SPOILERS for last night’s episode of Game of Thrones 7.3, “The Queen’s Justice.”
Well, at least we got some kind of resolution on Bran Stark! I was seriously worried that we were going to be on the last episode of this season and Bran would still be hanging out at The Wall. We also finally got to see Jon Snow meet Daenerys Targaryen and it wasn’t quite the meet-cute we were hoping for. I actually rolled my eyes at Dany a few times. I laughed out loud at Euron Greyjoy and Olenna Tyrell though. I mean… Olenna is a G, right? Here’s the recap:
The Red Woman will die in Westeros. Melisandre and Varys chat about their guests (Jon Snow and Davos) from a very high cliff. Melisandre doesn’t want Jon Snow or Davos to see her and she admits she made a terrible mistake, which is a reference to Shireen. Varys is sort of being a bitch to her, but Melly gets the last laugh: yes, she will travel away from Westeros, but she has to return “one last time to die.” Varys has to die in Westeros too, apparently.
Meet-cute in the Throne Room. Jon and Dany finally meet and it’s… okay. She’s like, here are my credentials, Breaker of Chains, Mother of Dragons, etc, and Jon’s like “cool, but I’m still not bending the knee.” Dany is really perturbed that she’s met someone who isn’t worshipping her. But you can tell that she half-way likes Jon Snow.
Jon Snow & Tyrion. There’s a lot to pick apart about all of the scenes in Dragonstone, but I liked all of the stuff between Jon and Tyrion. They seem to have a great deal of affection for each other and a lot of respect. I get the feeling that Tyrion really does believe Jon about the White Walkers too. Tyrion tries to help Jon and Jon will get his dragonglass.
Euron’s gifts. Euron brings Ellaria Sand and the last Sand Snake to Kings Landing, plus Yara Greyjoy. Yara is not one of Cersei’s gifts, he merely gives her Ellaria and the Sand Snake. Cersei is so pleased, she can barely sit still and Euron knows it too. I know people are hating on Euron, but the guy is a rock star (a psycho rock star) and this scene was crazy-funny, especially as Pilou Asbæk played it as a comedy of errors, preening and sycophantic to Cersei and obscenely bullying to Jamie. Cersei basically tells Euron that he’s in charge of the seas now and that she’ll bang him/marry him after the war.
Ellaria Sand’s last days. Cersei has spent time thinking about what she would do to the woman who killed her only daughter. Cersei gets a nice little monologue, and in the end, Cersei poisons Ellaria’s daughter the same way Ellaria poisoned Myrcella: with a poisoned kiss. Ellaria will now have to watch her daughter die as they both rot in chains.
Cersei & Jamie spend the night together. Jamie can’t say no to Cersei, and so that happens. Meh.
Sansa in charge. Sansa reminded me of her mother in those scenes where she’s running around Winterfell, organizing everything. She’s been waiting to be put in charge for so long, and she’s doing a good job.
The Three-Eyed Raven. FINALLY. Finally, Bran Stark returns home to Winterfell, only he’s no longer Bran Stark, of course. He is the Three-Eyed Raven, which basically means that Bran comes across like an above-it-all moody teenager. Sansa is happy to see him and the look on her face when she finally sees Bran was really lovely. Later, she’s like “so you’re actually the heir to Winterfell, you should be in charge now.” And he’s like “Ugh, no, I’m the Three-Eyed Raven, I’m not actually a Stark now.” Then he tries to explain things but in the end, he says he’s sorry that all of that sh-t has happened to her, especially her wedding night there at Winterfell, where she wore white and looked beautiful. Sansa is overcome with emotion at the memory of her wedding-night rape (and months of rape and abuse after that night at Ramsay’s hand) and she walks away, freaked out.
Grey Worm takes Casterly Rock. Tyrion’s plan involved the sewers, and Grey Worm and the Unsullied easily take Casterly Rock. It’s too easy, in fact, because there are barely any Lannister soldiers there. And while the Unsullied take it, Euron Greyjoy’s fleet attacks Dany’s ships, and so now Dany really doesn’t have much of a presence on sea.
Olenna dies as she lived, like a gangster. As it turns out, Jamie Lannister and the Lannister soldiers were marching on Queen Olenna’s home in High Garden. The Tyrell forces were quickly overwhelmed and dismantled by Jamie and his forces. It happened so quickly that they didn’t even show any battle or fighting scenes. Queen of Thorns/Burns Olenna just sat in her room, waiting for Jamie to appear. And he did. This was the best scene, Dame Diana Rigg’s last on the show. She’s very much in the same vein as the Dowager Countess from Downton Abbey: Olenna always got the best lines. She called Joffrey a “c–t,” she warned Jamie that Cersei is a “disease,” and then this final message for Cersei. After Olenna drinks the poisoned wine, Olenna brings up another death by poison, that of Joffrey: “Must have been horrible for you as a Kingsguard, as a father. It was horrible enough for me. A shocking scene. Not at all what I intended. You see, I had never seen the poison work before. Tell Cersei. I want her to know it was me.” SAVAGE.
LADY OLENNA TYRELL THE MOST SAVAGE AF QUEEN OF SHADE. 🙌🏼 #GameOfThrones #WinterIsHere #GoTS7 pic.twitter.com/cJSWfnJ0tL
— Lauren Azzopardi (@LaurenRonelle) July 31, 2017
Photos courtesy of HBO/Game of Thrones.
Who is the bigger hothead savior figure Dany or Jon? Jon or Dany? I think it may be a tie. I need Jon’s sanctimonious self out of my face and Dany focused on winning this war.
And yes, Jon is being sanctimonious. He spent a good chunk of last season fighting for Winterfell and not worrying about the Army of the Dead and now that he gets what he wants and Winterfell and the North are back under control of the Starks he is now ready to worry about the NK. Man, sit down. Sam was the only one worried about the Army last season.
Did Jon and Davos really think that showing up with their story and NO proof to back it up was really going to sway Dany? Why should she take his story at face value after meeting him just once?
