The Game of Thrones Season 7 Thread

[Gwazi Magnum]

However, the show leaves it ambiguous if she ever truly did this or not. For one thing, Randyll Tarly and the other lords of the Reach had time to go meet with Cersei. They did not indicate one way or another that they were mobilizing for war or had been to Highgarden to meet with Olenna at all. If she DID send ravens to her bannermen, however, and they still went to meet peacefully with Cersei and/or did not show, that should have at least made her suspicious. Hell, the fact that Cersei got the first pitch to the Lords of the Reach is ridiculous in and of itself. That and assuming ALL of their bannermen unanimously turned tail just because Randyll Tarly did.

The scene as it is written reeks of "plot device" since it essentially turned one of the most powerful houses in Westeros into the easiest pushover of the entire series for no other reason than to give Danaerys a more difficult victory. At least if they were sold out in a similar fashion to Theon Greyjoy and his Ironborn, the fall of the Tyrells would have made a lot more sense.

My explanation for this is show time. From a pacing standpoint it would of been redundant to see both Cersei speaking to the bannermen and Olenna doing so, we'd basically be seeing the same scene twice and it would take time away from other scenes. It's generally safe to assume that Olenna spoke to her bannermen, it's not just showed because we need to follow narrative pacing, not real life pacing. And Cersei's scene was likely prioritized because she's going to continue being a player in the Game of Thrones and they needed to show the Bannermens pressure to change sides.

Unless, of course, she moved the bulk of her forces somewhere else and let the Lannister Forces take Highgarden and her out on purpose. That could be a possibility as well since the Lannisters did the same thing with Casterly Rock.

This is also a possibility that Episode 4 should hopefully answer.

 

[Decimate]

My explanation for this is show time. From a pacing standpoint it would of been redundant to see both Cersei speaking to the bannermen and Olenna doing so, we'd basically be seeing the same scene twice and it would take time away from other scenes. It's generally safe to assume that Olenna spoke to her bannermen, it's not just showed because we need to follow narrative pacing, not real life pacing. And Cersei's scene was likely prioritized because she's going to continue being a player in the Game of Thrones and they needed to show the Bannermens pressure to change sides.

On the contrary, if they had spoken to Olenna Tyrell first, the Lords would have been obligated to rally for her at Highgarden much like Jon's bannermen are doing at Winterfell. They wouldn't have time to go to Kings Landing afterwards to meet with Cersei since they would be required to build up their army there.

Assuming Olenna Tyrell never spoke to her bannermen or they simply refused her ravens, House Tyrell, as a house in open revolt against the crown, should have immediately shut their gates to prepare for siege, written Daenerys, and been on alert. The fact that this didn't happen leads me to believe that either the Queen of Thorns mailed it in and simply was too assed to care by that point, or she had some final trick up her sleeve as she didn't seem too concerned at all that Jaime's forces had claimed Highgarden. Those are the only two reasons I can think of to explain exactly what happened that she didn't even do the most basic wartime requirements.

 

[Greenie]

This seemed relevant...

Okay, I lied.

 

[Obsidian Miscreant]

Dayuuuummmm
This show is terrible for my heart.

 

[ᴛᴏᴄᴋᴀ]

Dayuuuummmm
This show is terrible for my heart.

I had the same reaction. I kept jumping up and leaving the room, telling my hubby to tell me what happened. I caught the last bit though, and.....

HOLY SHIT THAT WAS CLOSE!

 

[Obsidian Miscreant]

I had the same reaction. I kept jumping up and leaving the room, telling my hubby to tell me what happened. I caught the last bit though, and.....

HOLY SHIT THAT WAS CLOSE!

Certainly clutched my pearls several times this episode.
Annnd scared one of my dogs by gasping too loudly while he was asleep.

So many mixed emotions tonight, and if the preview for next week is any indication...
things will only continue to escalate. ABOUT TIME! All of this was a long time coming.

 

[ᴛᴏᴄᴋᴀ]

Certainly clutched my pearls several times this episode.
Annnd scared one of my dogs by gasping too loudly while he was asleep.

So many mixed emotions tonight, and if the preview for next week is any indication...
things will only continue to escalate. ABOUT TIME! All of this was a long time coming.

