Spoiler note: “A girl says nothing. A girl keeps her mouth closed. No one hears.” —Girls, boys, and everyone alike, Jaqen H’ghar has spoken, so please remember: This recap is primarily for non-book readers. If you’re a book reader, please avoid posting any spoilers here, and instead take those thoughts to our book-reader’s recap. Thank you!
Another season come and gone, and I’m theorizing like my overly analytical brain depends on it. Caution: Theories-that-might-border-on-tinfoil ahead.
The beginning of the end finds our dwindling cast at King’s Landing, where the warring parties have converged for an armistice. Jon immediately hates the South, but Tyrion assures him that the job opportunities and the dating scene are worth the overcrowding. Besides, it’s not nearly as populated since Cersei obliterated the Sept of Baelor last year, so that’s something. Thankfully, those who perished in the wildfire blaze were blown to smithereens, so it’s not as though the Night King has any use for them, and he’s the reason all of these people have come together in the first place.
There are reunions aplenty, both heartwarming and tense: Podrick, Tyrion, and Bronn, the original bromance; Brienne and the Hound, who bond over that time Brienne nearly killed him and their love for Arya; Brienne and Jaime, whose sexual tension is through the roof, as per ush; and awkward family reunions in the form of Theon and Euron; Tyrion, Cersei, and Jaime; and the Hound and the Mountain. The latter pair seem to be gearing up for the fandom’s much-desired Cleganebowl. As the Hound says, “What did they do to you? […] Doesn’t matter. That’s not how it ends for you, brother. You know who’s coming for you. You’ve always known.”
Macall B. Polay – HBO
Foreshadowing duly noted. In the meantime, the Hound takes the captured wight’s casket into the underbelly of the Dragonpit, where the armistice is taking place. They probably could have stayed above-ground, but the Hound’s eventual return with said casket adds more of a dramatic flair to the proceedings. Not everyone present will play audience, however, as Bronn and Podrick head out for a drink, because they don’t get paid enough for this Real Housewives of Westeros power struggle. Stay out of trouble, stay alive; at least Podrick got a few more lines this week.
The meeting begins with much further ado, including but not limited to Daenerys’ arrival with her remaining dragons, Euron making a spectacle of himself, and Tyrion’s bid for temporary peace. Despite Jon’s insistence that “This isn’t about living in harmony. It’s just about living,” and Daenerys’ assurance that “Your capital will be safe, until the Northern threat is dealt with,” Cersei isn’t prepared to take any of them seriously. When faced with the possibility of the frozen undead versus a ploy to distract her from the Iron Throne, it’s reasonable that Cersei would be suspicious.
So it would seem that last week’s venture beyond the wall wasn’t for nothing after all (just mostly for nothing). Like the rest of them, Cersei can’t deny what she sees with her own eyes, as the Hound returns to showcase his purebred wight. Jon demonstrates with both fire and dragonglass how to destroy the creatures, but their vulnerability doesn’t assuage everyone’s trepidation. Euron appears to peace out, claiming he’s returning to the Iron Islands, since the dead’s inability to swim will keep him safe from their clutches.
Macall B. Polay – HBO
Cersei calls Euron’s departure as cowardly, but she’s still not keen on taking Daenerys at her word, evidentiary wight or no.
- CERSEI: “If those things come for us, there will be no kingdoms to rule. Everything we’ve suffered will have been for nothing. Everything we’ve lost will have been for nothing. The Crown accepts your truce. Until the dead are defeated, they are the true enemy. In return, the King in the North will extend this truce. He will remain in the North where he belongs. He will not take up arms against the Lannisters. He will not choose sides. […] I ask it only of Ned Stark’s son. I know Ned Stark’s son will be true to his word.”
- JON: “I am true to my word. Or I try to be. That is why I cannot give you what you ask. I cannot serve two queens. And I’ve already pledged myself to Queen Daenerys of House Targaryen.”
