The Game of Good-byes

This is the end of a decade-long love affair with one of the most influential television shows to ever air. Game of Thrones has proved that a fantasy show based on an uncompleted series of books written by an old white guy can slay the mainstream media with ice and fire. No matter how dark an episode is or how many coffee cups they leave in the final shot or how many incestuous sex scenes grace my screen, I will always be in love with this show. Game of Thrones h as provided us with interesting story lines, relatable characters, hate-able villains, cuddly dragons, fluffy direwolf puppies, and, most of all, an intense and amazing new nerd culture. This show has brought people together from so many walks of life to both create and watch this series. Any ordinary person would say, “It’s just a TV show, Kat. Quit talking about it already.” But I won’t stop talking about it because of how much it has affected my life since the beginning. I’ve been watching Arya silently murder people, Daenerys do whatever it takes to achieve her goals, Sansa survive all of the disgusting things she’s seen and had to do, Brienne of Tarth finally become a knight, and Cersei destroy anyone who hurts her children. Whether or not you like any of these characters, they are all incredibly strong women that would’ve never been seen by the world except in the books. George R.R. Martin is a genius for creating this stunning world and characters to put in it. Since this is the final episode of the series, I’m going to leave it up to you to go watch it. I won’t be recapping this one, but I will be reviewing and making references to the episode and series as a whole, so there will still be spoilers. We’ve got a lot to talk about, so let’s get into it.

If you read my recap for “The Bells” last week, I predicted four things that I wanted to happen in the finale. Only one of my predictions came true. Sansa became Queen in the North and seceded from the Seven Kingdoms. This whole series has been building on this conclusion for the North since Ned Stark was beheaded back in season one. The only just started setting up that Sansa would be Queen in the North last season when it was revealed that Jon was Aegon Targaryen. Before that bombshell, I had my money on Jon staying King in the North, but when you’re the rightful heir to the Iron Throne, you can only rule from one fancy chair.

One of my other predictions was that Arya would be the one to kill Daenerys, but they had to give that kill to Jon considering he missed out on the Night King and had to have one major character death under his belt by the end. The whole scene between Jon and Dany in the destroyed throne room was rather poetic, but cliche because there would be no other reason for Jon to be alone with Dany other than to murder her. Realistically, Drogon should have killed Jon as soon as he saw his dead mother, but considering Jon is a Targaryen, it’s against the rules or something like that. But the burning of the Iron Throne by dragon fire was a form of rebirth for Westeros, leaving the bloody past behind to make way for a new leader.

Considering that Jon murdered Dany in cold blood, it is only fair that the Unsullied take him prisoner and demand his execution. This makes punishment mandatory for Jon, leaving him out of the potential leader pool. In contrast, Tyrion merely freed his brother to somehow save an unborn Lannister child, which should’ve had him executed on the spot as soon as he faced

Dany on the steps to the Red Keep, but he was held prisoner instead as well. This eliminates another one of my predictions that Tyrion was supposed to die at the hands of Daenerys, but, instead, our favorite imp lives to serve the Realm until his natural death.

My final prediction of Jon taking the Iron Throne was also squashed. Instead we see Bran Stark voted on by the leading lords and ladies of each major house to lead the people into an era of change. Bran names Tyrion as his hand and allows Sansa to become Queen in the North. Out of all of the Starks, Sansa is the only one that wanted any sort of major power, but also wants to do what is best for the Northern people. Bran is the unlikely but best candidate for Westeros since he knows everything that has been and will be, and can ensure the Realm is able to rebuild and reshape how it governs itself in the new age. Because of his knowledge, he names a fitting Small Council to aid him in ruling the Six Kingdoms. Tyrion as Hand to the King, Bronn as Master of Coin, Ser Daavos as Master of Ships, Sam Tarly as Grand Maester, and Brienne of Tarth as Lord Commander of the King’s Guard. We get to see the beginning of the first meeting of the new High Council which is already kind of a cluster.

But what about Jon? Well, as “punishment” Bran sends him to the Night’s Watch knowing that there is no longer any need for the wall since the Night King and Army of Undead have all been killed. When Jon arrives he reconnects with Tormund and Ghost. JON ACTUALLY PETS GHOST, and I could not have been more emotional about it. Knowing there is no reason to stay in Castle Black, Jon escorts the Freefolk north of the wall back to the wintery wilds where he will remain until his death. This is a respectable end for Jon, but death would have evoked more emotion and finality for his story.

