Game of Thrones – Dragonstone

By starrymag | July 23, 2017

By: Tara Donahue

 

“Game of Thrones” is back! I’ve been looking forward to the return of this show since the season finale last season. It’s one of those shows that I would love to have twenty-two episodes of, but unfortunately it’s more quality over quantity and with them announcing that this is not only the penultimate season and we’re also getting less than the usual ten episodes. While it’s not as many as I was hoping for, I can’t wait to see what they’re going to do with it!

 

We open the season with Walder Frey (David Bradley) hosting some sort of party for all his family. At first, I thought this had to be some sort of flashback, given the fate we saw Walder meet in the Season Six finale at the hand of Arya Stark (Maisie Williams). But as the party progressed and we heard Walder’s speech about gathering all the Frey’s there to toast wiping out the Starks, I had a feeling it wasn’t a flashback at all. As it was soon revealed, I was right. As the wine flowed and the entire Frey clan drank to the destruction of the Stark family, the speech moved to mention how they didn’t slaughter the entire family. That was their mistake. “Leave one wolf alive and the sheep are never safe.” Is what Walder says as the entire Frey clan begins coughing up blood before they die from the poison that was in the wine. “Walder” reaches up and pulls off his own face and we see that it’s Arya Stark, putting her training with the Faceless Men to good use. Arya turns to one of the girls she’d allowed to live. “When people ask you what happened here, tell them the North remembers. Tell them Winter came for House Frey.”

 

Bran Stark (Isaac Hempstead Wright) is having one of his visions. It’s an army of white walkers, which has grown even larger than we last saw. He and Meera (Ellie Kendrick) arrive at Castle Black and are met at the gate by Eddison Tollet (Ben Crompton) and some of the other men of the Night’s Watch. Bran gives him a quick cold reading of his mind, but says nothing that proves he’s a Stark as he’s been asked. He does; however, prove he knows a bunch of things that he shouldn’t so they allow him in.

 

At Winterfell, Jon Snow (Kit Harrington) is talking to his loyal subjects about dragonglass. It’s the only thing that can kill the white walkers and they need to find it, mine it and make weapons from it. Everyone will begin training – men and women alike. There’s some protest about this, but Lyanna Mormont (Bella Ramsey) doesn’t plan on knitting by the fire while the men fight. She’s going to fight and doesn’t need anyone’s permission to defend the North. She will begin training all those capable in Bear Island immediately. I love this character, she’s a little badass feminist and toppling the patriarchy every chance she gets.

 

There’s some more discussion about the Karstark and Umber families and how they’ve betrayed the Stark family and instead pledged their loyalty and fought by the side of Ramsay Bolton (Iwan Rheon). Sansa Stark (Sophie Turner) thinks that their family homes should be taken away and given to those who remained loyal to them, but Jon doesn’t agree. Sansa questions Jon, in front of all the lords and ladies present, asking him if there’s no punishment for treason and no reward for loyalty. Jon argues that those families died in battle, though Sansa is quick to remind him they weren’t fighting for him, but against him. Jon decides not to punish them and instead calls forward Ned Umber (Harry Grasby) and Alys Karstark (Megan Parkinson) and makes them pledge their loyalty, once again, to House Stark.

 

After the meeting has ended, Jon and Sansa are talking and he doesn’t like how she questioned him in front of all the lords and ladies. It undermines him. She is his sister, but he is king now. Sansa reminds him that Joffrey (Jack Gleeson) never allowed anyone to question his authority, but that Jon is nothing like him. He’s actually good at ruling and people respect him. Their conversation is interrupted with a message that has arrived via raven from King’s Landing. It seems Cersei Lannister (Lena Headey), the newest Queen of the Seven Kingdoms, wants Jon to come to King’s Landing and bow to her or suffer the fate of all traitors. Jon isn’t intimidated, but Sansa reminds him not to underestimate her. If he’s an enemy, Cersei won’t stop until she’s destroy him. Jon points out that it sounds like Sansa admires her and she tells him she’s learned a great deal from Cersei. In fact, for those paying attention, Sansa’s hairstyle in this scene is very reminiscent of Season One Cersei.

 

Speaking of Cersei, we see her at King’s Landing watching as someone paints the map of the Seven Kingdoms on the floor at the Red Keep. Jaime Lannister (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau) arrives and they discuss how Daenerys Targaryen (Emilia Clarke) has chosen their brother, Tyrion (Peter Dinklage), to be her hand. He now, in Cersei’s eyes, stands with the enemy. Though, honestly, (as we’ve seen over all the seasons) she’s never liked him anyway. Even when he stood on their side. Cersei is Queen of the Seven Kingdoms, but Jaime tells her it’s more like three at best. He feels she doesn’t understand the danger they’re in, but she claims she does get it. They’re the only ones left of their family. Jaime mentions Tommen (Dean-Charles Chapman) and how they’ve never discussed what happened, but Cersei isn’t interested. She feels he betrayed them and she’s not going to spend her days mourning the dead. They are the last Lannisters who count. Jaime reminds her they have no allies, but Cersei, as always, has a plan.

