Game of Thrones
The Dragon and the Wolf
Original Air Date: Aug 27, 2017
Vincent Chia – Staff Writer
vincent@thetwocentscorp.com
The Season 7 finale for Game of Thrones moves all of our main players into place to confront the Night King. Well, almost all of them. Sometimes, people just can’t fight their own nature. This episode stood at an hour and a half, the longest episode in the series thus far.
Dragonpit Diplomacy between Houses Targaryen, Lannister, and Stark
We start the episode with Grey Worm and his Unsullied army standing in massive formations in the fields just beyond King’s Landing. Lannister troops man the towers and prepare toe repel the invaders. They are preparing catapults to launch burning oil.
Bronn and Jaime chitchat and shoot the breeze. Bronn insults the cockless Unsullied. Why would they fight? Jaime, a fine representative of House Lannister, suggests maybe they fight for gold. Bronn, true to his own self, reminds Jaime that most, if not all, want gold in order to spend it on women. Jaime, true to his (sometimes) honorable character, suggests maybe men fight for gold to provide for their families. Bronn, retorts that cockless men can’t start families. (and perhaps just as a coincidence, the Unsullied also don’t know their birth families, since they are taken from them as very young children.)
Anyhow, back to the action, Jaime and Bronn watch as Dothraki warriors on horseback charge forward and pass the Unsullied. The horsemen ride around in circles whilst holding position in front of the castle walls.
Tyrion and his crew arrive at King’s Landing by sea. Jon and Tyrion chitchat. Jon is at once impressed and also aghast when Tyrion tells him that roughly a million people live in King’s Landing. There are possibly more people in King’s Landing than in the entire North. Why would anyone live in such cramped quarters? One of the reasons Tyrion suggests: superior brothels. Littlefinger would be pleased to here the high praise.
Tyrion, Jon, Davos, and the rest of Daenerys allies march towards the Dragonpit. On the road to Dragonpit, they meet Bronn and a squad of Lannister soldiers. Bronn and the Lannisters are there to escort both Daenerys’ entourage and Brienne’s delegation from the North.
Bronn and Tyrion chat. Tyrion attempts to convince Bronn to switch sides and support Daenerys. Tyrion says he will pay Bronn twice as much as the Lannisters are paying, but Bronn seems to hold to his loyalty to the Lannisters. Squire Podrick is also glad to reunite with his former lord, Tyrion.
As Bronn escorts the delegations from Houses Targaryen and Stark into the Dragonpit (pictured above), I had a sinking feeling it was some sort of trap. There were no Lannisters there. Then, it felt even more ominous when Bronn, for some reason, pulled Podrick aside and said they should leave the “fancy lords” to their diplomatic meeting. Fortunately, Cersei and Jaime soon arrived with members of her Queensguard.
As a sidenote: I noticed that Jon Snow is dressed in his furs and leathers, typical attire for the North. But… he’s down in the South. Isn’t he baking in that getup?
Cersei is upset that Daenerys didn’t arrive with Tyrion. Tyrion says she will arrive soon. Dany is quite partial to dramatic entrances, and so she arrives on Drogon.
As Tyrion tries to open diplomatic talks, Euron Greyjoy interrupts and immediately tries to instigate a fight with Theon. Cersei has to control Euron with a threat from Ser Gregor.
Cersei and Daenerys politely argue over whether it would be wise for Cersei to agree to truce. If Cersei pulls her armies back, Daenerys can strengthen her own armies and then march against the capital later on.
Tyrion has the Hound show everyone the wight. The Hound kicks over a wooden box, from which a horrifying wight crawls out. The wight immediately runs toward Cersei and gets within a few feet of her before the Hound can pull it back on a chain. The Hound slices the wight in half but the zombie continues crawling around. Ex-Maester Qyburn is intrigued by the wight’s detached hand, which continues to wriggle around as if alive.
Jon says if they cannot win the fight, being a mindless zombie is the fate of everyone in Westeros. The only war that matters is the Great War. And the Great War has arrived.