Freeze frame. Why does Jon refuse something that would ensure Cersei’s aid? Well, if you’ll allow me to theorize, I’m still of the opinion that he’s playing the long con with Daenerys. She needs to chill with the pyromania and her own obsession with the throne long enough to help the North defeat the White Walkers. As such, Jon can’t betray her now; besides, that would spoil the shock when Targbowl goes down next season. Targbowl, Cleganebowl, Lannisterbowl, the Long Nightbowl… Lotta bowls being foreshadowed (or blatantly hyped) in this episode. Even the title—“The Dragon and the Wolf”—emphasizes this, as it plays on the pattern of “The Wolf and the Lion,” “The Lion and the Rose,” and “The Mountain and the Viper,” all of which focus on the theme of the noble houses’ feuds. The groundwork is being lain for the wars to come, but I’ll go back to focusing on the matter at hand.
Everyone is pissed at Jon for his implementation of “Honesty is the best policy” at the worst possible moment.
- DAVOS: “I wish you wouldn’t’ve done that.”
- DAENERYS: “I’m grateful for your loyalty. But my dragon died so we could be here. If it’s all for nothing, then he died for nothing.”
- TYRION: “I’m pleased you bent the knee to our queen. I would have advised it, had you asked. But have you ever considered learning how to lie every now and then? Just a bit?”
But even in the face of reason, Jon is adamant: “I’m not gonna swear an oath I can’t uphold. Talk about my father if you want, tell me that’s the attitude that got him killed. But when enough people make false promises, words stop meaning anything. And then there are no more answers, only better and better lies, and lies won’t help us in this fight.”
This little speech is admirable and all, but it’s in direct conflict with Jon’s character arc. Honorable he may be, but he’ll twist and abandon his convictions if it means the difference between life and death. He once broke his oath to the Night’s Watch in order to infiltrate the wildlings for the greater good, so what’s one lie to Cersei when the White Walkers are on the march? Not to mention, this season has largely focused on how it’s crucial for Jon to learn from Ned’s mistakes, not repeat them. Suffice it to say that this situation necessitates a fair amount of consideration.
When Jon doesn’t bend to Cersei’s will, she wishes them good luck without her support, and proceeds to stalk off, leaving her enemies to stew in their mistakes. Brienne attempts to use Jaime’s obvious infatuation with her to everyone’s mutual benefit (nah, she doesn’t use her wiles like that, but Jaime’s clearly sweet on her, anyway): “Oh, fuck loyalty! This goes beyond houses and honor and oaths. Talk to the queen.”
In the end, though, it’s Tyrion who braves Cersei’s homicidal tendencies in an attempt to win her over. This proves to be no easy feat, as there’s a mountain of emotional baggage to unpack between the siblings. But such is the way of things between Cersei and Tyrion Lannister, and some things never change. They’ve never been able to overlook their differences or long-held grudges, a fact that’s only exacerbated by Tywin’s murder and Myrcella and Tommen’s subsequent deaths. When Cersei accuses him of a desire to destroy their family, Tyrion argues that he’s done everything he can to prevent exactly that:
"Daenerys didn’t want to debate and negotiate. She didn’t want to bring you words, she wanted to bring you fire and blood until I advised her otherwise. I don’t want to destroy our family. I never have."
Still, neither of them relent, not even when Tyrion invites Cersei to have him killed by the Mountain. Despite her years-long obsession with capturing and executing her brother, Cersei doesn’t give the order. Perhaps there’s some vestige of humanity left within her, or she doesn’t want to destroy their family any more than Tyrion does. The Lannisters and their continued dynasty have always been Cersei’s priority above all else. Not even the proven existence of wights and White Walkers can sway her worldview. That leads to Cersei tipping her hand about her pregnancy:
"That thing you dragged here. I know what it is, I know what it means. And when it came at me, I didn’t think about the world, not at all. As soon as it opened its mouth, the world disappeared for me, right down its black throat. All I could think about was keeping those gnashing teeth away from the ones who matter most, away from my family."