The final character we say goodbye to is Arya. Since mentioning it a few seasons ago, Arya has wanted to travel west of Westeros to find what could be outside of the known world. Sometimes a girl needs to retire from her life of ninja assassin to follow her true dreams of traveling. For me, Arya’s story gets wrapped up with a nice bow in comparison to everyone else’s stories. This has been what she has truly strived for since she was a little girl, and as much traveling as she did as No One, she was never fulfilled until getting on that boat headed west. Who knows what she’ll find out there. She could end up finding a new world full of magic and more dragons or something else. For those of you wanting a spin off based around Arya’s travels, I would watch it for sure, but it would eliminate the sense of mystery that was meant to be felt at the end of her story.

As a huge fan of the Game of Thrones, I would like to thank the cast and crew for putting together such an amazing series. I also want to thank HBO for choosing to air it. A huge thank you to George R.R. Martin for deciding to create this wonderful land full of stories and mysteries for us all to enjoy. Finally, I thank the nerds and geeks for creating such a vibrant culture surrounding this franchise. Thank you.

I end it all by saying this: All hail King Brandon the Broken of the House Stark, the First of His Name, the Three-eyed Raven, King of the Andals, the Rhoynar, and the First Men, Lord of the Six Kingdoms, and Protector of the Realm.

-KatTheLadyNerd

#gameofthrones #seasonfinale #season8 #episode6 #theironthrone #goodbye #branthebroken #queeninthenorth #endofanera #wethegeek #kattheladynerd

P.S. They can end a show, but they can never end the memes.

P.P.S. I will be taking a small break from posting reviews and articles. I have to get caught up on other new and exciting content, but I will be back soon. Stay weird.

The Game of Fire

Yesterday’s episode of Game of Thrones was an eye opening experience for both the viewers and our favorite characters. Not only do we get to see what comes flying down from the sky at the Iron Fleet, but we also learn that no matter how depleted Daenerys Targaryen’s forces are, they will always fight harder than any of Cersei Lannister’s many shiney armies. Let’s find out if my theory of Drogon being clad in Valyrian steel armor holds up.

The fighting doesn’t start right away like in episode 2. Varys takes it upon himself to write a letter to someone about Jon Snow’s true identity as Aegon Targaryen, the rightful heir to the Iron Throne. One of his little birds discloses that Dany refuses to eat out of grief over Missandei’s death. Varys then meets Jon as he arrives on Dragon Stone to discuss his claim to the throne. Jon is still a Stark and maintains his loyalty to Dany as his queen. Tyrion watches this echange from afar and goes directly to Dany to discuss Varys’ treachery. Dany is outraged that Jon told his sisters after she explicitly told him not to, claiming that he is the true traitor. Dany knows that she doesn’t have the heart to punish her love so she decides to put Varys to death by dragon fire to send a message to anyone attempting to belittle her position as queen. At this point, Daenerys only has Tyrion and Jon left as council, and she has lost all trust in both of them.

Immediately after Varys’ execution, Jon goes to Dany as a way of trying to further convince her that he is loyal to her as queen. Dany attempts to make yet another romantic advance toward him, and Jon denies her once more because of his Stark ethics. Dany now feels rejected and embarrassed so she makes the final decision to rule with fear. Dany then holds council with Tyrion and Grey Worm in the Dragonstone throne room. Tyrion pleads to her not to burn King’s Landing during the attack, and Dany heads his plea. She then tells Tyrion that Jaime was captured attempting to make it into King’s Landing to save Cersei. Tyrion then ventures to the front lines to speak with Jaime in secret. Tyrion shares his master plan to save Cersei, Jaime, and their unborn child. He instructs his brother to leave the city through the dragon skull tunnels under the Red Keep and there would be a boat waiting for them to row to Pentos. All Tyrion requests in return is that Cersei rings the city bells indicating surrender. Jaime still has some hope that Cersei will win, but after seeing his brother betray his queen and risk his life for his unborn baby, he accepts the offer and is released.