Daenerys says that she also didn’t believe the stories until she saw the wights for herself. Jaime asks her how many she saw. She says there were at least a hundred thousand. Jaime is shocked. Poor guy. Just a couple of weeks ago, he witnessed a horrifying dragon destroying his army. Now, he learns of another supernatural threat.
Euron asks whether the wights can swim. When he learns that they cannot, he decides to retreat back to the Iron Islands. Of the many insane things he has seen all over the world, the wights are the only things that truly terrify him. He suggests to Daenerys that she should also return to her own island. When winter is over, the two of them will be the only ones left.
Cersei agrees to a truce. However, she will only have a truce with Jon Snow, the King of the North. Cersei does not trust Daenerys. As a condition for the truce, Cersei requires that Jon Snow stay neutral and not take sides between the Lannisters versus the Targaryens. Jon, always the honest man, says he cannot agree to Cersei’s terms. He has already pledged allegiance to Queen Daenerys of House Targaryen.
Cersei is infuriated. There is now nothing left to discuss. The Night King will go for the North first. Then, she will deal with the rest of the “traitors.” As the Lannister party leaves Dragonspit, Brienne tries to convince Jaime to join Daenerys and Jon. Jaime says he is loyal to the queen; Brienne is loyal to the Stark girl and her idiot brother. Brienne argues that Jaime should forget about loyalty. This is bigger than royal houses and loyalty. Jaime walks away.
Tyrion is mad at Jon. He thinks Jon should’ve just agreed to Cersei’s terms. Jon says he will not lie and will not make a pledge that he cannot hold. Tyrion says he will talk to his sister. Daenerys doesn’t want her Hand to be murdered, but Tyrion says it’s the only way. Otherwise, they will return home empty-handed.
Tyrion makes his way to the castle is allowed to meet with Cersei. Predictably, Cersei is still infuriated with Tyrion for destroying the Lannister family. He may not have killed Joffrey, but he killed their father Tywin. If Tywin had been alive, none of House Lannister’s enemies would’ve dared to harm Myrcella or Tommen. Tyrion apologizes for the deaths of Cersei’s two younger children. As their uncle, he loved those two very much.
Cersei wonders out loud whether Euron had the right idea. Since the wights can’t swim, they should get on a boat and escape to an island somewhere. Tyrion somehow figures out that she is pregnant.
Back at Dragonpit
Daenerys speaks with Jon. She laments the the events of the past, when her ancestors chained their dragons at Dragonpit in order to keep control over them. The dragons had sometimes accidentally killed citizens. The chained dragons eventually grew small and weak. House Targaryen met its end when it no longer had dragons at its disposal. Jon tells her that House Targaryen still lives. Daenerys survives. Daenerys says she can’t have any children. Jon asks whether she ever considered that the witch in Essos was not a reliable source of information.
Cersei returns to Dragonpit with Tyrion, Jaime, and Qyburn. In a grand gesture, she proclaims that her forces will march north to fight alongside Daenerys and Jon’s armies.
Winterfell
Sansa receives a raven. She is angry the Jon pledged allegiance to Daenerys. Littlefinger gets Sansa thinking that Jon wants to marry Daenerys. Jon was named the King in the North. Littlefinger suggests that Jon can be unnamed.
Littlefinger also convinces Sansa that Arya plans on murdering Sansa so that she can become Lady of Winterfell.
Sansa has Arya brought into the Great Hall. Lord Bran sits next to Lady Sansa as Arya faces them.
Sansa says “you stand accused of murder and treason.” For a second, we are supposed to think that Sansa is about to sentence Arya to death. However, Sansa soon says “Lord Petyr Baelish” after those charges. When Littlefinger pleads ignorance, Sansa reads out the charges, including the murders of Jon Arryn and Lysa Arryn. Littlefinger also betrayed Ned Stark and was the one who set into motion the Lannister versus Stark family feud. It appears that Bran saw everything in the past and told Sansa. Bran also repeats Littlefinger’s previous words “I did tell you not to trust me.” Those were the words Littlefinger said toe Ned Stark when he held a knife to Ned’s throat.
