The following review will contain SPOILERS for the episode ahead. Consider yourself fairly forewarned, and now to Westeros!
Having seemed to escape the certitude of death by Dragon fire, only to trade that for a possible drowning at last weeks conclusion, Jamie finds himself dragged to safety (somewhat implausibly) by Bronn. Bronn has always been very open about his allegiance is to his own self interest and continues that here; telling Jaime that no one, not a dragon queen or her dragon gets to kill Jamie until such time that his debts have been paid. However, he also adds that he hasn’t been paid nearly enough to fight Dragons and is considering swapping sides. Reuniting Bronn and Tyrion is something many fans would greatly enjoy. Jamie meanwhile realises the impossible position of he and his sister – if just one dragon devastated their forces in minutes, how on earth are they to fight 3?
Across the lake, Daenerys stands before the captured forces of the Lannister’s demanding they take the knee or die. Thanks to some less than subtle character building last week, Randall Tarly’s refusal is unsurprising. A character who has been created simply to be hated by the fans is actually given some dimension in his final moments. His unfortunately named son Dickon steadfastly joins his father in standing against Daenerys despite his father’s orders and pleas to the contrary. The honour of the father and his son is what ultimately sees them perish, a recurring theme in the show. The direction of the moment is handled very well, with the silent reaching out of Randall to his son managing to evoke sympathy for a previously loathsome character. Tyrion continues to diverge in his opinion on how to handle things from Daenerys, opposed to the execution of the Tarly’s, suggesting that further afield there could be a significant fallout between the two.
At kings landing, Cerise fails to appreciate the impossibility of her situation, unable to take a position other than being on the offensive, speaking of hiring mercenaries to fight the dragons. Cersei sums her options as “fight and die or submit and die”, and she isn’t entirely wrong. The risk of the Lannister’s being eradicated in a fashion similar to the Reins and Tyrells is growing with each skirmish. Jamie tells Cersei of Olenna’s final confession to Jophrey’s murder and Lena Heady captures the realisation of how much death is on her hands due to her determination to blame Tyrion at the time. Where the Lannister’s go from here, only time will tell.
After her swift victory on the road to King’s Landing, Daenerys returns to Dragonstone which provides one of the biggest geek-out moments of the season, and maybe the show, so far. Upon her landing Drogon in front of Jon, the dragon saunters over the him with an air of familiarity. Jon is initially thinking about where his nearest change of pants is before realising something more is afoot. As Drogon sits calmly, Jon ungloves a hand and touches the dragon. As has been established, Dragons and Targaryen’s have a special connection, further hinting to Jon’s true lineage as well as the notion we will see him riding a top a dragon of his own. Again, having been so spoilt by the amazing graphics of the show, we should take a moment to appreciate how realistic the work on Drogon is, feeling truly apart of the world and not some pasted in computer graphic after the fact. Before we leave Dragonstone, a familiar face completes the fastest crossing of Westeros to reunite with Daenerys – Jorah Mormont. Cured of greyscale, still devoted and entirely ready to re-join the fray.
At Winterfell (and beyond) the Siblings Stark continue their threads beginning with Bran showing how his powers have grown by controlling a murder of crows to gather recon on the forces of Night. In return, despite all of his development, the Night King displays the gulf in power between the two by forcing bran out of the crows with but a glance. Bran realises how close the realm is to invasion, sending out ravens to all warning the respective powers that be. The first we see is with Maester’s who naturally remain sceptical of his words of a magic raven, undead ice men and what not but Jim Broadbent’s Archmaester seems to take Sam’s words of warning seriously, though not seriously enough. It is also sadly revealed that Sam has yet to be told of his father and brother’s death. Later, Sam makes the decision to leave Oldtown due to the inaction of the Maester’s combined with the frustration of how he’s been treated. In a moment that should have had more gravity, we hear from Gilly as she reads a Maester’s log aloud that he provided and annulment to Rheagar Targaryen before marrying him in a secret ceremony in Dorne. This is a huge revelation as this would mean that the actual, legitimate heir to the throne is not Daenerys but her nephew Jon Snow which will surely throw a wrench in the works.
