Please submit feedback here after Season 6 Episode 10 – ‘The Winds of Winter’ has aired and we’ll be glad to share it in our midweek podcast.
Season Finale. Cersei faces her trial.
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May 23, 2019 Episode 71: The Iron Throne -
May 18, 2019 Feedback Post, Season 08 Episode 06: The Iron Throne
It was visually stunning and a few character storylines were finished spectacularly. There were others satisfying in a hollow way.
I gave this episode a 92 out of 100.
Overall I loved the episode. This one was packed with story lines.
It was visually stunning and a few character story lines were finished spectacularly. There were others satisfying in a hollow way.
The Good:
Miguel Sapochnik once again displayed some wonderful photography and images; I loved the one of Drogon dipping his wings in the water as he flies towards the front of Dany’s fleet.
I put the past two episodes along with Hardhome as the most visually arresting of the series; all done by this man. Well done!
Confirmation that Jon Snow is Leanna and Rhaegar’s son!
What I found interesting about this is when the Manderlies, Mormonts, Glovers and other Houses swore fealty to Jon as King of the North
they all said they would follow him regardless of his lineage. So being half Targaryen doesn’t matter yet. When will it really matter?
There was some nice callbacks with Naming the King of the North; Shame with Cersei; Walder Frey getting his throat cut just like Caitlin;
Freys and the Lannisters sending their regards.
Wow, so many lives extinguished in such a short time so spectacularly not far into the episode! I was expecting Loras, Margaery, High Sparrow, Mace, Kevan to all buy it at the same time. Lancel, Tommen and Pycelle all had unexpected ways of dying for me. (I suppose Tommen has been dying of a broken heart for a while; the Sept explosion just sealed the deal.)
This totally establishes for me how evil, vindictive and sadistic Cersei has become. Her speech to Septa Unella was the polar opposite to Lancel’s. Did part of Ramsay’s soul drift into her mind after he died?
Walder Frey and his sons meeting their end was satisfying (however it was a bit hollow in some ways – See the Bad.)
I love how Cersei thinks she beat the Witches Prophecy by killing Margaery and the irony we feel from knowing Dany is on the way with Tyrion!
The Queen of Thorns lines to the Sand Snakes had me erupting with laughter.
The Bad:
I had a hard time believing Arya can use faces since the last time she did that she lost her sight. Perhaps it’s okay now t
Heavy use of the Little Finger’s Teleporter by Varys and Arya. BTW: How did Olenna hear so quickly that her son, grandson and granddaughter are all dead? The only way I can make it work in my head is that the scenes between Ellaria and Olenna occurred some time after Cersei became Queen of King’s Landing. So we are fast forwarding through time.
Qyburn told Cersei there was more Wildfire then they expected. I was surprised all of King’s Landing didn’t go up. Perhaps the Sept
had a lot of real estate where enough stone kept other wildfire caches from igniting? (See the Unknown).
I believe they are implying Septa Unella is going to be raped and assaulted until she dies very slowly and Cersei wants her to see her face as she’s dying. I got the idea when she was chained up and the door shut with the Mountain standing over her.
Not much from Dorne; just part for the course. What did they provide to Varys? Ships? Men? Supplies? Who supplied what?
Did both Dorne and the Reach send things to Dany or will Dany just get there and they will help her conquer and provide things once she gets to Westeros?
Unknown:
Does Jon have the unburnt quality that Dany has? How will Dany learn that Jon is a Targaryen as well as a Stark?
Who is Cersei’s Hand?
If wildfire was in caches under the entire city why did just the Sept blow up? Wouldn’t that fire set off a chain reaction all over King’s Landing?
Did the other judges say nothing to Loras since he confessed all his sins?
Is Mel headed to meet the Brothers without Banners? Mel did say to Arya she would meet here again. Will Mel meet Arya in the Riverlands?
Will Arya hook back up with Hot pie and perhaps Gendry? Is Arya likely to meet the Hound again?
Are there other Tyrells that can run The Reach if something happens to Lady Olenna? Perhaps she has relatives
that were relatives of her brother or sister? Or is House Tyrell on it’s last legs?
