Daenerys Targaryen’s death, having considered its possibility myself ahead of Game of Thrones’ final season as, maybe, an attempt to begin numbing myself to its probability, was the one that I ultimately, and apparently, could not convince myself to prepare for. Continue reading
I’ve been thinking a lot lately about a thing I don’t want to think about: the life expectancy of Daenerys Targaryen. Continue reading
Introductions at Dragonstone, payback in King’s Landing, a reunion (though, the unexpected one) at Winterfell, a clean bill of health (apparently) at the Citadel, Casterly Rock falls (on purpose?), last words in Highgarden, another win for Cersei, and another loss for Daenerys. A lot happened in “The Queen’s Justice,” the third episode of seven in Game of Thrones‘ penultimate season, at a pace so staggering entire battles begin and end over a couple minutes of voiceover — however epic — or don’t begin at all, rather showing the approach and the expected surrender — however deliciously revealing. It’s a striking difference from all six past seasons, but a welcome one nonetheless.
And if you haven’t been keeping score, Dany is losing — a prospect so worrisome, I’m beginning to dream at night about rushing to her aide.
If not every one, then almost every new Westerosi ally at Dany’s stone table in Dragonstone, during “Stormborn,” has been wiped out or captured. That includes Yara Greyjoy and her fleet, the Sand Snakes and Olenna Tyrell, all of this without any actual action from either queen.
Sure, for Cersei that’s par for the course; but not Dany. We’re talking about (in no particular order) the Khaleesi of the Great Grass Sea, the Unburnt, Breaker of Chains, Queen of the Andals and the First Men, Queen of Mereen, and the Mother of Dragons (I wanted that one to go last). This is a woman of action and conviction, who freed slaves on the back of her dragons and emerges from flames unscathed. The Dothraki crossed the Narrow Sea for her, for the first time in their history. But since arriving in Westeros, she has not been that conquerer. She’s weighing the advice of her advisers, calling shots but staying at home for fear of acting too maliciously as her father, Mad King Aerys.
Her forces’ first victory comes at Casterly Rock, an epic sequence shown with a voiceover by Tyrion, who’s telling the company back in Dragonstone just how Grey Worm and the Unsullied will take the Rock — a seriously awesome dialogue about having something worth fighting for. “There should have been more,” Grey Worm says after clearing the castle. The problem is troops were withdrawn and simultaneously marching with Jaime Lannister on Highgarden, where Lady Olenna, just before drinking a vial of poison, admits she murdered late King Joffrey. “Tell Cersei,” she says to Jaime. Then, with the Unsullied having infiltrated Casterly Rock, Grey Worm, worried, looks out on the horizon to see Euron Greyjoy’s fleet burning their ships.
Alas, Dany is growing more impatient, but it’s becoming clearer to us watching just how much of a disadvantage it is to be the only Targaryen, thus the only one who can control dragons. She makes it clear to Tyrion she feels it’s time for her to act, to use her significant advantage to at least attack Euron’s fleet.
Too risky, her advisers tell her, but how much longer does she have to wait? She’s losing allies left and right, and her long-anticipated meeting with Jon Snow didn’t go all too well. Not only did he not bend the knee to her, he didn’t seem interested in bending on anything, despite an awesome, intimidating introduction to her dragons.
It should not be surprising. There was a kind of comedic vibe to this meeting. There was Missandei reciting Dany’s long list of designations and Davos not prepared to introduce Jon. And there was also Dany asking Jon, “Did you see three dragons flying overhead” when he arrived. It was a ton of fun, but neither character seemed properly prepped for it — Dany assuming Jon only could have come to pledge his loyalty or risk not leaving alive and Jon assuming Dany (or anyone else for that matter) would just wholesale buy into this idea that White Walkers a) exist, b) are coming and c) can only be killed with something called dragon glass which is located only on her land.
Ultimately, Tyrion convinces Dany to give a little, allowing Jon to mine the mountains of dragon glass in Dragonstone. (Oddly, she does not ask for anything in return, nor does Jon offer. His unfettered loyalty is the assumed other half of the deal here.)
She also promises him troops when he needs them. But she’s the one who needs her half of the deal returned first. Although action is moving super fast this season, only one war has actually begun — that’s the one for the iron throne. This other battle, coming from north of The Wall, hasn’t made any such advances. Based on the previews for the upcoming episode, it looks as though Dany will, in fact, ask for Jon to return the favor. But more than that, more than being a dealmaker and a chess player, the time is coming when Dany must act. Act as the late Olenna Tyrell implored her to: “The lords of Westeros are sheep. Are you a sheep? No. You’re a dragon. Be a dragon.”
As promised, Game of Thrones is waging war more quickly this season and the first evidence of it comes out of “Stormborn,” which begins with such promise for the queen for which the episode gets its name but ends in a fiery, concerning conclusion for those of us on board that very side, Team Dany.
It’s simple math why this penultimate season needs to move action forward faster. It has taken 60 episodes, over six years, to get to this climax and now there’s 13 episodes (max) to unveil how the great war ends. So, just as last week’s premiere ended with Dany at the head of the stone table in Dragonstone asking, “Shall we begin,” this week’s episode opens in a rainstorm with an epic flyover shot of the same place, zooming in on a dim light in the tallest tower in the distance where the queen and her advisers are weighing their battle plans. (And it’s no wonder Dany’s having a hard time feeling at home.)
