Small Council: What did we think of “Eastwatch?”
By WiC Staff
“Eastwatch” the fifth episode of Game of Thrones season 7, has come and gone. What did we think of it? Read our thoughts below, tell us yours in the comments, and vote in the poll!
DAN: I’m gonna go ahead and open on a sour note. “Eastwatch” irritated me in spots. There was a lot I liked about it, particularly in the first half. I liked the follow-up to the Loot Train Attack, with Dany dancing closer to the edge of madness, Tyrion’s worry mounting, and Jon Snow bonding with Drogon. I really liked all the scenes with the Lannisters, and I enjoyed Sam telling the maesters to take this unpaid internship and shove it. However…
Before this season began, we heard a lot about how much faster-paced season 7 would be. I was afraid things would feel rushed, but for the first four episodes of the season, my fears proved more or less baseless. “Eastwatch,” though…”Eastwatch” felt rushed.
There were small things that grated, like wanting to see more of Tyrion’s scene with Jaime. Both actors were killing it, and I thought their reunion deserved more room. I could have stood to see Jon process the news that Bran and Arya are alive, too.
Then there were several points where I couldn’t shake the feeling that the producers were pushing events along without laying the proper groundwork. I could buy that Arya would be suspicious of Sansa…if there was more evidence. As things were, Arya seemed to pounce on Sansa without much reason. I could buy that the group would think that hunting a wight to show Cersei was a good idea…if I believed that Team Targaryen was fully on board with Jon’s army-of-the-dead spiel to begin with, and if we had a little more indication that Cersei would care. I could buy that bringing back Gendry was a good development…if I understood why Davos sought him out in the first place. Also, mightn’t Daenerys want to know that the bastard son of the usurper was in her midst? Surely Gendry could do more for the story than being a red shirt beyond the Wall.
I just felt like there were a couple of scenes missing this week. My best-case-scenario is that, like last year, this is an episode of setup for a pair of excellent finishers. (See also: “Baelor” and “Fire and Blood” following season 1’s “The Pointy End.”)
So I’m Mr. Negative over here. Anybody enjoy the episode more than me?
MOLLY: I have to agree with you, Dan. Things didn’t really feel like they made sense this week. Things kind of came out of nowhere. Like Gendry. Nice to see him again, but why?
Everything with Jon and Daenerys was very weird. The interaction with the dragon was nice, and possibly a sign of Jon’s lineage. The idea to bring a wight to Cersei is a good plan, but I never really thought about anyone besides Jon caring. I also had this weird image of the wight exploding once it reached normal temperatures…Just me?
I already wrote an article about it, but can I talk about how much Sam is annoying the crap out of me this season? I saw that we have an article where John Bradley says he’s happy with Sam being more proactive, but to me, he’s just irritating. You wanted to be a maester, but refuse to put in the work. Isn’t the Night’s Watch supposed to teach you how to do these things? AND DON’T GET ME STARTED ON GILLY.
If you’re Mr. Negative, I guess I’m Miss Negative. Eh.
SARAH: I have to agree with Dan that this episode had far too many weak spots, particularly at Winterfell. As an Arya Stark aficionado, I’m forced to admit that I can’t take her side this week — a first for me, but I don’t want to blindly support any character just because she’s my favorite. I can see where she’s coming from, sure. Arya is an absolutist by nature. In her eyes, people are good or people are bad, and anyone who dares speak against Jon Snow is not going to go down well in her book. However, that doesn’t make her stupid, and it’s grating to see her lose her rag because a couple of lords questioned her brother and Sansa handled it diplomatically. After everything she has been through, she should be wiser than that, and I felt that it was very poor writing.
Still, I’m not worried about the Stark girls, however bad things may get between them. Petyr’s “Lady Stark thanks you for your service” when Wolkan handed him Sansa’s letter was undoubtedly intended to make Arya believe that he and Sansa are in cahoots, but it’s only a matter of time before his lies are uncovered. This pointless drama between the sisters merely seems like the show’s attempt to add more dramatic license to Petyr’s eventual death. I’m still flying the Sansarya flag. Those girls need to grab a cocktail pitcher, have a slumber party and talk it all out.
I’m completely on board with Sam’s behavior in Oldtown. He didn’t travel to the Citadel to become a maester in the traditional sense — that is, to learn for the sake of learning. He travelled to the Citadel specifically to arm himself with knowledge that could help Jon defeat the White Walkers. He’s not a college graduate with a chip on his shoulder because the only employment he can find is an unpaid internship. He is a proactive, intelligent man who doesn’t have time to lick the boots of his superiors because he’s working to save all of humanity from total and imminent destruction. He came to the maesters with an eyewitness account of the horrors he has seen. They refused to listen, and that’s their failure. As far as I’m concerned, he’s earned the right to some leeway.
