Aye, but a filler episode that still feels consequential to some extent. At the 35 minute mark I felt like the episode was over, but then I looked down and saw I still had a lot more time left.
I don't mind filler which makes me think I got two episode's worth in one.
Quite honestly though, they should have ended on Arya this episode as Dany's speech was rather anti-climatic IMO. A rehash of what's been done before, only now with DRAGONS!
Every time a dragon grows, a direwolf dies in Westeros.
Wtf is wrong with Randyll? A lovely wife like that and you're as grumpy as Alliser? Smh
Unlike the book version of Randyll, he seems to respect his wife to some degree--notice how he complimented her at being a "good woman"? Book Randyll condemned his wife for making Sam soft. This Randyll apparently appreciates his wife.
Wtf is wrong with Randyll? A lovely wife like that and you're as grumpy as Alliser? Smh
Unlike the book version of Randyll, he seems to respect his wife to some degree--notice how he complimented her at being a "good woman"? Book Randyll condemned his wife for making Sam soft. This Randyll apparently appreciates his wife.
Gotta make it "family friendly".
And apparently it's 1800 for ladies at Hornhill.
Lol huh! Almost Victorian.
"I can see it. You have more of the north in you than your brothers."
Aye, but a filler episode that still feels consequential to some extent. At the 35 minute mark I felt like the episode was over, but then I looked down and saw I still had a lot more time left.
I don't mind filler which makes me think I got two episode's worth in one.
Quite honestly though, they should have ended on Arya this episode as Dany's speech was rather anti-climatic IMO. A rehash of what's been done before, only now with DRAGONS!
Every time a dragon grows, a direwolf dies in Westeros.
Lol true, but I dug Dany in this episode.
"I can see it. You have more of the north in you than your brothers."
Ok, now that I've composed myself. This was a great episode, I thought, even without the big moments they try to cram into so many eps nowadays. I enjoyed taking a little breather, and initiating a whole new set of story arcs (Sam & Gilly in Oldtown, Jaime in the Riverlands and Cersei home alone, Dany finally moving beyond the books, etc!). Let's see what I remember..
Having Meera be the lone survivor of the cave was a terrible idea. She should have sacrificed herself so Hodor could pick up Bran and make a run for it. The sled weighs more than she does! Poor thing. Luckily Benjen came and helped (it just occurred to me: considering greenseers have foresight, maybe Bran knew Hodor had to go b/c he wouldn't have fit on the horse). This probably would have been a bigger moment if we hadn't been speculating it would be him for a long time. Still nice to see him again. The whole obsidian dagger thing again was ... weird. So you can stab a dying person in the heart, and this not only doesn't kill them but actually prevents them from dying from their original injury? And it also prevents them from becoming a wight... So Benjen is a white walker with free will, is that it? Maybe it wasn't done in front of a weirwood tree? Physically, he is a white walker but his mind is unchanged. Which suggests that the blue eyes signify control by a third party.... now we're getting somewhere (I was just BSing, didn't think this would happen LOL). It's pretty obvious Ben is Coldhands in this scenario, but I guess that's ok. It just means this is a divergence from the books, so we should be careful not to read too much into this storyline.
Sam and Gilly!! I really enjoyed watching them interact with his family. His mom was sooo sweet! I LOVE how he doesn't pretend to be more than he is. "North of the Wall, if you don't hunt you don't eat." "Did you hunt mostly deer, or elk too?" "Rabbits. And squirrels, sometimes. And when I say we, I mean my friend Jon. He does most of the hunting. And sometimes Edd." LMAO, Sam!! And I must say again that he STOLE HEARTSBANE!!! This moment made me sooo happy, lol! B/c you know it wasn't a selfish move to get back at his father, or that he wanted a nice sword or thought he deserved it. In the books, he will realize what that sword could mean for the Watch, with VS being the only reliable way to kill Others and so few being around... he will take it For The Watch, and be right to do so! I love Sam!