Back at the Dragonpit, Daenerys and Jon are shuffling around the centuries-old remains while they await Cersei’s verdict. Daenerys laments all that the Targaryens have lost, a downward spiral that she seems to think began with the decimation of their dragons, but really it was probably because of all the inbreeding. “ were terrifying,” she says. “Extraordinary. They filled people with wonder and awe, and we locked them in here. They wasted away. They grew small. And we grew small as well. We weren’t extraordinary without them. We were just like everyone else.”
“You’re not like everyone else,” Jon replies. “And your family hasn’t seen its end. You’re still here.”
Once again, we see Jon placating Daenerys with precisely what she wants to hear, all under the guise of romance. I’m not buying it. Whenever Jon advises or reassures her, he sounds like me when I’m trying to defuse the situation with an irate customer at my day job. It’s almost like he’s only keeping the peace to avoid being set on fire. Maybe I’m overthinking it, but at least it makes this romance more compelling.
They talk again of Daenerys’ inability to bear children, which means that the Targaryen name will die with her (except it won’t, since the audience knows that Jon bears the name as well). Once Daenerys has revealed more of her personal information, they’re back to business with the White Walkers, and Daenerys is playing a bit fast-and-loose with her commitment to Jon’s cause: “I can’t forget what I saw north of the Wall. And I can’t pretend that Cersei won’t take back half the country the moment I march North.”
Mayhaps Daenerys’ determination to aid in the Long Night isn’t as reliable as it seemed last week. She and Cersei alike still have one eye on the Iron Throne when their full attention should be on the White Walkers; if they could both put aside their personal ambitions, they could spend their time more constructively. But this is Game of Thrones, and nobody’s about to “Avengers, assemble!” this when the Seven Kingdoms are up for grabs. This seems incredibly short-sighted, but I guess we’ll see what happens when the White Walkers finally shuffle their way into Winterfell and beyond.
For now, Cersei returns to the Dragonpit to broach an agreement: She will accept the truce, and will call her bannermen to fight alongside her enemies in the North. Everyone takes her oath at face-value but, again, things don’t tend to go all that smoothly in Westeros, so it’s not that surprising when we learn later in the episode that Cersei is still playing political games.
As Jaime prepares their men for the march, she interrupts to inform her brother-husband that rather than join the fray, they’ll do better to let their foes and the monsters beyond the Wall destroy each other. She claims that between White Walkers and dragons and all the rest, their own armies will make no difference, so why jeopardize them? She’s noted that Daenerys is missing a dragon, so the beasts aren’t indestructible. And she goes on to reveal that Euron Greyjoy hasn’t abandoned them; he’s gone to Essos to ferry the Golden Company across the Narrow Sea. But her plan isn’t as foolproof as she thinks, as Jaime points out:
"When the fighting in the North is over, someone wins. You understand that, don’t you? If the dead win, they march South, and kill us all. If the living win and we’ve betrayed them, they march South and kill us all!"
Cersei refuses to see reason, but she won’t let Jaime go without a fight, either. Like Tyrion, Jaime invites their sister to sic the Mountain on him, but if Cersei didn’t let her guard take Tyrion, she certainly won’t order him to harm Jaime. Even so, their relationship is irreparably broken—finally—and Jaime rides for Winterfell alone, as the snows begin to fall in the south. Winter is here, and my trash son Jaime Lannister is making his own way in the world at last. Queen’s “I Want to Break Free” plays triumphantly upon his exit.
At Dragonstone, the group discusses their plans to travel to Winterfell. I assumed they’d just take Game of Thrones’ patented teleportation device, but apparently that’s not convenient for the narrative. Instead, Jorah suggests that Daenerys go by way of dragon, because if any Northerner catches sight of her telltale silver hair on the road, they’ll aim to kill. As we were made well aware in the first few episodes of the season, the North doesn’t take kindly to any Southerner, least of all a Targaryen.
