Eastwatch (RECAP) That Was A Lot.
Let me start by saying that I definitely enjoyed this episode. A lot of cool and important things happened, and they really pushed the plot forward. However, this was the first episode of this season where I was kind of annoyed with some of the pacing and shortcuts that Dan and Dave are taking in order to finish the story on time. Normally, it doesn’t bother me, but in this episode, it was just so blatant and it resulted in some pretty dumb happenings. This doesn’t all fall on the showrunners though. I can understand them wanting to wrap the show up after dedicating over a decade of their lives to it, especially with the added responsibility of writing the story due to GRRM taking his sweet ass time with books six and seven. Regardless, there were a lot of things to like about this episode, so I’ll give the normal rundown and try to explain where things didn’t make sense as I go along.
DISCLAIMER: There’s a lot of movement and a lot to talk about, so this one will be a little longer than normal.
RIP Dickon
As we all predicted, Jamie and Bronn are alive and well following Jamie’s idiotic attempt to end the war in the last scene of The Spoils of War. What we didn’t see coming is Danaerys not sending anyone to go look for the man who tried to kill her and the man who saved him. Jamie Lannister is one of the most valuable people in the Seven Kingdoms, you’d think Dany would want to take him captive. But what do I know? Jamie confesses to Bronn that there’s no way they can win the war after seeing the combined power of Drogon and the Dothraki, and Bronn admits that he won’t be standing in their way for much longer. On the other side of the Blackwater Rush, Dany has gathered all of the Lannister survivors and gives them a choice. Bend the knee and help her build a better Westeros or refuse and suffer the fate of their less fortunate, fellow soldiers. Most kneel, but Randyll Tarly and Dickon remain standing (LOL). There’s a lot of chit chat here, but ultimately they both refuse to bend the knee and they both get incinerated with the calmest “dracarys” we’ve heard in 7 seasons. For some reason, Tyrion is all up in arms about Dany doing what she said she was going to do. I mean, they made a choice, I don’t see what’s so Mad Queeny about what Dany did but whatever. I assume there’s more “Mad Queen Dany” drama coming so I’d better suck it up.
We Hate Cersei
Jamie races back to King’s Landing to tell Cersei of their defeat, but she already knows. Jamie tells her that they can’t win the war, but Cersei says she’d rather die fighting than die kneeling. She throws in a little shot at Jamie towards the end that only strengthens the case for him killing her later on down the road, but time will tell.
Jon Starkgaryen
Back on Dragonstone, Jon is taking one of his trademark cliff walks when Dany flies in on Drogon. For some reason, he charges Jon and Jon, startled at first, takes an ungloved hand and pets the “gorgeous beast”. Dany is visibly turned on by this, which is ironic because the symbolism of him petting Drogon basically reaffirms the fact that they’re related, but if Dany and Jon’s potential relationship is wrong then I don’t wanna be right. Just as Dany is starting to ask Jon about what Davos meant when he mentioned Jon getting stabbed in the heart, we get a surprise (kinda) appearance from none other than Ser Jorah Mormont. This was the first time I’ve been happy to see Jorah in like… Ever. But it was a cool moment nonetheless. I got scared for a second because I thought Dany was about to kiss this man, but crisis averted. Jonaerys lives on. Also worth mentioning, there’s a little awkward glance that Jorah gives Jon as he’s hugging Dany. Jon’s kinda sitting there like when your girl runs into one of her old guy friends and they’re talking and you’re just chillin’ on the side. Maybe there’ll be some tension between the two revolving around a potential Dany/Jon relationship down the road. Who knows.
Meanwhile, at the Shittadel...
Bran wargs into a flock of crows and flies them North to see what’s going on up there. He flies a good way past Eastwatch and runs into the White Walkers and the Army of the Dead. The Night King seems to notice him and after he snaps out of it, he demands that ravens be sent to Dragonstone and the Citadel. Transition to the Citadel where the Archmaesters are roasting Bran and his letter when Sam walks into to clean some stuff up. Sam can’t help but overhear what they’re talking about and speaks up to state the case for Bran and the North. Archmaester Ebrose says that they’ll write back to Winterfell for clarification, but Sam is sick of the BS. He storms out as they laugh about good ole Prophet Lodos.
