Sunday, August 27, 2017

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?  

26 comments:

  1. I don't even know where to begin with this one. The meeting was so interesting ! It was nice to see the characters come together. It's sad to see some characters that like and respect each other fight for different sides.
    The conversation between Sam and Bran was pretty funny. I love how Sam looked at Bran saying "you saw this in...in a vision ?"
    I'm not excited about Dany and Jon at all... She's his aunt, it's just... Eww. I really hope Bran will tell him the truth soon but I'm wondering if they will stop their relationship or be like "screw this, we're Targaryens anyway".
    Hmm what else... Oh yeah, the snake is dead ! The way he died is pretty interesting, Ned Stark used to behead the people he sentenced to death so... What does it say about Arya ?

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    1. It was a very interesting meeting, and nice to see everyone together. It might have been a bit talky but I guess we needed that? And the wight was pretty cool. Also that ending?

      Dany and Jon... I think are headed for trouble. Not only being related but the fact that he's the heir now- not sure that will go voer too well. :)

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  2. Oh man so good! I loved the meeting when Dany came in and Cersei was all pissed off about it. I mean did anyone really Believe Cersei would give in that easy??? I ma glad Jamie finally left. Thank god the Stark sisters were working together!! That death scene was very satisfying. Bran and Sam was hysterical. I loved all of Sam's reactions. #boatsex lol. I mean yay it finally happened and ew their aunt and nephew. Way to make me feel icky GoT. Tyrion was so not happy. I feel they spent a lot of time on him and his reaction too. The dragon/wall scene was crazy. Can't wait for next season even though it is forever away!!!

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    1. Dany's entrance was AMAZING. THose dragons are seriously intimidating. And I loved that Cersei had to wait. :) They're kinda dumb for trusting her tho. And Jaime- finally!

      Nice to see the sisters work it out! Bye Littlefinger!!! And yeah- Dany and Jon. Ew is right. It's funny I remember when this first came out people were like incest??? I was even embarrassed to admit the incest in the books because people would like at me like ew?? lol

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  3. I'm not sure why Tyrion looked so displeased. I think he loves Dany but I don't think it was because of that. It kind of left me confused. I loved the interaction between all the characters and it was definitely a good cliffhanger. Sansa redeemed herself and I feel like Jamie finally found his brain. I loved how he rode off in the end and am so glad he finally stood up to Cersei. It was also nice to see Theon apologize to Jon and I am glad they are going after his sister.

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    1. I think maybe he's worried about the two of them getting close- whether he suspects Jon is really a Targaryen I'm not sure. Something is worrying him tho! And I liked the parley mostly- it was nice to get everyone together. Sansa- about time! And I loved that scene when the snow started falling... nice.

      Theon I was worried about- he was getting beat up pretty good and I was thinking no one can really rescue him, he has to do this. Luckily he found a way. :)

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  4. I blogged about GoT today too! There was a lot of talking in this episode. I was sitting there, impatiently waiting for the zombie dragon. I wish it had shown up sooner. I’m so happy that Littlefinger is dead. Finally! I’m glad that Theon is going to save his sister (hopefully). I can’t wait for next season. Why is it so far away?

    Aj @ Read All The Things!

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    1. Oh my gosh it way far away! Like we'll forget everything lol. It was very talky, which I kind of get, but yeah the big moment was at the end and we had to wait a while to get it! Little finger though- good riddance! They finally offed him.

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  5. I completely have plans to start this series this fall. I sincerely am hoping I love it as much as everyone else seems to be.

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  6. The opening scene was King's Landing. If you pause it just after we pan off the Unsullied you can see the Keep in the background beside the water. Ugh to Dany and Jon...that was the one moment that ruined an enjoyable episode for me. I loved the way Littlefinger's final scenes played out and as always the actor was brilliant. Loved The Hound in this episode too, especially scenes with Brienne and his brother.

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    1. Ah that helps, thanks. I was reading some reviews last night and they seemed to indicate the same thing. A little confusing. Dany and Jon- yeah they went there. And they're related- eww. Not surprised. I liked the Hound a lot more in this episode.

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  7. It's going to be a very long wait until next season. However did Littlefinger manage to stay alive as long as he did?! Such a snake. I was so glad to see Arya take him out.

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  8. I found it rather dull for a season finale and 2019!? WTF. Arghhh.

    But I did like how Sansa was all je'accuse! Way to go girl, I never doubted you. Did not see that coming. I will miss the rat though.

    Cersei is a world class bitch. I am so happy Jaime finally left.