The following morning, Euron Greyjoy has all of his scorpions locked and loaded, Arya and Sandor head for the Red Keep, Jaime weaves through the frantic city crowds, and both armies face each other ready for battle at the main gate. The suspense builds until we finally see what Dany has in store for the Iron Fleet. Out of the clouds comes not a bird, not a plane, but…a singular, unarmed Drogon? Well, I was expecting a bigger reveal than just basic Drogon, but at least Dany is nose diving at top speed right at Euron’s ships. As Dany demolishes the entire Iron Fleet in Blackwater Bay without taking a single hit from the scorpions, the Golden Company at the gate have no idea what is headed their way. Dany clears the back wall of King’s Landing fro scorpions then tears through the sky blowing out the front gate allowing the Unsullied and

Dothraki soldiers to make their way into the city. Jon and his Northmen follow close behind taking out any Lannister soldiers that resist. As Dany clears the walls of any scorpions, Cersei is showing her first feelings of fear since the lost her son, Tommen. Qyburn tells her that the Iron Fleet is burning and she still believes her men will continue to fight for her. Unfortunately, she is wrong. The Lannister soldiers lay down their weapons in front of Jon as Dany lands with Drogon on a tall city building near the outer wall. The city bells are rung indicating the surrender of Queen Cersei. Dany stares at the Red Keep from atop Drogon and the wrath and rage well in her eyes as she hears the ringing bells. She succumbs to the Targaryen madness without even knowing and begins burning the city to ashes. Civilians are burned alive, slaughtered, and raped by the Dothraki and Northmen as Dany sweeps fire over the entire city making her way to the Red Keep. Jon finally sees just who Dany really is and realizes that she cannot be allowed to rule Westeros because she has become what she hates most: a tyrant.

Meanwhile, Jaime took the long way around and ended up on the beach with the boat for his and Cersei’s escape. Euron Greyjoy crawls out of the ocean only to fight Jaime to keep Cersei. Euron is able to get two good stabs in before Jaime runs him through with his sword. Jaime knows he is a dead man but still goes after Cersei to see her one last time. Qyburn and the Undead Mountain take Cersei and flea the tallest tower of the Red Keep as Dany tears down the outer towers with dragon fire. Everyone is attempting to leave the Red Keep as Sandor and Arya get pretty close to their targets. Sandor commands Arya to turn back stating that Cersei will most likely die from some other cause and that she should consider her own life above all else. Arya thanks Sandor for his friendship and leaves the Red Keep as Sandor trek’s further in the collapsing castle. The Hound finds his brother on a partially destroyed staircase and challenges his old nemesis to the final battle. The Mountain kills Qyburn for getting in the way and The Hound allows Cersei to pass and continue to make her escape. The Hound strikes his brother and knocks his helmet off to reveal a swollen rotting corpse.

Cersei eventually makes it to a courtyard and finds Jaime. The two take off for the underground tunnels following Tyrion’s plan. The Mountain and The Hound continue their family feud and The Hound realizes the only way to kill his brother is by tackling him off the destroyed staircase into a fiery pit of rubble below. Arya makes it out of the Red Keep only to find crowds of scared people running from their imminent death at the hands of the woman she once called queen. Jon decides enough is enough and takes as many troops as he can and falls back out of the city. Arya is trampled by people, crushed by rubble, and surrounded by fire. She tries to help as many civilians as she can but is unable to save anyone as Dany flies overhead spewing fire across the already destroyed homes.

Somehow, Jaime and Cersei are able to make it down to the tunnels only to have all the exit tunnels blocked with debris. With no escape, Jaime comforts his sister and love in their last moments together as the ceiling caves in on top of them, leaving the Red Keep completely demolished. Arya has yet again evaded death only to find a city burning and utterly dead. As if a hallucination, a white horse covered in blood and ash stands several feet from her, waiting for her. She approached the very real horse and rides out of the city, toward her new goal. Arya,

like Jon, realizes Daenerys Targaryen is not the queen they thought she was. The only name left on Arya’s list now is Queen Daenerys Targaryen.