Since the Vale helped the Starks defeat the Boltons how is Little Finger going to explain that to Cersei since she still believes
Sansa is responsible for Joffrey’s death? He already made a deal with Cersei to get rid of the Boltons to achieve the title of Warden of the North.
The King of The North is going to put a dent in his plans for sure.
Will Dany first take over Dragonstone before heading to the Red Keep? That makes the most sense since that
was originally the Targaryen stronghold on Westeros.
Are the Tyrell’s and the Dornish have their boats and troop support mixed in with Dany’s fleet or will they join her once she makes it over the Narrow Sea?
Is Bran headed to Winterfell? How is Meera going to get Bran to the other side of the Wall? Benjen didn’t provide them a sled or anything.
Is he going through the secret tunnel through the Nightfort? Can the White Walkers go through the Tunnel to the NightFort?
More on Arya
The Bad:
I had a hard time believing Arya can use faces since the last time she did that she lost her sight. Perhaps it’s okay now that she is technically ‘No one’. I am still having issues understanding what powers she gleaned from the Faceless men. Can she also shape shift and move around as swiftly as Jaqen? I have to really forcibly suspend my disbelief and I wouldn’t have had to if they had spent more time developing Arya’s mystique in Braavos.
Arya kills Walder Frey in the afternoon
Walder Frey says to Arya ‘Where are my damn moron sons? Black Walder and Lothar promised to be here by midday.’
It’s midday and the Hall he’s in is empty; no daughters or court members? No other serving people? If that is the case, then this is just sloppy writing. In order for Arya to be undetected and have the least amount of people available at the Twins she would have to be there really early in the morning; not the afternoon (midday).
Correction:
Correction:
Cersei’s speech was the Polar opposite to Lora’s (not Lancel’s) sorry…
Overall this was a satisfying conclusion to a strong season of Game of Thrones. Like in the season itself there were plotholes to be found in the episode on every corner but the main narrative was still convincing. Cerceis revenge plan was actually pretty simple and like Jon Snows victory in the penultimate episode it basically came down to pure luck for her in the end. The wildfire just happened to destroy only the scept of Baelor with each and every enemy of her in it. How very convenient. Still her dark queen portrayal on the iron throne ultimately justified it for me. Maybe this 9/11 of Kings Landing will be questioned by some truthers in the next season.
Aryas plot was again the week point of the episode. Her revenge on Walder Frey was way too easy and should have gotten more screentime to explain how she came to Westeros in the first place and how she learned how to bake people into pie by Hot Pie (just a guess).
By far the best aspect of this episode was the music. The score for Kings Landing was just absolutely beautiful this time, great stuff.
More comments and elaboration on some of the previous ones.
The Good:
* Confirmation that Jon Snow is Leanna and Rhaegar’s son was exciting. I suppose it’s impactful to know about Jon’s true lineage as he’s being declared King, however that impact they were striving for was quickly clobbered for me when the Manderlies, Mormonts, Glovers and other Houses swore fealty to Jon as King of the North and said they would follow him regardless of his lineage. So being half Targaryen doesn’t matter yet. When will it really matter? Why didn’t they reveal it earlier in the season or next season? It certainly would have had more impact on the story line then it does here.
* Wow, so many lives extinguished in such a short time so spectacularly not far into the episode! I was expecting Loras, Margaery, High Sparrow, Mace, Kevan to all buy it at the same time to avoid Cersei facing her trial. Lancel, Tommen and Pycelle all had unexpected ways of dying for me. (I suppose Tommen has been dying of a broken heart for a while; the Sept explosion just sealed the deal.) It reminded me of Michael Corleone sequence having his enemies executed at the end of God Father II or Heisenberg in Breaking Bad in the last season executing his enemies.
* This totally establishes for me how evil, vindictive and sadistic Cersei has become. Her speech to Septa Unella was the polar opposite to that of Loras. Did part of Ramsay’s soul drift into her mind after he died? Especially the way Jaime has been looking at her. It’s pretty clear they are done as a couple and are far apart with the way they look at things. (See the Unknown.)
