The Great War is here. The Game of Thrones finale “The Dragon and the Wolf” gives us the moment we’ve been waiting seven seasons for: the Wall is down and the Army of the Dead is coming.
While “The Dragon and the Wolf” is mostly about the upcoming war with the White Walkers, the Game of Thrones finale has some great moments for dragon and wolf (or Targaryen and Stark) fans from Rhaegar and the Lyanna’s wedding to Jon Snow and Daenerys finally hooking up. And this has huge implications: Jon is the true heir to the Iron Throne and is sleeping with his aunt. Meanwhile, while everyone’s attention is on the North, Cersei is strategizing the war with Daenerys. Plus, Littlefinger’s schemes finally caught up with him, and Theon finally proves himself. It’s one hell of a finale.
Will Cersei Agree to a Truce?
Game of Thrones’ “The Dragon and the Wolf” begins with everyone getting ready for the big meeting in King’s Landing. Grey Worm and the Unsullied are standing guard while Bronn, Jaime, and the Lannister army prepare to face them. They realize they don’t have a chance, though, when the Dothraki show up to join the Unsullied.
Jon Snow, Tyrion and the gang also arrive with their ships. And, yes, their wight is with them. The only one missing? Daenerys. Nobody’s seen her, which worries Cersei. She tells the Mountain to kill Daenerys, then Tyrion, then Jon Snow, then anyone if this meeting goes wrong.
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Finally, it’s time to meet at the Dragonpit. Let’s just say, things are tense. The Hound and Brienne even reunite and the Hound finds out Arya is alive. Tyrion and Bronn also get to reunite.
Team Dany all arrive at the Dragonpit and Podrick and Bronn head out. Jon and the gang are surrounded by Lannister soldiers while they wait, which feels like a total trap, but then Cersi, Jaime, Euron, and her team show up. Yes, Jaime and Brienne, Tyrion and Cersei, Euron and Theon, and the Hound and the Mountain are all coming face to face again. “It’s not how it ends for you brother. You know how it ends for you. You’ve always known,” the Hound says before he walks away. Could Cleganebowl actually be happening?
Still, Daenerys is missing. Finally, she shows up with her Dragons. Of course she had to make a statement. Finally, after so long, Daenerys and Cersei meet. When Tyrion tries to start the meeting, Euron interrupts and threatens to kill Yara. Nobody wants to hear him now, though. They have White Walker matters to attend to. So Tyrion gets back down to business. They all hate each other and have hurt each other. So why are they here? They obviously can’t have peace and utopia. Jon Snow says the Army of the Dead is coming for them all and that’s what really matters. Cersei’s not buying it. And she’s not buying Daenerys’ promise of a truce while she fights the White Walkers either. She thinks Dany will really strategize and take more land while Cersei’s armies stand back.
Luckily, they have proof. The Hound comes back with a giant crate with the wight in it and lets it out. At first nothing happens, but the Hound kicks the crate over and it charges at Cersei. The Hound has it on a chain, though, and Jon Snow shows how to kill them with fire or dragonglass. “There’s only one war that matters: The Great War. And it is here,” Jon says. And seeing is definitely believing.
Euron announces he’s getting out of there. He wants nothing to do with it. It’s the only thing he’s ever seen that terrifies him. There’s definitely something fishy going on with him.
Cersei says she accepts the truce! Until the Army of the Dead is defeated, they’re the true enemy. If the dead wins, all their other fights will be for nothing anyway. The problem? She wants the King in the North to stay in the North and not choose sides. But Jon refuses and says he can’t serve two queens and he’s already pledged himself to Daenerys. So Cersei refuses the deal. Brienne begs Jaime to see beyond the houses and petty fights and talk to Cersei. “And tell her what?” he asks.
Everyone on Daenerys’ side thinks Jon has made a huge mistake. He could have just been loyal to Daenerys and lied about it, but just like Ned, Jon’s too good for that. Jon goes on about how when you make false promises and lie so much, words stop meaning anything (which just feels very relevant right now).
They have one last shot, though: Tyrion can talk to Cersei. So Tyrion goes to see Cersei for the first time since he left King’s Landing. First, though, he says goodbye to Jaime.