It was definitely one of the best episodes. Hubby and I were trying to decide if it was better than Battle of the Bastards. he says it was. I think it was close, but not quite there.

 

[Obsidian Miscreant]

It was definitely one of the best episodes. Hubby and I were trying to decide if it was better than Battle of the Bastards. he says it was. I think it was close, but not quite there.

I'm leaning towards agreeing with him, but dont want to speak too soon!
Who knows how insane the next episode might be. Either way it really was a great episode.

But I will say that the part with them saying "Bran died in that cave" summed up the shift in his development quite well. Also loved the sparring match.
Sansa'a face was clearly not too pleased about it, and I felt she was...disappointed? In herself, maybe. Not sure if that is the exact word I'm looking for. Like she could see that Arya had toughened up, and learned to defend herself a bit "more" than she had. Making her own experiences perhaps pale in comparison despite her not knowing the details behind how Arya had gotten to that point. OR she could have been thinking something else entirely. Worried that the list is real, maybe? And doesnt want her little sister getting in over her head done the line. There are other possibilities as well, of course.

Sucked my teeth each time the camera panned to Little Finger. As always he's scheming.
Dont recall him being on Arya's kill list, but he needs to be.
May be harder because of his new role as Lord, but karma....she's a comin'.

 

[ᴛᴏᴄᴋᴀ]

I'm not worried about Littlefinger. I think there was a reason Bran gave Arya the dagger Littlefinger gave him, and it's to use it on Littlefinger.

 

[Obsidian Miscreant]

I'm not worried about Littlefinger. I think there was a reason Bran gave Arya the dagger Littlefinger gave him, and it's to use it on Littlefinger.

Considering the look on Littlefinger's face just before he left Bran, I wouldnt be surprised.
For such a sneaky guy he's very expressive. We can only hope he meets his end soon.

 

[Greenie]

Just finished watching the episode

OMG OMG OMG OMG That was.... FLIPPING AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!

I need... to gather my thoughts! *screams internally*

 

[Turtle of Doom]

Just finished watching the episode

OMG OMG OMG OMG That was.... FLIPPING AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!

I need... to gather my thoughts! *screams internally*

This....

I loved the episode. But omg. I need some time

 

[Pahn]

*SCREAMS*

There is such a visceral change between pre-[E05S06] Bran and current Bran, I love it. Now he's all kinds of weird because he's the three-eyed raven, and I really wanna think that everything he does now is for some kind of purpose. When he replied to Littlefinger, "Chaos is a ladder" I yelled XD it was so on point.

The sword fight between Brienne and Arya was also fantastic. Arya developed her dexterity like crazy while she was with the Faceless Men, fighting with a staff, so it makes sense that she would combine this + the things she learned from Syrio. Waterdancing + her willingness to hurt and all that, makes for a great combo. I'm glad Sansa didn't intervene in the fight too :3

Something I really liked though was when Jon and Danaerys were in the dragonglass cave. I found it interesting how he interpreted the drawings on the walls. We know that the Children created the White Walkers as weapons against the First Men, to defend themselves, and that the White Walkers ended up .. well, out of control.

Finally, I really hope that Jon won't bend the knee. I'm also very amused at watching them go. They're about the same age, but Jon is Danaerys's nephew 8D secretly hoping for some delicious wincest here teehee.

And of course, the battle at the end. It was fabulous, I love all the dragon battles, but this one particularly because it was in Westeros, where so many people we know are there and could die, and because OMG DRAGONS. It was pretty well done, the savagery of the Lannister soldiers burning alive, the wonderful thunder caused by the Dothraki. The Dothraki with their fucking war screams, omg it was fabulous, in comparison to the trembling soldiers. I thought their entrance was wonderful, couldn't have done it better. They built up the anticipation both for the audience and the characters.

I was talking with @Jorick and I mentioned how ironic it would be if Jaime died drowning while everyone else was burned alive; but I agree that it would be the sweetest of ironies for Jaime to kill the Mad Queen. He's gonna get rescued and Tyrion will probably hold him prisoner, that would make for a formidable twist of fate (throwback to season 4 when Tyrion was the prisoner).

