Ep 610 “The Winds of Winter”
Such as, Sam and Gilly finally reaching Oldtown, showing us
the Citadel. Maesters are pretty much the nerds of Westeros and that was proven
to us as Sam and Gilly enter the tall white building where Sam hands the letter
Jon gave him to a guy in a white robe with some funky reading glasses on. He
peers up from the book his nose is buried in and gives them a once over. The
Citadel’s records still show Jeor Mormont as the Lord Commander of the Night’s
Watch and Sam has to explain his death and the fact that Maester Aemon (who was
over 100 years old at the time of his death) was sick and wasn’t able to update
the Citadel about the turn of events. So the Night’s Watch needs a new maester
and Sam is there to learn. The man says this is most irregular, but he will let
the archmaester know Sam is there. Sam is allowed to peruse through the Citadel’s
library while he waits, however, Gilly and baby Sam are not allowed because
they are woman and child. The library is huge and filled with books and scrolls
from floor to ceiling covering several floors with staircases. Basically, it
looks like heaven for anyone who enjoys reading.
The Frey’s are celebrating their “triumph” over Riverrun.
Lord Frey sits down with Jaime and tells him Lord Edmure is back in his cell.
He laughs that the Blackfish was killed by common soldiers. Jaime asks if Lord
Walder has ever actually fought in a battle and Lord Walder says he has
Riverrun so he is a victor. He doesn’t care if Jaime mocks him. Frey says the
only real time Jaime fought in a battle, Robb Stark caught him and kept him prisoner.
Jaime says the people fear the Lannister army not the Frey’s. They gave the
Frey’s the Riverlands to hold for them and if they have to come back and help
them every time they lose it then what the hell do they need the Frey’s for?
That shut Lord Walder up. Jaime and the Lannister army leave and some time
later a girl is serving Lord Walder his food one day. He asks if she is one of
his (meaning a daughter or granddaughter) and when she replies no, he starts
hitting on her. He wonders where his sons are because they were supposed to be
there. She tells him his sons already arrived. When he asks where they are, she
says they are right there and points to the food he’s eating. She tells him
they weren’t easy to carve. She removes her face and it’s Arya. (Apparently she
took some faces with her.) She tells him she is Arya Stark and cuts his throat.
The day of Cersei and Loras’s trial has come and all of the
nobles in Kings Landing are squeezing into the Sept of Baelor to view the
spectacle. We see different characters in turn getting ready: Grand Maester
Pycelle, Margaery, Tommen and Cersei. The High Sparrow enters in a simple white
robe (still sans shoes) and the seven septons enter as well. It doesn’t look as
though everyone has made it before Loras’s trial starts. Grand Maester Pycelle
is given a message from a little boy, Cersei is still getting dressed and
Tommen is staring out the window not ready to witness what is to come. Loras is
taken from his cell and into the sept where his trial is about to begin until
he confesses to all of his sins. He even admits to sleeping with Renly. He will
accept whatever punishment the gods deem just and will devote his life to the
seven. He will abandon the Tyrell name along with his lordship, Highgarden and
he will never marry or have children. He then essentially gets a scarlet letter
as Lancel carves the seven-pointed star into his forehead. Lord Mace Tyrell
starts to object until Margaery calms him down.
As Loras’s trial is over and Cersei’s is ready to begin, Margaery
tells the High Sparrow she is pissed that they mutilated her brother. Lancel
informs them that the dowager queen’s litter never left the Red Keep. The High
Sparrow tells Lancel and his men to go the Red Keep and retrieve her. At the castle,
Tommen gets another knock on his door to tell him it’s time for the trial, but
when he answers the door it’s the Mountain. He keeps Tommen in his room at the
Red Keep. Cersei has chosen an outfit of all black with a high neckline and a
row of chains as if she is prepared for war. She pours herself a glass of wine
and looks out her window. It doesn’t seem like she’s heading to the sept
anytime soon. Grand Maester Pycelle has followed the little boy down to a dank
dungeon where he finds Qyeburn, who apologizes before a bunch of creepy little
kids come out and stab Pycelle to death. As Lancel and his group head toward
the castle to retrieve Cersei, Lancel sees a young boy he recognizes. He strays
from his group and follows the little boy down under the sept where he finds
caskets of wildfire that are open and leaking. In the puddles of wildfire are
candles that are about to burn out. The little kid stabs him in the side and
flees. Margaery knows something is up and is starting to get very worried. She
tries to warn the High Sparrow that Cersei is up to something and that they are
in danger. The High Sparrow says they will just go ahead and have Cersei’s
trial without her, but Margaery pleads with him saying that Cersei knows there
will be consequences if she doesn’t show up for her trial, which means she
doesn’t care what those consequences will be nor does she plan on facing up to
them. And if Tommen isn’t there as well then that is Cersei’s doing. So they
are in real trouble. The High Sparrow has gotten so full of himself that he
ignores Margaery’s plea. She grabs her brother and father and tries to leave
the sept, but the Faith Militant bar the doors trapping everyone (including
themselves) inside. Lancel is wounded, but crawls toward the wildfire in a last
ditch effort to extinguish the flames before they reach the green liquid
substance. As Lancel reaches the candle it burns down and BOOM! The entire sept
including the Tyrells, (except the Lady Olenna) Ser Kevan Lannister and most of
the Faith Militant are blown sky high. Cersei watches through her window and
smiles while Tommen looks as if his life is over.
