I Rewatched “Game Of Thrones” Season 7 And Here's What I Noticed

The Big Plot Stuff:

• In a cold open, Arya disguises herself as Walder Frey and poisons the remaining members of House Frey (except the young wives).

• In a vision, Bran sees the army of the dead marching – including WIGHT GIANTS. Bran and Meera arrive at Castle Black and are let inside by Dolorous Edd.

• At Winterfell, newly-crowned King in the North Jon Snow is telling the Northern lords about dragonglass and instructing them to begin training boys AND girls to fight. Lyanna Mormont sasses the other lords for being sexist when they protest, and Davos and Brienne look on proudly. Jon sends Tormund to Eastwatch-by-the-Sea to help the Night’s Watch there. He also forgives Houses Umber and Karstark for their treason when young Ned Umber and Alys Karstark both bend the knee. Sansa undermines all of Jon’s decisions in front of everyone and then tells him he should be paying more attention to Cersei and her army. Littlefinger tries to manipulate Sansa, but she has no time for him.

• In King’s Landing, Jaime tries to talk to Cersei about Tommen’s death but she dismisses him, wanting to focus instead on defeating their enemies. Euron Greyjoy and his fleet arrive in King’s Landing and he proposes marriage to Cersei. She refuses and he decides to get a “gift” to convince her.

• Sam is learning to be a maester at the Citadel, which basically involves doing all the (literal) shit jobs. He tries to convince the archmaester that he needs to research the White Walkers, but the archmaester is dismissive. Still, Sam does what he can after hours, and finds information about a “mountain” of dragonglass on Dragonstone (which Stannis already told him about, but I guess he had to read it in a book to believe it). Also! Jorah is in one of the ~healing rooms~ at the Citadel, and his greyscale has gotten a lot worse.

• Arya rides through the Riverlands and stops to eat dinner with a bunch of Lannister soldiers (including Ed Sheeran!). She learns they’re people too, I guess. She tells them she’s going to King’s Landing to kill the queen…and they think she’s joking. Lol.

• The Hound rides with the Brotherhood Without Banners through a storm. They take refuge in an abandoned farmhouse where they find the bodies of a dead man and his daughter. The Hound gets a vision in the fire.

• Dany finally arrives at Dragonstone with her entourage, pulling down Stannis’ banners and going straight to the war room (you know, the one where Stannis and Melisandre banged on the table).

Symbolism, foreshadowing and callbacks:

• “The only thing standing between us and the army of the dead is the Wall.” Not ominous at all!

• Jon says “What did father used to say? Everything before the word ‘but’ is horse shit’.” This backs up what Benjen said in Season 1: “My brother once told me that nothing someone says before the word ‘but’ really counts.”

• Cersei is dressing a lot like Tywin, and she also sounds very Tywin when she says “whoever wins could launch a dynasty that could last a thousand years.”

• The farmhouse the Hound and the Brotherhood stay in is the one where Arya and the Hound stayed in Season 4. The Hound stole from the man and his daughter and told Arya they wouldn’t survive until winter. In this episode, he clearly regrets being right, showing how much he has changed. He even digs a grave for them (a nod to the gravedigger character who fans think is the Hound in the books) and tries to recite the prayer he heard the man saying.

• The Hound also gets a vision in the fire – he sees Eastwatch-by-the-Sea and a mountain that looks like an arrowhead, with the dead marching past. This is obviously foreshadowing the events of the end of the season.

• In the book Sam is reading about the use of dragonglass in Targaryen weapons, you can see a drawing of the catspaw dagger that was used in the attempt to kill Bran in Season 1. It shows up again later this season.

Stray observations:

• Fave line of the episode: “Tell them the North remembers. Tell them winter came for House Frey.”

• If the closest castle to Hardhome is Eastwatch-by-the-Sea, why didn’t Jon take the wildlings through there in Season 5, instead of Castle Black?

• I still can’t get over that Cersei just declared herself queen with no consequences. I guess everyone is too afraid to do anything about it?

• It really is a great moment seeing Dany touch Westeros land after six whole seasons of waiting for it.

