” in final battle, not straight “bad guys vs good guys” for me.
My full review comes a bit later today (the usual forum thread) as I’m generally quite busy with my thesis work these days.
Also, great recap, Oz! I always enjoy reading them.
Remember, book-readers and Sullied folk, this is not the post to explain things or speculate in- you know too much! Please stick to the main recap post for that, as we outline in the post above. Thanks!
Was I the only one rooting for Bronn to die in this episode? I kind of like him, but it would have been awesome if he was roasted by Drogon in revenge for that bolt.
Are we sure it was Bron who saved him, and not Dickon? No matter, he wasn’t saved just to drown. Dany/Drogon to the rescue?….
I really really think they’re teasing everyone betraying Danny. Tyrion, Varys, Miss Sunday, I’m getting vibes from all of them.
I think Sansa was pissed when she saw Arya fighting because for so long she thought her siblings were all dead and she was the last Stark. Then she found out her younger siblings were alive and Rickon immediately died, Bran is a detached tree-God and Arya is a serial killer. She briefly had the hope they could be a family again and then found out that is not going to happen.
A Dornish Tyrell,
I was so torn when watching that. I like Bronn, but I sure as hell didn’t want him to kill Drogon. However, on the other hand, Drogon was roasting everybody left and right, so it’s understandable that Bronn would try to take him out. I was so conflicted during this battle! It was tension-city in my house the whole time!
Wow!! And that attack was with only one dragon!! With all three dragons she wouldn’t have needed the Dothraki at all.
The original Stargaryen,
Interesting thoughts about Sansa and you could be right. And I wonder about Dany as well.
The original Stargaryen,
I actually detected a jealousy vibe from Sansa, but not really sure where it’s going.
I can’t wait to meet Miss Sunday. She sounds like a special lady 😉
Mr Derp,
I don’t understand why would Sansa be jealous though. It’s not like she didn’t achieve anything in previous seasons and she seemed genuinely happy at all her reunions.
Well I just took it that Sansa was rather concerned about exactly what Arya has become especially after she talked so blithely about her list. But it was very open to interpretation. She could just be worried about losing Arya again to a fighter’s death so soon after finding her again.
Lord Parramandas,
Thank you.
Mr Derp,
I didn’t really get jealousy from her, but I guess we’ll find out in the nest few episodes. Hahahah, I just like spelling it like that because it sounds funny to me.
Lord Parramandas,
That’s what I’m not sure about. She definitely was giving off jealousy vibes when she watched Brienne and Arya spar. At least that’s what I saw. YMMV.
It could be that she’s just genuinely concerned for what Arya’s become, but I don’t know. I didn’t get the vibes that Sansa was concerned. She seemed upset, especially when she walked away in a huff after Arya and Brienne sparred.
And isn’t it a little weird that Sansa is spending so much time with Littlefinger? Literally, every scene with her this season has shown her walking around with Littlefinger. At some point shouldn’t she tell him to leave her alone? It’s one thing to consider his council, but it’s another to have him around you 24/7. Especially if she doesn’t trust him.
Mr Derp,
I don’t know… she seemed very uncomfortable when she saw Arya fighting and I think I came over an interview/article which was about how will Sansa have to face that her siblings (Bran and Arya) are not the same people anymore. I would say she cares the most about the Stark family at this point and wants everything to be back to normal. God knows what LF thinks though.
I didn’t necessarily think Sansa looked jealous but I can see how she would be. All the other Starks have superpowers now, I mean Jon even came back from the dead. I’ve seen some people say Sansa looked proud of Arya because she became what she always wanted to be. I didn’t see it that way either but I’m not really sure what to make of her reaction.
Mr Derp,
Same in my case! Although I watched the episode with some friends who are strong Targaryen loyalists… I totally understand Bronn’s actions and maybe it’s my sadistic self talking here, but it would have been heart-wrenching for Tyrion to watch Bronn get roasted, and it would have created a bigger internal conflict over his alliance with Dany… I mean, he already was pretty upset watching the Dothrakis decimate the Lannister army (some of whom Tyrion might have known personally.)
Mr Derp,
Did she spend much time with Littlefinger? I think in all previous episodes, she dismissed him whenever they remained alone. And her dress is supposedly “like armor” because she wants to keep LF on safe distance. I would say she “needs him”, but does not allow him to get to her.
Hexonx,
Well, when Sansa mentioned to Arya that Bran is back, there was sadness in her voice. I think she feels distant and “alone” again.
Lord Parramandas,
Yes, she spends lots of time with Littlefinger. Just about every time Sansa is on screen she is walking and talking with Littlefinger. The thing is, she really isn’t asking for any of his advice, so why is she keeping him around? It’s like every conversation between the two of them always starts off with Sansa telling Littlefinger to shut up or something and then ends with Sansa listening to Littlefinger’s advice. It’s just strange to me. Either listen to him or don’t. make up your mind.
Mr Derp,
I didn’t see jealousy but rather concerned. Finally, the Starks reunite and Bran is a robot and Arya displays some ninja-like abilities and talks about her kill-list… I took that scene as Sansa realizing how dangerous Arya has become and how different she is now from what she was… But we’ll have to wait to find out if that’s the case.
Don’t really know what to make of Sansa walking away like that. I am with others though that she definitely looked concerned.
Nearly positive.
Dickon was on a brown horse for starters. Bronn started on a black BUT… when he jumped off the scorpion platform we see him look over and see a white horse. That’s was our notice that he would move from the ground to the horse. It was an unarmored man on a white horse that tackled Jaime off his horse.
Mr Derp,
It could be easily the other way around: it is LF the one hovering around Sansa… and now he’s trying to do the same with the other Starks. He tested Bran and realized that there isn’t much to gain there. Will he go after Arya? (we know how’s that going to go down though.)
A Dornish Tyrell,
Yes, I think so too. LF is the one pushing into Sansa. Sansa needs him because they need his army but on the other hand, she doesn’t want their relationship to be anything else than political. At least that’s how I see it.
Hi Oz,
As always great review 🙂
As to you earlier question about why Sansa walked away, I have thought about that as well. I get the feeling that maybe she feels like Arya has accomplished her goal of being a fighter/warrior. While Sansa may feel that she has been stagnate due to her circumstance.
I do not get the whole Bran interaction, he seems to cold to me. I am hoping when Jon Snow returns there can be a more happier reunion.
As always Oz keep up the good work 🙂
Thanks to OoT for recap.
“They won’t obey you
unless they fear you.”
“Will you take a bit of
advice from an old woman?
He’s a clever man, your Hand.
I’ve known a great many clever men.
I’ve outlived them all.
You know why?
I ignored them.
The lords of Westeros are sheep.
Are you a sheep?
No.
You’re a dragon.
Be a dragon.”. Olenna Tyrell
Dany is taking advice from TYRION and Jon by not visiting the Red Keep. She is adding in what Lady Olenna told her in Stormborn in that she is being a Dragon and dealing out the Lannister’s first flaming defeat. Drogon is a weapon that reacts, thinks and that kept Danny alive. Watching Jamie and Bonn react to what was happening and how futile it was to think they could defend themselves brought home what war with Danny could cost.
Watching TYRION watch the battle showed though conflicted he is about the chance Jamie could die, his reaction to the chance Dany could die shows his loyalty to her is real. Watching while not being able to help is his agony. If I were him I’d send out people to destroy or sabotage every Scorpion they can find.
The only disappointment is that Tartly confirmed that Cersi got her gold.
Gah, disappearing post syndrome strikes again…
Did Randyll die?
I saw some old balding bloke taking off his helmet and getting then getting fried, but I couldn’t say for certain it was Randyll Tarly. Freeze frame inconclusive.
OTOH they make a point of showing Jaime having a good look which would be a bit odd for a regular soldier. It could just be a stunt man who is supposed to look like Randyll but doesn’t very much! It didn’t look like Lannister armour.
Ser Not Appearing in this Series,
I think we saw Tarly army riding away towards the end of the battle.
Are we seriously giving LF that much credit?! You honestly assume he knows Bran is the 3RE simply because Bran recited a quote from LF? I think he was just shook.
One of my favorite parts of the episode is D&D pitting Bronn vs. Drogon. Classic GoT. Can’t root for anyone can’t root against anyone.
Criticism: There needs to be more payoff with Bran’s transformation into robot man or he needs to start getting a handle on being The 3ER soon and being more like Bran again. Max Von Sydow wasn’t like that at all as The 3ER so he should return to being normal soon or it doesnt make sense. Heck, Bran was already in 3ER-Mode with Benjen and he wasn’t acting like that at all. Go back and watch it. He had an emotional response to seeing Benjen and he was freshly out of that cave.
Lord Parramandas,
I interpreted Sansa’s look as one of pride – and surprise that Arya’s previous mention of a kill list was not a joke after all. 😄. Sansa HAD to be impressed with the skilled warrior she was watching take on Big Brienne.
I did not detect any “jealousy” vibe out of Sansa. She’s Lady of Winterfell, and Arys accepts that.
lol visiting over from sullied recap
Unsullied or Sullied, can’t get over how fantastic the cinematics were of the battle scenes
“Shaq-man” just earned himself Miguel Sapochnik notoriety IMO, best 20 mins sequence of TV I’ve seen since Hardhome
Ten Bears,
Yes, could be. Maybe also a bit of fear. Watching her own sister being such a fighter and realizing she killed after all… I’m more worried what this meant for Littlefinger. He could try to use this “tension” to manipulate Sansa.
Ten Bears,
Sansa definitely did not look on with “pride”, at least not during the sparring session. She looked very concerned to me. We’ll have to let it play out to see what she really thinks, but pride was not it. Sansa walked off in a huff once the sparring session ended. Brienne looked up at Sansa expecting Sansa to have a look of pride, but it was not there. Once Sansa walked away, Brienne had a look on her face like “WTF is your problem?”
Dickon for me was Karsi of this episode. Never thought D&D would be able to mae me care for ultra-ultra-minor character.
I need some of her ‘lying game’ training to come into play with LF. It’s hard to say how much of Littlefinger’s past actions she’s aware of. She was around for some of them but not really witness to them. The other day I rewatched the scene when she was serving Tywin and Littlefinger. While he was working for the Lannisters, he didn’t really say anything personally condemning him in the eyes of Arya. Sansa knows worse things about him… Neither of them appear to have any knowledge of his hand in the downfall of Ned.
Ghost’s Lunch,
Absolutely, he nailed his GoT directorial debut!
LF can’t stop playing the game. He’s always talking and testing people to see who can get him what he covets, the throne and SANSA. He wants to make sure each rung of the ladder will hold.
