Truly we have reached the endgame forGame of Thrones.
When showrunners David Benioff and D.B.
A pack of Stark wolves and the world out to devour them.
Well the wolves bit back tonight, and it was a glory to behold.
Its the season of the wolf, and one of their own has the best claim for the throne.
Khaleesi has already made a similar mistake when she shackled Viserion and Rhaegal beneath the Great Pyramid of Meereen.
My personal favorite though was Brienne of Tarths double take at seeing the Hound alive andtechnicallyon her side.
If ever there has been a better personification of politics breeds strange bedfellows, I havent seen it.
The Hound versus the Mountain will definitely happen in the final season.
And Im still unsure George R.R.
Martin would ever give readers something as anticipated as these two awful brothers entering mortal combat.
You know whos coming for you, brother.
Dany at least makes a grand entrance with the ultimate power move.
Before the confrontation began, Cersei hilariously asked the Mountain to kill Dany if/when things go south.
Good luck with that, buddy.
And to top it all off,Danys late.
You dont need fire breathing monsters to have a CEO pull that kind of shtick on you nowadays.
Cersei is annoyed, and for good reason.
I must admit Im curious about what Cerseis original plan was for this meeting.
She obviously did not believe White Walkers and zombies existed.
Almost every last one of her living enemies was in the same place at the same time.
Whatever her initial plan was, it ultimately would fall apart very quickly.
There is something satisfying about a plan coming together.
But nonetheless it came together, because he finally provides irrefutable proof thatseas levels are risingthe dead are walking.
It is hard to dismiss corpses when theyre breathing down your face.
Jon Snow even behaves like an old timey magician with the Hound as his assistant.
One helpfully carves the subject in half, and the other burns his hand for maximum impact.
Its like someone blasted a gust of icy wind across the arena.
The two reactions that most impressed me were Jaime Lannister and Qyburn.
Heres hoping they burned all the pieces of the wights body before Qyburn got it back to his lab.
But Cersei is much more practical.
So the dead are walking?
Whats in it for her?
Well, here is Exhibit… Z?
And Jon cannot make that pledge.
In that case, hell do exactly what followed.
Hence more evidence that it doesnt matter on a personal level who biologically sired Jon Snow.
He is Lord Eddard Starks son.
Aye, hes more Ned than any of Nedsactualchildren.
And like Ned, he walked straight into a trap laid by Cersei Lannister.
Dany and Tyrion also are far too quick to coddle the King in the North.
Yeah sure, Jonny, but were fucked.
Jon wouldnt end up with any better results in the south than his papa did.
Luckily, Tyrion is on-hand to give us the best scene of the night.
SheneedsTyrion and Daenerys to believe that she has been swayed by their admittedly air-tight science.
But she is stillsoootempted to kill him.
On this solitary point, I side with Cersei.
Tywin deserved to die, and Tyrion deserved that vengeance.
The first is the Starks, and how they will in the end carry on through any storm.
And honestly, Dany might just be the fuse to make that smoky ruin commence.
This is interesting since Im not entirely sure how many bannermen are left in the south.
And they too got burned up pretty badly on the Blackwater Rush.
And Jaime is ecstatic.
His regret probably only dug in Cerseis resolve to screw the North over further.
Plus, fairly out of character, Brienne said, Fuck loyalty.
This is akin to Daenerys swearing off the Iron Throne (which aint going to happen).
The times are a-changin when the Beauty of Tarth is dropping some beautiful four-letter words regarding her honor.
Yet Cersei would love to deny him this.
And this betrayal goes back to Jaimes strong reaction to seeing a wight with his own eyes.
But you cannot reason with the unreasonable.
Cersei Lannister does not care about existential threats, for in her mind, her selfish desiresarethe world.
At least it inspires Jaime Lannister to finally do what other leaders should: abandon the Mad Monarch.
Jaimes leaving of Cersei long overdue.
He also chooses to follow Brienne of Tarth.
The Kingslayer calls it and waltzes right past the Mountain without looking back.
