Game of Thrones: Season 7 Episode 6: Beyond The Wall

I thought the Night King won this week’s Game of Thrones.

The overall energy of this episode I felt was very uneven.

I gave this a 65 out of 100.  I didn’t like chunks of dialogue.

The Lake Wight battle scene was incredible and kept my score from going down further.  The special effects were absolutely stunning.

I thought again, most of the scenes were set up. The dialogue felt like filler dialog to get us to the battle of the Dragons and White Walkers. The last two scenes I thought encompassed the best emotional scene and worst plot wise elements scene of the show. (SEE: The Good and The Bad.)

What I was given left me with a ton of questions and also sets several pieces of the story off in certain directions or trajectories (SEE: The Unknown)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Summary:

* The table in Dany’s war chambers foreshadows the dragon fire north of the Wall later in the episode.

* The Magnificent 7 head deep North of the Wall.

* John tries to give Longclaw to Ser Jorah and he refuses. That was touching.

* Arya talks to Sansa about shooting arrows and being supported by Ser Rodrick and how he was killed with her help. She shows Sansa the note Cersei forced her to write and accuses her conspiring withe Lannisters. Arya mentions how she watched Sansa watch their father be assassinated by Joffrey. Arya stating she guess she will never know what Sansa suffered may imply a direction for Arya. She says she will go with anger. (See: The Unknown)

* Back at the North, Tormund and the Hound have a discussion about his childhood and Brienne; very funny!

* Jon talks to Beric about their mutual resurrections. They have to know what they are fighting for; not why they were brought back. The shields that guard the realms of men. He said Jon doesn’t look like his father (right about that eh?)

* The Hound sees the mountain from his visions.

* Tyrion talks to Dany. She likes that he’s not a hero because those tend to die of stupid things whilst trying to out do each other. He tests her impulsiveness and if she is reactionary and how smitten she is with Jon. He tells her that she has to take her enemies side to know how they think. She listens. He wants to know who sits on the Iron Throne after she is dead. She criticizes his thoughts and asks he focus on the present.

* Back at the North the seven run into a Wight Polar bear kills a few red shirts and mortally wounds Thoros of Myr in the belly. Beric cauterizes his wounds and they move onward towards the arrowhead mountain.

* Baelish finds out Sansa doesn’t know where the note Arya has came from him (See: The Unknown). She confides to Baelish she’s worried the North will turn on her and she doesn’t know Arya anymore and he tries to turn Sansa on Arya using Brienne take out Arya.

* In the North, Ser Jorah asks Thoros how drunk Thoros was at Pyke with his flaming sword and thought he was brave back then and Thoros confides he was just drunk.

* Tormund finds a row of wights marching behind a White Walker and they bait the row with a fire. A fight ensues. The White Walker gets killed by Jon and most of the Wights die except one.  They capture this one and the Hound slings it over his back. In the distance they see a flood of Wights coming. Jon sends Gendry back to Eastwatch to send a raven to Dany for help. The group runs to a frozen lake for cover and spot a rock island in the middle and they make a break for it. The Wights try to pursue, however the ice breaks and stops them from coming.

* Gendry keeps running for Eastwatch.

* The group slowly freezes to death on the island surrounded by the Wights.

* Gendry collapses in front of the tunnel door and Ser Jorah brings him in and sends word to Dany through Raven.

* Thoros succumbs to his wounds and they have to burn his body.

* Ser Jorah reasons they go for the Walkers for them to stand a chance. Beric reasons the Night King’s death will kill them all.

* Sansa gets a raven that provides an invitation to King’s Landing which Sansa burns and sends Brienne.

* Dany sets off for the North and Tyrion tries to stop her by telling her if she dies they all are lost.

* Back up North the Wights cross the lake one at a time and attack the island. The group shrinks down to Jon, Ser Jorah, Tormund, the Hound and Beric.

* Dany arrives with the Dragons and scorched earth policy is initiated.

* The Night King hurdles an ice spear at Viserion and it falls dead under the ice into the lake.

* Dany flies out with Ser Jorah, Beric, the Hound and Tormund. The hound saves Ser Jorah from falling off.

* Jon stays to fight the Night king and falls into the water and pulls himself out.

* Benjen reunites with Jon and gives him his horse to escape.

* The Hound drops off the wight at Eastwatch.

* Dany waits for Jon to return and he does barely alive.

* Sansa goes to Arya’s quarters to find the raven message and finds the faces of Walder Frey and one other.  Arya gets dark with wanting to kill Sansa and then walks off. Kind of creepy.

* Jon wakes up to Dany. I think they are truly in love. She pulls back on her feelings once he bends the knee to her.

* Chains drawn by white walkers bring up Viserion and the Knight King creates a Wight Dragon!!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Best lines:

Tormund: ‘I want to make great big babies with her. Think of them; great big monsters they’d conquer the world’. The Hound: ‘How did a mad F^&*&^ like you survive in the world for this long?’

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Good:

* Nice sweeping long shots of the men walking.

* Great banter (Tormund messing with Gendry); between the Hound and Tormund and Beric and Jon; especially about Death being the enemy and defending those who cannot defend themselves.

* I loved the music at the Wight Lake battle and the scene where the Night King hurdles the ice spear at one of the dragons was fantastic.  I loved all the special effects and visual effects.

* The final scene between Jon and Dany where he bends the knee did have a lot of emotion and I really thought the actors did a terrific job of capturing empathy for the loss of the Dragon and a mutual deep determination to eliminate the Night King.

* A Wight Dragon is a fantastic idea.  I just don’t like how it was originated. (SEE: The Bad and the Unknown).

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Bad:

* A lot of walking and banter while walking; reminding me of the Lord of Rings in that capacity.

* Does Dany really believe deceit and Mass Murder win wars?

* Beric made more sense on strategy then Jon to defeat the Night King. How are they going to get out of there opting for capturing one wight over slaying the Night King totally surrounded by thousands of the dead powered by the Night King?

* Little Finger thanked the Maester for bringing Sansa the note she requested. Sansa asked her where Arya got that note. Why didn’t Arya pick up on that Sansa asked her where she got the note?  If Sansa was responsible she would know where that note came from right?

* Since when do the Wights exhibit such intelligence? They watch a rock slide across the ice and then conclude that the water is just frozen enough to support the weight
of each of them attacking one at a time?

* There is some bad continuity with how close the Wights were surrounding Jon and company at the lake. At first they were fairly close and as Jon’s party slowly freezes they
appeared to be further off.

* I really had a lot of issues with the four very long iron (or ice) linked chains the White Walkers were using and hauling the dragon out of water with them.  How were those chains crafted? Let’s suppose the White Walkers have the skill and number of foundries necessary to forge the iron (or ice) chain links required to make those chains quickly.
It’s been shown fairly consistently at Hardhomme and in this very episode that Wights and White Walkers do not fair well in water so how did either of them get the chains wrapped around the dragon’s neck? We literally see Wights sink into the water once they fall in.  If Wights or White Walkers can swim, why don’t they just swim around the end of the wall in the Narrow Sea?  All they had to do was have Viserion’s body skid across the frozen lake to the shore and then have the Night King resurrect his body later.  I guess they wanted to surprise us with what they were pulling up from the bottom of the water.  Story sense works more for me than surprise; especially in this case.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Unknown:

* Why didn’t Arya tell Sansa she got the note from Little Finger when Sansa asked her where she got it? If she did, Sansa would know not to trust Little Finger.

* Will Arya leave Winterfell to finish Cersei off herself or will she try and eliminate Sansa? What was the point in menacing Sansa?

