Hello and welcome to Game of Thoughts! I’m still alive and carving time out of my busy weeks for some Game of Thrones goodness. These posts WILL contain spoilers. They are nothing more than a recap and chance for GoT fans to have a bit of a natter and react as situations permit. They were inspired by the incredible, in-depth and insightful posts of Patrick Sponaugle, except his are intelligent and mine are just squeeing.
Ready? Then let’s begin.
By now, there is so much going on in each episode that plot points are flying at the face in shotgun blasts. Just the recap of the last season had me shouting ‘OH YEAH’ every four seconds because I had forgotten so much.
The Opening
I was laughing and clapping and cheering like a fool. Was it telegraphed? Lord yes. Was it a nice use of dramatic tension? Oh my yes. Was it lovely seeing Arya stroll through all those dead Freys? YES Oh god YES.
And it was a nice sendoff to David Bradley, who I am sure gets at least as many people hating him as the kid who played Joffrey, who gave up acting.
Jon and Sansa
- Together again, and making a great team! Sort of! I think it’s interesting that Sansa is less willing to show mercy at this point. Makes sense, given what has happened to her. Jon’s big moment for equality also got me and clearly won him some supporters in the form of Brienne and Lyanna Mormont, who is The Best.
- Littlefinger continues to lurk at Sansa. Brienne is not having it.
- Tormund and Brienne are also The Best. Podrick continues to be awesome. I love them and want them to go on adventures together. I can see it now: Tormund is rambling bullshit about his giant member and his way with the lady bears, a wagon comes down the road and the Westerosi equivalent of the Playboy Mansion Staff is all like ‘Heeeyyyy Poooood!!!’ out the side at him. Cue hilarious double-takes.
Cersei and Jaime
Jaime is finally aware of the magnitude of bat infestation in Cersei’s belfry. She’s lost a lot, but she’s also been hanging on to hatred and bitterness so long she can’t even see the truth anymore, and actually accuses Tommen of betraying her. TOMMEN.
Jaime still tries to maintain order, but he’s an outsider now; for a visual cue, his Kingsguard are wearing black and he’s back to Lannister gold and red. It’s clear during their treat with Euron that Jaime is a non-entity, as Crow’s Eye is wary of Dead Mountain and not Jaime, even throwing shade at him. If Cersei hasn’t made Dead Mountain the head of the Kingsguard by now, she will soon. She might even throw Jaime out of it.
Bran and Meera
Bran seems to have used his greensight for something useful: stalking Edd Tollett. Just like I would.
By opening the gate and immediately bringing Bran and Meera into Castle Black, thus showing the most sense of a Lord Commander yet on the show. YES I SAID IT.
Sam And Gilly
- I don’t know about anyone else but I almost barfed. Congrats HBO, for pushing the boundaries yet again. The prop department outdid themselves with all those turds. *gagging sounds*
- The scene of Sam assisting with an autopsy was a nice callback to another scene a long, long time ago, in season one: Tywin Lannister lecturing Jaime while skinning and dressing a deer. If memory serves, that is a scene from the book that originally had Sam and his militant father, Randyll Tarly, skinning a deer while Lord Tarly calmly explained to Sam his choice.
- I am EXCITE that Sam stepped up and stole the key. And apparently Dragonstone is just a big old heap of dragonglass. Not sure how thrilled Danaerys will be to find her new ancestral home is made up of stuff that can kill her greatest asset.
Clegane and Dondarrion
- I was really expecting the Brotherhood to be like ‘Oh, look at this house, let’s go inside COME ON CLEGANE WHAT ARE YOU SHY?’ and then put him on trial again. I was sure I saw Dondarrion firing up* his sword for what I gather to be another trial by combat – but maybe it wasn’t?
- It was nice Clegane not only tried to redeem himself, but actually got in touch with the real fire god. I guess. Sounds like the Brotherhood are heading north to Eastwatch!
*hurrrrrrrr
My Big Theory
I was washing dishes when suddenly I was struck by a Theory. It’s a pretty big Theory, and in case it turns out to be right I want internet acclaim for it. I have no time to research if anyone else has already come up with this theory, and maybe I should, but anyway, here it is:
The Wall Will Fall.
