#Arya being discussed as heir over Sansa and not being chosen ONLY because she is presumed dead

[fromtheseventhhell]

“So you pray. Have you considered your sisters? What of their rights? I agree that the North must not be permitted to pass to the Imp, but what of Arya? By law, she comes after Sansa…your own sister, trueborn…” “…and dead. No one has seen or heard of Arya since they cut Father’s head off. Why do you lie to yourself? Arya’s gone, the same as Bran and Rickon, and they’ll kill Sansa too once the dwarf gets a child from her. Jon is the only brother that remains to me. Should I die without issue, I want him to succeed me as King in the North. I had hoped you would support my choice.” (Catelyn V, ASOS)

This is truly one of, if not the, most erased passages in the books. People either completely ignore its existence or act as though George wrote it in some secret, coded language that makes it all ambiguous.

[buttercuparry]

This post is inspired by @fromtheseventhhell's post

If Sansa isn't just seeing what she wants to see, but following LF because she has no alternative ( I mean fair...what's a girl to do? She needs roof over her head at least), then it means she knows now what sweetsleep does.

Father and I have larger concerns.

This was said by her when she was thinking of how what's best for Robert the boy is not always good for the Lord Arryn of Vale. And it might be argued that since Sansa hadn't known about the plan it was simply stated with the view of state matters. However were Arya or Dany in her place, and they chose as she has chosen, this alone would have been enough to vilify them. Interestingly enough Sansa's choice to overlook her cousin's health in favour of political matters is shrugged off. I am not trying to give an opinion about Sansa's choice of actions here (for I have none), I am merely stating what I found in the text.

Now what about what happens after? In the sample chapter of Twow, we see her not mulling one bit on the fact what seducing Harry leads to. Harry the Heir becomes more than just an upjumped knight only when the condition of his being the heir is fulfilled. And it can only be fulfilled through Robert's death.

I know that we can't judge without reading the whole of twow and this is why I usually do not take part in the conjecture of Sansa poisoning Robert. But what sticks out as a sore thumb is when Sansa is said to be this masterful little politician in making. More intelligent and more artful than the teenage politicians who have actually proven their worth. She is also said to be the most innocent and kindliest of them all, having clean hands and no blood on them. Not so innocent now is she?

I mean even if we are to interpret that she is being forced to do this because she has to keep LF in her favour, it should ( at least to those who are so eager to criticize Dany for forgetting the name of the girl who was burnt to death by her dragons) ring alarm bells about how Sansa spares not one thought to the plot in the Twow sample chapter. I mean we see her thinking that Robert is a fool for wanting to marry her and claiming to love her; we see her happily jaunting around with Myranda Royce, being quite proud of the tourney she has helped arrange, hoping that Harry the Heir would come to at least like her, being over the moon that her "father" should raid the whole of Vale for lemons just so she can have the spectacle of an impressive lemoncake. Not once in this chapter we see her thinking about sweetsleep being forced to run through Robert's blood or the ominous wording of not "if" Robert dies but "when" he dies. It is true that nothing can be said for sure from only one chapter of a yet to be released book but for now this is all we have.

Now if we are to say that Sansa truly doesn't realize what she is being made to do, then we have to say that she is once again seeing what she wants to see. I find these lines odd:

He does have pretty hair. If the gods are good and he lives long enough to wed, his wife will admire his hair, surely. That much she will love about him.

A consideration of a future where Lord Arryn has a wife brings the possibility of an heir from Robert's own line. Harry the Heir would then be pushed back further down the line of inheritance and possibly then all the gifts that LF promised Sansa then would only be that: empty promises. So Sansa considering a future where Robert lives long enough to wed means that she isn't seeing what LF plans to do. Even when LF has conspired right in front of her. It cannot be anything but a deliberate coping mechanism then. Which again begs the question about all those bloggers who dismiss Arya's own experience of being bullied as her being an unreliable narrator and throws stalk into everything Sansa says...how come they never discuss this?

The political genius in the making gives no extra thought to the overheard conversation where LF is deliberately causing a scarcity of food while simultaneously throwing a feast fit for a king. If this girl truly were to trump both Jon and Dany, shouldn't there have been idk some thought given to this?

I am not saying that Sansa is stupid. She has potential and I am truly impressed how she reeled in Harry the Heir. But the way her stans talk about, especially when they disgrace so many other characters to prove how much better Sansa is than them, where every little thing that Dany does is considered to be a symptom of madness, while Sansa's own involvement in a possible murder is dismissed as her being naive, while simultaneously where Jon is bashed for his stupidity while Sansa's continuous lack of political awareness of the lives of the mass is not even deemed to being an important topic of discussion...it feels a certain kind of way. There is also the continuous insistence that Arya is an unreliable narrator even though the readers face the most confusion while reading Sansa's chapters.

Sansa cannot be the child prodigy of political matters and the naive dove with a dangerous coping mechanism in the same breathe. The only other explanation can be what has been pushed onto Arya for so long. That is, Sansa doesn't care one whit for Winterfell. She truly cannot perceive Robert Arryn being murdered. She wants Harry as someone with whom she can build a life with and cares not for his supposed inheritance. She cares not for her own claim on her house's ancient seat and would eventually live her life away from it. But I am sure even this wouldn't be satisfying to them.

[millysaurusrex]

Oath

Ash falls from the sky and Arya can’t help but think of how it looks like snow. White and pure as it coats all around her. If she wanted, she could imagine she is in Winterfell, in the summer snows, laughing with her brothers as they tossed snowballs at a scandalized Sansa, with mother and father laughing. But, she is not in the north and mother and father and Rickon and Robb are gone. She is in King’s Landing, or perhaps one of the seven hells, and she leans against the stone wall as smoke and ash blanket the city streets around her. 

How had she gotten here? She wasn’t quite sure she remembered. Sandor. She remembered the Hound marching with her into the Red Keep. Remembers him stopping her, begging her. Live. Live. Choosing to live. 

Then chaos.

Screams of men, women and children burning alive echo in the air, still warm from dragonfire. Swords. She can still hear swords. Men shouting. Death. She thought the House of Black and White had shown her death, but here in King’s Landing is the temple of death. Where father died. Where her sister’s innocence died. Where all men died. 

Valar morghulis.

But, like this? If this was the God of Death’s plan, well -

She yelps as she’s pulled from the alleyway. A chainmail fist knocks into her her face splitting her lip, and thrusts her against the corner of the wall. More blood rushes down her face, but she grabs Needle, swings it around to meet the Lannister soldier’s sword. He looks manic. Primal, like an animal. He’s screaming at her, slamming his sword down over and over. 

He is not particularly strong and any other day, Arya could have easily overpowered him. But she’s lost so much blood already, and her lungs hurt with the taste of ash and smoke. Anger - or fear - have strengthened the Lannister man, and he catches her with his sword, ripping into her side. It stings as sweat and dirt seep into the wound, but she doesn’t stop. She isn’t going to die here in King’s Landing. Not when she promised the Hound she’d chose life. Not today.

Her muscles ache but she meets each of his blows, counters them, hits him with all her strength. He kicks her hard in the chest and she stumbles back. Needle slips from her hand. She’s quick though, and she reaches for her discarded sword. But then there is a sudden sickening crunch of bone, and the Lannister soldier falls dead to the ground. His skull is mush in his helmet, blood pooling into the dirt below. 

Arya glances up and her breath catches in her throat, because she did not expect this. He’s as tall and as broad as he’s always been, but he looks different, and she isn’t sure if it’s because he’s covered in dirt, blood and ash, or if its because of the stag sigil stitched into much finer leather armor than he’s ever worn. 

He knocks his war hammer into his left hand and offers her his right, pulling her up with ease. She opens her mouth to thank him, to maybe quip sardonically that she had the guy, the way she might have when they were two children on the run. But, the words die in her throat because he’s pulled her to him, embracing her in a one armed hug. 

