#we needed only dany ellaria yara and olenna to team up

[scarmander]

Women, power and anger

An analysis of Game of Throne’s misogyny regarding Daenerys Targaryen in the last two seasons.

This is a very long rant. It’s over 4000 words. I needed to get this off my chest because it helps with my grieving process. 

A quick summary: I try to figure out when the show decided they wanted to go with the ‘Mad Queen’ bullshit theory. I try to undertand why they’ve done her so dirty lately. Spoiler alert. It’s not pretty.

So, if you want to know 

Game of Thrones has been known for its brutality, its shocking twists and deaths and ruthless scriptwriting. It is also known for having ‘strong’ female characters amidst broken journeys and fallen heroes. In a sea of raped, enslaved, prostituted and belittled women our female protagonists were born. From those patriarchaly imposed positions of subordination Daenerys Stormborn, Yara Greyjoy, Missandei of Naath, Brienne of Tarth, Sansa Stark and Arya Stark were hatched from the fossilized shells of the broken bodies and souls the male characters had made of them. They rose from their own ashes, time and time again, made themselves stronger with every blow men would throw their way. We watched them grow, evolve, fear, feel, fail and win for years, watched them become more than what their society wanted them to be, more than what they were allowed to be. They became rule-breakers, game changers, rulers and warriors. But that was until the show had decided that the end was coming and everything ought to be put back into order. The patriarchal one, that is.

It is my belief that everything changed the moment when Daenerys Targaryen, undoubtedly the most empowered and powerful woman on this show, decided to sail for Westeros with her fleet, three female allies (Yara Greyjoy, Ellaria Sand, Olenna Tyrell), the three dragons she had given birth to and the ‘largest army the world had ever seen’. Imagine the audacity of a woman accomplishing all of that. So, it is on this character that I will put my focus on, I’m also super fucking biased, but whatever, I would gladly do an entire essay on how they’re ruining every female character in this show. Anyway, back to Dany T. main female protagonist, the woman with the most amount of screen time (behind the two male protagonists Jon and Tyrion).

Let’s talk about the audience’s opinion of Daenerys. Truth be told, Daenerys’ influence and might as a character has already greatly surpassed the show’s realm, and that for a very long time. Even in the first seasons where she didn’t actually get that much screen time, she made a mark. And she has grown increasingly more so over the years. She has become an icon of pop culture to the point where people who are unfamiliar with the show recognize her. Now, this might have in part been facilitated by her peculiar looks and strange-sounding name, but Daenerys Targaryen is known worldwide for having power. She is primarily known for one thing: she has dragons. She’s the Dragon Queen, the Mother of Dragons. And those dragons are the physical representation of her inner strength. The only reason she has those dragons is because she walked into her husband’s funeral pyre and hatched them from stone like she hatched herself out of the stony shell of a weary, fearful teenage girl the world had forced her into being. And out of that pyre came out dragons and a woman with so much might the world watched in awe. Some people may call her Khaleesi, an unusual title which has stuck into people’s minds to the point where non-watchers recognize the title as her name. She is the most recognizable character in the show to the point where her hair colour has been a trend that has become every hair stylist’s worst nightmare, where people have named their children and pets after her and her title. She is also noticeably the show’s best marketing strategy, she is the one with the most personally dedicated amount of merchandising, and is relentlessly used by HBO’s marketing team to promote the show. But I digress. Sort of. The amount of power her character has both on and off-screen is indisputable and is probably what led us to the gigantic mess that has been season 8. She has too much power. Even away from the show’s narrative. She has had an impact on women. She has marked us, branded us with her might. And the show does not know how to handle this.

So, Daenerys, one of the most iconic female characters of this generation goes to Westeros. Unluckily for her, her arrival into Westeros also coincided into her arriving into the male protagonist’s territory. And that was the show’s last straw in deciding to let women have that much power. This is her fatal flaw, existing in the same realm as the male protagonist. The writers realized right then and there that they had greatly miscalculated. Because of how much power they had let Daenerys accumulate over the years she had spent far far away from the male protagonist’s character arc, she had become a threat to the sacred male character’s hero journey.  See, that’s the issue with having a strong female character that you let grow into her own power for 7 seasons, where she is free to go into conflict with men after men after men who all share the same unlucky traits: they are all both non-white and not the main male protagonist. So, Daenerys brings them all to their doom, they try to tackle her, try to diminish her, take her power away. They try, all of them, so many times. And they all inevitably fail. Because she is powerful. And men and women alike bow to her when they realize her might and her power. She is a goddess incarnate, dragons or not. She is so powerful fire dares not harm her. She is unique, mystical, mythical and strong. And not only is she powerful and strong, she is beloved by her people, her own soldiers follow her not out of fear but out of complete devotion, because she frees them, gives them the freedom she had wished someone would give her and finally realized she had to give to herself. She is a woman. She is their mother. She has power. She frees people, loves them, inspires them and has so much power the world shakes beneath her feet and fire fears her wrath.

And then comes season 7, along with Jon Snow, D&D, and Tyrion’s shitty battle plans. Whatever, it’s all one and the same. It’s all there to take her out piece by piece. That’s it, that’s been the show for two seasons now and I wish I had realized it earlier. I mean, I had my moments of realization here and there, but damn was I severely unprepared.

In Season 7 episode 2, Daenerys has a council made up of 4 women (Olenna, Ellaria, Yara, Missandei) and 3 men (Varys, Tyrion, Theon – and I’m only including Theon out of pity). By episode 3, Daenerys has 1 woman – Missandei, who unlike the other women does not advise her on military tactics – left in her council, and just as many men. Hell, by episode 5, she has gained three more men who ‘advise’, or more accurately question her every move. Jorah (I mean not you bby, come back to us), Jon and Davos, who is more of a comic relief personal pep-talker than anything else. But Varys and Tyrion’s advice grows like ivy and tries to strangle Daenerys from every angle. They try to control her more and more with every episode.

How the hell did I not notice right there and then where this was going? I don’t know, call me blinded by love.

How the hell did Daenerys end up with so few women left in her council? Men happened. The writers, the characters, all of them. That is literally the first thing they did to her storyline in season 7. It went something like this:

1) Get Daenerys to Dragonstone.

2) Get Ellaria and Yara out and destroy some of those ships, she has too many ships, that’s bad, can’t have her be too powerful.

3) Get Olenna out, but like, not at the exact same time because that would be too conspicuous, let’s wait another episode or two. Oh, and take out some of those Unsullied soldiers and even more of her fleet.

4) After one fucking badass battle let’s kill two random traitor assholes who have sided with the queen who murdered their former queen and daughter of their liege lord, their liege lord, their liege lord’s son and a good chunk of King’s Landing’s population on the field of battle who have refused her generous offer to get their titles and lands back if they just join her against the murderous queen. And also that one offer of going to the wall to protect the realm. They refuse. She kills them. Tough luck, bitch. Bad choice, should have probably offered them a cup of tea and a warm blanket instead as they went back to King’s Landing to fight you and kill your army at their nearest convenience. You fucked up because idk, Dickon was kinda hot I guess. Yeah and also they have names and one relative people know on the show, so that’s bad for you. Randyll and Dickon Tarly. You don’t know it yet, but this one is gonna be bad for you because you are now evil and your hand and his shitty bff are now saying you are mad. Maybe you should have been, maybe you should have killed them both too. If only. Sigh.

5) Have her lose a dragon. Give it to the Night King instead, she is too powerful.

6) Have her fall in love with the man who would bring her doom. Have her save his life. Have her think that maybe she deserves something good as she grieves her child’s death. They decide he’s the one who is going to kill her. Because having her become mad isn’t bad enough. She has to be killed by the one man she has let herself love not out of obligation but out of mutual admiration.

7) Make her promise to help defeat the Night King and go North to fight him.

Now, they take all that away from her. But they give her a love story with Jon Snow in return. And you think, alright, at least she’s not alone in this world.

And then we move on to season 8. The ultimate acceleration of events because they realized that they needed to wrap this shit up and that people didn’t hate her enough. So, Season 8 is where you learn that the plot twist to end them all was that Jon Snow was going to be the one who destroyed everything Daenerys has and is and will be the death of her. Groundbreaking work there. I wonder if GRRM has the same ending planned. So here’s the plan in Season 8:

1) Get Daenerys to WinterHell. Everyone is behaving like assholes. Bran is a cold little bitch who’s like “remember your dragon? Your dead dragon? He’s back and now he wants us all dead yayyy” and she has like zero seconds to process it because ‘we don’t have time for all this’. But you know what we have time for? Sansa hating her. The xenophobic MAGAs hating her. That’s valuable screentime. Sansa hates her for daring to bring her SoLdIeRs to her HoUsE and her DrAgOnS who she can’t believe are there to fight. Sansa brings up food issues when she knows the wall has been breached and the Night King is bound to arrive very shortly. She knows Daenerys isn’t going to stay here very long. Doesn’t matter. She (the writers) wants to be angry and petty and so she is. Because we couldn’t possibly have women collaborating on this show. Not after last season! Notice how they left out every single woman in Dany’s circle? Cause who would want THAT. Am I right MEN? I hope the meninists are having a good time.

2) Jon doesn’t comfort her much, doesn’t defend her much. He’s there. Like, he’s a physical man who barely says anything and is there. His purpose is to be… There, I guess. Good for him. He has everyone’s support anyway. He’s a man and he’s there. That’s all they ask of him. He’s not formally the King but he is the King anyway. He has the power. He makes the decisions. He’s a man.

3) Daenerys gives Jon access to her dragon. The one she gave metaphorical birth to. The one she walked into a pyre for. He has it. He has access to her power.

4) Jon now knows who he is. The man who tells him is that one relative of the family that Daenerys killed last season. He hates her. He tells Jon to take her throne, that it’s his anyway because he’s a man. He says that Daenerys is evil and should bend the knee to him. Jon then ignores Daenerys for at least an entire day while she has to face the man who killed her father, made her a homeless orphan on the run who lived on the streets, in fear, running away from assassins. She is angry but listens to a woman’s tale about him, asks for Jon’s opinion on the matter. She lets him have the decision.