Jon knows this fact better than anyone; as such, he claims that arriving together will send a better message of unity. In other words, he’ll be able to control the situation if he’s present when the North spits at Daenerys’ feet and she tries to incinerate them for it. (Okay, that’s almost pure conjecture, but not without cause. I’ll try to keep an open mind until season 8, but I think it’s safe to say that dissonance is coming, and it’s gonna arrive far more quickly than winter did over the past seven years.)
Afterwards, Jon and Theon have a less hostile encounter than they did in “The Spoils of War.” In fact, their conversation not only serves as a means of repairing the damage between Theon and the Starks, but it also lends further insight into Jon’s character and his encroaching arc.
- THEON: “Every step you take… it’s always the right step.”
- JON: “It’s not. It may seem that way from the outside, but… I promise you, it’s not true. I’ve done plenty of things I regret.”
Ergo, Jon isn’t all honorable decisions and noble causes. His endgame is always to Do the Right Thing, but his means of doing so can’t be altruistic; it’s all gray areas. There’s so much emphasis on Jon’s honor this episode—honor that we’ve been made well aware of over the years, so why beat it upside the head now? We’ve got time to kill before season 8, so speculate away.
- THEON: “It always seemed like there was an impossible choice I had to make. Stark or Greyjoy.”
- JON: “Our father was more of a father to you than yours ever was.”
- THEON: “He was.”
- JON: “And you betrayed him. Betrayed his memory.”
- THEON: “I did.”
- JON: “But you never lost him. He’s a part of you. Just like he’s a part of me.”
- THEON: “The things I’ve done—”
- JON: “It’s not my place to forgive you for all of it. But what I can forgive, I do. You don’t need to choose. You’re a Greyjoy, and you’re a Stark.”
This declaration inspires Theon to rescue Yara, wherever she may be. He fights the Ironborn who rally against his decision, but he emerges triumphant. She didn’t give up on him when he needed her, and now he’s doing good by her in the same way.
Macall B. Polay – HBO
For Jon’s part, their conversation provides foreshadowing for his own oncoming identity crisis: Stark or Targaryen? He bears the latter’s name, but Rhaegar is practically a nonentity to him; Ned Stark may not be his father by blood, but he raised Jon and protected him like his own son. And the fact is that giving up the North to Daenerys would be a betrayal of Ned’s memory, perhaps moreso than everything Theon did. So what is Jon’s ultimate goal here? To dishonor the North and the Starks—his home, his family—so that Game of Thrones ends with a Targaryen restoration? I can’t even wrap my head around the possibility, however hypothetical.
This topic is further explored when we move to the Winterfell plot, where Sansa has received Jon’s raven regarding his pledge of fealty to Daenerys. She tells Littlefinger that “This is the way he is, the way he’s always been. He never asked for my opinion. Why would he start now?” But the question here is: How honest is Sansa being with Littlefinger? She’s made her distrust and disdain for the man plain; why would she confide in him again? Is she truly irritated with Jon’s decision, or have the two of them been in cahoots the whole time? Their discussions of political machinations in episodes 1-2 are key—Jon may have been listening to Sansa all season without their communications being made obvious to the audience. If this isn’t the case, then their relationship has remained stagnant, and their conversations were all for nothing, so… it might be tinfoil for now, but I wouldn’t rule it out.
Acting according to his nature, Littlefinger attempts to sow further seeds of discontent. He suggests that perhaps Jon and Daenerys will form a marriage alliance (an idea which surprisingly hasn’t been proposed by Tyrion, Varys, or Davos—what’s the method to that madness?). It’s a rather needless point for Littlefinger to make; after all, would marrying Daenerys really be any worse than bending the knee to her? The politics seem to be a bit muddled here; but then, once Jon learns that Daenerys is his aunt, that’ll put the kibosh on that possibility, anyway. If nothing else, a Targaryen/Targaryen marriage alliance wouldn’t do Jon’s position in the North any favors.