Wow. Just wow. As a viewer, I saw Dany start to slip seasons ago, but if the burning of King’s Landing doesn’t solidify that fact, then I don’t know what will. We lost yet more main characters this episode including Varys, Sandor Clegane, Gregor Clegane, Qyburn, Euron Greyjoy, Cersei Lannister, and Jaime Lannister. We also lost the old Daenerys that we grew to love and want as queen. I have a feeling that she’s going to face the music in the final episode and she won’t be on the Iron Throne for that long. This whole season has built up that Jon is Aegon Targaryen and that he is the rightful heir. This is one of the only instances where the rightful heir doesn’t want the position, is a decent person, and is the one that Westeros wants to rule. My final predictions for this wonderful series as the last episode come upon us are the following: Tyrion will die by Dany’s hands, Arya will kill Dany, Jon will take the Iron Throne, and Sansa will be allowed to rule the North independent from the Seven Kingdoms. Winter has finally reached King’s Landing both literally and metaphorically in the form of Jon Snow.

-KatTheLadyNerd

#gameofthrones #thebells #season8 #episode5 #wethegeek #kattheladynerd

The Game of Words

Last night gave us a bit of mourning, celebration, and political drama. “The Last of the Starks” provides the viewers a bit of reprieve from the chaotic Battle of Winterfell and let’s us take a small breath of fresh winter air before we move south to Queen Cersei’s domain. While our friends have been preparing for and battling the Army of the Dead, Cersei has been gathering troops and anti-dragon artillery alongside her new boyfriend, Euron Greyjoy, and creepy Hand to the Queen, Qyburn. But before I jump too far ahead, let’s just mourn our dead friends over a few (dozen) goblets of Dornish wine.

The episode begins with a somber scene of Daenerys crying and kissing the head of a fallen Jorah and Sansa does the same with Theon’s corpse. As Sansa steps away from the funeral pyre, she leaves her Direwolf pin tucked in a leather strap across Theon’s chest signifying that even though he didn’t share their blood, he was family. We also see Ghost standing amongst our saddened friends with a few cuts and scrapes. Jon then says a few final words on behalf of the dead and the living before handing all of our favorite characters torches and lighting the several dozen pyres containing their fallen comrades. With the smell of the burning dead fresh in the air, our northern pals retire to the Great Hall of Winterfell for a bit of festing, drinking, and laughing before preparing the long journey south to face Cersei’s even but fresh armies.

The tone shifts to one of celebration in the Great Hall. Gendry attempts to leave the feast in pursuit of Arya, when he is called out by Daenerys and is blessed with the Baratheon name and the castle of Storm’s End. After the meal has concluded, Tormund begins raving about Jon’s mad dragon-riding skills stating that he is a true king. Daenerys is sitting close by, Starbucks cup next to her for moral support, seething with jealousy over Jon’s friendship with the northern people. Tyrion has left Dany’s side to enjoy a bit of his favorite drinking game, Truths, with Jaime, Brienne, and Podrick. The drunken joyous game takes a turn when Tyrion states that Brienne is a virgin, to which she storms off with Jaime chasing after her. Tormund sees his beloved giant woman leaving with another man and breaks down into tears of heartbreak and betrayal. Podrick then seems to attract women like flies almost as if they too want to find out what he did to those whores back in the day. Sansa shares a drink and a few memories with The Hound which clears up a bit of the bad air between them about what happened to her in those dark, terrible times with Littlefinger and Ramsay Bolton. Gendry finally hunts down Arya shooting arrows in an alley. He tells her that he is now Gendry Baratheon and wants to marry her. Arya, of course, shoots him down because she is no lady and will not be tied down.

We then follow Jaime to Brienne’s room where, like a couple of awkward teenagers, they share a few drinks of wine and start to remove each others clothes leading to the only possible outcome for two consenting drunk adults. I was always rooting for Tormund and Brienne because they would seem like such a strange, but fitting couple, but I guess Jaime has known Brienne longer and they seem to get on now that he isn’t under Cersei’s thumb. Meanwhile, Dany and Jon discuss the elephant in the room. Jon cannot get over the fact that Dany is his aunt, but Dany doesn’t seem to care considering that’s what Targaryens are known for. Jon

explains that he is more of a Stark and must tell Sansa and Arya who he truly is. Dany wants it to remain a secret so she can retain her claim to the Iron Throne in the public’s eyes, despite Jon bending the knee.

Strategization begins the next morning in the War Room and it seems the two armies have similar numbers. Jon is confident that they are able to defeat the Greyjoy fleet, Golden Company, and Lannister armies in the field with the dragons. Tyrion believes the people of King’s Landing will overthrow Cersei if supplies become scarce. They form a plan to send a fleet of Dothraki and Unsullied down the coast and Jon takes the northern troops down the King’s Road. After the meeting, Jon, Arya, Sansa, and Bran have a private meeting in the Godswood. Jon allows Bran to share the news of Rhaegar Targaryen, Lyanna Stark, and Jon with the sisters, which makes it not really a secret anymore. These are the final four people to have Stark blood in their veins and more importantly the final male to carry the Stark name. Better get to marrying, Bran, if you want the name to live on at Winterfell.