5) The Night King comes. Daenerys’ armies are first in line and defend WinterHell with everything they have. Daenerys herself is first in line. Jon Snow wants to wait around. Daenerys has a sudden jolt of independence run through her spine, claims back her own authority and climbs on her dragon, burns as many wights as she can. Jon Snow follows her mechanically, like a lost puppy, gets attacked by the Night King and Viserion. This injures Rhaegal. Daenerys knocks evil Mr. Freeze down from HER precious bby boy and tries to burn him. It doesn’t work. She saves Jon’s life a second time in the process. And then a third, risking her and her dragon’s life for him. She ends up on the ground, with her oldest friend with a sword made of dragonglass and fights for her life. Her oldest friend dies in her arms.

6) And so it goes down from here.

This is the moment you’d think SOMEONE somewhere would show the tiniest fucking bit of sympathy, of gratitude. And they don’t.

What we got instead in Episode 4 was Daenerys being alone as Jon was being praised for her accomplishments. Jon falls upward as Daenerys faces consequences for her actions, good or bad, it doesn’t matter. Daenerys faces consequences because the show wants her to. She is alone. She begs Jon not to tell anyone about his ‘rightful claim’. He betrays her and tells his family. She has warned him Sansa can’t be trusted. Turns out Sansa can’t be trusted. And on it goes as Sansa, Tyrion and Varys plot behind her back to make sure that Jon falls upward for the uptenth time, Varys even going as far as to suggest killing her. His reason is that she is a woman and he can’t control her. That is Daenerys’ biggest crime on this show. And it won’t let her live it down. Hell, they’ll kill her for it. There is talk of a wedding between Jon and Daenerys. Somehow this is a bad idea because she is too strong and cannot be controlled.

She is too strong. Too much. Too powerful. That is Daenerys’ problem. She is too much and too much of a she. She is a dragon they cannot tame.

7) And just because she hasn’t had enough already they kill another one of her dragons for shock value, out of nowhere, with no purpose whatsoever but to show that they could. That she would be ‘mad’. That this somehow was the point of her character. It feels gross and unjustified.

8) And then, because why the fuck not at this point, fam, they go and execute Missandei. It has no purpose other than to show us that they put a former slave back into chains to kill her, to make Daenerys and Greyworm angry. That is what her life is worth. Her value will be the sum of two other character’s madness level.

And the countdown accelerates.

Let’s go back to when everything changed for Daenerys Targaryen. Let’s go back to Season 7, Episode 3. The moment where Daenerys Targaryen met with Jon Snow, hero extraordinaire, broody, rugged, manly and characteristically lacking of ambition. Jon Snow is a Bildungsroman’s wetdream of a protagonist. A poor little bastard boy hated and mistreated by his (semi-evil) stepmother who somehow rises to great heights despite everything adversity has thrown his way and who somehow ends up being the Chosen One to lead them all out of the darkness and to fight evil. Like Harry Potter, Frodo Baggins, King Arthur and countless other Christ-like figures before him, Jon Snow is good. That’s it, that’s all there is. That’s all you need to know about him, that’s all the story wants you to know about him. He is good. Sure he makes mistakes, but he’s good. He’s killed a child but he had his reasons, he killed a man begging for his life, but he had disobeyed him. He is good. And to top it all off, the lucky bastard just might happen to be a man. He is therefore the Chosen One. He is thus because he is He.

In Season 7, Episode 2 when Melisandre introduced to the audience the show’s own version of an Arthurian prophecy – Azor Ahai or: ‘the prince that was promised will bring the dawn’ – the show had its last inkling of an ability to pretend that they could somehow have a woman be a hero. Daenerys’ only female adviser and personal translator Missandei of Naath (a former slave they had captured and chained last episode just to kill her, in case you’d ever think the only woman of color in this show could die as a free woman) pointed out that that the High Valyrian word for ‘prince’ is genderless and that it could mean that Daenerys might also fit that prophecy. They also introduced the idea that BOTH Daenerys and Jon would play a role in this. I was fine with this. I thought all of their parallels from previous seasons meant that their fates were linked and that they would be two sides of the same coin.

If only the show had stopped right there. If only they hadn’t even tried to bring that up when they didn’t need to, when they didn’t even need to pretend to care. I’m wondering what the purpose of this line was. What was the meaning? A red herring? A last sliver of hope? Their last attempt at trying to pretend women mattered as more than canon fodder to further narratives, as more than bodies to be used and killed for entertainment’s purposes? It doesn’t matter. The very next episode sent off the ticking time bomb on Daenerys’ life.

In Season 7 Episode 3, Daenerys Targaryen met Jon Snow. The writers called it “A meeting of Ice and Fire” continuing on their claim that this is what the entire show had been leading up to, that even in Season 1, GRRM had told them that this was important, that the story was about these two characters coming together. I was pumped. I was rejoicing. The whole meaning of the show was right in front of me. And here’s how it happened: they made Daenerys look smug and entitled, having Jon Snow look humble and measured in comparison and when I watched it, I was taken aback, I didn’t understand what they were doing. I remember thinking that the way they were framing it looked weird because she was just as much of a protagonist as he was. I had been stupid enough to think the show could have a female protagonist when they already had a male protagonist.

The show wanted you to side with Jon Snow. The show wanted to make it clear that if you had to choose between Daenerys Targaryen and Jon Snow, you would choose Jon Snow. Humble, measured, naïve, male Jon Snow.

The ‘General Audience’ caught onto that. The moment Daenerys’ set her eyes on Jon Snow, she had lost. You should go and have a look on the comments of the Youtube videos of their first meeting. On that day, Daenerys was the villain. She lost that day, because she was in the man’s way. Because she spoke to him and didn’t bow. Because she stood there, fire and might, and didn’t let him take everything from her right on the spot. He was asking her to lay her entire life’s goals aside to help him with nothing in return. She was painted as arrogant for not bending to him and his will on the spot.

If only things had stayed that way. If only she’d stayed ‘arrogant’ and hadn’t let him close. Would she still become ‘mad’? Would she still lose it all anyway to make sure he would get it all in the end? Probably. Because why not? Why would the show give the most powerful woman any other outcome?

I guess the moral of this story is that women are only allowed to have power as long as it doesn’t interfere with a man’s ability to have more power than they do. And isn’t that what Varys has been telling us in the latest episode? That Daenerys and Jon would never be able to rule together because she was too strong for him and would bend him to her will? Because what could be worse than a strong woman having power? A strong woman potentially having power over a man. And so the ticking clock went off on Daenerys’ life. Her time has run out, because the show needs to have the male hero to win over everything, and if he can’t because a woman is in the way of the inherent inevitable male-centric greatness he will stumble and fall into reaching... Well then, it’s the woman’s fault and she angry and mad. So Daenerys will be mad and angry and hysterical and evil and he will kill her. Take that, woman she show tells you. Take that and die. We don’t need you when we have a male protagonist.

In a way, this show will end quite like the fairy tales warned us it would. The white knight, the Chosen One, the Prince that was promised, in his shining armour of goodness will swoop in and kill the evil dragon(Queen) to save the realm. And if this is a fairy tale then the dragon had it coming for daring to stand in the hero’s way. Perhaps the dragon ought to have apologized and stepped aside, perhaps the dragon ought to have known its place. Perhaps the fairy tale’s magic kingdom should have stopped the dragon’s rise before. And they did try. All of those men are knights, even the worst slavers of them all. Knights because they fought the dragon. They died trying to take her down. Perhaps they were right, then to try and defeat her. Perhaps it is sad, after all that the dragon took those poor men down. But it’s alright, the male protagonist will win. Because that’s what he does.

But if this is winning then why does it feel like rage and fire?

Because somehow the dragon is every woman. “You are a dragon” is what this show is telling me, as if that was a bad thing. “You are a dragon. You are too much. You ask too much. We will not bow to you, begone, be slain, you are in the man’s way. You are a hiccup in his rise to greatness. You will be killed prophetically and be swept aside and the hero, the man – the words somehow become synonymous – will inevitably win. And down you will go, defeated and broken. You and your might. You and your will. You and your power. Bow to us, woman, to our will, wishes, words and actions. Bow to us.”

The show wants me and you to know that. The show wants you to see what happens to women who stand in the way of men’s ascension to power, who are too powerful, who are too much for the story to handle. You are a dragon and you will die.

But dragons are fire made flesh risen from the ashes and dragons do not go down without a fight.

In a show that wants women to gaze adoringly at the male protagonists, women like Daenerys Targaryen have no place. They have no place because the show cannot fathom how someone could take her seriously, could value her efforts and her strengths when men are… There. That’s all they need to be.

And from that same patriarchal cesspool of a show/fictional society was also born Cersei Lannister, evil queen incarnate. She was the protagonists’ – male and female –  foil, their enemy, and she still is somehow, but she is also apparently doomed to be the female protagonist’s future. Cersei is evil because she has power. Cersei is bad because she is a madwoman. Cersei is all of your fairy tale’s evil spinsters. Cersei is in the way of a man’s greatness. And Cersei is Daenerys’ future as much as she is Sansa’s, or mine or yours. Bow down, women. Or be villains.

And so, in Season 8 Episode 4, as they tried to tear down at the last piece’s of the main female protagonist’s might they ignited the enraged fire that women try to swallow back down with every breath, for fear of being slain for having shown too much power and might. And the audience has never loved Daenerys more than it does now. The audience has done the unexpected. People who hated her now want her to burn the world down. People who already loved her have never wanted her to use her might as much as they do now.

“Dracarys” was Missandei’s last word. The show didn’t seem to realize it was a call to arms. “Women everywhere, join her and burn it down” seems to be the meaning the audience got from Missandei. I wholeheartedly agree with that sentiment.

The show wants me to think that ‘Dracarys’ was meant to take down the Cerseis of the world. It didn’t realize it made me want to take it down.

Maybe the show is right, maybe I, too, am a dragon ready to be slain. But if that’s the case I’m not going down without burning everything to the ground. Try and take me down, assholes.

[nightqueendany]

Original Final Season 7 - Episode 4: Dragonglass

It’s Tuesday again...