Did anyone notice Littlefinger became quite uneasy when Arya returned? More Starks = less chance for his supposed plan? I’m worried for Sansa but I also hope she manages to get free of him. Maybe the siblings can try and take him down together?
Can we talk about how deep that friggin’ lake is?
I mean for real, Jaime get’s tackled off a horse into a lake and it’s 50 feet deep?
I guess they have old rock quarrys around Westeros too.
Oh, and I chuckled when Jon shows Dany the ‘convenient cave art’…
Don’t mind me, i just drew this up real fast to convince you..
Loved the episode, these were just 2 quips I had.
Lord Parramandas,
Ofc he is. The whole point was to make Sansa his puppet, isolated from friends and family. His games are starting to fall apart.
He put himself into corner. But having Starks as united and strong force is something he can’t let happen.
I tend to agree with your POV. Has LF ever shown any belief in the magical elements of the world of GOT? So even if someone had told him that Bran now says he was the 3ER, would he believe it? I think LF was surprised, and spooked, to hear “his catch phrase” coming back at him from Bran. It was a great scene!
Lord Parramandas,
The wolves are circling around Littlefinger. I think his time is almost up. Chaos is a ladda!
He might’ve been roasted just a little, since he was the one saving Jamie, I think. Good thing there was a lake behind them, and even better Bronn isn’t wearing armor – it may give Jamie a chance to be saved..
mau,
I hope so… I really hope so. I’m always so nervous during Sansa scenes but I really enjoy her this season. All those interviews before how she’s power-hungry… she seems very much the opposite to me.
Clob,
My tin foil theory is that both Sansa and Arya (with some of Bran’s green-seeing powers) will put things together and it will be the downfall of LF (with the “lone wolf/pack” speech uttered as he dies)… Arya can detect that LF is lying but as you’ve said, Sansa knows far more incriminating stuff about him than Arya. How they are going to do it, it remains to be seen.
Why is Jamie sinking in 20 feet of water. He literally fell in the water next to the sand. That water should be waist high. WTF was that.
Lord Parramandas,
Oh yeah, every time another Stark appears his discomfort rises. His plans have to adapt to Jon (will kill him if he touches his sister, but far away), Bran who he may think more crazy than magical, and Aryan who he can see as a danger too close to SANSA to ignore.
Lord Parramandas,
Sophie Turner is a well-known troll. 😀
A Dornish Tyrell,
I don’t dislike him but talk about plot armour. The biggest shock in the whole show would be if the writers killed him. Maybe the bitter sweet ending is the world in flames, everyone dead and just Bronn surviving sat in his newly aquired castle….
I was giggling like a school girl when Davos corrected Jon’s proper English (Common?), not just once, but TWICE. And both times, as when Stannis did it to Davos, Jon didn’t really get it.
I think you know to WHOM I’m referring. Jon doesn’t even blink.
FEWER. Met with Jon saying “what?”
Awesome call back to the “Mannis”!
Mr Derp,
I thought Brienne (and Arya) looking up after the sparring session was s reaction to LF’s presence, i.e. “What the f*ck is that weasel doing here? Why is he always around like a bad penny?” [Or, as another commenter recentky posted, like an STD you can’t get rid of.]
Am I the only one who saw parallels with Hardhome in terms of setup and brutality and also some minor details? tell me I wasn’t dreaming 🙁
Anyway, I don’t care about timing anymore, it was awesome.
Am I the only one who got vibes that Sansa was mildly concerned *she* might be on Arya’s Kill List(TM)?
Top episode all around. Only disappointing (just a little 🙂 ) was Jon/Theon – I would’ve expected more drama between those two, given what history lies between them from Season 1 up to now. Well – probably just no time for it. OOHH and then the giant blooper with the scorpion and Bron (unless I’m really missing something here). How the hell was he able to shoot the Dothraki rider – it wasn’t even assembled yet… He didn’t do that until after he opened up the wagons roof.
…Shakman has entered the game with a top 3 episode.
Haha yes. It did seem to me that way and I kept saying that maybe she’s trying to mislead us with her interviews, but few believed it.
Worf’s Thoughts:
* I’ve seen some reviews that say that because the Highgarden gold made it inside King’s Landing, the stakes were low for Cersei/Dany. I disagree.
Jaime will survive. Bronn or Dickon will get him out of there, and maybe die in the process. He’ll stagger back to King’s Landing, absolutely shell-shocked. With what Oleanna told him. With you know, losing 90 percent of his army and all the grain. With Highgarden back in Targaryen control any you know, FIRE FIRE FIRE!
Cersei gonna be like: “Suck it up, buttercup. We got the gold. Oh, and the Golden Company is coming. Work with their leader.”
Jaime be like: “Your dipshit Maester Hand MADE THE BIG CROSSBOW FLAMMABLE!!!! AND WE ALMOST DIED!”
Qyburn be like: “Dude, you broke it. That thing wasn’t fully paid for!”
Cersei be like: “That’ll be all, Lord Commander. And I’m not buying you a new hand. I don’t care that you threw it away to keep from drowning. Now go. And send Euron in and tell him he’d better be wearing the green underwear I bought him.”
And that’ll be the rift…
Other thoughts:
* Can Littlefinger and Bran kill each other? Or we just stick them in a room somewhere to read fortune cookies and they leave us alone? I’m glad Meera called him on it, including about Summer.
* I have no freaking idea why Sansa had the bitch face going during the Arya-Brienne thing. I’m not sure she does either. Sophie isn’t usually this subtle. My guess is that she was just concerned and it came off as constipated.
* Theon be like “Yeah, I paid for Season 2 about 100 times over, Jon. I’m done talking about it.”
* Of all Tyrion’s faults, I don’t think it is lack of wanting to hurt the Lannisters. I think the Casterly Rock mistake was A) Not realizing the mine was dry and B) Assuming Cersei gave a shit about it. Dany was out of line, but I get that she needs some victories.
New deal: Jon kneels. And then Dany kneels. Or…they lay down and both kneel together. More comfortable that way.
And then Missandei says to Davos, “Look, you’re kind cute in an old man way, but my boyfriend is an Unsullied soldier who knew how to do the Lord’s Kiss without anyone teaching him. Can you imagine what he’ll do once I edumacate the boy a little?”
Nelson,
This is a legitimate question. Shit got deep QUICK.
Roast,
I loved that call back!!! And Davos getting cheeky with the KITN? Even better!!! 😀
Dany should change tactics next time there is a battle with the Lannisters. She should find the crossbow large enough to kill the dragons by doing air recon. Then simply swoop down behind it and have Drogon burn it to pieces. Or at least use all three dragons, that way each can attack it at a different angle.
Ability to kill dragons…neutralized.
The Wolves of Winter,
You’re going to be disappointed. It’s just logical for Jonaerys tout happen. She wants him to bend the knee but the North won’t accept her rule. Except if they mary. That way, he’s still king, North happy, and the North join Dany, Dany happy. Deal.
Favorite Moment (no surprise): the Brienne-Arya “training” session. I particularly liked Brienne’s initially dismissive attitude (eg “we can get the Master at Arms to train you”; “you can go play in the kiddie pool; “that sword is too small, my Lady”), and how it was quickly dispelled when she soon realized how good Arya is.
Also, watching their two fighting styles, I couldn’t help but flash back to Arya’s first training session with Syrio Forel in S1e3:
Syrio: “…You are not holding a battle axe. You are holding…
Arya: “…A needle.”
Syrio: “Just so.” (Smiles)
Now we will begin the dance. Remember, child, this is not the dance of the Westeros we are learning -the knight’s dance – hacking and hammering. This is the Bravos dance, the Water Dance. It is swift…. and sudden.”
——————-
#JustSo
Re Sansa’s reaction. Sansa is trying to adjust to all the new realities in her world while trying to prepare WF for whatever hardship may happen. I think she is not sure how to feel and we see fleeting bits of all kinds of emotions in that scene. In addition to all she might be feeling seeing her “new” little sister hold her own against Brienne, Sansa’s sworn protector, Sansa also heard Arya call out the oath Brienne made to Cat to protect both the Stark girls. So, what does that do to Sansa’s sense of comfort that she has Brienne to protect HER and her alone. Maybe nothing because it looks like Arya can take care of herself and Brienne swore her sword to Sansa, but at a time when Sansa is faced with constant changes and she is in need of someone she can totally rely on, is this (Brienne’s oath to Cat) contributing to those emotions we see on her face before she walks away? Anyway, just my 2 cents on that Sansa scene. She has a lot to process and that scene has some powerful new revelations!
Layou,
Yeah, i know. Better prepare for it.
Now that Oz mentioned the two dufus (!) guards Henk and Koner 🙂 ..Does anyone know why the helmets of Winterfell soldiers look soooo incredibly stupid??? I mean – EVERYONE on this show gets cool/beautiful costumes. So much focus and symbolism goes into this area, but those helmets makes anyone wearing it look utterly dimwitted. This cannot be a coincidence, can it..?
It’s been on my mind for years, so if anyone knows, please share 🙂
The Arya/Brienne sparring session may have been my favorite moment too, but there were so many great moments Ill have to go back and rewatch to say for sure what I liked the best.
Arya at the very least battled to a draw with Brienne, so I have to assume that the Waif was the best fighter in the history of the show since she could always dispatch Arya in an open fight without any problem.
Wonder how Ghost would feel if Jon bonded with Rhaegal.
onefromaway,
I think I can get behind this. Maybe Sansa is concerned that she might be on Arya’s list, and since Arya can fight Sansa’s sworn protector successfully, it’ll make Sansa feel extremely uneasy and conflicted until she knows more about what Arya’s plans are now that she’s back.
Josh L,
No you are not on your own, l thought exactly the same. Wasn’t she on it at the very beginning or am I thinking about her wishing she were dead when there was all the trouble over Joffrey and Micah?
Layou,
You’re not factoring in the reaction of the Northern lords when/if they find out Jon is half-Targaryen.
Reactions will be:
1) EWWWW! TARGARYEN COOTIES!
2) Blaming Lyanna Stark for getting kidnapped and raped
3) And if Bran reveals this was a romance and not a kidnap/rape, calling Lyanna a cheating slut.
4) Once they calm down, say, “Fine, Sansa is your cousin. You can marry her. Otherwise, we out.”
5) And then the Night’s King will be like: “You all so silly.”
It occurs to me when a dragon breathes fire while flying, the path of firey destruction would heat the air below him and provide aerodynamic lift.
Now that we saw those cave paintings, I guess this is what happened:
• The Children of the Forest (COTF) created the White Walkers (WW) to get rid of the First Men (FM).
• The COTF lost control of the White Walkers for some reason
• Then the COTF and the FM got together to defeat the WW?
