‘Game of Thrones’ 6.10 Recap: “This Came Together Rather Well”

Whatever qualms I may have had about the early parts of the season, ‘Game of Thrones’ turned itself around in a big way last week and followed that up by closing the season with one hell of a momentous ending.

King’s Landing

The finale starts slowly and methodically. Cersei stands at a window looking out at the city, eyeing the Great Sept in the distance. Meanwhile, everyone else of importance in the capital ready themselves for her trial, either dressing in formal attire or (in the case of the High Sparrow and his septons) their humblest robes. Grand Maester Pycelle finishes up with a whore and stiffs her on the payment. King Tommen sits in his chambers looking very sad. He opts not to attend the first part of the trial.

Loras is dragged out of the dungeon and brought before the septons. He says that there’s no need for a trial. He confesses to all his sins, kneels before the High Sparrow, and pledges to renounce his family and his title in order to join the holy order of the Sparrows and defend the faith. The High Sparrow is pleased and announces that the gods will be merciful to him today. Margaery looks on approvingly, as if everything were going exactly to her plan, until Lancel and a group of Sparrows move in, hold Loras down, and carve their symbol into his forehead. That wasn’t supposed to be part of the deal, but at least he’s alive.

The High Sparrow looks for Cersei next and is told that she hasn’t left the Red Keep. He sends Lancel and some Sparrows to fetch her. As they leave the Sept, they spot a group of Little Birds (the children spies who used to work for Varys but now work for Qyburn) in the street who scurry at the sight of them. Realizing that they will report to Cersei, Lancel and the Sparrows chase after them. Lancel follows one into the catacombs beneath the city.

With Loras’ portion completed, Tommen readies himself to go to the Sept to witness his mother’s trial. Before he can exit the room, he’s blocked by The Mountain, who won’t let him pass.

En route to the Sept, Grand Maester Pycelle is confronted by Qyburn, who calls out several more Little Birds. The kids are all carrying knives and, at Qyburn’s command, pounce on Pycelle and stab the hell out of him.

Lancel loses the Little Bird he was following. Suddenly, the boy leaps out from the shadows and stabs him in the legs. Lancel crumples to the ground.

In the Sept, Margaery gets very nervous about Cersei’s absence. The High Sparrow assures her that, even if Cersei doesn’t come, she can still be tried and convicted in absentia. That doesn’t calm her. Margaery senses that Cersei is planning something – something very bad.

Lancel sees a light down the tunnel ahead of him and crawls toward it. As he gets closer, he comes to a room filled with barrels and a pool of glowing green liquid on the floor. Wait a second, could that be…? Ohhhhhh… shiiiiiiit…

The High Sparrow refusing to listen to her pleas that he has underestimated Cersei, Margaery yells to everyone to evacuate the building, which causes a big panic in the crowd. However, the Sparrows block the exits and prevent anyone from leaving.

Lancel sees two candles sitting in the Wildfire, both almost burned to the bottom. He struggles to crawl closer and frantically tries to blow one out.

A look of recognition finally crosses the High Sparrow’s face, but it’s too late. In a tremendous explosion, the Wildfire detonates, killing him, Margaery and everyone else inside as the High Sept building is blown to smithereens.

From her perch in the Red Keep, Cersei looks out at the devastation and smiles.

Her victory achieved, Cersei pays a visit to a special friend to gloat. Septa Unella, the stern nun who tortured her, is strapped to a table in the dungeon. Cersei dumps wine in her face and taunts her to, “Confess… confess…” In what amounts to an actual confession of her own, Cersei tells her what’s happened and revels in all the sins she’s committed. Unella assumes that Cersei will kill her and says that she’s ready to be judged by the gods. That’s not what Cersei has in mind, though. She brings The Mountain into the room and closes the door behind them when she leaves, snickering “Shame… shame… shame…” The scene leaves it ambiguous whether The Mountain is there to torture her or rape her, or both.

In his chambers, devastated by the loss of his wife, Tommen removes his crown, calmly steps out onto the window ledge, and leaps to his death.

The Twins

The vile Walder Frey has a banquet to celebrate the capture of Riverrun and his alliance with the Lannisters. (After the Red Wedding, I’m amazed anyone would be stupid enough to attend a party he throws.) We learn that Edmure Tully is back in the dungeon, to be used as political capital again somewhere down the line.

