We have so few new episodes of Game of Thrones, so I really do think that all of the GoT stans are just getting drunk on whatever new information/theories and photos we do get. HBO released these images for Episode 2 of the final season, which is reportedly everything building up to the Battle of Winterfell, the battle between the living and the undead. The image above of Jaime Lannister looking like he’s trying to defend himself before the makeshift Winterfell council is interesting, but I think that’s largely going to be a bluff. Jaime will tell them that Cersei didn’t order her army to fight in the North and that he’s committing treason just by being there. Little does he know that Cersei is already preparing to kill him, I guess. But anyway, my assumption is still that Jaime will be fighting side-by-side with Brienne, the Starks, the Unsullied and the Dothraki when the Army of the Undead comes. It’s also my assumption that this episode is all of the preparations (military, strategy and emotional/mental preparations) for the battle, and the battle will be Episode 3.
Bran. the Three-Eyed Raven, contemplates the Weirwood Tree, which could be important in the war to come.
Daenerys with her war council – Jorah and Varys – in what looks like the crypt of Winterfell.
Possibly from the same scene, here’s Jon and Arya looking like they’re in the crypt too. I’m glad Arya is being included in possible battle strategy.
I really think this is Dany’s face after Jon tells her that he’s Aegon Targaryen.
Davos, soup maker. I bet he puts a lot of onions in that soup.
Sansa also seeks nourishment.
Grey Worm and Missandei having some kind of conversation.
And finally, Lady Lyanna Mormont IN ARMOR. This child is going to fight the undead herself, you absolutely know that. KILL THEM ALL LYANNA.
Photos courtesy of HBO/Game of Thrones.
Not much.
But I am so here for Lyanna Mormont in armor and Sansa’s bread bowl.
Lady Lyanna doesn’t need anyone’s permission to fight for The North. Especially while Lord Glover holes up in Deepwood Mott. That child is everything.
After her scene Sunday night, I gave my husband The Face – because he knows I love her soooo much – and he looks at me and says “Just think. That’s the same girl from The Worst Witch.” It’s a kids’ show on Netflix. Don’t watch it. It’s terrible.
YES LADY MORMONT!
😍😍
That child is tough as nails!
I’m past theorizing at this point, I just want to absorb it all as it comes at me.
Lyanna Mormont will not be knitting near the fire, she will go in the field, and Lord help those who will be on her way!
And shame other women who were sold into marriage! (*cheers?*)
I do wonder if there will be some kind of show down with Jorah where she rips him to shreads. I’d like to see that. A girl can dream.
I hope she’s forgiving with Jorah and asks him to return home. I believe he’ll die in the end, but it would be nice for him to receive that forgiveness.
Can Jorah die already? He is awful and desperate. Daarios could return and kill him. Lady Lyanna could kill him. Anyone, please…
Give Lyanna Mormont three dragons and an army and that Westeros will be hers in one episode.
The show would have been a short one. Lyanna wouldn’t have messed around this long. #TeamLyanna
The early trailers showed Jaime in battle at Winterfell so the tribunal somehow lets him survive.
He’s probably allowed to survive simply because it’s likely that he’ll die in the battle anyway. No reason not to let him fight since he’s willing.
I still think Bran will stick up for him.
Yes, I think he’ll go on about how it’s unimportant as he is no longer Bran but the 3 3 eyed raven, and that they could use the kingslayer in the battle etc
Bran and Brienne. Tyrion will too but nobody will listen to him. Varys might argue that they need every sword they can get.
100%
I think they want to see him sweat, and perhaps some of the viewers need to see that to finally forgive Jaime. But he’s obviously not going to be executed. Plus, it gives NCW some meaty scenes, and I’m here for that.
I agree that Bran will forgive Jaime, he called him an “old friend”, he has attained wisdom and being able to see the past and some of the future he is now beyond mere human concerns.
It looks like the trial is focused more on Dany wanting revenge for Jaime killing her father. In that case, I can see the Starks being on his side because Dany is forgetting that her father killed Grandpa Stark and Ned’s brother. And not to mention Dany’s brother running away with and marrying their 14 year old Aunt Lyanna leading to the Great War, the death of many Northern men, women and children. The North always remembers and she has done very little to earn their trust.
Someone please tell me why I love reading these recaps and predictions even though I’ve never watched an episode of this show.
