So much for taking a break this week! Our good friend W Axel Foley from Podcast Wintefell steps in as guest cohost to recap and review episode 03 of season 07, “The Queen’s Justice!” Leave your feedback for Axel and Abe and they’ll discuss it in our next episode!
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Good end scene
I liked the ending a lot. Particularly Jaime’s kindness being rewarded with the bitter revelation about who killed Joffree. That scene also attempted to address the issue of Jaime’s attitude to Cersei. He still believes that when all her enemies are gone she will become a more reasonable ruler. Surely this sets him up for a fall? When he finally realises what a monster she is he will have to turn against her.
Surely Highgarden doesn’t have enough wealth to pay off all the debts of the Crown? And how would Randyll Tarly feel about his new seat being emptied of its goods?
The Bran-Sansa scene was creepy in an interesting way. It would be nice to have more of a sense of what Bran’s thinking. I suspect that his point of view has been put aside so that he can be an engine of surprise.
Hey Robin!
Do you think Cersei will win the battle against Dany and end up marrying Euron and then that will be the final straw for Jaime? Or perhaps something more canon like where she blows up King’s Landing with Wildfire that will finally turn him around?
I can’t see her marrying Euron, I think he will be Dragon food. I suspect it will be more like blowing up King’s Landing, perhaps after realising that the war is lost.
Solid Episode: I thought Cersei won this week's GOT. 86/100
I gave this one an 86 out of 100.
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Good:
* Wonderful backdrops and sets all throughout the show.
* Great use of ‘Previously on Game of Thrones’ to foreshadow the irony of the poisoning of Tyene just like Myrcella.
* Nice callbacks to Season One: Tyrion with Jon; Bran with Sansa.
* Great scene of Mel’s last words to Varys. I am sure it will prove to be accurate.
* Strong meeting scene between Jon and Dany. Nice intensity and great dialog by everyone. I thought they were the best interchanges in the show. I laughed when Dany chastised Tyrion and then he stepped out of the way to allow Jon to pitch asking her support for the war against the Undead Armies in the North as his reason for being there. I loved Dany’s background lines to Jon and Ser Davos counter with Jon’s back story. I loved how she speaks about having faith in her destiny in being ruler of Westeros, however she can’t seem to see that part of her destiny lies with defending the North against a force she has no faith in believing exists. However, later on she admits she’s willing to understand what she doesn’t know, so there’s a foundation definitely she and Jon can build on.
* Euron’s bedroom banter to Jaime in the throne room was so awkwardly inappropriately funny. I couldn’t stop laughing; Jaime’s look was priceless.
* If I call back in my mind’s eye to Cersei’s talks with Oberyn and the Viper versus the Mountain battle, her lines to Ellaria carry a lot of mixed passion. Passion for Oberyn and Ellaria’s love for him (I think everyone was affected by Oberyn’s loss; what a character) and passion for revenge against Ellaria for the killing of innocent Myrcella.
You can tell that really affected Cersei and how she really wanted Ellaria to feel what she had been feeling by poisoning Tyene the exact same way and watching her die powerless to do anything about it. Then having to live out her days in the dungeons of the Red Keep. Cersei’s character in this scene finally shows a lot of dimension in her inner feelings and what she’s been experiencing. This was the most emotional performance I thought in the entire show.
* Cersei’s scenes with the Iron Bank were quite Tywin like; calculating and she stalled well and read the Iron Bank’s losses due to the Slave trade faltering due to Dany well.
* Tyrion’s mutual brooding scene with Jon I thought was a wonderful statement on people accepting something larger then themselves affecting them negatively. They are more comfortable accepting that they have to over throw a despotic queen rather than an undead army of thousands.
* I love how they left it open for Jon not knowing he has Dany’s support against the White Walkers.
* Sansa’s command scenes were great.
* Samwell’s handshake of trust with Ser Jorah was wonderful.
* Once again Diana Rigg doesn’t disappoint. Her final words cut through the last scene with such intensity and leveled Jaime nicely.
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Bad:
* I thought the weakest scene was Sansa with Bran under the Weirwood. Bran was trying too hard to act omniscient instead of being omniscient. He did admit he was only seeing things in pieces so that did bring some measure of normalcy; to see how he’s still struggling with what he is to become and who he still is. Instead, it felt like he became a bit pretentious to me as he progressed South of the Wall. I think Bran could have done a better job of explaining to Sansa how he became the three eyed Raven and not leaving her with a riddle and making him look like he’s crazy. This seemed a bit tropic for me. He could have just told her there was a three eyed raven before him that taught him everything he knows before he passed on and left it at that. That should have sufficed. If they just show him spending his days warging into the Winterfell Weirwood in silence after this exchange, he won’t look unlike someone who is crazy going off in some wild mental trip away from reality.