It feels good which is ridiculous because they’re standing in the middle of a massacre, but she allows herself, just for a second, to revel in the feeling of his arm around her.

The moment is over as quickly as it began, as a voice calls, “Lord Gendry.” 

She notices them then, a small circle of soldiers circle them, on guard for another Lannister or maybe a dragon. They bear the same stag sigil Gendry wears. Stormlanders. His men.

The thought of Gendry with his own men is almost laughable, and if the world wasn’t ending right now she might have, but Gendry pulls away from her and nods. “They’re burning the city down. The dragon queen’s army, they’ve...” he visibly swallows and she ridiculously wants to reach out and touch that place on his throat. Perhaps she’s delirious from the blood loss, but his words snap her to. She saw what the dragon queen’s army did. Saw what the northmen did. Did he -

“No one is massacring anyone on my watch,” Gendry says, as if reading her mind because of course he knows what she’s thinking. She smiles fondly and glances at his men.

“The gates of the city are blocked. We’ll have to find another way out.”

Gendry nods again, grips his hammer and says, “There is another way. Follow me.”

And his men don’t hesitate to follow. They follow him the way northmen followed father. The way they follow Jon. And Gendry is every bit a lord then. A storm lord. Perhaps, a rightful heir to the throne in another life. 

You will marry a king and rule his castle...

She smiles at the memory. That’s not her. But, that’s also not him. He is Gendry, lord or not, and he’s followed her enough. She will follow him now.

**

Jon killed the dragon queen. Put a sword into her heart as they embraced. Or so she’s heard. It must be true, because the surviving dragon is nowhere to be seen, and neither is Jon.

She wanted to march into the dungeons where he was being held, dare her army captain to even try and stop her from rescuing her brother - cousin, but she doesn’t. Jon has chosen his fate. So has she.

She sits in the tent and cleans her sword. There is no need for battle right now, but she does it all the same. It calms her mind. 

The city had nearly burnt to the ground with all it’s people in it. The dragon queen had taken the iron throne with fire and blood. Arya snorts. Old nan always said that history has a nasty way of repeating itself. 

The tent pulls open then and Gendry makes his way in. He’s managed to clean his face a bit, but his leathers are still caked in ash and blood. In an odd way, it’s fitting. She wonders briefly if this was how his father might have looked, many moons ago. Tall, strong, dangerous. Handsome even.

“They’re looking for you,” he says, and she doesn’t need to ask. She’s in charge of what’s left of the Stark army now that Jon is incapacitated and Sansa’s in the north. 

“They can wait,” she responds. 

Gendry only nods and makes his way across the tent. She watches him as he rifles through a stack of letters on the makeshift desk and rolls her eyes. She didn’t realize he could read. 

If he can, he must not understand what is in the scroll, because his face scrunches up the way it always does when he’s thinking hard, and it has her sighing and sheathing Needle before making her way over to him. She places out a hand and raises a brow.

Gendry rolls his eyes and huffs. “I’ve been a bloody lord for all of two moons. Haven’t really had time to learn the little things, now have I?”

Arya shakes her head, unimpressed. “You’ll have to do better than that, if you plan to rule a castle, Lord Baratheon.” It’s teasing, and it gets the proper response, because he’s smiling back at her, the first smile she’s seen since that freezing night in Winterfell.

“Yeah, Lord Baratheon. Can’t order me around now, can you, Lady Stark?”

“I never order you around.”

That earns a full chuckle form him. The sound is gentle, like music after all the screams and death.

“You’ve been a pain in my ass ever since we met. How’d you think I knew you were a rich girl? Always so bossy.”

She laughs, too, and it feels strange to be laughing in a place like this. After what they’ve just witnessed. 

“Now you’re the one bossing around men.” 

Gendry sighs. “Don’t bloody know why. I’m no war strategist. I’ve never lead anyone into anything before, much less a war. Felt like an idiot trying to convince a bunch of men I’d never met before follow me into battle under orders of a queen they didn’t acknowledge.”

“But they followed you,” She adds.

“Aye, some.” He runs a hand down his face and looks exhausted. She supposes they all are. “Not sure why they did it either.”

“I told you, you make a wonderful lord.”

He pauses and looks at her and she steels herself because this is it, this is when they’re going to discuss what happened in the Winterfell grain store what seems like ages ago.

“Aye, a wonderful lord. But, still an idiot.” He sighs again before falling heavily into a chair at the desk. “What I said that night...it was stupid. All these years, I’d like to fancy that I knew you better than I’d known anyone. You’re no lady, and you’d certainly never be mine.” 

She doesn’t speak. Doesn’t trust herself to say a word. She just kneels before him, touches his face the way she did that night. She studies him, taking in the new scars that litter his face. There’s one above his eyebrow, identical to hers, and dried blood crusts there. There’s another one on the left side of his jaw, deeper and still an angry red. She runs her finger along it gently, and he shivers beneath the touch.

“Arya,” its a whisper, almost a prayer, and she tilts her head up, kisses his sweetly. She won’t say it. She’s never been good at words. But, she tells him all the same, as she deepens the kiss, spilling all of the words and feelings that would never come out right if she tried. It is a confession. A proposal. An oath. But, he understands. He’s always understood.

He knows her better than anyone else.

[alicenttully]

Vindicata of the Wolf Wife

Their supper finished, Sansa savored the tranquility that had fallen with her siblings and their Tully great-uncle when a knock came on the door.

It opened, to reveal Lothor Brune, whom Sansa had taken into her service. He gave a quick nod to Bran with deference to his new position, before addressing Sansa. There was a tentative look on the face that Sansa had come to know well. "Yer Grace, there's a man insisting on speaking with you."

"This couldn't have waited?" Uncle Brynden demanded. Lothor Brune grimaced. "They said it was was important.  Important for- for the ears of Lady Lannister." Uncle Brynden scowled, Bran looked as though someone had punched him in the stomach, and Arya's hand seized her sword. It made Sansa feel safe, despite the anger that blackened her heart. Because of this, she was able to raise her hand and calmly say. "Let them in."

Lothor stepped out. A moment later, another man entered. Although Sansa had never exchanged words with him, she immediately knew who he was. The robust man with curly brown hair and close-set hazel eyes wore the colours of House Lydden. Sansa knew that it was Lord Lewys’ father whom Tyrion had installed as his castellan. Less clear was the truth of Cersei and Jaime Lannister’s deaths, the former of which had absconded to the Rock after Connington murdered Tommen and Myrcella. Any desires Daenerys harbored to kill the man who tainted his white cloak with the blood of her sire was thwarted when the bodies of him and his twin, wrapped in Targaryen cloaks, were gifted to her as well as the loyalty of the Rock. Some whispered, with a sense of almost being enchanted by the repulsiveness of it, that the queen had been mounting her brother in Lord Tywin’s bed when some of their own men had burst in and slashed their throats. Others whispered that they had chosen to end their own lives rather than face the shame of submission.

Lothor Brune cleared his throat. “You stand in the presence of Sansa of House Stark and Tully, Queen Regent to Rickon Stark, King in the North.” Lord Lewys gave a sardonic smile. “And Lady Lannister, as the wife of Lord Tyrion.” Sansa’s face was a cool mask. “I was Lord Tyrion’s bride because the Lannisters had to all but drag me into the Great Sept, but I was never his wife. My mother was my father’s wife. And when Cersei Lannister and Margaery Tyrell wed, they kept their names as befitting their own stations. It was no different for me. I was addressed as Lady Stark at court following my marriage. Please remember that.”

Lord Lewys gave a deep breath. He seemed a little taken aback by Sansa. “I have no quarrel with you, my-Your Grace.” He drew himself to his full height. “But as you are no doubt aware, Lord Tyrion is dead.” Out of the corner of her eye, Sansa could glimpse Uncle Brynden raising his goblet of wine in mock salute.