ON DRAGONSTONE:

Jon/Dany visit the caves - now having been cleared out of the dragonglass, Jon wants to show Dany the COTF markings, their attraction for each other becomes more clear in this scene and Dany is more sure of Jon telling the truth about the Night King and Army of the Dead

Dany asks Missandei if any of the 19 languages she speaks use a symbol-system for their written language, Missandei replies yes, a few, so Dany then tasks her with copying down some of the symbols from the dragonglass cave, perhaps she can decipher some of the ruin symbols

Sometime while alone in the cave, Missandei and Grey Worm have sex, AKA Greyssandei cavesex

Team Stark/Targaryen discuss the dragonglass, that while the amount of it is much needed, they have no weapon smith skilled enough to work it

Dany agrees to have Yara and Theon ferry all they’ve mined to White Harbor/the North (This is Theon’s idea but Jon supports it - secretly, Theon is anxious to see Sansa again so this is his excuse)

- In exchange for sending the Greyjoys North with the dragonglass, Jon agrees to send the Northern forces (Northmen, Knights of the Vale, Riverlands) south to assist with the blockade of King’s Landing - no formal alliance has been made yet, but they want to show a united front against Cersei, the sooner they take out Cersei, the sooner everyone can face the threat of the White Walkers

Davos says he knows of a weapon smith who might be able to work the dragonglass, but he’ll need to go to King’s Landing, knows how to smuggle himself in

Tyrion opts to go with Davos to King’s Landing as representative of the Queen

As Yara and Theon are about to leave, Yara basically encourages Dany to “tap that” (Jon) while Davos and Tyrion are away in King’s Landing, Dany needs to secure the North formally, and seducing Jon into marriage is the most efficient way to do it but Dany isn’t so sure (as she’s secretly falling for him anyway)

Ellaria and Olenna depart Dragonstone as well, to prepare for the siege of King’s Landing

Melisandre begins to finally push her agenda on Dany, to convert many in Westeros to the religion of R’hllor, Dany is open to the idea of erecting a center where the Sept once stood that is open to those of all religions and inviting more red priests to Westeros to practice their faith

Varys is none too pleased with this and his irritation with Dany/Mel puts him into a gossipy mood

When Baelish inquires after the fact that Dany has no children from her previous relationships, Varys confirms she’s barren, and this is music to Baelish’s ears - even married, Jon and Dany would have to name a successor because Dany can’t birth one and the most prominent name on the list of potentials would be Sansa, who is already Jon’s heir for the Northern crown

Varys quickly guesses Baelish’s scheme but for once, isn’t opposed to his former friend’s plot to get Sansa on the throne (he’s more intrigued than anything), he fears Melisandre and her magic, that her influence over Dany and Jon will lead to much trouble later on

To push Varys finally over to his side permanently, Baelish points out Dany’s house words will always be “Fire and Blood” and that if it were between her and Baelish, she would be the real “Queen of the Ashes” - a tip off to Varys that Baelish knew of his/Olenna’s S3 conversation when Varys first said Baelish would “see the country burn to be King of the Ashes”

At Varys’ slightly troubled/embarrassed look, Baelish reminds Varys he had eyes and ears all over King’s Landing, and still does...

At Jon and Dany’s urging (they both hate him and don’t entirely trust him) Baelish reluctantly leaves Dragonstone also, he’s to meet the KOTV and other northern forces when they reach the capital, Varys accompanies him

IN WINTERFELL:

Bran and Arya have formed a deep bond in their short time together, Bran sharing with Arya all he knows of his powers and he mentions his powers aren’t exclusive to his being the 3ER - that some of them are because he is a Stark, and that Arya is a Stark as well - Arya scoffs at what Bran is implying but Bran just utters something mysterious and vague that Arya can’t argue with

At Jon’s news and Bran’s urging, Arya is to go to the Riverlands to deliver the message personally to Edmure about sending troops to King’s Landing

Arya is hesitant to leave Winterfell, but Bran tells her something that makes her want to go - the things she asked Bran to look into, she’ll find in King’s Landing/her journey to, and Bran knows just where she needs to look...

Sansa doesn’t want Arya to leave, all her family is leaving Winterfell again (like Season 1), she worries none of them will come back, they’re “the last of the Starks”, but Arya insists they will all be back, there’s just a few things she’s left behind, Brienne will train Sansa in Arya’s stead and Arya quips that Sansa will be better than her by the time she gets back

Northern forces leave Winterfell

Arya leaves Winterfell

IN KING’S LANDING:

Davos and Tyrion come across Gendry and Davos gives him a sample of the dragonglass, Gendry says the material is tricky, but he should be able to work with it

The trio prepare to leave King’s Landing but Davos senses a storm coming in, they’ll have to wait in the city a few days and lay low in Gendry’s shop - Davos/Tyrion send a raven to Dragonstone saying where they are and that they’ve succeeded in finding the weapon smith

Title is simply for the substance driving the plot this entire episode - the Dragonglass. It’s what takes Theon North (toward Sansa), what urges Davos to find Gendry, and what brings Jon and Dany closer together/what makes Dany more sure of Jon’s telling the truth about the AOTD.

Episode 4 Inside the Episode: Dragonglass

1) Baelish and Varys:

Inarguably, the second-worst subplot of the entirety of Season 7 was the Winterfell plot (the first being the Wight Hunt).  It was unnecessary and ridiculous. This is when the mischaracterization of the Starks began. Arya and Sansa would not be at odds with each other upon reuniting and we all know it, even with Baelish in the picture. Sansa tells Jon in 6x10, “only a fool would trust Littlefinger” and yet she does so throughout most of S7, being the fool she had already warned Jon against. Remember what I said in the preface post about things being easily “undone” or forgotten entirely? Seems Sansa forgot to be wary of Baelish in show canon.

Also, I most definitely think we were owed one more encounter between Varys and Baelish. By killing Baelish off when the show did, it significantly simplified both their potential plots for Season 7 (and 8) because neither had anyone to spar with, as they had in previous seasons. Baelish’s “sparring partners” became Sansa and Arya and Varys’ became Tyrion, both unsuccessfully.

Further proof that Baelish and Varys were supposed to “get the band back together” so to speak, is two of Varys’s lines/conversations with/about Baelish are echoed in each of the final two seasons. First, in 7x02 when Tyrion tells Dany she’s “not here to be Queen of the ashes”. As mentioned above, Varys told Olenna Tyrell that “[Littlefinger] would see this country burn if he could be King of the Ashes,” (3x04) - it’s the exact same phrase and Varys is present when Tyrion says this to Dany in 7x02.

Next, in 8x04, Varys and Tyrion talk about “the realm”. Varys reminds Tyrion he “serves the realm” and Tyrion asks “what is the realm.” Varys has a very similar conversation with Baelish in 3x06 (Baelish’s infamous “Chaos is a ladder” speech).

These two lines/conversations, I think, are absolutely not a coincidence and further point to a previous plot/script whose lines and scenes are hidden just beneath the ones we watched. Baelish’s presence is felt in these scenes with Varys, but he’s not actually there. Having Baelish around this time gives the audience fulfillment that canon did not.

And as we’ve never seen them on the same side before, it would make for interesting conflict to see them team up against Dany.  

Varys is uncomfortable with Melisandre and her magic and this needs to be paid off. As I stated last episode, it was set up and then never done anything with. It makes way more sense for Varys to part ways with Dany over this and have a payoff for it, than him turning on Dany for Jon when he doesn’t even know Jon.

Baelish pushing Varys into this is also the natural progression of things as Baelish will manipulate anyone in order to get what he wants: he and Sansa on the Iron Throne, ruling Westeros. Varys knew Sansa from when she was a little girl in King’s Landing and admits he admired her father. Varys supporting Sansa over say Jon, would make more sense.

2) Missandei attempting to translate the COTF cave markings:

I know it seems weird guys. But hear me out. It gives Missandei a PURPOSE this season, gives her a job, an important one, and it uses her skillsets in regards to the endgame of the series: defeating the Army of the Dead. These ruins were heavily emphasized in 7x04 and the symbols even made it all the way into 8x01 with the Night King’s lovely art installation piece of Ned Umber on the wall with a bunch of body parts. These symbols NEED to be figured out. And I’m all for my girl Missandei getting to flex a little.

Plus, Missandei went to the cave with Jon, Dany, and Davos in show canon. Why not, uhh, idk, have her take a look and give her opinion on what they could possibly mean?? You know, just stating the obvious here, don’t mind me!

3) Gendry

Doy, another no-brainer. Aside from fucking and getting rejected by Arya, Gendry’s S8 story was about fashioning dragonglass weapons, but he was pulled into the 7x06 “Suicide Squad” for idiotic reasons.

Having Davos seek him out to work the dragonglass solves two problems: a) It explains how and why Gendry becomes the head weapon maker with the dragonglass at Winterfell in show canon, and b) gives Davos a REAL reason to seek him out, rather than, oh yeah, I liked this kid, gonna go see if he’s alive and around anywhere. Cuz that was just dumb and nonsensical.

4) Lastly Arya leaving Winterfell after arriving so soon...?

I know this may seem strange as well. But in this context, Arya isn’t leaving Winterfell permanently. Which was just dumb after she fought so hard to get back home and fought so hard for her home. It also gives her her own journey, not just sitting around Winterfell waiting for Jon to get back with Daenerys and waiting for the dead to come. As to what Arya’s going to find in King’s Landing/on her journey there, you’ve probably already guessed. And as for Bran’s hints that Arya’s got similar powers to him...you’ve also probably already guessed what these might be. 

Aaaaand that’s it for Episode 4. As always, you guys can comment on these and tell me what you think, ask questions etc. It’s allowed. Don’t be shy. Especially since this is the episode that probably is the greatest divergence from canon yet, I’d love to hear your guys opinions.

Original Final Season 7: Preface Post

Season 7 Episode 1: Family, Duty, Honor

Season 7 Episode 2: Greywater Watch

Season 7 Episode 3: The Last of the Dragons 

Season 7 Episode 4: Dragonglass (Current Episode)

Season 7 Episode 5: The Storm

Season 7 Episode 6: Summerhall 

Season 7 Episode 7: A City Fit For A King

Season 7 Episode 8: Protectors of the Realm

Season 7 Episode 9: The Battle For The Dawn

Season 7 Episode 10: ?

[nocturnalblue]

Salvaging the Bells

Because I invested so much in this adaptation of A Song of Ice and Fire, and because I can be very forgiving of adaptation choices even if a favorite is done dirty, like Stannis, I can’t help but try to figure out how to make Dany’s heel turn work.  It also got me thinking at what point the adaptation did the story go off the rails.  For me, there is one change that could have made the adaptation feel less like checking off a to-do list and salvaged Dany’s descent into madness - keeping Doran Martell alive.