Littlefinger at first orders his Knights of the Vale to protect him. When the knights refuse, Littlefinger begs for his life. Arya executes him. Sansa and Arya appear to grow closer as sisters. They agree with the saying that while lone wolves often die, the wolfpack survives.
Dragonstone
Daenerys has many enemies in the North since her father had many enemies in the North. Jorah recommends that while her armies march north, she herself should fly to Winterfell on Drogon. He does not want Daenerys to have too much contact with the northerners. There is some risk that a northerner might try to assassinate her to become a hero.
Daenerys says that she hasn’t come to conquer the North, she has come to save it. She will sail together with Jon Snow and arrive in the North with the others.
Jon chats with Theon and actually manages to buck up his spirits. Theon praises Jon. Even when they were just kids growing up, Jon always knew the right and honorable thing to do. Jon tells Theon that Ned Stark was a father to Theon as well. Even though Theon’s blood is Greyjoy, Theon will always be a Stark as well. Ned will always be a part of him. This gives Theon the courage to decide that he will mount a rescue for his sister Yara. Theon gets into a brutal fight with Yara’s lead sailor/soldier. It appears that Theon will lose the fight handily. However, Theon is kicked in the groin, to no effect. In a weird way, his weakness has become a strength. Theon wins his fight and the other soldiers decide to follow him.
Back to King’s Landing
Jaime stands on the giant map of Westeros that Cersei had painted on the floor during the first episode of the season. He is making plans with his army captains and preparing for an expedition into the north. Cersei insults him as behaving stupidly as usual.
It appears that Cersei lied about approving the truce. At least, she lied about sending her forces to join the fight in the north. Jaime is shocked. He made a promise to join the fight. Cersei’s plan is that as the Targaryen and Stark forces fight in the north, the Lannister forces will take back the lands that rightfully belong to them. In exasperation, Jaime tries to spell out the two possible outcomes. If the undead zombies win, they will march south and “kill us all.” If the Targaryen/Stark alliance wins, they’ll then march south and “kill us all.” It’s a lose-lose if they don’t join the Targaryen/Stark alliance. He seems to not take into account the possibility that the Targaryen and Stark forces win the battle ultimately, but get depleted enough to be incapable of challenging the Lannisters.
In addition, Cersei also had her ally Euron pull a deception. He didn’t run in fear of the wights and abandon her. He was sent by Cersei to go to Essos and recruit the Golden Company, which is a mercenary army in Essos.
Jaime is incensed that Cersei plotted with Euron behind his back. He had pledged to ride north and he will do so. Cersei says that is treason. She threatens to have Ser Gregor execute him if he leaves. However, Jaime calls the bluff and walks away. It turns out that she at least loves him enough not to have him killed. Although I personally think Cersei should have joined the battle in the north, her scheme does have a little bit of cleverness in it.
Jaime rides north, alone on horseback. He has abandoned his red Lannister armor, but still has his golden hand. I thought maybe Bronn might join him, or even some of the Lannister captains. However, Jaime rides alone into the snowy landscape.
Back to Winterfell
Samwell Tarly arrives and meets Bran. Bran tells Sam that Jon Snow is the bastard child of Rhaegar Targaryen and Lyanna Stark. Sam tells Bran that he read some scrolls which mentioned that Rhaegar and Lyanna were married in secret. Bran uses his three eyed raven powers to go back to teh past and witness the secret wedding. He also sees Lyanna whisper to Ned that Jon’s name is “Aegon Targaryen.” Bran declares that Jon Snow is the rightful heir to the Iron Throne.
Aboard Daenerys’ flagship
Jon and Dany engage in intimate relations. Not entirely sure how they will react when they find out they are closely related. On the one hand, Dany’s own parents were siblings. On the other hand, Cersei and Jaime’s rumored relations seemed to be very strongly frowned upon.
Eastwatch
Tormund and Beric watch as the Night King’s army approaches. Viserion flies in and breaths blue fire into the giant Wall. Tormund orders his men to run. Viserion destroys the Wall. The Night King flies past the wall on Viserion as his army marches into northern Westeros.
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