Carole H,
Why in God’s name would Sansa be on the list? At the end of Season 2, when Jaqen frees Arya, she says she needs to get to her family, including her sister.
I think Sansa is just so creeped out by the concept of a list and creeped out seeing this girl with the 1000-yard stare AFTER dealing with the Mopey Zombie Jon and with Permanently Stoned Bran that she’s just over it all.
Plus, she’s got to fend off Littlefinger on an hourly basis.
And you add in that Sophie Turner isn’t exactly full of range, and you have confusion.
The Onion Knight agrees, obviously 🙂 .
Lord Parramandas,
It now brings back the question of whether LF recognised Arya in Harrenhal, or if he now thinks “That girl sure reminds me of someone…”
It’s probably of no import really set against LFs – as yet unrevealed to Arya – crimes against the Starks , but it would be a cool throwback
THIS… so many callbacks this season
Ten Bears,
During my first watch I didn’t quite catch what she did with the dagger. I got it the next time(s). That was pretty sweet – predicting Brienne would grab her wrist so then flipping it to her left hand.
———-
My perspective of Sansa’s reaction is with those that think she’s simply in shock coming to the realization that her little sister is a fighter and quite probably someone that’s killed. One would guess that when she wondered what Arya was doing all this time she probably imagined her hiding out with peasants or farmers somewhere until it was safe.
They haven’t heard about the Freys at Winterfell yet have they? There doesn’t seem to be much correspondence going in or out. Sansa may put two and two together regarding Walder’s death. Should she be upset with Arya about that? If Jon had killed him with a sword she would have praised him…
Can’t echo enough what everyone else said about the battle. Though I had an idea what would happen based on the main trailer, my heart was still racing watching it! The cave drawings was such a nice touch, to finally have some kind of concrete evidence backing up Jon was great to see.
I didn’t take Sansa’s reaction to Arya fighting as jealousy (and Sansa has never been a character I really liked). I figured she took Arya’s “list” comment as a joke at first and as she watches Arya with Brienne it slowly dawns on her that her little sister really may have killed people. I thought she was unsettled about that realization.
Kudos to the poster who saw the call back to Bran falling from the tower and Jamie sinking in the water! (Sorry I cannot find your post now.)
Sorry but I am going to go on a deep dive here….Re the depth of the water Jamie is sinking in, some folks are wondering about how it could be the horses were galloping along the water’s edge and then, when Jamie is pulled off his horse, he is in deeper water. Rivers, lakes, and coastline can all have sudden drop-offs caused by currents or other forces. (I live near all three and people drown this way frequently – they think its just knee high water and then suddenly they are in way over their heads.) Plus, for all we know, there was a hard rain that caused the edge of that body of water to be above the bankline and that is what the horses are galloping through. Also, Bronn hit Jamie with some force, causing them to go out at least a few feet away from where the horses were, over the water. And, the water is murky so the depth of water is hard to determine, it might only be 8 – 10 feet. Finally, suspended disbelief for a dramatic and poetic shot! Thank you, I just had to say that.
Clob,
I think shock is definitely part of it. However, Sansa’s known all along that Arya was different from other women and wanted to be a fighter. Should Sansa be all that shocked that Arya’s become that? I agree that there should be some level of shock because of the time that has passed along with the skill-level and fierceness that Arya has obtained, but I think there should also be some level of “yea, that’d figures” in Sansa’s mind in regards to Arya.
onefromaway,
Also, it’s called Blackwater Rush, so maybe it’s a swift river with an undertow. I don’t know.
I mean, we could have had him face first in water my five-year-old can wade in and he’s unable to get up. That would have been dramatic!
ManderlyPieCompany,
I think Bran is “drowning” in his visions b/c he had to level up too soon. The original 3ER told him he would drown if he stayed too long.
I also don’t necessarily think he controls what he sees when anymore. I think he sees a person and he remembers maybe a strong or emotional vision that he saw of them.
I think the epsidoe title will be a red herring and I’m prepared to be disappointed. 30 seconds of NK/WW footage in 4 episodes when there’s only 7 is inexcusable.
Mr Derp,
The thing is, Sansa never saw Arya’s training montage in the House of Black and White as we did…
Jokes aside, back in season 1, Sansa commented on how clumsy Arya must be because she always came bruised from her dancing lesson… It seems that she was oblivious to the fact that Syrio Forel’s “water dancing” was something completely different. Even if Sansa knew that Arya wanted to become a fighter, she would still be surprised by Arya’s ability without having a clue of all the things Arya went through.
onefromaway,
It doesn’t require suspension of disbelief: where I live, there are lots of man-made and naturally occurring canals ~ 10 – 20 feet deep with no “drop-off.” It was no surprise at all that Jaime, weighted down by armor, would immediately start sinking to the bottom of such a canal.
(PS Not infrequently, cars drive off the road and sink into adjacent canals; decades later, their rusted remains are found with skeleton(s) inside. )
Jack Bauer 24,
Your constant complaining is what’s inexcusable. i can only speak for myself, and feel free to keep doing it all you want since it’s an open forum, but I think you lose respect from your fellow posters with these tantrums.
I don’t think so. That war has not begun yet. The threat is there and Jon believes it’s coming, but it’s not (here) quite yet. It would be a mistake to have a ton of WW scenes north of the Wall at this point. Just like anything else, there’s a point when that “trick” is used up and old hat. Their inclusion should be kept to a mysterious minimum until the climax of the series, which shouldn’t be until next season. Too much familiarity takes the thrilling out of it.
A Dornish Tyrell,
Yes, I agree, but I also think some level of common sense should be used. Sansa’s trauma from season 1 through season 7 has changed her dramatically. She’s a different person, so why shouldn’t she expect the same from her other siblings? Of course she doesn’t know the details of what they went through yet, but there has to be an assumption that, in order to stay alive for this long after having your family violently scattered, Arya and Bran went through some tramatic shit and are changed people. I get why Sansa is surprised, but I also think it really shouldn’t be all that surprising either. Just my two cents.
Sansa should be telling Arya about Jon’s mission and the NK. Don’t think Arya is aware of the WW?
WorfWWorfington,
Jack Bauer 24,
Knock it off, both of you.
Mr Derp,
“Prepared to be disappointed” often equals a self-fulfilling prophecy laced with confirmation bias: If someone is anticipating garbage, he or she will look at a treasure trove and see only garbage.
A wise man once said that. I forget what his name was.
Ten Bears,
Are you trying to present your own statements as ancient wisdom? 😉
Ten Bears,
Or one who digs latrines is only going to see shit and shovel it. 😉
A Dornish Tyrell,
I was rooting for his death
And Jamie’s as well
Fuck these two
How come people are confused after every single Sansa scene. Literally after every scene people say “why did she do that.” That cannot be good writing.
Glad you got the reference. 🤓
Clob,
Oh dear lord, not that guy again!, lol. Speaking of which, I’m sure he’ll drop by soon enough to tell us all how much he hated the episode and for whatever reason to also remind us how much he loved seasons 1-5.
Lord Parramandas,
True, as each of the Starks have gone through their own crucible of fire. However, now that Arya is reunited with Sansa at Winterfell, Sansa’s feelings, which she has stated at least twice, can now come to fruition…”No one can protect me”….
Ten Bears,
Oh I gotcha!
At this point, I should just stop taking the bait and ignore Jack Bauer 24. I actually usually do ignore him, but sometimes his comments are so insufferably annoying that I can’t help myself.
I remember him saying a couple of times that he suffers from anxiety. I do too. It can be a son-of-a-bitch to deal with, but it shouldn’t cause you to be in constant whining mode 24/7. I’ve sent words of encouragement before to him, but he never responds to those.
Sometimes you just gotta look anxiety in the eye and say “Not today!”
My take on Sansa’s reaction when she was watching Arya spar: Sansa first heard of Arya’s list in the crypt, before she knew anything about Arya’s evolution. She might’ve dismissed it as a kid’s fantasy. Later, when Bran mentions the list, Sansa realizes that there’s more to it and asks for more info. Arya replies that most of the people on it are dead anyway but doesn’t go into detail. When Sansa watches Arya fighting, she finally realizes that the list people are dead because Arya’s killed them. Her little sister has changed and become extremely dangerous. I took Sansa’s reaction to be that realization.
Jack Bauer 24,
Don’t worry the writing is fine lol
evenwind,
Wow good perspective
I wish people who no longer enjoy watching the show would just stop, or at least stop commenting; it is rather tiresome wading through some of the stuff in the comments section. Personally, I think this season has been right up there with the best GoT has offered (it has certainly been the best opening four episodes). I’m not saying it’s been perfect either and I’ve pointed out things I’ve disliked, but it isn’t as bad as some “fans” make out.
The only bad thing about this episode was that when it finished I realised there were only three episode left.
Lord Parramandas,
She definitely cares the most right now and it is so sweet
I just love her!!
Oh no. Is this going to be another Sophie Turner “inscrutable facial expression” thread? Or another dreaded (cliched) criticism of bad/lazy writing?
Please say it ain’t so. This episode was fantastic. Sansa’s reunion with Arya was handled perfectly. Sansa/Sophie looked beautiful in the outdoor scene in front of the weirwood tree, looking on as Arya greeted Bran.
There was so much to love, so much to commend about this episode: the cinematography, the callbacks, the witty reparte, the suspense, the CGI, the action, the acting, the directing…
I understand everybody’s got their own perspectives and their own opinions. But the fallback to a vague criticism of “bad writing” gets tiresome, and shouldn’t drown out appreciation for a wonderful episode like this one.
Knight of the Walkers,
applauds
LOL – for those complaining about the depth of the water that Bronn shoved Jaime into!
PinkCatBabes diagram
Ser Not Appearing in this Series,
The stick figures are what does it for me. Just terrific!
Ser Not Appearing in this Series,
But, the real question is whether or not Jaime waited at least 30 minutes after eating before going into the water! Inquiring minds need to know these things
Dee Stark,
She really does. I remember all those interviews and backlash the character recieved on this site… and now it’s such a delight to watch Sansa this season for me.
Jack Bauer 24,
Inexcusable?
Who are you lol
Interesting. Drowning. I agree the speed in which Bran had to take on being the 3ER is having an impact on how he is now. Maybe as he gets up to speed he will warm up a bit. I like your point that he may not be in control of when the visions come to him and can imagine that when confronted with certain people, or combinations of people, the flood of images may be overwhelming. And while we as viewers are wondering why he has not said something about certain events, I suppose it is entirely possible he has yet to see that vision….but will soon.
Ser Not Appearing in this Series,
Amazing!! Maybe you can ask Sue to let you write an article for WotW to silence all the complains about the depths of the water. 😀 😀
Mr Derp,
Fair enough.