BTW, Davos needs to stop spinning. Jon got shanked because he refused to listen to the concerns of some of his men or explain any of his decisions so that his men could trust him. Leadership is not about barking orders and people following them like dogs. Stark men seem to truly believe this but people let them get away with it because of “honor”. Honor involves respect which most Stark men don’t have for other people when it does not fit into the male Stark Code. Davos making Jon out to be a sacrificial lamb against the men of the night’s watch is a drunken retelling of what happened. Both of them acting as if they are any in way morally superior to Dany or even Cersei is laughable. Given Davos’ history he has no room to judge anyone. Dany should not be pivoting and giving up her resources or her journey just because Jon and Davos told her that an undead army was coming. If they wanted to be taken seriously, they should have taken her more seriously and provided solid evidence that they weren’t two crazy white dudes wasting her time.
What is Tyrion doing? Why does he still have a job? Smartest man in Westeros needs to be fireed. I smell sabotage. Not really but I cannot imagine why the writers are having Tyrion take so many Ls so late in the story. They loved St. Tyrion so much in the first four/five seasons, what happened? I will say that I liked that one conversation with Dany and Tyrion when they were alone. I gave more time to developing other families but the Starks. Dany and Tyrion work somewhat well together as a cobbled together brother and sister duo.
I loved Melisandre wiping that smug look off of Varys’ face in their one scene. She just matter of factly took him down a few notches w/o even trying. Neither one is in a position to be smug, at least she recognized that.
Sansa… girl. Don’t let LF in your head. You were doing just fine. I hope her last scene with Bran was not used to remind her of what LF is/was capable of. She didn’t need to be reminded of being sexually assaulted to also remember what LF is responsible for.
What an anti-climatic reunion between Sansa and Bran. They have been apart for so long and… all they get was that.
Olenna and Jaime’s scene was interesting. Jaime won and lost in the same scene. Good. Olenna went out like a G. RIP Queen of Thorns, Shade, and Pure Savagery. You will be missed.
I was worried that Greyworm was going to die this episode but he gets to live another week.
I don’t really care about Cersei or Ellaria’s “pain”. Oberyn voluntarily signed up for that fight and he could have easily killed the Mountain, just like Cersei said but he got cocky and ended up dead. That had nothing to do with Marcella at all. Having said that, I have never believed that Cersei cared about any of her kids except Joffrey because she had access to power through that psychopath. Both Cersei and Ellaria are using the deaths of family members to get back at each other. Cersei didn’t give a damn about anyone else’s pain when she was pulling all of her stunts, why should I care about her eeking out a tear now? Those two are in the hypocritical boat.
Urghh Dany. Her attitude is making me want Cercei to win this thing.
Right? And then she actually *whines* to Tyrion that he’s not bending the knee to her when he (Jon) has no clue who she is.
A+++ to your comments.
I’m not sure why Dany would think Jon would immediately bend the knee. And why would Jon and Davos think with ZERO PROOF, that Dany-new to Westeros-would believe them about an army of the dead?
Dany and Jon are among my “don’t care characters”, part of that is Kit and Emilia’s acting skills and the other part is that they are so predictable (and their future storyline is going to be so predictable) that I just don’t care.
At least Tyrion managed to politely tell Dany to get over herself and whether or not she believes Jon, give him the dragonglass, if it works, it works (and the North is handling it, not them) and if it doesn’t work, she loses nothing but could get an ally out of Jon Snow.
As much as I hate Littlefinger, he was right to tell Sansa to look at people as friends and enemies. Something Ned, Catelyn and Robb didn’t do and it cost them their lives.
The Jaime and Olenna conversation was terrific, hopefully we get a follow up with Cersei on that. Dame Diana will be missed.
WTF was up with Bran reminding Sansa of her traumatic wedding night? There was no other way he could prove to her that he could see all? Like telling her Arya is alive? Saying Ramsey deserved to be dog food? That Stark reunion was poorly written. If Bran was going to be like that, why bring him back to Winterfell? Convenient that he says he can’t be KitN because he’s the Three Eyed Raven and no way does special snowflake Jon lose a title. If Bran turns it down, technically Sansa should be Queen in the North now.
“As much as I hate Littlefinger, he was right to tell Sansa to look at people as friends and enemies. Something Ned, Catelyn and Robb didn’t do and it cost them their lives.”
IA to a certain extent that he is right that no one should 100% trust that everyone is on your side, but treating people the way LF treats people will leave Sansa in a constant state of paranoia. That is not a good way to govern or just live as a civilian. He is still trying to manipulate her in the guise of giving her advice. He is undermining her sense of family and self to keep her on edge. I hope it backfires on him. I will say this: I don’t like when people portray Ned, Catelyn, and Rob as mostly victims of circumstance.Those three entered the game just like everyone else and they had to suffer the consequences of their actions just like everyone else. Harsh though it may be. They were the architects of their own demise because they refused to communicate effectively with others and used the excuse of honor and family to cover up their reckless choices-especially Ned.
Tyrion, of all people, politely told both of them about themselves. He didn’t just go after Dany. He was the one that pointed out to Special Snow Flake that Dany had no reason to believe him after meeting him once. I am one of the few people who genuinely likes Dany and her journey. I’m whatever about Emilia at this point. I prefer book Dany but show Dany is fine for the limited skills that the show writers have.
IA with everything you said about Bran. It just seemed so unnecessary and crude. He is supposed to be all knowing yet cannot predict that his sister would react negatively to his revelation.
I wouldn’t mind Sansa as Queen of the North. As long as she kills LF to get it. There would be something poetic about Catelyn’s twin serving justice to the man who betrayed Catelyn and her family the most.
She wouldn’t be Queen of the North. Bran wouldn’t be either. That’s a title that was bestowed on Robb in rebellion against Joffrey and then on Jon. Ned never held that title and his father didn’t either. She would be Lady of Winterfell. Currently, she is Lady Sansa of Winterfell but she isn’t Lady of Winterfell. And Sansa knows Arya is alive because Brienne told her.
