The first half of this episode was the meeting between the major houses. It’s pretty much the last end game players (minus the Night King) all on stage. The direction was to get Cersei’s buy in through demonstrating that the army of the dead exist. Initially, Cersei is stung by Jon Snow’s refusal to accept any orders from her on top of the fact that he publicly accepts Daenerys as his one true queen.

Through this complication, Tyrion volunteers to be the one to negotiate with Cersei. Instead, he finds himself being verbally cut down by Cersei but at the same time discovering that she’s pregnant. One key point here is that he refutes Cersei’s belief that his purpose is to bring down their household.

Somehow he manages to gain Cersei’s word to fight alongside the living. Of course, this is all a ploy as she tells Jamie in private that Euron’s sudden leave of absence is to obtain the services of the Golden Company. Cersei’s conspiring behind Jamie and her refusal to partake in the upcoming war make it the last straw for him in staying by her side.

Up North, Sansa accuses Littlefinger of his own plotting to overthrow the Starks and grab power. He tries to implore for his life yet is sentenced to die. Arya obliges on Sansa’s behalf and later both reaffirm their kinship as part of house Stark.

We also see the full revelation of Jon Snow’s identity through Samwell and Bran discussing their own separate findings. Jon Snow is Aegon Targaryen and is the true heir to the throne. A flash back shows the actual wedding of Lyanna Stark and Rhaegar Targaryen where Bran mentions that the whole Robert’s Rebellion was built upon a lie. While that goes on, a montage is intertwined with Jon and Daenerys having #EPICBOATSEX as Bran narrates.

Lastly, the Night King comes to Eastwatch and blasts down the Wall with his new toy, an Ice Dragon. The entire army of the dead then are able to proceed to march down south, which will lead to the assumed climax for the last season.

Overall, what we’re seeing is the final players gearing up for the finale. In the scheme of things, there’s only three major houses left in real power. With Cersei we do see her supposedly plotting to deal with the remnants of the upcoming battle in the north through hiring the Golden Company.

In the meantime, we see a new major issue arise where Jon and Daenerys have inadvertently and awkwardly fallen in love. This complicates things in that he essentially is fucking his aunt while unknowingly has pledged himself to the person who is incorrectly in the line of succession. I suppose if they discover his true identity, Daenerys will have to figure out how she feels. But my gut instinct is that she’s portrayed as someone who is obsessed with rulership only because she believes in this manifest destiny.

But how will Jon feel in all of this? Thus far, his leadership has come through an elective manner because of his understanding of his identity. However, will he change as a result of learning of his true heritage? On the surface, it’s easy to believe that he would hand over the crown to Daenerys. But he’s still a stickler for the truth like Ned Stark and might favor literal interpretations.

In between the two lies what seems like a very unhappy Tyrion Lannister. Although he said nothing during the #EPICBOATSEX scene, you could sense that he was uncomfortable about the situation, perhaps feeling jealous. There has been hints that he has slowly falling in love with Daenerys. Even Cersei detects it to a certain level (though she calls Daenerys a foreign whore) and she has pretty good acumen when it comes to Tyrion’s personality at times.

One of the interesting things mentioned in the episode was arrows and crossbow bolts. A few camera shots fell on Tyrion which makes me believe that he might eventually fight Jon Snow down the line for Daenerys’ love. It might be his downfall though. You could also sense a small amount of tension between Jon Snow and Tyrion, especially when it came to telling the truth.

Something that struck me was how Cersei constantly would remind Tyrion that his whole intention was to bring down the Lannister name. When Tyrion discovers that Cersei is pregnant, his demeanor changes immensely. In fact, he doesn’t even mention that aspect to the others. So I wonder if he might try to protect Cersei (unlike Jamie).

Also, in that speech where Tyrion talks about how Cersei could not capture, threaten, etc. Daenerys, I wonder if that will become pure irony. Tyrion has been wrong and places too much faith in his intelligence while looking down upon Cersei’s. The thing that I have been musing for a while is how certain people have described Daenerys as a Joan of Arc (as opposed to the King Henry VII character that supposedly is a better representation up until this point of her).