* Did Cersei really send the raven for Sansa to go to King’s Landing or was it Littlefinger?

* How does Beric always light his sword? His blood? What doesn’t Beric understand about killing the Night King?

* How do the wights know that a stone skittering across the ice makes the ice worth walking on?

* Can a Wight Dragon be used to break down the wall? Does it breath ice instead of fire?

* Where is the Hound off to now?  Technically although he helped get the Wight he hasn’t bent the knee to anyone.  If he helps bring the Wight to King’s Landing he will see his brother with Cersei.  Is Cleghane bowl still possible?

* What’s stopping the Night King from just getting on Wight Viserion and flying over the Wall with several white walkers on it’s back?  He could literally just pick up and drop them off a few at a time.  They can start killing Westerosi and converting them to an army.

* Will Jon bending the knee with Dany send the Northerners over to side with Sansa over Jon because they won’t side with a Targaryen and Arya will be forced to flee Winterfell looking for on? The only thing that would keep them inline would be the reveal that Jon is a true Targaryen right?  Possibly through combination of Gilly’s annulment notes about Rhaegar’s marriage and marriage to Leanna in Dorne and Bran’s Green sight?

* What will Dany think once she sees the Wight form of Viserion? Will she have trouble killing it? Kind of like in the Walking Dead how at first the characters in the Walking Dead had a hard time killing the zombified remains of their friends and loved ones?

Can Bran warg into Wight Viserion to gain control of him?  Doubtful. If he could, then he or the three eyed Raven could have stopped the Wight army from invading the three eyed Raven’s lair.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Game of Thrones Threads at the TV Critic:
http://www.thetvcritic.org/forums/other-tv-shows/show/180
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Game of Thrones: Season 7E5: Eastwatch

This episode was packed and a LOT of setup. I think Drogon won this week’s Game of Thrones.

That was one great reveal of Rhaegar having his marriage annulled to Elia Martel which makes Jon a legitimate Targaryen (SEE: The Unknown).
Wow!

Chock full of Best Lines

Ser Davos: ‘Nothing F&*Ks you harder than time’
Ser Davos: ‘It’s better to be a coward for a minute than dead the rest of your life’.
Tyrion: ‘Did you read it?’ Varys: ‘It’s a sealed scroll for the King in the North.’ Tyrion: ‘What’s it say?’
Tyrion: ‘Last time I was here I killed my father with crossbow.’
Ser Davos: ‘Last time I was here you killed my son with Wildfire.’
Tormund: ‘How many queens are there now?
Jon: ‘Two.’
Tormund: ‘And you need to convince the one with the dragons or the one who f&*ks her brother?’
Jon: ( chuckles )’Both.’

8 more episodes left & this diversion going to the Wall by Eastwatch to get a Wight doesn’t work for me. It’s definitely going to take us to the end of Season 7. Gilly’s Rhaegar annulment bomb seals L+R=J so Jon being a Targaryen *has* to be used at this point in Season 8 for something. I predict, Jon will survive the Wight quest, which means plot wise it’s functioning for me like a secondary character grinder. Who’s going to die over the next two episodes? Tormund, Ser Jorah, Beric, Thoros, The Hound or Gendry?

It would be far more entertaining for me to see Dany, Jon and Ed Sheeran (a captive Lannister troop convinced to go on a singing gig to Eastwatch) on Drogon’s back go over the wall near a White Walker. Jon knocks out Ed Sheeran; ties him up; kills him and he comes back as a Wight. They tie his bound undead body to one of Drogon’s legs; cut the rope dropping him into King’s Landing where he sings the song of the undead to Cersei before Jaime finishes him off in a single bottle episode.

Even if they do manage to get a Wight to King’s Landing; how lame would it be if Cersei didn’t suffer the biggest consequences of Hubris out of any character by believing there is an Army of the Undead and sends all available troops to aid Dany and Jon against the Army of the Undead?

Let’s face it. That wall is coming down and we are dying to see the expression on Cersei’s face when she’s confronted with the vast sprall of the Armies of the Wight Walkers lurching towards the gates of the Red Keep. I am hoping it plays out this way rather than everyone cooperates.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Summary:

* Jaime and Bronn escape the clutches of capture; gasping for air on the shore of a river. Bronn says Jaime doesn’t get to die until he gets paid and is bailing once the Dragon’s attack King’s Landing.
Jaime makes it a point of going to tell Cersei about that the three Dragons.

* Tyrion walks through the devastation. A bunch of the Lannisters bend the knew to Dany. Randall and Dickon Tarly refuse; Tyrion tries to offer alternatives and Dany burns them to ash in front of their men who then bend the knee.

* Jaime talks to Cersei about the attack on the Loot train. She says they’ll just get mercenaries to replace the devastated armies. He reminds her that Dany has a Dothraki army and three dragons and she snaps back what does he expect her to do? She wants to use Tyrion to soften a deal since he killed their father. Jaime corrects her on Tyrion’s innocence and relays what Olenna told her about poisoning Joffrey and then she believes him. So they fight and die or submit and die and she knows her choice.

* Dany arrives at Dragonstone with Drogon who bonds profoundly and curiously with Jon (See: The Good). He has mixed emotions about her victories probably because that’s less men that can fight the real enemy to the North.

* Dany reunites with Ser Jorah. It’s clear that they love each other (as Queen and subject.)

* Bran wargs into Ravens and runs into the Night King and tells the Maester at Winterfell to send a raven to Jon and also the Citadel about the Undead marching on Eastwatch.

* At the Citadel around the Arch Maester’s table they discuss Bran and Sam overhears them and tells them he met him and that he must be believable if he survived for years North of the wall and was able to make it back to Winterfell. The Archmaester says that the message may also be a ploy by the Dragon Queen to lure troops to the North so it’s easier to conquer King’s Landing.

* Varys has a sealed message to Jon and isn’t happy. It’s about Arya and Bran being alive and how the White Walkers are approaching the Wall at East Watch.

* Jon tells Dany about Bran and Arya and he doesn’t look happy because of Bran’s vision and pleads to go home. He asks for her help and she claims Cersei will just take over (SEE: the Bad).

* Tyrion comes up with a couple of stupid ideas of first capturing a Wight to prove the Army of the Undead is real and wants to make the idea more plausible by talking to Jaime about it first (by brokering an armistice). Ser Jorah volunteers to go get at Wight and Jon agrees to go with him to get the Free Folk to help.

* Lords Glover makes a plea for Jon to be there and Lord Royce tells Sansa the Knights of the Vale came to serve her. Arya tells Sansa in close quarters to discipline them to keep them in line until Jon gets back and Sansa wants to be more diplomatic than that.

* Ser Davos smuggles Tyrion into King’s Landing to see Jaime. Bronn brings Jaime to the Dungeons of the Red Keep to set the scene. He tries to broker an Armistice between Cersei and Dany.

* Ser Davos finds Gendry! They try to escape and Gold Cloaks slow them down and Gendry kills them when they question Tyrion.

* Jaime talks to Cersei about the Armistice with Dany to prove there is an Army of the Undead marching on the Wall. She reveals that she is pregnant (SEE: The Unknown)

* Jon meets Gendry and they bond over their bastardry and fathers and they leave for EastWatch.

* Gilly reveals that Prince Rhaegar had the High Septon Maynard annull his marriage to Elia Martel to remarry someone else at the same time in Dorne (no doubt Lyanna). Sam steals books from the off limits section and flees the Citadel with Gilly and Little Sam; no doubt headed to Winterfell.

