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.
Well… well… well…
…GOSH.
There’s a terrible moment that comes after the season finale and it is made up of three parts:
- Realizing that no, there will be no trailer for next week’s episode to give you a little frisson about what might happen next
- You’re a year away from finding out what might happen next
- Life is meaningless until you find out what might happen next
ON TO THE CHATTERING!
Highgarden (I guess?)
- I thought the Unsullied were trapped at Casterly Rock but whatever, plot armor saved the day and they were drawn up into battle formations in front of somewhere, with the Dothraki providing cavalry
- But maybe it was all a bad dream because suddenly Jaime was at –
King’s Landing
- Cersei’s plan for The Mountain during the meeting is terrible but totes expected because she, too, is terrible.
- So many reunions! So many sideeyes! Pod and Tyrion, and Bronn and Tyrion, and Brienne and Jaime, and Brienne and Sandor, and Sandor and Gregor, and Cersei and Tyrion, more that I am probably forgetting. So neat to see so many loose plot threads suddenly pull taut like kitestrings in a high wind! Brienne and Sandor’s was lovely because we actually, at long long last, saw the Hound genuinely smile. <3 for them
- Those Dragonscreams – they ALWAYS give me goosebumps.
- Cersei is a special kind of stone headed. I totally bought her act.
- I was expecting the Other to be dead and legit jumped when it popped out.
- Euron – Bye Felicia. [Edit – but apparently not. Dammit.]
- Well, actually, Jon COULD swear that dumb oath to Cersei since he isn’t actually Ned Stark’s son. Weasel words sure, but also WORLD ANNIHILATION is totes worth some pedantry.
- Brienne spat fire and is apparently getting through to Jaime.
Winterfell
- Littlefinger working those angles again – so oily.
- Uh oh, she’s called a formal audience for this. That can’t be good andOH MY GOODNESS AT LONG LONG LAST PETYR BAELISH HAS LEFT THE GAME. Oh my goodness that was such a long time coming and honestly when he dropped to his knees and started crying I got a little hot and sweaty and it’s not just because my AC has been out all weekend folks that death was EARNED. The show put in the work and finally, FINALLY, Sansa and Arya are feeling themselfs again.
(The Beach at) King’s Landing
- I love this moment between two adopted brothers. Jon and Theon are so great.
- I love that Theon is going after Yara, I loved his speech, I love that he’s got his groove back, but I hated, HATED that the show just spent 4 seasons building up to a ‘ha ha, you can’t kick an emasculated man in the balls’ joke. HATE. IT.
- Whatever, I will totes cry when he springs Yara and saves the day. The poor kid has earned it.
- Jon and Dany are taking a ride on the Love Boat and Jorah is having trouble with that.
(The Red Keep at) King’s Landing
- Gosh! Cersei really drew the line in the sand this time, and Jaime called her bluff. I half-expected him to start fighting Dead Mountain and for Brienne, Pod, and Bronn to swing in on chandeliers and save him, HUSH IT WOULD BE GREAT
- And apparently we have not seen the last of Euron. Fantasic. Whatever.
Winterfell
- Sam is back! And he’s talking to Bran! And apparently he listened to Gilly!
- GASP! FOLKS! OHHHHH FOOOOOLKS AT LONG LONG LAST WE HAVE CONFIRMATION!
- NAKED PEOPLE!!!!!!
Eastwatch
- Tormund and Beric Dondarrion are hanging out when SUDDENLY…
- I guess the dead dragon’s not really blowing ice, because you would think that ice blown at a big ice wall would make the icewall thicker. WHATEVER, it’s fine.
- I need to know that they are okay. I am very concerned that I missed something between the screaming and hand wringing. I might rewatch.
- “One man with a crossbow…” somebody get Bronn a crossbow and get him in range of Night’s King. HE’LL impregnate the bitch*.
GOSH.
Another season come and gone with some FANTASTIC resolutions and yet more setups for next year. I. Can’t. Wait. to find out how the war will go, and also what Danaerys and everyone will say once they figure out Cersei is still playing her games. Dead Mountain is still in play, Davos is still rattling around like the SuperDad he is, Bronn and Pod are off drinking somewhere, and there’s just so much more to find out.
And maybe, just maybe, we good little thronies (is that a word? I don’t know what our name is) will wake up one day in 2018 to find out that the NEXT DAMN BOOK has a release date. Never give up hope!
*This will make sense to longtime viewers.
It was everything we wished for and more!
1) Everyone gets together to have the shittiest family barbecue evar! I LOVED LOVED LOVED watching that damn wight charge at Cersei! Everyone from King’s Landing jumping back in revulsion, Jon calmly explaining the different ways to kill it, and then doing so. It was sublime! The zom-bear from last week taught me a painful lesson in the anticipation of the jump scare… Brienne and The Hound, Tyrion and Pod, Bronn and Tyrion, The Hound and the Mountain, it was a special episode of Game of Thrones… In the behind the scenes featurette, Pilou Asbaek explained that he felt Euron is complete psychopath with no impulse control and no respect for the solemnity of the occasion, so he WOULD be the one who would talk out of turn for no reason at all except why the fuck not, then peaced-out when shit got real (or not, apparently!); I’m a big fan of Euron and his extra spicy brand of villainy! Cersei’s cold, dead delivery of every line absolutely nailed what a soulless monster she has become.