Is Bran going to tell people what they already know about themselves in every conversation? He did it to Sansa and he did it to Dolorous Edd at the Wall.
I am not sure what Bran is doing other than being insensitive and cold. Could be it is meant to show how powerful he really is because he is telling them things that only a select few would know. I do feel that the writers are done trying to develop Bran as a character. I guess they waste so much CGI with him they cannot bother to do anything else.
Is Sansa still technically Sansa Stark? Isn’t she Lady Bolton of the Dreadfort? She is a widow. All the Stark children without Direwolves have taken on other identities. Bran is the one-eyed raven, Sansa is Madam Bolton. Arya gave her wolf to the wild and thus gave her Stark name away too. Jon is the only one still with a Direwolf. However he doesn’t care about titles for property. The King in the North title will only be used to get willing men and women to fight the White Walkers for the survival of humanity. Thrones and titles will soon be irrelevant.
Women retain their last names even when they add a new name through marriage in Westeros. Sansa is only Sansa Bolton if she chooses to be, and she’s not (Catelyn is known as both Catelyn Tully and Catelyn Stark well into her marriage, Cersei is still Cersei Lannister, Margaret was still Margaery Tyrell, Elia was still known as Elia Martell). Her titles according to the show wiki as of now are Princess and Lady of Winterfell (confirmed now that Bran has turned it down). Furthermore, House Bolton is entirely dissolved anyways, so the name doesn’t even exist officially. She is not Queen in the North, but Lady Regent/Protector of the North while Jon is away. So formally (though she’s never addressed as such), her full name and titles is: Princess Sansa of House Stark, Lady of Winterfell (Regent of the North). Bran, as of rejecting the Lord title, is Prince Brandon Stark of Winterfell and Arya is Princess Arya Stark of Winterfell. Jon would have to abdicate or die without issue for Sansa to be Queen (especially since Bran has rejected his inheritance.) Sansa, as the eldest trueborn child who still lays a claim, is heiress presumptive to the Northern crown. She can no longer be displaced by Bran in terms of inheritance (though never in terms of regency. Even if Bran hadn’t given up his inheritance, he would not supplant her regency), and now can only be displaced by a trueborn child of Jon’s. Officially, now, she and Arya are the only viable heirs to the North left.
Im sorry but how could DANY OF ALL PEOPLE not believe Jon. She birthed DRAGONS and Show!Dany is fireproof like white walkers aren’t a stretch….
@Ashley It is not that she does not believe in magic. She does believe in magic. It is more than Jon, a strange man, shows up on her property with nothing to back up his story. Just like most people, she can only believe what she has experienced. She was their for the birth of her dragons and there when she became the Unburnt. She wasn’t there to see a white walker and doesn’t know Jon and Davos from Adam and Stan. Jon, as usual, is not explaining why this is such a serious deal. He assumes that everyone should know what a white walker is and follow along because he knows and has seen them.
For all Dany knows he is working with Cersei to try to trick her out into the open and kill her and her people. What kind of leader would she be if she just diverted all of her resources and time based on a story that one strange man told her?
Jon has no reason to bend anything to Dany…what substantial victories has she had over the Crown? Zero…until she does, she won’t have many friends. And now even the Iron Bank is betting against her.
In the end, I say neither Jon nor Dany becomes queen or king of anything.
The fighting just got started. It is not as if she does not have a history of winning battles on Essos.
I wouldn’t call myself Lady Bolton if I were Sansa either. I think right now she’s Lady Sansa of Winterfell. I don’t blame her for wanting to leave it at that. I agree. I think titles will soon be irrelevant too and all will be interrupted when White Walkers start to crush the wall. Which I think will happen at the end of this series.
Isn’t Sansa still married to Tyrion?
Lady D–Sansa and Tyrion’s union was never consummated so it is considered annulled/dissolved I think?
“And yes, Jon is being sanctimonious. He spent a good chunk of last season fighting for Winterfell and not worrying about the Army of the Dead and now that he gets what he wants and Winterfell and the North are back under control of the Starks he is now ready to worry about the NK. Man, sit down. Sam was the only one worried about the Army last season.”
How can he get fight the army of the dead if his home and neighbors are being overrun by the Bolton’s? Come on. He can’t fight both at the same time.
Frankly, Dany needs to take a seat. She keeps expecting everything to go her away, that people will just bend the knee to her just because she has dragons and is the Mad Kings daughter. She knows absolutely nothing about Westeros & what has been going expect for what Tyrion & Varys tell her. She is no longer across the Narrow Seas and she needs to start educating herself about the homeland she was born in.
Actually, she has already taken her seat in her throne room on dragonstone. She is just fine right there for now.
The Army of the dead is not going to roll up on The Starks and park outside the Winterfell grounds until the Starks are ready for battle. It doesn’t have a force field around it to protect them from getting hurt. Once the wall comes down, the NK will cross and kill everything in his sight at his own pace. It doesn’t matter where they are, just as long as they have enough supplies to fight.
No, she does not expect for everything to go her way. This point of yours has been completely debunked by last week’s dialogue. If you paid any attention to her dialogue she is fully aware that she is going to have to work hard to win people over or that people will never like her. Which is exactly why she is listening to Tyrion and trying not to kill tons of people while trying to take over Westeros. She even called her brother Viserys stupid for believing that people would be welcoming them home.
When has she ever used her father as a way to give her legitimacy? In last night’s scene she even apologized for her father’s crimes, which she should not have done because she is not responsible for what Aerys did. I would never blame Theon for his father’s crimes or Sansa and Arya for Ned choosing his friendship over a city full of people, so why is she constantly being reminded of her father’s sins? She wasn’t even born until after he was killed. She uses her last name yes, I would too. That family was on the throne for over four centuries and did a lot of good for Westeros, which she also pointed out in her speech last night. She was right about it too. And so what if she talks about her dragons. The men, Arya, and Brienne walk around with their swords, give them names, stroke them, have awesome fight scenes with them and yet no one seems to care about that. The dragons are her swords and her family and she will talk about them as she sees fit.