As Frey gloats about his victory, an impatient Jaime reminds him that it was the Lannisters who took the castle, and that no one actually fears him. He’ll be powerless if the Lannisters desert him.

King’s Landing (2)

Cersei insists on seeing her son’s body. True to the prophecy foretold in her youth, she has witnessed all of her children die. Qyburn asks what she’d like done with the corpse, given that the Great Sept and all the royal tombs below it were destroyed. Cersei says that Tommen should join his brother and his sister. She coldly orders that the body be burned and the ashes buried in the Sept’s rubble.

Oldtown

What do you know, Sam and Gilly are still on the show. I’d pretty much forgotten about them since their last appearance in the middle of the season. They arrive at the Citadel, the headquarters for the maesters. Sam excitedly introduces himself and presents his letter from Lord Commander Jon Snow. The rude maester at the entry desk flips through a gigantic book and scans through the pages, admonishing that their records state that Jeor Mormont is Lord Commander of the Night’s Watch. Sam attempts to explain that a lot has happened since then.

The maester grumbles about how “This is irregular,” but allows Sam access to the library while he waits to meet with an archmaester to clear up the matter. Unfortunately, no women or children are allowed. Sam tries to apologize to Gilly but is too giddy and abandons her in the lobby. As he steps through into the library, he’s overcome by the massive size of the building, filled with level upon level upon level of thousands if not millions of books. Becoming a maester may take a while.

Winterfell

Winter has finally fallen on the appropriately named kingdom of Winterfell. Jon Snow takes a moment to let it sink in that he’s home again. As he speaks with Melisandre, Davos enters the room and throws the wooden stag toy at her. He demands that she confess what really happened to young Shireen. When she does, Davos asks Jon Snow for permission to execute her. Melisandre makes the case that she only did what the gods commanded her, and that she can still be of great help in the upcoming war against the White Walkers. Eventually, Jon Snow decides to banish her rather than kill her. He orders her to ride south and never return. If he sees her again, she’ll be hanged.

Later, Jon talks with Sansa. She apologizes for keeping her interactions with Littlefinger a secret. When Jon asks how she can trust a man who sold her to the Boltons, she says that she doesn’t trust him, but she needed him.

Dorne

Lady Olenna left King’s Landing as her granddaughter told her, but did not return home to Highgarden. Instead, she traveled to Dorne to meet with Ellaria Sand and the Sand Snakes. True to form, she condescendingly dismisses the other girls’ attempts to speak to her and will only speak with Ellaria. News has already reached them about what happened in King’s Landing. When Ellaria proposes an alliance between their two houses to ensure their suvival, Olenna says that she doesn’t just want to survive; she wants revenge for the deaths of her grandson and granddaughter. Ellaria says that she has a new ally who may be able to help with that. Varys then steps into the courtyard, revealing himself. This must have been the secret mission he told Tyrion about.

Meereen

Daario informs Daenerys that her new navy is almost ready to transport them to Westeros. Daenerys tells him that he won’t be going. She needs him to stay and keep order in Meereen. She also admits that when she gets to Westeros, she will need to form alliances, and there are no stronger alliances than marriage. (She should ask Edmure Tully how well that worked out for him.) Therefore, she can’t bring her lover with her. Daario protests that he doesn’t mind being her mistress. She can marry whomever she needs to marry. He just wants to be with her. Unfortunately, she insists that he has to stay and this will be their goodbye.

Afterwards, Daenerys talks to Tyrion. He tells her that she’s about to get everything she ever wanted. It’s all hers for the taking. “You’re in the great game now,” he says. They chat a bit about fear, and about belief. Tyrion says that he never believed in anything or anyone before, but he believes in her. Daenerys presents him with a Hand brooch and officially names him Hand of the Queen.

The Twins (2)

Walder Frey sits alone, eating. A handmaid brings him a meat pie, which he digs into. Not recognizing the girl, he gropes her (such a charmer) and asks where his idiot sons are. The girl tells him that they’re here. He orders her to go fetch them and bring them into the room so he can yell at him. The girl explains that, no sir, they’re already right here in front of you… in the meat pies. Their flesh was rather difficult to carve.

Horrified, Walder Frey looks up at the girl, who removes a mask from her face and reveals herself. It’s Arya! She gleefully tells him her name and slits his throat, thus crossing another name off her list.