* Old Town and the Citadel were wonderful nods to the Lighthouse and Library of Alexandria in our own history.
The Bad:
* Once again I felt like what matters to the writers is the shocking of the audience with surprises; story and characterization come second, so the story and details come out sketchy and things are not as impactful as they should be because I am distracted. Arya avenging Caitlin by killing Walder Frey is the important thing here and the sense of how we get there is secondary or not as important. I had a hard time believing Arya can use faces since the last time she did that she lost her sight. Perhaps it’s okay now that she is technically ‘No one’. I am still having issues understanding what powers she gleaned from the Faceless men. Can she also shape shift and move around as swiftly as Jaqen? I have to really forcibly suspend my disbelief and I wouldn’t have had to if they had spent more time developing Arya’s mystique in Braavos. I wrote a piece about that here:
https://apodofcasts.com/aryas-ascension/
Perhaps when she put the Waif’s face in the House of Black and White she exchanged it for the face of the serving wench and took it with her for later use? Either Walder Frey eats very late in the evening (when everyone’s asleep) or Arya used Harry Potter’s Cloak of invisibility to murder everyone in the Hall and the Kitchen as well in order to be able to drag the bodies of the Frey brothers into the kitchen undetected; cut them up into small pieces and bake them into pies.
* I believe they are implying Septa Unella is going to be raped and assaulted (possibly tortured) until she dies very slowly and Cersei wants her to see her face as she’s dying, which if true is a bit much for me. However, I didn’t see any torture weapons in her chamber. When the Mountain was at Harrenhall he had someone else doing the torturing. He has always come across to me as someone who will crush your skull or rip out your spine rather than inflict small amounts of assault although I could be wrong.
* Samwell leaves Gilly and Little Sam standing there in the Lobby of the Citadel while he uses his stack privileges at the Citadel Library which apparently has hundreds of stacks! That was silly. Why isn’t he getting her situated in Old Town first? I think they wanted to awe us with images of the Library rather than make story sense again. Samwell already knew ladies and babies were not welcome there. He told Gilly that in the coach on the way to Hornhill. Come on writers!
The Unknown:
* There is definitely a rift now between Cersei and Jaime. Will he confront Cersei about what she has done or will he just leave King’s Landing? Will the Lannisters side with Dany?
* Isn’t Samwell concerned about his father seeking him out at the Citadel to get back Heartsbane? He knows Sam is going there to study to be a Maester.
* What did Dorne and the Reach provide to Varys? Ships? Men? Supplies? Who supplied what? Did both Dorne and the Reach send things to Dany or will Dany just get there and they will help her conquer and provide things once she gets to Westeros?
A beautifully layered and realised episode
This was a masterful conclusion to an excellent season. Yet again I found myself having to remember that I was watching a television program and not an hour and a bit of a 200 million dollar movie.
As I can’t think of anything I disliked, just a rating of 100 out of 100.
there are no teleporters
I can’t be alone in thinking there’s no lazy teleportation of characters in Game of Thrones.
This show, like a good mystery story, requires active viewing and an understanding that (a) the story pieces are not concurrent and (b) Littlefinger lives on a ship when he’s not at a particular location, (c) the series is multilayered so you can rewatch it many times and find all the clues.
So you don’t have to worry about any teleporting, here’s a timeline for you that I popped together. The paragraphs are events that I believe happen very closely together or maybe at the same time based on the appearance of characters in various story threads, eg Sansa.