The reason I’m interested in the Joan of Arc parallel/comparison is that Joan of Arc was a martyr who eventually was burned at the stake. I have a feeling that in the last season, the northern forces with Daenerys will get crushed for the most part until Cersei, using the Golden Company, makes a last minute save, a la Tywin Lannister. By doing that Cersei gains all the credit and achieves the loyalty and love of the people that she has always wanted.

However, she’ll call Daenerys a usurper and probably take her hostage. Daenerys might honor that and be taken a prisoner by Cersei. Later, Cersei might try to burn Daenerys at the stake but using Wildfire since it’s known that Daenerys has an immunity to normal fire. I have a feeling that Daenerys may not survive that, although perhaps in the ashes of her death a new baby dragon will be born.

One thing I forgot to mention in all of this is Theon Greyjoy. The part where he wants to go and save his sister was a great scene. It feels that he finally understood and proved that he paid the Iron Price in front of his men. It’ll be interesting to see where his character arc takes him in the last season. Obviously, he’ll confront Euron but I don’t know what Theon’s actual role may be.

I read a false spoiler a while back saying that Euron gets Yara pregnant. But we never see that in this episode. It does raise the stakes for Yara’s rescue if that happens. I feel it would make for an interesting situation for Theon to handle but I think the pregnancy card seems more on Cersei at the moment.

At any rate, I didn’t want to take too much time writing this blog out. I wanted to address the season in a separate one in terms of the overall path and my own journey for this year. Hopefully, I can belt that one out sometime this week.

The post Game of Thrones: Season 7 Episode 7 The Dragon and the Wolf Review appeared first on Kontroversial Keith.

In the books, we’re given not-so-subtle hints that the Hound is still alive but we get no name. On the other hand in the show, we hear Sandor Clegane mentioned by name. Of course, once we see his face, there is no question who the person is. i let out a huge cheer in seeing his return as I’m sure everyone else did. Without question this has to be one of the most anticipated returns of the season.

The main thing is hearing how his life has changed. He’s still haunted by his past but he’s been reborn in some way with a renewed purpose. You still see he has rage in the way he swings his axe but there is also calmness in his attitude. And for once he is treated kindly. There’s a great quote where Clegane asks, “If the gods are real, why haven’t they punished me?” Ray replies, “They have.”

After that Clegane looks away thoughtfully. That speech makes him reflect that perhaps his biggest issue is that he hasn’t been able to forgive himself. Now, he might be able to move forward. That of course comes crashing to a half when his group gets slaughtered by the Brotherhood without Banners, the same people who took him prisoner at one time and forced him into a trial by combat (where he won). He does note, before his septon gets slain, that the Brotherhood follows the Lord of Light. Despite being religious, they use religion as a tool for justifying their holy war, hypocritically preying upon the weak that they said they were protecting. In some now, they are like the reverse Robin Hood and his merry bandits.

In King’s Landing, Queen Margaery holds a talk with the High Sparrow. She makes it seem she has repented and the High Sparrow wants her to convince her mother to also change her ways. When Margaery meets with her mother, she offers a speech with Septa Unella but ultimately hands the Queen of Thorns a waded up piece of paper with their house sigil, indicating that she has been scheming. It’s difficult to know whether or not Septa Unella picked upon Margarey’s scheming, but Margaery does act peculiar in requesting to pray with the Septa right after.

In the meantime, Jon Snow, Sansa and Ser Davos go around attempting to rally other houses to their cause. First, with Tormund’s aid, Jon Snow manages to convince the wildlings to their cause. His simpler, straight forward viewpoint articulates the fact that the North without a united front cannot face the White Walkers and that the Boltons and other houses linked to them do not see the true enemy. However, the wildlings are viewed as enemies of all people, making them a natural target for those not on the Starks’ side.

After that the trio visit Bear Island where they plead with Lyanna Mormont, a girl of 10, to join their cause. Neither Sansa nor Jon have any luck themselves in providing arguments for the lady to rally to their side. However, Ser Davos steps up to make an appeal. Because of his rapport with Shireen, he manages to convince the young Mormont in illustrating the overall picture of the wars to come.