Oh Jesus girl watch it, lol. If you love these you’ll love the real thing, but do it now before the ending is revealed to you, it’s been fun(and absolutely agonizing) leading up to this.
I don’t like graphic violence, which I understand there’s just a tad bit of in this show. 🙂
Because people take this show very seriously and its kind of funny to witness, lol.
Spot watch it. The writing and acting on the show is pretty meh, but I’ll keep up with the characters that I like. Stay away from the fandom, though. It’s almost worse than Star Wars fandom, and that’s saying A LOT.
Lexilla, me too! 😀
Ah yes definitely do not watch then! You will not enjoy it, lol.
Lexilla – I watched season one, and stopped. Then just read recaps. I love the recaps, and I’ll watch some scenes here and there. But I can’t handle the stress of the violence lol.
I watched the first episode and that was it until season 7. I don’t do torture scenes well at all, so I actively avoided it. Having said that,I am now skimming through the seasons. I have however, watched Danerys burn that wagon train probably 20 times. Ditto the sparring between Arya and Brienne at Winterfell, Danerys burning the slave trader who thought he owned Drogon, Cersei and the Sept of Baylor, (that was great) and Danerys showing the Kal’s who the boss really was. It has some great moments for television. Why is it the Hound can’t leave that wight alone?
Watch it! I had a love and hate relationship with GoT. When the red wedding episode happened, i stopped watching it. Then, Joffrey was killed and I was like: die b!tch! Back on watching it.
Ramsay was so violent with Sansa, I stopped watching it. Then, we had the battle of bastards and I am like: die mofo!
Hahahahah
Haha Miss M! I totally hear you. Very much the same for me. I think I watched 5 episodes of Season 1 and then I stopped. Too much nudity and violence. Strangely it was some horse being decapitated that made me stop watching. Then I watched all of season 7 (some with my eyes closed). Now I want to see the rest. Love it and hate it. I read recaps and watch clips on YouTube to get caught up.
@ The voice: Hahahaha, I watched all 7 seasons last year for the second time preparing for season 8. My reaction to certain episodes was still visceral, haha
Lexilla, I put it on and took it off my Netflix list several times before we started watching (based on what I was reading about it and what people were saying). I suck at watching any kind of violence, it gives me horrible synesthesia pains. Then we watched the first episode, and I bought all the books! I listen to a couple of podcasts about GOT, one goes through the books in the off season, and I read every spoiler that I can do when a season is available on Netflix, I am prepared 😜
Miss M: same!
Game of Thrones is on Netflix now?
It’s on the DVD plan. Takes forever, but that gives me time to prepare myself – haha!
@JanetDR: Hahaha, nice! Can you share the podcasts you listen, please?
Lady Lyanna Mormont is badass and I love her.
So many people have theories on the Night King. In an interview the actor who plays the Night King said he was out for revenge and had a specific target in mind. Most theories focus on Bran as the target. But what if it’s someone else? Could he be after a Stark or Lil Sam or Gilly? I don’t know and can’t wait to see how everything unfolds.
The Night King speaks: Game of Thrones actor gives rare interview
https://ew.com/tv/2019/03/07/night-king-game-of-thrones-interview/
I still think it’s Bran. He had an opportunity to target Jon and Dany when they were north of the wall. As for little Sam, I’m not sure why he would need a baby at this point. But, anything is possible. It was be interesting if he were targeting Arya because he has some insight how she will go after him with her new super weapon.
I agree that I think the NK is targeting Bran. That just fits with what we know about the three eyed raven and the NK’s killing of the previous one.
The baby might be the brother of Aegon Targaryen.
http://m.zimbio.com/Beyond+the+Tube/articles/qITA4DAuxSs/Game+Thrones+Season+8+Theory+Night+King+Heir
Little Sam is at least some of the WWs brother, but not the NK’s. We saw the NK created, and that was way back in the time of the First Men and the Children of the Forrest.
In the episode that kills Summer, Hodor, the Old Three Eyed Raven, and Leaf, the old Three Eyed Raven and Leaf make it very clear that the Night King is coming for Bran and that the others should risk their lives to save him at all costs. Leaf, Summer, and Hodor do just that. The Night King kills the old three eyed raven. He’s coming for Bran.