It was a burdensome thing to find many who would mourn Tyrion Lannister, who perished when the woman he had championed had unleashed her dragon's wrath, and flames had danced across the city. It was said that Tyrion had encouraged Daenerys to do so, but he ended up paying the price for his vile treachery along with the souls of Kingslanding.

“What’s that got to do with Sansa?” Arya asked. “Well, it means that certain things are owed to her. When Lord Lannister claimed his rightful inheritance, you became the Lady of Casterly Rock. With Tyrion’s death, the Rock is essentially yours. Because of this, you are responsible for it. It is vital that we discuss its future, before you return North after King Bran’s coronation at the end of the week.”

Yes, because my marriage was not yet annulled at the time. Littlefinger had been so sure he would get it done. He had been sure of many things.

Sansa understood that Lord Lewys only spoke truly. Even though she would have had a stronger claim to it through a child of Tyrion’s, other women before her had ruled their husband’s castles when they had died with no children to show for their marriages. Of those who might have challenged her, well- all the Lannisters had left to show for itself in terms of heirs was a seven-year-old, a half-Frey, and a bastard girl. Sansa knew she had choices to make – little Janei Lannister was the best choice, as the only surviving child of Kevan Lannister. Better her, than Walder, a half-Frey, and a bastard niece.

It was choices she didn’t want to make. She didn’t care about the Rock. But the meaning of Lord Lewys’ words was dawning on Sansa. If the Rock belonged to Sansa, then so did its gold.

She smiled. “I look forward to it.”

After he was dismissed, Arya was chewing her lip. It was a habit of hers that Sansa had always found disgusting, but now she was willing to forgive Arya many things. “If Casterly Rock belongs to you, so too does its gold,’ she said, speaking Sansa's thoughts out loud.

Her words brought a wicked gleam in her eyes and laughter from Uncle Brynden, while Bran smiled.

She had the power to do with it as she wished. If she wanted to, she could have started over somewhere else completely new. Perhaps when Rickon reached his majority, she could travel. Perhaps, it would be her husband's castle she would travel to....

But more enticing, and practical- was using Tywin Lannister’s gold to help rebuild the North and Riverlands. Neither should the Vale go unrewarded. In doing so, she would be spitting on the bones of the man who had tried using her to steal Winterfell.

[gwidhiel]

The R+L=J Reveal in S8 Was  About Jon’s Romantic Relationships

Jon’s parentage reveal in S8 was a wasted opportunity from a dramatic perspective: it had virtually no significance in the story. We had no scenes of angst or even bewilderment. And in the two times he chose to share that info with others, the conversations went nothing like he or the audience expected.

First Reveal Conversation, with Daenerys: They never discussed what their new-found familial bond meant for their sexual relationship, although the overtures she made to him after she knew he was her nephew, first in his room at Winterfell and then again at Dragonstone indicate that she was still down for it. But once Jon knew that she was his aunt he was never able to muster the physical passion he’d displayed when he’d obligingly kissed her by the waterfall - though he’d tried when called upon, both in his room at Winterfell and at Dragonstone, because he knew that giving in to her sexually was a good way of distracting and placating her. But he couldn’t do it.

So the show used the parentage reveal to sever their romantic tie - although that motive was left opaque to the audience, because Jon and Daenerys never actually discussed it, and because Daenerys still wanted it and Jon tried to oblige her a couple of times, unsuccessfully. What they did make pretty clear was that, for Jon, finding out that Daenerys was his aunt spelled the end of their sexual relationship, even though it would have been to his strategic advantage to continue it, since she wanted it. Jon told Daenerys that he was her nephew as he did, and when he did (could his timing have been any worse?)  because he assumed that she, like he, would be immediately put off continuing their sexual relationship. He told her despite the problems that he knew revealing his parentage might bring (and did indeed bring). Daenerys surprised him by seeming to disregard their blood tie when it came to wanting to continue their sexual relationship, but she lived up to his worst expectations when she immediately perceived and reacted aggressively to his superior claim to the Iron Throne. He then spent the rest of Season 8, up until the moment he killed her, trying to convince her that he didn’t want the Iron Throne and would not be an impediment to her getting what she wanted above all else.

Since Jon didn’t want the Iron Throne for himself, why did he make things so much more difficult by revealing that he was her nephew, and the legitimate heir to the throne? Because he’d thought that would mutually end their sexual relationship.  It didn’t work out the way he’d thought it would, but that was why he he told her. If he hadn’t wanted to end their physical relationship there’d have been no need to tell her, since he’d never intended to pursue his claim.

Second Reveal Conversation, with Arya: As far as we ever saw or have any reason to think, Jon telling Arya that he was actually her cousin, not her bastard half-brother, had absolutely no effect on their relationship. Nor did we ever have reason to think that Jon had believed it would. In the final episode Arya still referred to him as her brother. The parentage reveal meant nothing to Arya when it came to how she viewed her relationship with Jon. So why did Jon feel that he had to tell her? Why was it worth risking Daenerys’s wrath by going against her command that he tell no one, particularly not Arya and Sansa? Seems like a needless risk to take - for Arya as well as for himself. But he couldn’t tell Sansa without telling Arya, and I think he felt compelled to tell Sansa when she and Arya confronted him about his blind support of Daenerys.

Second Reveal Conversation, with Sansa: I’ve seen lots of people speculate that in telling Sansa about his parentage, Jon consciously or unconsciously knew that he’d be setting an anti-Daenerys political player into action. The show writers wanted to shoehorn “politics” into a plot line which, at that point, was really just about a megalomaniac’s will to power and indifference to violence. Plus it gave Tyrion something to do and set up Varys’s execution. But I don’t believe that we ever were shown anything that suggested that it was Jon’s intention to have Sansa start recruiting other people to support him over Daenerys. In fact I think we have quite a bit of evidence that it was not. Consider how Jon responded to Varys upon his arrival at Dragonstone. Varys’s overture to him on the beach was the first indication Jon had that Sansa was using the parentage reveal intel that he’d chosen to give her in order to move against Daenerys. How did he react?

Not only did Jon reject Varys during their brief exchange on the beach, he did nothing when Daenerys decided to execute Varys for treason - treason that Varys had undertaken in order to promote Jon’s claim. Jon stood grimly, silently beside Daenerys as she burned Varys alive.

If it had been Jon’s intention (conscious or unconscious) to enable Sansa set that in motion, he’d have felt some obligation to Varys as an ally, either to try to save him, or simply to walk away from Daenerys and her cause after she’d executed Varys (and that was, after all, the first time Jon got to see for himself the sick thrill Daenerys got from burning people alive). Tyrion expressed remorse about having betrayed Varys, but Jon gave no indication that he felt any responsibility about what had happened to Varys. Instead he obediently headed off to take up his position to attack King’s Landing (and Cersei) on Daenerys’s behalf. 

Jon did not behave like a man who was glad or relieved that others were acting to promote him over Daenerys. So I myself don’t subscribe to the premise that Jon told Sansa the truth about his parents hoping/knowing that she’d start a campaign to promote his candidacy for the Iron Throne. I don’t think he foresaw that she’d do that, and I don’t think he’d wanted her to.

So why did he tell Sansa, risking Daenerys’s wrath? I can think of two possible reasons that Jon might have had for this.

Possible Reason 1. He might have wanted Sansa to know that her own right to lead the North was even stronger than they’d realized.

He’d always felt uneasy about being declared King in the North when Ned Stark’s true-born daughter was alive, well, and a very able leader.

He’d made sure that it was clear that she was Winterfell’s Lady (which presumably meant - I think? - that her children would inherit it. Unclear about that). He did not want to take anything that he felt rightfully belonged to Sansa.

But Jon was about to become irrelevant in the North; he was headed south with the expectation of never returning, probably because he assumed he’d be killed. He even gave away his direwolf! So he wasn’t viewing himself as any kind of impediment or challenge to Sansa’s leadership in the North at that point.

