Let’s begin with:
The Reach: Jaime is alive!
Bronn hauls him out.
He saved his life yet again.
Credit: HBO
Still, Jaime could sound a bit more grateful.
Jaime tends to treat Bronn the same way he treats anybody else not of noble birth: as less-than.
It’s not personal; it’s just how he’s been raised to view the world.
Bronn, bless him, doesn’t care about titles and treats everybody the same.
Notwell, mind you, but the same.
Their conflicting attitudes about their position in life is part of what makes their relationship fun to watch.
Nearby: Dany gives the remaining Lannister army one of her hearts-and-minds campaign stump speeches.
It doesn’t go over quite as well as usual.
This like a presidential candidate trying win Ohio after nuking the population of Cleveland.
So Dany throws in a bonus motivator: “Bend the knee or DIE.”
But not the Tarlys!
They don’t want to back some foreign queen and break their vow to Cersei.
Or, at least, papa Randyll doesn’t want to.
Tyrion objects to Dany’s harsh ultimatum.
Why not just take prisoners?
Dany points out she can’t go to Westeros saying, “You get a cell!
You get a cell!”
like some Targaryen Oprah.
The Tarlys still won’t back down, and Drogon burns them.
The remaining Lannister holdouts drop to their knees.
Dany’s quite satisfied.That’smore like it!
Jon’s odds, I reckon, have never been higher.
She lands Drogon on the cliff.
But this is where things get really interesting.
Jon is freaked out by Drogon, but not quite as scared as everybody else usually is.
The dragon effects herethat snout, those eyes, those teethare incredible.
Suddenly Drogon examines Jon closer, almost sniffing him.
Dany is like:What.
Then Jon reaches out andpets her killer dragon.
Dany is like:What?!
We get a rad close-up of Drogon’s eyereallytaking in Jon Snow.
The dragon is apparently the only character in this scene who knows what’s what.
Dany is shocked and impressed.
It’s always cool when your aggressive antisocial pet approves of your date.
Dany welcomes him back in his service.
At last, they’re reunited.
And the best part for lovestruck Ser Jorah: that seductive show-off Daario was left behind at Essos.
And now they can finally be tog
Ser Jorah sees Dany’s new “friend,” Jon Snow.
you’re free to just tell the poor guy is thinking:Ah, come on!
That’s it, I give up!
Winterfell interlude: Bran can use a flock of birds to spy on the enemy like Saruman.
He has a vision of the Night King and the Army of the Dead advancing on Eastwatcha.k.a.
Bran wants to do an r-mail breaking news alert to the entire country sounding the alarm.
Fly, ravens, fly!
Dany objects, and even threatens not to permit him to leave.
She’s still in war-with-Cersei mode.
And also, we realize: She doesn’t want Jon to go.Interesting…
Wait, Tyrion has a plan.
No, hear the man out; Tyrion’s plan might not be totally terrible this time!
she asks, swirling her glass of wine.
“That’s just one, how do I know there are more?").
So they’re going to need a team.
Jon Snow is going, of course.
Oh boy, this is where it gets good.
Did they think they could get by with just one?
Later, Bronn brings Jaime down into the Skull Room to have a secret meeting with Tyrion.
“[Our father] was going to execute me; he knew I was innocent.
He didn’t hate me because of what I did.
He hated me because of what I am,” Tyrion says, and it hurts our hearts.
Yet Jaime doesn’t want to hear it.
Tyrion offers a cessation of hostilities, which at the moment is definitely advantageous for Team Lannister.
Upstairs, Cersei, it seems, knew about the meeting.
She really is playing an advanced game here.
Cersei will attempt to play this to her advantage somehow.
The show continues to lay the groundwork for a pivotal Jaime versus Cersei conflict.
Also, Cersei has news of her own: She’s pregnant!
The Lannister line might continue after all.
This must give Cersei some hope.
Prophecies, as we know, are not always accurate onGoT.
Cersei’s pregnancy suggests Maggy might have missed something.
Next: Bromance of the Bastards
Fleabottom: It’s Gendry!
After three seasons away, the bastard blacksmith has put down his oars and is ready to kick ass.
Davos doesn’t need to ask him twice to join their team; he’s down for an adventure.
Dragonstone: Gendry arrives.
Davos told him to conceal his identity as King Robert’s bastard when meeting Jon.
This surprised me because Davos lying to Jon Snow seems like an out-of-character thing for him to do.
But the deception sets up a fun exchange when Gendry just blurts out he’s King Robert’s son.
Jon and Gendry’s parents were friends.
Maybe they can be friends too?
Last season we had Battle of the Bastards.
Now can we have Bromance of the Bastards?
Hey, Jon Snow, don’t feel bad; your hair adds at least three inches.
Sam tries to convince them to take the Night King seriously, but they’d rather not.
Which means Jon Snow is not only a Targaryen, but also a legitimate heir.
Also, Jon Snow wouldn’t be a bastard at all.
Somewhere in the afterlife, Ser Alliser Thorne is really annoyed.
Sam packs up some scrolls and decides to ditch the Citadel and go someplace he can be more useful.
He probably thinks he’s learned all he can.
Winterfell: Sansa is listening to the lords complain about Jon Snow being absent.
Arya steals the letter, and we see Littlefinger smirking in the shadows.
looks like he wanted her to find it.
The letter informed Robb Stark that Ned was a traitor and urged him to swear fealty to Joffrey.
Robb Stark and Maester Luwin saw right through itso her words didn’t change their fate.
But Arya and Sansa don’t know that.
“a then-ridiculous comment that seems downright prophetic now given where the Starks stand in rebellion to Cersei).
Tormund’s probably also wondering what’s been going on with Euron and Yara these past two episodes.
Having a man who cannot be killed, like Beric, is always handy when fighting zombie.
Does it make perfect sense that these magnificent dissonant seven would all join forces like grubby homicidalAvengerson a mission?
We’ll take all of it.
This week is pretty easy.
We talked about the history of Cersei bullying Sansa.