* Little Finger sets up Arya with the message that Sansa was forced to write and was sent to Winterfell. The note says Robert is dead, killed from wounds he took in a boar hunt. Father surprised Joffrey and tried to steal his throne and want Rob to swear fealty to Joffrey to spare his life and those of the Northerners.

* Jon reaches Eastwatch and talks with Tormund about capturing the Wight to convince both queens to help them battle the Army of the Undead. He shows Jon a cell that has the Hound, Beric Dondarian and Thoros of Myr. After some feather ruffling between everyone, they all agree to work together to capture a wight and they go through the Gate at East Watch and into the areas North of the Wall to find a Wight. Credits.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Good:

* Great Fourth Wall Fan feeding with the Ser Davos line to Gendry: ‘Thought you might still be rowing.’
* Gendry has a War Hammer like Robert!
* Rhaegar has his marriage to Elia Martel annulled! Does that mean Jon is a legitimate heir to the Iron Throne?

Most emotional scenes:

* Jon reaching out for Drogon. The EFX were great!
* Ser Jorah reuniting with Dany.
* Jon’s plea to Dany to go North.
* Jon with Gendry.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Bad: (Tyrion goes full on Jar Jar Binks here)

* I don’t follow Dany’s actions at not attacking Cersei or going to the Wall to help Jon.

1. What exactly would Cersei be ‘marching into’ if Dany goes to the Wall with her Army to defend the realm? Cersei already has King’s Landing, the Stormlands, the Reach, the Riverlands and the Iron Isles. I don’t follow Dany’s logic for not helping Jon. It’s kind of a flimsy reason. Casterly Rock has no value so the Unsullied should leave. Dragonstone (if taken over) could just be retaken; not a big deal.

2. Why not put an embargo on Cersei at King’s Landing? (Even Cersei was puzzled by Dany wanting an Armistice while she has inertia in the war.).

I suppose if Dany was under attack and Jon snuck out, then her reasoning to not go with Jon would make sense. However she just decimated the Lannister army; holds Casterly Rock and still has armies at Dorne (possibly still parts of the Reach as well.)

Jon’s passion for wanting to go North to help defend the realm works over the following two even flimsier plot points:

* Tyrion going all the way to Red Keep just to talk to Jaime about an armistice and paving the way for bringing a Wight as proof of the Army of the Undead to King’s Landing. That was too ‘Cray Cray’ for me. Wouldn’t a raven made more common sense? As nice and as improbable of a meeting would be between Jaime and Tyrion at this point, why sacrifice the story for a surprise moment like that? The scene lacked substance; even Jaime was wondering what Tyrion was there for.

* Even more Cray Cray was sending a small bunch of notable characters (including Jon) to capture a single Wight from an army of thousands of undead (including Wight Giants) led by the White Walkers. How is one Wight going to convince everyone that there’s an army out there and how the heck are they going to control it let alone get it to King’s Landing? I thought that idea was too second rate for this show. Even funnier is it’s Tyrion’s idea and Dany agrees to it after bashing him about verbally for his other great ideas.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Unknown:

* Is Cersei pregnant for real?

* Does Dany suspect Jon Snow has Targaryen blood due to Drogon?

* If Rhaegar had his marriage to Elia Martel annulled, did he marry Lyanna Stark? If so, then Jon is the legitimate heir to the Iron Throne!

* Why doesn’t Jon want to tell Dany about the stabbing?

* What is Little Finger’s Endgame?

* Does Little Finger know about Rhaegar having his marriage annulled already? I think he does. Once it is know that Jon is Lyanna’s baby with Rhaegar could Little Finger
potentially use that against the Starks?

* What happens when the Northerners learn Jon is a Targaryen?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Game of Thrones Threads at the TV Critic:
http://www.thetvcritic.org/forums/other-tv-shows/show/180
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Game of Thrones: Season 7E4: The Spoils of War

I thought overall they did a great job of editing this episode. It was shorter than normal, however I didn’t care about the length. The dialog was concise, acting was great and there’s a lot packed in here. I really liked the Dothraki/Lannister (Loot Train) battle scene. I give this a 85 out of 100. I have seen it 5 times already. I can watch this one over an over. Fantastic!

If I rate the battles that I like in GOT.

1. Loot Train Battle
2. Hardhomme
3. Battle of the Bastards
4. Attack on the Children of the Forest
5. Mance’s attack on Castle Black

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Summary:

* Bronn needles Jaime as to why he is so pissed off and guesses Lady Olenna said something to Jaime to put him in that state.

* Jaime and Bronn put the Tyrell gold into a carriage set to go from High garden to King’s landing. This is put at the beginning of logistics line loot train heading towards King’s landing.

* Bronn wants more spoils then he was provided and Jaime promises more once the war is over.
Bronn doubts Cersei’s reign will be peaceful enough to benefit more after she’s in power.

* Jaime wants the grain from the Reach collected and put into the logistic loot train line asap and asks the Tarly’s and Bronn to supervise taking care of that.

* The Ironbank is impressed with the by the speed of the payback of the loan by Cersei and they promise to bank roll the crown for further progress in the war once the gold gets to King’s Landing.

* Littlefinger gives the dagger to Bran (that was used to almost kill him in Season one) and Bran reveals that he knows some things Little Finger has said. (See: The Unknown.)

* Meera Reed says she is leaving for her home and is saddened when she realizes she is not saying goodbye to Bran but to the three eyed raven (See: The good).

* Arya makes her way to Winterfell. The guards don’t believe she is Arya Stark (a callback to her being stopped by the guards of the Red keep in the first season.

* There is a huge difference in how she handles herself since then showing me how much Arya has changed.) She gets past the guards and Sansa finds her in the crypts by their father’s crypt.

* Sansa learns of (and they laugh over) Arya’s kill list. They muse about how Jon will be ecstatic when he finally sees Arya when he comes back.

* Arya asks Sansa if she killed Joffrey and she says she wishes she did.

* Then there is reunion between Sansa, Arya and Bran under the family weirwood tree. Bran tells them both about Arya’s list and how Cersei is on it and of her decision to either go to Winterfell or King’s Landing. Bran gives Arya the dagger Little Finger gave him. Arya and Sansa exchange a glance acknowledging that Bran isn’t crazy and there’s something to his visions.

* Brienne and Pod watch the Stark children reunited; fulfilling Caitlyn’s wishes and Pod tells her she should be proud as Little Finger looks on.

* Dany and Missandei share a short girl talk about her time with Greyworm and Jon shows Dany the Dragonglass. He also shows her the many writings of the Children of the Forest; documenting their time with the First Men and the white walkers. He tells her they need to fight together and she says she will if bends the knee. He says if he does his men will not accept a Southern ruler and then they are doomed. She asks him if their survival is more important then his pride.

* Tyrion tells Dany Cersei took Casterly Rock and also that Lady Olenna is dead and Cersei has taken the food from the Reach. She lays into him that his plans have cost them the Iron Islands, Dorne and the Reach (and even infers that his plans may have favored his family more than Dany) and asks Jon Snow what she should do. He says that the people that follow her know she made impossible things happen and if she attacks King’s Landing with the Dragon that makes her no better than any other ruler.

*Brienne spars with Podrick. Arya shows up and shows off her dagger. Arya asks to train with her and this sets off what I thought was the best sparing of the series. (See: The Good.) Little Finger looks on with Sansa. Brienne is impressed and asks who taught her and she says cleverly ‘no one’.
Little Finger notices Arya has the dagger he gave Bran and he slowly smiles and backs away from his perch.

