Monday, July 17, 2017

Game of Thrones Season 7: Dragonstone



So Game of Thrones has returned for a shortened season seven. It's been a long wait, with the show starting about two months later than usual, but I'm sure it will be worth the wait. A lot of things are in play as we get to the endgame here, not least of which is the fact that we are beyond the books now. Book readers no longer have the advantage of knowing how things will turn out . For the next seven weeks I'll be sharing my thoughts on each episode, comparing and contrasting with the books, and just basically fanboying out along with everyone else. There will be spoilers for each episode and potentially the novels as well.  

So we start out with Arya pretending to be Walder Frey, hosting a feast for his male family members. It was obvious what was happening but no less satisfying, to see most of the Frey family taken off the board in one fell swoop. This is a much more simplified version of what's happening in the books, the Brotherhood Without Banners has been hanging Freys left and right but here they seem to have a different destiny. As we see later in the episode, the Brotherhood (along with The Hound) are heading north, to confront the threat there. I think that's an interesting route to take with them- the idea of the Brotherwood fighting alongside Jon and Sansa is very appealing. 

There were a lot of great moments visually in this episode- a fine beginning to the season. The army of the dead marching south was pretty awesome, and they have- giants! The greatest moment for me was the arrival at Dragonstone- very impressive. They did a great job with Dragonstone by the way- and the shot of the dragons flying ahead to wheel and cavort around the towers was one of the most impressive shots I've seen on this show ever. I think they absolutely nailed it with Daenerys' arrival, and it was especially gratifying for me since the Dragonstone segments in A Clash of Kings were some of my favorites.  

Bran is at the Wall and maybe we'll see his reunion with Sansa and Jon next week? Speaking of Jon and Sansa, they're not exactly seeing eye to eye, and their dispute over what to do about the Umbers and Karstarks made things a little uncomfortable. Littlefinger, of course, enjoyed that. It was nice to see Alys Karstark though, as I liked her in the fifth book. Of course her story is going to be somewhat different here, but it was nice to see her and the Umber heir declare their fealty. As uncomfortable as the dispute was, it was gratifying afterwards to see Jon and Sansa talking. If they can keep it together...

 Did anyone else love it when Sansa had exactly no patience for Littlefinger? I love that she's a player in the game now, and no longer his to manipulate. And the fact that she's learned from Cersei... I think Baelish had best watch himself.  

The only real weak spot for me this week was the Cersei/ Jaime conversation. I've never approved of the casting for either of them though, and there was nothing wrong with it, it just didn't feel right. Cersei has lost three children and is just over it? Not buying that. And touching back on the Brotherhood Without Banners for a sec- how about the character development there with the Hound? I thought him burying the dead mother and child was a nice callback to A Feast For Crows, where many fans suspect the gravedigger is really Sandor. A little Easter egg for book fans there! He and Thoros had a nice moment. 

Biggest revelation for me: there is a mountain of dragonglass under Dragonstone. We know this of course from A Clash of Kings, as I believe Stannis may have even had men mining it, but I think this might be the first time it has come up on the show. How convenient that Dany is there now. 


Random Thoughts

Does anyone else think the Greyjoys built their thousand ship fleet and then sailed it to Kings Landing awfully quickly? This show though lately has had a hard time with plausible travel times. Just go with it I suppose. 

Speaking of the ironborn, what do you suppose Euron has in mind for his gift to Cersei? 

The North Remembers. Nice. 

Who are the soldiers Arya encounters? I didn't think it was too smart for her to hang with them, but she seems pretty confident. My prediction... if she gets in trouble with them, Nymeria and her wolf pack will come to the rescue. 

Sam is not having a glamorous time at the Citadel. 

The moment when Thoros has the Hound look into the flames, and he saw the Wall and the army of the dead- well done. 

Shall we begin? 

36 comments:

  1. one day I'll have to try this TV show!

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  2. I know I'm in the minority because everyone raves about this show. I've tried watching it twice, and just couldn't get into it. You give a great review though! Hugs...RO

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    1. Thank you, and don't feel bad. I don't actually love the show, I cover it but mainly I like the books.

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  3. I agree with your point on how quick Euron's fleet got to King's Landing-doesn't seem logical-and Cersei suddenly finished caring about her kids. The end of the Freys is satisfying but where is Edmure and why was he not released by Arya? Where is Arya going when she says to the soldiers she's going to King's Landing? Why would she risk sitting with them? If they were previously at King's Landing, surely they would be Lannisters? That would indicate she is going south of The Twins or they'd say she was going the wrong way. Bit confused there unless she plans to kill Cersei next. I was a bit shocked to see giants in the AOTD which I wasn't expecting. Eek! No sign of Hodor thankfully. I've shared my thoughts on the gift and a few other things on my post today...

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    1. Yeah a little unrealistic there. And good point about Edmure- I don't even know where he is on the show? At the Twins? I know in the books it's different. And yes why would Arya do that? Good grief.