Cersei has even more tricks up her sleeve though. She had
her good friend Septa Unella captured and in one of the dungeons. The septa is
passed out on a table when Cersei pours wine on her face and says “Confess”
over and over again. (I have to admit I was pretty happy about this part
because that woman kind of deserved it.) Cersei tells her the sept has been
destroyed along with her beloved High Sparrow and the Faith Militant and that
she enjoyed doing it. Cersei reminds the septa that she promised to be the last
face she saw before the septa dies. The septa asks Cersei to go ahead and kill
her, but Cersei says she won’t die today or for quite a while. She calls in Ser
Gregor Clegane (aka the Mountain) and tells Septa Unella that he is her god
now. Cersei walks out of the room and closes the door repeating “Shame!” over
and over again as she leaves. Sitting the Iron Throne (along with the rest of
it) proves too much for Tommen and he jumps out of his window. Qyeburn
retrieves his body. Cersei asks to see Tommen and though Qyeburn advises
against it, he lets her look. She tells Qyeburn to burn Tommen and spread his
ashes where the Sept of Baelor used to be so he can rest with his grandfather,
brother and sister. (Holy crap did Cersei plan on Tommen jumping or was that
just an extra perk for her?)
Lady Olenna is in Dorne meeting with Ellaria Sand and
Oberyn’s daughters. They invited her there so they can help her exact revenge
for her family against Cersei. She doesn’t trust them and when each of the daughters
tries to speak she shushes them and tells them to “let the grown women speak.”
Ellaria tells her they are allies now that Cersei killed the rest of the Tyrell
family and that she is offering Olenna her hearts desire. Varys comes outside
offering Lady Olenna “Fire and Blood.” (That means an alliance with Dany!)
Dany is making preparations to leave Mereen and head to
Westeros. Daario comes to tell her the ships are almost ready, but Dany tells
him he will be staying behind to keep the peace while the citizens of Mereen
and Dragon’s Bay (renamed from Slavers Bay) choose their new leaders. She may
have to marry in order to make new alliances and she cannot bring a lover to
Westeros with her. He says he doesn’t care if he is only her “mistress.” He
loves her and will follow her wherever she commands him. She commands that he
stay there. Daario thinks it is Tyrion’s doing. Daario says he is full of pity
because he will never find someone like her again and he hopes the Iron Throne
brings her happiness. He pities the lords of Westeros because they have no idea
what’s coming for them. Tyrion is waiting for her in the other room. He knows
how hard it is for her to leave Daario. She was self-sacrificing and that is
the sign of a good ruler. He tries to lift her spirits by reminding her that
this is actually happening. They are heading for Westeros. He asks if she is
afraid and she nods yes. He tells her that’s good because, “you’re in the great
game and the great game is terrifying.” She tells him what terrified her was
that she just turned away a man who loved her and she felt nothing, she was
just glad to have it over with. Tyrion tells her he believes in her and he’s
never believed in anything. He would swear his sword to her then and there if
he actually owned a sword. She says she had something made for him, but she
doesn’t know if it’s right. She pins a hand on him and names him “Hand of the
Queen.” He kneels before her. (Aww, tears…)
Jon is talking with Lady Melisandre when Ser Davos breaks in
and throws the wooden stag at Melisandre. He demands she tell Jon whom the stag
belonged to. She tells him it belonged to Princess Shireen and admits that she
burned the princess as an offering to the Lord of Light. Davos asks her why and
she says it was the only way. He says her lord is evil. Melisandre says
Shireen’s mother and father gave her up to sacrifice as well, it wasn’t just her
because it was the only way to win. Davos asks what the point was since they
all died anyway. She says she was wrong in her interpretations, but she never
lied. Davos wants to execute Melisandre for murder. She says the Lord of Light
isn’t done with her yet and Jon needs her to win against the Night’s King. Jon
tells her to leave and go south and never show her face again or he will have
her hanged as a murderer. Davos promises to execute her himself is she ever
comes back.
