Game of Thrones 8.04 The Last of the Starks

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We follow last week's epic battle sequence with another character-building, ploughing-towards-the-ending bridge episode, and one that is already creating controversy among fans (and not just because of the to-go coffee cup that appears in one scene... and has already been edited out for repeated showings). This is the episode that will divide loyalties to the show, and will divide loyalties among fans. It's a doozy... and as usual, my cohort, the amazing Christopher Lockett, and I, have a lot to say about it. Settle in, folks. (Also, these screencaps are now 100% more viewable!) 

Christopher: Two-thirds of the way through the final season, we’re seeing what has always been something of a contradiction embedded in GoT: the tension between the more typical and traditional fantasy narrative of Light v. Dark, Good v. Evil, and the more innovative and subversive preoccupation with power and politics. I spoke of this at somewhat more length in an interregnum post I made before the previous episode, but the TL;DR is basically that GRRM has from the start been having his cake and eating it, with the looming conflict between the living and the dead comprising the series’ background noise, while more immediately the competition for the Iron Throne has been the greater substance of the story.

That background noise, which has occasionally made it into the foreground, is the stuff of Tolkienesque fantasy: the grand conflict á là God and Satan, Gandalf et al and Sauron, Harry and Voldemort, etc. It is, to be fair, a staple of the genre. But what has always set A Song of Ice and Fire—and likewise Game of Thrones—apart is the greater preoccupation with the fraught complexities and grey areas of political power, and the ways in which those complexities lend depth and nuance to the people involved. Jon Snow’s Churchillian moment in episode one of this season laid out the stark (heh) contrast between the warring sides, as did Bran’s dire characterization of the Night King’s singular desire to wipe out all life. Those stakes don’t exactly make it difficult to choose loyalties.

Well, the easy choices shattered along with the Night King’s transformation into party ice. And if there was a sense that the resolution of the “great battle,” as Daenerys calls it, was a bit too pat, a bit too easy and sudden, remember that all of Sauron’s power came crashing down when a ring fell into some lava. The difference there being that that was the End: everything that followed was denouement. Here, we’ve resolved the Tolkienesque narrative, but still have to resolve the Shakespearean one. And based on this episode, I’m already missing the Night King’s ethical purity.

But at least we get a brief respite: to mourn, and then to celebrate. We begin with the camera’s slow movement over a body we soon recognize as the corpse of Ser Jorah. A distraught Daenerys kisses his brow and whispers words we don’t hear into his ear. We then get a similar moment of Sansa weeping over Theon’s body; in a moment of great significance, she removes a brooch of the Stark direwolf and places it on his breast—confirming for him, in death, that he is as much a Stark as a Greyjoy.

It becomes apparent that this is a mass funeral: Jon and Sam and Bran, along with the other survivors of the Battle of Winterfell, stand in serried ranks before a huge number of pyres on which lay the dead—Dothraki and Unsullied, Northerners and all others who fought. (Perhaps most importantly, among the ranks of the survivors, we see Ghost—having sustained some wounds in the battle, but not looking nearly as mournful as he will later in this episode).

SUCH A GOOD BOY.

I found this a very moving scene, not least because, as characters came forward to put torches to the pyres, there were a handful of silent tributes—Arya looking down at Beric, Sam at Edd Tollett, Jon at Lyanna Mormont—even as we catch glimpses of anonymous others who died. The flames begin to consume the pyres, and the smoke obscures the camera’s eye as it looks down at the mourners.

The scene then shifts to something we haven’t seen in some time: a feast, though at the start it is somewhat subdued. The Great Hall is crowded with long tables and people getting down to the serious business of eating. At first, there isn’t much in the way of conversation: at the head table, everyone seems lost in thought, and when Jon turns to look at Daenerys, she basically stares stolidly into the middle distance. The first words of the scene are Gendry’s; he looks around the room and then turns to the Hound, asking her if he’s seen Arya. Their conversation is a bit cryptic, but the suggestion seems to be that the Hound knows Gendry and Arya have become rather more than friends. “You can still smell the burning bodies, and that’s where your head is at?” the Hound asks, but then makes clear that his words aren’t a rebuke. When Gendry protests that “it’s not about that,” Sandor calls bullshit. “Of course it’s about that, yeh twat,” he says. “Why shouldn’t it be? The dead are dead. You’re not.”

As always, the Hound has no patience for pretense or bullshit.

However, on rising to go look for Arya, Gendry attracts the notice of the Queen, and becomes the first piece placed on the board of the post-Night King game of thrones. Daenerys tortures him for a moment, pointing out that his father, Robert Baratheon, was responsible for her family’s destruction and exile. But, well, bygones can be bygones—especially if it means she has a lord of a powerful house in her debt. “You are Lord Gendry Baratheon,” she tells him. “Because that is what I made you.” Gendry, understandably, is taken somewhat aback; and in a moment of symmetry, Davos—who was of course the Hand of another Baratheon of note, and both saved Gendry from Melisandre and retrieved him from King’s Landing—is the first to rise and hail him by his new title. The entire room follows suit. “See?” Daenerys says to Tyrion when he observes she now has a Storm Lord in her debt, “you’re not the only one who’s clever.”

Daenerys’ move does not go unnoticed by Sansa, who looks positively worried when she exchanges a glance with Tyrion.

Perhaps it is the celebration of Gendry’s new status, or perhaps it has just gotten to that part of the evening, but a definite party vibe settles on the room. Jaime plays the role of enabler, removing Brienne’s hand from her cup when she tries to prevent him refilling it. “We fought dead things and lived to talk about it,” he says. “If this isn’t the time to drink, when is?” (To be fair, that’s a pretty good argument). But even as the room starts to come to life, Davos broods about Melisandre, telling Tyrion he promised to kill her—but that she killed herself, or was killed by her god, before he got the chance. And here we have an interesting little moment of reflection on what I’ve been calling the Tolkienesque narrative: Melisandre has essentially played the role of the voice of prophecy, the spokeswoman for the deity ostensibly at odds with the Night King and his hordes. All the way along, her purpose has been to find the person or people who can act as her god’s tools. Having been present for the great battle and helped in a substantive manner, her work was done, and her death was the last pre-credits shot of the previous episode.

Davos and Tyrion effectively sum up the contradiction I’ve mentioned: “The Lord of Light,” Davos says in a vaguely disgusted voice, “We play his game for him. We win his war. And then … he fucks off. No signs. No blessings. Who knows what he wants?” It’s a good question—having won the cosmic war, does the cosmic entity just leave the field? One way or another, there is now a new and far more complex reality to deal with. Or as Tyrion puts it, “We may have defeated Them. We still have Us to contend with.”

What did you think of this episode, Nikki?

