The long awaited new season of Game of Thrones is here and what a start it got off to. It lacked fighting and a whole of standard Game of Thrones nudity, but it made up for that with my personal favourite ingredient to a GoT episode, politics.
We start in the great hall of The Twins, a fortress filled with backstabbers The Freys, lead by Walder Frey. Game of Thrones can be forgiven for the rushing of Walder Frey’s death in Season 6, purely because this was one of the best scenes to open a new season of a TV show of all time.
Walder Frey has gathered his men to once again congratulate and toast them on a job well done. Back in Season 3 the infamous Red Wedding scene saw Walder Frey conspire with Tywin Lannister and Roose Bolton to setup one of the most shocking scenes to appear on television. We saw most of the Starks and their bannermen wiped out, as Lord Walder took extreme offence to Robb Stark’s broken promise of marrying one of his daughters and instead offered his Uncle Edmure (Cat’s brother) in his place.
After the toast, the Frey’s drink to the death of the Starks before choking on poison in their steins. We’re then given an awesome moment where Arya pulls off Walder Frey’s face and reveals her own. Arya has discovered quite a nice skill here hasn’t she? Killing Walder Frey was a significant moment in Season 6 but to then take out a large part of the Frey family is gigantic and Arya does just that. Arya’s quote whilst disguised as Walder Frey is a beautiful one and possibly one of the best to air in the series’.
“Leave one wolf alive, the sheep are never safe.”
Arya disguised as Walder Frey watches on as she poisons his men.
We’re then taken to somewhere beyond the wall and the dead are coming, Winter is Here. We see hundreds of wights and more importantly giant wights. We know at Hardhome, thousands of Wildlings were killed before the Night King raised them from the dead as his own. It’s worth noting how many thousands must be part of this Wight army. After all they’d been taking babies from Craster’s wives for years and not to mention going from camp to camp north of The Wall killing and raising men and women as their own, including Knight’s Watch men. They are a force to be reckoned with.
We see Bran and Meera finally arrive at The Wall, unharmed thanks to Benjen Stark who cannot pass the magical barrier The Wall possesses, being half-wight himself. He’s heading back to do what he can in the fight against the dead. Importantly when we see Bran using the Greensight and once the gates open he is able to pull himself out of it. This is key, as clearly it’s something he’s been practising. Bran being able to use the Greensight to travel back in time for important information and to be able to warg in and out of animals (and humans) is going to play such a big part in the series’ to come, so watch this space. He is quickly becoming the Three-eyed Raven.
Greeted by Dolorous Edd the new Lord Commander now John has taken up the role of King in the North, it’s not clear what Bran’s next moves are, but he seems to be heading south.
Meanwhile John Snow/Stark/Targaryen (whatever you want to call him!) is in court discussing next steps with his loyal bannermen, flanked by Ser Davos and Sansa. He explains how Dragonglass is the only thing to kill a White Walker and that they must rally the realm to find it, mine it and construct weapons with it. He plans to make every person fight for him, this includes women and children too. We once again see the strength of popular Lady Mormont as she shoots down Lord Glover for suggesting women and children shouldn’t be part of the fight.
We also see another lock of horns as Sansa suggests that the castles of the Karstarks and Umbers are given to the houses which remained loyal during the battle for the North against Ramsay. This doesn’t sit right with John as he explains that it’s not the fault of the families of these Houses and as their leaders are now dead, they are to pledge themselves to John and all is forgiven. There’s an element of just here from John, something he’s inherited off of his parents Rhaegar Targaryen and Lyanna Stark. Rhaegar was known as a good man and a generous Prince and Lyanna was known to be extremely courteous and loving. For John to take up these traits is a nice touch.
Sansa on the other hand is still understandably bitter and quite cutting in her attempt to strip these families of their rights and their homes. Something Cercei would very much do if she were in Sansa’s shoes. I have a feeling Sansa is one to watch. With Little finger breathing down her ear, she may not end up being the nice little good girl we’ve grown with across all 6 seasons. Needless to say when she questions John in front of his council, it doesn’t go down well, but the look on Littlefinger’s face, tells us that’s exactly what he wants. His next move in the game of thrones is to get Sansa on board and I expect him very much to continue chipping away at her and turning her against John. After all, she is technically the rightful Queen in the North, with Bran presumed dead and John either a bastard or a Targaryen.
Back at King’s Landing, we see the Queen of the seven Kingdoms standing upon and newly painted map of Westeros and it’s a sight to behold. Cercei’s transformation into this Maleficent type character is fantastic to watch and long may it continue. Her and Jaime spar over what to do next, as he explains that whilst she sits the iron throne now, the rest of Westeros knows they’ve lost a lot of support after what Cercei did to the sept in season 6, burning it to the ground with fire; just like the Mad King had intended. They need allies with Dany travelling West with Tyrion as her hand, an Unsullied army, Tyrells, Dornishmen, a Khalasar and half the Greyjoy fleet behind her. Jaime’s fantastic quote of “Nobody wants to fight on the losing side. And right now we look like the losing side” is right. He gives Cercei this council but as she explains, she learnt a lot from her father Tywin and we get the big reveal that she has invited Euron Greyjoy to King’s Landing.
Cercei and Jaime plot their next steps in the war to come.
Euron is a fantastic character and I personally see him becoming an extremely hateful “bad guy” in Game of Thrones. We know that him and the Greyjoys rebelled once, attacking the Lannister home Casterly Rock, before failing and Euron going into exile. Well he’s back now, he’s killed his brother Balon, announced himself as the elected Lord of the Iron Islands and wants to murder his niece and nephew Theon and Yara, as they’re a clear threat to his heritage.