Dee Stark,
I’m conflicted towards Jamie… But yeah, eventually he has to go as well…
evenwind,
Precise and solid evaluation!
Ser Not Appearing in this Series,
Classic. People will nitpick the most bizarre things.
onefromaway,
I agree with your assessment of Sansa’s reaction: in the first part of the scene, when Arya reminds Brienne of her oath to serve both daughters, Sansa is surprised and somewhat disconcerted that Brienne is not hers alone to command (even though her relationship with Arya is off to a good start — remember Sansa says in an earlier episode that she has Brienne to protect her, and this dual loyalty to both her and Arya undermines that single purpose). At the end of the scene as Sansa walks away, my interpretation is that Sansa is concerned about how much the Stark family has lost — Bran and Arya are no longer the cute (and maddening) imps she grew up with, but cold (and dangerous) actors. I think it is a look of loss, and a feeling of being more alone (the cost of leadership).
I thought Arya’s look at LF was foreshadowing how he end this year. LF has been a non-factor this season, and perhaps LF and Sansa’s proximity is something like “keep your friends close and your enemies closer” (since he is both for Sansa). I have to believe that there is some plot function that LF will serve that will end up leading to his downfall (eg, trying to kill Bran out of fear, leading to him being killed in a way that leaves the Vale still supporting Winterfell (perhaps with the knife that Bran gave Arya know this could happen)).
I still await Arya and Sansa’s reaction to Jon’s parentage and how that affects politics in the North. But that probably is something they will only learn in season 8.
A Dornish Tyrell,
I’m working on it: I’m thinking of calling it
“Riverbank structure and Function at Multiple Spatial, Temporal and Conceptual Scales”
Catchy huh?
He already has, thoroughly, in the other recap thread, to include the typical D&D trashing.
evenwind,
Good analysis, but for me, it still doesn’t explain why Sansa would be so upset about it. Surprised? sure. But upset? I would think that Sansa would be thrilled to get all the help she can get to help fight the wars to the North and South.
I would personally find it rather hypocritical to find joy out of feeding your enemy to the dogs but then get upset because Arya has killed those who have wronged her.
“I fed my enemy to the dogs and smiled the whole time as i watched it unfold, but wait a minute…you killed people? Oh my god, that’s just too far.”
I think Sansa is upset because she thinks that she’s on Arya’s list.
I, like many others, don’t like the emotionless “cold” Bran this season. The only thing that keeps me on his side right now is getting a sense that he must be suffocating under the weight of what he has seen (past, present, and future). It has to be information overload for him at this point. Not to mention, it’s got to be terrible seeing how all of these people are going to die (and when). I just attribute it to something like PTSD and the only way he can cope is to stay detached.
Other than that, this episode was amazing!
Mr Derp,
I think it was a totally emotional response from Sansa. You live your own story in your own time but to Sansa, Arya has gone from a somewhat annoying tomboy into a killing machine with no intermediate steps. I would guess a logical response will crystallize in time, after Sansa’s been able to digest the emotional one.
Mr Derp,
Hahahahaha
Yeah, I think that’s what Sansa’s reaction was: realization that Arya’s “list” ain’t no joke, and her casual comment that most of the people on the list are dead…is because Arya killed them.
In my fanfic scenario [I think I detailed it in a 1:05 pm post under “The Widow of WF” article two days ago] Sansa would learn about Arya’s acquired “talents” by comparing notes about their respective encounters with Meryn Fuc*ing Trant. But having Sansa observe Arya sparring with Brienne was so much more effective. “Show, don’t tell”, right? (The choreography of their sparring scene was right up there with Uma Thurman’s in “Kill Bill” – except that it appeared to me that it really was Maisie Williams doing most of her own stunts.)
I had to remind myself that the last time the two sisters were together in S1, Sansa knew nothing about Arya’s training by her “dancing master”, and thought all of the bruises she came back with after her “dancing” lessons was because she was so clumsy.
In fact, the only time Sansa had seen Arya doing anything remotely resembling “practicing” martial arts was watching a pissed off Arya jab a table with a knife in S1e3:
_______________
From S1E3, “Lord Snow”
[Arya stabbing table with knife]
***
Arya: “I’m practicing.”
Sansa: “Practicing for what ?”
Arya: “The Prince.”
Septa Mordane: “Arya, stop !”
Arya: “He’s a liar and a coward and he killed my friend.”
Sansa: “The Hound killed your friend.”
Arya: “The Hound does whatever the Prince tells him to do.”
Sansa: “You’re an idiot.”
Arya: “You’re a liar. And if you told the truth, Mycah would be alive.”
——————
Quite a difference six years later, huh?
Billy Bob Stargaryian,
Agreed… those cave markings came just in time, didn’t they?
Yep, ‘Jack Bauer 24’ never stops his moaning and nitpicking and is always fucking whinging on about something, huh!
I thought after his positive comments on the Open Chat re Ep4 – the best ever, no expense spared – 🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂 – he may have changed his tune, but it seems not 🙁
The way I see it, HBO has created GoT for the enjoyment of the millions who watch it and don’t expect them to be spoon feed or have to explain why such a scene is presented the way it is. Neither for the individuals/fanatics who frequent websites like this to nitpick at … Like why are puddles so deep (on a probably water logged battle field – see my post on the Sullied review) – How can a character get from one distant place to another so quickly and so on.
Its left up to those who watch it to fill in the gaps and to use their imagination. Its as simple as that….
Is it weird that I love drogon so much lol
Dee Stark,
It would be weirder if you didn’t!
Though, I feel at some point I’m going to have to mentally prepare for the dragons to die. I don’t want it to happen, but beloved animals don’t last on this show. I hope I’m wrong. Please tell me I’m wrong, Dee!
Mr Derp,
The Waif was better than Arya in stick-fighting. But when it came to steel on steel – well, in the words of Jaqen 2.0 (motioning to the Waif’s blood-dripping mounted face): “There she is. And here you are.”
Ten Bears,
I think Arya only won because she could fight without the use of her eyesight better than the Waif. Otherwise, I think the Waif pretty much kicked her ass every time, regardless of weaponry.
Who do we think is left to command Cersies’ army (what’s left of it, lol)?
Looks like Jaime will be dead or captured. Tarly is dead or fled.
I don’t know who would be left.
WorfWWorfington,
Alright just asking don’t get you knickers in a twist I think we are all allowed to ask a question or make a mistake without rude reactions from some posters on forums who think their opinions are more important than anyone elses.
Mr Derp,
I want to say that you are… but I’m afraid you aren’t.. I thought he was going to die yesterday. And I have a feeling he may die after returning home.
Although… do we think Cersei has more weapons of the same? I mean.. I’m sure they do right???????
Help
Johnny Utah,
How about Johnny Utah?
Johnny Utah,
Euron lol
Mr Derp,
I’m concerned about the dragons too. Seems like the NK may have faced them before!! Yikes!!
Finally the Starks reunite but no one mentions Rickon? He truly was a shaggy dog.
What an episode!!
Oh god, where do i begin….
Let’s start with Winterfell. Aryas return was great, reminding us of her scene at the KL gates, this time she got in! Sansa knowing she will be in the crypts was so sweet… I love their interaction, they where never to close, so that showed very well. Sansa laughing at Aryas list, thinking she is joking was really amusing. I loved how they slowly grew warmer, after they spoke with Bran…etc
Her fight with Brienne, was soooo good, the moves, the pacing…etc. Brienne and Arya clearly enjoying the fighting. Was just great to see her grow.
On to Bran….and here i share some peoples complaint that his transformation is ”sudden”, though if you remember when he first woke last season, in the episode after The Door, he was just as emotionless. Still i thought his scenes this ep. where much better than last ep. the way he scared LF was just great, seeing LF frozen for a moment was superb. I felt so sad for Meera though…
Dragonstone
Jon and Danys scenes where quite nice. Anyone else feeling sexual tension there….? I saw ”something” there, curious if others did as well..
His scene with Theon, short but in character, looking for more later.
Missandei getting worried about GW was sweet as hell. ”many things happened”… I so hope he makes it.
Field of Fire
Oh good lord, i won’t repeat repeat what others did so much. just perfect scene.
I’ll point what i thought where great moments.
Brons laugh at Dickons name. poor lad
The Dothraki charge, the way they got up on their horses…etc
The Dothraki cutting the leg of Brons horse
Bron and Drogon standoff
Drogon flying over the water and the music then
The Dothraki telling Tyrion ”your people can’t fight”
And Tyrion saying to Jaime ”run you idiot”, such a quick moment, but so heavy emotionally in my opinion.
Dee Stark,
I would assume that they either have more of those crossbow things or they could simply make another. It didn’t seem too complicated.
However, if I was on Dany’s side, I would target those things as my first priority going into battle. Once those crossbows are gone it should be easy pickings for the dragons. Easier said than done though, of course.
Seems that way
from https://watchersonthewall.com/game-thrones-post-mortem-spoils-war/
Do we know if he has any ability to command land-based (rather than sea-based) armies? HE didn’t win the greyjoy rebellion, but he may not have been in command
shit was tight.
now where cleganebowl at.
Mr Derp,
Well now she knows they exist… maybe that was their purpose.
Knight of the Walkers,
I absolutely agree. If it wasn’t for some great posters on here and some great articles and some great spoilers (sorry unspoiled) I wouldn’t bother. To be honest sometimes the negativity is spoiling the programme for me.
A Dornish Tyrell,
I think I may owe you an apology. In a long comment about forty minutes ago I may have unintentionally incorporated without attribution your observation that Sansa thought Arya’s bruises during “dancing” lessons was due to clumsiness.
I can’t remember if I read your comment before I wrote mine. It’s possible I did. “Thou shalt not filch others’ ideas [without attribution]” is sort of an Eleventh Commandment for me….
I actually considered an option of Drogon dying in today’s episode. And I wonder how severe that wound was? Drogon was unable to fly after it. Daenerys losing one of her dragons would be a huge twist in the story and possibly the biggest negative impact for her.
Mr Derp,
Did I miss the part where Ayra has a reason to kill Sansa? This is a serious question. I know they never had a close relationship, but wanting her dead??
Lord Parramandas,
She’s gonna have to start using one of the other sports cars in her garage now that one of them is temporarily out of commission
I think he meant that Sansa might be afraid of Arya wanting to kill her. She doesn’t know how “far gone” Arya is and what she’s capable of.
Ser Not Appearing in this Series,
The photo in OoT’s review of Jaime holding the spear (looking at camera) appears to only show very shallow water. The photo below with Drogon breathing fire, however, looks like there could be a deeper portion of water in the middle.
