Knee-Jerk Reactions to “The Iron Throne:” Five Best and Worst Moments

VALYRIAN STEEL FIVE: Tormund Giantsbane and Ghost are back!

You know you loved it! Not many of us liked Jon’s previous farewell to Ghost, but now we find out out it wasn’t a forever-goodbye. Jon and Ghost got their huggy moment, but Jon and Tormund didn’t, because they’d already had their huggy moment.

VALYRIAN STEEL FOUR: Tyrion weeps over Jaime and Cersei

For as bad a person Cersei was, and as conflicted a person Jaime was, it was hard to see them lying dead in each others’ arms, curled up in a fashion resembling their relationship in the womb (and for their entire lives). Tyrion’s discovery of Jaime’s hand was one of the most profoundly sad moments in “The Iron Throne,” and the agony of a brother over the loss of both his beloved brother and his cruel sister was beautifully painful to experience.

VALYRIAN STEEL THREE: Drogon carries Dany away

After melting the Iron Throne instead of Jon (whom he recognizes as a Targaryen), Drogon tenderly lifted up his mother and carried her off into the legendary mists, never to return. It was a moment that hailed back to older adventure stories where the master’s hound (or other beast) is ever loyal to the end.

VALYRIAN STEEL TWO: Brienne completes Jaime’s story

In one of the best sequences in the episode, Brienne honors Jaime by writing in the end of his history in the White Book. We got to see some of it, and she made sure future generations would know of the good things the Kingslayer did, as well as the bad. We’d expect nothing less from Brienne.

VALYRIAN STEEL ONE: Jon breaks up with Dany

Most of us suspected that Jon would have to stop Dany, and he did. Right in the moment when she once again offered him her love was when he stabbed her in the heart and she died, mercifully quick, with a look of confusion on her face. It was a gut wrenching, melodramatic scene and it felt like something out of a classic old movie, but this time the characters were ours.