Game of Thrones: The Dragon and the Wolf

Well here we are- the finale of season seven. What a ride it's been  - we've had dragons and ice wights and character moments, and lots of foreshadowing. Lots of set-up for the endgame, which is now upon us. Or will be, when Game of Thrones returns for it's eighth season. This episode, the longest of the series so far, had some great moments and a lot of talking. Lots of talking. But at least we have the main players talking to each other, rather than about what they're going to do someday. Winter is here, exemplified by the snowflakes falling as Jaime rides from King's Landing, to redeem his honor and fight in the north. And given what we see at the end, anyone who doubts winter is here will soon be disabused of that notion!

Spoilers for this episode of Game of Thrones, and for the books as well.

The Unsullied are back and facing down Lannister troops... somewhere. I have no idea where they actually were, but it didn't look like King's Landing. And then the Dothraki arrive- lots of them. So we have a show of force and Jaime and Bronn seem suitably impressed. We cut away to Daenerys who is on her way to King's Landing and a parley with Cersei. And they've got their captured wight in the hold, which goes apeshit when the Hound nudges the crate it's in. Yup- still animated! Cersei meanwhile gives the Mountain his operating instructions- if anything goes wrong, he's to kill Daenerys first, then Tyrion and then Jon. And you know, after that, use his discretion. 

Brienne and the Hound have a reunion! You can see they both have a lot of respect for Arya based on their conversation- the Hound makes clear he has no intention of crossing her anytime soon. It was pretty nice seeing these disparate groups come together- people like Davos, Missandei and others along with the big guns- Jon, Dany and Cersei. The trek to the Dragonpit for the parley was nicely staged.

And when everyone is assembled we have a Clegane face-off. Will they clash? I think I half expected them to, but it was just a tease. If Cleganebowl happens we'll have to wait til next time to see it. And then Daenerys arrives- I like how she made sure to arrive last, after Cersei- and her arrival was suitably impressive. I enjoyed seeing Cersei's face when she sees her first dragon. The parley itself gets off to an inauspicious start when Euron tries to hijack it by taunting Theon, but Cersei yanks his chain to shut him down. We have a little back-and-forth and then Dany unleashes her surprise- the captive wight. Good thing they had it chained, or Cersei might have been history. Maybe they should have left the chain off? No that would be treacherous. 

Cersei is stunned, and Euron is like I'm outta here. Can they swim, he asks. When the answer is no, he's like good, see you later, and he leaves for the Iron islands. Cersei agrees to a truce, but only if Jon stays neutral and remains in the north. Jon refuses, saying he's already sworn himself to Dany, and that's that. Cersei leaves and the parley is over. Brienne tries to sway Jaime to talk to her, but he's like what's the point? Dany is grateful for Jon's honesty, but she and Tyrion wish maybe he could have been a little more circumspect. Or, you know, just learn to lie once in a while! 

Tyrion meets with Cersei and after a tense beginning they reach an agreement. Cersei returns to the Dragonpit and agrees to join forces- the Lannisters will march north. But wait- she's lying. Big surprise there. Jaime rather naively begins to prepare for the trek north and she's like dude, do you really think we're doing that? She has no attention of honoring her commitment, and tells Jaime that Euron didn't flee- he's going to Essos to pick up the Golden Company, who Cersei is hiring with a loan from the Iron Bank. Gee, is anyone surprised Cersei doesn't play nice? Again, the capture-a-wight plan was such a good idea! Jaime has finally had enough and leaves, and we see him riding north as the snow falls. 

Meanwhile in Winterfell things are getting interesting. The showrunners would like us to think that Arya and Sansa will come to conflict, but no. Sansa's not that dumb and time is up for Littlefinger. Sansa accuses him of treason and murder for the death of Ned Stark and Lysa Arryn, among other things, and Arya does the deed. No more Baelish! We then have a nice bonding moment between the two Stark sisters. Dany meanwhile agrees to sail north with Jon to White Harbor, where they will join forces with the Dothraki heading north. Next stop: Winterfell! And probably a good thing, because a little farther north something very bad is happening. 

The army of the dead are at Eastwatch, and there are a lot of them. Plus giants! Oh and a dragon too- turns out undead Viserion breathes blue flame that can melt the Wall. Yes, as expected the Wall is down. Or part of it- enough for the dead to march through. It's a pretty effective way to end the season, and I'm not sure it makes up for a long episode filled with talking, but it is powerful. Oh and a few loose ends. Theon begins to redeem himself after Jon tells him he's both Greyjoy and Stark- he sets out to rescue his sister and has to survive to do so. And we have the confirmation that Jon is actually Aegon Targaryen- the son of Rhaegar and Lyanna, which surprised no one. Still, it's a poignant moment? And finally we have the long- awaited #boatsex. 

Random Thoughts

I loved the look on Dany's face when Jon announces that he is sworn to her service. 

I was so disappointed in Jaime, as usual, but finally he began to redeem himself by taking off.   

The whirlwind romance continues! Dany tells Jon she should have trusted him from the start, and the have more googly eye moments. 

Littlefinger didn't seem too worried about Faceless Men, which is odd since in the books everyone knows who they are, and Littlefinger would be the first to not take them as a mild threat. 

Golden Company reference! Interesting that in the books they are about to depose Cersei for a Targaryen pretender and in the show she is hiring them! Oh well at least they got mentioned. 

Did Tormund and Beric survive? 

Tyrion does not look happy at the prospect of #boatsex?