I know the Dornish story was a mess in season 5, but it could have been saved in season 6 if D&D didn’t chase the YAS KWEEN high while trying to forget Dorne ever happened.  In Episode 6X01, instead of Ellaria and the Sand Snakes getting the drop on Trystane and Doran, Ellaria should have been executed and Trystane should have survived.  One or more of the Sand Snakes could have been executed, with the surviving ones choosing to ally with Doran.

Then we get the Doran who wants vengeance on the Lannisters for killing Elia, something that causes tension with his son because Trystane loved Myrcella (in that teenage puppy love way, so of course it was all consuming and intense).  Doran, Trystane, and any surviving Sand Snakes can then join up with Varys, Olenna, and the rest of team Dany in season 6.

Season 7, we see the cracks in the alliance. Doran tries to push Dany towards vengeance because of his grief over Elia, leaning on their in-law relationship.  Instead of wiping Dorne out wholesale in the Queen’s justice, the whole season could have been spent on the competing aims of Dany’s teams - Fire and Blood on the Lannisters (Olenna, Doran, surviving Sand Snake(s)) vs. trying to be a just queen (Varys, Tyrion, Trystane).  The conflict could cause her to take some other losses (she could still lose Yara, but it would be in a Golden Company attack because Cersei engaged them earlier).  The dysfunction on Dany’s team could contribute to her being drawn to Jon Snow, a fundamentally decent person who actually wants to save the realm.

Somewhere in season 7 we get the reveal about the Rhaegar annulling his marriage to Elia and marrying Lyanna.  Maybe somehow introduce through Trystane and the surviving Sand Snake that they have a contact in the Citadel and she overhears Sam figuring things out.  That information gets to Trystane, who then confronts his father with how cruelly Rhaegar discarded Elia.  This information also gets to Cersei, who then uses it to convince Doran and Trystane to secretly turn on Dany. (Which in turn would show Cersei being clever). They could start feeding Cersei Dany’s plans.  They could do something like attack Dragonstone once Trystane and Doran let her know that Dany went to rescue Jon from north of the wall.  Set in motion the events that lead to Olenna’s death (maybe by framing Olenna for selling Dany out). Start making Dany worry about traitors in her midst.

Trystane could also try to do something stupid, like attempt to seduce Sansa as a clumsy way to get revenge on the Starks, but Sansa would see right through it and instead of mean-girling Dany, could actually try to warn her that her brother-in-law and nephew are actually betraying her.  Dany won’t listen because to accept that is to accept the truth about Jon being ahead of her for the throne.  Also, by making the Martells know about Jon, they don’t have to have Sansa betray Jon’s trust by telling Tyrion who told Varys, etc. etc.

Sometime in season 8, after the Long Night, Doran and Trystane then execute another betrayal by causing Rhaegal’s death (makes sense, considering how angry they are at her because of what happened to Elia).  It also hearkens back to how the Dornish resisted the Targaryen conquest and actually killed Rhaenys’s dragon. Doran and Trystane are caught, executed by Drogon, but not before articulating all of Dany’s worst fears about how no one in Westeros would love her, only fear her, that she’s delusional if she thinks she’s a hero, and that everyone in her family was a cruel monster.  The Martells die, then Dany, realizing she alienated her allies and that the thing she wanted most has become ashes in her mouth, loses it.  She nukes Kings Landing, attacking everything and everyone.  No surrender bells, just destruction. The above is not perfect and details would need to be worked out.  But having Doran and Trystane undermine Dany out of misguided vengeance for Elia would match up with the likely themes of the Martells’ story in the books - misguided vengeance for Elia leading to nothing but heartbreak.

[thearabkhaleesi]

GAME OF THRONES SEASON 7 LEAK

SPOILER WARNING FOR SEASON 7!

There have been many plot leaks for the 7th season of Game of Thrones, as well as on-set paparazzi photos that reveal key plot points. I asked whether or not you guys want me to discuss the leak and it seems like you do so let’s start! Obvious spoiler warning! Anything below could or will happen in season 7. I have to say I looked at many of the photos and read parts of the leak; that being said, I’m only going to post what I’ve heard/seen. There are other parts of the leak out there that I don’t discuss below because I didn’t read see everything.

Also, Disclaimer: I don’t know if the leak is 100% accurate. Last year there was also a season 6 “leak” weeks before the show, and some plot points were accurate but not everything so this might be the same case, I don’t really know tbh. Plus, keep in mind Kit Harrington recently said in an interview that the cast faked some scenes for the paparazzi so they might not all be true (but he could be lying, we’ll just have to wait & see).

Okay, let’s get started!

EPISODE 1: In the beginning of the season, Jon will rally Northern houses, tell them about White Walkers, and say they need to collect dragonglass. Bran & Meera will travel through the wall, and they meet Ed at Castle Black, who tells him that Jon is at Winterfell and he’s King in the North. Bran tells Meera that Jon is a Targaryen and Meera says that her father always said Rhaegar & Lyanna loved each other (her dad Howland Reed was one of Ned Stark’s best friends). Arya kills all remaining Freys and frees her uncle Edmure Tully from the Frey’s cells. Tyron tells the Sand Snakes that he’s disgusted that they killed his niece. Tara & Theon split from Daenerys’ and head for the Iron Islands, while Dany is going to Dragonstone. Enron rallies his own fleet and heads south (by sea). Jaime and Cersei get into a very heated argument but they make up. Brienne arrives at Winterfell. Melisandre meets the Brotherhood without Banners and tells them that Jon is Azor Ahai so they travel to Winterfell. Jonah arrives in Old Town. Jaime rallies the Lannister army to take over Highgarden, and takes Joffrey’s sword, Widow’s Wail, with him. The episode ends with Daenerys arriving in Dragonstone. Tyron & Dany go to what used to be Stannis’ old war council and Dany says “Shall we begin?”

Guess who’s back this season? GENDRY! He’s finally done rowing lol. Some leaks say he will end up in Dragonstone (there have been photos of a man who looks like the actor); the other leak says that he’ll actually be back forging weapons in King’s Landing and will reunite with Davos, who will tease him for “still rowing” (I believe the first).

Arya will be in the north, killing every single remaining Frey family member, then she’ll be making her way to Winterfell, when she reunites with her dire wolf Nymeria (who was separated from her in season 1). Once she & Bran are back at Winterfell, Littlefinger will try to pit them against each other but Sansa, Arya, and Bran will plan his murder (Arya herself will kill him).

Jorah will go the Citadel and will be cured by Sam, and he will discover Jon Snow’s true heritage and name (it might actually be Aegon instead of Jaeherys!) Gilly will discover that Rhaegar Targaryen’s marriage to Elia Martell was annulled and that he secretly married Lyanna Stark before she gave birth to Jon (we will see a flashback), which makes him a legitimate Targaryen! He will then travel North and join Jon.

The Lannister army will take control of Highgarden and Dorne and the Sand Snakes will be captured and brought to King’s Landing. When invading Highgarden, Olenna will reveal to Jaime that she was responsible for Joffrey’s murder, then she will commit suicide. Qyburn has developed some anti-dragon weapons for the Lannister army, but despite that Deanerys’ army will then win against the Lannisters’.

Daenerys’ temper is getting worse and Tyrion is getting worried. She has instructed Drogon to burn various Westeros lords who refuse to bow to her, including Sam's father Randyll Tarly. (There are very mixed leaks on Tyrion that are debunked by set photos so I’ll just stop here)

Euron will come across and destroy Yara & Theon’s fleet, and take her as a prisoner but Theon narrowly escapes the madness (we kinda saw this in the trailer)! 2 of the Sand Snakes will killed by Euron, and he'll capture Ellaria. This is said to take place after he forges an alliance with Cersei.

Beric Dondarrion, Thoros of Myr, Tormund, and Davos believe Jon to be Azor Ahai

When Jon & Davos go to Dragonstone to meet Daenerys, they will take some Dragonglass.

At the beginning of the season, Cersei thinks she might be pregnant with Jaime's baby, but later in the season she will have a miscarriage.

Jon and Daenerys have a romantic relationship at the end of the season.

NEW: A costume designer for the show accidentally let it slip that Jon will meet Cersei this season.

So according to the leak, in season 7 we are going to see Cersei, Daenerys, and Jon Snow team up to fight the White Walkers. Jon will not bend his knee to Daenerys, but he has agreed to relinquish his King in the North title if she helps battle this oncoming threat in the North. This will be the set up for one of the show's most anticipated scenes ever.

Cersei will not agree to an alliance unless she sees a wight/White Walker herself so Jon goes on a mission beyond the wall to capture one. He will travel North with Tormund, Beric, The Hound, Thoros of Myr, and Jorah. Battle ensues on an island in the middle of the frozen lake. Thoros of Myr will be the first one to die, and he will be killed by a wight polar bear. Jon will be killed by a White Walker, Brienne kills that White Walker with Oathkeeper, Jorah will pick up Longclaw (remember it’s his family sword), and will kill White Walkers using it, and Gendry defeats White Walkers using a warhammer (fun fact: a warhammer is what Robert Baratheon used during Robert’s Rebellion). The Night King battles with Beric (flaming sword scene), but he gets badly wounded. As he’s dying, he crawls to Jon and gives him “the kiss of life” (basically giving his life to Jon). Beric dies, and Jon is alive again. He picks up Beric’s flaming sword and immediately goes back to killing wights. At some point Jorah sort of distracts him, Jon gets disarmed, and starts to lose but that’s when , Jon’s uncle Benjen Stark shows up and puts Jon on his own horse, sending him to safety in Winterfell as he dies in battle. The Hound is the one to finally capture a wight. At this point, The Night King himself starts attacking Daenerys’ dragons with ice spears. He hits Drogon, and Dany immediately leaves on him, but he then hits Viserion right in the eye, killing him. Right at the end of the episode, The Night King resurrects Viserion as an ice/wight dragon, and just before the screen fades to black, we zoom in on Viserion’s eye, which turns blue. (This will all happen in episode 6.)

Cersei, Tyrion, Jon, Daenerys, Jorah, Varys, Missandei, Qyburn, Euron Greyjoy, The Mountain, and The Hound will unite at the Dragon Pit in King's Landing. Jon will deliver an undead wight at the Dragonpit, proving that they exist, they’re coming, and that it’s about time the 7 Kingdoms team-up against the Night's King. Cersei “won’t allow this”, so she agrees, but when it’s time for her to send her armies to the North, she backs out because she wants the White Walkers to weaken and thin out her enemies. Jaime is mad and disgusted with her so he gives up on her and decides to travel North to join the battle, which will happen in season 8.