      I thought she was going to Winterfellso I'm assuming she'll change her mind soon about Kings Landing? I think she has to find Nymeria first. And yes giants!!!

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    2. If Theon and Yara had time to get to Mereen and back to Dragonstone, Euron had time to get to Kings Landing. Why should we assume no time has passed just because the show doesn't expressly say "five months later." We know some time has passed. Euron and Dany have time to travel, Sam's montage implies the passing of time, Jon has time to gather the lords of the North, etc.

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    3. Sure time has passed, no question. I mean months have gone by but not years? How long does it take to build a thousand ships? I don't know. It feels rushed, but that's okay. Not a dealbreaker for me.

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  4. Oh man loved that this was back!! The opening was amazing with Arya. So happy Sansa is playing into Littlefinger's game. I am excited to see where they take Bran's story. Totally agree with how quick Euron's fleet got to King's Landing. The time frame on the show messes with me a bit sometimes!! Loved Daenerys' arrival too. Can't wait for next week!

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    1. It was nice to have it back, nice intro episode. Curious about Bran too. And yeah you kinda have to suspend disbelief with their time management lol.

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  5. Omg boom! Go Arya!

    The rest was sloooooow

    Woot Ed Sheeran!

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    1. Boom was right! That's how you wipe out a whole House I guess! It was slow other than that.

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  6. Greg, I love all your GOT posts :) I read the books so long ago, I kind of have book amnesia so some of the differences don't really bother me, because I forget.
    Deanna Reads Books

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    1. Thanks! I've re- read em a few times so hopefully when the new one comes out I'll remember most of it! And yeah the books and show are different and that's good.

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  7. You might need to sit down before reading what comes next.....
    I still haven't seen this series. I missed several seasons and refuse to jump into it in the middle. So, I'm waiting for Netflix to finally offer it.

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    1. I hear ya, it's hard to start or continue on when there is no word on the next book. I need an ending. :) And same w/ the show- I don't blame ya!

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  8. Such a good episode! Took away a little of the sting of getting a short season. Opening scene with Arya was excellent. She has turned into such a badass stone cold killer. So much change in Sansa, too. The girl is noone's pawn. She has a voice and an opinion and is going to use it. But Littlefinger... I know they need his army but can someone just end him already? Euron's gift for Cersei... I'm thinking he plans to bring her Tyrion's head. Just a wild guess but at this point that would please her.

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    1. I agree! Loved Arya. I thin you might be right about Euron...

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  9. The fact that we had to wait more made a difference and I hate that it's shorter but what a way to start! We all saw the first scene with Arya coming but it was still a huge success.

    I've stopped noticing time differences, the creators have said that just because we're seeing scenes happening one after the other, it doesn't mean they are happening at the same time or shortly after. Same can be said for Varys going back and forth between Dorne and Meereen last season. I was also shocked to see Jorah!

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    1. I agree. And I have to poke fun at the time differences but I get it, not everything is in order. I just got a kick out of how quick they built a thousand ships. But nice to have it back on. :)

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  10. Love your review! I think of show and book as separate works now - in the first season I still tried to compare and thought a whole lot on what they changed and what they left.. I stopped doing it soon though. I enjoy both, books and shows and thinking about changes too much just does my head in haha! I DO love it very much though when they take quotes from the books, because there are SO many good ones :)

    Arya's 'winter came for the freys'-quote was my favourite this episode. My favourite scenes were the Hound & Brotherhood ones, such a good team up! Dragonstone looked great as well, that throne!!!

    Can't wait to see what else will happen - I love being in the dark now :)

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    1. Thanks! And I do too, actually. I always think in book mode so when I recap these I have to get into "show" mindset. And I agree- when they do carry things over, especially quotes from the books, I love it!

      Arya's line was awesome. Wow. And yes the Hound and the Brotherhood- those were done so well. tremendous character development. And Dragonstone looked awesome!

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  11. I LOVED the opening of this episode!! Arya is such a badass, and her "The North Remembers" line was absolutely perfect!

    The Brotherhood's role in the series is definitely taking an interesting turn. After no Lady Stoneheart appearance, I didn't think we'd see them again. I really enjoyed the Hound's banter with Thoros and Beric.

    At first I thought the Ironborn ships were the ones Theon and Yara stole, but then when I saw Euron, my first thought was, how did he get new ships so fast?! LOL. It makes me think of the season 6 finale when Varys hotfooted it from Dorne to join up with Daenerys, Tyrion, and crew.

    Sam's scenes- EWWWWWW!!!! I had to look away when they started looping his daily routine.

    The scene in the Great Hall at Winterfell made me think back a bit to last season when Jon was proclaimed King in the North, complete with sass from Lady Lyanna Mormont! I absolutely LOVE her!

    The wolf that was in the preview for the next episode- could it be Nymeria, at last?!

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    1. The North remembers... awesome. Nice to see the Freys get theirs. :) And I agree! The BRB heading north to join the struggle... I like it!

      And yes the time thing is... odd. Even given that the we're not supposed to get too hung up on timeframes, it still seems rather... rushed. Some fast building!