Nikki: This episode was what most of us thought it would be: the aftermath of the great Battle of Winterfell, and the movement toward the culmination of the overarching theme of the series. As I said the other day, this series is called Game of Thrones, after all, and we’ve been here since Day One just to see who’s going to win that damn game. And I thought this episode hit the perfect note of both bridging the battle sequence of the previous episode to the battle sequence of the next episode (my GOD what did this season cost them?!) while not only moving the living characters forward but properly mourning the dead. I was a little worried that those who died in the previous episode, would never be mentioned again, but as you pointed out so well, Chris, that opening scene paid proper tribute to them. And Jon was the one to stand over Lyanna (I was weeping in this scene). What was amazing about this episode is how many characters realized they need to change the way they were doing things: they’ve looked Death right in the eye and believed they didn’t have a hope of surviving, and now they realize today is the time to act because there might not be a tomorrow.

My concern with this episode is that in keeping with the general theme of “let’s act on things we’ve thought about, but never done,” they’ve made some steps to change my loyalties, to throw a wrench into the perfect works, and to hurt characters when it didn’t really need to happen. But more on that later.

After a depressing conversation with Ser Davos, Tyrion wonders, “Who could I speak to who would be even less cheerful after a great victory?” So as he’s talking to Bran… he comments on his chair, which Bran says is based on the one Daeron Targaryen had made for his crippled nephew 120 years earlier. Tyrion is impressed by his knowledge of history, saying it’ll serve him well as Lord of Winterfell. But Bran makes it clear he doesn’t want that—ambition to be the head of a House or a king belonged to his brother Robb, and in a way to his sister Sansa, but certainly not to him. He doesn’t “want” anymore, he explains. “I envy you,” says Tyrion, and Bran suddenly looks back over his shoulder. What the hell is he looking at?? I thought, thinking he could see something we couldn’t… but in the end it appears he was simply signaling to someone to come and wheel his chair away. “You shouldn’t envy me,” he says, with a bit of real emotion OMG actually entering his voice. “Mostly I live in the past.”

Tyrion, as most people do when speaking to the Three-Eyed Raven, simply looks confused. This was a really interesting moment for me, because while we see Bran as this weird all-seeing, all-knowing entity (I hesitate to even call him a person), imagine if you could see across all time, all the time, and unlike Billy Pilgrim from Slaughterhouse-Five, you don’t see definite futures but possible ones. The possible futures are probably all so desolate that you prefer to live in those past memories. His comment worried me a bit for the episodes to come: is that it? Is that why he doesn’t live in the future? Because there isn’t much of one left?

And now it’s over to Tormund, who’s trying to get Jon to drink to the point of passing out. “Vomiting is not celebrating,” says Jon. “Yes it is,” says Tormund, completely stone-faced. “TO THE DRAGON QUEEN!” says the ginger-bearded wildling, to some cheers that sound more like the ones you hear the knights make after the narrator says, “And there was much rejoicing” in Monty Python and the Holy Grail.

To which Daenerys stands and says, “To Arya Stark, the hero of Winterfell!” and the entire place erupts with cheers, drinking, stomping, clapping. (And I said to my husband, “Where IS Arya??”) Daenerys once again smiles broadly, hoping she’s curried some favour with these northerners. Jon smiles at her, Sansa sees the smile between the two of them and gets up and walks away. Daenerys sits down, alone, and watches Jon turn his back on her to continue talking to Tormund.

Meanwhile, Tyrion, Podrick, Jaime, and Brienne are mirroring some viewers at home with their drinking game (Jaime just gave a bit of a longing stare at Brienne: DRINK!), with Brienne seeming to be the only one properly holding her alcohol at this point. We haven’t had too many scenes with Tyrion and Brienne, but I love their friendly chemistry in this scene. And of course, all of us have enjoyed that other chemistry between Jaime and Brienne the Beauty.

Back to Tormund, and the scene that has everyone abuzz this morning. I will admit, I did not see this at all on my first viewing, but it turns out even when the Dead are threatening to destroy all of living civilization; even when some of the greatest warriors the world has ever seen are being felled on the battlefields; even when the night is (so so so so) dark and full of terrors… somewhere nearby, there’s a Starbucks open.

Tormund talks about how amazing Jon is, that he was even murdered and came back to keep fighting, that he never gives up no matter what. “He climbed on fucking dragon, and fought. What kind of person climbs on a fucking dragon? A madman, or a KING!” They all cheer, and Jon turns to look at Dany, who puts a fake smile on her face and quietly tips her Grande Americano at him, probably thinking, “I’ve been climbing on a fucking dragon for seven years but SURE, let’s all talk about how awesome this guy is.” The look on her face is haunting… she had it in her grasp. She had everything—the south, the north, the islands, everything except Cersei, and she could simply use the others to get rid of her—and now that she sacrificed her Dothraki, many of her Unsullied, her dragon, and even her beloved Ser Jorah, to save the northerners… they’re going to pledge fealty to Jon if they find out his heritage. She just knows it.

I’m so torn over this. I’ve pledged fealty to Daenerys Targaryen from Day One, as y’all know, and given my love for Houses like Mormont, which run on matrilineal lines, I wonder if House Targaryen could change to reflect that? Aerys Targaryen was king, and when he was killed, it went to Rhaegar… who was killed, but his son wasn’t yet born. So Viserys was the only living heir in that moment, and it went to him. When he dies, it should go to Daenerys since they’re no longer in Rhaegar’s line (or does that matter? Someone help me out on this, dear readers!)… except she’s a woman, and the Targaryens are patrilineal. So they would want to find the male heir over the female one. Except… there was no male heir.

Until now.

Daenerys has always been about breaking the wheel, and this has really been a show about the power of women—Cersei’s currently ruling King’s Landing for better or worse; the Sand Snakes were the true force of Dorne; Daenerys has been one of the most powerful characters on the show by virtue of her dragons, her inability to be burned, her capacity for empathy, and her ability to change he minds of people; Arya was the one who did in the Night King; Brienne is the captain of the knights over any man; Sansa is the true brains behind Winterfell; Yara is heading up the Iron Islands right now (while her stupid uncle is over in King’s Landing)… so I’d be truly disappointed if in the end they stuck a white guy on the throne.

It’s like watching the Democratic leader nominees in America right now. But anyway.

Daenerys believes this to be her birthright. Jon doesn’t even want to be king. But it doesn’t matter what they want: it’s about what the people want. And we all know how well THAT works out.

Dany now surveys the room, seeing her Hand cavorting with Jaime and Brienne; seeing Jon hanging with Tormund, and in the background, in shadow, sits Varys. He has barely said a word all season, but he’s watching. As always. (And where the hell is Arya?)