But isn’t it because Bran touches the tree and his vision puts him in a scene with the NK? Or maybe that just accelerates the process?
There’s a theory floating around that the Night King is a Stark or related to the Starks. They think that it’s possible that the whole “a stark must always be in winterfell” thing is actually part of a pact/treaty, and things only really started to increase with the NK once bad things started happening to the Starks.
So then the NK is on the side of the Starks? He is there to help?
Yeah, it’s Bran, or rather the Three Eyed Raven that the NK wants to kill at Winterfell. In a more recent interview Isaac described the Three Eyed Raven as the NK’s “ancient arch nemesis”.
I’m really looking forward to ep 3. Sapochnik is probably the series’ best director. He does action brilliantly but he does character intelligently too, it’s never just pure spectacle. The WF battle will apparently have a few (three?) narrative strands or POVs.
I think Jaimie will have to explain one thing or two, but he will survive. Can’t wait to see him with Bran.
And Danaerys I don’t know, I don’t think she will be pleased.
I also think her and Sansa will end to get along, because Sansa is now the best politician in the game. I hope Tyrion gets better.
Rememer Jamie is smooth talker when needed. Much like Tyrion but he only does it as needed.
I think Jamie knows he’ll have to face the starks for what he’s done and yeah I think he knows Cersei has sent someone to kill him and Tyrion and is one of the reasons he’s there. He wants to redeem himself and I still think he’ll go full circle and go from Kingslayer to Queenslayer. It would be a very bittersweet moment if Jamie does kill Cersei and I think the plot has been leading up to that.
Lady Lyanna for Queen of Westeros.
I was just thinking of that – Jamie’s redemption. His character has been on the road to redemption and I think what happens to him at the end will be the final act of redemption. So I think that either means killing Cersei, or sacrificing himself to save Dany (since he killed her father, sacrificing himself to save her would be a kind of redemption?) or sacrificing himself for Bran. I think the most likely scenario is that he kills Cersei, and then the Mountain kills him.
I think Jamie is definitely going to die, like I’ve said before, mainly because he does not have to live for the final question of who gets the throne. He’s not in running for the throne. So I think his death can be a “big death” for the series without impacting the final outcome too much.
I’m very “meh” about Jaime getting redemption because I don’t actually think he deserves it from a character perspective, but the narrative definitely seems to be setting it up. I suspect he’ll either go out by his sister’s hand or in an attempt to stop her.
@veronica – I kind of want to rewatch the whole show like 10 times (lol, never happening) and pay specific attention to specific characters and their storylines to form my opinions again. We rewatched season 7 and the end of Season 6, but I haven’t rewatched any of the earlier seasons and I kind of want to so I can get a better handle on some of the characters.
All that to mean – I’m not sure either that Jamie “deserves” redemption, but I agree with you that I def think the show is setting that up.
There’s a lot of argument over what Jaime needs redemption for. Banging his sister? That’s nbd really, especially in the setting of the show. Pushing Bran out the window? He’s lost all of his children. Capturing Ned Stark? Because he was trying to get his brother back? Killing the Mad King? On the surface maybe, but we know his true motivations. Being a generic dick? Okay, but surely this guy has suffered enough. Life has not been kind to Jaime, and I think very little of it was through his own doing (unlike Cersei), and more through who is family is. Jaime is a dick, but certainly not a villain and arguably not in need of redemption. (Though i do agree his arc has been painted as a redemption arc)
Well, from a metatextual perspective, it’s not really a matter of “deserving” redemption. It’s impossible to assign true moral value to a fictional story. Whether he gets redemption is more of a matter of whether it’s a sensible narrative direction, which, in fairness, both GRRM and the showrunners seemed to imply was coming from earlier events. I just find the show version of him repugnant since they turned him into a rapist and refuse to acknowledge that issue. This being said, he is absolutely complicit in the evil his sister and father committed. The fact that he’s allowed his love of them to blind him to it is not excusable. (His treatment of Tyrion in the books when they were younger is particularly wretched. I actually think the most thematically karmatic ending would be for Tyrion to be the final Lannister standing.)
@Veronica S., I think the house of Lannister will be eliminated in the end. I think Gendry will survive for the Baratheons, Tormund because he’s the only named Wildling left, Yara for the Greyjoys, obviously the Starks, Lyanna for the Mormonts, Robyn for the Aryns.