In fact, in the immediately preceding scene, Jon had forcefully shut Sansa down for asking to give the soldiers time to recover from the recent battle before sending them south to fight another war. Supporting Sansa’s judgement and authority was not a driving motive for Jon at that time. So I don’t think that Jon felt driven to tell Sansa the truth about his parentage from a wish to strengthen her position in the North, because that info wouldn’t have changed anything about Sansa’s de facto leadership once he headed south. The North looked to her because a) she was Ned Stark’s legitimate heir, and b) she was a good leader. Jon technically being a Targaryen rather than a Stark bastard had no effect on that.

Possible Reason 2. Jon wanted Sansa to know that he was her cousin because he wanted her to remember him knowing who he truly was, because that truth felt very significant to him for some reason. The show deliberately chose not to show any of the conversation that took place after Jon revealed his parentage to Arya and Sansa, but we did see him subsequently interacting with Arya - their sibling relationship endured, unaffected by the change in official status. We never were shown him speaking one-on-one with Sansa again. We were, however, shown multiple instances of Jon being spurred to finally take Daenerys down, despite his misgivings about killing her, when the threat she posed to Sansa’s safety, specifically, was first mentioned by Arya, and then by Tyrion, and finally by Daenerys herself.

And we saw the lengths that Sansa was willing to go on Jon’s behalf - but unlike Arya, she no longer referred to him as her brother.

Given the show writers’ decision to leave so much out of the story they presented us, the possibility that Jon told Sansa the truth about his parentage because he thought he’d never see her again and he wanted her to at least remember him as her cousin rather than as her half-brother can only be speculation. But I can’t think of anything that contradicts this possibility, while the other plausible reason that occurs to me does have some evidence against it.

I think there’s solid evidence for the conclusion that the reason Jon told Daenerys about their close blood tie was to end their romantic relationship. Given that, it does seem fitting that his reason for telling Sansa that their blood tie wasn’t as close as they’d always believed it to be was to open the door to the possibility of a romantic relationship with her, even if he’d assumed he’d be killed before it could ever be realized.

[hamliet]

Three Queens: Dany, Sansa, & Cersei

The moment three of your top four characters are pitted against each other in a fandom war or a canon war. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Sansa’s been my favorite since season 1, and then we have Jon, Dany, and Cersei. Dany’s arc is pretty much exactly hitting the same beats as Jon’s arc, but in a yin/yang type way so that they are likely intended to meet in the middle. But I’ve talked about Jonerys before and now I want to discuss Sansa and Dany’s foiling, as well as Cersei’s and Dany’s, and what it may mean for Dany’s endgame in particular (Sansa will be fine, Cersei will die, that seems pretty narratively certain to me).

Sansa and Dany are both raised with stories and dreams: Sansa for love and being a queen, Dany for being a queen in another sense. She and Viserys were on the run her entire childhood from assassins, facing the scorn from people who would have loved them a few years ago (which is exactly where Sansa’s arc will take her after her father is executed). The same person is involved in both of these: Jaime Lannister, as the show showed us in the confrontation in episode 2.

Sansa always wanted marriage to a handsome man; however, when she’s granted a betrothal and then a marriage, it turns into hell--but through that hell, she learns to be a good ruler. Everyone comments on how well respected Lady Sansa is--wise and brave. She’s foiled with Tyrion in this aspect, in that she’s called the “smartest person I ever met” by Arya, and she tells her former husband in name, Tyrion, in the same episode, “you used to be the cleverest person I ever met.” Tyrion used to be a good hand of the king; now, he’s making pretty poor judgment advising Dany because he’s facing the same issue as Dany: power or love, but more on that another time.

But Sansa has made her choices. She chose her dream (not power, but a romantic fantasy) in the first season and went to Cersei after Ned told her they would be leaving, thereby leading to her father getting caught. Now she’s chosen her family and has come into her own. She has grown up, in other words, and she didn’t grow up when she married Ramsay Bolton or escaped, but when she decided to write that letter to the Knights of the Vale, when she stood up for herself, when she decided to do what she could for the good of her family (Jon & co) instead of just what she wanted (to kick Littlefinger to the curb).

Sansa is an adult right now, having crossed that hurdle of coming of age in the story. Dany (and Jon and Arya) are still trying to find out what growing up means for them, despite Dany (and Jon) being technically older than Sansa.  

For Dany, as she says, Viserys always told her about a throne, and she’s been fixated on that through all she’s been through each and every season. Therefore it’s worth asking whether this was what Dany wanted, or whether it’s a coping mechanism to cope with exactly what she tells Jon she’s been through in season 7: 

I have been sold like a broodmare. I’ve been chained and betrayed, raped and defiled. Do you know what kept me standing through all those years in exile? Faith. Not in any gods, not in myths and legends, in myself. In Daenerys Targaryen.

It’s easier to survive these horrors if you keep a dream waiting for you, irl and in the show. Dany hoping for a future in which she has everything that was stripped from her before her birth is completely understandable and normal. But, it’s not much different than Sansa’s romantic fantasies: it’s a child’s dream.

The story is asking Dany if she wants to grow up, if what she wants is the love that made her happy, or the power fantasies her brother imbued her with when he couldn’t even handle it himself. I’ve talked about the dead literally rising and coming for them all and it’s symbolism before, and it’s asking Dany if she wants to be controlled by the dreams and wheels of the dead, or if she wants to make her own life. Because Dany’s caught between the desire to rule--control--and the desire to set people free (freeing slaves). Does she want to continue the Targaryen dynasty, or does she want to break the wheel, because she can’t do both. Is she making her own fate, or does her blood control her fate? She doesn’t want to be a cruel man like her father, as she tells Yara in season 6, but if she rules, then she has to take responsibility for the good and the bad in the Targaryen dynasty. Which she tried to do in regards to Rhaegar last episode, but... well.

The show is setting up a choice for Dany, as Sam outlined in the first episode to Jon: the throne, or Jon (love). Her dream has just been rocked; her faith in herself, her belief that there was a greater destiny guiding her because of her bloodline. Because it wasn’t even true. She is not the rightful heir to the throne; Jon is. But Jon doesn’t even want the throne, though he would probably support her if she is pregnant and won the throne, so the issue with the reveal, for Dany, is not that Jon is now a rival: it’s that everything she fought for and believed in is not true.

Not only that, but she’s seen that the North desperately wants its freedom after being horribly treated by the Lannisters, the Starks abused and murdered cruelly. Dany, who has always supported freedom for people, is going to have to ask herself what that means for a kingdom.

And it’s telling Dany was there for Sansa and Theon’s reunion. Like with Dany and Jorah, Sansa forgave Theon a terrible crime. Dany listens to Jorah now as her unofficial advisor, but I’ll be shocked if Jorah survives the battle next episode (’I’ll see you later’ is basically fiction’s most obvious death flag) and find it likely she’s going to lose that too. After Jorah, the only one she really has is Jon (she and Tyrion don’t seem close on a personal level), and her dragons (for now...) 

Like with Sansa, Dany’s entire life has been losing people she loves. Is the throne really worth it, if it means giving up the one person who matters most to her, who chose her not because of her crown but knelt to her crown because he loves her? With her faith in herself likely rocked and with the death flags for Jorah, she can either sink into grasping the throne at the cost of Jon, or she can grasp Jon and they can try to figure out how to swim together--without a throne weighing them down.

The reason I don’t see the Mad Queen option as likely is for a few reasons, but let’s discuss one: we already have a mad queen. Two would be... a bit much.

Cersei in the books and in the show perpetually fears being usurped by a younger, more beautiful queen. She at first thinks it’s Sansa, and then Margery, and now I’d say it’s clearly Daenerys. As such, Cersei has always been positioned as a foil not just for Sansa, but for Dany. She’s what Dany could become, if she chooses the throne and power over her loved ones. Because Cersei has always done precisely that. She couldn’t conceive of a life without power, and when Ned literally gave her the chance to escape with her life and her children, she refused, because she wanted power too.