Not sure what to think. When visiting a beach there usually isn’t a shelf at the waters edge where you can get ankle deep first. You’d think Cersei, as Queen, would put up a warning sign…
Also curious whether being barely under water would really protect him that much. Wasn’t the stone castle of harrenhal melted by dragon fire because it is so hot? Wouldn’t the water, or at least the top few feet, turn to steam? More importantly, will he have to remove his gold hand to escape? I hope not, what will Euron make fun of then?
Raenarys,
No, I don’t think so, and I don’t think Arya will actually try to kill Sansa at all, but Sansa could feel like Arya blames her for getting the family into this mess to begin with and maybe thinks Arya has Sansa on her list because of it.
Something like that.
Ser Not Appearing in this Series,
Hey, thank you so much for that info! I’m going to read the linked article in a few minutes.
Maisie’s training as a dancer has really amped up her acting. She looked so fluid in that fight choreography!
I took it as her being more concerned with what Arya has been through. Both girls had alluded to having a really rough, nasty time in the past few years apart. Hearing that Arya has a kill list, then seeing that she has major skills that would allow her to carry out those kills, must be unsettling to Sansa. Plus/or she’s thinking “wow, my little sister is an assassin. Hmmm, I think I can put those talents to use.”
I loved that little talk in the crypt – it was actually a more revealing reunion talk than any we’ve had before. The writers actually allowed the characters to say something of what they’d been through right before our eyes, rather than for us to debate whether or not certain issues had been touched upon. Both girls know the other has had a bad time, each girl can see how the other has changed. And I’m loving Sansa more and more. Being a lady becomes her.
The whole episode was exceptional, every scene counted. Am I the only one who melted when Jon took Dany’s arm to guide her? And she let him! Then to see their awe at the cave paintings as they discerned the past, present and future from work thousands of years old. Beautifully done.
So, Cersei is going to get her gold and be able to hire the Golden Company, obviously a roaming mercenary group. Tycho chimed in that this Golden Company has been used by the Iron Bank as debt collectors in the past, which somewhat answers a question that’s been brought up many times of what happens if someone can’t pay the bank back. I’m sure it’s a very charming group of people.
The battle – edge of the couch, indeed, Oz. Yes, when Bronn said “listen” I imagined thousands of people all over the world were holding their breaths, listening along with Jaime as the sound of the Dothraki hooves pounded louder and then … the call of Drogon. To me it’s a wonderful sound, but to those soldiers it had to be the screeching of the gates of Hell. The piles of instant ash, the utter carnage, the look of determination on Dany’s face, and the look of utter horror on Jaime’s face as he watched that carnage. Bronn’s humor and heroics. Please let him live long enough to get the castle of his dreams. Jaime in the water – like Tyrion in the water in Valyria. It was horribly wonderful.
This is already a multi-watch episode for me. I recorded it, and as soon as it was over on HBO I watched it twice more again. I’ll happily watch it all week, in anticipation for next week. What a season.
Thanks for the great review Oz. Yes, I am entertained. 🙂
Could Sansa actually be Melisandre’s daughter? She looks nothing like Robb, Jon, Bran or Arya. Maybe that’s why Bran hugged Arya but not Sansa.
Did you love her moves and stance with the dagger after Needle was knocked from her grasp? How she leaned over just a bit and confronted Brienne with that crafty little smile? I was cheering like mad. Yes, fluid is the perfect word. Maisie was perfect.
Arya’s list, aside from Sansa’s general “WTF” reaction, does present problems.
Cersei and the Mountain, fine. Illyn Payne. Sure.
But at one point, Thoros, Beric and Melisandre were on the list. (For kidnapping Gendry) The Hound was too, and she both believes him dead already and may have removed him anyway.
The Game of Thrones wiki states that Arya removed Thoros, Beric and Melisandre, but I don’t remember seeing that. And if she hasn’t, then she’s at cross-purposes with the rest of the war.
I still think Thoros, Beric and the Hound are going to wander by Winterfell on their way to the Wall. Other than the comic possibilities of the Hound interacting with Arya, Sansa and Brienne again, this bears problems for Thoros and Beric.
Arya’s list really just needs to be Cersei and the Mountain at this point.
My one small complaint with the episode was letting Meera go so easily, and without any further input with any of the other cast. The bit with the guards could have been cut a little shorter in favor of a scene where Sansa is putting Meera into a wagon, with a guard at their side to see Meera home safely, with a big hug of gratitude and best wishes. OR SOMETHING. WTF? The poor girl did lose her brother and risk her own life for Bran, and didn’t even get as much as a lousy T shirt. Poor treatment. They could have shown Meera telling Sansa at least part of what Bran has done, and where they were. Nothing. Meera walks out the door, saddened and traumatized after years of being with Bran, and that’s it. Doesn’t compute.
Mr Derp,
Oh I see…. The good ol guilty conscience. I can’t believe I forgot about Sansa lying to King Robert! Yes, I suppose if I was Sansa, and knew all this mess was caused by me, I’d be little nervous too…. Thanks for clearing it up 🙂
Thronetender,
I would have enjoyed five more minutes of Arya just dodging Brienne’s swings. Brienne always looks and sounds like she’s putting all of her effort into fighting so it’s fun to see a style like Arya’s with slight but quick movements and taking advantage of the exertion of the other.
Hexonx,
Bran hasn’t figured out how to process all the 3ER information yet. When he made the chaos remark to LF it was sort of “triggered”, I don’t believe he has the entire LF situation figured out. “Bran” is lost among the information overload, but may resurface to some extent when the higher power thinking takes over and sorts things out.
Someone above asked if it was weird to love Drogon so much and I realized that as I did my last rematch they did a REALLY good job giving him a personality.
This episode was SO good. I barely have any thoughts about it. I’m still in semi-shock.
Ok, so we have 3 episodes left of this season. I’m trying not to dwell on that fact.
BUT
where do we go from here? I’m trying to figure out how this season ends and what will the focus be in S8?
Will this war be ‘done’ in the next 3 eps and S8 will be all about ICE ICE Baby?
Or will the war slog on into S8 and S7 will end with some crazy Snowball fights in the North?
I truly don’t know but man its crazy how flippin’ fast this season is going.
Wonderful battle , this Bronn & Daenerys scene was amazing , most soldiers would turn there backs but Bronn held hes ground , please give the man hes castle .
Wow! The moment I saw Lannister soldiers in the field (second time, close to King’s Landing), I knew we’d see Drogon in action. But when Bronn got to the ballista, I really had no clue who will die, could have been all of them (except Daenerys, I suppose).
Seeing the effect of the ballista when Bronn actually hit, I’m not sure they could outright kill live dragons with single shots – injure them, yes, but not just crack their skulls open like we saw Cersei do to Balerion’s.
My only nitpick for the episode (aside from the actually plausible depth of the river – and it was a masterful stylistic choice anway) was the fact Daenerys wasn’t wearing anything more appropriate for her attack.
Other highlights:
– Arya’s arrival. Like Jon vs. Daenerys last episode, Arya’s encounters with Sansa and Brienne were believable. They didn’t exatly love each other in Season 1. Sansa hopes to find family, instead she gets a skilled killer. One that immediately wins the respect of her only guard and confidante – other than Littlefinger – in Brienne. Poor Sansa has brothers and sister yet neither one of them like her. She’s more and more alone.
– Speaking of Littlefinger, I loved the scene with Bran. This was the one thing our Petyr wasn’t prepared for. Not only isn’t Bran a useful puppet like Baelish expected, he might even know things. And then, Arya comes. Littlefinger may not yet know it, but she’s coming for him. Instead LF rejoices in thinking he could keep using Sansa’s apparent isolation. Not for long…
EDIT: Oh, and the Arya/Brienne “sparring match” was magnificently done. One of the best choreographies I’ve seen. And apparently, Maisie and Gwendoline did it by themselves, that’s just unbelievable.
Clob,
And we remember The Hounds words
The Hound: Your friend’s dead, and Meryn Trant’s not, ’cause Trant had armor. And a big fucking sword. ”
Arya’s certainly progressed a bit since season 4!
I don’t think that’s true. I’m not a book reader, but based on what’s been divulged in GoT over the years, it went like this:
In the beginning, only the Children of the Forest inhabited Westeros. Then, one day, the First Men started migrating to (“invading”) the continent. The Children and First Men were enemies and fought. Things weren’t going so well for the Children who then starting really using their magic including the creation of the NK (and other white walkers) which we saw on screen last season. However, the NK and the walkers somehow went out-of-control. This resulted in the Children and the First Men joining forces to fight them off (as evident in the cave drawings). They were not able to defeat the white walkers, but were successful in pushing them back far to the North. Bran the Builder (from the Starks who are actually descended from the First Men) built the Wall along with magic from the Children to keep the white walkers out (only later did the main purpose of the Wall turn to keeping the wildlings out long after the walkers were forgotten about). The Targaryans didn’t come along with their dragons until thousands of years later. They’d only been ruling Westeros for like 300 years or so whereas the white walkers haven’t been around for thousands of years now.
Cersei Lannister – Daenerys Targaryen 1-1
Ser Not Appearing in this Series,
Almost as catchy as the title of Archmaester Ebrose’s book… 😉
Ten Bears,
Don’t sweat it. Whether it was the former or the latter, no harm was done.
I didn’t believe they would do that even after episode one. It’s too much of a risk for them. Now they’ve been traveling for three episodes with their destination being Eastwatch. I don’t think we’ll see them before they’d get there… just as we won’t see Tormund again until we have an Eastwatch scene, whenever that will be…
I agree excellent episode. As for Jon and Theon, I suspect SANSA has had something to do with Jon not killing him. He may not like or forgive The on but SANSA is here because of him so he gets a conditional pass.
I really think Sansa feels she hasn’t developed in the same way her siblings have. Think about it. Sansa lost her direwolf and was left disconnected from her siblings in Season #1. No symbiotic growth for her. She is left being the only one without extraordinary powers. She was always the dreamer growing up. The others were the pragmatists. Now she is the one facing reality with no dreams left.
Yes! I have enjoyed Briennes changing attitude with Pod this season. She’s become just a teeny bit cocky as she rolls Pod into the dust, with her little quip of “Nope.” She’s becoming more patient with him too, not snarking at him when he calls her Lady. Technically, she IS a Lady, isn’t she? Maybe being around Sansa has made her a little more amenable to the title.
Thronetender,
I know!!! It completely shattered my heart they way the Starks treated Meera… No fresh clothes? It would have been a nice touch to include a little talk between Meera and Sansa, with the latter thanking the former for bringing Bran back alive.
But I guess it would have diminished the heartbreaking moment of Bran coldly bidding Meera farewell.
Maester Soup,
Yeah… Except… Catelyn loved Sansa. Wouldn’t make sense for her to hate Sansa, since she hated Jon with such passion?