So which is it? Does she know nothing about Westeros or does she only know what Varys and Tyrion have told her? If you meant the latter, then she does know something about Westeros, everything else she can learn. Yes, she does need to learn more about the home she was driven away from when she was inside her mother. She first needs to remove Cersei and Jaime from King’s Landing, which she is working on doing.
@AT actually, you come off as sanctimonious. You suck all the fun from GoT. Yeah, I can and will skip your comments from now on. You give me a migraine.
Jamie and Cersei think Tyrion killed Joffrey. The look on Jamie’s face when he learns the truth is priceless.
That was my favorite moment of a very action packed episode.
Exactly! They both blamed Thyrion. He was angry and confused. In my opinion, it was the best scene from episode 3.
As an unapologetic lover of House Lannister, I turned to my boyfriend and squealed, “now Cersei and Tyrion can be friends!”
His eye roll was priceless. I love to mess with him. 🙂
WTF, Bran.
yeah…its like “Hmmm how could I show my sis that I really do see everything..oh yeah..Sansa, you looked cute when you were raped”
Yeah, the whole Bran thing was odd, from the time that he and Sansa saw each other again to that WTF comment.
Yup. Way to re-traumatize your sister? What was that about? It was borderline creepy when he was like “You looked so beautiful in white.” W.T.F. Poor writing. So many other ways that could have gone down. Also the fact when Bran saw Sansa he had precisely zero fucks to give. Like, you’ve been dragged through the entire country of Westeros on a stretcher for years and now when you’re back at Winterfell with your family after all that, you’re just like “Meh, whatever.”??? Seriously?
Purposeful dissonance. It was a way to show he’s no longer Bran but the Three-Eyed-Raven. Horrible to watch but he’s a seer and along with that comes detachment.
I think it also re-enforces the message by Little Finger to Sansa that one should be all-seeing etc. In addition to telling us audience that Bran is the 3-Eyed Raven (and not Bran the boy), I agree with rocknrust re dissonance. I also think it is a hint that could be lost to Sansa that she has the all-seeing ability within her reach via Bran; since she is re-traumatized or spooked by Bran. She’s never come in direct contact with ‘supernatural’ things before and it could be his attempt (although harsh) to prep her for the Night King + WW.
@rocknrust – it’s sad, but you’re 100% correct. Bran is nearly 100% gone personality wise. 😑
Dany can STFU. I found her more annoying than usual. Once again, she ain’t sh*t without her dragons or her advisors. She is not a ruler. Can’t believe I’m actively rooting for Cersi right now.
Davos is always a MVP. Lady Ollenna is a total boss. And Jamie is looking really fine.
I agree. I cannot believe that I am starting to think Cercei being on the Iron throne at the end of season 8 would be the most interesting and satisfying end to the show.
Even Sansa is better at delegation than Dany is. Probably because she didn’t spend so much time being worshipped.
Yes! Dany worked my last nerve last night!
The writing for Dany is so bad this season. They are turning her into a one dimensional caricature.
Omg. When Missandei had to give the thirty minute intro listing off her resume and she just sat there all smug and preening on the throne. I seriously can’t with Dany. She needs to have several seats. I think it’s interesting how quickly and clearly it is being made known to her that Westeros is a very different place than Essos. I’m still team Stark. It’s weird how the writers still give Tyrion so much room to love her when his character has always been so anti-bullshit. She’s insufferable.
I think Tyrion is blinded by his hate for Cersei and Jamie. He wants revenge and he is making all kinds of mistakes in pursuing it.
The thing is- I too think Tyrion is at least partially motivated by revenge, but I don’t think the show has done a good job at all at telling us why he’d want revenge on Jaime. He’s got a reason in the books, but they left it out of the show. Cersei is a given, but Jaime stood up to Tywin and then set Tyrion free behind the rest of the Lannisters’ backs. They parted on good terms (well, before he murdered their father, I guess). By siding with Daenerys, Tyrion’s basically signing his brother’s death warrant after Jaime saved him from his. These seem like pretty high emotional stakes the writers could be exploring but instead we have to listen to Dany rant about her birthright some more.
@Bex I can never keep straight what I’ve read and what I’ve seen.
I don’t think Tyrion is getting revenge on Jamie. It is mostly Cersei & the rest of the Lannisters but not Jamie.
Jaime riding up on that white horse tho…heyyyyyyy boi
I’m not nitpicking this episode. I’m interested and in some cases concerned where things are going in certain quarters. Could have cared less about Ellaria or the last sand snake, but leaving Ellaria alive may come back to bite Cersei in the hind quarters. Just like letting a servant see the obvious between her and Jaime. And now I am waiting to see if Arya shows up at Winterfell too and whether she puts a serious kink in Baelish’s plans, because you know she’ll use her skills on her family’s enemies.
If I don’t get an Arya-Sansa reunion I will be so angry! I have been wanting that ever since Arya returned from Braavos. The two sisters reunited, hopefully working together and showing everyone that there will always be Starks in Winterfell…sigh.
Also, can I just say that I was so glad we didn’t have to suffer through tons of disgusting Sam scenes? The less pus and bodily waste I see on TV, the happier I am.
@wood dragon. I found it odd that Cersei allowed the servant to see her and Jamie, now you got me thinking there might me something there. And also about leaving Ellaria alive.
I CAN’T WAIT FOR THE NEW EPISODES !
@pumpkinsoup? Hope I got yr name correct. Pretty sure that’s the last we’ll see of Ellaria Sand. Could be misdirection (allow I don’t think so since she’s a minor player) but the actress said in an interview that’s her final scene. Her character is still alive, living a nightmare, down in the dungeons.
I mourn the loss of Jaime’s character arc. Probably GRRM’s most complex and morally grey character, one of the most entertaining POVs to read, and the show has pretty much reduced him to Cersei’s puppet. He was supposed to have hightailed it out of King’s Landing three seasons ago. It’s a shame for Coster-Waldau, who is really incredible when given Jaime’s material from the books to work with (see that bathtub monologue about killing the Mad King)
Lena Headey and Indira Varma were great in that scene where Cersei gets her revenge. Jon and Dany are irritating me enough that I almost want the Lannisters to prevail. Or the Night King, that could work. And Olenna ftw, always.