Sansa reaches the vale, Ships drop Stannis off in North, Lysa Aryn dies, Arya & Hound reach the Vale
Tyrion’s trial Sansa heads north, Brienne ‘kills’ Hound, Mance & Wildlings attack the Wall, Stannis turns up and helps win battle, Arya sails off on one of the ships that dropped Stannis off, Tyrion and Varys flee Westeros
Tywin’s funeral, Sansa & Littlefinger meet Brienne on the road, Samwell & Gilly meet Shireen
Sansa marries Ramsay, Samwell & Gilly & baby leave for Oldtown in an old cart, Mance executed, Ramsay being Evil, Stannis plans battle
Stannis heads for Winterfell (long march), Tyrion and Varys reach Volantis, Arya reaches House of Black and White, Samwell and Gilly trudging across country, Tommen crowned, Jon heads for Hardhome by sea
Stannis still marching, Tyrion stolen by Jorah, Stonemen, High Sparrow rises to power, Arya washing bodies, Brienne contacts Sansa
Jon at Hardhome, Stannis burns Shireen, Slave Tyrion & Jorah, Samwell & Gilly almost to the coast, Lord Tyrell heads off to Braavos, Mycella murdered
Stannis loses battle, Brienne kills Stannis, Sansa and Theon jump from the walls of Winterfell, Samwell & Gilly waiting for a boat heading south, Drogon in the stadium, Arya murders Trant, Arya made blind to placate the Bank of Braavos. Cersei, Margery and Loras arrested.
Walk of shame, Jamie sailing from Dorne, Samwell & Gilly sail south, Tyrion and Varys reunite, Danerys in the wilderness, Sansa and Brienne ride north, Theon heads to Pike, Arya’s blind training
Lord Tyrell returns to KL, Kings Moot, Margery and the Sparrow talk. Cersei, Jamie and Kevan plot, Queen of Thorns starts writing to Dorne, Jon comes back from the dead, Hold the door, Jorah and Dario track Danerys, Tyrion meets the Masters
Sansa, Brienne and Pod reach the Wall, Blackfish takes back Riverrun, Arya gets her eyesight back, Varys leave Mereen, Tommen meets with the Sparrow, Samwell reaches a port and sends a raven to his family, Theon and Yara sailing, Bran & Meera rescued
Margery freed, Sansa meets Littlefinger, Sansa and Jon and Davos head off on tournto visit northern lords, Arya watches the players, Varys sailing, Daenerys toasts the Kahls, Samwell and Gilly visit his family, Tyrion tells bad jokes, Jamie collects Lannister army, Hound’s friends killed
Arya 1 Waif 0, Bran & co still doing the loooong trip to the wall Jamie marches to Riverrun, Brienne arrives at Riverrun, Sansa writes to Littlefinger, Varys arrives at Dorne and ships prepared, Olenna heads for Dorne, Jon assembles army, Kahlisarr travelling
Battle of Winterfell, Arya gets on a boat, Sam and Gilly heading for Oldtown, Riverrun retaken, Toasty masters, Kaboom at KL, ships depart Dorne (my guess)
Arya reaches Westeros, Olenna reaches Dorne and gets a raven about Kaboom, Mereen tidy up, Lannister army packs up, Sam and Gilly reach Oldtown as ravens are sent out, Theon and Yara arrive at Mereen
Olenna commits Tyrell ships to Varys/Danerys and sends a raven, Varys leaves Dorne, White raven arrives at Winterfell, Queen Cersei, Bran reaches the Wall
Northern lords assemble at Winterfell (takes time), Arya’s cooking, Varys sailing
Danerys prepares to sail. Varye arrives, Tyrell ships arrive. This may be Months after Kaboom
PS you can delete the post above if you feel its far too spoilery
Hey Katrina,
I really applaud the efforts you put into doing this. It provided a great reminder of what has happened. I don’t think anything you have said is spoilery.
The problem I had always with the show is keeping track of where characters are at the same time and actions to help establish the concurrency of what is happening at the same time to tie everything together. I did this for a time here:
http://www.thetvcritic.org/forums/other-tv-shows/show/180 (See the Character location section): This was the last one I did.
http://www.thetvcritic.org/forums/other-tv-shows/show/329
So many characters; story lines and locations makes tracking simultaneous events challenging. I wonder if anyone has actually figured that out?
Musical Analogy for story thread concurreny.
I think of multiple story-line concurrency like hearing orchestral music. In order for me to get the richness and single tonality of any chord at a given time I need to be able to hear all the notes spread out over the orchestra (that is knowing what actions characters are doing at the same time.) Then there is how that ‘chord’ of character events resolves into another character chord of events. If I were to think about GOT linearly one event and then another I feel I am losing something. I just don’t look at it that way. I think in early seasons I felt like I had a better sense of what was going on at the same time then I did in the later seasons. In my opinion, it might have something to do with the way the later scenes were edited or directed and what sequences were put in individual episodes (story continuity).