* Ser Davos knows Jon has a thing for Dany and Jon reminds Ser Davos of the Night King. They meet Missandei and she brings up the thing about Jon’s father and his bastard status and she points out in Nath they don’t have such things. Missandei reiterates that she serves Dany because chooses to; not because she is forced to.

* They see Yara’s ship in the distance and head to the shoreline and see Theon bringing in a rowboat with his men. Theon attempts to approach him with a greeting and Jon runs up and grabs him saying he’s lucky he saved Sansa or else he would kill him. Theon points out Euron has Yara and he was there to ask Dany to help get her back. Jon says she was gone.

* Randall Tarly points out the gold has made it through the gates of King’s Landing and Jaime points out that the spoils logistic line has to pickup the slack so the grain gets there asap.

* Bron laughs at Dickon’s name and also hears the rumble of horses galloping and then there are shouts of spears and shields and forming a line. They are hemmed in on one side by a small body of water.

* The Dothraki attack lead by Drogon tearing a hole in the line. Dany incinerates their supply line while Tyrion looks on. Jaime is saved by Dickon from a superior Dothraki Blood Rider attack. Bronn is taken off his horse by a blood rider and Bronn manages to use the large Ballista called Scorpion to get off a shot at Drogon.

*Drogon incinerates the ballista and Jaime charges Dany and Drogon. She sees him at the last minute and Drogon whips his head around and blasts fire at him. It appears Bronn pulls him off his mount at the last second and they go into the water fully armored and sink; unmoving. Credits.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Good:

*I loved especially in this episode how much it showed me how the Starks have changed. When they were children, Sansa talked about being a lady and now she is one and Arya talked about being a fighter and now she is one.

*The scene with Meera Reed really helped me see Bran’s transformation and that Bran did die in the cave (or a least a big part of him.)
*The scene with Arya and the guards shows how much she has grown (when you go back and compare it to her with the guards at King’s Landing in Season One.)

*Arya sparring with Brienne; fantastic! I thought it was well choreographed. The look on Little Finger’s face was priceless. Boy does he have to play nice now.

*Sansa’s interactions with Arya and Bran really show me how much she has become wise and unphased by life and I loved how she didn’t miss a beat after sharing a glance with Arya when Bran said Cersei was on her list and asked who else was on the list?. Their interactions definitely drew them closer together.

*George R.R Martin has hinted that the ending would be bitter sweet to Thrones. The way the Starks have all changed definitely shows this.

*Bronn’s struggle to get to the Ballista was a gripping couple of minutes. I don’t think I have ever seen this many folks on fire in a scene.

* I loved how they edited out dialog (like the conversation about Lady Olenna being defeated by Jaime.)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Bad:

*I didn’t like Jon’s response to Dany about what to do. It really didn’t give her much direction and I thought this was a great opportunity to have him give her sound advice that would draw them both closer together and also propel her to action. As if the people of Westeros would stare in wonder at the Dragons (and then hope she makes other impossible things happen) and then agree to allow her to lead them? Really? This I thought could have been better dialog.

He has already stated he thinks the fight for the Iron Throne is pointless and he does need everyone’s help fighting the White Walkers, so I think the best thing he could do to persuade her to help him is to help her win the iron throne first (with sound advice, troops or whatever) so he could then use her and her troops up North. The quickest way to do that is to tell her to use her Dragon’s against Cersei’s troops (in all future battles), which Dany did anyway in this episode. Otherwise Jon has to try and persuade everyone south of the wall that the White Walkers are real and an imminent threat to their existence and how is he going to do that?

* How and when did Bronn learn to shoot the Ballista? Bronn seemed surprised when Jaime asked him to shoot it (since he was one handed) which implied to me he didn’t know what he was doing.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Unknown:

*Does Bran know that Little Finger was the one that set off everything by convincing Lysa to poison Jon Arryn?

* Does Bran truly not know who the dagger belonged to? When Bran quotes Little Finger with ‘Chaos is a Ladder’, does Little Finger think that Bran is toying with him and that he does know who the dagger really belongs to?

* Are the symbols on the cave walls, spells that give the dragon glass its powers or are they just glyphs that document what it is to be used for and the history of what has happened?

*Is Randyll Tarly dead? I didn’t see him get roasted.

*Is (or was) Meera Reed in love Bran? Is that why she is morning his loss? (In his three eyed Raven transformation.)

* Is Jaime alive? Will he be Dany’s prisoner?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Game of Thrones Threads at the TV Critic:
http://www.thetvcritic.org/forums/other-tv-shows/show/180
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Game of Thrones: Season 7E3: The Queen’s Justice

I gave this one a 71 out of 100. I thought this episode was solid for the most part. There is one more example of twist over plausibility (SEE The bad.) Overall I liked the episode a lot; great sets; many well written and acted scenes.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Summary:

Jon and Ser Davos land at Dragonstone greeted by Tyrion and Missandei and are asked to hand over their weapons. Ser Davis chats up Missandei.

Tyrion banters with Jon about coming south (I suppose they will swap stories later) and one of
the Dragons swoop down and scares them on the path to Dragonstone castle.

Varys questions Mel about not greeting Jon; she admits to some wrong doing that is causing her avoidance and departs for Volantis; vowing to be back in Westeros for her demise and tells Varys he will die there too.

Jon finally meets Dany and the situation quickly disintegrates. Once he is introduced to Dany as King of the North she calls him Lord; Ser Davos corrects her and she points out that Torrhen Stark was the last King of The North who bent the knee to her ancestor Aegon in exchange for his life and those of the lives of the Northmen and swore fealty in perpetuity to House Targaryen.

Jon points out that her father killed his grandfather and uncle. She admits her father was an evil man and apologizes for the crimes committed to Jon’s family, however she shouldn’t be judged on his deeds.

She asks him again to bend the knee and he refuses to do so and continue his ancestor’s vow.

Jon recognizes Dany is better than Cersei for not storming King’s Landing right away. He tries to turn her eyes to the Army of the Undead up in the North.

Dany ironically talks about how faith pushed her through her travails over the years since she was a child, however she seems to have very little in Jon and what he is saying is out there. Ser Davos passionately defends an unemotional Jon and mentions how he took a knife to his heart for his people (that seemed to get her attention.) Jon stops him as he starts elaborating on that. (Probably in fear that she won’t believe the story of his resurrection).

Tyrion again tries to get Jon to bend the knee since the Iron throne doesn’t matter to him, however he doesn’t comply.

Varys comes in and delivers news about the defeat of Yara and Ellaria at the hands of Euron. Dany offers up hospitality and Jon asks if he’s a prisoner and she says not yet.

Theon gets pulled onboard one of Yara’s remaining ships and the Ironborn reject him for his cowardice (like the Spartans in our own history would reject a soldier coming back from a battle after retreating and leaving his fellow troops to die.)

Euron parades Yara, Ellaria and Tyene through the streets of King’s Landing cheered by the crowd as they spit and throw things at the captors.

He brings them up to Cersei who proclaims him the greatest captain of the fourteen seas and again he asks for her hand in marriage and she says she will comply after they win the battle. Euron takes his place next to Jaime and asks what Cersei is like in bed since they will be brothers. Jaime is visibly upset by his comments.

Cersei goes to the dungeons under the Red Keep to pay Ellaria a visit and after an emotional exchange; poisons Tyene the same way Ellaria poisoned Myrcella and tells Ellaria she will be kept alive to suffer in the dungeons as long as possible.

The Iron Bank pays Cersei a visit and she makes a vow to pay the Crown’s debt in a fortnight.