I don’t know if I mentioned everyone but here are the people that will die, according to the leak:

Littlefinger

Tormund

Beric Dondarrion

Thoros of Myr

Sand Snakes

Olenna Tyrell

Greyworm (maybe)

Ed

Benjen

There are set photos as well but I WILL NOT post them here because I don’t want anyone scrolling through their dashboard or just on my blog & happen to see a huge spoiler. That being said, you can view the paparazzi set photos (HERE)

[doublehex]

Impressions of 7x02 “Stormborn”

So we got the second episode. Let’s have a chat.

Dragonstone:

We open up with a fierce storm raging outside Dragonstone, and I love this for several reasons. First off, the obvious allusions to the night that Daenerys was born, but most importantly I love the imagery of it. It is nearly black, save for the outlines of thunder strikes and the fire from within the Targaryen keep.

The scene opens with strife amongst Daenerys’ advisors. Elaria Martell has no shame over killing Tyrion’s niece Myrcella back in the final episode of Season 5, and I have to say I was disappointed by how it was played out. Tyrion seems to just casually accept what Elaria has done, a shrug off his shoulder. He should be pissed, and demanding from Daenerys some kind of retribution. I really do hope that something comes out from this, because otherwise it would just seem the showrunners are just waving off a critical relationship between characters.

Daenerys questions Varys about his loyalty, and I really do need to ask…why now? This is a conversation that needed to happen, but not after months of sailing together across the Narrow Sea. Why did Dany not speak with Varys in the final episode of season 6? It just seems awkwardly placed, although it is decently written.

Varys’ character suffers from cutting out the Golden Company plot from the books. Without Varys’ “perfect prince”, it doesn’t make much sense for him to have backed Viserys in the first season. He should have known that Viserys was the same kind of man that Aerys was, so why would he go for that? It feels like the writers are trying to salvage a ship that is made out of seaweed and is on fire.

I do however like Daenerys’ response – that if Varys felt she is doing a poor job as queen, he will say so to his face. And her threat of killing him if he should conspire against her shows she is not going to just accept his loyalty. Varys has jumped from monarch to monarch several times over now. He was essential for bringing Dorne and the Reach into the fold, and Daenerys is in need of a spymaster. But she does not trust him one bit, nor should see.

Then we get a Melisandre scene, where she reveals that perhaps Daenerys is the Prince(ss) That Was Promised. In the books, the revelation that the prophecy may have suffered a grammatical mistranslation came about as a sort of bitter moment…Aegon had been mistaken all along, and perhaps his error resulted in Rhaegar’s rash decision. Here it’s played as a mediocre female power moment.

Also, why is Melissandre in the throne room? Dany should be there on the stone throne, and Melissandre should be escorted in. Dany sees herself as queen – she should be showcasing that as much as possible.

When they plan for how Daenerys will retake the Seven Kingdoms, it is only her and Tyrion that vouches for the least amount of blood shed as possible. They realize that the Dothraki and Unsullied will only fan the xenophobic flames of the Westerosi. In order to establish Daenerys as a rightful ruler, it can’t be the Essosi that take King’s Landing. The Reachmen and Dornish will lay siege to King’s Landing.

This scene does a good job of showcasing what everyone wants out of Daenerys. Yara just wants the Iron Islands to be independent, she wants a quick end to the war. Ellaria and Olenna want Cersei to suffer, damn the consequences. Daenerys’ alliance is a fragile on at best. Besides the racial tensions between Dorne and the Reach, which have always been high, the alliance is split on how to proceed. It seems only the fact that Daenerys has dragons and a formidable army is what keeps the others from abandoning the cause.

At the end, Olenna tries to remind Dany that she is a dragon, so she must “be a dragon”. Olenna is trying to push Daenerys towards fire and blood, highest amount of casualties, giving the Lannisters as much misery as possible, and one can’t help but worry that this will be the show’s version of the “dragons plant no trees” from the books.

The Missandei and Grey Worm romance has finally come to it’s…blunt conclusion. Although it was good to hear Grey Worm speak of what the training of the Unsullied was like, the romance between these two characters have felt very contrived and forced. The sex scene is rather mild by the standards of the show, which comes as a relief, because the dialogue leading up to it was as awkward as one could get. One really has to ask just what this side plot added to the series, that couldn’t be better spent somewhere else.

Kings Landing:

Cersei seems to have taken Jaime’s advice to heart. She is doing her best to rallying the support of the Southern lords…and that seems to means just the Reach, if Randyll Tarly’s presence is anything to go by. The language she uses in her speech reminds me a great deal of Trump, where she is relying on an appeal of the Other and objectively false claims to secure a base.

It may have been unintentional or not, but I got several ISIS vibes when we had Qyburn defame Balerion’s skull with the ballista. They start off that scene with a bit of a history lesson, showcasing that Balerion is a big part of how the Seven Kingdoms were forged. It’s a priceless relic for all intents and purposes. Then we have Cersei deface it, and look pleased about it.

It seems to me that D&D are trying to create parallels between modern day and with Cersei. She has overturn the political system, going against the will of the people, to secure power. Now Trump did not perform a coup d’état like Cersei has. As far as we know, his election was legal. Influenced by outside forces, beyond a doubt, but legal. Most people did not want Trump as president, and almost nobody in Westeros wants Cersei to be their queen.

Another comparison between Team Lannister and the Alt-Right is the racist language Jaime has employed in recruiting Randyll Tarly to their side. Othering the Unsullied and the Dothraki in an appeal for Westerosi Nationalism (and luring the prospect of a new Paramount Lord of the Reach) seems to have worked on Lord Tarly.

One very keen thing to take away is that Jaime states that he no longer likes his sister. A rift is growing between the Lannister twins, and it will surely culminate in Jaime having to make a choice.

Winterfell:

Jon is finally starting to listen to Sansa. He speaks to her about the summon to Dragonstone, and she is wary. Despite her insistence that Tyrion is a good man, it is too risky. Sansa is still very much in bunker mode – after years of witnessing her family come under siege, she views anyone else but a Northman as a threat. She is not entirely wrong, but Sansa is also focused on the Southern threat, while Jon is focused on the Northern one.

In the end, Jon goes against the pleas of all his lords (including Lyanna Mormong) and accepts the invitation. Jon is getting flashbacks to his time as Lord Commander, when he is the sole voice for an unpopular action that must be taken. Even if it weren’t for Daenerys’ dragons, the North has been under siege for years. Food supplies are low, men are short. There’s a reason that boys and girls are being taught to fight. They need more manpower against the White Walkers, and Daenerys’ army is precisely what they need.

But once again, Sansa openly objects to Jon’s proposal in front of their lords. D&D continue to strike the same source of conflict between these two characters, in a way that seems artificial and forced. Especially when Jon rewards her with ruling the North in his absence. We just saw Jon seeking her counsel a scene earlier – why doesn’t he tell her his plans in private? The Starks look divided, and that won’t look good in front of the Northern nobility.

Petyr Balish also seems to be out of place this season. There is no clear understanding of just why, precisely, he is in the North, or what he is trying to accomplish. He may view chaos as a ladder, but the ladder doesn’t seem to be leading him anywhere. And the creep vibes he gives off does not seem to serve a purpose. In the earlier seasons, Petyr was very good at being everyone’s friend. That skill seemed to have evaporated by season 7 has rolled around.

Just what is Balish’s endgame plan? We are not getting much of a sense that he has one. Just like Varys, the changes to the narrative post season four has left Balish hanging.

Oldtown:

Sam’s arc is quickly becoming one of the best parts of the season. With an emphasis on being “hard rock Hogwarts”, the pacing of these scenes is stellar. They are glorified info dumps, but they are info dumps with style, and I am along for the ride. Maester Slughorn…err, Marwyn…no, Ebrose, sorry, is a darkly charming mentor for Sam.

The Grandmaesters actually had a good reason for hiding the greyscale cure – it tends to get the treater killed. But Samwell doesn’t have a say no attitude, and by golly he is going to save Ser Jorah. No matter what.

The cure for greyscale being entirely mundane instead of magical was a sigh of relief. And with the cure being to actually carve out the corrupted skin, one could not think of a better face for a character with morals are corrupted and dubious as Jorah Mormont. Next time, Ser Jorah, do not enslave people just to fulfill the debts of your wife. Also, don’t abuse the trust of a young woman and violate her privacy by kissing her without permission. No matter how sexily Ian Glen can growl “Khaleesi”, that is unforgivable.

And he does nothing for the narrative anyways, except slows it to a crawl.

Arya:

And the best scene transition goes to…pus soaked flesh into chicken pot pie! Mark Mylod had to be crackling as he directed that, and I wouldn’t blame him one bit. Grossing people out is a wonderful hobby to have.

Say one thing for season seven, and say that Arya’s arc has been on point, and her time in the inn is no exception. Watching her eat the pie surely made the entire audience hungering for something to stuff down their gut. You could hear every crunch, see the crumbs get stuck on Maisie Williams’ cheeks, and just get the sense that the pie was really damn good.

We also got a sense that the Hound had a profound impact on Arya. Her statement to having baked some pies is the kind of casual appeal to murder that sounds like it would come from Sandor Clegane’s mouth.

Arya also seems to have not realized that any of the Starks were alive, up until Hot Pie drops the fact that Jon took back Winterfell and was the King in the North. That changes her trajectory completely, from killing Cersei to reuniting with her family. Although that warms the heart, one has to wonder just what her last line to Jaqen H’ghar was supposed to mean. If she was “going home”, why was she not in Winterfell already?

The scene with Nymeria was, of course, wonderful, and D&D avoided the expected trap of having Nymeria rejoin with Arya. They haven’t been with each other for years, and Nymeria has long since found her own path in life. Nymeria has a pack, and Arya is on her way to reunite with hers.

Oh, of course this happens the moment Jon heads south for Dragonstone, but that’s plot convenience for you.

The Battle in the Narrow Sea:

So, we got one good scene and one bad one. The interaction between the Sand Snakes is almost…endearing. I actually found it a bit heart warming to see these three half-sisters are toying with each other. It almost makes one forget that they went and killed their nephew and joked about it.