For their final house, the three meet with the Glovers but fail in persuading them. The purpose of that scene is to demonstrate that despite oaths and promises, not everything is easy as in the storybooks. Instead, getting other bannermen to march with them is more about appealing to reason. In some ways, it’s almost like an election where you need to show your best hand to get the vote. While the three have stepped up their game on the political side, they still need a lot of work it seems.

But what I really enjoyed about these scenes is the grassroots approach that the Starks (and Ser Davos) have taken. If you compare their situation to Daenerys’ from the previous week, you can see how the trio must utilize rhetoric in order to get people to ally with them. Daenerys’ uses raw force most of the time or the awe of her dragons to convince people to fight for her side. You have to respect Jon and the others for visiting everyone and making an appeal rather than the more forceful approach that Daenerys does.

Back in King’s Landing, Cersei tries to do her own little campaigning in uniting her house with the Tyrells to take back the power of the throne from the fanatical Sparrows. Despite her somewhat earnestness, Cersei fails miserably in trying to persuade the Queen of Thorns. Part of the problem is that Olenna flat out does not trust Cersei and makes no attempt to hide her contempt for Cersei. She also points out that Cersei’s power base for the most part has disintegrated as a result of her own blundering.

The thing is that Cersei, indeed, has alienated herself from virtually everyone in King’s Landing and perhaps more. Outside of their money (which in truth they have none due to their debt to the Iron Bank), the Lannisters are for the most part without much power anymore. Yet you could see how Cersei, being the cornered feral animal that she is, is plotting against everyone. It’s not a coincidence that Olenna mentions that Cersei’s only real option is to kill everyone. Cersei doesn’t care for anyone outside of her remaining son and brother. So if she can sacrifice the entire world, she would do it in a blink of an eye. Still, she’s keeping her cards very close to her chest this time around and hasn’t unveiled her ultimate plan.
debate.

At the Riverlands, Jamie and Bronn confront the Blackfish. The Freys almost execute Edmure but they falter at the last second. Jamie tries to parlay with the Blackfish. The Blackfish won’t surrender and Jamie attempts to appeal to the Blackfish in sparring his soldiers. Jamie tries to treat Edmure better too compared to the Freys. Much of this section is taking from his original storyline in the books and now he’s back on track more or less. Yet we do see another side from Jamie that hasn’t manifested this season where he shows some compassion for his enemy. This is because of his desire to restore some honor to his name.

In Volantis, Yara and Theon are at a whore house along with the other Greyjoy fleet. Yara turns out to like women. Theon is triggered and messed up still mentally from what Ramsay Bolton has done. However, Yara tries to bring the old Theon back in forcing him to regain some of his confidence. He’s not really doing this at this point for himself but for his sister it seems. Another major point they make is sailing to Meereen and finding Daenerys to form a treatise in retaking the Iron Islands. One of my thoughts was that possibly Yara wants to propose to Daenerys herself, now that we know she likes women (at least in the show).

Back at the Stark army encampment, the army show issues with wildlings. Both Ser Davos and Jon become testy at the way their men are an oddball bunch who must somehow get along enough to combat the Boltons eventually. As they prevent a quarrel from further breaking out, Sansa spots Lyanna Mormont with a caged raven, giving her an idea. From there, Sansa writes a letter, presumably to Littlefinger as she recognizes that their army simply is too small to fight the much larger and possibly better prepared army of the Boltons.

In Braavos, Arya tries to get back to Westeros by handing some money to someone getting ready to set sail back there. While glancing at the entrance, Ara gets stabbed by the Waif. She manages to escape after smacking her head against the Waif’s and tossing herself over the bridge into the water. When she recovers enough, she wanders around the streets of Braavos, clutching her wounded stomach as onlookers attempt to discern her state. Yet no one bothers to help her (well, not like she requested help neither).

Of course, this is more setup leading to converges of stories and a massive return. Most people figure that Sandor Clegane’s ultimate purpose is to fight against his brother in a trial by combat for Cersei. However, at the moment, the main people in his way is this new version of the Brotherhood without Banners. However, it’s clear that he has been reborn in a different manner so it’ll be interesting to see if his penchant for pure violence still is around.

