Warning: Spoilers ahead.
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You’ve been warned!
Let’s start with who we know didn’t make it:
Dolorous Edd, Lyanna Mormont (sob), Beric Dondarrion, Theon Greyjoy, Jorah Mormont, Melisandre, and The Night King.
While these deaths were sad (especially Lyanna Mormont’s – who deserved the throne more than most), they weren’t devastating in a Red Wedding way. Sorta amazing how all the major characters survived, especially given the dire situation. Which was kinda a given if you thought they’d beat the Night King. They’ll be needed in battling Cersei. And I have to say their survival kinda lessened the impact of the battle scene for me. Every one of them was shown in fights they shouldn’t have survived, and yet they did.
I’m not big on battle scenes, but the silent extinguishing of the Dothraki was, imo, the most powerful. That scene told us everything we needed to know. Nothing was going to work – and anyone who watched Jon fight the dead outside the wall (the scene where he discovers that Valyrian steel takes out the blue eyed general) knew that fighting the Night King’s army with swords and fire wasn’t going to cut it.
Know what would have cut it? Having a flippin’ detailed plan to kill the Night King. Seriously, Bran told them the Night King would come for him, so perhaps a plan that involved more than Theon, his men and flaming arrows was needed.
Okay, let’s check in our main characters, since they all survived
Jon: Let’s face it, Jon isn’t a great leader. He’s compassionate and gives great speeches, but pretty much every plan he makes doesn’t work out. How many times has Jon been saved once his plan goes wrong? No one else in GoT has been given so many second chances. And don’t even get me started on the Battle of the Bastards, where Jon loses it, abandons the plan (that was destined to fail anyway), and Sansa saves the day.
For a second, I was worried that Jon would face the Night King. That would have been bad, since an “honorable” face off or simply issuing a battle cry and charging right in would have resulted in the Night King’s victory.
(Was anyone else worried that Daenerys would push Jon off the cliff at the beginning of the show? Despite everything, the show has shown us that Daenerys’ number one goal is the Iron Throne. I still think one of them will die. However, If Daenerys dies, it won’t be at Jon’s hand. Can’t say the same if Jon dies.)
Daenerys: And here’s another not great leader. Daenerys rocks at conquering. Leading and ruling, not so much.
Looking back on last night’s episode, it wasn’t Jon and Daenerys and the dragons whose plan saved the day. They barely mattered. Which was good, in a way.
Sansa: Yet again, Sansa shows her self-awareness and leadership skills. She’s with her people (Something Cersei would never do) and she knows (as she tells Tyrion) that she (and he) can’t help and are exactly where they are supposed to be.
I hang on Sansa’s every word. She doesn’t like or trust Daenerys. (neither do I. Hello? Mad Queen?) Yep, still Team Sansa.
Bran: Will he go into a tree soon? He has so much information, and shares so little. I guess he knows what will happen, but his silence doesn’t make for powerful scenes.
The Night King: I wish he would have spoken. I have questions, damn it!
Beric, The Hound and Melisandre: All exist to make sure Arya fulfills her role. Only The Hound is alive at the end. I guess we’ll have The Mountain and The Hound face off soon enough.
Ayra: I didn’t realize how much sense it made for our little assassin to kill the Night King until it happened. It was deeply satisfying. Her scenes last night made the episode.
Cersei: Welp, hats off to Cersei. Her decision not to fight was smart. Now she has a huge, well rested army (minus dragons), as well as Euron and his fleet. However, if we go by the prophecy, Cersei is destined to die by her little brother’s hand. My bet is it’s Jamie who kills her.
Bronn: He’s out there with his gold and coming for the Lannister Brothers. He’s always a wild card, since he has no loyalty.
Sam: Honestly, he should have been in the crypt. I love him, but someone was always saving him. Would Dolorous Edd still be alive if Sam was in the crypt? And how sad is it that I was happy Jon didn’t stop to save him? That’s just wrong of me.
Ghost Lives!
I’ve left a ton out (again), but wanted to get this post up so everyone could weigh in!
The episode was excellent. I was literally pacing in my den as I watched, like I did during the Eagles’ Super Bowl. That is how intense it was.
It was really good, and I lose interest in long battle scenes – same way I lose interest in car chases. 😉
So first of all.
I hate zombie horror. I knew it was coming, but I still spent a lot of that episode checked out. Gives me really bad anxiety. If i want to see terrifying, inevitable death coming with no way to stop or reason with it, I’ll read climate predictions.
That said, It was a pretty damn suspenseful episode. For a while I thought the whole show has been a troll, developing these rich and deep characters only to have them ripped apart in a hallway by ice zombies. Unlike Battle of the Bastards where Jon CLEARLY had plot armor, I was about 60/40 convinced that everyone was getting wiped out.
The 2 big deaths were pretty good as far as they go. Sad to see the Mormont line eliminated, but Lyanna died exactly as she’d want to and good for Jorah the Fedora going in Dany’s arms like he probably always wanted to.
Berric’s Jesus pose bothered me a little. I think Edd’s death was a nod that the Night’s Watch is well and truly gone… as is their reason for being.