Later that night, Tyrion and Jaime are sharing some wine in an inn, when Ser Bronn of the Blackwater busts through the door with the gilded crossbow. Tyrion strikes a deal with Bronn for their lives offering him Highgarden in contrast to Cersei’s offer of Riverrun. Bronn saunters off back to the shadows to await his castle once more. Will he ever get that freaking castle? But some morning later, The Hound and Arya begin their introverted final ride south, in anticipation of never returning North. Dany takes off on one final joyride with an injured Rhaegal and Drogon flying above the snowy mountains for perhaps the final time. Sansa shares a political conversation with Tyrion about what Dany will or will not do for the North. Going against her promise to Jon, Sansa shares Jon’s secret which causes a crisis of faith in Tyrion. Jon is prepping his horse in the courtyard when Tormund approaches to say his goodbyes. The Wildlings are going north of the Wall once again, and Jon requests that Ghost go North as well because that’s where Direwolves belong. Sam Tarly and Gilly come to announce their departure as well. Then Jon looks over at a scarred Ghost before jumping on his horse and riding south through the gates of Winterfell. Jon couldn’t have at least patted Ghost or told him he was a good boy? But on our journey south, Tyrion and Varys discuss the Jon situation and we can see that Tyrion still very much believes in Dany where as Varys shows his favor for Jon becoming king.

Next thing we know, we’re in the warm southern coasts and Dany is flying above her ships on Drogon with Rhaegar cruising beside them. Their peaceful flight is disrupted by harpoons impaling Rhaegar in the abdomen, chest, and throat leaving him to crash and burn (dragon pun intended) in the ocean below. This leaves one dragon left in existence, so let’s hope at least one of the three was a lady dragon all along and laid a clutch of eggs somewhere secret for Dany to find later and give to her kids and grandkids as birthday presents. In other news, Euron Greyjoy now has massive crossbows (aka ballistas) mounted to his ships and begins firing at Dany’s fleet leaving her troops to literally sink or swim. In this process, Cersei’s men are able to take Missandei prisoner. This and the death of her child enrages Dany. Tyrion advises that she attempt negotiation with Cersei to show the people that when Cersei declines her terms, that it

is the Lannister to blame and not the Targaryen. Tyrion and Varys further discuss the Jon vs. Dany issue while Jaime learns of the crushing defeat of Dany’s fleet by Euron Greyjoy. Jaime decides that now is the time to go south in an attempt to convince Cersei to surrender. This breaks Brienne’s heart beyond repair to which she will never forgive him as long as she lives.

Finally, Daenerys and Cersei come face to face in a Clash of Queens. Cersei has outfited the walls of King’s Landing with ballistas to defend against a dragon attack, which is rather intimidating for our Dragon Queen. Qyburn then exits the gate and presents Cersei’s requests for Dany’s surrender. Tyrion counters with the same argument but in reverse. To eliminate the telephone game from ruining everything, Tyrion approaches Cersei directly in an effort to plead for his unborn neice or nephew’s life. Cersei strongly considers having Tyrion executed immediately but withdraws. Cersei believing she has the upper hand in this fight, allows Missandei final words. Missandei screams, “DRACARYS!” indicating this is her end and Dany is free to burn them to ashes. The Undead Mountain then severs Missandei’s head from her body, which further fuels Daenerys’ fire. The war has now begun.