But then we get the most awkward flirting with Yara and Elaria. “A foreign invasion is in progress”. Good god. They improvised most of those lines, and it really shows.

Once that nastiness is out of the way, we get a real sense of just what type of villain Euron Greyjoy is meant to be. The book version was an sorcerous pirate captain with delusions of eldritch power. Show Euron is the Mountain on the Sea. An absurd murderer with no desires to hold back his bloodlust. From the moment the Silence rams into the flagship of the Greyjoy fleet, Euron is an absurd villain.

And he rocks that role. Euron is utterly bloodthirsty that reflects the raised stakes of the series. Daenerys has brought dragons to Westeros, but Euron is showing us the true meaning “fire and blood”. Between the flaming ballista bolts and the Iron Islanders carving through each other, we get plenty of both.

The show does allude to how Euron from the novels would cut the tongue out of his crewmates. They are all silent, not speaking a single word, and one of the final shots is them cutting out the tongue out of the survivors.

The scene ends with Theon facing a new Ramsay. Seeing the way the Greyjoy loyalists are butchered by the crew of the Silence reminds Theon all too much of his abuser, and he can’t take it. Alfie Williams deserve an award for this scene alone. He utterly sells just the shame and fear in Theon.

When the episode draws to a close, Theon is left behind, just another bit of wreckage in Euron’s wake.

The episode opened with a storm of water, and it ended with one of blood.

[allaboardtheloonyexpress]

My Thoughts on the Season 7 Spoilers By awayforthelads

I will be dissecting the spoilers from Season 7 by awayforthelads, with some gripes and other thoughts. (Yes I believe it. It sounds like classic D&D.) Spoilers will be in bold, my commentary unbolded.

1. Bran crosses the Wall, meets with Edd. Sam and Bran figure out Jon's heritage. He is apparently a legitimised Targaryen named "Aegon".- This makes it seem that to D&D, the only purpose of the Bran and Sam plots are to discover that Jon is secretly the rightful king. It is essentially praise for our Lord and Savior Jon Snow! They have their own stories, their own discoveries to make! Not everything rotates around Jon Snow! And I just hate general hymns to how awesome Gary Stus are in general.

2. "Sansa wants to give the lands of those who betrayed Jon to those who supported him, but Jon (in first episode) refused to hold the children of the Karstark and Umber families responsible for the actions of their fathers. This doesn't please Lyanna Mormont (or Sansa) but Jon basically just tells her to deal with it - he doesn't plan to rule the North the way it always has been."- First of all, I find it annoying that Jon Snow is being inconsistent with violence. After his resurrection, he killed the leaders of the mutiny against him. Next of all, Sansa is right here. If Jon is going to be King in the North, he needs to make an example of those who betrayed him. The Umbers in particular should have tried to raise the North for Rickon. The Karstarks can be forgiven, but not the Umbers. Considering that ruling by love didn’t do jack for House Stark (unlike in the books), it seems like the Lannister method of ruling by fear should be at least tried.

3. "At the end of Episode One, Dany and her fleet land at Dragonstone. Nobody says anything. She walks up the steps to the keep, and we follow her through the building until she reaches Stannis' old War Room. She looks out the window at the land ahead that used to belong to her family. She picks up one of the chess-like pieces on the table and looks at Tyrion, who has followed her up. She says one line: "Shall we begin?" End of Episode"- I am probably the only person on Tumblr who wanted Daenerys to stop off in Volantis before going to Westeros, but I think her time in Essos is essential for her journey from idealistic hero to destructive conqueror. What’s more, her relationship with the Red Priests is a really important character thread that needs to be addressed.

4. Dany and Jon meet. Dany demands he bend the knee, which he refuses. Evidently, he discusses the WWs, but she doesn't believe him. Tyrion insists that Jon isn't crazy. Dany respects Jon immediately, Jon to Dany maybe not as much?- I think Dany is being made more foreboding this season, less of a hero. But again, important parts of her journey are being cut out. Her time in Essos (and her alliance with Victarion Greyjoy) are important parts of that. She’s not just evil because.

5.  Gendry's in Kings Landing making weapons, and he is found by Davos.- I personally like that Arya and Gendry are probably going to get together. But I don’t like how they’re presenting him. For one, Gendry is in King’s Landing? Where there is a bounty on his head? Really? I know I am going on a tangent here, but I think he should have shown up in Season 6, specifically when Arya was stabbed almost to death by the Waif. Have him find her and nurse her back to health. The explanation will be he was picked up by a Braavosi ship, and he has lived in Braavos as a blacksmith ever since. That would be fun for the Gendrya shippers like myself. (Although I don’t think it’s happening in the books.)

6. Sansa sentences Littlefinger to death, which Arya carries out. Arya uses Walder Frey's face to hold a banquet and poison his sons. Makes sure the women are dismissed, first. Will happen in the first couple episodes.- My problem here is D&D seem to have a love of violent actions by their female characters. (calling it “feminism”) Examples include Dany burning the Khals, Arya murdering Walder Frey, Sansa feeding Ramsay to his dogs...

However, they make sure that these actions have no consequences or real punch. (i.e.: sending away the Frey women. There is also an assumption here that all Frey women took no part in the Red Wedding and all Frey men planned it. Olyvar, Alesander, Perwyn. Who are they?) Thus, these scenes feel like fan-service, violence for the sake of butts in the seats. They have no message, unlike Martin. We also never question the morality of the cast.

7. The Wall falls at the end of the episode. The Night King attacks the Wall with the reanimated Viserion. He now breathes blue flame.- This is legitimately cool. But D&D have a history of making cool scenes that don’t have good context or character development. Like Michael Bay.

8. Euron kills 2 of the Sand Snakes, imprisons Ellaria and makes her watch as Tyene dies a slow death from poison. Euron's fleet destroys Yara's and he takes her prisoner. Theon abandons her, jumps overboard and is rescued by some Iron Born. Jamie travels to Highgarden and Olenna drinks poison. The claim is this happens when the Lannister armies sack High Garden. She admits to having killed Joffrey, and Jamie allows her to drink the poison. Jamie returns to King's Landing in time for the dragonpit meeting.- This all seems to be shooing off the Dornish and the Tyrells. This smacks of lazy writing trying to get rid of other plot points, rather than wrapping them up in a tapestry as Martin does.

9.  Littlefinger tries to play Arya and Sansa against each other, using the letter Sansa wrote to Robb (at the behest of Cersei and Littlefinger) to swear fealty to Joffrey. Sansa figures out she's being played with Bran's help.- Because God forbid Sansa achieve anything on her own. God forbid she be her own character and a vital part of the team, rather than a pretty field for Jon to plow at the end of this.

10.  There will be a flashback scene to Rhaegar and Lyanna's wedding. Sam and Bran figure out Jon's heritage. He is apparently a legitimised Targaryen named "Aegon".- Of course Jon Snow is perfect in every way. He’s not even a bastard! Never mind that this ignores the running theme that feudal social structures (including hating bastards) are stupid and repressive. This is honestly as offensive as the old trope:

Hero: Oh, I can’t marry my love because I’m black/Jewish/Romani!

Other Person: But you were white the whole time!

Hero: Oh. Okay then.

I would call this show “bad fan fiction.” But fan fiction is honest about what it is. Even with bad fan fiction, they tell you this is not canon, and half the fun is seeing what the author thinks would be affected by the changes they impose, or how they think certain characters would go together. Fan fiction is by nature, an author expressing him/herself creatively.

This show lies by presenting itself as an “adaptation” of A Song of Ice and Fire. The books are a series with strong themes of moral nuance, our sick obsession with militarism and violence, and the undervaluing of femininity. The show might as well be directed by Michael Bay, because as of Season 5, the villains are cartoons, violence is not only common, but fun, and every woman either has to flash her tits every five minutes or act like a man! And worst of all, it is expressed in such a cliche fashion no one can call it creative! It is just a creatively bankrupt tale told for money, and it makes me sick.

[hoopslab]

Game of Thrones S7 Ep3 The Queen’s Justice: Ice meets Fire

SPOILERS FOR GAME OF THRONES ON HBO, UP THROUGH EPISODE 3 OF SEASON 7

"I’ve brought Ice and Fire together.” 

This line, delivered by priestess Melisandre, summarized a meeting 20 years in the making. From the time that the original book A Game of Thrones came out as the first installment in George R.R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire, there was rampant speculation that Jon Snow represented the “Ice” and Daenerys Targeryen the “Fire”. There was also, and has continued to be, much speculation about what would happen when the two title characters finally met. We started to get that answer in the third episode of the season, but there was a lot else going on as well. 

Varys threatens, gets shut down by another priestess

Varys and Melisandre had a memorable scene of sniping at each other as Varys tried to figure out why she would hide from Jon Snow upon his arrival. Melisandre was, of course, hiding because Jon had imposed a death sentence on her if she ever returned North. They were in the South, but she understandably didn’t want to test the semantics of his vow. Seemingly on the defensive, she gives the “Ice and Fire” quote mentioned above, and otherwise seems diffident in the face of Varys’ questions. At least, until Varys over-plays his hand and threatens her with death if she returns to Westeros after her stated goal of going to Volantis. Then, much like when Vars encountered a different Red Priestess last season, Melisandre responded with a cryptic but seemingly magically insightful observation about Varys...this time, that Varys would die in Westeros like her (and likely on camera, since it’s being discussed). And, much like before, Varys was visibly disturbed and had his threats curbed/quieted by the said peaceful threat.

Cersei dominating the lesser war

Cersei obviously had to have some on-camera victories this season to build a narrative belief that she could compete with Dany and her seemingly insurmountable army, but through the first shows of the season Cersei’s crew has been doing even better than expected. She has had victory after victory, and seemingly has been out-thinking and out-strategying the Dragon crew at each turn. I’ve seen pushback on Twitter that this is unrealistic, given the caliber of the people that she’s outwitting, but I find it believable.

Remember, back to Season One, Cersei has always shown that she can play political chess when the more honorable characters were playing checkers. She check-mated Ned. Her father check-mated Robb. And last season she check-mated the fire out of the High Sparrow. While Dany has all the advantages on paper, as well as big-named advisers like Tyrion and Varys, she is also essentially (thus far) an honorable character that has (thus far) gone about things in an honorable way. She didn’t attack the Red Keep directly, despite there being repeated mentions in the narrative that she could have done so and likely won, because she didn’t want to preside over a kingdom of ashes. Cersei has no such compunctions, and thus far her cold ruthlessness has let her earn a much more favorable spot on the board than she initially occupied. 