Jon and Tyrion meet finally to brood to each other and Jon feels he is prisoner and asks Tyrion for Dragonglass. It appears Tyrion believes Jon about the Army of the Undead.

Tyrion goes to Dany with this. He tells here she doesn’t have to believe in the Army of the dead and encourages her to allow him to mine the Dragonglass because it will create a bond between her and Jon. She confesses to Jon that they should all be examining what they think and they know, (which sounds like she is open to working with Jon on the problem in the North.) Dany agrees to allow Jon to mine and forge weapons from Dragon Glass and gives him resources to do so.

Sansa executes a plan for storing grain and retrofitting armor with Leather for the coming Winter. Little Finger tries to counsel her and Bran arrives from the Wall. Sansa tries to talk to him and he tells her he knows everything about everyone (in pieces) because he’s ‘The Three Eyed Raven’ and he became that from the Three Eyed Raven. Sansa looks like she thinks he’s not well in the head; until he starts talking about her wedding and she gets spooked and walks off.

Arch Maester Ebrose examines Ser Jorah and finds him Grayscale free. Samwell says farewell to Ser Jorah who is headed to Dragonstone. Arch Maester Ebrose applauds him for curing Ser Jorah and gives him books to rewrite as punishment for doing the procedure and not being a Maester.

Dany wants to hop on one of her Dragons and go find and kill Euron, however her counsel tells her that’s a bad idea because that could take a long time and she could get shot with arrow (and so could the Dragons.)

Tyrion talks about the attack on Casterly Rock which narrates the Unsullied’s attack on it. Greyworm infiltrates the Rock only to find out that only a small amount of troops were defending it. Euron attacks the ships the Unsullied sailed in on with his fleet (See: the Unknown).

Jaime leads a bulk of the Lannister forces on Highgarden and defeats the Tyrells.

Lady Olena drinks the poison and then admits to Jaime that she was the one who killed Joffrey and told him to let Cersei know that.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Good:

* Wonderful backdrops and sets all throughout the show.
* Great use of ‘previously on Game of Thrones to foreshadow the irony of the poisoning of Tyene just like Myrcella.
* Nice callbacks to Season One: Tyrion with Jon; Bran with Sansa.
* Great scene of Mel’s last words to Varys. I am sure it will prove to be accurate.
* Strong meeting scene between Jon and Dany. Nice intensity and great dialog by everyone. I thought they were the best interchanges in the show. I laughed when Dany chastised Tyrion and then he stepped out of the way to allow Jon to pitch asking her support for the war against the Undead Armies in the North as his reason for being there. I loved Dany’s background lines to Jon and Ser Davos counter with Jon’s back story. I loved how she speaks about having faith in her destiny in being ruler of Westeros, however she can’t seem to see that part of her destiny lies with defending the North against a force she has no faith in believing exists. However, later on she admits she’s willing to understand what she doesn’t know, so there’s a foundation definitely she and Jon can build on.
* Euron’s bedroom banter to Jaime in the throne room was so awkwardly inappropriately funny. I couldn’t stop laughing; Jaime’s look was priceless.
* If I call back in my mind’s eye to Cersei’s talks with Oberyn and the Viper versus the Mountain battle, her lines to Ellaria carry a lot of mixed passion. Passion for Oberyn and Ellaria’s love for him (I think everyone was affected by Oberyn’s loss; what a character) and passion for revenge against Ellaria for the killing of innocent Myrcella.
You can tell that really affected Cersei and how she really wanted Ellaria to feel what she had been feeling by poisoning Tyene the exact same way and watching her die powerless to do anything about it. Then having to live out her days in the dungeons of the Red Keep. Cersei’s character in this scene finally shows a lot of dimension in her inner feelings and what she’s been experiencing. This was the most emotional performance I thought in the entire show.
* Cersei’s scenes with the Iron Bank were quite Tywin like; calculating and she stalled well and read the Iron Bank’s losses due to the Slave trade faltering due to Dany well.
* Tyrion’s mutual brooding scene with Jon I thought was a wonderful statement on people accepting something larger then themselves affecting them negatively. They are more comfortable accepting that they have to over throw a despotic queen rather than an undead army of thousands.
* I love how they left it open for Jon not knowing he has Dany’s support against the White Walkers.
* Sansa’s command scenes were great.
* Samwell’s handshake of trust with Ser Jorah was wonderful.
* Once again Diana Rigg doesn’t disappoint. Her final words cut through the last scene with such intensity and leveled Jaime nicely.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Bad:
* I thought the weakest scene was Sansa with Bran under the Weirwood. Bran was trying too hard to act omniscient instead of being omniscient. He did admit he was only seeing things in pieces so that did bring some measure of normalcy; to see how he’s still struggling with what he is to become and who he still is. Instead, it felt like he became a bit pretentious to me as he progressed South of the Wall. I think Bran could have done a better job of explaining to Sansa how he became the three eyed Raven and not leaving her with a riddle and making him look like he’s crazy. This seemed a bit tropic for me. He could have just told her there was a three eyed raven before him that taught him everything he knows before he passed on and left it at that. That should have sufficed. If they just show him spending his days warging into the Winterfell Weirwood in silence after this exchange, he won’t look unlike someone who is crazy going off in some wild mental trip away from reality.

* I thought Euron’s fleet being right there to destroy the Unsullied ships wasn’t explained well. I suppose after Euron had the 1000 ships build, he build more ships and left someone in charge at the Iron Isles, then sent a Raven to the Iron Isles sending ships to Casterly Rock to protect it from attackers. That really is the only thing that explains the Ironborn being there so suddenly. It is pretty close to Casterly Rock. If Euron’s ships came from his fleet near King’s Landing then I have a big problem with the attack scene of the Unsullied ships. It’s a bit difficult to believe they could get from East Westeros to West Westeros coasts so quickly.

*Dany’s whole show of force at the end of Season 6 was that she not only had this combined fleet; she had Dragons. Why didn’t any of her attacks involve her also attacking with her on one of her Dragons? Surely that would have won the battles against Euron with Yara and also with the fleet that was with Unsullied. Right?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Unknown:

* Will Mel’s words about Varys fate proof accurate? I think so.
* Is the rest of Theon’s days to be spent being known as a coward to his people and just torturing himself for his inaction to save Yara?
* Euron only gave Ellaria and Tyene to Cersei. Is Yara his prisoner?
* Does Tyrion believe Jon took a knife to his heart?
* Why can’t the three eyed raven be the Lord of Winterfell?
* Does Ser Ebrose see Sam as an asset to the Citadel or is he in fear of Sam’s abilities?
* Did Euron have ships at the Iron Isles to really pull off reaching the Unsullied ships off the coast of Casterly Rock? It’s not clear though. If the ships Euron used were part of his thousand that attacked Yara, I find it hard to believe they would have been able to reach Casterly Rock in time to intercept Dany’s ships.
* I had problems sorting out Jamie’s logistical planning with clearing out Casterly Rock and laying siege to Highgarden. How did he pull that off? I suppose he has a Captain of the Guard at Casterly Rock he Ravened from King’s Landing (while there when Euron was making his offering) which he instructed to: 1. Leave a small force at Casterly Rock; 2. clear the larders and occupants of the castle and 3. mobilize their forces and make camp near Highgarden and he just traveled and met up with them. I think that should have been explained a bit better.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Game of Thrones Threads at the TV Critic:
http://www.thetvcritic.org/forums/other-tv-shows/show/180
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Game of Thrones: Season 7E2: Stormborn

I like pieces of this episode; not the whole thing.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Summary:

Dany confronts Varys about his actions against her in the past and presses him for who’s side he’s on. He says he’s always on the side of the people and she can have Grey Worm assassinate him or she could have him fed to Dragons, however he says she’s the best choice at the moment for leading the people. He only changes sides when the actions of the leader who is around at the time are called into question. Dany makes him swear allegiance to her and to let her know when her actions are called into question to her face and he agrees. She says she will roast him alive if he doesn’t, which he fully expects.