Did he breeze, quite rudely, over the revelation that Rhaegar Targaryen had his marriage annulled and remarried another woman? Yes, and Gilly would have been right to scold him for it. However, Sam is not a viewer of the show. He has no idea that Rhaegar is Jon’s biological father, so what does it matter to him who he married? From his position, it has nothing to do with White Walkers — personally, I’m still inclined to believe that it doesn’t have anything to do with them, and a lot more to do with Daenerys. I think we can make like Gilly and cut him a little slack.
Finally, I just want to welcome Gendry back with great enthusiasm (and swooning) on my part. His scenes were so funny, and we even got an excellent callback to Ned and Robert in his short exchange with Jon Snow. I’d also like to point out that I don’t believe it’s pertinent to question his inclusion, or his role in the show, when he’s only been back for five minutes. It’s going to take more than one episode to establish what his place is going to be. He could wind up being legitimized, lend his expertise to the forging of wicked-cool dragonglass weapons, or even marry my girl Arya — the point is, we just don’t know yet, and so I don’t find it fair to immediately dismiss his appearance as pure fan service. Give him time to breathe, and he may surprise you.
COREY: Well, now I’m struggling to come up with positive things to say about the episode. I agree with others that many things are beginning to feel rushed this season. At first I thought that I enjoyed the new pace — no more wasting time walking and talking everywhere! But now I think I’m starting to feel different.
As it turns out, those slow moments were important for character development. They might have seemed monotonous at the time, but they helped establish relationships, giving all the death and chaos weight. The action on Game of Thrones is fantastic, top notch stuff, but if we wanted a bunch of action moments without any emotional weight, we’d just watch a Transformers movie.
I will say that I enjoyed Bronn’s conversation with Jaime when they emerged from the water. Bronn’s pragmatic view on life is always refreshing on a show like Game of Thrones, where so often characters are motivated by honor and duty rather than practical things like not dying. Likewise, when the Hound was like “are we going or not?” I couldn’t help but laugh. I’d like to see both of them survive the show, but I’m nervous.
RICHARD: I guess I’m a bit higher on “Eastwatch” than a few here, but it seems like everybody found something good and bad about it. I do agree that some of the quieter dramatic scenes needed more room to breathe. Remember how much screen time they gave to that last scene with Jaime Lannister and Lady Olenna in “The Queen’s Justice,” and what a superb slow burn it was? And those two characters didn’t have much in common at all.
“Eastwatch” had several character-driven scenes that were under-served. The scene where Jon meets Drogon got a nice chunk of screen time, and that gives it dramatic weight. Daenerys having Drogon barbecue Randyll and Dickon Tarly played out nicely as well, along with the Ser Davos/Gendry/Tyrion scene on the beach. But other scenes, like Jorah’s return to (and quick departure from) Daenerys and the tense reunion between Tyrion and Jaime were far too short, if well-crafted. These were HUGE moments, and for all of the emotional investment we’ve put into these characters, for all of the time we’ve waited for them to come back together, surely their reunions warranted more time. Imagine if either Jorah’s return or the Tyrion/Jaime meeting was given the screen time of the Jaime/Lady Olenna scene mentioned above? I’m not sure why they weren’t.
I also had some trouble buying Arya’s sudden suspicion of Sansa, but honestly I’ve felt like Sansa’s character has been a victim of forced conflict for a while now, starting with her relationship with Jon and not discussing issues in private before airing them in public. The Northern storyline felt flimsy, with the ultra-solid traditional northern lords suddenly going all wishy-washy and favoring Sansa over Jon, the man they just chose as their king.
Be all that as it is, I really enjoyed the episode. Yes, it did feel a bit harried as the writers moved everybody into place for the final two episodes. But man, the new wild bunch of Jon, Tormund, Jorah, the Hound, Gendry, Thoros of Myr and Beric Dondarrion is gonna be epic. Let me rephrase that: It had better be epic.
Helen Sloan – HBO
BROOKE: This is my first Small Council and I have to admit I’m a little intimidated! That being said, I liked the episode for the most part, but also found the accelerated pace disconcerting because certain logistical details were missing—like how did Tyrion get in touch with Bronn? I guess I should just engage my willing suspension of disbelief and be happy that Tyrion was able to set up the meeting with Jaime and not wonder how he did it. But I do wonder, and it bugs me.
It’s disturbing that Littlefinger was able to trick Arya so easily. Her training at the House of Black and White should have made her a much more formidable opponent for him, so that part didn’t ring true for me. It’s as if the showrunners are relying on plot devices instead of authentic characterization to move the story forward, which is disappointing because it cheapens an amazing show.
And can Jon Snow be happy for just one minute over the fact that Arya and Bran are alive? One lousy line then it’s back to the Night King. I get that Jon Snow is a brooder, but come on!
Like Sarah, I’m glad Sam left the Citadel. Sam learned to be a man of action in spite of himself during his time at the Wall, and the maesters’ endless pontificating and utter lack of inertia must have been maddening for him. I agree that Sam went to the Citadel specifically so he could serve as Castle Black’s maester, but the world has changed since Sam left the Wall. Jon Snow is no longer Lord Commander and Bran has seen the army of the dead on the march. Sam is out of time and he did the right thing by leaving with whatever knowledge he could to aid Jon Snow in the battle against the Night King.