One Queen’s justice and another’s revenge

Speaking of Cersei, the title of the episode strongly hinted that she would get her much expected vengeance on her “gift” from Euron Greyjoy...Ellaria Sand and her daughter. Ellaria, of course, used poison to creatively murder Cersei’s daughter...she put the poison on her lips, then kissed Myrcella good night. Well, Cersei’s justice was to mirror the act, kissing Ellaria’s daughter with the same poison, and leaving mother and daughter chained in the dungeon to watch the inevitable death and decay. Ouch.

But, maybe not as ouch as the parting shot that the Queen of Thorns got in against Cersei and Jaime. After Jaime stormed Highgarden and let Lady Olenna know, to her face, that she was done...Olenna stole the scene by talking holes into his confidence in his sister, and ultimately turned the Lannister victory to ashes. After Jaime gave her the “humane” option to poison herself for a painless death...the Queen of Thorns taunted him about the ugly, gruesome death of his son Joffrey...then revealed that she was responsible for poisoning him, and that she wanted Cersei to know it. Jaime’s face, as he finally realized what she was telling him, was absolutely priceless before he stormed off. While Cersei may have gotten “justice” for her daughter’s death, Olenna was the queen that landed the best “revenge” shot in this episode.

Bran comes home and creeps out his sister

In Episode 2, I (and many others) wondered how on earth Jon Snow managed to get message ravens from everywhere else in the Seven Kingdoms, but somehow didn’t get one from the much closer Castle Black telling him that his “baby brother” was still alive. This week we got our answer...instead of sending a raven, the Night’s Watch just sent Bran and Meera directly to Winterfell. This led to the second season in a row in which Sansa got reunited with a long-lost brother, and ran to him and gave him a huge hug.

Only, this time the reception was different. Whereas last time, Jon Snow ran just as hard towards her and swung her around in an exuberant embrace, this time Bran just sat there and stared into space blankly as his sister hugged him. In the next scene, Bran was acting as though he had never interacted with a human before, unable to answer even simple questions like how he became the Three Eyed Raven when there had already been one (simple answer: old one died). Bran also didn’t do the obvious and go into a tree dream while Sansa was watching, as a means to demonstrate his new abilities. Instead, he thought it’d be best to talk to Sansa about the horrors of her wedding night to Ramsey after the beauty of the wedding itself. Let’s just say that Sansa was less than comforted by her time with her little brother.

On the other hand, I did notice that, just after LittleFinger told Sansa that she needed to learn to strategize by considering every possible event before-hand, she runs into Bran, who tells her that he can see every possible event in the past or present. Seemed like there could be some narrative hint in there about how Bran’s power my manifest itself as useful in the overall war.

The pirate, the mad scientist and the banker

Cersei had three potentially useful, potentially dangerous men that she has put into play in the war. Euron Greyjoy returned with his gift to the queen, triumphant, marching the Ellaria, her daughter, and Yara through the streets. He loved the attention, made his play for Cersei’s hand as a reward...and got curved, having to make due with an official sanction as the head of her navy. He had a great trash-talking session to Jaime afterwards, but for now is playing (at least to some extent) for Team Cersei. Though the banker has already foreshadowed that Euron’s allegiance could be temporary.

The mad scientist, Qyburn, was still in play as he continues to do Cersei’s crazy bidding. With his Frankenstein monster The Mountain in attendance, Qyburn was given the credit for identifying the poison that Ellaria used on Myrcella, then procuring it for Cersei’s use. Considering the dragonslayer crossbow that he debuted last week, and the heavy foreshadowing that it will be successful, Qyburn has been earning his money and making Cersei smile into her wine of late. But he’s still scary enough that I wouldn’t turn my back on him, were I Cersei.

The Iron Banker began the scene as a notable threat to Cersei, but she seemed to be well on her way to winning him to her point of view. Especially if she’s able to pay him with the dowery from High Garden, there’s a good chance the Iron Bank will (at least) temporarily invest in her side over Dany’s. But same theme...their support could turn around on the Queen in a hurry if things don’t go her way. 

Three downtrodden on way to becoming heroes

Theon Greyjoy has been one of the most pitiful characters in the series. He started a spineless, annoying, backstabbing youth that was easy to hate. Then, he got Reeked by Ramsey Bolton, and he was so pitiful it was annoying. Yara was starting to help him get his spine back, and he just lost that when faced off with Euron. But, I have to feel like his Ironborn brethren fished him out of the water for a reason. And I kind of feel like he’s going to make a heroic turn and come up big in the clutch, maybe even taking out Euron.

Jorah Mormont is as good as new, after Sam flayed him and applied ointment last week. Sam put his money where his mouth is (and went way further than I would have), by shaking Jorah’s hand after the maester declared his infection in remission. Mormont, of course, will go straight as an arrow to his Khaleesi. He’s already had some heroic moments for her, even if she friend zoned him and banished him for life before commanding him to find a cure for an incurable disease. All told, though, much like Theon it doesn’t make sense for Jorah to still be alive unless he’s got an important part to play moing forward. 

Speaking of Sam, he’s quietly been on the hero side for awhile. He had his moments with the White Walkers, stole the Valeryan sword from pops, saved his girl and the baby, and managed to get into the Citadel. Then, in the last few weeks, he has discovered the Obsidian cache and informed Jon Snow, which brought him to Dany, and now he’s cured the incurable stone disease. Now, the old maester has him copying some ancient/decaying scrolls, theoretically as a punishment. But I kind of feel like, as he’s copying, he just might read some key bit that will be pivotal in the war to come.

Twincest no longer registers

Just an aside, but Jaime and Cersei just had their first on-screen love scene in a LONG time...and it didn’t even blip the “ick” meter. Twincest was a huge deal in season one. These days, if I don’t think about it, I almost forget that they’re related. They just seem like any other couple, at this point. Which, if you think about it, is kind of bananas.

Ice, Fire and the Matchmaker

Finally, the main event. Daenerys Stormborn Targeryen and Jon Snow (Targeryen) finally came face-to-face. Their introduction has already become a hilarious meme, as Missendei read off all (seemingly) 100 of Dany’s titles for minutes of bloviation...only to have The Onion Knight respond, “This is Jon Snow. He’s King of the North.” Literally laughed out loud on that one.

I was surprised they started off the show with their meeting, as I thought they might build to it and have that be the walk-off. Instead, I was pleasantly surprised that they led with their introduction, which allowed for several iterations of re-meetings between the various characters and some advancement of their plotline all in the first week.

Dany and Jon have both been through a lot, and earned a lot of cred in this series. Dany wear’s her props in her extended title, but when the Onion Knight got on a roll he did a fair job rattling off Jon’s successes as well...though Jon gave him the cue to cut when Davos started to talk about how he took a knife to the heart. I’m actually not sure why Jon doesn’t want Dany to know this now...I have to assume it’ll be an important reveal down the line. And with her holding him as a...valued guest, and now allowing him to mine the dragon glass, presumably they will be in each other’s company for some time.

Tyrion has been key for this match-up so far, to the point that he almost seems like the kindly father figure match-maker. With two young, stubborn hotheads talking past each other, Tyrion is the one offering a supportive ear and sage advice to help them grow closer together. That dynamic should be strongly tested next episode, though, as Dany is running out of allies and Cersei has been running circles around her baby brother strategy-wise. It’ll be interesting to see if Jon can be brought into play to help Dany, or if he will remain so focused on the White Walker invasion that they part ways soon.

Also...between Bran’s knowledge and return to Winterfell, and the fact that giant dragons are flying all around that seemingly have a bond with Targeryens...I’m actively counting down to see when the main crew (FINALLY) discovers his heritage. And what the ramifications will be. Plus, can we get another Stark reunion next week with Arya getting to Winterfell, or will she end up off course? Episode 4 can’t get here soon enough...

Other articles of interest

Game of Thrones S7 Ep1: Winter has been a long time coming

Game of Thrones S7 Ep2 Stormborn : Where is Ghost?

[choupetit]

GOT recap: Stormborn

Airdate: 7/23/17 ; Season 7, Eps 2 

Last night’s GOT served up a combo meal of reunions, first meetings, sexy hookups and an adrenaline-filled battle …yet still, I’m left wanting a bit more. It was a decent episode - didn’t love it, didn’t hate it, the most exciting part for me was that it set the scene for things to come. Let’s dive right into the recap of “Stormborn”. 

Loyal-tease

 It’s a dark and stormy night at Dragonstone and we get a little origin story as to how Daenerys got the kick-ass middle name Stormborn…the night she was born, there was a raging storm. Huh. It seems so obvious that I now feel a bit dumb for never having considered it.  

Queen Dany is underwhelmed by her homecoming and ready to start taking back the seven kingdoms. Her team lays out the situation, noting Cersei has very little support left in Westeros, especially now that House Martell and Tyrell are on Dany’s side. Daenerys grills Varys about his loyalties to the previous rulers of the Iron Throne, noting he’s been a fickle advisor and has repeatedly conspired against those he was serving. Not to mention, he helped orchestrate hitmen to kill her while she was exiled. Varys defends his actions saying he was serving kings to the extent that he felt they served the common people, and when they failed, he turned his efforts to better candidates. Also, at the time of that whole assassin recruitment thing, he didn’t know that Dany was such a cool cat and he was just following orders. Tyrion throws in a few good words for Varys and Dany decides to pardon Varys for his past, on the condition that if he ever feels she is failing the people, he should say it to her face rather than his usual MO of secretly plotting against his ruler. She warns that if he betrays her trust, she’ll have her dragons turn him into a human shish kebab. Varys is totes down with this and happy to be an official player on Team Dany. 

Next, it appears the Mother of Dragons has a visitor: Melisandre in the hizzy, y'all! The disciples of the Lord of Light have been supporting Dany for a while, so it’s a pretty safe move for Mel to visit Dany, plus, it’s a familiar place for her. Also, she truly believes that Jon Snow and Daenerys are a key to the prophecy to fight the whitewalkers, so she is hustlin’ to make this thing work. She speaks in Valerian to Dany about the “Prince who was promised”, and Missandei points out that the word for "prince" is actually gender-neutral. Could Dany be the Princess that is promised to lead all of Westeros out of the coming darkness? Melisandre may have been banished by Jon, but Dany doesn’t need to know that. Mel touches briefly on the things Jon has done up north to prep for the impending whitewalker threat. Tyrion vouches that Jon Snow is a stand-up guy and a likely ally for Queen Daenerys in her bid for the throne, since House Stark hates the Lannisters. Dany sends out a raven requesting Jon meet and bow down to her. Day-um, Jon Snow is getting all these queen pen pals lately, jonesing for his loyalty. Play on, player! 