The show has indicated numerous times that the Greyjoys have extremely subpar land-based military knowledge and skills. They are vastly superior seafarers and naval tacticians, but their land-based fighting skills really amount to small time raiding – not large scale battles or war. Euron leading Cersei’s armies would likely be a catasrophe especially with how much of a crazed, risk taking lunatic he is.
Lord Of Lite,
Wouldn’t it**
Maester Soup,
Ehhhh… not sure about that one. And she looks nothing like Melisandre either, other than the red hair.
Of all the Stark kids, I think Sophie Turner is the only one that looks like she could have been produced by Sean Bean and Michelle Fairley.
For what it’s worth, all the kids except Jon (for obvious reasons) and Arya are supposed to favor the Tully side. If you’re going by the books, that is.
Agree that Meera should have been given more gratitude by Sansa, but that could have happened off screen. It certainly didn’t make sense for Meera to be receiving fresh clothes, an escort, or a verbal thanks on screen because that would have diminished the impact of Bran’s cold shoulder…it’s clearly being made obvious that Bran is desensitized to his and the emotion’s of others. If we, as viewers, would have seen Meera being given gifts of gratitude, we would have thought “well, that’s rude of Bran but at least she was thanked properly elsewhere so she’ll be alright.”
I gave Jack a flippant response below. But truth to tell, it was confusing and has been incessantly discussed on the Internet since the bootleg of the episode surfaced Friday. Sansa surely experienced mixed feelings, which may include everything suggested here and then some. That is reasonable But she kept a fixed countenance so that the flux of emotions did not show on her face, which clearly revealed only that she was not pleased. I think she’s fretting most about loss of control. She’s painted her own pretty little picture, wanting and finally getting to control everyone in Winterfell. Sse counted on mother-henning her younger siblings if/when they returned. But when her sibs actually do return they are above it all, and she realises she won’t get the simple respect and affection she expects and craves. They are her peers in every way except title and will do their own thing. Their being there yet apart and having their own agendas just makes her feel undermined. Arya particularly, being outspoken, may do to her what she did to Jon. Also, as status quo she thinks she can handle the dangerous Littlefinger, but their powers upset that apple cart. She probably
worries he or they will provoke a clash, requiring her to take drastic action. As such, they’re a threat. On a minor level, I think she wants Brienne to herself.
One other thing. As a few posters have noted, Sansa herself has revenge-killed and in a most unpleasant way. She nearly killed Joffrey, and probably longed to kill others, like Cersei, Trant, the executioner, Tywin, Miranda, Walder Frey, Roose, etc. In other words, she has many of the same enemies as Arya, but Sansa couldn’t even use that bung auger to snuff Ramsay. Arya can and does do these things. Little Arya, who Sansa had never even seen with a real sword other than Joffrey’s. So maybe as she realizes Arya has killed, she’s repulsed and holier-than-thou, but also perhaps a little jealous.
Or acting. I’d add directing, but it happens too often for directors to be the cause.
I’m trying to remember season 1 when the first WW (I think it was a WW) was shown. For some reason I remember it being different from the current versions (regular and NK). I can’t find any photos on this site and haven’t wanted to venture into sullied territory. For whatever reason I thought the first WW was female, but I may be misremembering…especially if they all came from Crasters sons. I guess I am wondering if there is another kind of WW that we haven’t seen yet.
ManderlyPieCompany,
I think that he didn’t fully become the 3ER until he hit the Weirwood tree just before going to the wall.
Also is it just me or did anyone find it out the water was SOOO deep right next to the shore?
Daenerys has her dragons and Jaime will bring his sharks…(Joke Spoiler)
I thought it was interesting the conversation about Jon being a bastard and that there isn’t marriage everywhere. So maybe Jon’s parents not being married will not make a difference for him being a “true” Targaren.
I enjoyed this perhaps more than I should have. It’s fitting:
https://cdn3.whatculture.com/images/2017/08/4bd574719b0d131c-600×400.jpg
Would that have been so bad? I’d like to think she’ll be alright, rather than think of her being treated as an afterthought – both the character and the actress. It’s a little thing, but it should have been addressed somehow. Yes, it’s a fantasy, but this part was regular human interaction and follow-though. In prior seasons, the loose threads have been handled better. The writers are asking us to suspend our disbelief on so many other issues. This kind of thing should have had a better close.
Yeah, in the opening scene of the series the white walker looked different. I believe the only reason for that is the walkers have been enhanced over the years as the budget for GoT got bigger. I believe one of D&D spoke about this once a long time ago in a behind he scenes, but I could be wrong about that. I am fairly confident, though, that the opening scene walker is nothing special other than just being a walker like the others (and not female).
No, it wouldn’t have been bad but it definitely would have reduced the impact they were trying to demonstrate regarding Bran’s detachment from his emotions and prior life. They are stressing that for a reason, so I’m willing to go with it. Plus, we don’t know if that was Meera’s (or Ellie’s) swan song. She could very well still be involved in the storyline. She’s killed a walker and is one of the few alive that has experience fighting them (aside from Jon, Dolorous Edd, and kind of Sam). Plus, Howland Reed could factor into the plot at some point. I guess I’m just not that bothered because it’s either not the end of her story or, if it is, it served the purpose of further demonstrating Bran’s character development (and let’s face it, Bran is a more important character than Meera).
WTF?!! One leaves the comment section of Oz’s great article about one of the GoT’s best episodes for half a day – SO many good things to talk abut, but now half (it sounds better than a fifth 😉 ) the comments are about water depths and Sophie Turner’s facial expression!? Did Mr. Bauer and the Latrine guy by any chance shell bomb the place or what!?!? 🙂 🙂
Yeah same conclusion I’ve come to. I was really just nit picking…was truly entertained by this episode!
Tamwell Sarly,
About the physical appearance of the White Walkers:
Although this is probably trivial, as I recall some of the WWs, especially early on, looked like hippie dudes wearing only a loin cloth. Then there were others that were “fully attired” with boots, like at Hatdhome eg the Night King and his buddy (the one that Jon zapped with Longclaw).
Is there a reason for their different wardrobes? If cold doesn’t affect them, it’s not as if they need leather pants and shirts – unless it’s to make a fashion statement.
I agree – don’t think it’s any different than with The Children of the Forest, who were completely changed from SE4 to the next appearance in SE6.
However…if you look closely, the WW’s in the cave paintings at Dragonstone actually look more like the first WW, and not so much like NK and his gang…
Yeah, I don’t have an answer for that except for what I surmised previously: “reason for that is the walkers have been enhanced over the years as the budget for GoT got bigger.” The various appearances of the wights make sense because they can be raised at any time after dying (in various states of decomposition) and also because they are from people who passed away during different eras over the past thousands of years. For the walkers though? I just assume they’ve been enhanced over the seasons to make them look more ominous and threatening (since they’ve got a bigger budget to play with now). After all, look at how Tyrion appeared in the opening episode! They’ve changed his appearance drastically too!
I did too, at first. However, the customs of Naath are not going to just unseat thousands of years of traditional marriage and inheritance rules in Westeros. In other words, it’s not like everyone all-of-a-sudden will be “oh, Jon is Rhaegar’s illegitimate son? well, you know, on Naath they don’t have marriage or bastards so he’s the new King of Westeros now!”.
Tamwell Sarly,
I thought that the ones who were dressed more simply were Crasters children and the ones who were dressed in black were those who had originally been members of the Nights Watch and had followed the Nights’ King.
This theory seemed to be supported by the fact that when we first saw the white walker taking the baby North we could see a number of blurred black figures at the circle of stones with the Nights’ King being one of them.
It seemed to make sense.
And the we never saw those early White Walkers again. Pity really, but it was a decent idea.
I didn’t get that impression at all. Sansa is Lady of Winterfell, and at least in Jon’s absence, de facto Queen in the North. That’s pretty much what she always dreamed about, isn’t it?
Arya is cool with Sansa being Lady of WF. And contrary to some suggestions, I didn’t sense that Sansa is jealous that Arya is commandeering Brienne. Brienne pledged to be Sansa’s sworn shield. All Arya has done is ask Brienne to train with her. Nothing more.
As for Sansa “left being the only one without extraordinary powers”, , I doubt she’d trade her current titles and status to be a paraplegic robot with weird visions, whose only real power so far is to make people feel uncomfortable.
And all Sansa has seen of Arya is that she turned into a kickass little ninja warrior: something Sansa never aspired to.
(Now, this could all change in a hurry if and when Arya shows off her face-peeling trick; or Sansa learns that the mysterious girl who annihilated House Frey and left the parting shot that “Winter came for House Frey” was her assassin little sister…)
This is my pet peev. Bran is dead, Meera realizes that. Bran died in the cave and 3 eyed rave took over his body. Bran didn’t go through training and shit like Arya did. He was replaced. Bran is not being stoic, he’s just not Bran.
Ash,
Actually yes he did, remember he was gone for an entire season while he ‘trained’ with 3ER off stage? We didn’t see it, but it did happen. Tho I do agree with you, he is not Bran. Perhaps with time he will be able to do what he was trained for and get back some of his humanity, but it still won’t be the same person.
As I remember it, the White Walkers were originally wearing loincloths. After Sam stabbed one in the back, they switched to armor. I think they’re wearing it for the same reasons everybody else does. I wonder if it’s strong enough to break an obsidian point?
It too felt off and too sad, I understand what they wanted to accomplish with the scene, but she has been dragging him around for months? half a year? since Hodor and she only now realizes how much he has changed? I remember people in the comments commenting on why Bran wasn’t reacting to Hodor or Summers deaths, and just giving the benefit of the doubt that is was off screen, but we have to assume this has been happening to him since then, and getting colder and colder over the time it took to return home… did she notice nothing when they stopped to camp for the night, or when they had a few days breather at the wall? It shouldn’t have been a surprise to her – I think that is what felt the most off for me. I rather we had a scene with Meera and Sansa discussing how Bran ‘died’ and what he has become (instead of assuming it happens off screen), and then have Meera try and give a final farewell and come away sad. Confused, mad, hurt and sad was too much. She is smarter and more observant than that.
Tamwell Sarly,
This is one of those things I accept as a choice they made for storyline convenience or whatever, but…it does seem like an omission to the character growth they are otherwise emphasizing for Sansa. The Lady of Winterfell would be a welcoming hostess to the daughter of her father’s banner man who saw her brother safely home. As acting ruler in the north (and a concerned sister) it would be incompetent to not pick Meera’s brain on everything they experienced, since she isn’t getting much info out of Bran.