If George R.R. Martin has shown us anything, it is that he will meticulously build audience expectations ONLY to shatter them. His ‘there is no protagonist so anyone could die’ is the best example of this.
There’s too much riding on the wall for it NOT to come down. We as viewers have gotten wrapped around the axle by not just the struggle of the 7 Kingdoms, but that of the Night’s Watch too. Everyone thinks ‘Oh, Jon and Danaerys will team up and send the strength of the 7 kingdoms to The Wall and everything will be fine.’ No, it won’t. Do that and there’s no story. But bring the Wall down…. Now you’re cooking with dramatic tension!
I’m not saying it’ll happen this season, but at some point in The Song of Ice and Fire, it will happen. Maybe the White Walkers will find Jormundgandr and blow it down; maybe they’ll pile dead wildlings up and go over it like fireants; maybe they’ll finally break out the giant ice spiders and just cruise over the top. But! If there are magical wards that keep the dead from passing, and the Walkers need the dead to hold Westeros – then guess what’s their main goal.
So that’s it for this week! Join us again next week for more rambling, squeeing, and wild guesses! Have a great week!
Hey Jenna, and here we are again, in happy GoT delirium. Oh dear, poor Sam, he never realised that training as a maester included scouring out the chamber pots.
Someone should have loaned him:
‘The Essential Guide to Working Your Way Up the Citadel Ladder’
And Arya, that opening scene in the beginning ‘what on earth is going on? Flashback? Dream?’. Then in one fell swoop she wipes out House Tully. Revenge is sweet.
And Sansa, shutting down Baelish in two consecutive sentences. I was worried about her loyalties but not any more.
And, and, and … 🙂
Yes! There was so much goodness all you can do is be like “AND AND AND!” 😀
White Walkers by the dozen! Jorah all scaled up! DEAD GIANTS!
Yes, it is so good to be in the grip of this delirium again, it’s been too long!
After the ‘Alternative Ways To Enjoy A Banquet’ opening and the music started, there’s me, hands waving in the air, humming along, lump in my throat, tears in my eyes ..
Good grief, I must be losing it
We’re all losing it. If we ever had it to begin with. 😀
“Not sure how thrilled Danaerys will be to find her new ancestral home is made up of stuff that can kill her greatest asset.”
Say what now…? Honestly, I’ve been lazy and haven’t finished book 5 so maybe I’m missing something. Aren’t her greatest assets the dragons? And dragon glass…does something to them? I thought it’s only true value (along with Valerian steel) was to kill white walkers.
Stray thoughts…
* Very intrigued by what Euron thought would be a gift grand enough to sway Cersei’s cold, black heart into agreeing to marry him.
* So did the Ironborn actually make Euron his 1000 ships? Doesn’t that take a lot of time and an immense amount of wood that their barren rocky crag islands didn’t have? Should I just shut up and marvel at how cool they looked, anyway?
* Is that…!? Yup, it’s Ed Sheeran. Do you think he begged to be on the show, or wouldn’t go on unless the director let him sing?
* Pod telegraphed every attack he tried to make and Brienne easily hit him with the same riposte and counter attack across his bum like three times, I think? Seriously, three times, Pod!? You’ve been training under Brienne for like four seasons now! There’s no excuse for such sloppy work. Get better, Pod… (as a sword fighter and trainer for close to thirty years, that scene was excruciating)
* Loved seeing more of Castle Dragonstone instead of just that dreary (yet so open-air!) map room.
* SO GLAD I finished my beef and shrimp curry stew dinner before the “Sam’s job sucks” montage. Not even kidding.
* Where is Gendry!? Seriously, is he still rowing in circles in Blackwater Bay!?
* The Hound has become one of the more profound and dynamic story arcs of the entire series. It’s been a joy to watch his transformation from bitter sociopath to actual human being.
Maybe I’m wrong, but I thought dragonglass was also dangerous to dragons, and I SUSPECT you need dragonglass to make Valyrian steel, like it’s part of the alloy or something. But yeah I was thinking about a conversation Ihad the other day with someone about if an army decided to kill the dragons, how would that go down, so maybe my wires got crossed!