And with that, we see Jon, Sansa and Ser Davos having a powwow. Sansa worries the invitation from Daenerys is a fake, but since the letter was penned by Tyrion with a throwback to a conversation he and Jon had at the Wall, Jon thinks it’s legit. He asks Sansa for her opinion on Tyrion, since she knew him during her stay at King's Landing. Oh yeah, she used to be married to him! Not sure if Jon knows that detail. Even though Sansa thinks Tyrion is cool, she still thinks it’s too dangerous for Jon to leave, but Davos points out that dragons would be super handy if Whitewalkers ever cross the wall. 

We take a quick glimpse at King’s Landing where Queen Cersei is in her throne room talking to a group of nobles and asking for support to fight Dany and her army. Some of the men are pledged to house Tyrell, which is on Dany’s side, so Cersei paints a picture of Daenerys as the boogeyman who will be sending her army to mercilessly slaughter and rape everybody in Westeros, without regard for the folks who are loyal to the Tyrells. Samwell Tarly’s dad, Randyll, is in the group and asks just how they’ll defeat three dragons. Our favorite mad inventor, Qyburn, pipes up “Yeah don’t sweat it, we’ve been working on a solution.” Omg, he created Frankenmountain…has Qyburn been creating some dragon-zombie-hybrids à la Jurassic Park in his gloomy lab? 

 Jaime Lannister takes Randyll Tarly aside trying to suss out whether he will be fighting for the Lannisters or the Tyrells. Jaime sweetens the pot saying he’ll make Tarly his general and once the wars are won, he can be he Warden of the South. I mean…it’s all good and well, unless Cersei loses. Randyll doesn’t make a commitment either way. 

Doctor, doctor, can you help me, help me?

 On to the Tarly we like best! Sam and Archmaester Marwyn are examining Ser Jorah, whose greyscale has advanced to an alarming degree. Sam says he’s seen a case - Princess Shireen - where the infection was halted, but the archmaester knocks him down a few pegs saying Sam doesn’t know anything about that case, or the circumstances or really anything about treating greyscale. Jorah’s case is beyond hope and he really just needs to be killed and put out of his misery rather than slowly waste away like the Stone Men. He gives Jorah one last day to live and get his affairs in order, and then it’s presumably Kevorkian time. When Sam offers to send word to his family, Jorah reveals his name but tells him he’s already dead to his family. Sam is taken aback when he realizes this is the son of his old Lord Commander at Castle Black. 

 Back at King’s Landing, Cersei and Qyburn are walking though the basement of the Red Keep, where the skulls of the deceased Targaryen dragons are stored. Turns out, that solution Qyburn has been working on is basically a giant souped-up crossbow on steroids. He gives Cersei a demo of his innovative weapon, using the largest dragon skull as a target, and it pierces the eye socket and shatters the bone. Ruh roh. Going into this season, I’ve been fearing that we are going to see a dragon die, and this scene pretty much sealed the deal that it’s gonna happen. First they came for our direwolves…and now this. Are no magical animals safe in this world??? 

We’re back at Dragonstone where Dany is meeting with all the key players in the war room to plot out their strategy against Cersei. Yara and Ellaria think they should just storm in, dragons a'blazing and go full scorched earth on King’s Landing. Tyrion argues this would cause unnecessary civilian casualties and Dany has no interest in being “queen of the ashes”. Lady Olenna counters that her daughter was beloved by the common folk, and it got her nowhere. Dany lays out the plan: The Greyjoys with the Martell and Tyrell armies will lay siege around Kings Landing, waiting it out till Cersei and her army run out of food. Meanwhile, they’ll send the Unsullied to Casterly Rock - home of the Lannisters, the true seat of power in Westeros. 

 Dany has a quick private chat with Lady Olenna, and the older woman tells her she has managed to live as long as she has by ignoring the advice of others. She suggests Dany do the same, telling her that peace is never really possible and Dany should rule like the dragon that she is. What does that mean, exactly?! 

With the Unsullied shipping out the next day, Missandei pays Grey Worm a visit and the two finally admit their feelings for each other and have a hot and steamy love scene, ya know…and the guy just happens to be castrated. I’m not gonna spend too much time wondering how it’s supposed to work other than say that Missandei is getting the better deal out of this and doesn’t have to worry about birth control. Get it, girl. 

Weird Science

Back at the Citadel, Sam has done some research and found a treatment for advanced greyscale. The archmaester tells him the procedure is too risky and is forbidden - the maester who discovered the cure ended up contracting and dying from greyscale. Jorah is in his room writing a letter to Daenerys. My best guess is that it’s something along the lines of: “Khaleesi, do you like me? Circle yes, no, or maybe.” There’s a knock on the door and Sam comes in with a book and some supplies, determined to try out that greyscale cure. Considering his only alternative is death, Jorah agrees to let Sam have at it - it’s incredibly painful and grody to the max as we see Sam slowly cut away at Jorah’s crusty pus-filled epidermis. This is gonna take a while so… 

 We turn to Arya who is enjoying lunch at the inn where her old pal Hot Pie works. He asks her if she ever met up with Brienne and then asks if she’ll be heading to Winterfell. Arya tells him there’s nothing there for her, since it’s been taken over by the Boltons. When Hot Pie reveals that’s not the case and that Jon Snow reclaimed Winterfell, Arya is stunned. Whoa, whoa, whoa!!! This changes everything - revenge can wait, she changes course and sets out for her family home. I want to get super excited for her, but every time Arya thinks she is about to meet back up with family, things go south, so I’m tempering my expectations that this will actually work out for her. I do so hope she finally has a Stark family reunion, though! 

Jon Snow receives news from Samwell about the giant mound of dragon glass at Dragonstone, which seals the deal: He’s gotta go meet Dany. He tells the Northern lords he’s accepting the invite and going to get access to that dragon glass. Sansa objects to him leaving, saying it could be a trap and tells him to send an emissary instead. Everybody in the room protests his leaving but Jon can’t be talked out of it. The good news is, he’s leaving Sansa in charge. Brienne smiles with pride for her mistress and Littlefinger makes his usual scheme-y face with extra scheme sauce. Jon pays a quick visit to Ned Stark’s grave in the family mausoleum when Littlefinger pops up and tries to ingratiate himself with Jon. When Littlefinger tells Jon that he cares for Sansa, Jon goes into protective big brother mode. He roughs Littlefinger up a bit and tells him he’ll kill him if he ever touches Sansa. 

Arya is making camp somewhere in the north, it’s terribly cold and you can see her breath. Her horse becomes skittish and I’m freaking out thinking it’s whitewalkers approaching - maybe they’ve managed to breach the wall already, but it’s actually a pack of wolves. Well, crap. Arya picks up her sword as the pack surrounds her and then the leader appears - a giant Direwolf…it’s Nymeria, Arya’s wolf which she sent away in order to save her from being killed by Joffrey’s guards way back in Season 1! Nice work, Nymeria, you’ve got yourself a posse!! The wolf recognizes Arya and the whole pack steps down. Arya asks Nymeria to join her on her way home to Winterfell, but the wolf just looks at her and then leaves, followed by the rest of the pack. As she watches her walk away, Arya says “It’s not you.” Does she mean the wolf, or herself? Has Arya changed so much that her wolf wants nothing to do with her? Or is it the other way around? Is it a metaphor for Arya in general - has she realized that maybe she can’t really go back to Winterfell because she can’t go back to how she used to be? Is she doomed to be a lone wolf, never to find a pack of her own??? Oh, the hidden symbolism!! 

Let’s get Kraken 

 Moving on, we see Yara and Theon’s fleet, on their way to Sun Spear with Ellaria where they plan to pick up the Dornish army. Yara and Ellaria are below deck getting flirty, cause what else are you gonna do on the long trip? Suddenly, their ship lurches and we hear screams from above. They’re under attack by Uncle Euron and his fleet! Euron makes a crazy entrance from his ship onto theirs and mayhem ensues. Two of the Sand Snakes are killed in battle, Ellaria and her youngest daughter are captured and Euron has a tête-à-tête with Yara. He gets her in a chokehold with a knife at her throat and calls to Theon to help his sister. Paralyzed with fear, Theon stares at his sister, her eyes pleading with him to step up. “You can do this, man!” His true nature takes over as Theon goes full “Reek” and jumps overboard to save himself. Euron cackles with laughter and pulls Yara away, while Theon clings to driftwood looking up at the wreckage and carnage around him…and the credits roll. 

 The battle scene was intense, and my heart was pounding for sure, but I’ve gotta be honest, I didn’t really care that much about the characters involved. I mean, nobody likes the Sand Snakes, so no loss there. Ellaria is pretty annoying - and I’m sure it’ll suck when Cersei gets her revenge on her when Euron delivers her to her doorstep like a cat with a dead rat, but again, not really that sad she got captured. In the grander scheme, however, it’s bad news for Daenerys. And now that we know about Cersei’s secret dragon killing machine, it looks like things are gonna be a lot tougher for Daenerys if she ever does engage her dragons in battle over Kings Landing. Meep! I’m really going to lose it if they kill a dragon on this show. I’m thoroughly enjoying characters we all know meeting each other for the first time. Pretty sure Sam will successfully cure Jorah. It’s very cool to see Melisandre back in the picture and I’m looking forward to the big Dany and Jon meeting. Wondering if Daenerys will believe Jon and lend her help, putting her Westerosi domination plans on hold. That seems like it would be the smarter move - but of course she doesn’t know what’s up Cersei’s sleeve, so she may very well change her strategy andnsend her dragons to their doom. Looks like Arya is going to just miss Jon, but hopefully she can have a reunion with Sansa at Winterfell. I feel like she and Brienne could become besties. Anyhoo, the groundwork has been laid for some big events, so here’s hoping that next week things will really take off. See you then!

[lovl3igh]

what are three words you would use to describe daenerys' council?