In the throne room he appears cocky and confident. He gives Jaime all sorts of back chat and of course the idea of marrying the Queen and joining their houses clearly doesn’t go down well with the Lord Commander of the Queensguard. Cercei promptly declines this offer although remains interested when Euron announces he will bring her a gift to prove his worth. Head over to our prediction on what this gift will be in our Euron blog.
Meanwhile Sam Tarly is continuing his training to become a maester. Remember John sent him to the Citadel to learn the arts and return to the Night’s Watch after Maester Aemon’s death in season 5. We see a montage of jobs Sam is tasked with which includes cleaning out the shitty basins of sick men and eating food which looks very similar. Sam is determined to learn as much as he can. He’s not a brave, he’s not a swordsman and he’s certainly not a leader, but he’s smart and he has John’s trust, so he’s helping in the only way he knows how and that is to learn as much as he can before Winter comes.
A place that might serve his purpose is the restricted section in the library, for maesters only. Sam wants in and decides to steal the key from the Archmaester whilst he’s sleeping. Here he discovers a book which explains that there’s a seriously large cache of Dragonglass at Dragonstone, East of King’s Landing. This is where John would be able to mine and construct weapons to take down the White Walkers. The main issue being this is where Dany has setup camp (but we’ll get back to that). Interestingly though, Dany is technically John’s Aunt, so the idea of these two meeting will play out very interestingly, especially if Bran catches up to John first to explain to him who his real birth parents are (and imagine how much Littlefinger would love that!).
Whilst collecting food from the Citadel cells, we’re also reconnected to a long-missing character, Jorah Mormont. Sent off by Dany in Season 6, he’s been tasked to finding himself a cure. He seems to have made it all the way back to the Citadel but is not in a great way. We only see his arm but it is caked in Greyscale and things aren’t looking positive. Luckily for Jorah, Sam could well play a part in curing him. Remember little Princess Shireen Baratheon, burned at the stake by mother and father of the year Stannis and Selyse. Well she had Greyscale at a young age and whilst it’s a mystery how she had it cured, we’ve just found out there’s a huge cache of Dragonglass where she grew up once King Robert gave Stannis Dragonstone. Could this play a part in curing Jorah? I have no idea, but I do hope so!
Jorah’s arm is in a bad way man! Can he cure his Greyscale?
I’m not going to linger on Arya meeting the Lannister guards on the highroad… because there’s simply no point. Terrible.
On their quest North to fight to big fight against the Walkers, Sandor Clegane (or The Hound) and the Brotherhood without Banners lead by Beric Dondarrion and Thoros of Myr, stop at an old abandoned farmhouse on the way. Eagle-eyed Game of Thrones viewers will have gained a sense of Déjà vu here as we’re re-introduced to a place Arya and Sandor visit on their way to the Eerie in season 4. A kind farmer and his daughter took them in for the night and offered them food and shelter. Sandor makes a comment “Do you have any Ale” to which the Farmer says no. It’s a nice touch when Thoros suggests they may have some ale hidden away and Sandor simply replies “They don’t”. Later that night he buries them with the help of Thoros, something very un-Sandor-like to be honest and shows how much his character has transformed since the Battle of Blackwater. Ever since he said “Fuck the King” to Joffrey’s face and left, we’ve seen a change in him. He still may be the vile hateful dog we all know, but he’s definitely gaining a conscience and perhaps his last act of nobility will be fighting the White Walkers with Beric and his crew?
During the evening at the Farmers house, Sandor questions the Lord of Light and what makes Beric so special that he keeps being brought back to life. It’s a really good question and perhaps one that will be answered this season. We’ve seen the resurrection of John Snow and Beric Dondarrion by Melisandre and Thoros respectively and one thing they both share in common is their goal to stop the White Walkers. Perhaps this is now all falling into place.
Anyway, as proof of the R’hllor’s existence, Thoros of Myr asks Sandor to look into the fire. This is reminiscent of Melisandre showing Stannis and Davos the death of the three Kings; Balon Greyjoy, Joffrey Barathron and Robb Stark in the fire at Dragonstone. She sentenced them in her own eyes to death using leeches full of blood from Gendry Baratheon and whilst it’s not clear if she helped cause these deaths, it’s certainly a coincidence that she predicted them. Thoros of Myr does much the same, but shows Sandor visions of wights and White Walkers attacking the wall and we see horror in Sandor’s eyes.
Finally we see our Dragon Queen sailing with her fleet towards Dragonstone. This is a momentous moment for Game of Thrones as we need to remember that this is the home of the dragon. This is where Dany was born and lived before King Robert took over the Seven Kingdoms in what’s known as Robert’s Rebellion. She and her brother Viserys were evacuated during the rebellion to avoid harm coming to them from the Baratheons and Lannisters; by Illyrio Mopatis, a Magister of Pentos and a supporter of House Targaryen. He was the one who brokered the deal for Viserys to sell Dany to Khal Drogo in exchange for his Khalasar to take back Westeros. It didn’t pan out for him quite that way though.
Dany touches down on her ancestral home, Dragonstone.
Can I just point out the music used from when we see Dany sailing towards Dragonstone to the end credits. It’s an absolute master piece and if I was to ask you to do one thing today, it would be to go and watch that whole scene again. It’s absolutely brilliant and watching a second time will give you goosebumps, I guarantee it!
Anyway, the point is that Dany is back where she belongs. Dragonstone has been left derelict by Stannis Baratheon after he and his people travelled North to rally the Northern houses and she signifies her presence by pulling down the House banner of Baratheon before travelling to her council table swiftly followed by her loyal service, Tyrion, Missandei, Greyworm and Varys. Here we see a wonderful moment where her and Tyrion flank the war table mirroring that of Jaime and Cercei at the beginning of the episode. Both Queens are planning war against one-another and it’s signified by Dany’s line “Shall we begin?”… Beautiful.
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