With Arya we finally see her turn her eyes back home. However, she is in a very precarious situation where she has been stabbed and possibly can lose her life. Right now, it’s anyone’s guess if she’ll make it from her situation back home this season. One thing I believe is that with all the returned people, we might see someone show up to aid her. Gendry perhaps? So far, of all the major supposedly alive characters, Gendry is one of the remaining cast members whose fate has yet to be revealed. While the idea is cheesy, having Gendry be the one finding and rescuing Arya also makes sense in some ways. The only other thing I can see as a possible return for him would be if he rejoined the Brotherhood without Banners (where his named character in the books supposedly is still acting as a blacksmith for them). At any rate, Arya for the most part is alone without allies. So it’ll be interesting to see who comes and rescues her (if anyone at all).

The scene with Cersei and Olenna practically screams Mad Queen Cersei. I wouldn’t put it past her to destroy King’s Landing once her son perishes. But before that happens, I’m sure she’ll act against the Tyrells first at this rate. With Queen Margaery, it’s hard to say how she intends to act at this point. She’s in a horribly precarious spot in trying to figure out a way to get her brother to safety while planning her own escape (if any). But I feel that the High Sparrow is a far better judge of character than Margaery realizes, especially the way he stares into her soul. Pretty much at this point, it’s a race to the finish to see who can reclaim Tommen between the three parties.

Jamie’s story arc finally returns where it should be. Having him be away from his sister is the best option for him. They’re essentially poison for one another. He seems to desire better overall when he’s not around her as we can see some minimal concern with the lives at stake in Riverrun. However, he’s also not afraid to push back when necessary as we see how he deals with the Freys. As we see with the upcoming preview, Brienne will meet up with him and the two may come to blows. I’m holding out that she manages to talk some sense into him about his sister.

Anyway, I really enjoyed this episode. The setup definitely leaves me wanting more and I was not disappointed compared to last week. Then again I think with all the storylines finally converging or being cleaned up, we’re seeing a clearer picture of the narrative.

The post Game of Thrones: Season 6 Episode 7 The Broken Man Review appeared first on Kontroversial Keith.

We start off at the Wall where Jon Snow departs with the Wildlings to attempt to get them to unite with the Night’s Watch and possibly aid in Stannis’ upcoming battle with the Boltons. We get another close up of Jon Snow hugging Sam, which reminds me quite a bit of the scene in the second episode where he hugs his half brother Robb Stark. Could that be foreshadowing Sam’s fate?

In the meantime, Ser Alliser Thorne is given command over Castle Black until Jon Snow’s returns. Jon Snow’s actions provides a great deal of doubt with many of the men in the Night Watch as well as isolating Sam from his biggest ally.

Meanwhile, back at Winterfell Sansa and Reek/Theon Greyjoy are seen in Sansa’s bed chambers where we see the abused Sansa make an attempt to appeal to Theon to aid her. I felt this scene was incredibly emotional from both Theon and Sansa as both are absolutely terrified of Ramsay Snow/Bolton. Sansa desperately tries to get Theon to reveal what Ramsay did to him yet he tries to slink off even though she finally manages to get him to agree to aid her.

However, it turns out that Theon does the opposite. We see Brienne awaiting a sign from the forlorn tower and return to Sansa and Ramsay as Ramsay explicates the upcoming hazards that will create a major advantage for the northern born Boltons and a huge disadvantage for the approaching Stannis with his sell swords. However, Sansa manages to push a tense part of Ramsay with the allusion to Walda Frey’s pregnancy. Ramsay does detect her attempt at manipulating his emotions and counters by showing Sansa the results of her attempt at fleeing Winterfell via the flayed woman who was providing her information.

From Stannis’ situation, we see that, indeed, Ramsay’s words are quite poignant as the men suffer in their inexorable death march to Winterfell. Davos attempts to convince Stannis of their impediments along with the casualty of one group leaving. However, Stannis sees a bigger picture with the incoming winter and threat of the White Walkers. Still he has doubts about this path and questions Melisandre’s visions and faith even. She suggests using his daughter for her blood as a sacrifice to defeat the Boltons but Stannis remonstrates the priestess because of his care as a father.