Cersei’s desire for power really comes down to a matter of control; we even see it in how she loves her children. As Tyrion said, that’s her one redeeming quality, and yet, she desperately tries to maintain her power over her children.

Its root is, like Sansa and like Dany, Cersei had no choices growing up. As she tells Sansa during the Battle of Blackwater, she was raised to be sold to the highest bidder for her father’s power, whereas Jaime was given a sword.

When we were young, Jaime and I, we looked so much alike even our father couldn’t tell us apart. l could never understand why they treated us differently. Jaime was taught to fight with sword and lance and mace, and l was taught to smile and sing and please. He was heir to Casterly Rock, and l was sold to some stranger like a horse to be ridden whenever he desired

Because she has no control, now she compensates by being smothering. The conflict with Margery never had to happen but for the fact that Cersei hated that she would not be in control of her son’s choices anymore, and she’d given up on Tommen before he killed himself after she killed the woman he loved.

Cersei lost three children. Dany has three “children” in her dragons; honestly I’d be surprised if she doesn’t lose all of them by the end/if they aren’t the cost for love. Because Dany lost one of her children--Viserion--already not out of trying to keep dragons small and chained up (though she made that mistake at the same time Cersei did, but for far less petty reasons) --but by using them to do what dragons do: fly, and save the man she loves. As Tyrion warned her, going to save Jon north of the wall was a foolish decision especially if she wants the throne; Dany went anyways because when push comes to shove, she chooses love over power. There’s a pattern of just this in Dany’s arc whereas there is not in Cersei’s; I have no reason to think it would change.

For Dany and Jon... Jon clung to his principles and lost Ygritte last time, and Dany recently echoed Ygritte’s line about just staying out there forever, away from everyone. If they want to break the cycles that the wheel of power establishes in Westeros, and the cycles in their own lives, they need to choose to ditch that throne. That’s the ending I’m seeing built up for her now, especially given the foreshadowing about a human child between her and Jon last season, but we shall see.

[humblemagic]

also on (ao3) and fanfiction.net)

Sansa allows them to present a united front in the courtyard. There are too many eyes watching for her to openly defy him, name him a traitor for bending a knee to the dragon queen, giving away their home, the freedom they had risked their lives and lost Rickon for. She had once said that they would never be safe if they didn’t take back Winterfell. They had, and he’d given it away without even asking her.

He cannot blame her if she is furious with him. It is all that occupied his mind after Daenerys has gone to the rooms provided for her to wash, and he follows the three Starks to her private chamber.

The door shuts, and he turns to Sansa, ready to deliver the speech he’d prepared on the journey home. “I know that you’re angry with me.”

“Angry?” She exhales, her shoulders dropping. “Jon, you’re home. You came back after riding south to meet with a Targaryen I was sure would set her dragons on you as soon as you arrived. I don’t care what you had to say or do to manage it. You survived.” Was it shock or gratitude that stayed his tongue? There is the barest hint of a smile on Arya’s face while Bran watches on impassively. “But now that you are here, we have much to discuss.”

“We do.” He looks hesitantly at his siblings. The Night King killed a dragon; there is no telling if they would be able to win this war between the living and the dead. Yet, he cannot bring himself to say it. He cannot bring with him more fear.

Bran speaks up from the corner he’d placed himself in. “I am the three-eyed raven. I see the past.” Jon’s eyes flit to Sansa; she nods. “I saw you born. You are not a bastard, and you are not our brother. You are the trueborn son of Rhaegar Targaryen and Lyanna Stark. You are our cousin, Aegon Targaryen, and the heir to the Iron Throne.”

His dubious expression is plain for them to see. Not Eddard Stark’s son when he, of all of the boys, has his look the most? Not Eddard Stark’s son but a Targaryen without the name’s mark of silver hair or lilac colored eyes?

“It is true that Bran knows things he couldn’t have if he didn’t have this gift. He saw me here in Winterfell before he returned and Arya on the road. He saw Littlefinger betray Father and hold a knife to his throat.” She lifts a hand to his arm. “I’m sorry, Jon.”

A trembled rocks his frame. Another breath. And another. “None of this matters. Who sits the Iron Throne is a problem for after the war. What we need are more men, more dragonglass, even more dragons if she had them. Winter is here, and —-“

“They say,” Arya begins in that soft, chilling way she speaks now, “that when a new Targaryen is born, the gods flip a coin. Half mad, half sane. Which do you think you are?”

He swallows, thinking of the path of devastation a dragon could leave with a queen who refused to be defied, hearing the screech of them overhead.

“Arya,” Sansa rebukes, but her eyes hold something akin to pity, and he suddenly cannot bear it.

“He knows the truth. Daenerys Targaryen cannot be allowed to rule. Not here, not anywhere.”

He straightens and sets his shoulders back. “I am tired from my journey. I will retire now.” His fist grasps the handle when the door shuts behind him.

🐺

It is no use trying to restrain Bran’s apathy; her jaw clenches but a moment.. “There were gentler ways to tell him. All his life, he’s only ever wanted to be a Stark, and now that is gone to him forever. Can you understand what that means for him?” She is most surprised at Arya, Jon’s fiercest supporter. She looks at her in question now.

“He must come to see her for what she is,” Bran intones.

“A conqueror. But he is our brother.”

Sansa looks at the pair of them, so alike now in their stillness, in the emptiness she sees in their eyes at times. Perhaps, it is in her own eyes as well. Only Jon lets his heart be seen clearly now.

Her knock on his chamber door is soft. The door opens, and she steps through, closing it gently behind her. Leaning her back against it, she watches him. His breaths are heavy like he’s just come from battle. His stance weary in a way it wasn’t even after he stood up from beating Ramsay Bolton bloody. The fire’s crackles fill the silence when Jon’s breaths are no longer visible.

Then, she walks towards him. She longs to touch him but refrains.

“What do you think?” He asks, his eyes focused on her.

“If you wish it, we would wait until the war with the dead is over and send our men along with you for your rightful place as King of the Andals. And if you wish it, I see no reason you can’t relinquish your claim to the Iron Throne as you did to the North’s. You needn’t die fighting for a position you don’t even want. You could stay here, home. Where you belong. Only if you wish it.” A soft exhale and he reaches for her hand. Her voice turns soft as a prayer. “If you wish it, no one need know at all apart from Bran, Rickon, Samwell and I. We have told no one else thus far, and we would keep your counsel.”

“If I wish it…” he sighs.

She smiles. “I’m sure I’ll know that you’ve chosen wrong as soon as you’ve decided.” But he cannot share in her jape.

“This puts all of us at risk. You are my heir, Sansa. Should I fall, that makes you the rightful Queen of the Seven Kingdoms. And Bran and Arya after you. She has fought for this since birth. She will not give up her claim so easily now, not with three dragons riding with her.”

“Having been away from King’s Landing all her life, and a woman, her claim will be contested, whatever good that will do. Whenever a claim is contested, other potential heirs will be killed like Ramsay killed Rickon, Joffrey killed Robert’s bastards, and Robert killed Rhaegar’s children before him. The heir apparent will always be killed so that the usurper may rule in peace.” Her eyes water but in a blink the tears are gone. “I will not allow it.”

Their faces are closer now than before. His eyes take her in: the hard set of her mouth, the faint blush of indignation on her cheeks, the firm grip on his hand. Finally, the pain in his eyes dims, and he smiles. “Let’s speak of happier things. Tell me how Lord Baelish died.”

Her laugh is high and bright.

🐺

In the end, they didn’t have to worry about a battle between Targaryens, or whatever he is now and her. Daenerys Targaryen falls along with her dragon, and he returns to Winterfell with no one the wiser to his claim. There is only the sure, recurring thought that in order to have what he wants, he must relinquish all he’s ever wanted.