* I thought Euron’s fleet being right there to destroy the Unsullied ships wasn’t explained well. I suppose after Euron had the 1000 ships build, he build more ships and left someone in charge at the Iron Isles, then sent a Raven to the Iron Isles sending ships to Casterly Rock to protect it from attackers. That really is the only thing that explains the Ironborn being there so suddenly. It is pretty close to Casterly Rock. If Euron’s ships came from his fleet near King’s Landing then I have a big problem with the attack scene of the Unsullied ships. It’s a bit difficult to believe they could get from East Westeros to West Westeros coasts so quickly.
*Dany’s whole show of force at the end of Season 6 was that she not only had this combined fleet; she had Dragons. Why didn’t any of her attacks involve her also attacking with her on one of her Dragons? Surely that would have won the battles against Euron with Yara and also with the fleet that was with Unsullied. Right?
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Unknown:
* Will Mel’s words about Varys fate proof accurate? I think so.
* Is the rest of Theon’s days to be spent being known as a coward to his people and just torturing himself for his inaction to save Yara?
* Euron only gave Ellaria and Tyene to Cersei. Is Yara his prisoner?
* Does Tyrion believe Jon took a knife to his heart?
* Why can’t the three eyed raven be the Lord of Winterfell?
* Does Ser Ebrose see Sam as an asset to the Citadel or is he in fear of Sam’s abilities?
* Did Euron have ships at the Iron Isles to really pull off reaching the Unsullied ships off the coast of Casterly Rock? It’s not clear though. If the ships Euron used were part of his thousand that attacked Yara, I find it hard to believe they would have been able to reach Casterly Rock in time to intercept Dany’s ships.
* I had problems sorting out Jamie’s logistical planning with clearing out Casterly Rock and laying siege to Highgarden. How did he pull that off? I suppose he has a Captain of the Guard at Casterly Rock he Ravened from King’s Landing (while there when Euron was making his offering) which he instructed to: 1. Leave a small force at Casterly Rock; 2. clear the larders and occupants of the castle and 3. mobilize their forces and make camp near Highgarden and he just traveled and met up with them. I think that should have been explained a bit better.
I thought Cersei won this weeks Game of Thrones.
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RIP Olenna you will be missed
This was much better and I enjoyed it throughout with few gripes.
Jon and Dany’s meeting was a huge moment and I think it delivered. Both characters acted naturally and logically which pleased me and there was a nice air of mutual respect, though Dany clearly behaved with a sense of superiority which shows how confident and sort of arrogant she has become. I never Was a huge fan of Jon until his resurrection (though I still liked him before, just not as much). His new confident and down to business behaviour has been really enjoyable and he went to Dany with a purpose and stuck to that purpose and nothing more. The 2 of them have a fantastic dynamic so far and I’m excited to see more scenes with the 2 of them. As a side note, I thought the Davos’ line saying “this is Jon Snow. He’s king of the north” was absolutely hilarious following Dany’s lengthy and grand introduction.
I enjoyed Cersei getting her revenge on Ellaria and killing off the remaining Sand Snakes (Yes!!!!!!! :D). I was also glad to see that there was no physical torture as I’ve grown quite tired of seeing torture in this show. Cersei taunting Ellaria and giving Tyene the kiss of death was the best possible way to resolve that storyline.
Bran and Sansa’s reunion was nice but their conversation under the tree was a little odd. I’m not too sure what to make of Bran’s new attitude but I don’t think I like it. Sansa is also still being manipulated by Littlefinger and I’m interested to see if she can break free from his grasp soon. Perhaps Bran could be of help with that since he should be able to see the atrocities Littlefinger has committed in the past. If Bran and Sansa can remain friendly towards each other and work together, I don’t think Littlefinger will survive season 7.
I liked the battle sequence near the end of the episode. It was well produced and didn’t overstay it’s welcome. Plus Tyrion’s narration was an effective way to immerse us with the battle and to show the tactics at play without wasting too much time. Had some 10-20 minutes been dedicated to the battle it wouldn’t have worked since there aren’t enough characters involved that I care about.
I’m not as fond of the idea that the Lannisters left Casterly Rock and attacked Highgarden. Surely Tyrion could have predicted something like this happening and sent some defence to Highgarden? It doesn’t sit well with me that Tyrion was outsmarted by his siblings. I was also confused to see Randall Tarly siding with Jaime already. Their scene in the previous episode didn’t make me believe that Tarly would side with Cersei. But apparently he did offscreen which is a little awkward.