But we all know that many interactions/conversations that a normal person would have are omitted in the story – with some presumably happening offscreen, others seemingly not – for [reasons], so whatever. (Some people will say that even 30 seconds of Sansa/Meera dialogue would just be wasted or boring screen time; to each his own)
Ellie Kendrick was fabulous in that scene, it really was heartbreaking and I hope we see her again (with dear old Dad!)
The whole episode was off the charts!!
Right! I don’t see any power-trips yet, but then again everyone just got there and they are certainly displaying a few questionable glances and reactions there that might (who am I kidding) – WILL lead to some sort of conflict or tension – but I have faith that the Starks will come out on top – it is time for Littlefinger to go
This is a good point, most of us are focused on Sansa after the fight, but right before, when Arya mentions the oath to protect BOTH Stark sister, Sansa does react rather concerned like WTF, Brienne is my sworn sword, she can’t be pledged to both of us… although I think Arya only wants Brienne to train her, not protect her. The sudden startled reaction from Sansa was interesting and a little odd.
Right, Sansa never new about Arya’s real lessons, and I agree with most posters here that she was just unnerved when the truth hits her that Arya is a real fighter/killer. I think a part of old Sansa always wanted Arya to be more like her and hoped eventually Arya would grow out of her tomboy phase and become a proper lady/sister like her. But she now realizes the reality that her sister is a fighter, especially since Arya doesn’t fit the idea of a fighter. Brienne, sure even if she is a woman and some people poked fun – she obviously had the size, build and strength that quickly convinced others that she is not to be messed with… Arya doesn’t fit that type at all, so I could see Sansa also being concerned that Arya will take more risks and be in harms way more often (instead of safe at home), and won’t have the advantages that someone built like Brienne would have… and much like Jon realized with Sansa, it will not be easy to protect/control your younger sister.
Right, one scene with Sansa could have been added, this was actually a short episode, there was time to include a bit more of Meera – a strange and unwise decision – I hope she does come back in s8 so she has a much better, well deserved sendoff… and I don’t mean seeing her die! if that is the case, forget about it, she is happy and alive with her family! I’m good
It was how you would picture a fight with Syrio would look like. He was also short, but quick and agile…
They really teased us with ‘who will die’ and we all kinda thought, well there is no way that Dany or Jamie will die, so it must be Bronn – but again he become the MVP of the battle, at least on the Lannister side.
And I also had that thought about her outfit, seems like the same thing she always wears – would rather she had a fighter outfit, fully equipped for riding a dragon and protection – when they landed, she was completely vulnerable, if Jamie had a bow…
I wouldn’t go that far, Sansa isn’t hated or disliked by any of her siblings – there is love there, but like with Jon, old Sansa wasn’t really trying to be a good, understanding sister back then, so she has a bit of mending to do (and she is aware of it), especially with Arya, to be fair we never see her interact with Bran… and vice versa, Arya was just as much of a stubborn brat at times, so the weary tension but genuine relief and comfort was believable, I don’t see where anyone gets a sense of Sansa feeling like she is in danger from either of them, off put because they are not ‘normal’ perhaps, but they are still her family.
Bran is an entire different story, he isn’t really Bran anymore, so the relationships he has with all of his siblings are not going to be warm and fuzzy or heartfelt – it will be a challenge for all of them, will they accept the reality of the situation and make the best of it, or will they try and pull the old Bran back to some semblance of himself?
I’m a little confused as to how Missandei doesn’t know about marriage, wasn’t Dany engaged or married to that guy in Mereen – Hazar (or something) their marriage was supposed to mend bridges and bring stability – so Missandei must have understood the concept… or am I remembering wrong, maybe they called it something else?
viki,
She may have learned about marriage spending time with Danerys and witnessing Hizdahr and Danerys’s engagement, but the subject of bastards may not have come up.
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?
Did you notice the quick look Sansa gave toward Littlefinger when Arya said to Brienne she swore to protect BOTH Catelyn’s daughters? She did the same when Jon let the North in her hands in episode 2. Is that not a hint that she’s trying to anticipate what Littlefinger can use against her and her house ?
(By the way, that’s my first post ever. Wanna say the watchers team, you guys do an amazing job on that website and I really enjoy reading all the discussions here, sullied and unsullied!)
Plus Cersei. Don’t know what all this, “I didn’t know who to root for” nonsense is. The Lannister are bullies. They got what they deserved in this episode.
Ok after watching that ep a few times I had something itching at me about why it felt familiar and here is why it was a recap – the was a growing of age and reflecting on past doings and using them again to plant seeds of change.
1. Bran saying chaos is a ladder was a seed – as it is what Little finger said to Varys “Chaos isn’t a pit. Chaos is a ladder,” he told Varys. “Many who try to climb it fail, and never get to try again – the fall breaks them. And some are given a chance to climb, but they refuse. They cling to the realm, or the gods, or love … illusions. Only the ladder is real, the climb is all there is.”
2. Arya – When Arya finally made it to Winterfell, she was stopped at the gates by two guards who refused to believe she was really Arya Stark. The same thing happened to her on the first season when she was chasing cats and got lost in the dungeons of the Red Keep. Those guards too laughed at her trying to get back in.
3. Jon took Daenerys into the dragonglass caves to show her ancient drawings on the wall made by the Children of the Forest. Though the most interesting thing about them was the White Walkers depictions – we see these patterns a lot now!
The big one you have all forgot!
4. Danny REPEATING what Jon did!!!!! I think 99% missed the relevance.
When Stannis Baratheon arrived at the Wall and captured Mance Rayder, he told him he’d spare his life if Mance bent the knee. When Mance refused, Jon went to his prison cell to try and convince him to just swear fealty to Stannis and save the Wildlings from future suffering.
Here’s how their conversation played out:
“Isn’t their survival more important than your pride?” Jon asked Mance.
“Pride? F— my pride,” Mance said. “This isn’t about that.”
“Then bend the knee and save your people,” Jon insisted.
“They followed me because they believed in me,” Mance said. “Because they respected me. The moment I kneel for a southern king that’s all gone […] I’ll be honest with you. I don’t want to die. But it’s better than betraying everything I believe.”
“And what happens to your people?” Jon asked. “You preserve your dignity and die standing, and they’ll sing songs about you. You’d rather burn than kneel, a great hero. Until winter comes, and the White Walkers come for us all, and there’s no one left to sing.”
“You’re a good lad, truly you are,” Mance said. “But if you can’t understand why I won’t enlist my people in a foreigner’s war, there’s no point explaining.”
onefromaway,
I completely agree with you about the water, and it’s been bugging me to see so many assume the water’s edge is indicative of the rest of it’s body. Perhaps it’s because they haven’t experienced sudden, deep drop-offs themselves.
Ser Hogwyn,
I know.. it was so easy to decide who to root for ? LOL
I am late to the party, but this episode goes into my top 5 for sure right now.
I loved the call-backs in this episode, it felt so nostalgic to watch.
I loved the parallels between this episode and Hardhome.. I really felt that connection
I don’t need to repeat everything that has been said about this fantastic episode, its direction, cinematography and score… all of them perfection.
– I didn’t think I would see Arya coming home… so I was pleasantly surprised, and absolutely adored all her scenes in this episode. Maisie is killing it. Her resemblance to Ned is unreal. I do hope she reunites with Jon… but I honestly have no idea whats going to happen over the next few episodes so I don’t know!
Edit: Adding that I am loving Sansa this season.. Poor girl… her dream of making her family what it was once and how it is not working out that way for her is truly breaking my heart. Sophie is doing amazing. There is a strong parallel between how Sansa has always been this lone wolf in how she has these dreams or pictures this certain life that is not a reality.. Happened with Joffrey in season 1, and now with her family. I am worried.
– I rewatched the episode yesterday and I don’t understand why people find bran so robotic… he is a little robotic, but it isn’t that bad. His scene at the tree with the girls was sweet.
– This scene will go down as a TOP TEN SCENE FOR ME: Bran, Arya, Sansa, walking around Winterfell. I actually cried.
– Sad to see Meera go… she made me cry. I wonder if we will see her again.
-I honestly did not expect to get so much Dany and Jon… I love it so much. Their scenes together are amazing. They go well together. I loved the cave scene…. loved seeing that the COTF left some information for the people. I always wondered why they didn’t do that… Also.. JON YOU HOTTTTT baby
– With regards to the battle.. I echo what thousands of people are saying.. and I want to add that I just looooooovvveeee you DROGON!!!!!!!!!! Honestly kudos to the production and writing for making me love something FAKE so much…. I really thought he was going to die… I still expect to lose a dragon. I expected it to happen in this episode, now I have no idea. I was hoping that Jamie and/or Bronn would bite it. Oh well.
15/10!!!!!!!!!!!
I LOVE THIS SHOW!
A Dornish Tyrell,
The look on Aryan’s face when she is shocked that he is there shows she remembers the meeting he had with Twin in s2. Just because SANSA said he’s thrown in with House Stark doesn’t make it true. To give SANSA some credit she did say to Bran tha the gift of the dagger wasn’t out of kindness. The sisters need to compare notes.
Sansa’ always been a shit and continues to be one. Predict she will contribute to the death of at least one of her siblings before we’re finished.
This may seem even more outrageous but wouldn’t be surprised if Arye isn’t who she appears to be. Understand Bran’s character has changed even more than Arye from S6 to S7 but the manner in which Arye acts and the expressions Ms Williams offers up in each episode makes me think there is a HUGE reveal waiting for us all.
Dead Dane Walking,
First off, being half Danish, love the name.
I don’t get caught up with nit picks about books or TV series as for me it can suck out all the joy of reading or watching. I come online to talk about a show I love and have learned how to filter out the most negative criticism. Some stuff unique to GoT’s I file under the magic clause.
Dee Stark,
Oh, and I was worried there will be no review from you… You made great points again and I can agree with almost everything. Except for final battle… Jaime and Bronn are among my favorite characters and the overall tone of this battle was very grey for me. I wasn’t able to root for either side.
I still haven’t done my own review. I wrote about half of it yesterday but my thesis work interfered with it. I expect to post it today.
One thing I haven’t seen anyone talking about…when Jaime gives Bronx his gold and Brown asks for Highgarden, Jaime tells him he doesn’t want it and says “the more you own the more it weighs you down.”
I hope this isn’t foreshadowing to the puddle/deep water horizon…
I noticed the use of spirals and ladders and that always brings me back to a book I have
“Life is a journey up a spiral staircase; as we grow older we cover the ground we have covered before, only higher up; as we look down the winding stair below us we measure our progress by the number of places where we were but no longer are. The journey is both repetitious and progressive; we both round and upward. ” Norton Anthology of English Literature vol. 2
Each episode shows how far (or not) each character has come. The only way to see that is by comparing them to the seasons before. I have to credit SANSA who has come to understand the game and her attempts to help Jon avoid the mistakes of Ned and Robb. Aryan has become one of the most dangerous partly because most people won’t see past the surface to the trained killer she has become. LF just may be so focused on his climb up the ladder to see how easy it could be to knock him off.