The Big Plot Stuff:

• At Dragonstone, Dany confronts Varys about his role in the assassination attempt on her life in Season 1, and asks him to tell her to her face if she’s doing something wrong rather than conspiring behind her back (HMMMM). Melisandre arrives and tells Dany to invite Jon Snow to Dragonstone. Dany later holds a war council with her allies and they all urge her to attack King’s Landing immediately, but she reveals she’s following Tyrion’s plan to lay siege on the city rather than destroy it. Yara and Theon take Ellaria and the Sand Snakes on their fleet to travel to Dorne to pick up their army so they can surround King’s Landing, but on the way Euron attacks. He kills Obara and Nym and captures Ellaria, Tyene and Yara. Theon escapes.

• Grey Worm and Missandei have sex.

• Sansa, Jon and Davos agree that it’s too dangerous for him to go to Dragonstone to meet Dany – until Jon receives word from Sam that there’s dragonglass there. He departs, much to the dismay of the Northern lords and Sansa (although she quietens down when he leaves her in charge).

• Cersei uses the racism of the lords of Westeros to convince them to fight for her over Daenerys – specifically Randyll Tarly. Meanwhile, Qyburn has developed a weapon he hopes will destroy dragons.

• Sam cures Jorah’s greyscale.

• Arya arrives at the Inn at the Crossroads and sees Hot Pie, who tells her Jon is the King in the North. This makes her change her plans and she heads towards Winterfell, to home and family, rather than continuing her revenge quest to King’s Landing. On the way there, she sees Nymeria (who is now HUGE) and her wolfpack. She asks Nymeria to go home with her, but Nymeria turns away.

Symbolism, foreshadowing and callbacks:

• Dany mockingly says to Varys, “They cry out for their true queen? They drink secret toasts to my health?” Which is what Illyrio Mopatis told Viserys about the people of Westeros in Season 1.

• Dany also tells Varys “if you ever betray me, I’ll burn you alive”. Just leaving this here for safekeeping.

• It’s significant that Missandei reveals the prophecy about the Prince That Was Promised is actually gender-neutral. It’s also interesting that Melisandre won’t commit to saying Dany is ~the one~ and admits that “prophecies are dangerous things”. She says “I believe you have a role to play. As does another – the King in the North, Jon Snow.” The fact their roles are apparently to be played together is evidence of the idea that Dany and Jon will have a baby and that the baby will be important somehow in the fight against the darkness.

• Dany says Jon sounds like “quite a man”, which is reminiscent of Sam’s reaction to hearing about her experiences in Season 5.

• Sam brings up meeting Shireen at Castle Black – where he heard her talk about how she was cured of greyscale – as a reason to treat Jorah.

• Hot Pie’s “she must have been a knight, she had armour on” theory continues.

• Jon chokes Littlefinger in exactly the way Ned did in Season 1. Papa Stark would be proud.

• When Arya says “that’s not you” to Nymeria, she’s referring to what she said to Ned back in Season 1 when he told her she’d be a lady – “that’s not me”. It shows she understands that Nymeria is truly wild now, and like Arya, the life of a lady in a castle isn’t fit for her.

Stray observations:

• It’s really interesting that Dany, who has been driven by the idea of “home” since the beginning, doesn’t feel like Dragonstone is “home”.

• Am I the only one who was deeply offended by the destruction of Balerion’s skull?

• Arya is so weird in the scene with Hot Pie, like she’s forgotten how to be a normal human. But she interacted with the Lannister men fine in the previous episode? Her character arc this season is so confusing.

• I remember getting so emotional seeing Jon in the crypts, NEAR LYANNA’S STATUE. I really hope there’s a scene in which he actually stands in front of it once he knows the truth.

• I will defend Theon til the day I die.

The Big Plot Stuff:

• Jon arrives at Dragonstone with Davos and is met on the beach by Tyrion, Missandei and the Dothraki. They confiscate Jon’s weapons and boat and escort him to meet Dany. Jon and Davos see a dragon for the first time. Dany and Jon finally meet (!!!!) and it doesn’t go entirely well. There’s a lot of tension and Jon refuses to bend the knee, while Dany refuses to ally with him if he doesn’t do so. Jon gets all broody and Tyrion tells him to ask for something more “reasonable”, so he asks to mine the dragonglass. On Tyrion’s advice, Dany agrees to allow it.

• The Unsullied attack Casterly Rock, but find they win it too easily – because Jaime has sacrificed the Rock in order to attack Highgarden and obtain their stores of food and gold. The Lannisters win the (off-screen) battle, and Jaime poisons Olenna Tyrell, who still manages to get the last word by revealing it was her that killed Joffrey.