This episode marks the 66.7% way mark through this season and even though there was minimal fighting in this episode, there was just as much political and verbal conflict to compensate for the lack of major action scenes. We finally get to see an actual conversation about how Jon’s true identity is volatile information that should be acted on quickly before it takes on a more chaotic form. Sansa did betray Jon and break a major promise she had made to him, but as she has learned from Littlefinger, information is power and currency. By revealing a third contender for the Iron Throne, she can actively support a candidate that she trusts and believes in instead of choosing the lesser of two evils and defaulting to Daenerys as a queen. If you’ve been a die-hard Khaleesi fan and have been rooting for Dany since the beginning, you may only just now be noticing her mind start to slip a bit. Since getting the dragon eggs until now, Daenerys has transformed from a meek girl to a strong woman in power. This constant reassurance and ego boosting by various members of her core council, has created a true Targaryen. The death of Missandei in this episode has finally caused the tip off the edge for Dany and her anger toward Cersei which may cause the deaths of many innocent bystanders. I predict that Dany will win the war against Cersei, but that Jon will end up on the throne by no choice of his own. A coup may be in Dany’s future. Let’s also not forget that Arya only has green eyes left which more obviously includes Cersei Lannister but less obviously includes Tyrion Lannister and Daenerys Targaryen. Unlike in the books, due to the constraints of practicality for the actor, Emilia Clarke has green eyes. Dany originally has purple eyes, like all other Targaryens in the source material. Will that come into play in the upcoming episodes? This now guarantees that Cersei will be killed by Arya but that Arya has the chance of killing several different people including allies.

One final prediction I will leave you with is more of a hopeful wish instead of an educated prediction. The Dragonstone underground is rumored to contain various pieces of dragon armor. Drogon is the last of Dany’s children and very apparently her favorite. Drogon is pretty much the same size as the fully grown dragons of the past. This armor is said to be made of Valyrian steel

which is the hardest metal in the Known World. If this armor exists and Dany outfits Drogon with it, Euron Greyjoy’s ballista bolts would not be able to pierce the armor unless the tips were made of Valyrian steel as well. Due to the complete depletion of the Valyrian steel mines and refineries hundreds of years ago, it is extremely implausible for the ballista bolts to be tipped with Valyrian steel. Thusly, the ballista men would have to aim for the breaks in Drogon’s armor, which are extremely small openings in comparison to the dragon itself and the bolt size that are also on a moving target. Using science and real world application, if Daenerys puts that armor on Drogon, the probability of him being killed or even injured drops dramatically leaving her with a lean, mean fire machine once more. This legendary dragon armor’s existence is the tilting point as to which side will win The Last War. But more fantastical things have happened in this show so we’ll just have to wait and see in the second to last episode of the series next week.

-KatTheLadyNerd

#gameofthrones #thelastofthestarks #season8 #episode4 #dragonarmor #thelastofthedragons #wethegeek #kattheladynerd

The Game of Knights

Another Sunday has passed and thus another episode of Game of Thrones. Yesterday’s episode was titled “A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms” and was mostly centered around the preparation of Winterfell for the incoming attack of the Wight Walker hoard lead by the Night King. The episode starts just as the last one left off: with Jaime “F***ing” Lannister. Jaime has to face Daenerys who is still quite angry about Jaime killing her father, so she has no intention of letting him off easily. Jaime attempts to show his change of heart by admitting that Cersei had no intention of sending the Lannister army north and that he was a fool for trusting her. Then Brienne of Tarth stands and vouches for Jaime stating that he is a decent man that has made mistakes in the past. Sansa trusts Brienne whole-heartedly thus granting Jaime his life and allowing him to fight along-side Brienne.

Tyrion had orginally believed that Cersei would be sending her men to the aid of Dany and Jon, but after hearing Jaime’s dissappointing news, Tyrion admits he is a fool to which Dany threatens to remove his position as Hand of the Queen. Meanwhile, Arya is checking in on Gendry and getting her flirt on with our favorite Baratheon bastard. Then things shift to a rather uncomfortable conversation between Bran and Jaime in the God’s Wood. My prediction of indifference on Bran’s part toward Jaime’s attempt on his life came true leaving what happened back in the first episode of the series between them. Jaime then returns to the castle to have a heart-to-heart with his brother, Tyrion, in which they discuss the foolishness in trusting Cersei. The two also face the fact that everyone is going to die including them. We then keep following Jaime around Winterfell to his next stop: Brienne. Jaime learns that Brienne is commanding the left flank and wishes to serve underneath her. He goes about all of this without a single insult thrown at Brienne which throws her off guard considering their past relationship.