    Tormund! Gosh, I hope he is ok.

    The much awaited incest...yup

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    1. Is it 2019? Yikes I remember them saying it would be a ways off. And yeah kinda dull, very talky. Sansa tho- go girl. Tormund- I hope he jumped!!

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  9. Great recap! I enjoyed the episode and an committed to next season but not liking this Hollywood effect taking over. You can tell there're not following the books anymore...and I haven't even read them yet.
    I'm wondering if Tyrion knows something about Jon since he looked so unhappy about their tryst but I think we would have known if he did.

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    1. Thanks. Glad you liked it, I did too in spite of the deviations from the books. Which are huge now, trust me lol! For example the Wall- I'm pretty sure it's been confirmed it's NOT coming down that way in the books, so if you do ever read em you'll still get a good different story.

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  10. This was a good finale! I knew Cersei would double cross them and it looked like she almost had Jamie killed! She is crazy and I hope she doesn't survive the final season lol. Tyrion was creepy at the end so I can't wait to see when Jon finally learns the truth. The final season better be longer!!

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  11. What a crazy season finale! The craziness wasn't unexpected, LOL, but I still gaped at the TV for most of the episode. XD

    I was about to rage quit hoping that Jaime would stop being so lame when he rode off on his horse- FINALLY! For a moment I thought Cersei was really going to have him killed, and I was like, NOOOOO! What about the valonqar??!!

    Finally, justice got served to Littlefinger! I love that Arya did the deed. Littlefinger was so pathetic, still trying to talk his way out of the inevitable.

    The meeting between all of those major players in the game was epic! Cersei thought she made the best entrance, and then Daenerys one-upped her, LOL. For a second I was afraid that the wight had either escaped or was dead (well, as dead as the undead can get, hahaha!). Not that it mattered to Cersei in the end, anyway.

    Jon and Daenerys- I can't. I definitely didn't need to see THAT, lol.

    I hope Tormund and Beric are OK! I love Tormund, and has Beric found his purpose yet? I really grew to like Beric this season, too. Is there anything the Night King CAN'T do at this point? He brought a dragon down with a perfect ice javelin throw, found super strength chains in the middle of a frozen nowhere, has a zombie ice dragon, and tore down a good chunk of the Wall. He's looking pretty invincible right now!

    I've always hated the wait for a new season of GoT, but this one is going to be REALLY painful, LOL. It'd be nice to have a certain book to tide us over until then, but I'm starting to think I'm never going to read TWoW!!

    It's been awesome talking GoT with you again this season, Greg! :D

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  12. That was a pretty good finale. Haha, how funny was it at the beginning when everyone was glaring awkwardly at each other? It was awesome seeing so many of the (surviving) characters together in one place though!

    ~Mogsy @ BiblioSanctum

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  13. Oh Jamie. Hopefully this is the time he fully redeems himself.

    For What It's Worth

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  14. I loved the finale. Bye, bye, Littlefinger. :) The one thing that is really bothering me is Tyrion. Is he betraying Jon/Dany? What exactly did he and Cersei discuss after he poured their wine and claimed to not be against the Lannisters? I really hope that look is his worry that Jon/Dany are going to lose focus, but this is GoT. :(

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  15. I really enjoyed the finale. I knew Cersei wasn't going to help the good fight. That's not her but I was thrilled when the Stark family banded together to kill Little Finger. I was so ready for his death scene. When Arya is walking in and Bran is sitting next to Sansa, I literally threw my hands up in the air and celebrated because there's no way Bran would sit there and let Arya take the fall...I knew that Little Finger's time was short. Woot!

    The boat sex!! They were planning that boat sex. Jon was quick to nix Jorah's idea and Dany's "We sail together" was fooling nobody. Haha, I loved it though. It may be gross but I don't even care. Jon and Dany are going to have little baby dragons running around soon. I can't wait for them to get to Winterfell so Bran can be like, "You looked beautiful as you had sex with your Aunt on the boat." LMAO!

    I'm sad that we have such a long wait until 2019 for the next season. Maybe I'll read the books after I finish watching the entire show from beginning to now. Decisions, decisions!

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  16. I LOVED the conversation between Brienne and the Hound! And I can't believe I totally forgot that the Hound and the Mountain are related!

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  17. oh lord. I can't wait I can't that long for GoT again!!! WTH??? this is torture!!! it was so funny how twitter was full of EWWWWWWWs after that love scene so "familiar" in the literal sense of the word LOL I'm so curious how they are going to react when they know they are related. LOL

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