I think it will be justice since Cersei Lannister ended the Tyrell line (on the show at least), the Dornish characters of the show, as well as murdering her own uncle and cousin. They were the most arrogant and proud line and I will be happy to see it gone.
@Veronica ” I just find the show version of him repugnant since they turned him into a rapist and refuse to acknowledge that issue. ” Is this to do with the scene at the crypt? Apparently the actors were super surprised by it because that’s not really how it was shot – they weren’t aware of how it was going to be edited.
Erinn – It’s not the fault of the actors. It’s the writing and production team. The GoT’s series mainstay writers are incredibly misogynistic all around. Don’t even get me started on how Dany’s actions are framed in comparison to the men’s throughout the story, particularly in comparison to how GRRM handles her.
AryasMum – Yeah, I have a bad feeling Tyrion is on his way out this season, which is disheartening considering he’s a victim of horrific abuse. I am extremely critical of the show writers and how they portray marginalized characters for a reason.
I love how his character has grown and changed so much, I went from hating him more than anyone to actually rooting for his survival. I started rewatching from the beginning and I forgot how awful he was! I think he’ll live for now, for the big battles at least, king slayer to queen slayer, I love that! I can’t decide who I want to kill Cersei. Jamie would be most poetic, but I’d love to see Arya or Tyrion get the chance as well, maybe it’s the baby she’s carrying and she’ll die during childbirth, who the hell knows but the bitch better be dead at some point, and it better be slow and horrific😂
If she dies in childbirth, her little brother would have technically killed her – so the prophecy stands.
It would also be death by jamie in a roundabout way, since he impregnated her!
Y’all know I am here to stan for my boy Jaime.
Lyanna IS the north. She blew me away the very first time she spoke, and that face of hers when meeting Ramsey before the battle if the bastards…priceless.
Not only the first time she spoke but she knew when to defer to her council. She makes decisions on her own but also seeks council when needed. She is a perfect little queen. Room shuts up when she speaks as they should.
Exactly… Everything she does and says is spot on.
I think Lyanna could be queen but I don’t think she’d want it. She’s a typical northerner, not into the political mess and all about honor and survival.
Maybe once Jon and/or Dany takes the throne, Lyanna could be named Queen of the North! Assuming Sansa is killed, and I do hope she is. Arya and Bran would refuse any leadship role anyway.
I know it’s too soon but Dany looks pregnant in that pic!
I thought so too when I saw it yesterday.
I’m thinking that’s when she tells Jon she’s pregnant, and he decides to NOT tell her he’s her nephew. But who really knows with this crazy show??
Like the exchange between mother gothel and rapunzel in tangled.
Dany: “I have a big surprise!”
Jon: “Uh…i do, too!”
Dany: “Ooh! I bet my surprise is bigger!”
Jon: “I seriously doubt it.”
@Broodytrudy, are you saying that Dany is going to make hazelnut soup??
That photo, with her hands over her belly…
I’d say, Jon is just about to tell her the news about who he really is…but she cuts him off with a little news of her own.
If Lyanna dies in battle, I’m going to be devastated. She’s one of the best characters on the show and has been amazing from the first introduction of her character!
I want Jaime to survive the council and the battle but my gut says he doesn’t make it out of battle 🙁 he’s had such a great character arc, I want him to survive and fight Tormund for Brienne’s affection lol
But in the end Tormund must win Brienne’s affection just so he’ll show us that stupid in love puppy dog smile of his again 🙂
Brienne loves Jamie and he truly loves her. They have real feelings for one another and not a crush. That eye contact they had the last time they saw one another….yeah. Think they will end up together or dying for one another. Tormund while its cute he just wants her for his big babies and she seems to not like him.
I’m with Isabelle. Tormund’s crush is cute and it’s good for Brienne’s self esteem, but seriously, she and Jaime are deeply connected and they very likely love each other. Jaime and Brienne are not likely both going to make it, and I see Jaime dying in her arms just like Jaime wanted.
I think Jamie will have to answer to the Starks for his role in Cersei’s “stuff” and for Bran but I think if Dany starts to get too into why he killed her father, people will start to rumble and her advisors will tell her not to go down that path, since her father was crazy and wanted to burn everyone.
I think how Daenerys handles Jaime will help suss out some of her character traits many of us are arguing over and help settle questions many of us have regarding her fitness as a ruler.