I recall back in season 3, before Arya goes to Braavos, she meets Melisandre who gives her that “you’ll close many eyes” spiel…. someone on reddit called it the next day that she’d be the one to kill NK. props to that person.
Very glad Greyworm survived physically, but he looked terrified… something he hasn’t been before. Sure, he have been scared he wouldn’t see Missandei, (his one admitted fear) but I dont see him just adjusting his armor and marching on after that. Dany’s freed people have always been free to leave and i have to wonder if GW and Messandei are starting to look up travel plans to a nice beach somewhere.
Now that Ser Brienne survived this, I think she’s gonna make it. With Jorah gone, she’s my odds-on favorite for Lady Commander of the Queensguard…. which will ultimately be the “castle guard” or something since I dont think there will be a monarch in the end.
Hey, on the bright side, they wont have to worry about the political and societal implications of having thousands of Dothraki fighters living in Westeros.
Candidates for killing Cersei are. Jamie, Tyrion, Sansa, Arya, Bran, Dany. “Valonqar” translates to common as “little brother”, but High Valyrian is mostly gener-neutral so it REALLY means “little sibling”. not necessarily HER little sibling. I predict Arya dies killing Cersei. The final name on her list.
For Lord of the Rings books fans, this now all feels a lot like Saramon in the Shire. We’ve beaten the Dark Lord… Mount Doom is gone, Mordor has fallen. Now off to deal with a lesser, by every measurable measure, foe. It’ll be hard to make the stakes feel higher for the remaining 4-ish hours of show.
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unless NK warged at the last second.
GW and Messandei have already made plans to leave last episode. Those are the two closest, most loyal people Daenerys has. We know Tyrion’s and Varys’ loyalty only goes so far.
I am concerned (as much as one can be concerned about a fictionalized world, populated with fictionalized people, heroes and villains). The Dothraki turned into the dead, who then died a second time when the NK because shards of ice. The Unsullied were also pretty much decimated. Cersei has a 20K man army. What does Jon Snow have? Sure there are presumbably 2 dragons left, but that’s it. The North also lost a good number of their fighters. I can’t fathom how this will turn out, unless someone offs Cersei before her army engages what’s left of the North. To my knowledge there is no remaining large force that can come to the rescue. So I’m kinda puzzled.
A lot more characters survived than I thought was going to be the outcome. Which obviously means that there are more deaths to come, including characters with which there is a large measure of emotional involvement.
I want to add, for those who have not read the books (which I did before the show), I invested in the Starks, then the wolves, then the wolves started dying, then Ned, then the Red Wedding. I finally cursed Martin for being so frggin bloodthirsty and decided that the best course of action was for people like Jon and Arya was to keep their head down and disappear because as soon as they pop up, Martin is there with the axe. If Snow is to survive he needs to head north and become a Ranger, even though there doesn’t appear to any point. At least he might live. Ditto Arya. Head back to Bravos, be a Faceless Man, live long and prosper. Let the others get the axe!
And of course, Martin should be chained to his desk until he finishes the next 2 books. Valar Morghulis
Valar Doharis…
Dave’s point is pretty inescapable… IMO, the Dothraki were, with the obvious exception of the dragons, the critical element of Dany’s army (I think more so than the Unsullied). Now all of the Dothraki fighters are gone, as well as probably at least 25-50% of the Unsullied… So unless Dany intends to burn the Red Keep to the Ground (not a bad idea), I don’t quite see how she makes good on her boast from next week’s episode “Now that we’ve won the Great War, we will win the Last War.”
You and what army?
I think there are factors we arent considering (and the show has intentionally kept quiet).
The biggest imo is the Faith, Those who loved Queen Margery; and “Queen Cersei. She murdered the spiritual leader of pretty much everyone without land/titles. She illegally grabbed power with no claim in an illegitimate ceremony. We’re not seeing what is happening in the pubs anf brothels. Qyburn may be good but is is LittleFinger or Varys level good when it comes to secrets. The “small folk” may be ripe for regime change.
I also think the soldiers of the Reach and Dorne were never really won over. ESPECIALLY Dorne. The Red Viper and his Sand Snakes were beloved.
Yara (Asha) is also a wild-card. If Euron doesn’t off-load those ships in time, one good naval battle and maybe an assist from Drogon could even the playing field.
The Great Northern Army may be bedraggeled, but a bunch of polished pikemen arent gonna be bearly as intimidating as ZOMBIE TSUNAMI. Do you think anyone is gonna care about The Mountain after seeing Lyanna take out a giant wight? psh, send the little girl from the soup-line at him with a toothpick and she’ll walk away. I have a feeling the next few episodes will be some satisfying wins… and of course more tragic deaths.
That’s part of the puzzle. I don’t know how many Reachers and Dorners there are and Yara has very few ships as well as men. My thought is that Cersei is done in by subterfuge/assassination rather than overwhelming force – i.e. valonqar (probably aka Tryion Lannister).
Agree with the subterfuge/assassination. Which means the person that kills her has to get close enough. That leaves Jamie or Euron or Arya wearing one of their faces.