Back to the drinking game, where Brienne has been getting Tyrion to drink like a fish, and Jaime is taking delight in watching how Brienne’s face is entirely lit up with joy at doing so. But then she jokes about how he was married before Sansa, and Tyrion screws up his face in a mocking way and drinks happily. Which was a strange reaction, given that his first wife was a woman he truly loved, and his own father made him believe she was a prostitute who was messing with him, so he had his soldiers rape her one by one, with Tyrion doing it last, paying her with a gold coin. It’s one of the darkest moments of Tyrion’s life, and not one where you would roll your eyes and go, “Oh fine I’ll drink!” But perhaps this is why Tyrion changes the tone by saying, “You’re a virgin.” (Note Podrick taking a huge slurp of his wine at that, HA!) Brienne just stares at him, the joy leaching from her face, and Tyrion says, “At no point have you ever slept with a man… or a woman.” She stands up to leave, but not so fast! The Giantsbane is here. He walks over to her, almost a foot shorter than she is, drunkenly rejoicing over their victory. “Now which one of your cowards shit in my pants?” he hisses, before throwing back his head and laughing that Tormund cackle, and Brienne leaves. He moves to follow her, but Jaime stops him, and the Kingslayer follows her instead, and suddenly a dim lightbulb goes off in Tormund’s head as he looks down to see Tyrion pouring the rest of his wine into the horn and Podrick grins.

We cut to Tormund, eyes welling, realizing the Big Woman is going to be with another. “My heart is broken,” he growls, and the camera pans back to show that his listener is none other than the Hound, who has a look on his face of absolute disgust. “Don’t touch me,” he hisses. (I loved this scene so much.)

“You can touch me,” says one of the women pouring wine. And with that, Tormund happily heads off with her. I didn’t love this ending, as if he’d pine after Brienne for this long only to get over her in a heartbeat—so much build-up, so little pay-off. Is this the end of Brienne and Tormund?

Sansa watches the Hound sitting on his own and brooding, and she sits with him, and he reminds her how he used to disgust her. “I’ve seen much worse since then,” she says. He just wants her and everyone else to go away, so, typical Hound, he says, “I heard you got broken in rough.” Sansa’s face doesn’t change. I can only imagine he’s thinking what IS it with these Stark girls?! “He got what he deserved,” she replies. “I gave it to him. Hounds.” She elicits a laugh from him. “You’ve changed, little bird,” he says, an echo of what he called her in the early seasons, when he tried to get her to escape with him. He says if only she’d gone with him, none of those traumas would have happened. And our Sansa puts her hand on his. “Without Littlefinger and Ramsay and the rest, I would have stayed a little bird all my life.”

In a way, this scene is utterly exquisite, because it pretty much sums up every character development on the show. Who wouldn’t be where they are now without everything that’s happened to them? But was it really necessary that she be raped to be a strong woman? That she watch her own father be beheaded in front of her? That she was passed from one man to the next, being used by each one? Did that happen to any of the men on the show? I’m not going to turn this into a feminist rant, because I believe Game of Thrones has been an extraordinary series for depicting how powerful women can be, and I think the fact that all of these women—Sansa, Cersei, Daenerys—have been raped on the show, which only strengthened them more, is, sadly, showing reality. This is supposed to be some sort of medieval type of timeline, and yet here we are in 2019, surrounded by news stories of very strong women who, at some point in their lives, were denigrated by very small men. In the world of Game of Thrones, women being treated as the weaker sex is no different than in our world. But Sansa refuses to be defeated. Her capacity for bouncing back is quite amazing, and it’s been a very long road to getting there. Sansa isn’t okay, and she will live with the trauma of that rape and what was done to her for the rest of her life. But she refuses to be a victim, and that’s integral to the development of this complicated and fascinating character. And despite the problematic nature of this scene, I still love Sansa and the Hound getting this one final moment together.

And now Gendry heads through the drunken courtyard to see if he can find our Arya.

Christopher: There were a number of moments in this episode that either annoyed me or left me profoundly ambivalent, and Sansa’s vindication of her abuse as a necessary crucible of experience is Exhibit A. It’s particularly galling considering that I argued, apropos of her horrifying wedding night with Ramsay, that her rape wasn’t necessarily an example of the assault/abuse-as-character-building-trope; I didn’t think so then, and I wouldn’t have said so now except that those are the precise words the writers put into her mouth. Gah.

I suppose one way to read her words—considering she says them as she places her hand over Sandor’s—is as a sort of stoic comfort to him. What happened isn’t your fault, in other words, not that he seems to feel guilt at all. Whatever my annoyance with this interchange might otherwise be, it is a useful throwback to seasons one and two, a reminder of the odd relationship these two had. Sansa then was too taken with beautiful things, and the very idea of beautiful things. The Hound with his mutilated face was a disturbance in that dream, and despite his sour nature he proved, through his treatment of Sansa, that he was not irredeemable.

But again, then, as now, he has no patience for pretense or bullshit.

It was thus then, perhaps, inevitable that Arya should later join him on his would-be solitary trek to King’s Landing. I wouldn’t go so far as to say that she’s running away from Gendry, but it wouldn’t have surprised me if she’d had an impromptu musical number of “Don’t Fence Me In” following his rather impetuous marriage proposal. All in all, it was rather a sweet moment, but also somewhat sad, given that Gendry was the only person among the bajillion people watching this episode who didn’t see Arya’s “thanks but no thanks” coming from miles off. “Be my wife! Be the Lady of Storm’s End,” he implores her (on bended knee, no less). “You’ll be a wonderful Lord,” says Arya, after kissing him tenderly. And then she brings the hammer down: “And any Lady would be lucky to have you.” Ouch. Of course, anyone who has been watching since season one knew this would be her response. “I’m not a Lady. I never have been.” Her words hearken back to the conversation she had with her father in the first season, when she told him she did not want to be a “Lady.” Everything she has done since that moment has more or less confirmed that assertion.

Poor Gendry. I mean: good for Arya. But still. Poor Gendry.

We can’t know whether sex with Gendry was good, bad, or indifferent for Arya (I’m guessing good, if for no other reason than damn, look at the man), but it obviously hasn’t really changed anything for her. The same cannot be said for Brienne: having established her lack of experience in Tyrion’s drinking game, we transition to a moment a certain subset of GoT fans have been hyperventilating about since she and Jaime first did their Abbott and Costello routine. I must admit, I’ve been Team Tormund since the bearded ginger first made googly eyes at her; but I can’t complain about the way things have fallen out. Tormund might have had unrequited feelings for Brienne, but she just as obviously has had a thing for Jaime. So when he shows up at her door with wine and immediately starts complaining about how hot her room is, we kind of know where this is going. (Quick question: did anyone else flash to Jimbo Jones on The Simpsons? “Wow, now my shirt’s chafing me. Mind if I take it off?”).

The scene is touchingly, and appropriately, awkward. We’re reminded that Brienne is a virgin. What we’re not reminded of (which is probably for the best) is that Jaime has only ever slept with one other woman. In other words, this is the first non-incestuous sex he’s ever had (something that may or may not resonate with his later decision to decamp for King’s Landing).

And now I am obligated to make the following segue: DID SOMEONE SAY INCEST?

We cut to Jon Snow alone in his chambers, doing what he does best: brooding. A champion brooder, he could have kept this up for hours without a break, were he not interrupted by his auntie. Daenerys lets herself in, and for a few moments it seems we’re back to where we were, pre-crypts revelation. But of course, memory intrudes. Their brief, promising make-out session interrupted (whether by thoughts of “Oh, shit, INCEST!” or “Oh, shit, BETTER CLAIM TO THE THRONE!” we’ll never know), Jon and Dany fall to discussing the fact that, yes, he is her nephew, and has the better claim to the throne. The fact that he doesn’t want it is, of course, irrelevant, though he seems to be the only person who doesn’t grasp this basic fact.