I agree that your timeline makes sense. The issue with the rapid movement is that the scenes are placed in such a way that it seems that the events occur at the same time. For example:
Cersei destroys the Great Sept, wearing a black Disney female villain outfit.
Next scene that references this event is in Dorne, where the QOT, also dressed in a black Disney villain outfit, who needed to travel from Highgarden to the Water Gardens, a significant journey across mountains and deserts, or by sea where the Iron Born are sailing around, and the Sand snakes form their alliance. No problem. Those two events happened a few weeks or months apart. But in the second to last scene Jamie arrives and the city is still burning, Cersei is crowned still wearing her Maleficent outfit. The King is dead, long live the Queen. So her coronation takes place on the same day as she destroys a portion of Kings Landing. This scene should have occurred earlier in the episode. Then the events would have flowed more logically. Cersei’s coronation was not some big reveal. Who else would rule the rubble of King’s Landing? Or she should have changed her outfit, had longer hair, something to demonstrate the passage of time.
Another example: One second Varys is in Dorne, the next he is hundreds of miles away standing next to Danareys. And the Tyrell and Dornish fleets have joined with the Iron fleet? How did the horses, soldiers, and supplies get transferred from ship to ship. I spent 21 years in the Navy and the most dangerous operations we ever did were underway replenishments.
The editing does not make sense to the casual viewer.
Just a comment now and again is all it would take. For example, when Jon and Sansa are talking on the battlements Jon or Sansa or even a maester reporting to them, that ravens were sent to all of the houses in the North and a meeting will be held when they arrive in a few days, next week, whatever. Or a comment about the difficulty of tending the wounded or supplying the Vale Army over the past few weeks.
That is all it would take a few lines by a character to mark the passage of time, whenever a significant time jump happens. It is just sloppy writing.
It could be seen as sloppy writing, just like all the time jumps in plays by that old Shakespeare bloke =)
I just don’t understand why viewers aren’t comprehending that this is movie-style television using Shakespearean story telling tropes. The producers are treating the audience as intelligent, engaged people and wanting the audience to rise to interpreting what they’re seeing.
Oh, “Cersei destroys the Great Sept, wearing a black Disney female villain outfit” – love that description, but it looks like a feminised version of Tywin’s intimidating black jacket he wore as Hand with Cersei’s decorative gold jewellery from season 1 (or maybe season 2)
” How did the horses, soldiers, and supplies get transferred from ship to ship. I spent 21 years in the Navy and the most dangerous operations we ever did were underway replenishments.”
They didn’t. Just because Varys met Olenna in Dorne doesn’t mean that Dorne didn’t send ships as soon as he arrived. As to High Garden, my assumption is that their own troops and food supplies met Danerys’ fleet enroute. And so did Varys
Before the Red Wedding we saw Tywin writing a lot. In this season we saw Olenna writing a lot as the sexist, controlling High Sparrow was holding Margery and Loras. At least some of those letters would have been sent to Dorne.
The Dornish didn’t say they invited Olenna to Dorne specifically after her family died, although that’s very likely. Olenna may have already been on her way there to get allies.
Great finally but ....
I give this episode 90 out of a 100.
I watched the final episode a half a dozen times by now so I finally feel ready to write some feedback.
Overall I found the episode enjoyable, thrilling even, at times. But I felt many of the plots were pure fan service. I will not comment on the teleporter that everyone, except Sam Tarly, seems to have in each plot but come on. I know that it is simply the viewer who assumes that the scenes of an episode are in a similar timeframe and in chronological order because that is how all normal shows flow. However, in this episode it was particularly difficult for me to understand the timeline in King’s Landing and the South.
If I understand it correctly the timeline goes something like this:
King Tommen proclaims that on a specific religious day, the first day of the Festival of the Mother, that there will be a trial for Cersei and Loras in the Great Sept, held by 7 septons.