Finally, Jon Snow is not a bastard! It’s strange that the showrunners glossed over the revelation of Rhaegar’s annulment and subsequent secret marriage when last season they gave us an entire flashback scene to drive home the truth of Jon Snow’s parentage. That’s the new normal, I guess. It didn’t register with Sam, because, as Sarah pointed out, why would it? Assuming Sam and Gilly are headed to Winterfell, does this mean Gilly will be the one to inadvertently reveal this bombshell to Bran? Bran knows who Jon’s parents are, but as far as we know he doesn’t know they were married. Or does he? He is the Three-Eyed Raven, after all.
KATIE: I agree with the majority here that “Eastwatch” was somewhat lacking. The structure of the episode was irksome and, frankly, some of the writing was sloppy—at least, it seems so on the outset.
All the back-and-forth travel was jarring, and the wight hunt rings like a nonsensical bid for more action scenes. Cersei’s resources have been so compromised that her involvement in the war against the White Walkers seems moot, so who cares if she believes them or not? It just seems like a weak foundation upon which to base a suicide mission. I maintain that nothing’s going to deter Cersei’s obsession with keeping the Iron Throne, anyway. And on that note, if Daenerys believes Jon, why doesn’t she just fly one of her dragons to Eastwatch and take on the undead herself? I’m not keen on Daenerys’ penchant for burning people alive, but the Night King and his army is an obvious exception. Why all the wight-bustin’ dramatics? (I mean, okay, this is essentially the “Why didn’t they fly the eagle to Mount Doom instead of walking?” argument, but it still needs to be said.)
Considering all the trips ‘round Westeros, you’d think Jon would have time to pop by Winterfell so we could get the whole Targaryen parentage thing settled once and for all. And yet… nah. At some point, delayed gratification doesn’t promote intrigue as much as it just grates on my nerves. I absolutely agree with Sarah that this reveal has little to nothing to do with the White Walkers, and everything to do with how Daenerys will react to a legitimate contender to her coveted seat of power. I’m coming at this from the perspective of someone who considers Westeros to be facing not one, but two major threats: the White Walkers and Daenerys and her dragons—two ends of the same disastrous spectrum.
The opening scene only further solidifies my view on the matter: Daenerys isn’t inspiring loyalty, but rather inciting fear to gain her following. “Bend the knee or die” isn’t much of a choice, a mentality that philosopher Paulo Freire perhaps best sums up: “Leaders who do not act dialogically, but insist on imposing their decisions, do not organize the people — they manipulate them. They do not liberate, nor are they liberated: they oppress.” Not to mention, her incineration of Randyll and Dickon Tarly was rather reminiscent of her father’s execution of Rickard and Brandon Stark during Robert’s Rebellion, so make of that what you will, if anything.
But before I can expound upon that for thousands of words, let me refocus on Winterfell. Look, there’s no delicate way to put this, so I’ll just say that Arya’s characterization this week is either sloppy writing or part of some elaborate, off-screen ruse conjured by the Starks to undercut Littlefinger. No, he wasn’t in the immediate vicinity of their argument, but Sansa knows that the man’s got eyes and ears everywhere, so it would do well for the sisters to keep up the pretense, even in private. I might be toeing the line of tinfoil theories here, but it’s better than unnecessary (and mostly unfounded) sibling rivalry.
“Eastwatch” had its ups and downs, but I personally found it to be the weakest episode of the season, and I only hope that the final two don’t follow the same pattern. Unless, of course, that pattern includes more Gendry, in which case I’m willing to overlook all the grand tours of Westeros, at least.
RAZOR: Dany did nothing wrong. Let that sink in, let it marinate, and just get used to that fact, because it is fact. Daenerys Targaryen is trying to conquer the Seven Kingdoms. She’s not trying to shake hands and kiss babies — she’s trying to take the Iron Throne which is currently occupied by a woman who was willing to blow up a church.
Dany gave Randyll and Dickon Tarly a fair chance to swear fealty to her and they stupidly chose some misguided sense of honor over life. And honor obviously didn’t mean much to Randyll, as he recently switched his alliance from Tyrell to Lannister. Dickon just followed his father into death’s fiery embrace because he was dumb and thought it was the right thing to do.
The argument that serving Dany or becoming dragon food was not a choice is simply flawed. It absolutely was a choice. Randyll and Dickon Tarly chose poorly. Gendry’s return was neat, as was the Tyrion and Jaime reunion.
As for the rest of the episode, Jon petting Drogon was cool, as was Jorah’s return, but Winterfell was a mess. Arya was acting like a petulant child while Sansa actually acted level-headed for once. The ending was okay — I didn’t hate the meeting of several main characters, but I despised the cheesy Suicide Squad ending.