Winterfell (2)

Littlefinger approaches Sansa. He tells her that, as Ned Stark’s eldest remaining legitimate child, she should be the head of House Stark, not Jon Snow. He says that everything he’s done has been to accomplish one goal: to sit on the Iron Throne, with her at his side. He professes his love to her and moves in for a kiss, but Sansa rebuffs him and walks away.

North of the Wall

Benjen Stark brings Bran and Meera as close to the Wall as he can get. He informs them that ancient magic built into the Wall’s stones will prevent the dead from passing, but it also prevents him from passing. As such, he dumps them off under a tree, says his goodbyes, and rides away, leaving poor Meera without so much as a sled to pull the crippled Bran on.

Bran drags himself over to one of those weird trees with a face on it and wargs. He immediately returns to the vision of his father as a young man at the Tower of Joy. Ned has just defeated the knights that guarded the castle and runs inside to find his sister, Lyanna, lying in a bed covered with blood-soaked sheets. As we suspected, she’s just given birth to a child. It does not appear to have gone well. With her dying breaths, Lyanna whispers the identity of the baby’s father to Ned and makes him swear to protect the boy.

As hinted previously, this confirms that Jon Snow is not Ned Stark’s son, but his sister’s. Ned claimed that the boy was his bastard in order to protect him. Although we’re not allowed to hear the name of the father, it was presumably Rhaegar Targaryen, which would explain why the boy was in danger and would mean that Jon Snow has Targaryen royal blood. (If Rhaegar secretly married Lyanna, that would even mean that Jon is a legitimate heir to the throne.) However, if that’s really the case, why obscure the father’s identity now rather than just come out with it?

Winterfell (3)

The war with the Boltons over, the Knights of the Vale are uneasy about continuing to ally with the Wildlings. The lords from other houses of the North (the same ones who refused to fight) express a similar sentiment until young Lyanna Mormont gives a speech shaming them for failing to honor their commitments to House Stark. She pledges her house to Jon Snow. Humbled that a child could put them in their place, the other lords come around and cheer on Jon Snow as the new “King in the North.”

Sansa stands proudly by her brother. Littlefinger shoots her a look as if to say that she’s wasting her potential by playing second fiddle to her bastard half-brother.

King’s Landing (3)

Jaime returns to the capital to see the remains of the Great Sept smoking in the center of the city. He arrives in time to watch his sister sit on the Iron Throne and be crowned Queen Cersei, First of Her Name. Although the crowd dutifully chants “Long may she reign,” the prevailing mood at the ceremony is dour.

Qyburn stands at Cersei’s side, wearing what appears to be a Hand brooch.

The Narrow Sea

The episode ends with Daenery’s navy setting sail for Westeros, armies of the Unsullied and the Dothraki aboard. Theon and Yara captain a ship with a dragon carved into the masthead. Daenerys, Theon, Missandei and Varys (who apparently returned in time to join them) stand on the deck of the flagship as the three dragons fly overhead.

Episode Verdict

The finale ran a little longer than usual at about 69 minutes. It feels like a lot is crammed into that time to tie up the season’s various storylines, yet all of them end on a satisfying note. Cersei’s scheming finally paid off for her, though at great personal cost. She has the throne, but how long can she hold it?

The episode has an interesting tone and takes its time to work through everything. I really loved the build-up to Cersei’s trial, and the musical score in that part of the episode stands out as atypical for the series. It sounds inspired by Philip Glass. We’ve never heard anything like it in the show before, but it works.

I’m sad that this is the end for Margaery. She was a great character who seemed on the verge of making a big power play of her own when the rug was pulled out from under her. That’s how things go in the Game of Thrones, I suppose.

Jonathan Pryce made a fine villain, and this was a very good end for him. Walder Frey also met a fitting fate (though the cannibalism gag was also used earlier this year in a storyline on ‘Gotham’).

On the other hand, I feel like The Mountain was mostly wasted after a season anticipating him to fight for Cersei in a trial by combat. I’m uneasy with the implication that he’s going to rape Unella. I’m really tired of the way the show uses rape for shock value. At the same time, this episode strengthens and empowers some of its other female characters. Is that enough to compensate?

When all is said and done, this was not the best season of ‘Game of Thrones’, but I think it’s generally an improvement over Season 5 and it goes out with a couple of the show’s strongest episodes. I can’t wait to see what Season 7 brings us!