OK: just to stipulate, for all the arguments that ensue in this episode, and will almost certainly ensue in the remaining episodes, about whether Jon Snow is the better choice for the Iron Throne. HE IS VERY STUPID. Or perhaps that is unfair. He is not unintelligent, just morbidly obtuse. He, as everyone’s favourite redheaded wildling was fond of pointing out, KNOWS NOTHING. He might not actually be the son of Ned Stark by blood, but characterologically he is TOTALLY NED STARK’S SON. By which I mean: he is honourable to a fault, refuses to see the world in anything other than black and white, and, were it not for the intervention of Melisandre, he would have suffered a similar fate to Ned—i.e. killed for an excess of honourable intentions.

Case in point: he doesn’t want the throne. He says as much to Daenerys. But when she begs him—literally begs him!—to keep his trap shut about his real parentage, he says, well, no, I have to tell my family. Because of course he does. I don’t want the Iron Throne, but I’m going to tell people who will one hundred percent tell other people because they don’t want you on the throne. Because honour.

Look, I’m not saying it isn’t a difficult choice, or that Jon is in any way obliged to keep his peace … just that he has a propensity for doing such things without having a plan. Which might be something people wanting to sit him on a throne should keep in mind.

From here we cut to a brief shot of Brienne asleep and Jaime awake beside her. The first time I watched this episode, I didn’t really take note of this moment; it was only on rewatching that Jaime’s expression can be read as somewhat fraught. Again, remember that Brienne is the only non-Cersei he has slept with. Is he happy? Content? Remorseful? Caught in a moment of post-coital self-loathing? Something we consider when we come to his departure later in the episode …

But on to battle plans! Grey Worm gives the bad news that half of the Unsullied are gone. As are the Northmen, Jon acknowledges. (A Dothraki also removes pieces from the map, without noting numbers). What is to be done? Daenerys is all about pressing their advantage, such as it is. “We will hit her hard,” she says, “rip her out, root and stem!” It’s worth noting that this approach meets with crickets from everyone in the room, including her advisors. Tyrion in particular is skeptical: “The objective here is to remove Cersei, without destroying King’s Landing,” he points out. Varys observes that Cersei has become increasingly isolated: Dorne has declared for Daenerys, and Yara has retaken the Iron Islands, but Daenerys seems to suffer from a particular form of tunnel vision: so long as Cersei sits on the Iron Throne, she can call herself queen.

The singular mania of Daenerys’ ambition comes into clear focus in this scene, enough that it has Varys later considering treasonous actions. To be fair to Varys, his vacillation is understandable, especially after Daenerys attacks Sansa’s perfectly reasonable suggestion that their armies rest and recuperate, characterizing it as something resembling treachery.

Daenerys’ impatience in this moment is … well, out of character. Let’s not forget how long she dallied in Essos for the express purpose of learning how to rule. Literally every single thing her advisors tell her in this scene is sensible and, more importantly, tactically sound. Cersei wants to bring all of the surrounding countryside into the walls of the Red Keep? Let’s see how long their food holds out. Our soldiers are wounded and tired? Let’s let them rest and recuperate. You came here to be the breaker of chains? Don’t kill innocents in your maniacal drive to take the capital.

But when all is said and done, Jon decrees that the North will submit to the will of the Queen. Which precipitates an impromptu family meeting …

Nikki: … with an assassin, a magnificent woman-who-should-be-queen, a full brother who was brought up as our half-brother but we consider him our full brother even though holy shit he’s our cousin?, and… Bran. I love that moment at the end of the war room scene where Sansa stands next to Bran, arms behind her back and her head tilted up, Bran just stares at Jon with his arms folded on his lap, and Arya stands before Jon, saying, “We need a word.” Jon looks at them all and knows… shit is serious.

As you so wonderfully put it, my friend (I laughed out loud at your summary of Jon because it mirrored exactly the conversations I’ve had with my husband), Jon Snow is… kind of adorably dumb. When he decided to tell them in this scene the very thing Daenerys asked him like two seconds earlier not to tell them, my husband said, “Why the hell is he doing this? He’s such a dipshit.” And I said, “No, he’s Ned Stark’s son. Remember when he showed up at King’s Landing and very quietly whispered, ‘WAIT A MINUTE GENDRY IS ROBERT BARATHEON’S SON AND I DO NOT BELIEVE THESE GOLDEN-HAIRED CHERUBS ARE ACTUALLY ROBERT’S CHILDREN AT ALL AND I WILL PROVE THAT BLERG—’ (that’s my accurate sound effect for his head being chopped off, by the way…), yeah… he’s that guy’s kid. Or… at least… was raised as that guy’s kid. Nature vs. nurture and all that.”

Now, before any of them can speak, he jumps in there anticipating their Dany hate and explains they needed her, that without her they never could have won the war, and like new moms learn when dealing with a toddler tantrum, Arya first validates Jon’s feelings, “And I respect that” and looks at Sansa and basically says he’s right, we would have been toast without Dany, but then says that’s why they’re right too: they simply don’t trust this queen. Daenerys wasn’t making any friends in that war room, and she resents that the North won’t bend the knee, but the North has always been skeptical of anyone from King’s Landing, and she’s way south of that. So… nah.

Arya’s reasoning for why he should listen to them is that they’re family: that’s the only argument she has, but as one of the last four living Starks, she believes it’s the only one she needs. They don’t need someone coming between all of them; after all, people have been coming between them for seven solid years, and now they’re together, they need to stay together. And that’s when Jon says he’s not a Stark. (Not true, buddy: half your DNA is from Lyanna.) And he uses Arya’s argument against her: because they’re family, they should swear they won’t tell anyone what he’s about to tell them. Arya says, “I swear it” with such conviction I 100% believe her. Sansa is hesitant, and finally says, “Smmffph.” And so Jon stands before them, spreads his arms, opens his mouth for the most important speech of his life, and says, “Bran, you tell them.” Sigh.

Cut to suddenly nighttime again and Jaime and Tyrion are sitting at a table, with Tyrion finally able to make “tall person jokes” about Brienne, because one thing about Lannister men: they’re not exactly discreet or respectful of the women they sleep with… and besides, since Jaime’s only ever really slept with his sis, he’s never exactly been able to kiss and tell the next day.