The next stop on Littlefinger’s “Orchestrated Discord Among the Starks” tour is, of course, Arya. He gives Sansa some more of his patented cryptic advice on how to read her sister, and what to do with the information she gleans:
"Sometimes, when I try to understand a person’s motives, I play a little game. I assume the worst. What’s the worst reason they could possibly have for saying what they say and doing what they do? Then I ask myself, how well does that reason explain what they say and what they do?"
Ultimately, Littlefinger attempts to convince Sansa that Arya’s deepest desire is to murder her, and what better way to nip that in the bud than for Sansa to murder Arya first? Good god, but when that man slips, he slips. He’s really lost his mojo this season, which is just as well, considering how the Starks play him.
Under the pretense of putting Arya on trial, Sansa and Bran situate themselves at the head table in Winterfell’s great hall, surrounded by their bannermen and the Knights of the Vale, as they address their sister:
- ARYA: “Are you sure you want to do this?”
- SANSA: “It’s not what I want. It’s what honor demands.”
- ARYA: “And what does honor demand?”
- SANSA: “That I defend my family from those who would harm us. That I defend the North from those who would betray us.”
- ARYA: “All right, then. Get on with it.”
- SANSA: “You stand accused of murder. You stand accused of treason. How do you answer these charges… Lord Baelish?”
- ARYA : “My sister asked you a question.”
This—the greatest moment in television history—is about the time I started to throw all my pillows across the room in a fit of excitement. Although there is no confirmation either way, it seems that Arya and Sansa have been playing Littlefinger all the while; regardless, the Starks have come together in the end to take down the man who’s plagued their family for so long. Among his crimes are the murder of Lysa Arryn, conspiracy to kill Jon Arryn and the letter that accused the Lannisters of doing so, conspiracy with Cersei and Joffrey to betray Ned, and his attempts to pit Sansa and Arya against one another as he had their mother and aunt before them.
- LITTLEFINGER: “I deny it! None of you were there to see what happened. None of you knows the truth.”
- BRAN: “You held a knife to his throat. You said, ‘I did warn you not to trust me.’”
- ARYA: “You told our mother this knife belonged to Tyrion Lannister. But that was another one of your lies. It was yours.”
Who needs family game night when you’ve got this level of sibling bonding? Littlefinger begs for mercy every which way, but Sansa doesn’t offer it the way her mother once did when he dueled Brandon Stark for her hand. His death is quick, courtesy of his own dagger in Arya’s hand, but satisfying all the same: I’ve been waiting for someone to off this guy for years; the time for lollygagging is over, and after all his complex survival plans, there’s something poetic about him dying so swiftly and effortlessly.
The Northern plot thickens when Sam and Gilly arrive, and the former has a private sit-down with Bran. Three-Eyed Raven he may be, but Bran Stark’s still in there, as he teases Sam with his omnipotence when, in fact, it was a letter rather than a vision that informed him of Jon and Daenerys’ travels to Winterfell. Between the two of them—Bran’s visions and Sam’s transcription of the maester’s diary (meanwhile—sigh—Gilly doesn’t get her due for spilling the beans episodes ago)—they piece together the truth of Jon’s parentage:
- BRAN: “Robert’s Rebellion was built on a lie. Rhaegar didn’t kidnap my aunt, or rape her. He loved her, and she loved him. And Jon… Jon’s real name—”
- LYANNA : “His name is Aegon. Aegon Targaryen.”
Okay, but… Rhaegar’s son by Elia Martell was already called Aegon? Look, man, disrespecting your wife is one thing, but now you’re gonna play deadbeat dad, too? This is like that time on The Office when Andy Bernard’s parents changed his name from Walter, Jr. to Andy when his younger brother was born, because his brother better exemplified the Walter, Jr. name.
Bran continues. “He’s never been a bastard. He’s the heir to the Iron Throne. He needs to know. We need to tell him.”