56 comments

  1. matt

    I didn’t get that the Mountain was going to rape Unella, just torture her.

    Also, I’m pretty sure the Walder Frey scenes took place at The Twins, not Riverrun. It looked like the same chamber as the Red Wedding and The Twins were in the opening credits.

  2. HuskerGuy

    I’ve absolutely loved these last two episodes and I can’t wait for the next season as it appears they are getting very close to the end game.

    • HuskerGuy

      I believe it’s a call back to season 3 when Bran told the story/tale of the Rat Cook. He was a cook in the Night’s Watch who fed the King’s son to him in a meat pie. The god’s then turned him into a rat who was forced to eat his young, but not because he killed the son and fed him to the king, it was because he broke the rules of hospitality and killed one of his guests – ala what Frey did to the Starks.

      It’s pretty interesting to go back to.

      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VV5txCNDco0

  3. Eric

    I suspect that Jon Snow is Robert Baratheon’s illegitimate son. He’d still be heir to the throne, and it would also make him eligible for an “alliance” with Daenerys.

      • Josh Zyber
        Author

        I think it’s a valid theory. Robert was in love with Lyanna. He started the rebellion against the crown to get her back after Rhaegar allegedly kidnapped her. Although it looks like Lyanna actually ran off with Rhaegar voluntarily, it’s possible that Robert may have impregnated her before that happened. (In fact, it may be the reason why she ran away, if either Robert raped her or she feared he might harm the baby.)

        • Chapz Kilud

          The only thing we know for sure is that Jon Snow is a Stark. It’s possible he could be Baratheon’s bastard. But more likely he’s a Targaryen. That would made more sense for Lyanna to ask Edard to protect him. Otherwise there was no need to protect Jon Snow. Robert was in love with Lyanna and would have no issue with Jon as his legitimate heir.

          • Josh Zyber
            Author

            Jon would only be a legitimate heir if Robert and Lyanna were married, but they weren’t. Conceived and born out of wedlock, he’s a bastard. It’s possible that it might have harmed Robert’s ambitions for the throne if it was publicly known that he had a bastard running around. (As king, he later put a lot of effort into keeping his other bastards hidden.) Lyanna may have feared for her son’s safety, especially if it was her intention to marry Rhaegar, not Robert.

            This is all speculation. I think it’s probably more likely that Jon is Rhaegar’s son, but I’m not sure why the episode made a conscious point of obscuring the name of the father unless there’s more than one possibility.

          • Chapz Kilud

            They just love to keep people guessing. It worked very well as we have tons of theories who Jon Snow was for many years, now this bit of hint eliminated a lot of those theories. But I have to disagree with you a bit. The likelihood of Jon Snow being Robert’s bastard is slim. Unlike the other bastards, this one was the product of two of the great houses in the kingdom (Baratheon and Stark). Given that Jon Arryn was murdered by the Lannister and the fact Cersei’s children were not Robert’s, it wouldn’t take a lot to convince Robert to act against Lannister’s treachery. I’m not saying this power succession would have worked. Lannister could still wipe them out regardless and Stannis still might have challenged.

            Robert was obsessed in ending the line of Targaryen. This would be more reasons for Eddard to protect Jon if he were a Targaryen, more so than if he were Robert’s bastard. Robert would definitely have killed Jon had he known Jon was a Targaryen and Lyanna betrayed him.

          • HuskerGuy

            Indeed. I don’t know the full implications of either situation though. If he’s a bastard son would his claim to the throne be weaker? Not that I expect him to want to take the iron throne. Also, I suppose legitimacy doesn’t matter one bit considering the army Dany is bringing with her.

          • TJ Kats

            If he is a non bastard son he would have been Rhaegar’s true heir. I don’t know that he wants to be king but I don’t think he wanted to be Lord Commander or Lord of Winterfell either and he does them out of duty so I think he would feel the same about the throne. I don’t believe, but I may be wrong, that the Seven Kingdoms has had a (know) bastard on the throne so I’m not sure what that would mean.

    • T.J. Kats

      Also to help clear up any possible confusion remember that some of the Kingsguard was guarding the tower and they would have only been doing that on order of Targaryen.

    • eric

      Another possibility is that Snow’s father is the Mad King Aerys, that would certainly make things a whole lot more interesting.