King's Landing. I can't quite figure out what's going on here, with Margaery and Tommen. Are they both truly converted? I very much doubt that Margaery is - I think she sees this as the only way to save Loras. When she was talking to Tommen, I got the feeling she knew people were listening and said all the right things on purpose. After what we saw just 2 episodes ago, there is NO way she is fine with what's happening to Loras and thinks he is rightfully "atoning". She is playing a game- the questions is, is Tommen? Sending Jaime away was clearly done to protect him, so that suggests some degree of family loyalty is still there. I expect Cersei will blame the Tyrells as much as anyone for what happened- and rightfully so. It was Margaery who converted Tommen (if he is indeed converted). I wonder why Tommen told Cersei that Margaery would make a walk of atonement- was that ever the plan? When the HS was talking to Tommen just minutes earlier, he said yes she has to walk, there is no other way. So did he back down because of Jaime? Or did he stage the whole thing to demonstrate his power? I'm confused, but I am hopeful that in 2026 GRRM will explain it more clearly.
ARYA HAS NEEDLE!!!!! This was my other new favorite moment ever- I was literally jumping up and down. Yaaaay Needle!!!! I am very happy for Arya that she didn't kill that sweet woman (though I almost wonder if maybe the whole thing was staged by the FM; she seemed like an exceptionally kind person being killed for an exceptionally poor reason. So it might have been another test ,but oh well). I also like how she blew out the candle and waited in the dark, with Needle drawn. Having been blind recently, she has the advantage... Then again, we've seen the trailer of the waif chasing her, so she might not be quite as badass as she thinks. Ep 8 is called No One, so it seems like we'll have to wait 2 weeks to see the resolution of this one. Great progress though, and I'm so happy she still has her soul!
Who did I forget... oh right, Dany. When did she learn to summon and control Drogon? Does it have to do with her fire rebirth? Honestly, what that scene did for me was catch her up to the books. All that Vaes Dothrak stuff was unnecessary- now she is in the Dothraki sea, astride Drogon, demanding fealty from a great Dothraki khalasar. Exactly where we left her in ADWD. Except she is actually talking about Westeros, which was music to my ears. Until I realized she was talking about tearing down their stone houses, and that this would leave all the smallfolk homeless on top of starving. And I thought she better not tear down Winterfell!!! Although WF has its own dragon, which is probably bigger than Drogon and would eat her charred remains.
It was weird how she knew someone would be building ships for her... Seriously? That's quite an assumption to make. I guess what it means plot-wise is that Theon and Yara/Asha won't do her much good. She really needs 1,000 ships, not a handful... Which led me to a sad, sad theory. Ok, so you know how Tyrion released the dragons from their chains, but they're still in the cave/tunnel? Too dangerous to release in Meereen, of course. But we know they get released eventually... yet there is no Quentin. No spurned suitor. No son of noble blood trying desperately to prove himself. Do you see where this is going? Could they be setting Theon up as Quentin? He's as good as dead in the books, so we know he probably doesn't have a lot of plot in front of him... Maybe they'll even pick up Dragonbinder along the way, or find it hidden in one of Euron's ships that they stole. Maybe they'll be both Quentin and Victarion.... [I'm not suggesting Theon offer to marry Dany; obviously that wouldn't work. But he could propose an alliance, and she could turn him down b/c she needs to wait for Euron who actually has enough ships for her. Or something like that ].
Speaking of ships: the Braavosi can famously build a ship a day. I always thought at some point in the series, somebody should buy a fleet from the Braavosi. And that this would be how Arya reconnects to the larger story. Doesn't look good though, does it?
“In Qohor he is the Black Goat, in Yi Ti the Lion of Night, in Westeros the Stranger. All men must bow to him in the end, no matter if they worship the Seven or the Lord of Light, the Moon Mother or the Drowned God or the Great Shepherd. All mankind belongs to him... else somewhere in the world would be a folk who lived forever. Do you know of any folk who live forever?”