Enter Bronn, with crossbow. As I said in my first post of the season, he’ll follow through on this plan if it makes him money. But as many of you pointed out, he’d never do that to Tyrion and Jaime because of loyalty. Turns out we were each half-right: he bears no loyalty to anyone except maybe a banker of Braavos, but he’s done the math on his journey northward and realized that they’re going to kill Cersei, and she won’t be able to pay up. So he wants his payment now or they’re both getting arrows through their skulls. So Tyrion offers him Highgarden, and Bronn, after punching Tyrion in his face (but insisting he didn’t break his nose), agrees. Crisis averted… for now. (But as my friend Ashlie has said to me, that crossbow is going to play a major role before this is all done… remember Tywin.) The one line that stuck with me in this scene, though, was Tyrion holding up his cup and saying, “To climbing mountains.” Let’s hope that includes Cersei’s, and that the Hound is able to crumble that Mountain to pieces.

And with that, we cut to the Hound, who is taking the Kingsroad by himself until Arya joins him, which immediately pisses him off. He grunts short sentences at her—he likes to be alone, he doesn’t intend to return—for her to respond “Same” in equally curt answers. The Hound and his apathy clearly left an impression on Arya, and have shaped a lot of her character. Neither one intends to return to the North, which means they could both die at King’s Landing, which I could see happening if both fulfill their destinies, or they’ll take to another road for further adventures… a road, of course, that forks pretty quickly so they don’t have to spend any more time with another person.

The cut to the next scene is not immediately clear—it looks like a ship’s sail that’s ripped, only… oh… no. It’s Rhaegal’s wing. Back in the war room, Sansa proposed they all hold back and wait until the wounded have time to recover, and when Dany hissed at her that she’d brought all of this power to the North to help them in “their” fight, and now they were going to postpone on her, Sansa hissed back that her proposal was for Daenerys’s people to recover as well. And that includes Rhaegal, who is a strong flyer in the same way Nemo is a strong swimmer. One assumes a dragon’s wing could heal given some time and herbs; or hell, some sort of device like Toothless has in How to Train Your Dragon that fixes his crippled wing. But Dany’s jonesing to get her butt on that throne, and she will not stop to help Rhaegal.

Again, I’m as torn as Rhaegal’s wing on all of this. I love Daenerys and her journey. If she were a man we wouldn’t be expecting her to think everything through and take her time and make sure everyone is well, but because she’s the mother of dragons we expect her to do all of those things. But on that journey, Dany has been hurt, countless people have tried to kill her, they’ve attacked her, they’ve attacked her children, she’s lost everyone she’s ever been close to, and she’s become a little more hardened and is just tired of waiting. I understand her need to move forward. But… Rhaegal’s wing.

As Rhaegal does his wonky flight over Winterfell, Sansa stands on a broken parapet (though… was anyone else surprised at how much of Winterfell was NOT broken? Damn those stone houses hold up well…). Tyrion approaches her to try to appeal to the intelligent woman he knows she is, telling her Dany is a good person who has the support of her people, who wants to make the world a better place.

In this moment I was very aware that one difference between Sansa and all those leaders from all those places Daenerys has visited and conquered is that we know Sansa. Sure, she’s not a slave master or a torturer like some of the others were, but we also know her. She shows the same skepticism everyone else on the show has demonstrated when Dany comes to town, this mixture of awe, curiosity, and concern. But because we all know Sansa and one way or the other we’re all Team Stark, even if we’re rooting for others to be on the throne, we now see Dany through her eyes in a way we never saw her through another’s. Yet… we also know Dany, and we know she IS a good person, that she’s making tough calls but sometimes calls that need to be made (I mean, come on, were the Tarlys REALLY worth saving??) She’s been fighting through a lot for eight seasons, she’s come through fire, she’s birthed dragons from eggs, she’s lost everyone she’s loved, and she’s fierce and smart and strategic. But Sansa doesn’t trust her because she’s Other. And she’s only seen Daenerys under the pressures of war, which brings out the worst in people, so she hasn’t exactly had her fears laid to rest.

But that Othering is a major theme of this episode: Arya tells Jon he’s one of them; he tells them to trust him because they’re family. Tormund will refer to the North as the South because it’s southern to him, and those people aren’t his people. Cersei sees her people as Them and anyone in the castle as Us. The North and the South do not want the same things. Sansa is skeptical of Dany because she’s from across the sea (well, and all that stuff in the war room). Daenerys keeps referring to the fact she helped Them, not that she helped save humanity, which would have eventually included people across the sea. Jaime tries to prove to himself that he could love someone other than Cersei, that he could make her Them and him and Brienne Us, but it’s just not going to happen; Cersei will always be the other half of Us to him.

You were right in isolating that line from Tyrion saying they still have Us to contend with, Chris, because they were united as long as it was living vs dead, but now that the dead are gone, the chinks in the armour have become very noticeable.

And so, as Tyrion pleads with her to listen to him, she finally asks, “What if there’s someone else? Someone better?” In that moment, she sees herself and Tyrion as being on the same side, despite his loyalty to Dany. That fealty is grounded in his belief that she will do what’s right; Sansa believes Jon is the one who will do what’s right. If they both want the same ends, perhaps they should get on board with the same means?

Next it’s to the courtyard and some goodbyes, and I don’t know if this is the final time we’ll see some of these characters or not. I’m hoping not, but with only two episodes left there was a finality with all of them. Despite Tormund and Sam being two of my all-time favourite characters, the one that hurt the most… was Ghost. The direwolf we’ve watched grow up from his time as a wee pup. The beast who has protected Jon from the beginning, who lay by his side when Jon had been murdered, who fought off white walkers at Castle Black, and who was in the first line of defense in last week’s battle. Missing one ear, with bloody scratches all over him, Ghost stands there looking at Jon with a bit of a hangdog stare, and with all the “good boi” memes that have been floating around regarding Ghost lately, I couldn’t help but think he was thinking, “But haven’t I been a good boy?” You hugged Tormund, Jon; you hugged Sam. WHY DIDN’T YOU HUG GHOST?!

What is a direwolf? They aren’t just abnormally large wolves that represent House Stark; each of them became a piece of the child they belonged to. Sansa’s Lady was killed just as Sansa was about to go to King’s Landing and the Sansa Stark of early days would be gone forever. Arya’s Nymeria has gone into the forest to live on her own, a solitary wolf who doesn’t need others to survive. Shaggydog and Summer stayed by Rickon and Bran throughout their time in exile and fought side-by-side; Shaggydog’s head was chucked into the room to prove the enemy had Rickon (who died shortly after), and Summer was killed by the white walkers when they entered the cave of the Three-Eyed Raven, just before we saw the last we’d see of Bran, and he became something else. Grey Wind fought for Robb Stark, never leaving his side, until he was killed moments before the Red Wedding, when Robb’s life was taken, too. Each of these wolves has a connection to their humans, reacting like them, acting like them, dying when they die, or when a part of them dies. They’re intrinsically linked to them. Ghost has been by Jon’s side longer than any wolf, and he was the runt of the litter when they found the pack of them (much like Jon). He’s loyal to Jon, but like Jon he’s also loyal to Jon’s friends and comrades. He will fight by Ser Jorah’s or Sam’s side as easily as he does Jon’s, and when Jon died… Ghost didn’t die. He broke the chain. We’ve all wondered what part Ghost played in the resurrection of Jon Snow, and I know it was a big one. Jon lived partly because Ghost didn’t die.