As this narrative bomb is dropped, it’s cut together with a love scene between Jon and Daenerys, who are on their way to Winterfell. Jon heaves a sigh before he knocks on the door, like somewhere deep down he knows he’s about to sexually solicit his aunt. Meanwhile, Tyrion is hanging around the corridor like he knows what’s up, but his thoughts on the matter remain unclear. Is he jealous? Worried? Relieved, because perhaps a little romance will placate Daenerys’ volatile temper where his counsel didn’t?
I’m not sure if we’re meant to take this scene seriously, but I can’t. When compared to Grey Worm and Missandei’s love scene earlier in the season, this one is deliberately lacking in the romantic atmosphere. Between the voiceover and the fact that Jon doesn’t even bother to take his hair down, Game of Thrones shortchanges its audience with this deviation from the show’s signature steam. I’m pretty sure Jon invented cunnilingus in season 3 and all Daenerys gets is about ten seconds of missionary position. Meanwhile, Bran’s narration explains that: first, their coupling is incestuous; and second, Daenerys’ birthright actually belongs to Jon. None of this is promising, and I don’t think we’re meant to interpret it as such. Jon and Daenerys’ arc isn’t the second coming of Robb and Talisa’s tragic love story; there was a reason for all that “Northern fool” talk, and it’s not so Jon can repeat Robb’s mistakes.
The main takeaway here is that Game of Thrones isn’t a love story, and there’s no happily-ever-after to be had when one character threatens another’s position of power. Far from saving the realm, Jon and Daenerys’ tryst will ultimately cause further frisson when the former’s parentage is revealed next season. So what’s the point of this? Intrigue? I assume that it’s partially to fulfill some sort of heteronormative sexuality requirement that’s so prevalent in the entertainment industry. (That’s mostly a joke, by the way, but there’s still a definite truth to it.)
But because there is some justice in the world, our viewing palates are cleansed when the scene cuts to Sansa and Arya on the Winterfell battlements. At last, we get the Stark sister bonding that we deserved following their reunion. Their past differences and disputes are put aside, and they’re ready to look into their future while respecting their past, both of them fully donning their true Stark colors once and for all:
- ARYA: “In winter we must protect ourselves. Look after one another.”
- SANSA: “Father. When the snows fall and the white winds blow, the lone wolf dies but the pack survives.”
We end with Bran alone in the godswood, in the midst of a Three-Eyed Raven trip: Tormund, Beric, and a crew of unnamed secondary characters are manning the Wall when the army of the dead finally rolls up. They too could have benefited from the show’s teleportation device, but they’ve managed to find a way without it. The wights and White Walkers stand by while the Night King flies Viserion overhead, using up the CGI budget that couldn’t spare a dime on Ghost, but I suppose the Wall had to come down sometime if the Long Night is meant to end.
So there we have it, folks: the Wall is down, nearly everyone is headed to Winterfell for the fallout, and it’s all about to hit the fan. Cue the Space Jam theme music.
One season to go, and still so much to do, because that’s what happens when you give up screentime to a zombie polar bear in the penultimate episode for no reason. (Fine, so there’s more to it than that, but I’m still salty about the zombie polar bear.)
Are Bronn and Pod still having that drink? If Euron Greyjoy is indeed returning with the Golden Company, how many wars will be fought in the final season? Who will be the first Northerner to Z-snap at Daenerys upon her arrival? Will Jon ultimately have to choose between Stark and Targaryen, and how will Daenerys react when he inevitably chooses the Starks? Is his oath of fealty even genuine? Will Theon manage to rescue Yara, or will his mission be in vain? And where the hell did Gendry go? We just got him back! I hope he’s with Ghost so the pair of them can at least be allowed to commiserate in their underappreciation, if nothing else.
Next: Video: Go behind the scenes of the season 7 finale with the Game of Thrones cast and crew
Remember—speculation is encouraged, spoilers aren’t! Please refrain from posting book spoilers here! Feel free to discuss the episode in the comments or Tweet me @kattymaj, but don’t ruin any surprises for the viewers who haven’t read the books. While the show has largely diverged from its source material, you never know what details will crop up later. Thanks, and see you next season!
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