These sequences between the Lannister twins also lays some of the most important groundwork for season 8.
He too is supported by the Golden Company, who were founded by a member of the Blackfyre family.
Also, it now becomes clear what is going to happen.
But that is not to be.
First of all, there is no more Wall.
More importantly though, the final battle against the living and the dead will now be at Winterfell.
It also isnt the true final battle.
This isnt Middle-earth, and the final battle will be between shades of living, fleshy gray.
Among those living are the members of House Stark, who finally got their act together.
Returning to Winterfell during this finale was likely bittersweet for viewers.
And the first of these scenes is arguably the most artificial one yet.
With that said, Lady Stark took it pretty well that Jon Snow surrendered the North to Daenerys Targaryen.
And after some dramatic, snowy soul searching, Sansa makes her final decision: to take Littlefingers head.
Sansa brings Arya before her in the Great Hall with all the Lords and many guards gathered.
How do you answer these charges, Lord Baelish?Snap.
For the first and last time in Littlefingers life, he got played and then got pretty much flayed.
Instead, the human-rat just pathetically pleaded it again and again, looking for his salvation.
Eventually, all he can do is wheeze with that endearingly smarmy Irish gravel, Sansa!
as Arya uses his own knife to slice his throat wide open.
It was the unavoidable ending to this subplot that all viewers knew was coming.
That doesnt change the level of glee that came with watching him bleed.
As it turns out, there was some justice left in this world for Ned Stark.
And for that, he received his long overdue death.
I will preemptively disagree.
What is the worst possible reason for someone to do something?
That is when she clicked in that Littlefinger was turning her against Arya.
That is when Sansa laid the trap.
Its also a very nice sequence for sullied book readers.
Look after one another.
These are words Ned tells Arya after shes being particularly spiteful to Sansa.
We love the Starks for those lessons and their virtues.
He forgives Theon for as many of his trespasses as he can.
Jon throws as much as shade as is possible in his countenance.
No, not compared to you.
Or asGuardians of the Galaxy Vol.
2memorably surmised it this past summer, He might be your father, but he aint your daddy.
Theyre children of Ned Stark.
And the Starks belong in the North.
The only reason this cheese is consumable is because one should never underestimate the stupidity of the Iron Islands.
Given how some fanboys salivate, thats a nice subversion.
Be that as it may, the scenes romance is doubly undercut.
The first slice against it is that Tyrion Lannister stands outside, longingly.
Is he jealous of the King in the North?
It seems all men must die… and fall in love with Daenerys Targaryen upon meeting her.
(And who can blame them?)
But why put this in the finale of the penultimate season?
It would seem that Benioff and Weiss are setting up Tyrions need for romantic love to be concluded.
The reveal comes from Samwell Tarly and Bran Stark having a heart-to-heart.
Ergo, he has a better claim to the throne than Daenerys Targaryen.
Undoubtedly this will prove awkward next season when Jon and presumably Dany find out that theyre related.
Oh, and she should be bending the knee to him.
The final sequence of the night was inevitable since poor Viserion opened his icy blue eyes.
This dragon died, for all intents and purposes, so that Jaime Lannister could ride North by himself.
That remains a steep price though.
Yet it is also necessary.
Thus the Walls destruction is almost a formality.
As the Wall falls, were also left unsure about the fates of Tormund Giantsbane and Beric Dondarrion.
But its an old TV trope logic that if we dont see a body, theyre alive.
I enjoyed the episode too much to worry about those plot contrivances right now.
And with that,Game of Thronescompletes its journey into the endgame.
I genuinely hope that the aforementioned plot contrivances are over.
Well that ice literally is flying through the air in the final moments of season 7.
The end is here.
Weve reached the point where Frodo is at Mt.
Doom and Aragorn is charging the Orcs.
Weve at last come to the end of things.
Whenever season 8 gets here, hopefully it will be a magnificent conclusion.
This season finale was an overall damn fine start.
Rating:
4.5 out of 5