I agree. Jaime’s arc in the books is poignant and powerful. NCW has had little to work with since season 3, which is probably why his scene with Olenna was my favorite last night. He deserves better.
Frankly, if Jaime dies, I would be happy because at least NCW can go on a show that better utilizes his talents. He did note in an interview that the show’s writers no longer take input from the actors and he didn’t say it in a complaining way but just that’s how things have changed over the years. Such a shame, because perhaps if he got some input, maybe Jaime’s story would be a bit better.
Totally with you. Diana Rigg was awesome as always and got all the best lines, but NCW did everything with his face in that scene. I love the show as much as I ever did, though you do get the impression that D&D have got much more possessive now they’ve run out of source material and not necessarily for the better.
I know! I have a place in my heart for Jaime too and at this point it feels like Cersei is just blatantly manipulating him which is so weird to watch because in seasons past, he has been smarter and edgier than that. I hope he gets out of her grip. That would be so satisfying to see him break free like Ariana Grande and take his hot armored self to a tropical beach destination to live out the rest of his days.
Indira was fantastic without being able to utter a word.
I agree. Too bad the actor playing her daughter was incapable of matching that intensity.
I can’t believe I didn’t figure out what Cersei was planning. That red shiny lipstick was so distracting, I should have guessed.
I said the same thing to my husband. What an actress, to portray the agony on her face without uttering a word. I was very impressed.
I’m glad Indira is getting the love she deserves. Fantastic actress! I really hope it’s not the end of her.
@diana: I just read an interview she did with Cosmo. She and the actress who plays her daughter did actually suffer with those shackles. She said she didn’t want to die onscreen and she doesn’t die at all, just has to spend her days watching her daughter waste away. She won’t reappear on GoT. Now, the other interview I read was Sophie Turner (Sansa)…….she stated she wanted to die a gruesome, typical GoT death scene. Be careful what you wish for, especially on that show! Diana Rigg was the scene stealer. All the anticipated Jon and Daeny tension that didn’t exist (how did he get there so fast?!), was lost when Lady Olenna stole the show when she happily told Jaime she poisoned Joffrey. Tell Cersei. I want her to know it was me. Perfection!
Indira Varma was heartbreaking in that scene, similar to how Alexis Bledel was during the scenes in the Handmaid’s Tale in the last ride with her Martha lover, the hanging of the lover, and when Aunt Lydia informs her that she has unwillingly undergone female genital mutilation. Bledel got herself a much deserved Emmy nomination. I think that Diana Rigg is the more likely Emmy nominee from that episode, but Varma is just a deserving with conveying first her disgust for Cersei then her horror and despair with no dialogue.
I feel like Jaime in the book and Jaime in the show will, ultimately, wind up in the same place … but in the meantime he’s treading water, much like Arya was last season. It’s frustrating! If they’re going to do that then I’d rather just not see a character at all for a while, which is what they did with Bran. But they obviously feel they can’t do that with any of the expensive actors/popular characters. Sigh.
I thought the scene between Ellaria and Cersei was fantastic, Indira Varma’s performance hit it out of the park conveying the pure fear at watching her daughter die and rot. I’m sad to see Olenna go, she was awesome. Dany and Jon, blah. Euron is deliciously terrible. I really don’t know why Bran (or the writers) thought it necessary to trigger Sansa’s PTSD from multiple rapes, he could have recalled countless other events since their separation to prove his all-knowingness, I hope him dredging up these awful memories for her serves some higher purpose, but I won’t hold my breath on that one.
I woke up early to watch it. But I read Kaiser’s tweet on finding this season so depressing before I watched the episode and I didn’t know what to expect !! I like it a lot – I didn’t like the first two episodes. My favorite scene was the Jamie and Olenna exchange, O-M-G ! The second Jorah being healed – I can’t wait for him and Danny to meet. My new fave is Sam, though my absolute favorite is Arya. And Sansa and Bran finally meeting was great, the first part.
I must catch up with the previous seasons, I avoided watching most of the violent scenes so I think I missed quite a lot from the story, Lol me.
I feel like Sam’s about to split out of The Citadel. And he should. Arya is still my all time always top #1 favorite too. I hope she doesn’t go to Winterfell, but changes course for King’s Landing. She can kick so much more ass on the road and I hope she runs into the Hound if she’s heading north though! It will be interesting to see how Littlefinger and Bran interact given tha Bran can see what a truly manipulative person he is and all the horrible stuff he’s done.
LF might try to have Bran killed. I also wonder if Bran is planning on staying at Winterfell from now on, or if he has more travelling to do.
I’m sure Jaime and Cersei will spin out even harder now that they know so much could’ve been avoided had Cersei not chased after this fantasy that Tyrion killed her son.
Is Tyrion no longer a drunk? Because if not, that’ll explain why he’s so boring right now.
Him and Jaime. So disappointed at their rather boring character arcs.
And if that was the last we see of Ellaria, well, what a useless character and storyline she turned out to be.
Omg yes. Tyrion has been incredibly dull since he got off the wine…
I agree on the Jaime front. His character is so sidelined. He has none of his own storylines anymore, used to be one of my favs.
Did anyone else scream “BRONN!!” when he showed up?? There he was, riding next to Jaime- does this mean he’s officially on a different side than tyrion? There’s a reunion I’m dying to see.
While it’s aggravating seeing Dany lose, I don’t think she’s doing a terrible job. Cersei is so d***ed stupid IMO; Euron is not worth trusting, and letting a servant see you bang your brother?? She’s gonna live to regret that methinks.
Speaking of that servant, I see that Cersi’s hair is now in style.
@JENNS I noticed that too!! A smart way to suck up to the Queen
I totally yelled “Bron!!!” LOL I think my exact words were: “Bron!!! Thank god, Bron! Woo!!!” My husband just kind of looked at me.