Mel shows up and they debate through Missandei the meaning of Azhor(a) Hai it is the prince (or princess) promised who shall bring the dawn. (SEE: The Unknown.) She mentions Dany should meet Jon Snow and Tyrion vouches for Jon. She leaves it to Jon to fill Dany in about all that has happened to him.

Dany orders Tyrion to summon Jon and bend the knee to her.

Jon and Sansa receive Dany’s raven (however Tyrion omits the bending of the knee part and mentions she has three dragons and asks him to come to Dragonstone to discuss an alliance.)

Cersei calls her bannerman; including Randall and Dickon Tarly. She tries to convince them to take up arms with her because the Dothraki (who work for Dany) will rape, pillage and plunder the countryside.

Jaime tries to convince Lord Tarly to fight with them afterwards and try to pin his allegiance. Randall appears reluctant however he’s leaning towards Lady Olenna’s side (Dany.)

Archmaester Ebrose and Samwell examine Ser Jorah and see that the greyscale has progressed and Ser Jorah should have cut off his arm when first contracted. He tells Ser Jorah, there’s nothing they can do for him now and that since he’s a knight he can stay one more *night* and then has to go live the rest of his life with the Stone men
out in Old Valyria.

Qyburn shows Cersei a huge crossbow that he has had made that can allegedly kill dragons in the bowels of the Red Keep. (See: The Unknown.)

Dany, Lady Olenna, Ellaria Sand and Yara plot their battle plans (withe aid of Tyrion); against Cersei. (See: The Good.) Greyworm and the Unsullied are to attack Casterly Rock while Yara and Ellaria sail to Dorne to pick up her army and then along with the Tyrells they lay siege on Cersei at King’s Landing. It’s agreed that if they attacked the people might side with Cersei rather than them.

Lady Olenna pulls Dany aside to tell her that Tyrion is clever, however she should ignore him and be a Dragon. (See: The Unknown.)

Missandei and Grey Wormy have some intimate moments. It appears they were able to work around Greyworm’s limitations.

Samwell and Archmeister Ebrose discuss a procedure to cure greyscale that was proposed by a Maester that died from Greyscale. The Archmaester forbids it.

Jorah writes to Khalesi (not sure what is in the letter.)(See: the Unknown.)

Samwell helps Ser Jorah cure his greyscale with a painfully gross procedure after telling Ser Jorah how he saw his father die up in the North fighting for him. (See: the Unknown.)

Arya meets Hotpie in the Riverlands who informs her that Jon is King of the North now. She decides to head North to Winterfell instead of going after Cersei directly.

Jon gets a raven from Samwell telling him that Dragonstone has a huge mountain of Dragonglass. Ser Davos points out dragon fire can kill Wights.

Jon assembles his banner men to reveal the two raven messages and debate whether he should go or not. Most the ladies and lords are against; including Sansa because of how the mad king treated his grandfather and uncle. Jon leaves Sansa in charge and says he and Ser Davos will go meet her.

Jon chokes Little Finger in the crypts (after he visits his father’s crypt; I suppose for guidance) especially after he professes his love for Caitlyn and then Sansa.

Arya meets Nymeria and after their encounter; she’s not able to persuade Nymeria to go up North with her and concludes that that is not who Nymeria is; she’s a wild Direwolf. Perhaps Arya
sees herself like Nymeria? She did tell Ned back in the first couple of Seasons that she was not a princess or Lady type; that she wanted to be a fighter. This may have an effect on what her next steps are. (See: the Unknown)

Sand snakes argue about who they each get to kill (stupid scene).

Yara gets it on with Ellaria while Theon pours the wine. Euron crashes their boat party.

Euron captures Yara. Two of sand snakes get killed and Ellaria and the remaining sand snake are taken prisoner; presumably to give up to Cersei as an offering. Theon turns coward and jumps off his ship; leaving Yara in Euron’s hands (Reek is still around apparently.)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Good:

* Yay Hotpie and Nymeria! I loved how they used Nymeria to show, how Arya is sticking to her true nature. She’s an assassin and I would be surprised if she continued to go up to Winterfell. She will probably head back on her mission to kill Cersei.

* I thought it was great that Jon didn’t trust Little Finger. Perhaps Jon knows that Little Finger left Sansa to Roose Bolton and Ramsay which is what probably caused him to Choke Little Finger. It brought me back to Ned nearly choking little finger in front of his brothel in Season 2.

* I loved the battle plotting scene with Dany, Lady Olenna, Ellaria Sand and Yara; against Cersei.
It’s a rarity I think to see a council of women (in a show or movie) plot a battle; going through possibly scenarios; against a common enemy who is also a woman. It clearly marks the changes in leadership in this world.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Bad:

* The Sand Snakes arguing over who gets to kill who. I thought this was stupid scene that served no purpose and I hated their laughter. It was good to see them finally die in the war with Euron; finally! I personally have hated the Dornish plot line the entire length of the show.

* I didn’t like the battle with Euron, Yara, Theon and the Sand snakes. There was too much going on with folks being killed that I didn’t even know so it lost impact for me and just was distracting. It seems like Dorne is about great wine; lots of sex and ego tripping over killing enemies.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Unknown:

* Why doesn’t Tyrion tell Jon to bend the knee?

* Is Dany Azhor(a) Hai?

* Which side is Randall Tarly on? Will Jaime’s pressure force him to side with Cersei over the Tyrells? You would think Cersei incinerating Mace, Marjorie and Loras would have made that decision for him. However, it’s not clear to me.

* Can the crossbow be maneuvered easy enough to get off a shot at one of the dragons?

* Will the Northerners respect Sansa?

* Will Jon be successful? Will he bend the knee to Dany?

* Will Arya turn around and go after Cersei instead of making her way back to Winterfell?

* Will Jon and Ser Davos kill Mel if they see her at Dragonstone?

* Will Dany listen to Lady Olenna? What will she unleash with her inner dragon?

* What is in the letter to Dany that Ser Jorah has penned?

* Does Lady Olenna really have Dany’s best interest at heart or is she just trying to get Dany to act like a Targaryen so that later on she can swoop for a victory war over whoever is left?

* Will Ser Jorah be cured of his greyscale?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Game of Thrones Threads at the TV Critic:
http://www.thetvcritic.org/forums/other-tv-shows/show/180
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Game of Thrones: Season 7E1: Dragonstone

Hi there!

A lot of setup in this episode. There were a couple of good moments for me. Cersei and Jaime’s discussion I loved. My biggest concern since we are past source material is consistency with what will happen based on past relayed information with all the episodes of this season and next.

One quick example, Bran was touched by the Night King while he was warging into a weirwood tree and that brought the Night King to his location and broke the spells protecting the Three Eyed Raven and the Children’s cave system.

If Bran going through the tunnel at Castle Black doesn’t break the enchantment spells at the wall, I have a problem then with consistency of established narrative.

If the White Walkers simply just go around the wall through a castle by the ocean, why is it that they are doing that now instead of earlier sometime over the past several thousand years? If this is something they could have always done it just leaves me scratching my head.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Summary:

We cut to Walder Frey giving a toast to his sons and family men. It becomes quite clear after a toast they have been poisoned and Walder peels off his mask to reveal Arya Stark who tells his wife that the North remembers and Winter has come to House Frey.