Bad Plans
Varys has the raven scroll from Winterfell and is trying to tell Tyrion that Dany needs to be reined in if she’s going to be a better ruler than her father. There’s a funny moment where Tyrion asks what the scroll says and Varys tries to play it off like he hasn’t read it. These two are great together, and the wine is flowing again. We haven’t seen Tyrion drink at all this season so this was a sight for sore eyes. Enter the war room where Dany, Varys, Jorah, Tyrion, Davos and Jon are discussing the message from Winterfell. It is in this very room where two stupid ideas are hatched. First, Tyrion wants to go meet with Jamie to discuss an armistice while they deal with the real threat to the North. This idea isn’t as stupid as the other one, but Dany’s camp is in the position of power. There’s no need for the danger of smuggling Tyrion into King’s Landing when you could probably just hit Cersei with the same “submit or die” deal from the first scene. You can even have her send an envoy to Dragonstone. No need to risk the life of the Hand of the Queen here. But I guess it’s necessary to push the plot. Secondly, what sounds doable about a task force of 7 or so men heading north to fight an army of zombies? As far as I know, there’s no refridgeration in Westeros so I don’t see how they would be able to take a wight from beyond the Wall and bring it to King’s Landing. Especially since there are wards and spells carved into the foundation of the Wall that prevent dead things from passing through. Once again, it’s whatever though because episode 6 has instant classic written all over it.
Medieval Sister Sister
Sansa’s loving her role as Interim Lady of Winterfell and Arya is starting to notice. Arya tells Sansa about herself in a way that recalls the game of faces that she used to play in the House of Black and White. Arya feels that Sansa’s ambition could get in the way of her support for Jon, and seeing as Jon was probably her closest “sibling”, she’s not going for it. She follows Littlefinger around hoping to see what he’s up to and she finds it. The gag is, Littlefinger has been setting her up all along. He got Maester Wolkan to find the letter that Cersei forced Sansa to write to Robb back in season 1 and made it seem like Sansa wanted it found and discarded. If you don’t remember, the letter basically calls Ned Stark a traitor and implores Robb to come to King’s Landing to swear fealty to Joffrey. It was easily discerned as a trap by Maester Luwin in season 1, but Arya may take it differently out of context. It’ll be interesting to see if she can see through Littlefinger’s plot or if she’ll take matters into her own hands rather quickly.
Return of the Mack
Davos and Tyrion land on a secluded beach just outside of the Red Keep. Davos instructs Tyrion to take a little-known path toward the dungeons while he goes to attend to some business in Fleabottom. In a normal season of GoT, a Tyrion and Jamie reunion would be a monumental scene with tons of emotion involved, but this isn’t a normal season so this scene felt underdone and rushed. I wish they would’ve spoken a little longer and we got to see what Tyrion said to Jamie to convince him to go to Cersei, but it was fine. In Fleabottom on the Street of Steel we finally get what many fans have been waiting for since season 3. THE RETURN OF GENDRY!!!! This was so dope man, I yelled at the TV. If you don’t remember, Gendry was a recruit for the Brotherhood Without Banners who was on the road with Arya in season 3. He was sold to Melissandre by Thoros and Berric because he had king’s blood running through his veins. The blood of Robert Baratheon, his father. He was to be sacrificed to the Lord of Light, but Davos set him free, gave him a rowboat and told him to row back to King’s Landing from Dragonstone. That was the last we saw of the poor lad until yesterday, but Gendry’s back and better than ever wielding a big ass war hammer just like his pops. Great stuff here. I also liked the scene where the Gold Cloaks are investigating Davos’ smuggling operation. It was pretty funny and we got to see Gendry put that hammer to use.