So in making Ghost go North, Jon is leaving a piece of himself there, in the place where he won over a race of people, where he fell in love with a woman, where he was originally born and thought he would die, where he met his best friends. Jon’s going South, but he’s leaving his heart in the North. Perhaps saving Ghost might save Jon after all.

You and I both have deep feelings when it comes to animals, Chris, did you feel that horrible pang as Ghost stood there staring longingly at Jon?

Christopher: Such a pang. I’ve never quite understood people who don’t want pets, or who are dismissive of the emotional connection people form with their cats or dogs or dragons (which are really just big winged cats, when you get down to it). I think audiences would have been down with whatever carnage John Wick got up to in the first film, but it was the murder of his puppy (by Theon Grejoy, of all people) that gave the action that followed a genuine pathos at the outset.

So, yeah … I was upset with Jon for sending Ghost north. Actually, that’s not true—I think sending him north was probably the best for everyone involved. I was upset with Jon for hardly even acknowledging him before he went. That just seemed cruel, and the CGI people really nailed the look a dog can give you when it’s sad.

But I think you’re right, Nikki—that connection between the Starks and their direwolves is elemental, and I suspect that Jon (in a rare moment of insight) recognizes that a place like King’s Landing is terrible for such an animal. Ghost is a creature of the North, after all; and there was something in this scene as everyone said their goodbyes that made me wonder if, when all is said and done, Jon might not end up back there. He certainly looked like that’s where he’d rather be going, and said as much to Tormund. A piece of him will be there with Ghost, but there’s also the fact that he left a piece of himself behind when Ygritte was killed. He may have fallen in love with Daenerys, but that relationship will never have the kind of passion he experienced with Ygritte (though we’re not ruling out the possibility that Daenerys will also try to kill him before all is said and done). It would be sort of a fitting end if, after he fulfills his last duties, Jon returns to the North.

The most touching goodbye, of course, is with Sam. It’s worth thinking back to the hero’s journey Samwell Tarly has had, starting as a painfully shy and cowardly new recruit at Castle Black, mocked for his weight and his timidity. And now he can take pride of place among the heroes of this story, having found his way to something resembling courage, and also to love and now has a family of his own (the bit where he stumblingly tries to explain how Oldtown was just so boring at night, and all those books, only to have Gilly interrupt: “I think he knows how it happens, Sam,” was perfect). It does beg the question, however: what does Sam do now? He’s no longer a part of any army, apparently, no longer a man of the Night’s Watch (does the Watch even exist any more? does it need to?), so what’s up for him and Gilly? Stick around at Winterfell? Return to the Citadel to complete his training as a maester (and pay some hefty library fines)? Take his seat as the Lord of Horn Hill?

But we don’t know. Jon saddles up after one last look at Ghost , and then we cut to the other half of the army heading south, this one by sea. Grey Worm and Missandei stand by the railing (and I’ve asked this before, but it’s a point of bother: does no one ever sit down on ships in Westeros?), and exchange a loving look as they hold hands. Which was not, I should say, a moment I found fraught with foreboding the first time I watched the episode, but on rewatch? Yikes.

Meanwhile, Tyrion has obviously shared Jon’s wee genealogical secret with Varys, who makes the very astute observation that when eight people know a secret, it’s no longer a secret—it’s information. And sooner or later the small circle of people who know will expand by a magnitude. And what then, Varys asks? He games it out: it’s not merely, as Tyrion observes, that the revelation will lose Daenerys the North and the Vale. He has the better claim. And even though Jon has professed not to want the throne, Varys is smart enough to see what Tyrion tries not to—that what Jon Snow, aka Aegon Targaryen, wants will largely be beside the point when the truth emerges. That’s the tricky thing about divine right: it sort of limits the choices of the person so afflicted, and the fusion of Stark and Targaryen in a person who, while excessively prone to making poor choices, people nevertheless are drawn to, is really too perfect a creation not to have the people acclaim him king. Also, let’s not forget the personal story and intrigue of a man born of a secret marriage who grew up ignorant of his true identity is precisely the kind of thing people love. It’s the Once and Future King all over again.

The other problem with divine right, as Daenerys is discovering, is that if the entire basis and logic of your conquest is a rightful claim to the crown, that all goes up in smoke when the better claim shows up. Tyrion really should have pressed her for more details when she said she would break the wheel. How? What did that mean? If the entire point of landing on the shores of Westeros with an army was to smash the feudal system and replace it with an elected senate or a series of autonomous collectives, and in the process abdicate her claim to be absolute monarch, that would be breaking the wheel. But no: she means to reinstate Targaryen authority, even though she is no longer the Targaryen with the best claim to the throne.

This much, we can glean, Varys has gamed out. And he will have more detailed thoughts later. But while those two have been having their confab, the fleet has arrived at Dragonstone, and Daenerys with the two dragons soar over the masts of the ships to triumphal swelling music. Which, knowing this show, doesn’t bode well. Or as my friend said, seconds before Rhaegal gets hit with multiple massive crossbow bolts, “Oh, PLEASE no massive crossbow bolts!”

But … massive crossbow bolts. Made even worse by the shit-eating smug grin on Euron Greyjoy’s face as his ships come sailing around the headland.

Rhaegal’s end is quick and brutal, and if Daenerys has any sense left, she should see it in part as a rebuke for her insistence on not waiting. As you pointed out before, Nikki, we see a huge rent in his wing earlier, and he is obviously having some difficulty flying. Whether proper time to heal would have helped him evade the massive crossbow bolts is something we can’t know, but the fact that he meets his end while not at his full fighting strength should give our heroes pause before they consider an all-out assault on King’s Landing.

Daenerys, enraged, dives in to immolate Euron’s ships, but quickly decides discretion is the better part of valour as a new volley of bolts fly up at her.

(I have a quibble with her tactics here. Yes, coming in at a low trajectory right into the line of fire is definitely a bad idea, but these crossbows look like they have a limited range of motion, and they’re mounted on the bows of the ships. Why not circle around from behind? Or come in at a steep angle outside the weapons’ arc of motion? Seriously).

With the sole remaining dragon leaving the field of fire, Euron and his ships aim their crossbows at Daenerys’ anchored ships, making short work of them (I’m also unconvinced that the weapons would be that devastating at that range, but I’ll let that one go). Tyrion jumps into the sea and a mast seems to fall on him, and the screen goes black in a head-fake—usually that long the screen is black means the credits are about to roll. But no: we cut to a beach on Dragonstone, where our heroes have dragged their sodden, coughing selves out of the brine. Everyone seems present and accounted for … except Missandei.