I screamed BRONN too. He’s a sellsword at heart. He goes with whoever is paying him
I screamed Bronn too!! yayyy!!! I think he and Jaime may go team Tyrion soon. Just my two cents.
That comment from Bran and the fact he seemed so detached from Sansa makes me think he’s seen her possibly do something in the future and it’s not good .
Jon telling Tyruin he’s not a Stark and a Dragon swooping over him almost simultaneously.
Ugh Dany and her Hipster mentality. She likes to come to established areas and want to immediately changes everything to how she wants, traditions and cultures be damned. Glad she has Tyrion by her side to keep her grounded.
Jon realized how ridiculous and OTP his story must have sounded finally and I’m glad. He needs to wake up. But I like the fact that he wasn’t trying to brag about being resurrected and make himself out to be a big deal.
Missandei reading off Dany”s list of accomplishments made me roll my eyes. It’s exhausting.
And I’m not mad at Cersei at all. The Sand snakes got a taste of their own medicine. Marcella was innocent and I don’t blame her. Also, the Tyrells were always full of ish and opportunistic. I liked Olenna and I think she died like a gangsta, but the Tyrells could never fully be trusted. Glad she told Jaime she killed Joffrfey. Not that Cersei will care cuz she’s always hated Tyruin and be is against her, but Jaime wasn’t so sure and he actually does love his brother.
Finally, poor Jorah. He’s so hype from being cured from Greyscale thinking he’s gonna go back to Dany and they can be together and she will find that she’s got her sights on the King in the North lol
That’s a really interesting point that maybe Bran wasn’t exactly greeting her with joy and delight because he’s seen Sansa do/become something/someone horrible.
Doubt it. He was weird and evasive with Dolorous Edd as well. I think that’s just his character now.
I don’t think its that complex I think it’s more like he is the three eyed raven now and the Bran she knew is no longer.
I don’t think Sansa will ever go full Cersei or ever compete with Daeny or even try to over rule Jon. I think Sansa will always be what she is, under estimated but a steady source of balance for the north. It was HER who won the Battle of the Bastards and people seem to forget that. She tried to tell Jon repeatedly but he didn’t listen, she tried to tell everyone and they didnt listen and her move to hide the Littlefinger card saved all their arses.
I see Sansa making it to the end. Like Tyrion said: “she’s much smarter than she lets on.”
Jon last night, “she’s letting on.” That was funny.
I thought the Three-Eyed Raven could only see the past, but not the future? Also: “not making a big deal out of being resurrected.” I mean, he did die and come back to life…Kind of a big deal. Good on him for being humble, though.
I always assumed the raven had three eyes becaus one was the past, one was the present, and one was the future. As Bran said “I see everything.” So I dunno. Sounds like he can see some other stuff to me and not just the past. Do the books back this theory up?
@JustJJ
The show outpaced the books a couple seasons ago and I don’t remember anything about the Three-Eyed Raven in them, so the show is all anyone has to go on at this point.
I seriously find it funny that ANYONE would feel sorry for the Sand Snakes. Not only did they kill Myrcella but also their OWN FAMILY. The whole “avenging Oberyn” thing was a sick, false justification (how was “avenging Oberyn”, who died to avenge his family, acccomplished by MURDERING WHAT WAS LEFT OF HIS FAMILY?!). Ellaria and Tyene got what they deserved for butchering innocent CHILDREN and exploiting Oberyn’s memory to justify it. They’re villains who deserve nothing less than what they got.
+1
Doran, Trystane, and Myrcella were innocents. I just feel let down because Dorne and the Sand Snakes have gotten the shaft for the last three seasons compared to how awesome they are in the book.
Dorne is easily one of the first things I point to when someone says this is the ‘best written show’ on TV. Not even close.
From what I remember, Dorne is more developed in the books than the show. Dorne suffered on the show due to time & too many stories lines.
If the Sand Snakes were good in the books, then the series did them a huge disservice. They were pretty tiresome. All flash and no fire.
I thought the scene between Dany and Jon was actually handled really well. Dany is a conqueror and a very proud woman who had no problem listing all her credentials herself. Jon is a ruler and so humble he didn’t feel comfortable saying how great he is, so Davos had to do it for him. They were never going to get along right away, but it’s obvious they already have a lot of respect for each other, and Dany doesn’t even know he actually died and came back to life yet. Or that he’s the actual heir to the Iron Throne. And to everyone complaining about how uppity Jon is being, there’s literal ice zombies and no one believes him. Of course he’s going to be peeved and sound “sanctimonious.”
Littlefinger needs to die yesterday. Glad to see Sansa actually do something, all her complaining the last few episodes have been annoying because she hasn’t done anything of merit on her own and still expects everyone to be like, “Sansa’s so smart.” Nah.
I can’t get on the Hot Topic (my name for Euron due to his silly clothes) boat. After Joffrey and Ramsey, he’s soooo not scary. And his costume is so dumb.
LOL at everyone saying they want Cersei to win now. Why, because Dany and Jon annoyed you for a few seconds? Cersei and Jaime also needed to die yesterday.
I thought the Dany/Jon scenes were handled well too. There was some friction and some attraction. The writers are definitely setting up a romance here.
There was subtle humor in this episode that I liked. Tyrion tells Jon that Sansa is much smarter than she lets on. And Jon says, she’s starting to let on. I laughed out loud. Good for Sansa.
And all the lines about how Dany is totally the last Targaryen. And Jorah’s going to be so disappointed when he traipses back to Khaleesi and Jon is there now.
Everything you said!!! Cersei and Jaime need to implode.
Cersei’s so interesting as a character, but she’s so terrible and karma is calling her name. I’ll be a little sad to see her go, as she’s been one of the “bads” from the beginning and Lena Headey is incredible, but her time has come. Jaime is just kind of disappointing. I thought his whole relationship with Brienne would have influenced him more, or at least make him question Cersei. Maybe when he finds out that she was doing the dirty with Lancel behind his back, that’ll be the last straw.