Jon runs into Sansa along the walls of Winterfell. He tells
her he is having her father and mother’s chambers prepared for her. She says
Jon belongs in the lord’s chamber. He says he isn’t a Stark, but she says he is
a Stark to her. He admits that she was the reason they won the battle and asks
why she didn’t tell him about Littlefinger and the Knight’s of the Vale. They
need to trust each other because they are the only family they have left and
they still have so many enemies. She tells him a white raven came from the
Citadel declaring that, “winter is here.” He jokes that their father always
promised it, didn’t he? Sansa is sitting and thinking in the godswood when
Littlefinger interrupts her. She asks what he really wants and he says she
already knows. He wants to sit on the Iron Throne with her by his side. He
tries to kiss her, but she pushes him away. He says he put himself in danger by
declaring for House Stark. She says he’s declared for other houses before and
changed his mind, but he says he won’t change this time. She is the future of
House Stark, not her bastard brother. She walks away and leaves him there.
Benjen Stark has successfully gotten Meera and Bran to the
Wall. He must now leave them because there are old spells in the Wall and the
dead can’t pass through. Meera asks where he will go and he says he still has
battles to fight so he will do what he can. He wishes them good fortune and
departs. Bran and Meera are at the weirwood tree where Sam and Jon took their
Night’s Watch vows back in season one. Bran starts to touch the weirwood tree
and Meera asks if he is ready. Bran replies he is the three-eyed raven so he
has to be. After he touches the tree, we go back to the Tower of Joy after Ned
has killed Ser Arthur Dayne and the other knight’s of kingsguard. He runs up
the steps of the tower and turns around like he did when Bran called his name.
Then he continues up the stairs and Bran follows him. Ned enters a room and
sees Lyanna on a bed covered in blood. She see’s her brother and asks if he is
a dream. He says he is really there. She says she’s missed him so much and that
she wants to be brave, but she is scared. She doesn’t want to die. He tells her
she won’t die and asks the few women in the room to go get a maester to help
her. She tells him it is too late and draws him close to her where she begins
whispering in his ear. The things we get to here are that Ned must protect “him”,
if Robert ever finds out he will kill “him”. She tells Ned to promise her again
and again and Ned is handed a baby boy. It’s baby Jon who is a Stark and
Targaryen and not Ned Stark’s bastard son! (Finally confirmed!)
As we see the baby’s face and Ned promises his sister he’ll
protect him, it turns into a grown up Jon who is in the great hall at
Winterfell with the lords of the north. The Knights of the Vale don’t want to
fight with the free folk. They think the battle is over and want to go home so
they can protect themselves against the winter. Jon says the war is far from
over. The true enemy is coming and won’t wait out the winter, but will bring
the storm with him. They must work together. Lady Lyanna Mormont calls out the
Glovers, Manderleys and Cerwyns for not answering the Starks call. She says
House Mormont remembers and the north remembers. There is no king, but the King
in the North and it doesn’t matter if he is a bastard, he is Ned Stark’s son
and King in the North from now until his last day. (One small problem with that
since we just found out he is a Stark, but not Ned’s son and he’s also a
Targaryen. He is basically ice and fire.) Lord Wyman Manderley (who in the book
is so fat he can’t stand by himself) stands up to say he was wrong and will now
follow Jon. Jon is the White Wolf (where is Ghost anyway?) and the King in the
North! They all declare for Jon and Littlefinger gives Sansa a look.
Jaime has made it back to Kings Landing to be by Cersei’s
side, but when he gets close he sees the smoke and that the Sept of Baelor is
gone. When he enters the castle he sees Cersei entering the throne room and
taking the Iron Throne while Qyeburn crowns her Queen Cersei, first of her
name, queen of the Andals and the First Men and the Seven Kingdoms. She looks
at Jaime and he is stunned.
The finale closes out with Dany’s ships heading toward
Westeros and her dragons flying overhead. The ships are beautiful with golden
dragon masts carved in the front.
And scene…
Hands down, probably the best finale of Game of Thrones so
far. I can’t believe Cersei crowned herself queen. I’m not entirely sure she
didn’t think Tommen might commit suicide. I hope Jaime is done with her now.
She will be a complete tyrant. I imagine season seven will include Dany trying
to conquer the south of Westeros hopefully wiping the smirk off of Cersei’s
face. Then season eight will have her somehow make an alliance with her nephew,
Jon and together they will fight the white walkers. We have to find out who the
other two dragonriders are. It’s killing me! I have so many thoughts running
through my head right now and I know so many theories and rumors will be flying
around over the next year. My goal is to keep this blog going as those stories
come about so keep checking in! And of course I will update with any of my own
thoughts once this surreal episode settles down in my head. Until next time!
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