To think we only have THREE episodes left omg D: it saddens me but I'm very excited to see how it goes.

I've never been a fan of Danaerys the character, but I really like what she represents. She's an arrogant cunt who needs a reality check, but at the same time it's with that kind of attitude that she manages to accumulate the wins. She tried to follow the "Westerosi way" at the beginning of the season, and none of that worked out. I hope she burns everything to the ground and rules over a kingdom of ashes.

 

[ᴛᴏᴄᴋᴀ]

I feel like I'm the only person in the world that's not hoping for a Dany/Jon ship.......

I was thrilled to see Arya finally return to Winterfell. The scene with her and Sansa though was a bit awkward. You could tell that Sansa didn't approve of Arya's list, and I think it was when they were outside with Bran and Arya says that most of the people on her list were dead that Sansa didn't believe her. When Sansa was watching Arya spar with Brienne though I think it sunk in that it was a possibility that Arya wasn't making things up, and I think she was jealous. Sansa might have grown up a lot and become stronger in some ways, but she knows she'll never have the same abilities that Arya does. She's always going to have to rely on someone else to fight for her and I think it hit her when she saw how much Arya had grown and developed while she was off on her own journey.

Dany annoyed the hell out of me during the cave scene. So help me, if she asks Jon to bend the knee one more damn time I'm going to start cheering for her death (As long as it's not by a Lannister!) I honestly don't think she's learned anything from her history at all.

The part with Davos, Jon, and Missandei also got me wondering too. Missandei believes that Dany would let her leave if she asks, but are we really so sure of that? I don't think that she would. I don't think Dany would chain her up or whip her, but I don't think she'd be quick to let Missandei go either. It's something to watch, that's for sure.

Jamie 'Fookin' Lannister is the luckiest SOB ever. So is Bronn. I thought for sure Bronn was going to die and I was actually a bit disappointed that he didn't. I was even more disappointed that Dany couldn't send Cersei some fried Lannister for her soldiers.

I could barely watch Bronn trying to shoot down poor Drogon. Seriously, I was more upset at the thought of a CG generated creature being killed than I was about Bronn or Jamie. And how freaking stupid is Jamie? One of his men just shot down Drogon, the dragon's in pain and his mother is trying to help him, and he decides to charge? WTF was he thinking? His arrogance should have gotten him killed, and it would have if Bronn (Was it Bronn?) hadn't saved his ass.

However, the Lannister army (Hubby and I were debating this. I kept telling him that a good chunk of the soldiers were the Tyrell bannermen and some of the Lannister army. He insisted that it was almost all of the Lannister army.) has taken a hit, in numbers and in resources. If Jamie isn't taken prisoner and he returns to Cersei, I don't see their relationship being what it was. We've seen how Cersei acts when she can't get her way and when she finds out that Dany managed to get the best of Jamie, taking out their army and their food in the process, she's going to turn on him. In a way, I hope it happens because that's the only way Jamie is going to open his eyes.

 

[Artorias]

The Lannister army took a hit, and currently left on a Cliff Hanger on the Commander of the Lannister army but Randyll Tarly kind of just...despawned (Opponent has left the match.) when the Dany and Drogon showed up. My guess is he left the battlefield like Jaime should have done. Also the forces Dany defeated was only the rear guard I believe while the rest had moved on?

I also found it stupid how Dany was attacking the wagons. Just a few scenes ago you watched her whine about how the Lannisters stole the food she should have gotten from the Reach. What exactly do you think all those wagons she purposely destroyed contained? She needs food for her army but just did a pointless strafe run with Drogon attacking only the supply wagons.

Also if Cersei is able to obtain the Golden Company (seeing how fast time has been moving in the show then the Company may arrive in Westeros before the war is over). The Golden Company (in the books) is 10,000 strong and basically a professionally trained army for sale. They have cavalry, a wide variety of archers, infantry, skilled commanders, etc. They aren't your rag-tag group of Sellswords.

Also, since we don't get to see the rest of the Lannister army and the wagons with them (the ones not in the battle that had moved on ahead of Jaime and co.) I wonder if more of those ballistics were in any of the wagons, because the only logical explanation of why they would even had brought them along was because they knew Dany would be upset about losing another ally and finally attack them, so they made sure the army was prepared after taking Highgarden.