Next Sunday won’t come soon enough.
****************************
Arya reuniting with Jon is a big wish for me. I never forget the hug she gave him when he gave her needle before he left for the wall.
I agree with you about SANSA but Jon did leave her in charge of the North. His comment to TYRION about her being smart is another reason for hope. What she says about LF prove she’s learning and growing.
The walk with Bran. How much of him is in there and can we have him back.
Drogon!!! Don’t die!
I think of it like this.
Bran’s training was like being taken through a vast art gallery, seeing picture after picture*, with time to absorb what he saw. The abrupt end meant that everything yet to be seen came as a rapid download.
Instead of pictures, Bran’s head is now full of jigsaw puzzles, all jumbled up. He is having to piece them together. It’s very slow at first, but will get easier and quicker.
(*A better analogy would be videos or film clips, but then the jigsaw part doesn’t work!)
I hope “dragon riding” gets refined somewhat. For one, the riders need proper attire, probably some light leather armor at least. Heck I’ve even seen calls for Dragons to get some armor in reviews.
viki:
I wouldn’t go that far, Sansa isn’t hated or disliked by any of her siblings – there is love there, but like with Jon, old Sansa wasn’t really trying to be a good, understanding sister back then, so she has a bit of mending to do (and she is aware of it), especially with Arya, to be fair we never see her interact with Bran… and vice versa, Arya was just as much of a stubborn brat at times, so the weary tension but genuine relief and comfort was believable, I don’t see where anyone gets a sense of Sansa feeling like she is in danger from either of them, off put because they are not ‘normal’ perhaps, but they are still her family.
Ah, wording fail on my part. I meant to say that neither of Sansa’s siblings is similar (alike) to her. Not that they dislike her. So I pretty much agree with you there. As for Sansa feeling to be in danger, definitely not from her siblings. It’s just that she probably still feels more lonely than she expected. And Arya’s skills are frightening, no matter what.
I agree fully. The callbacks have been amazing all season. There have been so many, it is hard to catch them all in one viewing.
I picked up on this as well. I noticed how much Jon was channeling Mance Rayder last episode as well. His time with the wildlings changed him. Almost expected him to say
There we have jamie riding his hoese in 5 inches of water. then a few moments later he is drowning in that same water, that is suddenly 50 feet deep…..
There we have jamie riding his horse in 5 inches of water. then a few moments later he is drowning in that same water, that is suddenly 50 feet deep…..
You’re so right. Luckily I find that goes for the vast majority here on WotW – the best and friendliest GoT-forum around, if you ask me! My previous very small nit pick about Jon & Theon was really just an alternative way to describe, that I absolutely LOVE everything else in “The Spoils of War” – No. 1 show in town! 🙂
Haha thanks! I just wanted something else than the ever so popular Westerosi names. In case you haven’t guessed, it’s ½ GoT/WW and ½ The Green Mile throwback with a sprinkle of my home turf (am more like a citizen of our common Earth, though). In that case hope your parent passed on some useful Scandinavian genes 🙂 ..and maybe even some values/traditions you can appreciate. What’s the other half then?
Billy Bob Stargaryian,
Those are the exact 2 details tht pulled me out of the amazing level ou hypeness^^
Uuuuhh now THAT is an interesting thought! …at first I was pretty sure Bronn would save him (and maybe die doing that) since we just saw him making the choice between being a sellsword or fighting for Jamie (by leaving the gold behind) – now I’m not so sure much! …5 days to go 🙂
The easy part is the other half is Welsh. My Scandinavian part gives me the instinct to remain neutral in conflicts and appreciate Universal healthcare. In case there are others here I’m Canadian.
The Spoils of War was just everything I’ve been holding my breath for this season. Bran laughing at poor Dickon was the dessert I wasn’t expecting.
T Rufus Martin,
I’m sure Arya has some suspicions regarding LF. As you mentioned, she witnessed the meeting between him and Tywin in Harrenhall where LF informed Tywin about the alliance with the Tyrells he secured. But it is fair to mention that Sansa was present in the Red Keep when LF was granted Harrenhall as a reward for bringing the Rose to the fold (in fact, Sansa has much more information on LF than Arya in general.)
However, that information alone, in my opinon, is insufficient to kill LF… My guess is that Sansa will find out something in M. Luwin’s records and, maybe by herself, maybe with the help of Bran and/or Arya, she will put things together regarding LF role in setting off all the chaos that came after Robert Arry’s death. The Starks sisters will then concoct a plan to eliminate LF without loosing the Knights of the Vale… Or at least that’s my tin foil theory.
A Dornish Tyrell,
And she witnessed first hand LF kill her aunt Lysa Arryn, but by lying about it, she’s pretty much an accomplish, so maybe not as useful…
Well you clearly did get the essential Modern Viking traits then – good on you Rufusmum or Rufusdad 🙂 Think we have several Canadians here, so you’re in good hands!
Bran wasn’t laughing much 🙂 🙂 (I know you meant Bran) …And we haven’t seen nothing yet – so much more to come! Wildly exited about this years few episodes…!
viki,
I agree with pretty much you’ve said, except maybe the part where you say that Sansa’s reaction to watching Arya sparring with Brienne was like that because she wanted Arya to be more lady-like. Sansa knows very well how Arya is and what Arya will never become because she doesn’t want to become. In my opinion, Sansa’s reaction was one of concern and grief: she finally gets reunited with Bran and instead of his brother, she gets this “robotic weirdo”. Similarly with Arya, instead of her little sister, she gets this “cold-hearted ninja assassin”. My guess is that Sansa realized at that moment that they are never going to be a happy family as they once were, but a collection of broken individuals. And that’s really sad and upsetting.
Dead Dane Walking,
Exactly! That’s why she would have to figure out how to handle the LF affair without risking losing the Knights of the Vale.
That would be Rufusmum.
Yes I meant Bronn. If he makes it I hope he switches sides cause he and TYRION are comic gold. All the talk about Bran has stuck with me. Can a 3ER retire and Bran can be back? I know he says he isn’t Bran anymore but he’s missed.
Planning ahead there is a season 7 blu ray in my future.
A DornishTyrell,
I don’t think that would be such a big problem. Yohn Royce and the other lords know what a scheming sleazeball LF is and would to some degree understand her lying about Lysa’s murder… Also they care somewhat for Robin, who would be the new (and semi-controlable ) Lord of the Vale, if he’s old enough – can’t remember.
It’s really up to Sansa to let go of her fear of LF. No one but Sansa is “protecting” him – she is key and his only safe haven at WF, but with a bit more information through conversations with Bran and Arya, it could be Game Over…
…Except: None of them have a single witness to back their statements. Even a little speck like Sir Dontos who could tell about LF’s part in Joffrey’s murder is gone…
Personally I would guess the only way is to somehow take him out on their own and let the cards fall as they may… Arya is my best guess, but who knows… Well, GRRM and D&D 🙂
T Rufus Martin,
And I see that I wrote Bran twice as well…Damn!! Bronn of course 🙂
Oh absolutely, Tyrion and Bronn were top shelf entertainment, but don’t you think those days are over..? I mean it’s not really like in the “old days” with Shae, Shagga, Ulf and Gunthor or happy times in the capitol..!
IF he and Jamie both survive their jump into the hot tub, they’ll become POWs at Dragonstone, I would think… But maybe, just maybe that will give Tyrion a chance to finally turn Jamie against Cersei and Bronn a couple of cheerful scenes..
The Wolves of Winter,
Yeah, I think LF made Arya’s list this episode. HE might not recognize her as Tywin Lannister’s cup bearer,but you know damn well that she knows who HE is. I’m betting she will even take him out with the dagger Bran gave him, and she will be dressed as Sansa when she does so. (pure speculation on my part, but my vengeful heart wants this to be the case!)
She has to have proof that LF is a traitor. Bran could be of some help on a timeline of his actions. Arya can say she saw him negotiating with Twin, SANSA can get her nit wit of a cousin away from LF and come clean about her Aunt Lisa. He and his chaos theory of power grabbing has to go.
Uhmm…including her face?? You do know, that would require Arya killing Sansa, right? But hey by all means feel free to think so 🙂
Let me just say: GREAT episode!
Regarding the whole Sansa-looking-at-Arya-and-Brienne-fighting: When Arya reminds Brienne that she is pledged to serve both of Catelyns daughters and Sansa looks a little confused – I didn’t see that as jealousy at all. I thought she was looking at Littlefinger in a slightly nervous way – sort of like ‘Oh, did I forget to mention? Yeah…Arya is back’. I don’t think Littlefinger knew and I am not sure this is the way Sansa wanted him to find out.
Anyhow – CANNOT wait for next weeks episode 🙂
Well, they just got there, so we will see in the next episodes if things improve a bit. They don’t show her lonely before they arrived, I see it more like Sansa is happy she finally has everything she wanted, at least since season 5-6 – she is the Lady of Winterfell and in charge.
Her reactions to me come more from her rather ‘normal’ experiences so far, and by ‘normal’ I mean everything that happened to her was something Sansa could understand and process, some of it was harsh and terrible, but still she can understand how or why it happened and process it.
Arya and Bran did not, they experienced and have done things that most never do, both also experienced the darker side of magic as well – what each went through many normal people (like Sansa) can’t understand or even believe, not without time to process or experience themselves.
Sansa is happy her younger siblings have returned, but they have both changed in ways she really can’t process or understand – at least not without some time (hopefully). ‘Bran has visions’, but Sansa says it as if she don’t really want to believe it, even though she had a bit of freaky proof… now Arya can fight with real skill, something Sansa also isn’t used too – girls don’t fight like that. I know, there is Brienne – but she is the exception to the rule – she is huge, built more like a man, it isn’t a stretch to the imagination to understand how and why she fights… but Arya, especially using the waterdancer/faceless man styles is something Sansa has never seen before and is contrary to her norms. I mean if Arya had been a boy, would she have reacted the same way? probably not, it would have been just another badass brother to fight and protect her, like Jon.
I’m sure once Sansa gets used to the new norm, she will be fine with them, well at least Arya…. Bran’s humanity seems to be hanging by a thread, he is like a more informed Melisandre – they care about the the big picture, but the little people, they are not as important and you can’t allow yourself to get distracted by personal or emotional concerns – winning the big war is all that matters. I think Bran will continue to freak/weird out everyone for a while, lol
well, I did quantify it by saying ‘old’ Sansa
The rest I covering in the previous post 🙂