Refusing to believe Jaime’s reasoning, not wanting to hear or understand how the Mad King’s treatment of the Starks caused unrest in the north, denying he was indeed the mad king would be hugely problematic.
She doesn’t have to forgive and forget but it would be foolish to condemn a huge military asset for his part in protecting the people she means to rule.
I think she could not care less about who killed her father – she’s bluffing to get his reaction and she’s already acknowledged that her father was a monster. She was fine when Drogo killed Viserys, and she hasn’t even mentioned the fact that Jon is the “son” of the man who killed Rhaegar, who was considered the good Targaryen. I do think she will be angry on behalf of the Starks for Bran. But when Bran himself asks him to be pardoned, what can they do? Plus, I have a strong feeling that the news of the AOTD on their doorstep will interrupt everything at the end of the episode.
I don’t see Dany going mad like her father. For everything we’ve heard, Rhaegar was a good person. Viserys was a spoiled, selfish, entitled asshole, but not mad. Dany’s mother was not mad. As awful as Cersei is, two out of her three children were gentle and kind.
@Aryasmum, Ned Stark didn’t kill Rhaegar, Robert Baratheon did in the Battle of the Trident. He crushed his chest with his war hammer.
You’re right! I was thinking about the Tower of Joy, but Rhaegar was dead already.
Also, I am just cracking up at “Sansa also seeks nourishment” lol
I just hope it won’t be a Disney ending. The best part of GOT was the fact it was retty realistic, showing how far these power games go. Jon and Dany happily ever after with Targ-Stark heir is just…so cliche it would ruin the show.
This is exactly my problem. Dany just roasted half the Reach, a ton of foodstuffs, and that has to bring back memories of her fire happy father. Plenty of people died in Robert’s Rebellion fighting against the Targ loyalists, and they don’t really have a good cause to bend the knee to a Targ or Cersei. Why should the rest of the Reach bend the knee, or the Vale (who are clearly mostly there for Sansa, whom she’s threatening to feed to her dragon), or even the Westerlands?
Also, there already was an Aegon Targaryen, Jon’s half brother, and everyone is meant to believe the characters are just going to ignore that fact and accept his very questionable legitimacy? Even with the Martells dead, I have a hard time believing the Dornish are going to want to bend the knee to a child of Lyanna and Rhaegar, considering the insult those two paid Elia and that many Dornishmen died in a war R + L helped spark. To add salt to the wound, those two were hiding out in Dorne (Elia’s homeland!) while the war was waging on and people were dying. Really, there is f*ckboi behavior and Rhaegar’s beyond that. Lyanna’s not much better since she’s clearly aged up in the show.
It’s just that the show spent much of the past seasons illustrating that it’s not who has the best claim, but the power and the politics beyond the throne. And realistically, the only way I see Dany or Jon being “accepted” as the ruler of all of Westeros is if they threaten to burn everyone—and that just starts the violent cycle over again.
I’m kind of hoping Dany and Jon go out in a blaze of glory defeating the white walkers, because that seems the most “true” to GOT. But I suspect we’re going to get a Disney ending.
Good points, but Ellaria Sand agreed to support Dany as Queen before Cersei captured her. So stranger things have happened! Also, Dorne in the books is so much more fleshed out, the writers really failed to do that in the series.
I mean, I guess it’s about as realistic as a story with dragons riddled with incestuous pairings can be lol.
IMO, GRRM’s books always had a pretty clear trajectory toward a better ending. He doesn’t shy away from the horrors of violence, but he makes the cost of its evil clear. It may not be a “Disney” conclusion, but I always suspected he intended a good one and that there would be peace at the end of the story. People may suffer and die in the pursuit of it, but it would be accomplished. Otherwise, what meaning would any of their stories have?
I agree, @VeronicaS. Someone mentioned above how they found it hard to watch but liked seeing things like Joffrey die, and if you think over the series, most of the really bad people do get what’s coming to them. Joffrey, Ramsey, Walder Frey, Viserys (sorry that may be spelled wrong), the various people that tried to double cross Dany, etc. Sure there are some outliers (ahem Cersei, but she has not gone without tragedy, as she lost her children), but that does make me optimistic that while good people will die over the next few episodes, the ending is going to be somewhat….peaceful? forward looking? It’s not going to end with everyone important dead and the Night King ruling all of Westeros.
