It has become the trend that the penultimate episode of a Game of Thrones Season is the biggest, best and boldest, yet while this has been the case for almost every season, I have to concede that The Winds of Winter has managed to out-do Battle of the Bastards. While it may not be as action-packed as its predecessor, Winds of Winter makes up for it with excellent story telling, epic reveals, satisfying conclusions and enticing cliff-hangers. Buckle up kids, Winter is here…..
Oldtown: Maester Sam
After leaving Horn Hill, Samwell Tarly arrives to Oldtown with Gilly and baby Sam to begin his training as Grand Maester for the Night’s Watch. He enters the library so that he can learn about the White Walkers in order to help defeat them when the War of the Living and the Dead comes.
White Ravens are sent to the four corners of Westeros to inform everyone that Winter has arrived.
King’s Landing: The Mad Queen
This week was the trial of Cersei Lannister and Loras Tyrell before the High Sparrow and the rest of the Faith. Yet Cersei did not show up for her trial. Margaery Tyrell senses that something is wrong but the High Sparrow does not listen to her. Following a superbly scored scene (again, hats off to Ramin Djawadi) in which Qyburn’s spies murder Maester Pycell and Lancel Lannister, Cersei takes a leaf from the Mad King’s book and uses Wildfire to blow up the Great Sept of Baelor, killing everyone inside as Cersei watches with satisfaction from her window.
I loved this scene; Cersei has become the very thing that her family sought to destroy during Robert’s Rebellion. She has become The Mad King. Tommen watches in horror, and after realising that Cersei is behind the explosion, he throws himself from the Red Keep in suicide. At the end of the episode, Cersei is pronounced as Queen of Westeros.
I found the story in King’s Landing this week to be extremely satisfying. We’ve seen a lot of Cersei and Jaime telling each other that they’re gonna destroy all their enemies to the point where it got boring, even if Lena Heady’s performances are always spectacular. It felt good to see her actually live up to her promises in a good old Targaryen-style way. She’s probably got an Emmy nomination in the bag.
Dorne: Thorn in the Side
I’m not going to lie; Dorne sucks. Prince Oberyn gave me so much hope for the Dorne story-line, but I think that hope was crushed with Oberyn’s head. However, I do like a good redemption story, and Dorne delivered that. Following the murder of Loras, Margaery and Mace Tyrell, the Queen of Thorns, Olenna Tyrell, visits Ellaria Sand in Dorne to talk about enacting vengeance on Cersei. Varys appears, telling her that she will have her vengeance by means of “Fire and Blood”.
Admittedly, I didn’t agree with the decision to kill off Doran Martell at the start of the series, but I think it has paid off. It made more sense for Ellaria and the Sand Snakes to want to destroy the Lannisters for what they did to Oberyn. I look forward to seeing more of the Targaryen/Martell/Greyjoy/Tyrell team up next season. It will be interesting to see the dynamic between the four distinctly different Houses.
The Twins: Arya Ready?
After celebrating the defeat of The Blackfish at Riverrun, Walder Frey has a little lunch. A servant girl brings him a meat pie and he asks where his sons are. She says that they are here, pointing at the pie that Walder has been chowing down on. The servant pulls of her face and it is revealed to be Arya Stark. She tells Walder that she killed his sons and baked a pie using them as the meat. She then tells him that the last thing he sees will be a Stark smiling down on him before cutting his throat.
To be honest, Ayra had been annoying me a little this season with her poor decision making, but her killing Walder Frey was a brilliant note for her story to end on. I called it after she left the House of Black and White and it was definitely going to happen when the trailer showed Walder Frey at a feast. The last feast at The Twins ended in the Red Wedding; it’s only fitting that Lord Frey should meet his demise at the hands of Arya Stark. I can’t wait to see Arya scratch more names off of her list next season.
Mereen: Setting Sail
Daenerys instructs Daario to stay behind and govern Mereen while she sails to Westeros to claim her birthright; The Iron Throne. Daario reluctantly accepts after professing his love for Daenerys, realising that he can’t stop her from leaving, and that he can’t go with her. Daenerys then makes Tyrion the Hand of the Queen. She then sets sail for Westeros with her armies of Unsullied and Dothraki, as well as the armies of Houses Greyjoy, Tyrell and Martell, and obviously her dragons.
After the action that unfolded last week in Mereen, I didn’t think that it could get any better, but again I have been proven wrong. The final scene in which Daenerys sets sail to claim her kingdom was extremely satisfying; we’ve been stuck in Mereen for nearly four seasons so it feels great that The Mother of Dragons is finally ready to become Queen of Westeros. I can’t wait to see Queen-bowl go down, you know, because they cancelled Clegane-bowl.
Beyond the Wall: R+L=J
Bejen Stark drops Meera and Bran off near The Wall, saying that the enchantments that fortify the wall prevent the dead from entering. Bran then resumes his vision of the Tower of Joy. Ned Stark enters to find that Lyanna is haemorrhaging after childbirth. She makes him promise her to protect her son, because Robert Baratheon will kill him if he ever finds out. Then we cut to the present day to see the child of Lyanna Stark and Rhaegar Targaryen – Jon Snow.
I BLOODY KNEW IT!!! R+L=J has been a theory for so long, a very credible theory, but a theory nonetheless. The reveal was perfect and you can almost hear the screams of millions of fanboys across the world shouting with joy. Jon Snow being the child of a Stark and a Targaryen means that he is literally A Song of Ice and Fire. Who knows what will happen from hereon out. I will say this however, according to a prophesy, three dragons will come to bring peace to the Seven Kingdoms. So far we have Daenerys and Jon. So who is the third? I personally believe that it is Tyrion; look up the Tyrion Targaryen theory.
Winterfell: Snow Place Like Home
Davos questions Melisandre about the burnt Stag figure. She admits that she and Stannis burnt Princess Shireen at the stake so that the Lord of Light would grant Stannis victory against House Bolton. Jon then banishes her from the North under pain of death. Sansa visits the Godswood where Littlefinger tells her that she should be Lady of Winterfell as she is a Stark, and he tells her of his plans to take the Iron Throne and have her as his Queen. She knocks him back as he tries to kiss her. The Northern Lords then question Jon over having a Wildling Army south of the Wall. Lady Mormont roasts them all, reminding them that they broke their promise to aid House Stark. She declares him King in the North and the other houses follow suit. Sansa smirks at Littlefinger, whose plans have now fallen apart, but he gives Jon a cold stare which wipes Sansa’s smile from her face.
I have to admit that the Winterfell story has got to be the highlight of the episode, if not the whole season. It was a really emotional scene that had me crying for reasons I can’t explain. The North Remembers; the North doesn’t care if Jon is a bastard, he is the Lord of Winterfell. Although he isn’t Ned’s son, he’s still a Stark because of Lyanna. It was a perfect way to end Jon’s story for this season. A Clash of Kings 2.0 is about to start, and it’s gonna be a spectacular. Winter is here….
This was another perfect episode from Game of Thrones, rounding off what has been the best season to date. It gets a perfect 100% score from me for the forward-moving storytelling, game changing (if predictable) reveals, as well as tying off some loose ends whilst leaving a few dangling for next season. What this episode lacked in action, it sure than made up for in content. I can’t wait for next Season. Brace yourselves, winter has come….
Words by Anthony Cody