I think he’s bringing her Dragonbinder, but I also don’t recall it being mentioned like, AT ALL in the show. I only saw seasons 5 and 6 once each so I might be missing things. I bet that’s what it is! The magicla horn that can summon and control dragons! Also I think Euron had a pretty big fleet already himself, but yes apparently they built more ships out of all the trees that — don’t grow on the Iron Islands. Whatev, his ships were cool,
Ed Sheeran is someone I recognize and some of his music I enjoy but other than that I have no opinion on, other than he seemed deeply uncomfortable onscreen.
Is Pod that bad– or is Brienne getting better? Nah, I get what you were saying. If we’re talking about sword fights we weren’t fond of then the fight at the Tower of Joy infuriated me. Maybe I should rewatch it though.
Yay Dragonstone! That’s not the sea they’re smelling in that map room… remember what Stannis and Melisandre did on that otherwise beautiful table. Ew.
Yeah, Sam’s job montage almost made me barf.
Yay Gendry! Yes, and all that rowing means he can punch through the walls of Maegor’s Keep by now. TEAM GENDRY!
Indeed! I am really appreciating the redemptive (sort of) arc the Hound is on, and wondering how much is from GRRM’s future material. I hope all of it, I love the Hound.
My very rudimentary knowledge of metallurgy tells me it’s technically possible to forge an alloy of steel and silica rock, but nothing created would be worth a solid weapon. However, in a world where there are zombie ice giants and actual dragons, anything is possible, I suppose.
A Dragonbinder horn that controls dragons? I have heard NOTHING in the shows to indicate that such a thing exists, but maybe this is the point where it comes into play.
I was being a bit unfair to Ed Sheeran, going for the easy joke of throwing shade on him. I was asked to sing A Parting Glass at a friend’s funeral a few weeks ago, and I used Sheeran’s version to practice it. But I’ll stipulate that while his character was fine in that scene, he did look overwhelmed by the whole experience.
Yeah, Pod isn’t showing much promise. He seems to know which end of the sword to hold, but his fighting acumen is still lacking. Side note, the general conceit of martial combat is good fighters like Brienne don’t get better fighting bad fighters, they get better fighting people who are better than them. She’s able to hold her own against fighters like Jaime and the Hound because she said, if I remember correctly, her dad had her train under fighters who beat the shit out of her regularly until she learned to fight well. As for the Tower of Joy fight, I rather enjoyed it, despite being a bit fantastical. But the whole point was to illustrate what a borderline Jedi Master Arthur Dayne was, so his dual-wielding technique was amped up. Spinning the swords around are more training techniques rather than practical fighting applications, but using two swords, even well, is not beyond the pale to imagine. My side-eye moments in the show usually come when fighters who use shields so ineffectually occur; or is it that fighters with single swords are so good at weaving around a shield? My experience, a shield in your face makes a difference, so why are so many fighters throwing their shields at impossible angles? Bah!
The whole attack the good fighter one at a time strategy never works, but it makes for a good fight scene; there are hundreds of chinese martial arts movies to prove this! 😉
Ah, gotcha. Yeah I forgot that dragonglass is basically obsidian, which is very silica-rich. Good call!
Oh I know iron sharpens iron in terms of training, but maybe she’s mentoring Pod in terms of Swordwork and she practices by herself or with others?
Also, Brienne’s freakish strength is remarked upon as giving her an edge in a fight: Jaime’s hands were chained, and he’d been in a prison for a year, not moving or anything – but that said, even he was impressed by her strength while they were fighting. And she never fought the Hound in the book, but that fight is one my all time top-five FAVORITE fights in a movie or TV show EVER.
Yeah, Dragonbinder is a thing Euron found in Old Valyria. A guy blows on it and it burns him from the inside out! It doesn’t seem like they’re doing that storyline from the books so I guess the ‘Gift’ he was referring to is related to the events of tonight’s episode, Stormborn.
Gosh it’s getting so good!