Back at the Wall, Maester Aemon dies from sickness and probably old age, leaving Samwell without any allies nor friends outside of Gilly. In turn, the ravenous, former hoodlums inside the Night’s Watch turn their lustful eyes at Gilly, knowing that Samwell is no real threat. He tries unsuccessfully to defend her and ends up suffering a horrible beatdown before Ghost makes his triumphant return to defend the pair (and disappears again). Thereafter, Samwell finally gets his turn at some reward.

Back over the Narrow Sea, Tyrion and Ser Jorah are sold to the fighting pits. Tyrion demonstrates some remarkable fighting prowess and his voyage continues with Jorah. That was a pretty unexpected turn around, although we do have to remember that Tyrion now has partaken in a few battles himself and has his share of experience.

Over in Dorne, Myrcella confronts Jamie who apologizes for his treatment of Trystane. Myrcella is confused by his appearance and it’s clear that her life had changed when she arrived in Dorne. At the same time, you can see the pain on Jamie’s face, realizing that Myrcella is his child and that he can do little without exposing whom he is (along with Cersei) to her.

In the cells, Bran sings but we find out that the nick he received on his arm the previous week wasn’t unintentional. Tyene indicates that she has poisoned him and gets him to admit that she is the most beautiful woman in the world to trade for his life via a cure she has on her. Bran seems safe for the time being.

At King’s Landing, Lady Olenna Tyrell makes an appeal to the High Sparrow. This is a bizarre scene that shows more character to the High Sparrow than in previous episodes. Supposedly, from this scene we can gather that the High Sparrow is nothing more than a highly pious yet plain man. His only apparent motivation is serving the Gods and bringing correct justice to the world. Despite her political savvy, Lady Olenna’s charms and maneuverings are not enough to convince the High Sparrow from conducting a trial over her two children.

Outside of the Septon, Lady Olenna receives a summons from none other than Littlefinger. This is without a doubt one of the most intriguing parts of the episode as we finally see Littlefinger fess up to his scheming with Lady Olenna. But Lady Olenna is extremely clever and can easily hold her own, maybe even have a point or two above Littlefinger. Yet he provides a counter to her threats of essentially burning the whole ship down by giving her another informant.

Back in Mereen, Dany is with Hizdahr zo Loraq in being shown samples for the fighting pits. Hizdahr mentions that there will be a grandeur one coming up and that this is just a preview. Jorah eventually goes out and bashes everyone into unconsciousness, appeasing Dany who doesn’t immediately recognize him due to his helmet. However, when he removes his helmet, she instantly disdains him until Tyrion unveils himself as The Gift and tells her his family name.

In King’s Landing, Cersei has a moment with the confused and emotionally distressed Tommen, who swears to start a war in retrieving his wife. Cersei attempts to assuage him with reassurances that she will right the crimes against Margaery and Loras in speaking directly with the High Sparrow. But in an odd moment, we see that despite her cruelty she still remains a highly protective mother.

Next, Cersei goes to visit Margaery which turns into a reprisal from the earlier insults Margaery had thrown to her. The entire time Cersei mocks Margaery with fake sympathy while Margaery remains strong and reveals how she sees through Cersei’s falsehood. When Cersei exits the cells, she speaks with the High Sparrow only to have the tide turned against her as Lancel reveals himself and his discrete affairs with Cersei. As a result, the Sparrows toss Cersei into a Black Cell herself.

I have to say that this episode is by far the best episode of the season thus far. Without a doubt, this episode was a rollercoaster of emotional ups and downs. We see heroisms from the likes of Samwell and Jorah to the hardships of Sansa, Theon and Margaery. And we see the ultimate payoff where Cersei finally has been caught in her own web of deception. Once again, the web has exploded with the huge pay off in Cersei’s imprisonment, which should continue a bit longer (I’ll leave what happens to her for a later time).

While there’s been quite a bit of pay off both in terms of big things and small things, we’re still left with three episodes for the season to go and the show certainly has not lost any momentum. If anything, we’re right now on the peak awaiting that huge moment, which at this stage feels will occur at episode 9 (typically where the big moments happen).