On that day Cersei goes a little crazy and blows up the Great Sept and the people in it. Shortly after murdering the entire court Cersei, instead of explaining to Tommen why she felt the need to so this, goes to torture a Septa. I get it, this proves that Cersei is evil and vindictive but the Septa was a nobody, who somehow fell asleep while strapped to a table. Not just asleep like “Man I have been screaming down here for hours in the dark, boy am I tired but I bet I wasn’t brought down here to pray so I should remain on the alert. What was that… the door opening?” Nope instead she is so calm and collected that she is like “Tied to a table in a dungeon…. This is the kind of kinky stuff the High Sparrow is into, woo-hoo. I better get my rest in before he shows up after the trial. I know how “in the mood” he is in after he shaves someone’s head and does that whole shame thing.” Then Cersei wine-boards the Septa, confesses her multitude of crimes, then brings in the Mountain.
While this is going on Tommen is left alone to ponder his life. On the first day of the Festival of the Mother, Tommen expected to have his mother tried and probably found guilty of murdering his father (or at least the only father he has ever known) and infidelity with Cousin Lancel and maybe Jamie. Also, his wife’s brother was getting tried for being gay. A stressful day to say the least for anyone, especially a teenager.
Instead Tommen gets to watch as he looses:
1. His wife
2. His possible heir. Remember the conversation that the High Sparrow had with Margery telling her to sleep with the king. She could have been pregnant.
3. His spiritual mentor
4. His father-in-law
5. His brother-in-law
6. His great uncle, who was his most trusted advisor and hand of the king
7. I doubt if he knows about the Grand Maester but he might, also a trusted advisor
8. Everyone he ever knew who was not a servant except his mother
So Tommen does what many a teenager does when they are depressed and kills himself by throwing himself out of a window. Where are the king’s guards during all of this? When the Mountain left shouldn’t the other six, who I assumed were members of the faith militant promoted to that position when Margery was released, be around someplace?
Cersei, whose only real redeeming quality was her love of her children seems pretty unconcerned by the death of her last child. Instead on the same day, she is wearing the same outfit after all, she declares herself queen. Queen of what I have no idea. The small folk did not like her before, now they must hate her for killing everyone and destroying the Great Sept. Based on the other scenes the Tyrel’s know what happened and that Cersei caused it so they are in revolt. Dorne has been in revolt since Sand Snakes killed off the Martells. The Westerlands, House Lannister, should be annoyed that its leader, Kevin, was murdered. I guess Jamie will now become the Lord of Casterly Rock and keep them in line. The Vale, to Cersie’s knowledge, is at the very least neutral and the North is unstable. Cersei knows that Sansa is up there and married to the Lord of Winterfell. Finally, the Stormlands, must feel slighted that she took the title of queen under the name Cersei Lannister nor Cersei Baratheon.
Finally, who is Cersei going to marry to have another child with to secure her dynasty? Jamie? Not based on how he was looking at her. Euron? Maybe but he would want to be the King. Maybe she will look for someone outside the Seven Kingdoms like the new King of Mereen, Dario Neharis. Yeah, I like that. Dario made some comment about whoever was next would not measure up after his dragon lover but Cersei, a lioness, might and Dario is, after all, a jilted lover.
Other comments: The King in the North did not work out for Rob, I do not think Jon will fare any better. Fantastic scene though.
If Jon wants any peace with Sansa, he need to make her Lady of Winterfell immediately and take the Umber or Karstak or Bolton holdfast as his seat, they are all vacant now. He needs to give Moat Catlin to the Vale army to defend. This will remove Littlefinger as a player in the North. Jon and his forces moving back towards the Wall makes sense to deal with the true threat. Where is Sweet Robin? I guess playing with his bird, undefended in the Vale.
What I don’t understand is that neither Sansa nor Jon nor Davos nor Lord Nestor nor anyone, ever heard that Littlefinger betrayed Ned during his attempted coup in Season 1? There have never been any rumors? I find that hard to believe.