Bonus note: Bronn asking Pod to leave and get a drink with him just before the festivities started reminded me of the story of Jerome Flynn and Lena Headley used to date and it ended so badly they refused to do any scenes together. That makes sense.
2) Goodbye, Littlefinger! It is said that those that live by the sword, die by the sword. So it is fitting that those who play the game, die by the game, as well. I was surprised that he copped to all the charges Sansa laid on him, I thought he would go into denial mode until some damning evidence was thrown in his face. Well, it would be hard to refute Bran, I suppose. It was satisfying to see him completely blind-sided by it all.
3) I was also happy to see Theon truly getting some sort of redemption. As soon as I saw that Greyjoy captain winded after throwing a few hits, I knew there was no doubt Theon would get his day.
4) I admit, I held my breath when Jaime stormed off. Zombie Gregor (Zom-gor!) apparently has more situational awareness than I’d credit a zombie for.
5) Sam and Bran! Revealing everything the internet has been stewing over since 2013! That was a great scene.
6) My kids and I were screaming the entire time Zombie Viseryon (Zom-vis! Zom-vizzy!
Zom-eryon! Shit, they can’t all be winners…) blue-fired the wall down! We, too, were worried for Tormund and Beric, however, if this show has taught me anything, it’s that unless you actually see a body, you can’t count a character out. I predict we’ll see more Tormund next season. I hope he gets to have giant babies with Brienne…!
7) Jaime going off to the North to fulfill his vow, even if it’s just himself. That was an awesome scene! In a show where every detail means something, him not wearing his Lannister armor kit was a big tell to me. He’s done and out with all that King’s Landing nonsense. He saw what horror could be brought down, and he’ll do what he can to stop it, regardless of Cersei. It’s the final arc of his incredibly rich and dynamic storyline; it was a pleasure to see his character evolve through these past seven seasons.
Questions…
“Can they swim?” An astute question from Euron, who doesn’t know as the rest of the world that the Night King now has an air force. So, the white walkers have enough engineering capacity to pull a dead, multi-ton dragon out from the bottom of an icy lake, but they can’t build and/or work ships? Their aversion to water seems to be predicated by their inability to swim. But is there some other reason, magical or otherwise, why the walkers won’t do water?
How awkward will Jon getting his background be? Will they get married, anyway, citing Aegon the Conqueror and his sister-wives as the precedent? Yeesh.
I was fascinated with the Behind the Scenes interviews with all the actors; all the ones with thick English, Irish, Scottish, or otherwise accents speak in the show with formal American or slight British accents, and the American actors affectated a slight British accent. It was jarring to hear their real accents in the interviews. Daniel Portman’s (Podrick) Scottish brogue was practically indecipherable! I know he’s speaking English, but I literally had no idea what he was saying.
Another season in the books!
Yes to ALL of this!
-I actually respected how Cersei held it together when Danaerys was arriving on dragonback and everyone else looked VERY NERVOUS. On the one hand she’s so stoneheadedly petty she has the will to control her reaction to that, and I kind of admire her for it. On the other she was NOT expecting a turbo zombie and almost fell out of her chair so that was good too. And the dog-and-pony show (HA HA HA because the Hound) of killing it was a great bit of political theater on Jon’s part.
– Someone on Buzzfeed pointed out that Tormund and Beric didn’t run for the stairs down, they ran for the section of wall farther up and away, so it SEEMS likely that they survived. I’m hoping.
– “Can they swim?” Euron’s thought process aside, I worked myself into an enraged frenzy over this question the other day. I mean, I doubt they can float but they could CERTAINLY walk along the bottom like those dudes in POTC:1TCOTBPBBQWTF. Although they’d probably come up covered with crabs and other disgusting bottom-feeders who are suddenly riding their own buffet. I remember them sort of holding back at Hardhome but not being particularly afraid of water, but I probably need to rewatch that scene. And the chains – I feel l ike we’ve seen nothing of the White Walkers’ culture and/or technology besides ice, so I figured the chains were somehow forged or ice. Or something. And the dragons have spans but not a whole lot of mass – Like how birds look huge until you pick them up. I am imagining Viserion probably weighed as much as a single elephant, if that.
I feel like Jon getting his background might be one of those few comedic moments that the show dispenses but we treasure. Like The Hound and chicken, or Lancel and the breastplate stretcher. Or maybe the impact of BEING A TARGARYEN will hit him so hard that the nephew/auntcest will only occur to him on the way out of the room, like ‘Wait a minute…’ and Tyrion just falls down laughing. And Davos will be all noncommittal dad like ‘Well it’s not something I’d pick but you swells do things differently so you do you. And her. Whatever. I’m gonna go save Yara.’
Also (gasps) that emotional shot of Jaime going North, all on his own… what will Bronn do when he finds out?
Ooo, good catch! I’m not sure what Bronn will do, I hope he and Pod will follow Jaime. Or maybe go find Tyrion again.