Three-eyed raven he may be, but Bran only speaks of rightful heirs as Father would have. He expects Jon to take his birthright and the kingdoms that come with it. It would be too easy with the suspicion already clouding him now that Daenerys’ last surviving dragon obeys him, whispers that the dragon queen has named him her heir and somehow passed her powers onto him. Arya only declares, “if we won’t have the mad queen ruling, you can stay here with us as King in the North.”

It is Sansa who doesn’t seem to know what to expect of him then. She only looks at him with that steady gaze that makes him want to shift his feet and hide his face. He goes to her solar after dinner. They have somehow, the four of them, survived the war, and he cannot decide if they should wage another one without knowing what she desires.

She bids him enter. He finds her seated and sewing a garment. It is in Stark colors, but there is a deep red fabric in the basket in front of her.

He clears his throat and sits. He touches first the basket, the chair arms, the table. His moves are featherlight and fast. She watches him all the while which makes it both easier and harder to say, “I wondered if I could have your opinion on something.” She gives a slight nod but puts her needlework down. How to say this ugly, wretched thing he’s kept? What can he offer her? Not being queen - she doesn’t want it. Not himself - she will see him as he is, a true Targaryen, longing after his own sister. His jaw works. He sets his eyes on her hair. Kissed by fire, the wildings call it. His hands clench.

“You want to go south. You want to take the throne,” she says.

It’s a start. “Yes. We’ve defeated the Night King. Perhaps, there will never be another. I cannot say. If I were to be King of the Realm, I could ensure that if he or another like him should rise again, the North would be given sufficient aid in men and supplies. I could ensure my heirs and their heirs and so forth were told.” The honorable reason he has plucked from the weirwood heart tree, surely. But she sees him.

“You believe that your descendants, generations later, will believe in White Walkers because you say it?” The tone is flat. He feels blood rise to his cheeks.

“There’s a chance,” he presses, “but I wouldn’t count on it. Being my descendants and therefore descendants of the North should protect Winterfell.” It comes out weak and empty. It is true, but it is not why he is here, like this.

“What do you want? Tell me.”

A swallow. “I want to stay here with you and Bran and Arya. I want to live out my days here as Lord Eddard Stark’s son who has both his honor and stubbornness. I want to be Bran and Arya’s brother. Yet, I don’t want to be yours.” He must be brave as Father, as sure-footed as Robb on the battlefield. “I want to be by your side and watch over you. I want to protect you until the day I die and know even then that I’ve left you set so safely no harm would come to you in my absence. I want to see you happy and loved, but I don’t want to be your brother. I don’t want to be you brother.”

For brief moment, there is silence. A small crease between Sansa’s eyebrows, and then she reaches for the red fabric. Her hand has a slight tremor, but her voice is steady when she says, “Well then. I should get these finished quickly.”

🐺

Only a fool would miss the way Jon’s eyes tend to linger on hers, on her lips at times. And she hadn’t been a fool since she’d married Ramsay Bolton. She sighs at herself. One day, all memory of him would disappear, but today is not that day. She still thinks of him when she sees the scars, when she wakes in the night after a dark dream, when someone moves too close too fast. Never mind that. After the Battle of the Bastards, as even their own men called it, Jon had told her that they needed to trust one another. The shame of deceit was fresh, and she vowed to truly trust him then. Not simply give him as much as she’d thought herself able before, holding some secrets to herself lest she find a use for them in future.

Was it only a desire to protect and be protected at first? It grew into an awareness. If I must marry again, let him be like Jon, she’d thought to herself, looking at him ruffling the hair of a wildling boy. Or the barely repressed snarl when Littlefinger would draw near to her. He was like the knights she had dreamt of as a girl: strong for the weak, kind to the helpless, and handsome while he acted on their behalf. He is like Robb in that way with less divided loyalties.

When the meaning of Jon’s gaze upon her changed, it was with curiosity and gratitude that she looked back at him. No, she could not have learned even this from Cersei. Neither could it disgust her as it should. It soothed a deep wound for a true knight in all but name to fight for her and long for her as only a proper lady should be fought and longed for, not the badly repaired thing she is now. It still does. Perhaps, the ease in her chest when he is close, the certainty that she will never want to marry another, and that she thinks him so very handsome is enough.

She had never thought of him as truly her brother as a child, and it is not the type of love that could be suddenly built. There hadn’t been enough time for that. And now, it seems that was for the better.

Again, the luck is theirs. Jon never wages war with his dragon, Rhaegal. It seems the previous wars have made them friends where it has made others enemies. He is the last Targaryen, and, after some proof from Bran, the Crownlands welcome their king. She does not need to leave the keep to support his cause. Their Uncle Brynden brings the Riverlands, Theon the Iron Islands, Tyrion and Jaime the Westerlands, and Sansa the Vale. What remains of the Reach bends the knee without disdain, recalling how kindly their Lady Margaery spoke of his now cousin, Sansa. Even if they had wanted to fight, their fighting men are dead after the siege of Daenerys Targaryen’s Unsullied, who with no other master to call their own, follow Jon now.

For all that has been done to secure the Iron Throne, there is very little bloodshed and fanfare when Jon claims it.

🐺

“We won’t live in King’s Landing,” he says as they watch Arya in the training ground below. “There’s no reason why we cannot rule from here. With all the death it’s brought of late, no one seems to want to sit the Iron Throne but me.”

She glances up at him and away again. She has been cautious since his proposal. They are in a space they have created themselves, between sibling and cousin, cousin and spouse. Her red hair catches the light. She is resplendent. He has to avert his eyes then when she catches him admiring her. The laugh in her eyes does not reach her lips. He wishes she would let it.

“It could work for a time. Eventually, you and your lady wife will need to venture south to hear your people’s complaints lest after winter has gone again, they raise a rebellion against the king they have not seen since he urged them bend a knee like the kings before him.” She turns to face him then. It brings her cloak against his. “However, as you have a dragon, you ought to visit your kingdoms even during winter, see what it is you can do for them, and listen even if you cannot provide aid.” Her eyes fix on his throat now, her voice soft and serious. “I would not wish us to be as hated as the Lannisters who let the smallfolk starve while they feasted,” she says.

“We won’t be,” he says. “I will make sure of it.” In his mind’s eye, he sees his back straightening and feels as he once did when Sansa would have him and Robb take turn playing the knight to the other’s jailor. It is silly that one smile from her at his answer makes him feel sure and ready to do her bidding. If only I were able to make her happy, he thinks.

Nothing has changed. They still argue after a meeting with the small council on where best to send their limited resources; she hems and sews while they continue arguing in her solar if it hasn’t finished. Or he reads, glancing up at the the way the fire sets half her face in shadow and sets it alight in the next moment. She watches him train from the battlements, and he watches her ensure that they shall survive the winter with whatever stress the smallfolk pouring into the keep has given the stores. His eyes stay on her form a bit too long, and she touches him more than is necessary. It is as it always was.

And yet, everything is different. He worries himself until knots form in his stomach and his face looks so morose that Tormund mutters, “the Southerners always find something to weep over even when they’ve got their chairs and the prettiest woman in 1,000 miles sworn to them.” Even Arya does not try to best him at swords anymore.

“I don’t know what I was thinking,” he laments to her one day. “My sister —“

“Cousin. Isn’t that the reason you rode south in the first place? So you could marry our pretty sister?” She asks. They are seated in the armory, and Arya twirls Needle as she speaks. As always, her voice is low and dangerous. He would find it disturbing if she hadn’t told him she didn’t care when he’d told her of the upcoming nuptials.

He thanks the gods he has not shaved his beard. It covers some of the redness of his face. “Well, yes, but —“

“But now you’re scared.” Her eyes meet his then, and they are of the Arya of old. She is laughing at him though her face is still. “You should speak to her. If you’re scared, I imagine she’s terrified.”

🐺

It feels like an age since she has prayed, but she finds need of it now. Winter is here, their every battle behind them for as long as it lasts for no one wages war in winter. She sits below the heart tree when she is done. It was hours on her knees, begging for forgiveness for losing faith and the continued safety and protection of her remaining family members. She brushes the snow from her dress and leans forward, her mind finally at rest.