 

She has invited Euron Greyjoy (Pilou Asbaek) to King’s Landing. He arrives, looking like a pirate rockstar in his black leather, full of bragging about how his ‘iron fleet’ of ships is the greatest armada that Westeros has ever seen. He wants to marry Cersei, but she declines his proposal because she doesn’t trust him. He doesn’t expect her to trust him outright, she needs proof of his honest intentions. In Euron’s experience, the surest way to a woman’s heart is with a priceless gift. He won’t return to King’s Landing until he’s gotten that for her.

 

At the Citadel, Samwell Tarley (John Bradley) is learning that studying to be a maester isn’t quite what he expected. His routine consists of changing and scrubbing bedpans, shelving books and serving dinner. Wash, rinse, repeat. There are books in the restricted area of the library that he’s requested access to because of his experiences with the white walkers. Despite his knowledge and experiences, he’s still not allowed to read those until he’s a maester himself. Sam waits until the maesters are sleeping and steals the keys, going into the restricted area anyway.

 

Brienne of Tarth (Gwendoline Christie) is training at Winterfell with Podrick Payne (Daniel Portman) and Sansa and Petyr Baelish (Aiden Gillen) are watching. He is being his usual, creepy self and Brienne notices. She comes to Sansa’s side, which makes Littlefinger leave almost immediately. She wants to know why he’s still there. Sansa reminds her that he saved them. Without the Vale, Ramsay Bolton would still hold Winterfell. Brienne feels like he wants something and Sansa agrees, she knows exactly what he wants.

 

Arya’s riding her horse through the woods when she hears singing and approaches a group of Lannister soldiers (Ed Sheeran, in a cameo appearance, is the one singing). They invite her to join them and have some food and wine. They ask why she’s heading to King’s Landing. “I’m going to kill the queen,” Arya tells them. They laugh, obviously not taking her as seriously as they should.

 

Thoros of Myr (Paul Kaye) and Sandor ‘The Hound’ Clegane (Rory McCann) are riding with their men through the snow and come upon a house that looks deserted. Thoros decides this will be a good place to camp for the night, but Clegane protests. It’s a throwback to Season Four when The Hound and Arya are taken in by a farmer (Finbar Lynch) and his young daughter, Sally (Trixiebelle Harrowell). They are given food and, in turn, Clegane robs the man of all his silver, stating that they are weak and will be dead come winter. As they enter the house, it turns out that he was right. There are the bodies of a man and his daughter, clinging to one another and a knife at their feet. The farmer has killed his daughter and himself to avoid starvation.

 

Clegane and Thoros talk about the Lord of Light and why he keeps bringing the latter back over and over. But Thoros doesn’t know. He just knows that for some reason the Lord wants him alive. He tells Clegane to come and look into the flames and despite his apprehension and fear of fire, he does so. He sees The Wall, there’s a castle there, on a mountain that looks like an arrowhead and there are thousands of dead marching past. Thoros asks him if he believes him now, that they are there for a reason.

 

Later, Thoros wakes to find The Hound burying the bodies of the farmer and his daughter. He realizes that they aren’t strangers and helps bury them.

 

Sam is reading and Gilly (Hannah Murray) and little Sam are there. In one of the books, he discovers a map of Dragonstone, where the Targaryens built their first stronghold when they invaded Westeros. There’s a mountain of dragonglass there, beneath the ground. Stannis (Stephen Dillane) told him about it before. It’s important. He begins writing a message to let Jon know.

 

At the Citadel, Sam’s back in his routine, this time cleaning up the after dinner dishes of those locked in cells. Someone reaches out, grabbing the bowl, before he can take it and asks if “she’s” come yet. Sam doesn’t understand who ‘she’ is, but the man is talking about The Dragon Queen, Daenerys Stormborn. The man inside, we learn, is Jorah Mormont (Iain Glen) and his Greyscale affliction has gotten much worse.

 

Now we see Daenerys Targaryen, aboard her ship, heading for Dragonstone – her birth home. Her dragons are flying above and at her side are her closest confidants; Tyrion Lannister, Lord Varys (Conleth Hill), Grey Worm (Jacob Anderson) and Missandei (Nathalie Emmanuel). This entire scene is incredibly powerful, though there isn’t a word spoken. The boat comes ashore and Dany walks along the sand, bending down to touch it. They climb the steps to the castle, empty since Stannis was last there. They walk into the throne room, everyone hanging back to give Dany this moment. She is looking around, taking it all in and walks back to the war room. The war table still set up from Stannis Baratheon’s plot to take the Iron Throne. Daenerys walks to the head of the table, Tyrion at her side. “Shall we begin?” She asks as the episode end.