I Need to See a Test
In the Red Keep, Jamie walks in on Cersei having a conversation with Qyburn. Jamie tells Cersei that he met with Tyrion about the true threat to the North. Cersei seems to be planning a way to out-maneuver Dany rather than out-fight her for the time being, so I’m interested to see what she has up her dumb sleeves. The real bomb in this scene is Cersei claiming to be pregnant, to which I call bullshit. There’s no way she’s pregnant. She’s old and there’s literally no reason story-wise for her to really be pregnant. I think she’s lying to keep Jamie loyal to her. Either that or it’s not really his kid. If Jamie finds out either of these outcomes are true, then it might be lights out for ole Cers.
Bastard Bros.
Grab your jetpacks and fly back to Dragonstone where Davos, Gendry and Tyrion have just arrived. Davos tells Gendry not to reveal his true identity to Jon just yet, which Gendry ignores completely in hopes of forging a new friendship between Houses Stark and Baratheon. I really liked this scene and I can see them becoming good friends as the story progresses. I can see an endgame where Gendry is legitimized by King Jon and raises House Baratheon up from the ashes with Arya by his side. A pretty picture indeed. But.... It's also incredibly ironic how Gendry says, "Our fathers trusted each other," when in reality, Robert Baratheon wen to war because of Jon's real father's love affair with his betrothed and ended up killing him. (LOL)
Anyway, we survive another Dany and Jorah kiss scare as they said their goodbyes and we get some more good chemistry from Dany and Jon. Dany wants Jon to pull up but he’s got zombies on his mind, he’s not ready just yet. Side note, whenever they do get busy, Dany is gonna see the stab wounds to his torso and be like wtf you died.
What’s an Annulment?
THANK YOU GILLY! Rhaegar and Lyanna were married: CONFIRMED. Jon’s not a bastard he’s a true born Targaryen and the rightful king of the Seven Kingdoms. Now the only problem is getting this to become common knowledge, which seems like it may happen pretty soon because Sam’s leaving the Citadel and probably headed up to Winterfell with Gilly, Baby Sam and Heartsbane, the ancestral Valyrian steel sword of House Tarly that he stole last season. If he heads up to Winterfell and links up with Bran, they’ll have a cool little nerd session and put all the pieces of Jon’s heritage together.
The Magnificent Seven feat. Unnamed Wildlings
The Dragonstone gang arrives at Eastwatch to meet up with Tormund to discuss a plan of action. Tormund is apparently the only one with sense because he’s the only one that questions that heading out into a frozen wilderness with 7 men to fight tens of thousands of zombies may be a bad idea. Whatever. Tormund says he has a few guys that are willing to fight and we go to the dungeon to find The Hound, Berric Dondarrion and Thoros of Myr. There’s some brief hostility between the guys, which is to be expected with so many characters interacting for the first time in seasons, but they put their differences aside because they’re all fighting for the same side. The side of the living. The gang ponies up and heads out into the great white north, ready to fight whatever’s out there. Jon Snow, Tormund Giantsbane, Sandor Clegane, Berric Dondarrion, Gendry, Thoros of Myr and Jorah Mormont all on the same team? Unreal. IMO, I think these super teams are ruining the realm. But once again, what do I know?
Episode 5 Power Rankings
Dany – Jorah returns and it seems like she’s got the hots for Jon. Also burned two guys alive.
Jon – Dude you’re so in there. But let’s try not to die again.
Davos – Slowly becoming the Han Solo of Game of Thrones.
Tyrion – Both of his plans got put into motion, we’ll see how the second one goes next week.
Gendry – He’s baaaaaack.
Jorah – He’s also baaaaaaack. But there’s a younger, cooler, more royal guy trying to push up on the love of his life.
Sam – Back on the move.
Littlefinger – Just when we thought he was dead in the water he pulls an Undertaker sit-up move. Will it work?
Arya – getting played by Littlefinger? I love you.
Sansa – Feeling herself a bit too much. Looks great.
Another week another great episode. Next week it looks like we're gonna get an awesome battle in the snow. I predict that Jorah, Berric and Thoros will die. I have no idea how the rest of the guys will survive but I guess we'll find out. Dragons up North???? See y'all then.
