Small Council: What did we think of “The Queen’s Justice”?
By WiC Staff
“The Queen’s Justice,” the third episode of Game of Thrones season 7, aired last Sunday. What did we think of it? Read our thoughts below, and tell us yours in the comments!
DAN: “The Queen’s Justice” was the strongest episode of the season so far. It delivered on several fronts, starting with the long-awaited meeting between Jon Snow and Daenerys Targaryen.
The last time we got a meeting this significant was when Daenerys and Tyrion met back in season 5. The temptation with these sorts of scenes is to underline their importance, whether with flowery dialogue, swelling music, or intense camerawork. As with the Dany-Tyrion meeting, the show didn’t fall into that trap. The Jon-Dany negotiation was about two stubborn personalities bumping against each other, and the advisors who try to keep the collateral damage to a minimum. Dany led with pomp, Jon with humility. Neither approach really worked — the pair of them were too focused on their individual goals to see things from the other’s perspective. Thank god they have Tyrion to help them find middle ground.
By the way, Tyrion, like Arya, feels more vital to the story than he did all last season. That’s one of the indicators that the show really is barreling towards an ending — we’re well out of set-up mode, and the fat has been cut.
However, sometimes I wish the show would slow down a bit and fill in some of the incidental details, which is a problem it’s encountered more often as it’s gone on. I thought that Jaime and Cersei’s ruse — emptying Casterly Rock of soldiers so they could raid Highgarden and lure the Unsullied into a trap — was clever, but for it to fully work, we have to accept that Euron’s fleet could teleport around the world and to not think too hard about why the Tyrell army folded so easily. (Perhaps a chunk of them defected with Randyll Tarly? Or maybe they were on their way to King’s Landing to carry out Dany’s siege plan?) And I’ve heard from more than one person under the impression that the scenes of the Unsullied soldiers climbing the Walls of Casterly Rock didn’t really happen — that they were hypothetical images summoned by Tyrion’s narration. So the message wasn’t completely getting across there.
Some fans would point to this as evidence that the show is sloppy, but while I think some of the edges could be sharpened, I can’t endorse that argument when Game of Thrones is still delivering scenes like the final one between Olenna and Jaime. This was the sort of layered, subtle showcase Olenna Tyrell and Diana Rigg deserved. It was one of those moments where two of the show’s main threads — large-scale political maneuvering on the one hand and small-scale intimate drama on the other — were weaved together in a way that encapsulates everything that makes Game of Thrones worth watching. As momentous as it was to see Jon and Dany spar, as fun as it is to watch ships on fire, and as good as Lena Headey was in that dungeon sequence, this was easily the scene of the episode for me.
A ton happened in “The Queen’s Justice,” and I’ve only mentioned a bit of it. What did you guys think?
COREY: This was a fantastic episode, equally divided between lighting-quick events that clearly ignore geography and small character moments that are a joy a to watch. Cersei’s revenge in the dungeon was a sight to behold, as well the scene with Diana Rigg. The dialogue in the episode was some of the best of the series. All that being said, Dan does bring up a good point about the show speeding up, and I’m not sure how I feel about it.
On the one hand, it’s a relief not to have to watch Jaime spend three episodes marching from King’s Landing to Highgarden, complete with meaningless conversations along the road with Bronn or the Tarlys. On the other hand, it’s a bit jarring how quickly characters are warping around the map. Now that Benioff and Weiss aren’t beholden to the source novels, they’ve sped up the pace. If they’d had this sort of freedom from the beginning, we might have seen Ned executed in the second or third episode. I’m not saying that this is a negative; just that it’s been interesting to watch.
I feel like this whole episode was about playing with our expectations. From Bran and Sansa’s not-so-happy reunion to Jaime’s surprise sacking of Highgarden to Cersei’s revenge, very little went as expected for any of the character. As an informed fan, I enjoy it when I don’t see things coming, so this was a thrilling episode. Top to bottom, there weren’t any scenes I didn’t like.
SARAH: “The Queen’s Justice” was the third in a series of solid offerings and I must applaud the showrunners for keeping up the momentum as season 7 moves forward. There are issues with the timeline, sure — Euron can get anywhere in record speed while it takes three episodes for Bran to get home — but they don’t particularly faze me. We have four episodes left, and I’d rather see the action than watch a bunch of transitory scenes of characters travelling to the action. The show is still delivering on the fronts that matter most to me, namely the characters, their interactions with others and the authenticity of their choices.
Firstly, to Winterfell, for many years ago I swore fealty to House Stark in perpetuity, and perpetuity means forever.
In an episode in which both Daenerys and Cersei showcased their leadership styles — Cersei rules by fear, while Daenerys urges you to take stock in her self-belief — we have Sansa Stark, who by all accounts proved herself better suited to the job than anybody else. Her concerns this week included keeping her soldiers warm and ensuring that the Northerners will have enough food to sustain them during the winter. As much of a Sansa fan as I am, that kind of altruism and good sense is difficult to ignore, especially when Cersei’s primary concern is torturing Ellaria Sand with a dying daughter and a dastardly monologue.