The girl who plays Lady Mormont is too cute.
I wonder how Dany’s plans will change after the reveal of Jon’s parentage. She’s here to “break the will” and uncontested patrilineal inheritance is certainly part of that wheel in Westeros, but it also benefits nobody to have infighting at this point. She’s in love with him AND he’s family, so that complicates it further.
Bella Ramsey has 2 shows of her own now off the back of playing Lyanna
She plays the lead in the new version of The Worst Witch and voice the lead in the animated show Hilda
Am I the only one who thinks Dani looks pregnant in that photo of her?
Your captions are killing me! “She also needs nourishment” I GUFFAWED!
Lyanna is an absolute bad-A jive mothertrucking ferocious genius god-child and she damn well better live! Don’t you kill her off, Game of Thrones! Don’t you do it!
Lady Mormont, tho. Baby girl is all revved up and ready to go!! Arya looks so grown up here, next to Jon. And I can’t wait to see Jaime’s scenes. He has some pretty important moments coming his way…
And still, a Woman must ask. Where, oh where, is a Man?
And where, oh where, is Ghost?
Hmmm, I think I read somewhere that A Man might turn up again to help A Girl.
Seems A Man has quite the fan base – this woman would totally give it to A Man many many times anyway he likes it.
Seeing A Man would be good, but not as good as seeing Ghost and Nymeria!
Agreed. A Man is an assassin – he sneaks up on people and murders them. Not sure how helpful he will be against the AOTD. Nymeria and Ghost instinctively defend their Starks, and even Stark friends like Sam.
There’s a window behind Arya so I highly doubt they’re in the crypts.
Unrelated but I must remind people that no one saw The Blackfish die.
And is Edmure still in a dungeon?
I’d rather the Blackfish be the last Tully standing than Edmure.
I adore Tobias Menzies (whatever, Claire) but Edmure ain’t worth shit. Blackfish all day.
Logistical and realistically, if the White Walkers don’t take over everything, what do the 7 Kingdoms look like in the thick of winter? How do the houses recover? How do the kingdoms recover?
Surely they are all a lot smaller and I can’t see how they survive as the 7 Kingdoms. The wheel is already broken.
Yes, I had to stop watching Outlander because I disliked Claire so much for her treatment of Frank.
Jaime gave Edmure back to the Freys after he took Riverrun. Whether the Frey women have released him or are still holding him captive is unknown. Nobody saw the Blackfish die.
Edmure had a son with his Frey wife.
Edmure is useless. He’s probably turned the Frey women into his own little harem. And are we sure he actually has a son, or did Jaime simply use that as a tactic to get Edmure to surrender?
Book Edmure has a son and that bit with Jaime went very much as it did in the book.
Oh good, at least he’s not THAT big of a fool.
Super good questions! After Arya killed all the Frey’s WTF happened to Edmure? And if the blackfish is still alive, where is he?! No one is really dead on GOT unless it’s shown.
“Davos, soup maker. I bet he puts a lot of onions in that soup.”
I sincerely hope the ingredients do not include one (or all) of his severed fingers.
I have this feeling that in the end the dead will be defeated, but everyone of the main characters will be dead. Lady Lyanna Mormont will be the only ruler left and at the very end of the last episode we’ll see her sitting on the throne
But when is a Man going to show up? The armor wearing ombre haired Man of season 2, not the sexy Jesus robe wearing cosplaying one. A Woman is anxious to know.
A Woman would be quite happy if a Man showed up stark naked, riding Ghost. Indeed, a Woman would prefer this.
Think about all the “battle scenes” you could recreate with a Man’s armor and his sword.
I just need Cersei and Maester Qyburn to both get a proper comeuppance. Qyburn is a wretched man and deserves a painful, poetic ending.
NOTHING
What I hope is that there’s a major baby boom aftet the dust settles.
Where are all the Stark cousins? Life is hard in Westeros so you’d think people would crank out more kids! Like did Ned Stark’s dad not have brothers or sisters with kids? There seem to be piles of Lannisters (yes, unimportant ones but they exist) but the whole Stark name falls to a few people? Same now with the Arryns, Baratheons, Tullys…. reproduce people!
Dany totally looks like she’s telling Jon that she’s preggers!!