      • Chapz Kilud

        There was no mentioning that the Mad King had any contact with Lyanna. She was abducted by Rhaegar. I don’t understand if it serves any purpose to keep people guessing who Jon’s father was now that we know for sure who his mother was.

  4. Kyle

    The show has lost all sense of time and space. Varys is apparently in two places at once. Arya travels across the sea and then half way across the country seemingly in the span of a single episode, having last been seen in Bravos. Furthermore, Yara and Theon build a fleet of ships out of nowhere, with a handful of other ironborn, seemingly in no time at all. Not to mention Jaime’s arrival at King’s Landing after dining at the Twins with Walder Frey. I know some people like the pace of the last few seasons, but I find the slower pacing of seasons one and two to do the show a much greater service.

      • Kyle

        So basically, they said it was too much work and the average viewer wouldn’t notice anyway. With everything else they’ve said in the past few years these guys should probably stop talking and focus more on writing.

        • Josh Zyber
          Author

          It’s my understanding that the George R.R. Martin books do essentially take place in chronological order. As a result, whole books go by without even mentioning core characters. Many fans have complained about this, especially in regard to the fourth book, A Feast for Crows, from which Daenerys, Tyrion and Jon Snow are entirely absent.

          That sort of structure would never work on a television show, for both dramatic and practical purposes. The series can’t shut down production on significant storylines and lay off half the cast for a season or more, and then expect to start back up again later. The cast and crew will move on to other things. The production infrastructure in the parts of the world they were filming may not still be available later. More importantly, the audience will get frustrated and bored.

          • T.J. Kats

            Yes and no. Books four and 3/4 of five are broken up geographically and not chronologically so book four is chronological for the characters in it and book five until the last few sections picks up with where the remaining characters would have been following book three.

            Book four is mainly Bravos, Kings Landing and the south.

            Book five is the north and Dany’s are for the bulk of the book.

  5. T.J. Kats

    Great episode and one of the things I’m most curious about is how will Jamie react to Cersei has done because it has two layers, one of which I don’t see a lot of people mentioning. The obvious one is that she basically killed their last child which I’m not sure based on previous actions is as big of a concern to him. The second is her user of the wildfire which is the specific reason he killed the mad king and is something I think could really bother him.

    • Chapz Kilud

      Joffrey was an a** so Jamie could care less. Remember Jamie did Cersei next to Joffrey’s corpse? The thing that didn’t make any sense to me is how Cersei got so cold with the death of her last child. As evil as Joffrey was, Cersei was broken after Joffrey’s death. Here you have a good boy Tommen who was indirectly driven to death by his mother. But there are many ways to play Jamie. As you remember he promised Tommen to protect him at all cost. I think he will be furious at what Cersei did. But then again he only wants Cersei.

      • Josh Zyber
        Author

        I think at this point, Cersei has simply resigned herself to the fact that she was destined to watch all her children die and she could do nothing to stop it, as was foretold in the prophecy. As such, she emotionally detached herself from Tommen a while ago. She knew she couldn’t save him. His death was inevitable.

        • eric

          I agree with Josh on this one, she has given into the prophecy. Now with the prophecy fulfilled she has finally go that behind her and it is now time to go all Mad Queen on everyone.

          I think Jamie is having some serious second thoughts about Cersei at this point, given that she did the thing he stopped the Mad King from doing and she is basically responsible for killing their son. He can’t protect his kids from Cersei, and she can be blamed for almost all of their deaths in one way or another.

          It will be interesting to see what Jamie does next.

          1. Does he stay by Cersei side? I doubt it at this point.
          2. Does he take command of the Tyrell army and lead them against Cersei or out of town for good and eventually join up with Dany and his brother.
          3. Does he just bail at this point and offer his services to the North?
          4. Does he end of killing Cersei? I like this one the best. I predict this will happen in the 9th episode next season.

    • nagara

      Excellent point about the wildfire. I didn’t even remember that. Tyrion and Dany even talked about that a few episodes ago.

  6. eric

    Bigger question… Who will Dany marry? My money is on Jon Snow, especially if they are related. Her family has a long history of marrying within their own bloodline.

    • T.J. Kats

      She doesn’t seem like she would be interested in that if they know they are family. More so I don’t think Jon would be interested.