Cersei’s arrogance will be her undoing.
They will. It’s been a long set up that Jamie will take out Cersei.
Jon is not the heir
He still is a bastard
A Dragon but still bastard
I would rather a legitimate woman on the throne once
And Dany, have done something to prove her credentials as well
The look on Jamie after he learned the truth was perfect. There was nothing he could do. I
Did anyone else notice when Jon said, “I’m not a Stark”‘ a dragon flew over his head?
Yes, that was a great visual. Also, when Sansa mentioned Jon to Bran, Bran said “I’ve got to talk to him.” Now that’s a conversation I want to hear.
Yes, I did, too. Also that Dany isn’t wearing blue contacts any more- how are we to work that out?
Jon and Dany meeting was BORING. Bran meeting Sansa was BORING. They just killed the most fun character to watch …. pretty sure my Lord Bae-lish will be soon … Jaime could be so much more … Can’t wait for Season 7 which at this rate should consist of Cersei ranting at walls and Jon/Dany being obnoxious to each other because everyone else will be dead. I’m not really feeling this season. At least Littlefinger had another great speech. But seriously – everything moved that quickly in the last episode but they spent 2 years on the sparrow sh*t?! This show drives me nuts.
That’s because Kit Harington lives and dies by who he’s paired with in a scene. With Sophie Turner and Rose Leslie, he’s fine. With a terrible actor like Emilia Clarke (whose awful wigs emote better), he’s the WORST (aside from Clarke, who is always the VERY WORST worst). Also, the showrunners have clearly lost their zeal for this series, so the writing was… lackluster… (in diplomatic terms).
ISTG if J/D ends up being endgame, they’re going to enter Star Wars Prequels levels of terrible (hilarity).
Jon: I don’t like snow…. It’s cold and wet and irritating… and it gets everywhere… Not like here… Where everything is…. um…. on fire?
Dany: It’s ONLY because *I* DAENERYS STORMBORN BLAH BLAH BLAH … am SO in LOVE!
So agree on Kits acting only being as good as who else he’s acting with. He was dull in so 3. I haven’t liked Dany since season 1 and when it boils down to it it is because the actress playing her gives her no depth. She’s been a dull actress since season 2, pity because that character should be blowing us all out of the water.
They are really downplaying the psychopath of what is Euron. I read the leaks on Reddit and for the most part they are spot on. I’ll spare any spoilers, but I will state that Euron was supposed to be way worse than he is portrayed, like for example he was supposed to molest and rape the daughter of Elarria (don’t remember her name) on the ship on the way back to KL, but it wasn’t shown. I’m actually glad. I’m tried of all the rape.
But the dragon has 3 heads..? Also what happened to the other red priestess from last season? This show has officially jumped..the dragon.. Struggling to still care. Damn you GRRM..
The red priestess back in Mereen was just a propaganda tool to perpetuate the whole “Dany as Savior” thing to popularize her during the Son of the Harpy uprising. I don’t think we’ll ever see her again.
i loved this episode and i loved the last one too. GoT is really the best TV show of all time. I get actual chills whenever Starks reunite, man i’m pathetic 😉
Maybe Jorah will have some advice for Dany regarding the North and the Whitewalker threat. He is from Bear Island and would take the story Jon tells a bit more seriously than Dany does.
Good point! And he has seen White Walkers hasn’t he? Does anyone know his specific relation to Lady Mormont? I kinda wish Sam would have left with him with the sword, tbh.
Lyanna Mormont is Jorah’s niece 😊
http://gameofthrones.wikia.com/wiki/Lyanna_Mormont
Niece of Lord Commander Jeor Mormont; first cousin of Ser Jorah Mormont.
Lady Olenna has consistently been my favorite part of any scene she is in-I’m sad to see her go but that “screw you” to Cersei will go down as one of my favorite GoT moments ever. This is another nail in the Cersei/Jaime relationship coffin.
I’m not sure Dany has any room to be skeptical about the existence of white walkers-like hello? You have dragons and are apparently fireproof. She should be the one who is most willing to believe in what goes on North of the wall in my opinion.
The most curious part for me was Sam being told to copy the scrolls and documents that have been eaten away by mites. I have a feeling he will find something very, very important in one of those documents and that will be the reason he leaves the citadel. The sequence of his daily life in episode 1 was gross but it’s built up to this point where he was tasked to do bigger jobs like handling important information. The Maester said Sam is very smart to find the cure for greyscale. And I think the Maester believes Sam about the white walkers, too. He could’ve just expelled Sam for his actions but instead actually gives him access to more information and knowledge. Sam’s role in this is not done yet.
And I’m probably alone in this, but I thought Dany and Jon looked like two characters from a romance novel, the ones that start out with protagonists disliking each other and verbally sparring in the beginning, only to grow closer the more time they spend together. And Jon seems like he would be spending a lot of time in Dragonstone mining all that dragon glass. Their 2nd scene together certainly gave off a strange chemistry LOL, like they don’t know each other and don’t quite care about the other’s cause yet, but there seems to be interest there which somehow adds to the awkwardness between them.
They were both annoying in this episode but I think that’s the point. They don’t know each other. Why should they all be kumbaya and agreeable right away? Both have different reasons for fighting and they’re both unwilling to bend over and accept the other’s cause, because to do so would mean they don’t believe in their reason to be fighting their war after all. Both are very strong, proud leaders. They also represent different factions of people and Jon said it best: He is fighting for the people of Winterfell. He’s not fighting for the iron throne. He has no reason to join Dany and the only reason he came was to ask for the dragon glass to fight the white walkers. And Dany has never heard or seen a white walker before so why would she care about what’s happening in the North? Again, they did not even have any idea the other existed before this season, so it makes sense that they’re arguing and sizing each other up. There is no common ground between them, unless you count that they are related, but they do not know that. They literally have nothing to unite them just yet.
