Welcome to Burning Questions of Game of Thrones, a weekly re-cap with theories, speculation and yes, questions.
Theories include show and book spoilers, because on occasion I’ll refer to book wiki for deeper interpretation of things that happen in the show. So please watch where you step because
Before I get to the questions, let’s go over the
Epic Thing That Happened
at the beginning of the episode.
Finally, the most anticipated moment in the entire series (of the books and the show) took place in this episode. The meeting of the monarchs Daenerys Stormborn Targaryen and Jon Snow in the castle built by their ancestors, Dragonstone.
Every moment of this sequence was perfection. Congratulations to director Mark Mylod for his outstanding work here. The lush cinematography showcased severe beauty of Dragonstone island.
The photography highlighted — practically caressed, the beauty of the actors playing both monarchs, and conveyed the intimidating severity of the throne room.
The acting was excellent — the four main participants were never more themselves than in this scene.
The self-referential humor (the litany of Daenery’s titles was hilarious), and call-backs to past seasons and to Rhaegar in particular were perfect.
The meeting of the story’s two iconic characters was downright frosty, which was realistic and appropriate. Jon not only refused to bend the knee, he brought up the Mad King’s vicious murder of Rickard and Brendan Stark. Although Daenerys apologized to him for that brutality, the conversation went downhill fast, with Tyrion and Davos doing their best to preserve the diplomacy and illuminate the positions of the two.
Despite the fandom’s rabid shipping of these two, I would say there’s more of a mutual fascination between Jon and Daenerys than an attraction. For now.
It was particularly gratifying to see Lord Tyrion rise to his former powers of political saavy and diplomacy after so long. He really pulled out all the stops to get Daenerys and Jon to compromise, speaking to them together and separately. WELCOME BACK, LORD TYRION.
Tyrion’s work paid off in the final Dragonstone scene of the episode, When Jon and Daenerys met alone. At first they were at odds, which was reflected in their positions, facing in opposite directions.
Then, Jon responds to a Dany’s statement that “we all like doing what we’re good at,” with a sullen “I don’t,” which reminds her of Ser Barristan Selmy’s description of her brother (and Jon’s father) Rhaegar. She looks at him, assessing…
And then Daenerys decides to follow Tyrion’s advice to let Jon mine the island for Dragon glass while she takes care of the conflict to the south and decides whether or not the White Walker threat is real. Finally, they face each other.
Looks like the beginning of a great partnership! How will they fight the White Walkers together? I can’t wait to see.
And now, on to the Burning Questions (you thought I forgot, didn’t you?).
Will Euron Wait?
Now that Euron has brought Cersei a “gift” he wants his reward. Namely matrimony. Cersei wriggled out of it by promising to marry him “once the war is won,” which didn’t go over too well. He’s content to troll Jaime for now (how hilarious was that?) but he’s not going to be put off. Cersei has almost no choice but to keep him happy because she needs his fleet, and her victories against Daenerys are due to him. Maybe once she gets more loans from the Iron Bank she’ll dump Euron. If the repayment goes according to plan. At some point it’s going to be a race to see who will kill whom first.
Where will the Dragons Strike First?
Daenerys has lost two members of her small council (Lady Olenna and Ellaria Sand), the mission to Dorne failed and the invasion of Casterly Rock ended in the torching of what was left of her fleet. Her conquer of Westeros is not going well, which means Dragons are coming. Where will the dragonfire burn first? King’s Landing? High Garden and the exiting Lannister Army? Euron’s Fleet? All good choices.
Is There a Saboteur in Daenerys’ Council?
The Targaryen forces have piled up a lot of failures in a short time, especially considering they have a Lannister with knowledge of the terrain and the enemy on their side. The attack on Yara’s fleet could have been mere opportunity, but the Casterly Rock manuever was planned with the knowledge that Daenerys’ forces would be there. How could the Lannisters have known this? The most natural reaction to the arrival of the Dragon Queen would have been to shore up King’s Landing, which is the capital and the seat of government. Instead, they attacked the fleet they had no way of knowing was on the move, and trapped the invaders at Casterly Rock and burned the rest of the fleet. Psychic friends or inside information?
If there’s a mole, who is it? Perhaps Varys? But why? Who else could it be?
What Will Jon & Daenerys Find in/on Dragonstone?
If I were Daenerys the first thing I would have done when I landed on the rock was to go through the entire house from top to bottom, looking for mementos of my family, any information that would give me and advantage in the war and stray dragon eggs. Because more dragons! Now that Daenerys has given Jon permission to mine the dragon glass in the caves, what else will they find? Anything from Dragon eggs to proof of Jon’s true parentage could be down there. Speaking of Jon’s origins…
What Will Samwell Find in the Old Scrolls?
After curing Sir Jorah of greyscale Sam barely escaped getting booted out of the Citadel. He has now graduated from cleaning chamber pots, as Maester Marwyn put him in charge of transcribing a pile of old scrolls. Not thrilling, until you think of what he might find there. Anything from information on the White Walkers to Rhaegar and Lyanna’s secret marriage.
The only thing I didn’t like was the Maester’s warning: “beware of the paper mites. They like flesh too.” Oh man.
What’s in Maester Luwin’s Files?
During the scene at Winterfell while Sansa is busy preparing the castle for winter, she asks about the length of the longest winter in the past 100 years. The Maester says he doesn’t know but that he’ll check in Maester Luwin’s records, as he kept a copy of every raven scroll (I’m assuming incoming and outgoing). T–his remark caught Littlefinger’s attention, so of course there’s got to be information in those records that is either valuable or dangerous to him.
What could Littlefinger be worried or curious about in the Winterfell correspondence? Could it be copies of his negotiations with the Boltons over her marriage, or his knowlege of Ramsay’s evil? Could it be the letter Cersei forced Sansa to write in season 1 that accused Ned Stark of being a traitor and pledging her fealty to Joffrey and House Lannister? Could there be something about Lyanna and Rhaegar or Lyanna’s pregnancy and the birth of Jon?
Will Bran Tell Sansa About Littlefinger’s Betrayal?
Now that Bran is back in Winterfell he’ll probably see exactly how Baelish betrayed Ned in season 1; and possibly how he betrayed Sansa by handing her over to the Boltons in Season 5. Many viewers believe his claim that he had no idea who Ramsay was or what he was like, but I don’t. Baelish’s stock in trade is information. It would have been out of character for him to trust a valuable asset (to him) like Sansa to someone he knew nothing about. I bet he did. He was counting on Ramsay to turn Sansa into a walking zombie so that he could use her to do whatever he required to win the Iron Throne. But Sansa survived.
How Epic Was Lady Olenna’s Demise?
For a medival-era dowager Queen, Lady Olenna Tyrell was gangsta. She brooked no b.s. and did what was necessary to keep her house and her loved ones safe. From the moment she stepped onto the show in season 4 she was a welcome breath of fresh air and a force to be reckoned with. Even after losing her whole family, there was still plenty of fight in her, and she joined forces with Daenerys to bring down the Mad Queen.
In a role full of wonderful moments, Lady Olenna dropped all the mics after she took the poison Jaime Lannister poured for her after her army was defeated. She downed the poisoned wine quickly, and started talking.
“I would hate to die like Joffrey,” she said. She graphically recounted King Joffrey’s death and said that she hadn’t intended it to be so painful. As Jaime realizes with horror what she has said, she continues.
“Tell Cersei. I want her to know it was me.”
Boom.
RIP Lady Olenna, there will never be another like you.