    • Chapz Kilud

      I know it sounds crazy, but I want to guess that Daenerys will eventually lose. I know she has unbeatable forces right now. But when the series ends and I have to pick between Jon Snow and Daenerys to live, I’d pick Jon.

  7. Timcharger

    F*ck yeah! Just had to pause
    during the opening credits (I traveled abroad
    and couldn’t watch the show) to type this:

    The opening credits has the Stark sigil back
    on the Winterfell map!

    Such a tiny, tiny thing has brought me such a
    wide, wide grin.

  8. Timcharger

    King’s Landing
    Josh: “From her perch in the Red Keep, Cersei looks out at the devastation and smiles.”

    The gust from the explosion a mile away breezes
    over Cersei. And then she picks up her wineglass
    and sips from it. Ahhh! That’s so Cersei. You
    know she picked a special vintage for this occasion.

    Every writer and Lena Headey all agreed. What
    would Cersei do as she witnesses the height of her
    scheming. Yup. Wine.

    • Timcharger

      Josh: “Cersei dumps wine in her face and taunts her…”

      Now that’s the most unbelievable part
      of the show. Absolutely no way. Cersei
      would never do this. Waterboarding, yes.
      Wineboarding, no way.

      Cersei wasting good wine. The writers
      have lost their marbles. Sure she wants
      revenge on Septon Unella. But not at
      that cost.
      🙂

  9. Timcharger

    King’s Landing
    Josh: “Lancel sees two candles sitting in the Wildfire…”

    I think there were three. Yup, confirmed. I
    was going to say that a trinity of candles
    seems appropriate for the church’s demise.
    But in this case, seven candles would’ve
    been better. Anyway, minor correction.

    —–

    A minor nitpick. I would have preferred
    when that boy came back to survey Lancel
    lying on the floor, either have Lancel
    grimace and say that he can’t move his
    legs, or have that boy stab Lancel a few
    more times in the back.

    Lancel being so immobilized with 1 stab
    irked me, and made me think of Arya’s
    Wolverine-like invulnerability to puncture
    wounds.

  10. Timcharger

    King’s Landing
    Josh: “Margaery senses that Cersei is planning something – something very bad.”

    I like Margaery. I do. But she isn’t as clever
    as fans believe her to be. She’s always one
    step behind. She can’t kick the football.
    Margaery is the lovable Charlie Brown.

    Lucy rips away Renly Baratheon right before
    Margaery can kick the ball. Lucy rips away
    Joffrey at the Purple Wedding. Lucy and her
    accomplice Cersei allow no ball kicking in
    the Sept’s dungeons. Lucy’s teammate the
    High Sparrow pulls Tommen away from
    Margaery. And now Lucy burns the football
    with wildfire.

    Margaery gripes, “Good Grief!”

  11. Timcharger

    Meereen
    Josh: “Daario protests that he doesn’t mind being her mistress. She can marry whoever she needs to marry.”

    Dany has learned the lesson (or properly advised by Tyrion)
    that Robb Stark didn’t. Robb married who he wanted, not
    who he needs to marry. And that led to his downfall at the
    Red Wedding. Nice callback.

  12. Timcharger

    Meereen
    Josh: “Daenerys presents him with a Hand brooch and officially names him Hand of the Queen.”

    Yeah, this must have been great for Tyrion. I don’t
    remember how Tyrion got the Hand of the King
    brooch back in Season 2, was it 2? I would guess
    Tywin probably unceremoniously tossed the
    brooch to Tyrion.

    So this was an important scene and I did get happy
    for Tyrion. But all I could think about was that
    pointy brooch must have been quite uncomfortable
    in Daenerys’ cleavage. She did right? Dany got that
    thing out of her cleavage, no?

  13. Timcharger

    Twins 2
    Josh: “Walder Frey sits alone, eating. A handmaid brings him a meat pie, which he digs into. Not recognizing the girl, he gropes her…”

    Groping? Well, Walder technically slaps her ass. This is
    like the 20th ass slap we’ve heard. Handmaidens and
    waitresses all across the Riverlands, rejoice! Every time
    they take Walder’s order or tops off his coffee, ass slap.
    Arya has solved your problem.

    I’m going to do it. The next time my wife stands up next
    to me at the dinner table. I’ll ask, “honey, can I Walder-
    Frey you?” I’m sure her response will be, “huh?” And
    then I’ll go for it. I’ll add in the lecherous tongue-stick-
    out and growl.