      I think it IS Nymeria! I think Arya's going to meet a bigass wolf pack lol!

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  12. Fantastic review! I'm so excited GoT is back. Arya was by far my favorite part of this first episode, but Sansa was great too. Can't wait to watch the next ep!

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  13. I couldn't read your post because I have only watched the first two seasons, but that dragon gif is stellar!

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  14. So I had planned to wait to renew my HBO subscription via Amazon for when the season was almost over - ya know, save some money! But spoilers are everywhere and I really wanted to talk about it with people. So I watched it last night :) I agree, the moment with Arya was very satisfying. I'm really excited to see if Sam's message to John will land him and Daenerys working together - that's an alliance I'd really love to see. Yeah and I so don't buy that you had 3 kids, they're all dead and you're over it! Ready to build an dynasty for just you and your brother?! nah...

    Great review!!

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  15. Greg! I just watched it yesterday and I thought it was a bit of a slow one but definitely needed to be that way so that we could set things up for the big fights that are sure to come. I LOVED that scene with Arya as Walder Frey.

    I'll be looking forward to your posts! I'm HOPELESS with the names and I was kind of like, "Who are they again? What are their names?" for half of the episode hahah!

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    1. I agree, it was a bit slow but I think you're right, they were setting up for the rest of the season. And Arya was awesome!

      Thanks for coming by! And yes it's hard to keep them all straight. :)

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  16. I love Arya! I was also disappointed with the Cersei/Jamie conversation. Cersei spent 6 seasons being totally obsessed with her children. Now, she’s like, “They’re dead. Let’s move on.”

    Aj @ Read All The Things!

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  17. I actually really loved this episode and so many of the scenes gave me some pretty good feels. The scene when Arya takes out the Frays, the scene with the Karstarks and the Umbers and I also really love the character development of The Hound as well! The scene with Sam doing all his awful duties literally made me sick to my stomach lol! I was gagging along with him! I'm really looking forward to the rest of the season!

    Crystal Book Snob

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  18. That was THE BEST beginning! A friend told me the soldiers Arya encounters are Lannisters..? But I'm a little concerned for her well-being right now... And poor Sam. Rosie Writes Things

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  19. I absolutely LOVED Arya's revenge and yes, the arrival at Dragonstone! stunning visual! I did wanted to throw up many times. I COULD HAVe NEVER MADE IT IN THAT MAESTRE SCHOOL OMG OMG OMG YUK YUK YUK YUK

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  20. The opening for this was amazing! That and the scene with the Hound would definitely have to be my favourite. Maybe him being able to look into the fire and see things has something to do with what his brother did when they were children?

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  21. Sorry I'm late (I had to watch the season 6 and omg my heart has not recovered yet).
    I really like the dynamic between Jon and Sansa (I completely agreed with Jon btw, they need all the men they can get). Sansa has definitely learnt from Cersei but I feel like she has a Catelyn vibe. She was fierce and powerful in a way Cersei never was so I don't know maybe it's all in my head.

    I think Cersei is suffering in silence. She has the throne she wanted for so long but she's lost her precious children (still hoping Tommen's fate will be different in the book.

    Now about the Hound... I'M SO HAPPY. I never thought he was dead. I think his fate is directly linked to his brother's, they live or die together (and that's what happened in a way in the book, they both got hurt pretty bad around the same time if I remember correctly. Now in the book it's no said that the big man with Cersei is the Mountain but lots of fans thought so).

    Finally (this comment is already too long) poor Sam ! He wanted so bad to belong to a place and now that he's arrived, it's definitely not what he hoped for. The conversation with his father was so awkward and I don't really understand his decision of taking the woman (Gilly, right ?) and her baby with him.

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  22. I've watched the first couple of episodes now so I'm starting my read through on your blog.

    I was actually confused about Arya pretending to be Walder!!! Ha ha. I thought they were doing a flashback!

    The army of the dead was pretty hectic - and the giants that they had was scary.

    The Dragonstone sequence was, as you said, a really great visual moment.

    I'm worried about Jon and Sansa in this season, especially with Littlefinger playing around in the North. He is, after all the catalyst to this entire series in my opinion. He's too clever by far.

    I did love it when Sansa had no patience for him though, and I love that she's playing the game... Although I did have to wonder what exactly she learnt from Cersei... I hope she remains trustworthy.

    I was disappointed with the reaction from Jaime... I mean, Cersei just did the one thing that he betrayed his oath and honour to prevent - blowing up the place! And he's fine with that? I hope he gets more emotion about it later in this season or at least at the close of the series....

    The Hound is becoming super interesting to me - it's an interesting ARC his character is taking but I"d definitely love for him and the Brothers to be side by side fighting the great war.

    I think the timelines in this series are all going to be comepletely skewed... Although I was really hoping Cersei's hair might have grown out a bit more....

    Sam in the Citadel. That sequence went on forever! I was wondering how many people were having dry runs and/or puking over that!!!!

    Shall we begin? AWESOME!

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