The plan, a simple divide and conquer approach involving a two-pronged attack to secure Westeros with minimal unwarranted carnage. Yara Greyjoy and her iron fleet will lead the armies of Dorne and Highgarden into King’s Landing to have Cersei Lannister surrounded, while, simultaneously, the Unsullied will sail for Casterly Rock and take the Lannister stronghold.
That, coupled with a long-anticipated meeting with Jon Snow (to bend the knee to her, not to, you know, elope) that’s waged the same night (and promised in the preview for next week’s episode), garners significant excitement — too much to be comfortable with.
The meeting will happen, but all that goodness in the span of a swift 10, 15, 20 minutes was too much. (Standby for sports reference.) It’s The Big 3 coming to Miami! No.
Dany and Tyrion’s divide and conquer approach suffers a fiery, debilitating defeat by the episode’s epic end, at the hands of Euron Greyjoy.
(Long side note here: What the hell? Does anyone else smell something fishy going on? Was it luck, or how does Euron know where to find Yara’s fleet? How does he know Ellaria Sand — no doubt his gift for Cersei — and her daughters will be aboard? Moreover, how is Cersei so well versed in the movements and alliances Dany has made? Qyburn’s little birds? Someone on the inside for Euron and/or Cersei? What the hell?)
Euron’s fleet intercepts Yara’s in the middle of the night, while Yara and Ellaria are below deck sucking down pints of ale and fooling around and the men are seemingly asleep. Euron’s fleet launches fireballs and jumps aboard Yara’s ship. The rest of the fleet is burning all around them. They’re overwhelmed. Ellaria and youngest daughter Tyene Sand are cornered and captured. Nymeria and Obara Sand are killed and left staked and hanging from the front of the burning ship.
Head-to-head with her uncle, Yara is defeated and assumed also taken away with Ellaria and Tyene. Theon, being taunted by Euron as he has his blade at Yara’s neck, is panicked and so reverts back to the shattered psyche of Reek. He jumps ships and the episode ends with him treading water watching the fleet burn.
So, Cersei, by way of Euron, draws first blood in this great war, dealing Dany’s regime a significant blow.
All of this after there was some disagreement around Dany’s stone table as how to proceed in her pursuit of the iron throne.
And therein lies the greatest conflict of this week’s episode: Loyalty and trust. Up to this point, save for the Sons of the Harpy, Dany has been able to unify her people. But now in Westeros, how do you unify families who’ve hated each other for generations? How do you gain their loyalty and trust? We know dragons are convincing and the Dothraki love it when Dany comes out of flames unscathed, but this is a different game. Dany’s picking up allies all with their own aspirations — Yara just wants to kill her uncle and take back her homeland, Ellaria and Olenna Tyrell want revenge on Cersei and the world rid of Lannisters (complicating how they feel about Tyrion’s advice to Dany).
Dany is very smart and understands her new allies’ motivations may be different than the allies she gained on the other side of the Narrow Sea. She knows Olenna isn’t in the room because she steadfastly supports her claim to the throne.
It’s no different everywhere else in the world, like in King’s Landing. There, Cersei has called in her remaining lords, including Randyll Tarly who’s conflicted. Tarly will fight for his queen, of course, but he knows Dany’s coming with three dragons and he’d kind of like to stay alive.
The same conflicts are being waged in Winterfell, where Jon announces his intent to ride to Dragonstone and parlay with Dany to form an alliance. She has the dragon glass, number of men and dragons he needs to combat the coming zombie army. But it’s made clear by his supporters, including his sister Sansa, that a.) He should not be leaving the North at a time like this and b.) He should not be leaving to go befriend a Targaryen who’s been getting a skewed, over-exaggerated reputation in Westeros about the things she’s done to get there.
This kind of conflict between his rationale and the conflicting opinion of his people is what got Jon murdered is season five. (See: wildlings)
Dany’s playing the game, rightfully trusting most in her longest-tenured advisers and prepared to press the rest to find out how loyal they really are. And if someone is not, well… as she tells Varys, she won’t hesitate to burn him alive.
. . . . Arya adjusts course for Winterfell, instead of King’s Landing (bummer…), after hearing that her brother, Jon, took it back from the Boltons. On the road back, she’s surrounded by a pack of direwolves, the biggest of which is her long-lost Nymeria. That familiarity saves her life, though Nymeria turns away and the pack goes with her.
. . . . Sansa’s left in charge of Winterfell — a dangerous proposition? After being threatened by Jon, Littlefinger may be even more motivated to influence Sansa in a way that’s a sharper departure from their already conflicting views on leadership and strategy.
. . . . Back at King’s Landing, we see what Qyburn has in store for Dany’s dragons, a huge spear gun, or crossbow.
. . . . Sam goes to work on Jorah’s greyscale using a forbidden treatment.
. . . . Melisandre arrives at Dragonstone and convinces Dany to propose a meeting with him. But remember: Jon and Davos, the two coming from Winterfell to meet Dany, banished Melisandre not long ago.
. . . . There was no movement this week from Bran, The Hound or White Walkers.