• The Ironborn fish Theon out of the water and aren’t impressed he’s still alive considering Yara has been taken. Meanwhile, Euron drags Yara, Ellaria and Tyene through the streets of King’s Landing before delivering Ellaria and Tyene to Cersei. Cersei is impressed and agrees to marry him “when the war is won”. She locks Ellaria and Tyene in the dungeons and poisons Tyene, leaving Ellaria to watch her daughter die. This makes Cersei super horny and she gives Jaime a BJ. Later, the Iron Bank comes calling and Cersei promises to pay back what the crown owes within a fortnight.

• Sansa is doing a great job as Lady of Winterfell, and Littlefinger keeps trying to manipulate her. Bran arrives home (!!!!) except he’s not really Bran anymore and his robotic behaviour is quite disconcerting to Sansa. Especially when he brings up her wedding night. Dammit, Bran!

• Sam is given the job of making copies of rotting old scrolls and manuscripts. A cured Jorah departs the citadel.

Symbolism, foreshadowing and callbacks:

• Tyrion and Jon reminisce about their previous travels together in Season 1, and Tyrion also reminds Jon he was married to Sansa. I can’t wait to see Tyrion and Sansa reunite in Season 8.

• Jon repeats his “I’m not a Stark” line just as a DRAGON SWOOPS HIM. It’s very on the nose but I love it.

• Melisandre says she has accomplished what she needed to by bringing “ice and fire together”. BABY FORESHADOWING.

• Melisandre also says “I have to die in this strange company, just like you” to Varys so, uh, guess we’re gonna see them both die in Season 8.

• When Dany says “I ask you not to judge a daughter for the sins of her father” it calls back to the previous episode in which Jon said “I will not punish a son for his father’s sins”, establishing an immediate connection between the two of them.

• Jon saying he’s not good at what he enjoys (killing) connects him with Rhaegar, while Dany talking about how they’ve both lost two brothers reinforces the parallels between the two of them.

• Cersei’s revenge doesn’t just call back to the way Ellaria killed Myrcella, it also connects her to the Mad King in the way she chains a parent and child near each other so one has to watch the other die (as the Mad King did to Rickard and Brandon Stark – Ned’s father and brother). Plus, the fact she is forcing Ellaria to watch her daughter’s face rot away calls back to Cersei describing her nightmares about Myrcella’s face rotting. It’s pretty twisted.

• As Jaime tells Olenna, his battle strategy is based on the one Robb was successful with in Season 1, which led to Robb capturing Jaime.

Stray observations:

• Dany and Jon’s meeting is one of my favourite scenes of the season. There’s so much going on.

• The people of King’s Landing cheering for Euron makes absolutely no sense to me.

• Sansa’s wig is distractingly bad in this episode.

• “Tell Cersei. I want her to know it was me.” RIP Olenna, a true icon.

The Big Plot Stuff:

• Littlefinger gives Bran the catspaw dagger that nearly killed him in Season 1. Meera leaves Winterfell (and, apparently, the plot). Arya arrives home (!!!!) and reunites with Sansa and then Bran. Bran gives Arya the catspaw dagger. Arya trains with Brienne and it’s glorious – except for the fact Sansa is clearly bothered by it (not helped by Littlefinger whispering in her ear).

• The Iron Bank agrees to back Cersei if she hires sellswords, as she’s successfully paid back her debt to them thanks to the gold from Highgarden.

• Jon shows Dany the dragonglass they found in the cave on Dragonstone, and then reveals some Children of the Forest carvings he found that indicate men and the Children fought together against the White Walkers. Dany agrees to fight with him if he bends the knee.

• Tyrion and Varys break the news about Casterly Rock being a fake-out, and Dany is furious. She wants to attack King’s Landing immediately. She asks Jon for his advice, and he urges caution. Later, Davos suggests Jon has a thing for Dany. Meanwhile, Theon arrives back at Dragonstone and is surprised to find Jon there. The two of them have a tense exchange.