The Sand-Tyrell alliance makes strategic sense. Daenerys will have multiple places where her forces can land unopposed. Although marching across the deserts of Dorne may not be the best plan.
I do have a question does putting on a face make the wearer become more voluptuous? When Arya was getting shanked she is far less curvy.
Here is Arya’s timeline since leaving the House of Black and White. Teleport to the riverlands. I found out that the teleporter technology they use also heals any and every possible injury. It was on the internet so it must be true.
Anyway she arrives in Westeros, then travels all the way to the Twins (this journey must be all downhill or something because it took her and the Hound the entire 4th season to travel from the Twins to the coast). Along the way she murders some random women and cuts off her face. Infiltrates the Lannister or Frey armies and gains access to the Twins, all the time avoiding getting sexually assaulted by all of the soldiers. At the Twins she learns how to cook, is probably forced to murder the actual cooks, kills and butchers two adult men then hides their unused bodies. Murders the Walder Frey, reveals herself. Then somehow just walks away? Those are some time management and multi-tasking skills. I tried to make chicken pot pie the other day from scratch, it took forever, didn’t turn out right so we had Chinese food instead. Way to go Arya. Maybe she found Hotpie and brought him along to do the cooking.
We all cheered when Arya killed Walder Frey, I did at least. But Arya is seriously messed up. She has had a horrible life, no doubt, but was it bad enough to come to the realization that she not only need to kill these guys but also had to skin them, butcher them and bake them into pies? Additionally, all chefs need to taste their food. Her plan would not have worked if the pie tasted like crap.
We are all monsters.
Arya has coins, she could buy a horse at the port
Lots of possibilities with the pie. Pies like that can be cooked, stored some days, and reheated. Arya wasn’t concerned about food poisoning. 😀
Arya was learning cooking in season 1.
Arya may be dangerous for Jon and Sansa. She has Melisandre and Thoros of Myr on her deathlist, for the selling of Gendry and Hot Pie. If a Stark kills both Melisandre and Thoros, how will the Red Priestesses with Danerys react?
I thought this episode was brilliant. The best yet. Cersei becoming uber-Cersei, the Jon Snow reveal, Baelish being Baelish, the score. DORNE! Frey pie. I don’t think there was a major character omitted and every one of them was spot on.
The imperfect struggles of being a leader.
The imperfect struggles of being a leader.
There does seem to be a theme that permeates this season and the show that comes through in this episode: The imperfect nature of being a leader. I love this because it shows how human a leader can be. The leaders in fairy tales tend to attractive, and perfect in every way with their decisions when they are on the side of good. In this show the characters are all grey and are neither good nor bad in my opinion. They are just people making decisions that have good or bad consequences. It brings them down to our level. Some examples this Season:
• Dany isn’t around to see the shortcomings of leaving Tyrion alone to rule while she was away. Tyrion fails upwards and is promoted to Hand of the Queen. It remains to be seen if he will make good decisions during the battles to come.
• Cersei uses circumstances and her deepest desires to attain the throne; meanwhile she loses the life of her son; she risks the Lannister armies massing against her; the Tyrells and Dornish massing against her; the Tyrells and Iron Bank of Braavos calling in their debts; the wrath of her brother and just about everyone else in Westeros.
• Euron killing his brother and not really having a plan except to build ships and offer them to Dany as well as his hand in marriage.
• Jon accepting the fealty of the Northern houses and accepting the crown of the King of the North with no real plan except to go up against the White Walkers.
• Sansa is learning to use the power of information and position at Winterfell.
• Bran misusing his power cost Hodor, the Three Eyed Raven and the Children of the Forest their lives.
Possible opposition from Lannister Army to Cersei
I think the Lannister and Vale Armies are wildcards to Cersei. The Lannisters could mass against Cersei due to the death of Kevan and Lancel Lannister. Also the death of Tommen is likely to affect Jaime who is now Lord of Casterly Rock. Jaime may also hold a lot against Cersei for blowing up everyone in the Sept with Wildfire (the thought of setting King’s landing ablaze with wildfire is what coaxed him into killing the mad king.)
The other enemy I left out who is against Cersei is Dany,