ThisGame of Thronesreview contains spoilers.
However, I was wrong.
Jaime and Bronn paid no price, iron or otherwise, for their folly in attacking a dragon.
One of them should probably be dead and the other captured.
And the tension of Tyrion begging Dany for Jaimes life could offer so many dramatic possibilities.
Nor did Tyrion look for the brother he saw almost barbecued.
All of which is to say this is the kind of convenient plotting that George R.R.
Martin so thoroughly skewered when Ned lost his head.
My guess is that deep down he still prefers Tyrion.
Well, almost all of them.
As it turns out, Lord Randyll Tarly developed a spine fairly late in the game.
Yet, it is entirely believable that Randyll would draw the line at supporting Dany.
But not out of loyalty to his oath.
Nay, this is just pure racism.
So the moment is really more about creating a litmus test for audiences.
Do you agree with Daenerys for turning Randyll and then poor, surprisingly decent Dickon Tarly into ash?
It depends on whether you place more value on morality or medieval integrity.
This is doubly important for Tyrion, and later Varys, because these are their countrymen.
Randyll and Dickon are also like Tyrion in that they were born into wealth and privilege.
And she means to execute them?These things simply arent done.
But Dany already had drawn her red line when she said bend the knee or die.
If she went back on it, theyd accuse her of not living up to her word.
If you promise fire and fury and then dont deliver, integrity becomes almost instantaneously shot.
Further, from a medieval perspective, making an example out of one enemy is just good politics.
For the record, this includes Tyrions own ancestors.
So morally speaking, what Daenerys did is abhorrent.
From a realpolitik vantage, particularly onGame of Thrones, she made a shrewd calcuation.
She can even now give the Reach to any lord in the area who shows excessive fealty.
Theres a decent chance, they neednt both die.
Then again, theyre not the last Tarlys.
Yep, Samwell Tarly is a newly minted college dropout whos become disillusioned with the world.
Even if he is a bit oblivious about it at the moment.
In the primary narrative, Sam discovered that academia isnt what its cracked up to be.
For the Sake of the Mother, theres only eight episodes ofGame of Thronesleft ever!
However, Sam and Gilly are pretty safe for several reasons.
Granted, Sam is still a member of the Nights Watch.
Rather, he is a trueborn Targaryen!
In a very sneaky way, David Benioff and D.B.
Prince Rhaegar, for those who dont recall, is Daenerys older brother and Jon Snows father.
How will this blow up in season 8?
Likely with wedding bellsespecially once the Northern lords discover that their King in the North is actually a Targaryen.
But that is something to discuss for another day…. Nay, he signaled his Targaryen blood further by petting a curiously reciprocal Drogon.
Either way, I was fascinated by Dany reacting to this interaction.
I suspect she wanted to shake Jon Snows calm but found herself intrigued that he stood his ground.
It looks like Drogon could be getting a new stepdad soon enough.
Which is weird since, if Drogon is really Danys child, then he and Jon are also cousins.
Also, it is here that I must tip the hat and bend the knee for Daenerys.
And honestly, its surprising how moving this reunion actually turned out to be.
That or Im still a sucker for how Iain Glen growls, Khaleesi.
In fact, its a bit perplexing why she isnt laying siege to Kings Landing right now.
Let the people turn on the incestuous queen.
Thus at last, Tyrion gets to makea good decisionthis season.
After proving himself to be a lousy general for offensive maneuvers, Tyrion makes an acute political calculation.
Find evidence that temperatures are rising every year.
Thus Jon Snow and Tyrion are deployed to do what they do best: fight and talk.
Jon recently lamented that he doesnt enjoy what hes good at while Tyrion does.
That might be true, but we enjoy both of them doing their thing.
Hence there was no doubt Daenerys would allow Jon Snow to retrieve his zombie.
It does underscore though a growing romantic tension.
Apparently Ser Davos has become quite the savvy political player over the last few seasons.
But the most satisfying action he took was bringing Gendry back into the series.
Sure, but in this case oh, so satisfying.
Gendry is also in a hurry to make up for lost time.
Pulling out the kind of war hammer that would have made his daddy proud, hes off to fight.
About damn time, kid.
Tyrions homecoming was decidedly colder.
Conversely, Tyrion had every reason to pull that trigger.
What does the kinslayer need from the kingslayer?
As it turns out, a detente.
This, more than anything weve seen this season, is mind-bogglingly incredulous.
Cersei is not Tywin Lannister, and David Benioff and D.B.
Another twisted family dynamic is spinning out of control in the North.
However, Sansa is still behaving like a consummate politician, deflecting bad ideas and keeping the constituents happy.
And we thought Robb Stark made poor game moves when he beheaded Karstark or married a non-Frey?
I do sincerely wonder if any viewer was actually fooled by Littlefingers faux-oblivious act.
But Littlefinger is no mark on the street of Braavos.
Arya took the bait, hook, line, and sinker.
They saw the political machinations at work.
But Arya doesnt seem to believe in politics.
Say a bad word about Jon?
Your head should be rotting on a spike.
Apparently ask Robb to side with Joffrey while their father suffered in a black cell?
Well… heres an interesting thought: Arya kills Sansa next week.
Littlefinger is trying to obviously play the Stark sisters off each other.
But just as he underestimated Ramsay and then Bran, perhaps he doesnt know just how bloodthirsty Arya is?
Shes a fighter, but theres a fair analysis to be made Arya is also a bit unhinged.
Still, I dont believe that is what will happen.
Itd be a shocking choice, but I imagine Arya will merelythreatento kill Sansa.
And then the older sister will put the dots together and perhaps turn that anger in Petyrs direction.
At this point, it is a family tradition.
And theyre all out of bubble gum.
And it doesnt matter.
For fucks sake, will you shut your hole?
Are we coming with you or not?
You are going, Sandor, but you might regret it.
Yet I imagine a few of them are not going to survive into the season finale in two weeks.
But thats for next week.
If these characters survive a tussle with the Night King, fireworks will rain.
But there will be no dragons nearby to make that expression an actual reality.
In the here and now, we had a very good episode with just a few tumbles.
Rating:
3.5 out of 5