• The Lannister army are transporting the grain from the Reach into King’s Landing when Daenerys (on the back of Drogon) and the Dothraki attack. They absolutely decimate the Lannisters and Jaime is horrified – as is Tyrion, who looks on in shock. Bronn uses Qyburn’s scorpion to shoot Drogon in thee shoulder, and when Dany lands to remove the spear, Jaime tries to kill her. Drogon almost kills him instead – Bronn saves him and knocks him into the water just in time.

Symbolism, foreshadowing and callbacks:

• Bran says to Littlefinger, “chaos is a ladder”, quoting what he said to Varys back in Season 3.

• The scene where the two guards block Arya from entering Winterfell is a callback to Season 1, when the two goldcloaks wouldn’t let her enter the Red Keep.

• Sansa tells Arya that Jon will be overjoyed to see her again, and I CAN’T WAIT for their reunion in Season 8!

• The patterns on the wall in the cave are like those shown throughout the series in relation to the White Walkers as well as Jon and Dany. Here’s a theory: the fact Jon shows them to Dany while talking about how they need to fight “together” – and the fact that the two main patterns are seen intertwined – could perhaps foreshadow a Boatsex baby, and the fact it will be the key to defeating the Night King.

• Dany says to Jon “isn’t their survival more important than your pride” to convince him to bend the knee, which is basically exactly what Jon said to Mance Rayder. Jon is shook and it clearly gets him thinking and sets him on the path to actually bending the knee.

• When Dany and Jon walk out of the cave, not only are they perfectly in sync, indicating their strengthening connection, Dany is show in icy blue light while Jon is lit by fire, suggesting they’re ~influencing~ each other more and more.

• Dany says “what kind of a queen am I if I’m not willing to risk my life to fight” which echoes what Jon said in the Battle of the Bastards and shows how similar the two of them are once again.

• Missandei says “she’s the queen we chose”, which again connects Dany to Jon – as Davos pointed out in the previous episode, Jon is the leader chosen by the North. The two of them are, quite literally, the ~chosen~ ones.

• Davos does the “fewer” thing Stannis was known for. He clearly learnt something from him!

Stray observations:

• Meera is so accurate when she says Bran essentially died in that cave. It’s almost more heartbreaking to see him no longer be Bran anymore.

• That being said, it makes my heart swell EVERY TIME to see those three Stark kids in Winterfell, together again.

• What is it with Jon Snow and taking girls in caves, amirite?

• The fact that Theon’s first thought upon seeing Jon is to ask whether Sansa is okay makes me *sob*.

The Big Plot Stuff:

• Jaime arrives back in King’s Landing and tells Cersei what happened. The only thing that bothers her is the news that Olenna was the one who killed Joffrey, because she allowed Jaime to make her death too easy.

• Dany rounds up the remainders of the Lannister army, including Randyll and Dickon Tarly. She commands them to bend the knee but they refuse, so she has Drogon burn Randyll and Dickon alive, despite Tyrion’s protests. The rest of the men immediately bend the knee. Dany returns to Dragonstone, to a waiting Jon, who has a nice moment with Drogon, which Dany seems impressed by. Then Jorah arrives and Dany embraces him, which makes Jon all pouty.

• Bran wargs into some ravens and sends them north of the Wall, where he sees the White Walkers and their army marching closer to Westeros. He has ravens sent out with a warning. At the Citadel, they’re dismissive of the news, despite Sam urging them there’s truth in it. On Dragonstone the news is treated with more seriousness, although Dany doesn’t want to travel North to help without the assurance that Cersei won’t take back the rest of the country. Tyrion comes up with his (terrible) plan to trap a wight and take it to King’s Landing. Jorah and Jon enter a pissing competition over who is the bravest, which means they’re both going on a wight hunt. Dany is not happy.

• Davos smuggles Tyrion into King’s Landing to set up a meeting with Cersei for the wight display. Bronn tricks Jaime into seeing Tyrion, but Cersei finds out about the meeting and blames Jaime. She reveals she’s pregnant and Jaime is happy, until Cersei threatens him if he ever betrays her again. Meanwhile, Davos finds Gendry (!!!!) smithing right back where he started. Gendry immediately leaves with Davos, knocking out two gold cloaks so they can escape with Tyrion. Davos warns Gendry to lie about his identity to Jon, but Gendry immediately tells him who he is and volunteers to go on the wight hunt. The Suicide Squad depart Dragonstone, with Dany watching emotionally from the shore.