The second scroll arrives at Dragonstone with Varys and Tyrion in the throne room. Before we hear its contents, the two share a very good scene with each struggling to come to grips the horrors of war, but particularly with the burning of men. Varys speaks of his time under her father, The Mad King, how he used to assure himself that “he wasn’t the one doing it”, with the horrors causing the previously T-total Varys to drink some wine to calm his mind. There is a nice moment of humour when Tyrion asks Varys about the contents of the scroll for Jon Snow, knowing that despite it being a sealed missive Varys would have read it anyway. When Jon does receive the message, it delivers more than just words of warning regarding the Night King, but also news that both Bran and Arya are alive at Winterfell. What follows might be Tyrion’s most ludicrous plan yet – go beyond the wall and capture a single Wight to show to Cersei in hopes of aligning the realm against the dead. The plan requires one group to go North while Tyrion and Davos sneak in to King’s Landing to arrange a meeting with Jamie. As stated ludicrous.
The trip to Kings’ Landing provides more than a handful of good moments for Davos, his dry humour proving enough levity before the emotional ride of Tyrion and Jamie reuniting. Bronn, in a further show that his alliance is to himself, arranges the meeting the Dragon crypt, where the two brothers begin the peace process between their respective Queens. Davos meanwhile reunites with a seemingly forgotten character – Gendry. Reintroduced with a meta nod to fan theories with Davos saying, “I thought you might still be rowing”, we find him forging weapons for the Lannister’s. His eagerness to go with Davos is a refreshing change of pace, and its exciting to see the son of Robert Baratheon taking up arms in the form of a Warhammer. The scene on the beach with the guards from start to finish is wonderfully orchestrated – Davos displaying how he was so successful as a smuggler and Gendry showing he knows how to use the Warhammer, both very well done.
The meeting did not go unnoticed by Cersei, who agrees that an armistice is the best strategy for now, while harbouring notions of outwitting the Dragonqueen later in time. The biggest news from the moment is that Cersei is again pregnant with Jamie’s child, only this time she will tell everyone that he is. Jamie is floored by the news, with Cersei seemingly using it as another form of leverage against her brother.
The Stark Sisters continue their hot and cold relationship, Sansa fends off the pleas of Littlefinger’s puppets to name her Lady of Winterfell in place of Jon on a full-time basis. It is here we finally see the difference in skills accrued by each of them – Sansa has learned how to play the game, listening to her people and peers to reach the best outcome while Arya would (much like Theon in season 2) behead those who dissent. Arya seems resentful of how Sansa is seemingly obsessed with appearances and pretty things, because she cares what other people think of her. Arya continues to follow Littlefinger discovering that he is indeed manipulating the lords at Winterfell for his own ends and it seems that he is one step ahead of Arya by deliberately leading her to a note from way back in season 1 in which Sansa was coerced in to writing for Rob to lay down his arms against the crown, as well as labelling Ned a traitor.
The episode ends with Jon, Davos and co. arriving at the previously unseen Castle Eastwatch-by-the-sea now occupied by Tormund and his Wildlings. Initially, balking at the idea of going beyond the wall, Tormund reveals that Jon isn’t the only loon looking to cross in the land of always winter – Berric Dondarion, Thoros and the Hound all want to cross through. It’s here that the work done in previous seasons pays off again as the history between characters shapes the relationships now. Gendry being traded like chattel by Berric and Thoros a few seasons ago positions him to strongly distrust the trio, even the off-screen history between Thoros and Jorah is brought up of their battles during and after Robert’s rebellion. Tormund also has reaction to Jorah being a Mormont, after years fighting his father, comes up. Berric speaks of all their reasons being irrelevant as greater force (the screenwriter perhaps?) has brought them together. The final shot of the makeshift tip of the spear against the dead is surely a top moment for fans, seeing a Westerosi Magnificent Seven head out on a mission with a significant chance of no return. It’s an interesting note that all our leads have some affiliation with fire – Jon and Berric, resurrected by Fire Priests, Thoros a Fire Priest himself, The Hound has been marked by Fire, Jorah was cured of his greyscale (which Melisandre described on Shereen as touched by fire) with the use of Dragonglass – an item crafted by dragon fire, Gendry a lifelong blacksmith making use of Fire and Tormund, a giant red-haired man – kissed by Fire. Perhaps the Lord of Light is actually arranging his forces of Fire against those of the Ice. Next week is sure to be a barn stormer, make sure to check back in next week for a full break down on Reel Talk!