Cut to the the Castle Black Wall gate where Meera Reed and Bran talk Ned into letting them through the wall. (SEE: Unknown. It’s unclear whether this simple act of mercy just destroyed thousands of years of spell protection from the White Walkers and the Army of the Dead.)

Cut to Jon at Winterfell where he’s asking his Northern alliance folk to scour their records for any mention of Dragonglass and talks to his troops about how they need that to fight the army of the undead. They intend to fashion weapons out of it: spears, pikes and arrows.

He asks Tormund to ask the free folk to man the castles along the wall to protect from the army of the dead.

Against Sansa’s opinions Jon gets the Umbers and the Karstarks to bend the knee and gives them back the Last Hearth and Karhold to defend against the White Walkers since they will be the closest to the Wall.

Jon and Sansa come to agreement: Sansa will stop saying things that may undermine his rule and he will stop trying to protect her.

Cersei sends a raven to Jon asking him to bend the knee or suffer the fate of traitors, which he shrugs off for the time being. Sansa warns him about underestimating Cersei and Jon reminds her about the Night King which is a way more imminent threat.

Cut to Cersei and Jaime at King’s Landing looking at a map of Westeros on the floor of a planning room. She asks him if he hates or is afraid of her and he says no. She asks his counsel about Tyrion and Dany and he says they will land in Dragonstone (which they do. Skip ahead for details.) He appears to find her delusional when she asks him to help her secure the Lannister family’s legacy of ruling a Westerosi Kingdom which will last a thousand years despite being totally surrounded on all sides with no heirs left. The Most telling line: ‘I’m the Queen of the Seven Kingdoms…Three kingdoms, at best.’

Euron Greyjoy shows up with a 1000 ships pledging help to the Lannisters. Cersei doesn’t trust him and he departs vowing to bring her something that will insure her trust.

Samwell changes bedpans and doles out food to the Maesters and assists the Archmaester with an autopsy of another. He believes Samwell saw the Army of the Undead.

Later than evening, Samwell borrows the Archmaester’s keys and borrows some books from the restricted area.

During his daily routine, Samwell collects food dishes from barred rooms. A hand thrusts out of barred off door spy hole and tries to grab at Samwell. It appears Ser Jorah has made it to the Citadel to get help with his Greyscale, however it looks pretty bad. He asks if she has landed yet in Westeros.

Back at Winterfell Lady Brienne asks Sansa why Little Finger is still there and Sansa reminds her that without the Vale Ramsay would still hold Winterfell. Sansa tells Lady Brienne that she knows what he’s after (SEE: The Unknown).

Arya hears a song and that lures her to share a Rabbit and black berry wine with Ed Sheeran posing as a Lannister guard (SEE: The Unknown).

The Hound and the Brotherhood without Banners find the house of the man and his daughter that he robbed of gold when he was caring for Arya. He finds their bodies inside. It appears the father took both of their lives to spare them of starvation. A pang of guilt (perhaps) causes the Hound to bury their bodies with the help of the Red Priest, Thoros of Myr. He asks the Hound if he knew them and he denies it. The Hound tries to say a prayer from the Faith of the Seven to give their souls a rest.

Inside the house with the Brotherhood without Banners, the Hound manages to gather up the courage to look into the fire and see the Army of the Dead by the sea going through a Castle that has an Arrowhead.

Samwell’s night reading uncovers there is a huge mine of Dragonglass on Dragonstone in one of the books he borrowed and sends a Raven of his findings to Jon.

Dany lands at Dragonstone and gets to work on her plans.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Arya body count: Off the scale now after this episode. It’s in the hundreds.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Good:

* I have been hoping for years for Wight Giants and this episode didn’t disappoint. Wow!

* All of Jon’s decisions were very sound and had a nice mixture of being Ned-like honorable and also practical. The Karstarks and the Umbers were given something to fight for besides the Starks; their own castles. It also shows he’s willing to forgive them. The Free Folks manning the castles along the wall is also a very practical application. No one is using them and it also gives them something to fight for while teaming up with the Starks.

* The gross of montage of Samwell changing and scrubbing bedpans and showing food being doled out to eat was hilarious. Talk about boiling down the cycle of life and the passage of time. It doesn’t get that much more concise does it?

* Cersei’s conversation with Jaime was well done. I was expecting her to ask him if he was afraid of her or hated her. It showed me how complicated his situation is with her. I am sure he does hate and fear her; obviously he couldn’t show that. She would put him to death in her state. In a lot of ways he’s the only grounding tether to reality she has left. He makes a perfect hand of the queen for her right now. Hopefully she listens although she seems to think they will be ruling for thousand years; not sure where the army is coming from to achieve that. She knows they are bankrupt and they are totally surrounded. Unless gold bricks start falling from the sky for the Lannisters I don’t see how their position will be sustainable that much longer.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Bad:

I didn’t have an issue with the Hound seeing visions in the flames, however seeing what appears to be the undead army going *around* the wall through a castle by the sea, if true is weak sauce for me. For thousands of years the Night King doesn’t attack and then all of a sudden gets the brilliant idea from attacking at a castle by the sea? What prompted this?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Unknown:

* When Bran passed through the gate at Castle Black did he break the spells of protection on the wall?

* Does Samwell know Jon is at Winterfell or will his messages go to Castle Black?

* If Cersei will not enlist the help of the Euron Greyjoy who will fight for her? What does she have up her sleeve besides caches of Wildfire?

* What gift is Euron going to bring to Cersei to win her over?

* Is Arya headed to Winterfell?

* How far are the Brothers without Banners from the wall?

* It appears the army of the dead are walking past a castle by the sea marked by an arrowhead. Why has it taken this long for them to do that? Was it Bran going through the wall to break the spells on the wall?

* How long will Ed Sheeran last in this season?

* What does Little Finger want?

* Will we ever see giant ice spiders?

* How does the Iron Bank of Braavos figured into the Battles to come? Would they protect their investment by assisting Cersei? Or will they go against her?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Game of Thrones Threads at the TV Critic:
http://www.thetvcritic.org/forums/other-tv-shows/show/180
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Game of Thrones: Season 6: Episode 10: Winds of Winter

I gave this episode a 92 out of 100.

Overall I loved the episode. This one was packed with story lines.
It was visually stunning and a few character story lines were finished spectacularly. There were others satisfying in a hollow way because I felt they were set up to shock us with reveals rather than give us natural story telling with the detail and character development they

The Good:

• Miguel Sapochnik once again displayed some wonderful angles with photography and images; I loved the one of Drogon dipping his wings in the water as he flies towards the front of Dany’s fleet. I put the past two episodes along with Hardhome as the most visually arresting of the series; all done by this man. Well done!

 

• Confirmation that Jon Snow is Leanna and Rhaegar’s son was exciting. We know he’s Rhaegar’s son because he is being guarded by the best swords in the Targaryen forces because he’s the legacy. I suppose it’s impactful to know about Jon’s true lineage as he’s being declared King by his own merits, however that impact they were striving for was quickly clobbered for me when the Manderlies, Mormonts, Glovers and other Houses swore fealty to Jon as King of the North and said they would follow him regardless of his lineage. They don’t know he’s half Targaryen and it wouldn’t appear it would matter if they did. When will it really matter? Why didn’t they reveal it next season?  It certainly would have had more impact on the story line then it does here.

 

• There was some nice callbacks with Naming the King of the North; Shame with Cersei; Walder Frey getting his throat cut just like Caitlin; Freys and the Lannisters sending their regards.

