Whew….okay…breathe. Breaaaaaaathe. We know that Game of Thrones is going to drop an episode like this every once in a while. Honestly, this one was right up there with Hardhome and the Battle of the Bastards for me. It’s one of my favorite episodes ever, despite making me sweat nervously. Seriously, my heart rate probably could’ve powered a small lawnmower. Anyway, there’s a lot to get to, so let’s dive on in.
Winterfell
On the surface, it seems as though Littlefinger’s plan is fucking working. Damn it. Arya is definitely insinuating that Sansa isn’t loyal to the North, or more specifically, the Stark family. Of course, we know Sansa has lived through a lot of heinous things to win back Winterfell. But, it doesn’t seem like Arya is willing to listen to it. Now, it’s all on the table between the two sisters, and it’s all because Littlefinger seems to be puppeteering Arya.
Something is up with Arya this season – she’s acting rash, and there’s no reason she should be after all of the extensive training and the life experiences she’s endured. Plus, if she really thought Sansa wasn’t loyal to the Stark family, wouldn’t she have killed her already? Wouldn’t she have at least exposed her to the Northern lords like she said she could? I would think so – or, she would realize that she’s being played. Bottom line: Arya just doesn’t make sense to me this season, but I’m not ready to come up with some grand conspiracy theory just yet.
This remains the most complex storyline in the show, in my opinion, and where it goes seems completely up in the air.
North of the Wall
Outside of a couple of scenes in Winterfell, and the brief exchange between Dany and Tyrion at Dragonstone, the rest of this episode was up North….wayyyyy North. We had seven crazy bastards and a few free folk they picked up along the way trekking toward the army of the dead. Sounds a little dangerous, but hey – that’s why I’m here writing this blog and not traversing the frozen wilderness in search of a zombie.
Right off the bat, we learn that there’s nothing that bonds groups of volatile men quite like facing imminent death. Literally. There’s no reason they all shouldn’t be dead by the end of this conquest. But, most of them, surprisingly make it out alive, despite an encounter with a damn WIGHT BEAR. Eventually, , and that thing literally ate a couple of the free folk. But, overall, the fact that most of the pack walked away from that was pretty astounding. Also, can the White Walkers turn anything into a wight? I guess so…probably just strolling through the woods like, “ay, bro – look at that polar bear. Think we can bring it back to join our army?” Taking bets and such.
Then, Jon kills another White Walker, and all of the wights around him immediately die. This is a huge revelation, as later in the episode, they hint that they may be able to kill the entire army by simply killing the Night King and the White Walkers.
The group does what it set out to do – they capture a wight…but, the damn thing screams so loud that it alerts the entire army of the dead, and chaos ensues. Eventually, Thoros of Myr succumbs to wounds encountered by battling the ice bear, and things are looking pretty dire for the group. In fact, hang on…let’s gooooo:
That is, until Dany shows up with the dragons and burns hundreds of the wights. The Night King grabs a weird magical ice spear and takes down the dragon with a single throw. They get the hell out of dodge, leaving Jon behind. Miraculously, Benjen Stark shows up to save Jon before being engulfed by a sea of wights. Jon makes it back to The Wall and everyone sets sail for warmer weather. But, the Night King reanimates a dragon into an ice dragon. *SIGH*
Yeah….all that happened….take a minute to compose yourself. Read that last paragraph if you need to. It was nuckin’ futs.
On a side note, our own Ralph Wiggum’s meme game was STRONG after this episode:
Night King was like:
Then, like:
Here’s my qualm – as powerful as we’ve seen the Night King be, you’re telling me he got hung up on the frozen lake??? Like, is he a cat? Is he afraid of water? The White Walkers are damn near invincible, and the Night King is the most powerful one of them…but, a frozen pond is where he draws the line??? He’s literally blown up the ground. He has taken down a dragon with a single throw of a spear and can reanimate dead bodies. But, damn it if there’s a chance he could slip into some ice water, he’s out!!! Maybe he just doesn’t want to continue the march with a cold. Honestly, I can relate – have you ever tried to work with a cold?
Anyway, as for where we go from here, I don’t think there’s any grand theory to discuss. The Night King and his army now have an ice dragon, and it is getting close to The Wall. In case you haven’t figured it out, there’s only one episode left, and we’re heading towards a boiling point.
Dany’s dragons were the key to her conquering of King’s Landing, and now she has one less….one that is bent to the will of the Night King at that. It’s pretty obvious that King’s Landing is going to have to wait. Still, I have a feeling Cersei is ruthless enough to see the approaching White Walkers as an advantage to exploit. The whole damn thing could unravel, and we could end up with a lot of dead people.
Notes
*Bet I wasn’t the only one thinking Gendry would die because the preview showed The Hound fighting with Gendry’s hammer! By the way, how shitty does The Hound feel right now? I mean, his angry impatience is what led to the wights figuring out they could traverse the frozen lake. #BeBetter, Hound.
*You have to wonder if the tension mounting between Dany and Tyrion could lead to any actual conflict. I say it won’t, but you never know.
*Legit tears in my eyes as I thought Tormund was about to bite the dust.
*It appears the odds that Dany and Jon are going to get it on are increasing by the episode. He even called her ‘Dany,’ so I guess you could say things are getting pretty serious. Never before can I remember fans so adamantly rooting for some aunt on nephew sex.
*I don’t know if we know for sure, so maybe one of you eagle-eyed readers can point it out, but I’m pretty sure Viserion was the dragon that died. If you buy into all the theories about the dragons, I’d say it’s pretty poetic that that leaves Drogon for Dany to ride, while Jon would be left to ride, Rhaegal, the dragon named after his father.
*I’m not sure what HBO was thinking when they released a poster of the Night King riding an ice dragon as a part of its promo machine before the season started. From talking to my friends, a lot of them didn’t catch that poster, but for me, it definitely took the sting off the end of this episode.
Stoney Keeley is the Editor in Chief of The SoBros Network. A strong advocate of GSD (get shit done) and #BeBetter, he’s down to talk Tennessee Titans and Alabama Crimson Tide football over a beer any day. Check him out covering the WWE for WrestlingNews.co. Follow on Twitter @StoneyKeeley, @WrestlingNewsCo
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