Cut to the Red Keep, where Cersei looks down from a high window on the crowds of people streaming through the castle gate. As if the previous scene wasn’t enough of a reminder, we’re reminded that Cersei is no fool—she knows as well as Daenerys’ advisors (and possibly better than Daenerys) that a successful assault on King’s Landing—especially one that employs dragonfire—will almost certainly result in thousands of innocent deaths and casualties. It is obvious, of course, that she cares nothing for the people of the city, except as their usefulness as human shields. But it’s becoming clear she holds most of the cards now: Daenerys has only one remaining dragon; her forces have been drastically reduced; Cersei has the Golden Company, which evens the numbers; and if Daenerys defeats Cersei through sheer force, she also defeats her own chances to claim the throne as a leader and not a tyrant.

The little exchange between Cersei and Euron is a masterclass in cringeworthiness: however hateful Cersei is in this scene, Euron is more than a match, even if he does seem entirely oblivious that she can’t stand the sight of him. Nevertheless, she promises that the Lions shall rule the land and the Krakens shall rule the sea … “and our child shall one day rule them all.” I almost feel sorry for the poor sap. Were it not for the fact that both of these characters will almost certainly die before the end, it would almost be worth it to see them prevail, if for no other reason than we could start a betting pool about how long it takes for Euron to suffer an “accident.”

“So much for the Breaker of Chains,” Cersei says as she sweeps from the room, and the camera finds Missandei, chained but not yet broken.

Nikki: Seeing Missandei in chains again… ugh.

Now we move to the war room at Dragonstone, a place we haven’t seen in a while, and it’s as cold as it ever was. Now Varys and Tyrion have knowledge they didn’t have before, and watch how closely they watch Daenerys as she reacts to everything they say. For the first time in these situations this season, Varys takes the lead instead of Tyrion, leaning forward onto the war table (right after she’s knocked over the Lannister Lion), and saying, “You are making a mistake.” He explains that Cersei has brought her citizens into the Red Keep only as protection, assuming either Dany won’t attack the city while they’re there, or, if she does, Daenerys will be the bad guy and everyone will turn on her and back Cersei instead. “These are the people you came here to protect. I beg you… do not become what you have always struggled to defeat.” Tyrion cranes his neck forward to see her face.

Dany doesn’t pause. She speaks of destiny, that she’s been sent to free the world of tyrants. Both of them have a look on their faces like, “Crap. Wrong answer.” Tyrion asks to wait for everyone else to arrive, to talk to Cersei in the meantime, as Grey Worm looks desperate. And Dany gives in, but not for the reason they think. “Speaking to Cersei will not prevent a slaughter,” she says. “But perhaps it’s good for the people to see that Daenerys Stormborn made every effort to avoid bloodshed, and Cersei Lannister refused. They’ll know who to blame when the sky falls down upon them.”

Crap. Wrong answer.

In her defense, Cersei just killed Rhaegal. And I’m fucking angry, too, Daenerys. They should all burn for that one. But anyway…

And that’s when the conversation turned (until the sun went down… NAME THAT SONG) and Varys and Tyrion talk. Y’all will correct me if I’m wrong on this, but I’m pretty sure they’re sitting in the same throne room at Dragonstone where Tyrion once sat with Daenerys, and became convinced she was The One. The room where she made him Hand of the Queen as they sat on those same steps and drank wine. And now, a few years later, he and Varys realize there’s another possibility, and when Varys asks him who he thinks would make the better ruler, Tyrion doesn’t even have to answer aloud; they both agree. There’s a conversation about whether a cock is important to be a ruler (yes, because of patrilineage, yes because the lords will support you; no, because… Joffrey) and I found the next bit to be particularly intriguing. Tyrion once again suggests that Dany and Jonny could rule together. Varys says no: she’s too strong, and would bend him to her will. Tyrion says but he could help temper her through his compassion. In any other story, Varys would be talking about the man and Tyrion would be talking about the woman, but the roles are reversed here. Neither one mentions that Jon can be dumb as a stump, and I’m assuming we didn’t hear “you know nothing, Jon Snow” for four seasons for no reason at all.

Varys points out that Jon is a Targaryen and a Stark: he’s the only one who could unite the kingdoms and bring in the North and the Vale. Tyrion disagrees: he still believes in Daenerys (Stannis rigidly believed in the Lord of Light, though; we’ve certainly seen where zealousness gets you on this show). Varys refuses to align himself with anything but the realm itself, and he doesn’t believe Daenerys is the one. “So what happens to her?” Tyrion asks. Varys simply tips his head, and we’re all drenched in horror. We know what the Spider is capable of.  

“Please… don’t,” pleads Tyrion quietly. But Varys is unbending. “Each of us has a choice to make,” he says as he turns to leave. “I pray we choose wisely.”

And then it’s back to Winterfell, and one more woman treated badly. Argh.

Christopher: One of the exchanges between Tyrion and Varys I found particularly interesting, albeit less than clarifying:

VARYS: You know where my loyalty stands. You know I will never betray the Realm.

TYRION: What is “the Realm”? A vast continent, home to millions of people, most of whom don’t care who sits on the Iron Throne.

VARYS: Millions of people, many of whom will die if the wrong person sits on that throne! We don’t know their names, but they’re just as real as you and I. They deserve to live. They deserve food for their children. I will act in their interest, no matter the personal cost.

Varys has always, both in the novels and the series, proclaimed himself a selfless servant of “the Realm,” and for what it’s worth, has always walked the walk—something never more apparent than when his sparring partner was Littlefinger, in whom Varys always saw the dangers of boundless, selfish ambition. Say this much for Varys: he has never desired power for himself.

The problem is, the “Realm” is a nebulous entity, and one dependent—to satisfy Varys’ considerations—on having a wise and just monarch. As such, he’s caught between two necessities: his ethical imperative to ameliorate the suffering of Westeros’ millions, and the corollary need to serve the monarch who will best accomplish that. Varys is no activist: he’s what we would today call a professional political operative, albeit one of the rarest of that species (i.e., one with a conscience). But the fact that this system is effectively predicated on the absolute power of the monarch? Well, that makes his self-imposed task quite possibly impossible.

But back to Winterfell, where Sansa relays the dire news of Euron’s ambush to Brienne and Cersei. “I always wanted to be there when they executed your sister,” Sansa tells Jaime. “It seems I won’t get the chance.” Given how carefully Sansa measures her words these days, I think it’s safe to say that wasn’t a random thought spoken out loud, but a deliberate twist of the knife. Brienne might have vouched for Jaime, and Sansa took her at her word, but Sansa would know that whatever Jaime still feels for Cersei, those feelings are almost certainly raw.

Cut to Jaime sitting by the fire, clothed for travel, while Brienne slumbers in the background. She wakes to find him gone, and chases him down into the courtyard where he’s readying his horse for the ride back to King’s Landing.

OK, so there are three elements of this episode that have irked a lot of viewers: Sansa seeming to embrace her rape and assault as character-building; Daenerys’ apparent pivot to tyranny; and Brienne, arguably the single best fighter in Westeros dissolving into tears because her new boyfriend walks out on her. We’ve both had things to say about the first; the second is distressing but still unresolved (and we’ve seen hints of Daenerys’ Mad King tendencies before—anyone remember that time she crucified the Masters of Meereen?); and while both of those make me grumble, I found Brienne’s meltdown both believable and heartbreaking.