We drift over to Dany’s room where Ser Jorah of the Friend Zone vouches for Tyrion as Dany’s hand which actually works. Then Dany heads down to have a one-on-one chat with Sansa in an attempt to play nicely with her nephew-boyfriend’s cold sister-cousin. They discuss their similarities of being strong women in position of power and their loves for Jon. Dany admits she is in love with Jon which leads Sansa to her main concern: the North. Sansa demands that the North be left to rule themselves outside of the Seven Kingdoms. Unfortunately, their meeting is cut short by Theon Greyjoy, which is a relief to Sansa to see her old friend alive and well.

Then Ser Davos, for some reason, is serving soup and helping Gilly convince a little girl to stay in the crypt where it’s safe. A nice filler scene that warmed my heart just as that soup warmed the belly of that brave, naive little girl. Tormund arrives back at Winterfell with the news that the Night King will attack before morning, to which a plan is formed. In the war room, all our favorite characters gather to go over their plan of defense and guerrilla warfare. Bran proposes that he is used as bait to lure the Night King into the God’s Wood where Jon can strike with the dragons, hopefully, killing the Night King and leaving the army of Wight’s without a master. Then we see how Grey Worm is prepping the Unsullied for battle and instilling hope in his love,

Missandei. Jon, Sam and Edd share a brotherly chat about the good and bad times at Castle Black.

Considering everyone is preparing for battle in their own way, Jaime, Tyrion, Podrick, Brienne, Davos and Tormund share some drinks in front of a fireplace. Tormund then whips out a story about being raised by a giant while chugging some sort of milk in an effort to finally whoo Brienne…which doesn’t work, of course. Arya and The Hound share some wine and are interrupted by Beric trying to preach at them. Then Arya is met by Gendry in the archery range with her new Dragon Glass staff. Gendry reveals that he is King Robert’s bastard and Arya questions him about his sexual history, which lead in the only direction it could. After the seasons long sexual tension between these adorable kiddos, Arya loses her virginity to a decent guy. I’ll admit, I was convinced Arya was going to be another LGBT character, but honestly, she can be with whoever she wants.

We then head back to the fireplace with the unlikely group of heroes discussing their victories and failures. Tormund hears that Brienne isn’t a knight and calls bull-manure on tradition. Jaime takes it upon himself to knight Brienne which finally gives Brienne what she has always wanted. We then witness Ser Jorah of the Friend Zone trying to tell Little Lady Lyanna Mormont that she shouldn’t defend their family name, but the Tiny Bear will fight until the bitter end. Sam seeing this, presents Heartsbane, the Tarly House sword, to Jorah as a gift to a loyal friend. Back at the fireplace, Podrick starts to sing one last song before the inevitable demise of almost every major character we have come to know and love. The next scene is what we’ve all been waiting for since last Sunday. Down in the crypt at the statue of Lyanna Stark, Jon tells the story of the secret marriage of Rhaegar Targaryen and Lyanna Stark and the legitimate child between them being raised as Eddard Stark’s bastard son, Jon. Dany is taken aback by this because that means that her claim to the Iron Throne has now been trumped by Jon a.k.a Aegon Targaryen, the last male heir. But the incest doesn’t matter. Right? The episode ends with the Night King standing at far side of the icy tundra staring at Winterfell as if it were just another obstacle in his path to destroying all of mankind. Winter is here, my friends.

With this whole episode being centered around preparing for impending doom, they sure do a good job of instilling hope in the viewers that somehow our favorite characters will survive and beat the odds, but realistically, everyone on the front lines is going to die. That includes Brienne, Jaime, Podrick, Grey Worm, Jorah, The Hound, Davos, Gendry, Sam, and Theon. Not to mention that Bran has a high chance of dying simply because as bait for the Night King, he accepts his fate as long as it won’t be in vain. I also have a sneaking suspicion that another dragon will die, if not both, because they will be in the direct line of fire for the Night King and his undead Viserion that no one knows exists. Jon, Dany, Sansa, Arya, and Tryion will most likely will survive episode 3 because of the underlying tensions between them and all 5 of them have the greatest chances of taking the Iron Throne away from Cersei. But remember how Jon now has the best claim to the throne? Maybe Dany will make an attempt on Jon’s life since she wants the Throne so badly. She is a pure Targaryen after all and they don’t tend to have the

best mental health record on account of the inbreeding. But all of this is just speculation my part so we’ll just have to tune in next week for the Final Battle to see how this plays out.

-KatTheLadyNerd

#gameofthrones #aknightofthesevenkingdoms #season8 #episode2 #finalseason #wethegeek #kattheladynerd