• The Suicide Squad arrive at Eastwatch-by-the-Sea and their numbers grow – Tormund agrees to go with them, and reveals he caught Beric, Thoros and the Hound, who are also keen to join the fight. The squad put their (many, many) differences aside to join together and go beyond the Wall.

• At Winterfell, the Northern lords are getting restless and frustrated that Jon has been away for so long. Arya suspects Sansa of wanting to seize Jon’s power, especially after seeing her in the lord’s chambers. Arya follows Littlefinger to figure out what’s going on, but the problem is he knows she’s following and deliberately plants Sansa’s note to Robb from Season 1 so that Arya will turn even more against Sansa.

• At the Citadel, Gilly is reading an old maester’s diary when she says a prince “Ragger” (that’d be Rhaegar) had his marriage annulled and was wed to someone else in a secret ceremony. Despite Sam not listening, this is a huge moment – it foreshadows what we see later in the season, that Rhaegar and Lyanna were secretly married, and Jon is a legitimate Targaryen. Meanwhile, Sam is fed up with his lack of progress at the Citadel, and he and Gilly leave.

Symbolism, foreshadowing and callbacks:

• Varys and Tyrion are very concerned over Dany’s treatment of the Tarlys and discuss her relation to the Mad King. It could be setting up for trouble for Dany amongst her followers in Season 8.

• Jon mentions the first wight he ever saw being brought into Castle Black – he is of course referring to the wight that attacked Jeor Mormont back in Season 1.

• Davos’ line to Gendry about rowing is a nod to all those rowing memes.

• Gendry’s hair is so short because he’s trying to hide his distinctive Baratheon looks. But his warhammer is a direct reference to his father Robert’s weapon of choice.

• Jon and Gendry’s meeting is a callback to Ned and Robert’s reunion in Season 1.

• When Sam says he’s “tired of reading about the achievements of better men”, he’s quoting his awful father (you know, the one Dany just murdered).

• A reminder of what Sansa’s note to Robb said: “Robb, I write to you with a heavy heart. Our good king Robert is dead, killed from wounds he took in a boar hunt. Father has been charged with treason. He conspired with Robert’s brothers against my beloved Joffrey and tried to steal his throne. The Lannisters are treating me very well and provide me with every comfort. I beg you: Come to King’s Landing, swear fealty to King Joffrey and prevent any strife between the great houses of Lannister and Stark.”

Stray observations:

• Are we really supposed to believe Ghost is just moping around Winterfell, waiting for Jon to get home? Okay.

• I hate the forced tension between Sansa and Arya so much. It would make sense if it was a show for Littlefinger, but the cast and crew have said it wasn’t, which is really annoying.

• GENDRY!!!!!!! That is all.

• Dany! Has grown used! To the King in the North! A.k.a. she luuuurves him.

The Big Plot Stuff:

• The Suicide Squad walk and talk and walk and talk beyond the Wall. They find the mountain that looks like an arrowhead from the Hound’s vision earlier in the season. They come across a wight polar bear, which can only be killed with dragonglass (not just fire), and Thoros is badly injured. They carry on and end up trapping a wight and killing a White Walker – which causes most of the wights near him to simultaneously die (important! information!).

• The screams of the trapped wight bring the army of the dead and the rest of the White Walkers down on the Suicide Squad. Jon sends Gendry back to the Wall to send a raven to Dany. The rest of the squad make it to the centre of a frozen lake and are protected by the cracked ice because wights can’t swim. Thoros dies while waiting for help, and the ice freezes back over so the wights attack. Dany swoops in with her dragons just in time to save the boys, but the Night King spears Viserion and he dies. Jon urges Dany to leave despite the fact he isn’t on Drogon yet (while the others are) because he sees the Night King readying another spear. Dany reluctantly leaves, and Jon is knocked into the water by some wights. Somehow he resurfaces, and Benjen arrives and gives Jon his horse. Benjen is overcome with wights, but Jon makes it back to the Wall, to a relieved Dany.

• Beric stays with Tormund at Eastwatch-by-the-Sea, while everyone else departs on the boat. Dany sees Jon’s scars and seems to make the connection between them and Davos’ earlier “took a knife in the heart for his people” line. Later, when Jon wakes up, he bonds with a grieving Dany and then (metaphorically) bends the knee.