  14. Timcharger

    Winterfell (3)
    Josh: “until young Lyanna Mormont gives a speech shaming them for failing to honor their commitments to House Stark.”
    “Sansa stands proudly by her brother. Littlefinger shoots her a look…”

    If Littlefinger was smarter about the political
    power moves of the North, he would realize
    that Lyanna Mormont is the real kingmaker,
    or king-of-the-North-maker. LIttlefinger
    might need to have some schemes against
    little Lyanna.

    I’ve pictured an eventual showdown where
    Baelish meets his doom via Varys, Lady
    Olenna, or the new Sansa. (Or the opposite,
    he just might win the Iron Throne.) But now,
    little Lyanna has really impressed me.

    L v L
    Littlefinger versus Lyanna. I’d pay for that
    pay-per-view.

  15. Timcharger

    King’s Landing
    Josh: “En route to the Sept, Grand Maester Pycelle is confronted by Qyburn, who calls out several more Little Birds. The kids are all carrying knives and, at Qyburn’s command, pounce on Pycelle and stab the hell out of him.”

    Qyburn has turned Varys’ little birds into assassins?!
    Arya should have enrolled in Qyburn’s executive
    assassin program, so much faster that Jaqen H’ghar’s
    laborious assassin training.

  16. Timcharger

    King’s Landing (3)
    Josh: “Qyburn stands at Cersei’s side, wearing what appears to be a Hand brooch.”

    Qyburn becoming the Hand of the Queen,
    now that’s 2 in this episode. Is that a new
    contest we can look forward to? Qyburn
    versus Tyrion?

  17. Timcharger

    Ladies in black.

    The leading women of Westeros certainly know
    what color is in fashion. The women of the North,
    Sansa and little Lyanna have been early in the
    trend wearing black for many seasons now. Now
    we see Lady Olenna wear black, with matching
    black hat and black scarf. Queen Cersei has
    realized that black easily hides any spilled wine.
    And Dany altered her attire from silky whites to
    earthy browns to black this season.

    Olenna, Cersei, and Daenerys are going to show
    up together next season at the same function
    embarrassed to be wearing the same black outfit.

  18. Timcharger

    As for Varys traveling so quickly to Dorne
    and back to Meereen. I think it was important to
    show Varys back with Team Daenerys. Dany
    (from Tyrion’s counsel) wouldn’t sail for Westeros
    without knowing first where they would land and
    would prefer to receive a warm welcome.
    Arriving in Dorne gives Dany’s land forces, the
    Dothraki and the Unsullied a better advantage.

    The order of sequence: Cersei’s coronation and
    Team Dany sailing away from Meereen, that
    DOESN’T mean it was the next day. People who
    gripe about Varys’ “speedy” travel need to
    understand this.

  19. Timcharger

    Episode Verdict
    Josh: “I’m uneasy with the implication that he’s going to rape Unella. I’m really tired of the way the show uses rape for shock value. At the same time, this episode strengthens and empowers some of its other female characters. Is that enough to compensate?”

    The show should be able to show that war is hell.
    Political power change is hell. Murder, rape,
    torture are historically accurate in these turmoils.
    Yeah, let’s not gratuitously show it every other
    episode. But in this case, it can argued that
    Unella committed (or enabled) sexualized
    violence against Cersei in her Walk of Shame. So
    it makes storywriting sense, to justify showing
    Cersei’s retaliation.

  20. Timcharger

    Josh, your “This Came Together Rather Well”
    quote selection.

    I’ve rewatched the episode more than a couple times.
    Some scenes thrice, quadrice. I have no memory of
    that quote. I get it. You like the episode, so you
    picked that quote. A sh*tty, unmemorable quote.
    Nothing poignant. Can’t easily attribute the quote
    source. Can’t easily attribute the event that “came
    together well.” Qyburn said that to Cersei? Walder
    Frey said that to Jaime? Daario to Dany? Generic
    quote fits many scenes. Guess they all can’t be
    winners.

    • Timcharger

      “Shall we begin?”

      I think it’s too fitting to NOT select this quote. Season-opener, shall-we-begin, it’s apt.

    • Timcharger

      Lyanna Mormont was great as always. I need to rewatch and jot down a line of hers. Maybe one of her lines would be a good recap title?

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