She knew when she’d ordered a full ream of that fabric what Jon would choose. She could not say how. Her heart simply knew that between the choice of remaining as her brother, the King in the North, and her cousin and, someday, her lord husband, he would choose the latter. For that was what the choice was. Jon never desired to be King in the North let alone the Protector of the Realm.

Since then, they have been careful with each other. Everything the same with many words unspoken.

He finds her there. She does not know how many hours have passed; the light has begun to fade from the sky. They say nothing at first. He sits beside her. She leans into him and he into her. They pretend it is for the little warmth that has been stolen from the air around them with the light.

Jon speaks first. “I wonder what Father would say if he saw us now.”

“If you had always been Aegon Targaryen and not been hidden here as Jon, we might have had an arranged marriage. Imagine my disappointment when I look upon my southron prince only to find a man with more of the Stark look than I or any of my brothers,” she chuckles. Her finger nudge the hair from his face. “Now, it gives me comfort.” Her hand cups his cheek. “A face I trust, a mind I know and a character that does not falter. ”

“Could it be enough?” He asks, ducking his head. “That you trust me?”

Her lips pucker to one side in thought. She stares at him in her assessing way. “For me, it is everything. You’re a good man, Jon. I… I am glad that it will be you. And you?” She asks after a moment.

“You don’t think it distasteful that I should desire you?”

Her chin raises haughtily. “I am Sansa Stark of Winterfell. When I was born, the bells rung from sunrise to sunset. I doubt anyone could blame you, cousin, for wanting the Winter Rose for yourself.”

They laugh long and loud then. What small tension had refused to be let out dissipates then. It reminds her of when they spoke at Castle Black. They were both of them uncertain of what their reception would be. The bastard and the prized daughter of Lord Eddard Stark. Some food, some assurances and they had settled. They would again.

“If we had been closer as children, it would most likely be different. But we weren’t. I thought of you as my brother, believe me, but we did not squabble as siblings like Arya and I did, or share our burdens like I’m sure you did with Robb. We were forever on the periphery of each other’s childhoods. We never thought we would see each other alive again; at least, I was sure you would bury me. And then you and I were aligned against what felt like the world together.

“It would increase the regard between any two people, and ours had yet to grow into a true relationship between siblings. Maybe it is why it took us time to trust one another. Arya and I were plotting almost as soon as she was within the keep. So, it is not so very strange to me.”

He wraps an arm around her at a shiver from her. “It’s the same for me.”

“And anyway, why should what makes us happy be strange? There are many terrible things that have happened that are not considered odd at all.”

He closes the distance between them to press his lips on hers. She stills for a moment. Soon, her lips return the pressure and part beneath his so that his tongue may taste her and she him. He tastes of the North. He tastes like home.

🐺

The wedding is small. After two weddings, Sansa had only wanted their closest allies with them: Arya, Bran, Brienne of Tarth, Tormund, Davos, and a select few others. She wore a dress made of the lightest grey, a testament to her lack of a maidenhead, as if he cares, and the Stark colors. When she drops her cloak, he places one of their own design on her. It is a several shades of grey that somehow work as one to represent both Stark and Targaryen.

Their children will be more Stark than Targaryen. He is glad of it as is she.

They claim each other before the old gods, and it is different than laying claim to a kingdom. Sansa, with her smile that quickens on her face when she looks up at him, is far precious than any lands or holdings. But he will give them all to her should she wish it.

Later, perhaps moons later, he will lick her scars. She will bear him children, and he will call every other Stark and Targaryen so that each of his names lives on. He will bring her lemon cakes and roses for her hair. He will sing her songs while she brushes it until it gleams in the moonlight. He will read for her when her eyes grow tired. He will even dance, though he was never that skilled at it. He will lay waste to the Seven Kingdoms and all their enemies hold dear. If she wishes it.

[immortalpramheda]

Game of Thrones ‘Eastwatch’

After last weeks epic episode I had high hopes for this episode, and I was not disappointed! It was a lot slower and not as much action as the last episode, but there were so many great moments. And a character returned who we haven’t seen since S3!

First off, there was a new place in the opening credits, Eastwatch. One of the other castles on the Wall, and the title of this episode. I also noticed an actors name in the opening, so I was expecting the return of a certain character, but I'll get to that.

Jaime and Bronn didn't drown! Somehow they managed to swim to shore. Not sure how with all that armour they were wearing, but I’m glad they're alive. I thought that Dany might take Jaime as a prisoner, but she didn’t. Bronn, like everyone, thinks that what Jaime tried to do was a stupid idea. Jaime said he thought he could end the war by killing Daenerys. But he obviously didn’t take into account the giant dragon standing in his way.

Bronn only saved him because Jaime still owes him gold. Born isn't willing to let him die until he gets what he’s owed. Jaime is worried about the threat of three huge dragons, but Bronn couldn’t care less. All he cares about is money.

The battlefield is a burnt ruin. There’s so much ash and smoke, and burnt bodies and supplies. Dany has gathered the survivors of the Lannister army. She is standing on a rock with Drogon behind her. She tells them the she is not what Cersei says she is. She is not here to burn their cities to the ground, even though she just burnt a whole lot of their army to a crisp, but hey, whatever you say Dany.

She offers them to bend the knee to her and they can live. But if they refuse, they die. Only a few soldiers bend the knee, but then Drogon roars and scares more of them into bending.

Randyll Tarly refuses, claiming that he already has a Queen. But as Tyrion points out, a few weeks ago they were loyal to the Tyrell’s. Their allegiances seem very flexible. But Randyll still refuses. He says that Cersei was born in Westeros, whereas Dany was is a foreign ruler. He’s stubborn and refuses to bend. He tries to convince Dickon to bend, but he refuses to leave his fathers side.

Tyrion begs Dany to send them to the Wall, or imprison them, or anything other than kill them. But she says she gave them a choice, and they made it. And of course she doesn’t behead people. That is not her way.

“Dracarys.”

She tells Drogon to burn them alive, in true Targaryen style. It was a bit unsettling, because this is what the Mad King used to do to anyone who was against him. He’d burn them alive, and enjoy watching them die. Dany has said countless times that she is not her father, but it seems like she is starting to become like him.

That scared everyone else into bending the knee. Tyrion looks disgusted. She won’t listen to him. He knows that she’s making a mistake, and I completely agree. This is not a good way to get people to join you. Getting people on your side with fear is not how you conquer them. It’s not how you win them over. But in her mind, what she offered was fair. I fear for what kind of a ruler she’s turning into. Maybe Jon can help her find her way?

Jaime makes it back to Kings Landing. Cersei already knows what happened, and she’s not happy. Jaime thins they’re completely screwed. Jaime tells her that Olenna is the one who killed Joffrey. She doesn’t believe him. She’s always been confident that is was Tyrion. But she eventually comes around to accepting it. I don’t think it makes her hate Tyrion any less though.

Dany returns to Dragonstone. Jon is brooding on a cliff again, as he does, when Drogon lands. He’s a little terrified, but it doesn’t seem like he’s going to attack. Jon stands there as he comes closer and roars at him. But he’s not afraid. He takes his glove off and reaches his hand out to him. And Drogon lets him. He seems to enjoy Jon’s touch. He can sense that he’s a Targaryen. He knows.

Dany is looking down at him, possibly think that this man could be her dragons father. Maybe? Anyway, I wonder if she suspects anything? The dragons only like certain people, and they have a very special connection to the Targaryen’s. I hope this means that Jon will be able to ride one! Hopefully Rhaegal, the one named after his father.

“They’re my children.”

Dany gets annoyed when Jon calls her dragons ‘beasts’. She felt insulted by him calling her children beasts.

I absolutely loved that whole scene! It reminded me of How To Train Your Dragon (Kit voiced a character in the second one too by the way). That scene was beautifully shot, and just heartwarming. I’d love to see Jon interact more with the dragons.