And Olenna Tyrell. What a badass. Jamie thought he was doing Olenna a favour by allowing her a painless, quick death. But Olenna was out for revenge up til the last moment of her life. She one-upped Cersei and Jamie all the way back to the Purple Wedding. The look in her eyes as she told Jamie the truth hahaha! There was glee in those eyes when she said she never intended for Joffrey to die so horribly and she hasn’t seen how the poison actually worked. There was even a slight sneer as she ‘twisted the knife’ one last time and let Jamie know it was her who killed Joffrey. Diana Rigg was amazing.
Also, there better be nothing bad that happens to Grey Worm or I will complain endlessly.
+1000 🙂
It’s Jaime, not Jamie. You misspell it every single time. It’s been pointed out to you multiple times over the past seven years. Also, Highgarden is spelled in one word.
Just spit my drink lol.
I’m worried about Dany’s dragons, what with all the talk of how they might not be so invincible after all, and Qyburn pulling out a weapon to kill them. Especially Drogon, as he’s the dragon we see the most.
Sam’s gonna find proof of Rhaegar/Lyanna being married, and Jon’s heritage will be outed by the end of the season. I’ll be especially interested in the reactions of Sansa, Dany and Baelish on this piece of news.
Olenna is my queen.
Yeh I think at least one dragon of two is in for it. Imagine hundreds of those things Qyburn made on the walls of King’s Landing. They could easily injure a dragon or take one down. And now the Lannisters have all the gold and all the resources of Highgarden.
Rumor has it that one non-Drogon dragon goes down this season. Maybe we can see Ghost again.
He has the food he needs for a marching army.
I actually like the fact that Bran brought up her rape, so she can remember vividly what happened the last time she trusted Littlefinger!
I was hoping for an identity awakening in Jon Snow when he got to the birthplace of his actual father. It going to suck when he realizes all the smack he talked about Dany’s family- are sins of his family too!! I just hope Jon and Dany don’t become attracted to another. One storyline of incest is enough!!!
Love Lady Olenna! She went out like a true queen! I think Jaime is relieved to hear that she did it..: because it confirms that he was right both in fighting for his baby brother’s life and setting him free! Which I also removes the guilt trip that Cersei has been laying on him since he did that…
I need something to happen to Jon while he is with Dany to trigger him questioning his parentage… to make him open to what Bran has to say
Rhaegar wasn’t born on Dragonstone. He was famously born at the palace of Summerhall the night it burned, taking several Targs with it.
There are freaking dragons flying in the sky so why is it so damn hard for people to grasp that White Walkers on marching on to the wall?!
And I did not expect Bran to become an a-hole.
I see all that death talk & revenge turned Cersei ON!!!
I wonder how much water would occur if the wall melted. The dead didn’t seem to appreciate it last season so maybe the dragons could assist with some instant global warming. Dany annoys me, but I thinks it’s just the vapid acting and not the character. She’s the worst actor in the series. Well except maybe for the absurd appearance of Sheeran.
I often wonder if I’d like the character of Dany more if she was acted by someone more talented. Probably.
Most definitely. It’s a powerful character. And from the very beginning requires enormous expression without saying a thing. Emilia simply can’t. From the get-go, one can look right through her past the scene. She’s a puff of air. Dany should be solid, deep and unwavering. Even when she’s becoming this monarch of sorts, her internal quest should be felt. The actor has never captured anything…. even if Dany does need to portray thoughtful consideration, Emilia makes her look lost and empty.
I never thought Emilia Clarke was such a poor actresses, I blame poor writing–remember her sex training and love scenes back in the beginning? Hot.
But the writing this season, the racing through time, suddenly Jon is in Dragonstone, Bran is in Winterfell, Jorah is healed (glad that was fast, at least). No journeys, just arrivals, on a show that in the past spent entire seasons on one journey (Brienne and Jaime, Arya and the Hound). I feel a perfunctory need to “get to the end” and it makes me so mad that we only get 3 or 4 more episodes this year, then have to wait a whole ‘nother year to tie things up with more crap writing!
Bran was one of my favorite characters in the first seasons, but now i just want to slap him. Originally spunky and endearing, now dull and wooden. Of course he was gone for all last season, which didn’t help. But his reunion wirh Sansa was a real yawner compared to what we’d been hoping for,
I would love it if Olenna slipped an antidote into her drink as Jaime left, and escaped via a secret passage, I suppose its to much to hope for but I love her character so much.
Glad Cersei will get to find out she had Joffrey killed, ha ha.
I wonder if Cersei will live to regret leaving the Sandsnake Mama alive…!!!
Also all the gold in Highgarden won’t help the Lannisters when the walking dead roll into town.
Euron Greyjoy is a scenery chewing mad man and I love every scene he is in. All in all a most enjoyable episode.
I loved how in this episode, they threw in a big nod to the books when Melisandre said that she brought together fire and ice. However, I don’t know if Melisandre knows that Jon itself is already the product of the meeting with ice and fire.
Am I the only one who seems to luck Emilia Clarke as Dany?
I joined the bandwagon later and binge watched the first 5 seasons. I always felt she had the part of the lonely young woman with her extreme faith in her destiny pinned quite well. And the reserves of such a person who still is basically alone in the world and faces all sorts of challenges all the time quite well.
That’s what I think anyway
I love Olenna and I’m so sorry to see her gone. They really did the best they could with her in just a few scenes so well done to the screenwriters.
I really enjoyed Nikolaj Coster-Waldau acting in this episode. His face has all the right expressions without talking much. I feel like they are pushing the “can’t say no to Cersei” so it’s even more of an emotional punch when he finally kills her. Because he’s the one that’ll kill her, right?
Haven’t read yet, but I think this season is great. I really hope, after this episode, people have quit complaining.
@tan I like Emilia Clarke as Dany. I’m getting a headache reading all the negativity about the characters here…and I didn’t even get through the first comment on this thread 🙄
Geez! The point is this is a saga about humans (mostly) and none of them are perfect. That’s the frigging point (all the negative peeps) – if they were all perfect people, it would be dull as doornails. There would be no drama & no story. I’m loving it all. The End.