• Arya confronts Sansa about the note she sent to Robb, and Sansa (truthfully) says she was forced to write it by Cersei. Sansa freaks out that the Northern lords will turn against her, and Littlefinger tries to manipulate her further and drive a wedge between her and Jon and Arya. Sansa sends Brienne to King’s Landing in her place after Cersei requests her presence. Sansa sneaks into Arya’s room to retrieve the note and finds Arya’s faces instead. Arya confronts Sansa and it’s all very threatening. Sigh.

• The episode ends with the Night King raising Viserion from the dead and turning him into a wight dragon (SOB).

Symbolism, foreshadowing and callbacks:

• Arya’s story about Ned watching her practice archery is reminiscent of him watching her train with Syrio, as well as him watching the boys train in the first episode back in Season 1.

• Jon insisting Winterfell is the North despite Tormund calling it “south” calls back to his Season 2 conversation with Craster about not being a “southerner”.

• Tormund telling Jon he’s spent too much time with the free folk to kneel echoes what he said to him back in Season 4 about never being a kneeler again. Tormund saying “how many of [Mance’s] people died for his pride” also connects with both Jon and Dany’s comments “isn’t their survival more important than your pride”. It’s another nudge for Jon to bend the knee.

• Gendry telling Beric and Thoros, “I wanted to be one of you, I wanted to join the Brotherhood” echoes what Arya said to them about Gendry after they sold him back in Season 3.

• Jorah talks of Jeor Mormont’s death and Jon says “I hate that he died that way”. What Jorah doesn’t know is that Jon himself died in the exact same way – butchered by the very men he would have died for.

• The scene where Jon tries to give Longclaw to Jorah echoes the scene in Season 1 when Jeor gave it to Jon. Then Jorah’s response about it serving Jon and his children hints at a future BOATSEX BABY.

• Beric reveals that Ned sent him off to hunt the Mountain in Season 1, and says to Jon “you don’t look much like him…I suppose you favour your mother.” FORESHADOWING.

• Beric also tells Jon, “you and I won’t find much joy while we’re here, but we can keep others alive”, which calls back to when Maester Aemon said to Jon “you will find little joy in your command, but with luck, you’ll find the strength to do what needs to be done.”

• The mountain shaped like an arrowhead has been seen on the show before – in Bran’s vision about the creation of the White Walkers, and also when Bran was touched by the Night King.

• Jorah asks Thoros about his actions at the siege of Pyke – something he previously talked about with Barristan in Season 3.

• At Dragonstone, Tyrion tells Dany that Jon is in love with her and raises the issue of succession with her. FORESHADOWING.

• The fact the White Walkers have three ice spears and don’t just, you know, freeze the lake over immediately, suggests they were in fact setting a trap for Dany’s dragons.

• Beric mentions that killing the Night King will probably kill all the Walkers and the wights. So that should be the target for Season 8, I guess.

• Beric says to the Hound “we’ll meet again”, which seems true judging by the Season 8 trailer, which shows them fighting together.

• Dany drops the whole “the dragons are the only children I’ll ever have” thing, which I think is more about setting up the exact opposite scenario here. Especially because the events of this episode seem to tie in with her vision in the House of the Undying (more on that here).

• Dany says the last person to call her “Dany” (within the show) was her brother, Viserys – I suppose Jon’s use of the family nickname is a hint about who he is, or perhaps just how affectionate he’s feeling towards Dany. Of course, it’s no wonder she’s not keen on the nickname, considering who Viserys was – and the fact the last time she heard it was as Viserys was dying at the hands of Khal Drogo.

Stray observations:

• Arya’s treatment of Sansa “serving” the Lannisters is a bit hypocritical – apparently she forgot all that time she was Tywin’s cupbearer?! Ugh I despise this whole subplot.

• As flawed as the whole wight hunt plan is, I actually really enjoy the walks and talks beyond the Wall. There are some lovely moments in there.

• I still can’t believe we didn’t see any Ghost this season because they blew the CGI budget on a freaking wight polar bear.

• How did Gendry manage to run all that way? How did the Suicide Squad not all freeze to death? Why didn’t the light a fire with Beric’s sword for warmth? Why is this episode full of SO MANY PLOT HOLES and problems, I can’t handle it?

• Viserion. 🙁 🙁 🙁

• And Benjen! 🙁 It’s brutal that Jon spent so long wondering about his uncle and then gets to see him for literally two seconds before he dies.