 

• Wow, so many lives extinguished in such a short time so spectacularly not far into the episode! I was expecting Loras, Margaery, High Sparrow, Mace, Kevan to all buy it at the same time to avoid Cersei facing her trial. Lancel, Tommen and Pycelle all had unexpected ways of dying for me. (I suppose Tommen has been dying of a broken heart for a while; the Sept explosion just sealed the deal.) It reminded me of Michael Corleone sequence having his enemies executed at the end of God Father II or Heisenberg in Breaking Bad in the last season executing his enemies.

 

• This totally establishes for me how evil, vindictive and sadistic Cersei has become. She was so cold about dealing with Tommen’s remains and her reaction to his suicide. Her speech to Septa Unella was the polar opposite to that of Loras. Did part of Ramsay’s soul drift into her mind after he died? Especially the way Jaime has been looking at her.  It’s pretty clear they are done as a couple and are far apart with the way they look at things. (See the Unknown.)

 

• Walder Frey and his sons meeting their end was satisfying (however it was a bit hollow in some ways – See the Bad.)

 

• I love how Cersei thinks she beat the Witches Prophecy by killing Margaery and the irony we feel from knowing Dany is on the way with Tyrion!

 

• The Queen of Thorns lines to the Sand Snakes had me erupting with laughter.

 

• Old Town and the Citadel were wonderful nods to the Lighthouse and Library of Alexandria in our own history.

 

• Ser Davos’s scene with Mel and Jon had a great message of those who get away with ending human lives in the name of their religion.

 

•  Dany making Tyrion the Hand of the Queen was touching.

 

The Bad:

• Ser Davos’ scene with Mel and Jon was emotional however, letting Mel go without paying a price for killing Shireen was weak sauce for me.

• Once again I felt like what matters to the writers is the shocking of the audience with surprises; story and characterization come second, so the story and details come out sketchy and things are not as impactful as they should be because I am distracted.  Arya avenging Caitlin by killing Walder Frey is the important thing here and the sense of how we get there is secondary or not as important. I had a hard time believing Arya can use faces since the last time she did that she lost her sight. Perhaps it’s okay now that she is technically ‘No one’. I am still having issues understanding what powers she gleaned from the Faceless men. Can she also shape shift and move around as swiftly as Jaqen? I have to really forcibly suspend my disbelief and I wouldn’t have had to if they had spent more time developing Arya’s mystique in Braavos. I wrote a piece about that here. Perhaps when she put the Waif’s face in the House of Black and White she exchanged it for the face of the serving wench and took it with her for later use? Either Walder Frey eats very late in the evening (when everyone’s asleep) or Arya used Harry Potter’s Cloak of invisibility to murder everyone in the Hall and the Kitchen as well in order to be able to drag the bodies of the Frey brothers into the kitchen undetected; cut them up into small pieces and bake them into pies.

 

• Heavy use of the Little Finger’s Teleporter by Varys and Arya. BTW: How did Olenna hear so quickly that her son, grandson and granddaughter are all dead? The only way I can make it work in my head is that the scenes between Ellaria and Olenna occurred some time after Cersei became Queen of King’s Landing. So we are fast forwarding through time.

 

• Qyburn told Cersei there was more Wildfire then they expected. I was surprised all of King’s Landing didn’t go up. Perhaps the Sept had a lot of real estate where enough stone kept other wildfire caches from igniting? (See the Unknown).

 

• I believe they are implying Septa Unella is going to be raped and assaulted (possibly tortured) until she dies very slowly and Cersei wants her to see her face as she’s dying, which if true is a bit much for me.  However, I didn’t see any torture weapons in her chamber. When the Mountain was at Harrenhall he had someone else doing the torturing.  He has always come across to me as someone who will crush your skull or rip out your spine rather than inflict small amounts of assault although I could be wrong.

 

• Not much from Dorne; just par for the course. See Unknown.

 

•  Samwell leaves Gilly and Little Sam standing there in the Lobby of the Citadel while he uses his stack privileges at the Citadel Library which apparently has hundreds of stacks!  That was silly.  Why isn’t he getting her situated in Old Town first? I think they wanted to awe us with images of the Library rather than make story sense again.  Samwell already knew ladies and babies were not welcome there.  He told Gilly that in the coach on the way to Hornhill. Come on writers!

 

• Sansa’s character and the situation at Winterfell is a little muddy.  Is she really smart enough to allow Jon to become the Lord of Winterfell so Little Finger can’t marry her and become Lord of Winterfell (once he creates a baby with her and then murders her like her Aunt Lysa)?  Or is she not contesting the King of the North proclamations because she doesn’t want folks to know she was behind bringing Little Finger there to save Jon’s Army (undermining Jon’s victory and making Jon look as bad as he was at commanding his troops in battle)?

 

The Unknown:

• Does Jon have the unburnt quality that Dany has? How will Dany learn that Jon is a Targaryen as well as a Stark?

 

•  How does Sansa feel about Jon being declared the King of the North?  Why didn’t they proclaim her Queen of North over him?  He’s a bastard and they don’t usually have privileges for titles. Will she support him or scheme to become Queen of the North?  Cersei told Little Finger he would be Ward of the North if he got rid of the Boltons (S5E9).  Now they are gone and the Starks are in power how will he claim his prize from Cersei?  Will he? What are is plans now> What are Sansa’s?

 

• Who is Cersei’s Hand?

 

•  There is definitely  a rift now between Cersei and Jaime.  Will he confront Cersei about what she has done or will he just leave  King’s Landing? Will the Lannisters side with Dany?

 

• If wildfire was in caches under the entire city why did just the Sept blow up? Wouldn’t that fire set off a chain reaction all over King’s Landing?

 

• Is Mel headed to meet the Brothers without Banners? Mel did say to Arya she would meet here again. Will Mel meet Arya in the Riverlands?

 

• Will Arya hook back up with Hot pie and perhaps Gendry? Is Arya likely to meet the Hound again?

 

• Are there other Tyrells that can run The Reach if something happens to Lady Olenna? Perhaps she has relatives that were relatives of perhaps her own brothers or sisters? Or is House Tyrell on it’s last legs?

 

• Since the Vale helped the Starks defeat the Boltons how is Little Finger going to explain that to Cersei since she still believes Sansa is responsible for Joffrey’s death? He already made a deal with Cersei to get rid of the Boltons to achieve the title of Warden of the North. The King of The North is going to put a dent in his plans for sure.

 

• Will Dany first take over Dragonstone before heading to the Red Keep? That makes the most sense since that  was originally the Targaryen stronghold on Westeros.

 

• Are the Tyrell’s and the Dornish have their boats and troop support mixed in with Dany’s fleet or will they join her once she makes it over the Narrow Sea?

 

• Is Bran headed to Winterfell? How is Meera going to get Bran to the other side of the Wall? Benjen didn’t provide them a sled or anything. Is he going through the secret tunnel through the Night Fort? Can the White Walkers go through the Tunnel to the Night Fort?

 

• What did Dorne and the Reach provide to Varys? Ships? Men? Supplies? Who supplied what? Did both Dorne and the Reach send things to Dany or will Dany just get there and they will help her conquer and provide things once she gets to Westeros?

 

• Isn’t Samwell concerned about his father seeking him out at the Citadel to get back Heartsbane?  He knows Sam is going there to study to be a Maester.

 

• It appears Daario and Dany are done. Who will end up in Cersei’s bed in Westeros? Will she end up marrying Jon? Targaryen’s do intermarry. It makes the most sense.