Brienne has spent her life erecting walls, developing a thick skin through long years enduring the taunts, insults, and contempt of men and women who called her a freak. She endured, and overcame the obstacles before her by becoming a better fighter than any man who went against her. She armoured herself with pride and honour and an unshakeable sense of duty. Which didn’t mean she became emotionless or harboured no desires: we know she loved Renly Baratheon. The fact that she was accused of his murder hurt her probably even more than his actual death. She’s never been entirely impassive: we saw as Jaime’s cruelty landed and his insults hit their mark. In hindsight, the relationship that developed between those two has been one of the more nuanced evolutions in the series.

When he knighted her, we saw, however subtly, how that broke down one of her barriers. When he came to her and she gave into her desire, we saw her passion and her need. After a very long and fraught relationship, she made herself vulnerable, something that had been unthinkable after a life spent behind her walls. So when he leaves her, and tells her coldly just what kind of a hateful person he is—as hateful as Cersei—and rides off without another word, that betrayal is hardly going to be met with Brienne’s impassivity. Gwendolyn Christie played this moment with such pain that it had me crying … but I somehow don’t think she’s going to spend the remaining two episodes locked in her room weeping into her pillow and listening to Sarah McLachlan. I feel sorry for the people who have to face Brienne 2.0 in battle, because I suspect my girl’s coming back fiercer and badder than ever.

Also, I’ve read a puzzling number of reviews and recaps that take it as axiomatic that Jaime is returning to King’s Landing to get back with Cersei. I mean, I suppose that’s … possible? I think it’s entirely more likely that one hearing the news of Cersei’s latest enormities, Jaime couldn’t countenance staying behind in Winterfell. My guess is that he’s either returning to kill her (or try—watch out for Arya, dude), or join Jon’s army, or some combination thereof.

I also would put a substantial bet that Brienne does not remain at Winterfell, either.

What did you think of the abrupt end of Brienne’s first romance, Nikki?

Nikki: I agree with you on it, my friend. I’m not a fan of the trope of “Oh, it’s a woman who is the fighter in this story, therefore we MUST add a romance element,” but Brienne, despite having the body type and ability to be a warrior and following that passion all along, is still a human being with human emotions. She’s a cis-gendered heterosexual woman with the needs that come with that, and to suggest that she isn’t allowed to succumb to those urges is just wanting social politics to overcome human reality in this instance.

Jaime wasn’t just a guy she met on the battlefield that she invited to her bed: he’s someone she hated, kept as prisoner, learned to respect, and with whom she’s fallen in love. And… she’s a virgin, so this is her first time, and whether you’re 17 or 40, your first time is going to be important—in fact, I’d wager it’s far MORE important if you’ve waited that long. And now, after trying out a non-family member in the boudoir for the first time, Jaime’s jumping on a horse and leaving her. Brienne stands there, a woman who’s never been defeated, who has won every hand-to-hand combat in which she’s been involved—she’s not used to losing. But she’s new at this, and as far as she’s concerned in this moment, she’s failed. And Cersei has won.

We don’t know why he’s leaving—as you say, Chris, Jaime knows that Cersei is doing the wrong thing (and I’m not even convinced she’s pregnant; I feel like she’s just pleading the belly like Moll Flanders in an effort to delay her execution, and using it to manipulate idiots like Euron Fucking Greyjoy), but his speech at the end points to who he really is: someone who could never say no to her. Is he rushing to be by her side, or is he rushing to help them execute her? I think either possibility could happen, and to be honest, part of me kind of hopes he’s rushing to be by her side, because I just feel like that’s more in keeping with his character. Jaime is a character who can’t really be fully redeemed because he’s unable to forgive himself, and will continue to punish himself for what he’s done in the past. He hoped sleeping with a good, honest, loyal, moral person would wipe away his own sins, but he was just as dirty in the morning as he was before he entered her chambers, and now maybe he’s looking to face facts. But if he’s going to execute Cersei… then I’m very interested in how they’ll play that one out, too. Maybe Brienne will find happiness after all. (I’ll admit, I yelled at my screen, “Tormund, if you’d just stayed ONE MORE NIGHT!!”)

We end this episode at the gates of King’s Landing, with Cersei, Euron Fucking Greyjoy, and the Kingsguard standing atop the walls of the city with Missandei as her prisoner… all looking out at about 100 Unsullied soldiers, Daenerys, Varys, Tyrion, Grey Worm, and Drogon in the background. The dragonkilling spear cannons are along the wall, so Cersei didn’t exactly arrive at this meeting with cookies and a smile.

Cersei just killed Daenerys’s child, but remember: the Lannister Queen still believes Tyrion killed Joffrey, so it’s an eye for an eye from her POV. The gates open and Qyburn steps out, and Tyrion goes to meet him. The imp tries to appeal to Dr. FrankenHand of the Queen as Cersei looks on (that smug look on Lena Headey’s face the whole time is brilliant; I think Headey does some fantastic face-acting in this scene). Tyrion demands Cersei’s unconditional surrender; Qyburn demands Daenerys’s. Tyrion drops the formalities and says, “Qyburn… we have a chance here, to avoid carnage. Help me… I don’t want to hear the screams of children being burned alive.” But he’s appealing to a monster, and knows he’s getting nowhere. As Qyburn begins to list off all the reasons why Dany will lose, Tyrion gives up and goes straight to the source: the sister who’s hated him his whole life. The marksmen raise their arrows, and Cersei raises her arm… and seriously my heart stopped. I wondered if they’d just end Tyrion right here to shock the hell out of all of us.

But she drops her hand, and Tyrion tries to play his: he tells her she hates her people, they get it, but she’s been a good mother, and isn’t a monster. He reminds her of the child she’s carrying. “You’ve always loved your children more than yourself, more than Jaime, more than anything,” he says, as her eyes grow wet and she stares at him. I know he believes he’s appealing to her better nature, but I think he’s reminding her of those children, that they’re all dead, that she held one of them in her arms as he struggled for his final breaths… I don’t think this was the right tactic. And sure enough, it doesn’t work. Cersei glares at Daenerys, steps over to Missandei, and tells her it’s time for her final words. Grey Worm and Daenerys step forward, realizing there’s no stopping her.

Missandei, a woman whom Daenerys found in chains, who was saved from slavery and found love with a soldier who adored her for her peace-loving ways, who has been the most loyal and faithful advisor to Daenerys from the moment she met her… chooses “Dracarys” as her final word: Burn them all with fire. 

The final choice of a lifelong pacifist was to call for bloodshed. And as Grey Worm turns away, and her body falls off the wall—sans head, thanks to the Mountain—the camera zooms in on Daenerys, who is seething. She will burn this city to the ground, and everyone in it. Tyrion knows what’s happening, and turns back to Cersei, who sneers that smug smile, knowing that Daenerys is about to become the villain of the story.

I don’t know how I’m going to handle these final two episodes. But… here we go.