• I love the boat scene with Dany and Jon. The way he looks at her!!

The Big Plot Stuff:

• Team Dany, Team Jon and Team Cersei all meet in the dragonpit at King’s Landing. There are a lot of reunions – some more fraught than others. It’s very fanservicey but great. They unleash the wight, which freaks everyone out – even Cersei. Euron nopes out of there (although really he’s pretending to abandon Cersei, and we later learn he’s headed to Essos to fetch the Golden Company).

• Jon shows how to kill the wight with fire or dragonglass. Cersei agrees to a truce if Jon will bend the knee to her, invoking Ned Stark and his honour. It has the opposite effect on Jon than Cersei intends, and Jon admits the truth – he’s already bent the knee to Daenerys. Cersei leaves in a huff. Brienne urges Jaime to “fuck loyalty” and convince Cersei to act.

• Tyrion goes alone to negotiate with Cersei, while Dany and Jon get cozy in a quiet corner of the dragonpit. Tyrion realises Cersei is pregnant, and we don’t get to see the end of their negotiations (leading many to believe Tyrion has secretly cut a deal with Cersei). Cersei announces she will send the Lannister troops North to fight alongside Dany and Jon’s armies against the army of the dead. When Jaime starts to make plans for this, Cersei reveals she was lying. Jaime is horrified and leaves, heading North alone (FINALLY!!!).

• Sansa isn’t happy to receive the news Jon has bent the knee. Littlefinger uses it to drive a further wedge between her and her siblings. But Sansa finally realises the truth and she, Arya and Bran confront Littlefinger about his crimes. Arya executes him with the catspaw dagger. Sansa and Arya then bond over memories of Ned.

• Jon convinces Dany to travel to Winterfell on a boat with him so they can present a united front and have EPIC BOATSEX.

• Theon convinces the remaining Ironborn to help him rescue Yara.

• Sam, Gilly and baby Sam (because he’s somehow STILL A BABY?!) arrive at Winterfell. Bran tells Sam about Jon being Rhaegar and Lyanna’s son, and Sam connects the dots that Rhaegar and Lyanna were married. Bran is able to see the wedding in a vision, confirming Jon is not a bastard – he’s Aegon Targaryen, the heir to the Iron Throne.

• Bran sends his warg-ravens to Eastwatch-by-the-Sea just in time to witness THE NIGHT KING AND VISERION DESTROYING IT. The Wall comes down and the army of the dead invade Westeros. EEK.

Symbolism, foreshadowing and callbacks:

• The Hound is pleased to learn Arya is alive from Brienne. They better get a good reunion in Season 8.

• The Hound confronts the Mountain, setting up for CLEGANEBOWL. GET HYPE.

• Jon and Dany’s conversation in the dragonpit about whether she can have children – and Jon pointing out Mirri Maz Duur probably wasn’t a “reliable source of information” – foreshadows BOATSEX BABY.

• Jon tells Theon that Ned Stark is still a part of him, and that he doesn’t have to choose between his two identities – he’s a Greyjoy and a Stark. It’s a touching moment, but it also connects with Jon’s own story, and hints at how he’ll be able to reconcile learning the truth.

• Arya says “in winter, we must protect ourselves, look after one another”, which is something Ned told her back in Season 1. Sansa replies, “when the snows fall and the white winds blow, the lone wolf dies, but the pack survives” – which I sure hope is foreshadowing that the Starks will be a PACK (ie not fighting amongst themselves) who SURVIVES. But I’m not holding my breath.

Stray observations:

• Yes, I’m obsessed with the fact that it’s Brienne’s words that push Jaime towards leaving Cersei.

• I kind of hate the way the boatsex scene was cut together with Rhaegar and Lyanna’s wedding. Like sure, remind us this is very incesty, great, thanks! And also that they will maybe fight over the throne! Cool!

• The line “he’s never been a bastard” does make me very emotional every time. Jon has always hated being a bastard, and the fact he never was one – that he was very much wanted, and born out of love, not dishonour and shame – just makes my heart explode.

• Moment of appreciation for Jon Snow’s butt.

• Tormund and Beric likely escaped along the top of the Wall and headed to Castle Black.

• OMG WE MADE IT TO THE END OF SEASON 7! BRING ON SEASON 8!!!