The previews for episode 8 focus on four areas in Jon Snow’s story with the Wildlings, Sansa/Theon Greyjoy’s ongoing struggle in Winterfell as hostages to the Boltons, Cersei’s status as a prisoner of the Sparrows and Dany handling Jorah and possibly Tyrion. There could be a lot more packed in such as Stannis’ continued march to Winterfell, Jamie’s situation in Dorne along with the Sand Snakes and possibly more of Samwell-Gilly. If anything it’ll be the mega setup for the explosion in episode 9, which I predict as the title suggests will be the reopening of the Fighting Pits in Mereen.

Since Maester Aemon died in this episode, I figured that Samwell’s story to go to the Citadel won’t occur this season. It’s really far too late for that to happen, although there was a hint dropped for him to head South. Originally, Samwell receives orders from Jon to go to the Citadel to receive his training as a Maester. Perhaps, that might still occur but at this very second, Jon is attempting to rally the Wildlings to Castle Black. There’s a huge story that in itself so it’s anyone’s guess if they’ll do the entire arc or do Jon’s ending from A Dance of Dragons in this season. My gut feeling is that they could possibly short cut the whole thing since in all honesty the Wildlings story at Castle Black is plodding and that Stannis already has started his march to Winterfell. Maybe he’ll be quickly successful in convincing the Wildlings to return with him and get Sam to head to the Citadel.

Still, one of the key points between Samwell and Jon’s exchange before Jon leaves is that Samwell provides Jon with Dragon Glass. There’s a good chance that in the last episode en route to Castle Black, Jon encounters White Walkers. However, all indicators point towards a mutiny as more men distrust Jon Snow.

Another thing that I’m hoping for that may not happen this season is the upcoming encounter with Stannis and the Boltons. Of course, we don’t see any encounter in the books and can only presume that they meet in the upcoming Winds of Winter novel. However, it would be a major shame if this season did not provide an epic encounter and a fight between Stannis and the Boltons seems in order. Still the writers might attempt to buy George RR Martin some time to finish his book by giving us that fight next season since the outcome of that battle is such a massive spoiler to the books. Honestly, I don’t think the outcome matters at this point as the TV show will most likely finish before the last book is published.

Now, probably one of the biggest pay offs we finally get to see is the encounter between Tyrion and Dany. I have to admit that Dany’s storyline is really hit and miss. Sometimes it grabs my attention but it feels too distant to be relevant to anything. With Tyrion in the fold, we finally make one of the major connections between her isolated plotline to the events going on in Westeros.

Part of the problem with Dany’s storyline is that she’s completely cut off from the world of Westeros with the exception of the little information Jorah and Barriston Selmy had fed her up until this point. Even then Barriston and Jorah were feeding her historical information, not current news. This is where Tyrion enters as he has probably the best knowledge of all the politics of the Seven Kingdoms, history and temperament.

So far, we see Dany as someone who trusts few people but has been hurt by many and has a difficult to near impossible time discerning where she can put her real bets. We have to remind ourselves that Dany is still a teenage girl, although intelligent due to her education by various advisers, yet lacking in experience and more worldly matters. Everything she does is through the narrow window of experience she has encountered, gut instinct and her heart.

With Tyrion by her side, it’s almost like being one of the few people in the kingdom with a laptop, internet and access to Wikipedia. There’s so many possibilities when one of the heaviest hitters around meets up with such a power player. It’s going to be exciting to see how the two interact.

And without a doubt the other mega pay off is Cersei’s imprisonment. No doubt non-book readers have been waiting for years to see Cersei get hers. And this is just the start. Despite her ineptitude as a leader, I do want to call attention to her motives starting from the prophecy scene and the way she interacts with Tommen. At her core, Cersei is a caring mother, the thing Tyrion describes as her “one redeeming quality…That and her cheekbones.” But it’s easy as an audience member to forget that quality since Cersei bumbles around in having such an overreactive personality. You really have to give credit to Lena Headey to bring more life to Cersei than the way the book portrays her as a shallow, empty headed one dimensional person.