It’s likely that Sansa was never schooled in supply management or arms manufacturing as a child; with three brothers to inherit the castle, Ned Stark probably believed she’d never need to know. Cersei gave her survival tips, while Petyr Baelish schooled her in manipulation, but they gave her no insights into the process of running a kingdom. What we see here is Sansa making reasoned, intelligent decisions, based undoubtedly on study and consideration. While Jon, the military leader who possesses a gift for inspiring loyalty, leads the charge against the White Walkers, Sansa excels in the practicalities of ruling. I conclude that, despite their differences, they make an excellent team.
I really enjoyed Bran’s return and feel the need to defend him against a brand new crop of defectors. Not only is he plugged into the greenseeing streaming service 24/7, he’s not at liberty to allow himself to be Bran Stark of Winterfell again — remember he neglected his purpose in favor of his family in season 6, only for Summer and Hodor to die for his mistake. I think that Isaac Hempstead Wright played the moment with appropriate sadness. When he told Sansa that she looked beautiful in her wedding dress, I believe that he was trying to express his sympathy, and tell her she deserved better. Unfortunately, he has always been tactless. He is a Stark man, after all.
In any case, I refuse to give him up for lost. Sweet baby Bran is still in there somewhere.
Finally, I just want to touch on sad, handsome, caramel-covered Jaime. Had his story followed the books, he would have abandoned Cersei by now. Sadly, it didn’t, and his unhealthy relationship with his sister limps feebly on. I’ve been impatient for Jaime to cut and run for years. His conversation with Olenna was crucial to his path to self-awareness. Somebody needed to give him a kick up the ass, and she was The One. Four for you, Olenna Tyrell. You go, Olenna Tyrell.
Both of Cersei’s poisoned children were avenged this episode. Is Cersei going to consider the matter settled? Not a chance. Is she going to ease up on Tyrion? Never. Is she going to carry on with her reign of cruelty? Absolutely. I’m confident that it’s only a matter of time before Jaime just can’t take it anymore and leaves to find a more noble purpose (and Brienne of Tarth, hopefully), so let it be this season, please. His progression has suffered for too long.
RAZOR: “The Queen’s Justice” had it all. From the meeting between Ice and Fire to the end of the Sand Snakes, I was extremely pleased with this episode.
There was also the fact that we finally saw Sansa acting like a competent, self-reliant character, effectively ruling Winterfell in Jon’s absence. I think it was very important to her development that she be shown in that light, especially after she argued with Jon’s decisions in the first two episodes.
I also really enjoyed the dialogue between Jaime and Olenna. There were a lot of Easter Dggs in their conversation, and I’ve re-watched it several times. Jaime mentioning what he learned from Robb Stark and the Battle of Whispering Wood, Olenna drinking the poison like a boss amd then telling Jaime she killed Joffrey…these were gold standard moments for the series as a whole.
RICHARD: Wonderful episode. It was rough in a few spots, but overall is was great, and where it excelled, it soared. I agree with most everything the small council has had to say on this installment. I need to mention that I always thought Arya would head south this season, and Sarah was certain she would go north. Kudos to Sarah for knowing her girl.
I agree with Dan that the whole Jon Snow-Daenerys Targaryen meet-up was a bit stagey, but it didn’t bother me. We’ve been primed for this meeting since the premiere episode and one can forgive the producers for pumping it up a bit. I am also grateful that HBO gave so much time to the major storylines and didn’t rush them. Jon and Dany, Jon and Tyrion, Cersei and Ellaria Sand, Jaime and Lady Olenna — there was an ease to these scenes and sequences that allowed them to play out beautifully — there’s more room to maneuver now that storylines are ending or coming together, and the longer running times helps.
And with this rediscovered sense of space, we had fabulous dialogue coming back to the fore: the wordplay between Jon and Dany, Jon and Tyrion, Dany and Tyrion, Ser Davos and everybody and the final showdown between Jaime and Lady Olenna were some of the best exchanges I can remember. I doubt I’ll ever forget those scenes.
Dan mentioned the odd quality of the Unsullied attack on Casterly Rock and Euron’s time-traveling fleet, all of which played out under Tyrion’s somewhat travelogue-style voiceover. To me, this was one of the most anticipated sequences in the episode, but perhaps the least effective. I was underwhelmed by the action despite the scope. It lacked a vitality and impact of the superb battle scenes Game of Thrones is known for. I’m not sure exactly why–perhaps because there were no recognizable characters outside of Grey Worm involved, and he was never in any real jeopardy–but there was something detached and pale about the battle. It was a minor letdown.
DAN: Hey! I’d like to point out that my argument was that the Jon-Dany meeting didn’t feel “stagey.” I thought it avoided falling into that trap.
Now that I’ve cleared up my rambling, let us know what you thought of the episode, both in the comments and by voting in the poll!