What I did like though was Olenna’s final scene. That was my favourite moment of the episode, and my favourite moment this season as well. Diana Rigg does such a superb job and she steals the show every time she is on screen. Her final conversation with Jaime was every bit as fantastic as I would have hoped. It was excellent storytelling to see Jaime spare Olenna with some kindness only to be repaid with learning that she killed Joffrey. The scene was really excellently done.
Other notes:
-Olenna told Dany to be a dragon earlier this season and I hope she can actually use her dragons soon. Had there been even one dragon at Highgarden, I believe there may have been a different outcome.
-If the writers want Euron to be hated and evil, they aren’t doing a great job. He’s funny and badass so I’m actually loving his character. He is nothing compared to the villainy of Joffrey and Ramsay.
-Jon and Tyrion were great together in this episode. It was awesome to see them interacting for the first time since season 1.
-When Cersei was told that someone from Bravoos has arrived to visit, I immediately thought that it was Arya. Though now I don’t think that’s the case. However, Arya’s Assassin powers have added an extra bit of tension to the show as we can never be sure if the character we are seeing is actually her.
-So Jorah is totally cured now which is good. Surprisingly Sam wasn’t kicked out so I’m not too sure what else there is for him to do in Oldtown.
Overall, I was satisfied with this episode and I’m excited to see more next week. This season feels like it’s building to something very exciting soon.
Lack of leadership
Overall I thought this episode was very well done. The only characters present were ones that we are supposed to care about, and I liked that (No random Freys or Hotpie or some random singer whose name I don’t know or care to know).
I was very surprised that Jon and Danny meet right away. I expected them to draw it out until the end of the episode. I thought that everyone’s interactions were believable, except for one thing. Why is no one using the fact that Jon was resurrected from the dead? That seems important. The largest religion in the real world is based on the belief that a man was resurrected 2000 years ago. Talk about an event that could be used to rally people.
Lord Davos- This is Jon Snow, The Resurrected, The King in the North, The White Wolf.
Lord Tyrion- I am sorry can you repeat that resurrected part?
Queen Danny- Wow that is more impressive than my ‘Unburnt’ title. Huh, Messandi- please make a note and figure out a way to add that to my list of titles, I was in a funeral pyre that should count.
I liked the compromise of mining the dragon glass. I am glad that they (D & D) will not have Jon and Danny be adversaries for too long.
I reaffirm my previous comment that Danny really needs a true military advisor, perhaps Ser Jorah will fill that role now that Yara Greyjoy is a POW. She, at least, spent her life as a seaborne warrior. It takes a lifetime to build an effective military commander. The Unsullied were trained to carry out orders not to be innovative or to think independently. The Dothraki are cavalry raiders. They do not know how to besiege cities.
Tryion’s speech about the Unsullied defeating a larger force that is defending a castle is nonsense. The rule of thumb is that attackers need at least a two to one numerical advantage to defeat entrenched forces, like trenches or behind walls. The better the fortification the greater that numerical superiority needs to be. I must wonder if Tryion is really working with his family, or at least Jamie, to defeat Danny.
I bet that Bronn saves the Sand Snake. Qyburn made the comment that the poison could take days or weeks before becoming fatal. I would not at all be surprised if the Ellaria and her daughter eventually escape and kill the mountain somehow.
Who is ruling Dorne right now? I imagine that Randal Tarley is consolidating his control over the Reach but who is ruling Dorne?
Why is Bran so creepy? How did he get to the God’s Wood? Did Sansa carry him? I hope no one forgets about him, that would suck if he dies of hypothermia in Winterfell.
Ha!
Hey Brian!
All Bronn has to do is borrow Jaime’s teleporter (that he used to get from King’s Landing, to Casterly Rock and then to Highgarden) and bang he will be back in King’s Landing saving Tyene! 🙂
Torture for Ellaria (if she can’t be freed) would be listening to Ed Sheeran in her cell for the next 40 years 🙂
Great points!
Hey Aaronic,
I love your points about Jon. I have never been a big fan of that character up until recently. I am not sure if Kit Harrington’s acting or the way the part is written or a little bit of both. It definitely is better than it has been. I suppose Ser Davos coming to his defense responding to Dany kind of points it at the character (over the actor.)
I agree about Euron. I like him! He’s playfully chaotic. I actually hope Cersei wins the war just so I can see him marry her and mess with Jaime!
Do you think Bran knows Little Finger is behind the murders of both Jon and Lyssa Arryn?