For myself, I think the big pay off for me was seeing Samwell getting his with Gilly. That to me was a huge emotional thing because Samwell is the perpetual underdog. Although we commonly see the underdog in stories make come backs, we don’t see that with Samwell and are left to our imaginations whether or not he would’ve succeeded in fending off the two potential rapists from Gilly. If anything he gets one of the few happy scenes in this story that made my night.

Sansa and Theon too made me feel incredible pity for them both. They’re in such an awful situation as psychologically scorched people, being taunted constantly by a ruthless psychopath. However, we do see some growing strength inside of Sansa as she’s now a desperate woman and trying to find options to become free. I don’t know if she realizes that her ally is Brienne (which is an awesome ally nevertheless) but I do think she’s starting to see the necessity of why she must fight as a Stark of Winterfell. She might not see the larger picture yet.

Theon too is horribly scarred. He has lost everything meaningful to him and his only instinct is raw survival at this stage. That’s why he “proves” his loyalty once again to Ramsay. The question is what will change him back from Reek to Theon? What will give him the courage to revert and re-discover whom he is? Of course, book readers know what that thing is, but what exactly does that thing mean? What is he holding onto outside of pure fear?

Let’s talk about the Littlefinger part. Littlefinger is such an underplayed yet critical character. I think part of his story is one about ascension and how the plays become riskier and more difficult as you take each step. Here, Lady Olenna recognizes his treacherous nature and doesn’t hide her disdain for what he represents. Yet he makes another play right in front of her by giving Lancel to her in uprooting Cersei.

While the conversation between Olenna and Littlefinger alludes to a statement he made in earlier seasons about his alliance, the thing I’m uncertain of still is whether or not the Tyrells were, indeed, the people he mentioned. The key word that I will continue to point out is that the gender of the friend in his speech on the ladder of chaos was that of a male. Olenna and the Tyrells seem more like a convenient than a bigger ally that Littlefinger seems to have paired himself with. So again, I have to beg the question: who is this ally? My only guesses thus far are the White Walkers, the Iron Bank and the Gods. Littlefinger doesn’t just go for petty alliances, he wants the whole thing. And the plays keep getting more dangerous.

That connects to Tommen’s speech about starting a war over his beloved Margaery. Tommen is a far kinder king than Joffrey but still a fool, which was reminiscent in how he screamed, “I am the king!” If he starts a war within King’s Landing between the Sparrows and the royal army, then the country side might follow, given that the positions the Sparrows assume are that of the common people (which are the Many as according to the High Sparrow) and the royalty (which are the few).

Seeing that Littlefinger is subtly motivating all these pieces into place, the ultimate answer once again is the sheer devastation of the kingdom through perpetual war between everyone, which is what I think he wants. Again, my hypothesis points to the collision between men and the White Walkers where the men inadvertently feed the White Walkers with tons of unburnt bodies as the harsh winter quickly approaches through these petty battles. And when that happens, only those with information like Jon Snow, Stannis and possibly Littlefinger will be able to react in time.

In Stannis’ case, he does see part of the picture but he only views war and unbent justice as the answer to everything. And he’s been warned by Jon Snow of the White Walkers, but without seeing concrete proof of what the White Walkers are capable of, he probably doesn’t know how to execute on his plan. Instead, he believes that a proper crown through domination of his enemies and proclamation as the ruler will give him enough power and voice to gain the trust of others to his cause.

What about Jon Snow in all of this? What exactly has he been doing all this time? It feels as though he merely goes from place to place without much rhyme nor reason except to perform his duty as appropriate for the Night’s Watch. I think his main story arc is about him training to learn how to lead. He must learn humility and level up (so to speak) through gaining things with his own hands. He’s had his mentors in various epic characters and all of them die in some manner. But I think as each character passes, he learns something from their demise in what leadership means both for success and failure. Probably, the most distant story arc is between Dany and Jon Snow. Neither have any real connection, except now with Lord Tyrion by Dany’s side and Jorah Mormont as the son of the former Lord Commander.

At any rate, what an episode tonight was! I’m pretty pumped and feel the momentum in full gear and cannot wait until next week’s episode!

The post Game of Thrones: Season 5 Episode 7 Thoughts appeared first on Kontroversial Keith.