EDIT: Oh yeah, and I feel like the Dothraki will now have an ego when fighting again. The comment "Your people don't know how to fight" when he was talking to Tyrion makes me feel like they will fall for some simple military tactic and be killed by superior formations and tactics instead of just 'charge at them with muh horse'

 

[Obsidian Miscreant]

I also found it stupid how Dany was attacking the wagons. Just a few scenes ago you watched her whine about how the Lannisters stole the food she should have gotten from the Reach. What exactly do you think all those wagons she purposely destroyed contained? She needs food for her army but just did a pointless strafe run with Drogon attacking only the supply wagons.

Very much this.
When I saw the wagons full of supplies my immediate thought was "She's going to take them with her". Then proceeded to burn them. A foolish move for sure. Attacking the supplies shows how impatient she's become. Not entirely thinking things through. One of the ways she's displayed desperation.

With Dany finally being in Westeros again since birth, and having already taken some hits of her own ( allies killed/captured, ships destroyed, etc ) she's far too antsy to take over now that she's in the thicket of it all. Already advised to not so readily use her dragons on King's Landing, attacking the soldiers seemed like a "happy" medium of sorts between her and Tyrion. Turning armed citizens to ash looks much better on paper than ones who aren't. By extension also taking care of a section of her enemies army, and flaunting her children. Almost getting one killed in the process, but thankfully ( I love the dragons ) its wound seems superficial as of now. Not to mention their side was reminded that their trump cards are not invincible. Spears with enough force behind them can be fatal even though they've grown in size as they've aged.

Her impatience and ego, like most rulers, will bite her in the rear some more.

 

[Greenie]

I honestly don't think Dany was impatient. Does she have an ego? Yeppers. But I think she waited long enough. With the Martells, Greyjoys and Tyrells out of the game, she had to do something.

 

[Gwazi Magnum]

OHHHHH SHIT! <3

This episode had all kinds of awesome in it!

1. Seeing all the Starks reuniting after going so much shit feels so rewarding and nice... Though I'm expecting something here to go horribly wrong.
2. That Sansa vs Brienne fight was all levels of awesome. You can really see how Arya's mastered her swordplay.
3. The whole Dragonglass scene with Jon and Dany was nice. Definitely is helping them get along (though Dany still has her ego), and at least Dany now believes that there's White Walkers.
4. I'm getting convinced that a Jon X Dany thing is gonna happen. They seem to be warming up, and Davos has already commented on Jon's fancying of her.
5. Bran is no longer Bran, the whole "You died in the cave" bit really did hammer it home. He's the three eyed raven now.
6. However, Bran does seem to be normalising a bit. His conversation with Arya at least was a bit more direct, and he wasn't as zoned out into different visions/planes as before. But still very clearly not Bran.
7. And Little Finger is definitely on guard now with Bran's whole "Chaos is a ladder" deal. Will be interesting to see how that turns out.
8. Though I'm a bit confused about Bronn sticking around in the fight. He left Tyrion as soon as the political climate got rough. He's facing a Dragon and he sticks around to likely get roasted? I'm hoping he get's questioned on this next episode so we can see what his reasoning was.
9. I'm wondering how Cersei's gonna respond when (if) Jaime get's back to Kings Landing and mentions the Dragons.
10. Seeing the Lannister soldiers not only burn but turn into Ash was really cool. Really get's across just how deadly and terrifying these Dragons are.

Sansa'a face was clearly not too pleased about it, and I felt she was...disappointed?

Sansa might have grown up a lot and become stronger in some ways, but she knows she'll never have the same abilities that Arya does. She's always going to have to rely on someone else to fight for her and I think it hit her when she saw how much Arya had grown and developed while she was off on her own journey.

I don't think it's anything like that.

I think she's just realising just how... Alien and foreign here siblings are becoming.
Jon's the most normal having been ressurrected and uniting the North with the Wildlings.
Bran is knowing stuff he would have no business knowing other than from his visions, and is rather robotic as well.
And Arya has gone very vengeful, where the realism of her "list" first sunk in when Bran mentioned it, and then seeing just how good Arya could fight?