Jon isn’t happy with the way Dany handled things. Attacking an army on a dragon and burning soldiers. He’s not sure he agrees with her ethics. Then she brings up the comment Davos made about him taking a knife to the heart. He brushes it off again. He doesn’t want to tell her yet. But, with the way they’ve been looking at each other, I’m sure sooner or later Dany will get his clothes off and see the stab wounds.

Then Jorah arrives back! Wow everyone is travelling fast! Dany is thrilled to see him. And Jorah is happy to be able to make human contact again. Jon is just awkwardly standing there watching them, looking a little jealous.

Tyrion and Varys discuss Dany’s actions. It’s true that with the right council she won’t turn into her father. Tyrion needs to find a way to get through to her.

A scroll from Winterfell arrives for Jon. He finds out that Arya and Bran are both alive! He needs to go home! But instead they come up with another plan, which means completely bypassing Winterfell. At this rate, I have a feeling that Jon and Arya are never going to reunite.

Tyrion comes up with the idea to capture a wight and bring it to King’s Landing to show Cersei that the army of the dead are real. Jorah volunteers to go. Which saddens Dany a little. And of course Jon says he’ll go. He says the free folk will help them, but only if he goes.

“I did not give you permission to leave.”

Dany looks terrified to let him go. But Jon doesn’t need her permission. He is a King. But Dany legit looks terrified to lose him. I’ve never seen her look that way before. I have to say I really ship this, even though it’s incest I know. But just look at the way she looks at him!

In Winterfell, Bran is warging into a raven flying beyond the Wall, and he sees the White Walkers. Their army is huge! The Night’s King makes eye contact with him. They send ravens out to warn them of the oncoming threat.

The Northerners are not happy that Jon left them to go to Dragonstone, and is now heading beyond the Wall. They tell Sansa that they should have chosen her as their leader in the first place. Arya watches on, not pleased with the way things are going.

Sansa is staying in their parents old room, which Arya is not happy about. But that’s not all she’s angry about. She accuses Sansa of not defending Jon’s decisions to the Lords, because she secretly hopes that he won’t return and she will be the Lady of Winterfell for good. She denies it, but Arya knows it’s true.

Arya and Sansa never got along, and it seems like they still don’t. And if Littlefinger has anything to do with it, they’re going to completely turn against each other. Arya watched him being all sneaky and whispering to people. And then she sees him get given a scroll, which he hides in his room. When he leaves, Arya sneaks in and finds it. It’s the letter that Sansa was forced to write to Robb and her mother in S1. Littlefinger planted it there for Arya to find. He wants to drive a wedge between them. I think he knows that if they trust each other, then he won’t be able to control Sansa. He needs Arya out of the way. He needs to really turn them against each other.

The raven from Bran reached the Citadel, but the maesters don’t believe it’s true. Sam tells them that he’s seen the White Walkers, and if they, the maesters, send out ravens telling people that the White Walker threat is real, people will believe it. He tells them that they should all be reading up on the Long Night to prepare for the attack. But still they dismiss it, which frustrates Sam. And also, the maesters found out Sam’s father and brother were burned alive, but they didn’t have the heart to tell him.

Poor Sam. Gilly is getting really into reading, and is reading out random facts to him. She was reading about annulment, and she reads out that Prince Rhaegar issued an annulment and remarried someone else at the same time in Dorne. UMM!!! THIS IS LEGIT PROOF THAT JON IS NOT A BASTARD AND IS THE RIGHTFUL HEIR TO THE THRONE. Sorry, but he has a better claim than Dany and THIS IS VERY IMPORTANT! One of my favourite scenes of the episode, just because they fucking confirmed it!! But Sam just brushed it over and wasn’t listening. Really Sam!?!

“I'm tired about reading about the achievements of better men.”

Sam is fed up with the Citadel and not being taken seriously, so he steals some books (hopefully the one that Gilly was reading is one of them!) and leaves with Gilly and Little Sam. Good for him for wanting to actually do something instead of just reading about people doing things. I have a feeling Sam is going to be an important part of the fight against the army of the dead.

Davos sneaks Tyrion into King’s Landing to meet with Jaime, who is not pleased to see him. Tyrion says that their father knew he was innocent of Joffrey’s murder, yet he still wanted to punish him. But that’s not the reason he’s here. He tells Jaime that Daenerys wants to meet with Cersei to discuss an agreement.

Cersei already knew about their meeting, but she didn’t try to stop it. Cersei just rolls her eyes about he army of the dead threat. Cersei is trying to manipulate him, and Jaime needs to get out of there. But that’s not going to happen now. Because Cersei is pregnant. Really? She’s bringing another child into the world? Is that really a wise idea??

She says she is going to tell everyone that Jaime is the father. Now he’s trapped. He’s never going to be free of her. Unless he kills her. She tells him to never betray her again. But Jaime doesn’t respond. Which hopefully means he will. I hope he turns against her.

“I thought you might still be rowing.”

Meanwhile, Davos is in Flea Bottom on some business. As soon as I saw the armourers I knew! Gendry is back!!! After three seasons of rowing he is finally back!! He’s eager to come with Davos, and leave King's Landing behind. He’s really embraced being the son of Robert Baratheon. But he hates making armour for the family who murdered his father.

Gendry has a warhammer! Just like his father. The weapon that Robert used to kill Rhaegar Targaryen. It’s so cool that his son uses the same weapon! Gendry used it to kill a couple of guards who almost caught them. Davos tried to talk and buy his way out of trouble, but Genry just straight up killed them with one blow each! I’m excited to see what else he is capable of with the warhammer!

Gendry and Davos arrive back at Dragonstone. Davos tells him not to tell the truth about who he is, but he just straight out introduces himself as Robert’s bastard to Jon. Both their fathers were friends, and they are both bastards, so I guess Gendry is hoping they will be too. Gendry is ready to go on their journey beyond the Wall, so he’s in with Jon’s squad already. I’m excited to see this bromance develop. Although I hope that when they find out the truth they can dismiss the fact that Gendry’s father killed Jon’s father.

Tyrion is briefly reunited with Jorah, before he leaves again. Dany says goodbye to Jorah, and Jon comes up and ruins the moment. Because Dany seemed a lot sadder saying farewell to Jon. Jorah has only just come back, and now he’s leaving again? And this time, he may not actually return.

And finally we arrive at Eastwatch. The castle at the wall that the wildlings are manning. Jon and his crew arrive. Of course Tormund asks about Brienne, and Jon just laughs. He was hoping she’d be a part of their squad. Sadly she’s not. He thinks the idea is stupid, and is confused as to which Queen they need to convince, the one with the dragons or the one who fucks their bother. It turns out they have some more people to add to their crew too. The Brotherhood.

There were all these connections. Jorah’s father was the Lord Comander of the Night’s Watch. Jon has the sword that was supposed to be passed down to him. The Brotherhood sold Gendry off to Melisandre. The Hound and Gendry were both friends with Arya. Jon is Arya’s brother. All these connections that they barely even touched on!

Then the episode ends with the the Sucide Squad, Jon Snow, Tormund Giantsbane, Jorah Mormont, Gendry, The Hound, Beric Dondarian and Thoros of Myr, heading out on their adventure beyond the Wall. I would never have thought that these 7 characters would be going on a journey together!! But it’s going to be epic!!

Lets be real, it’s basically a suicide mission. I have a feeling not all of them are going to survive this. Jon has a Valyrian steel sword and Beric has a flaming sword. But do the others have any weapons that will actually kill White Walkers and wights?? Gendry’s hammer is awesome, but I’m not sure how useful it’ll be. And how do they plan to capture just one wight? I have no fucking clue how they’ll manage to do that!

Awesome episode!! Slower paced, but so many great character interactions and moments. It’s definitely getting to the pointy end of the season. I’m looking forward to seeing what the Suicide Squad gets up to!