I think Sansa more than anything else is soaking in just how disconnected she's become from her siblings. I don't think she feels small in comparison, she's Queen of the North and has become a very strong and shrewd politician, she's grown just as much and she knows it. But growing up to be good at the Game is normal, growing up to be a three eyed raven or a female master of the sword with a kill list isn't. And personality wise, Bran and Arya are completely different people now too, where Jon is still Jon. He's more experienced, but he's largely still old Jon (granted, Jon is also older. So Arya and Bran also had puberty/adolescence to go through).

Dany annoyed the hell out of me during the cave scene. So help me, if she asks Jon to bend the knee one more damn time I'm going to start cheering for her death (As long as it's not by a Lannister!) I honestly don't think she's learned anything from her history at all.

Yea... Dany needs to smarten up. She's not going to make that loyal of friends or allies by pissing them off.

The part with Davos, Jon, and Missandei also got me wondering too. Missandei believes that Dany would let her leave if she asks, but are we really so sure of that? I don't think that she would. I don't think Dany would chain her up or whip her, but I don't think she'd be quick to let Missandei go either.

Eh... She probably would. Cause if not she sends the clear message within her core group that she isn't even fighting for freedom, and that will destroy her.

(Hubby and I were debating this. I kept telling him that a good chunk of the soldiers were the Tyrell bannermen and some of the Lannister army. He insisted that it was almost all of the Lannister army.)

The majority of that army was clearly Lannister, just look at the uniforms.

I also found it stupid how Dany was attacking the wagons. Just a few scenes ago you watched her whine about how the Lannisters stole the food she should have gotten from the Reach. What exactly do you think all those wagons she purposely destroyed contained? She needs food for her army but just did a pointless strafe run with Drogon attacking only the supply wagons.

Agreed.

Granted, we don't know for sure that it was food in those wagons...
But neither did Dany, and if she was worried about the supplies leaving?

Make a flame wall. Or burn more soldiers so there isn't enough to evacuate.

EDIT: Oh yeah, and I feel like the Dothraki will now have an ego when fighting again. The comment "Your people don't know how to fight" when he was talking to Tyrion makes me feel like they will fall for some simple military tactic and be killed by superior formations and tactics instead of just 'charge at them with muh horse'

Maybe.

The Dothraki certainly don't care for tactics as much as Westeros. But they still live for war and conflict. Naturally the Kahns with more strategic sense would of been more successful, built stronger tribes etc. So they likely still have a grasp/concept of it.

Already advised to not so readily use her dragons on King's Landing, attacking the soldiers seemed like a "happy" medium of sorts between her and Tyrion.

I don't know.
I think Tyrion already took for granted that the Dragons would burn soldiers. There was no getting around that, her army doesn't function without them.
And War is brutal, the citizens of Westeros already get their sons, brothers and fathers dying in battle. I don't think they care too much if the soldiers die by sword or fire.

What they do care about is if they get hit. If Dany starts sieging cities, allowing civilians to get caught in the crossfire etc.

I honestly don't think Dany was impatient. Does she have an ego? Yeppers. But I think she waited long enough. With the Martells, Greyjoys and Tyrells out of the game, she had to do something.

Agreed. She's been backed into the corner. If she didn't act then the Ironborn would of continued taking more and more ground.

 

[Aero Blue]

And how freaking stupid is Jamie? One of his men just shot down Drogon, the dragon's in pain and his mother is trying to help him, and he decides to charge? WTF was he thinking?

Eh, the poor guy has a deathwish (and who'd blame the dude!) In his mind, he either kills the Dragon-Queen and more or less withers down the war, or he gets to die, which at this point is probably no big deal for him.

With that said, if Drogon doesn't take a significant loss in any regard it's probably a narrative flaw in that it completely nulls any of Qyburn's established threat. I imagine that bolt will have some major, major repercussions.

 

[Gwazi Magnum]

With that said, if Drogon doesn't take a significant loss in any regard it's probably a narrative flaw in that it completely nulls any of Qyburn's established threat. I imagine that bolt will have some major, major repercussions.

Even if Drogon does heal quickly the bolt establishes that the Dragons can be hurt. Which may be more than enough to have Dany reconsider how she uses her dragons.