Finally, Tyrion’s alone with Cersei and the Mountain. You can cut the tension with a knife. Cersei accuses him of wanting to destroy their family, but Tyrion says he advised Daenerys not to attack King’s Landing and he doesn’t want to destroy their family even though he killed Tywin. Because of Tywin’s death, though, their family was left weak. Tyrion bascially dares her to kill him since he’s the reason her family died, but she doesn’t do it. Instead, they share a drink, which is cute. He tells her he’s sorry about her kids and that he loved them. But it doesn’t matter to her because their deaths still cost them their future. She asks him about Daenerys and he says she’d make the world a better place and she listens to her advisors and checks her worst impulses. But then Cersei reveals that she’s pregnant. Now what does this mean for Tyrion’s loyalties?
Back outside, Daenerys tells Jon that she respects what he did even though it ruined the truce. She talks about the dragons and the dragonpit. Dragons shouldn’t be kept as slaves. It made the dragons small and made her family small too. It made them like everyone else. “You’re not like everyone else,” Jon says. Dany tells him she can’t have children, so her family will die with her, but he doesn’t buy it. So what now? They have a war to think about and they’re pretty screwed.
But Tyrion comes back with Cersei, Jaime, and their group behind him. Cersei says her armies won’t stand down. Instead, she’ll march them North to fight alongside them. They’re facing the Army of the Dead together! Then when the war is over, they’ll remember she decided to help. Sounds nice. But can we trust it?
Will Sansa and Arya Fall for Littlefinger’s Schemes?
Sansa and Littlefinger receive a raven from Jon saying he’s bent the knee to Daenerys, and Sansa’s pissed he didn’t consult her. Littlefinger thinks that Jon wants to marry Dany and form an alliance. He suggests that Sansa usurp Jon, but Sansa says Arya would never let her. When Sansa asks what he thinks Arya wants, Littlefinger says to play a game where you assume the worst about someone’s motivations. The worst thing Arya could want is Sansa dead because she thinks she wronged their family. She could have come to Winterfell to kill her for marrying their enemies. She got the note to get proof and justification for killing Sansa. Then she could become Lady of Winterfell herself! It sounds pretty convincing.
Later, Sansa has Arya brought to the Great Hall, where she’s surrounded by guards. Sansa says honor demands that she defend her family and the North from those who would betray them. “You stand accused of murder, you stand accused of treason. How do you answer these charges … Lord Baelish?” Sansa asks. (It was a whole setup! I knew it. I wasn’t worried for a second. I swear it.)
Petyr murdered their aunt Lysa to take over the Vale and conspired to kill Jon Arryn. He started the conflict between the Starks and Lannisters. Then he conspired with the Lannisters to betray Ned. When Petyr says none of them saw it, Bran chimes in. He saw it as the creepy three-eyed raven. Then Arys takes out the Catspaw dagger. It wasn’t Tyrion’s. It was his. Plus, he sold Sansa to the Boltons.
Sansa says she played the game he taught her to see his motives. Why would he want her to turn against her sister? He’s constantly turning families against each other, like Lysa and Catelyn. Littlefinger begs on his knees and says he loved Catelyn and Sansa, but he betrayed both of them. “Thank you for all our lessons, Lord Baelish,” Sanas says. “I’ll never forget them.” Then Arya kills him with the Catspaw dagger! That’s right. It happened. Littlefinger’s games finally caught up with him.
Later, Sansa tells Arya that Littlefinger loved her in his own way, but Arya says Sansa did the right thing by passing this sentence. She couldn’t have survived what Sansa survived, but Sansa says she’s the strongest person she knows. They quote their father saying that in winter “the lone wolf dies, but the pack survives” and that they need to look after each other. Finally, the Stark sisters are united.
Theon Finally Proves Himself
Theon asks to speak to Jon alone. He’s impressed that Jon didn’t lie to Cersei about bending the knee to Daenerys. He always knew right from wrong. Jon admits he’s done things he’s regret, but not compared to Theon. Theon always wanted to be a good person, but he always had to choose between the Starks and Greyjoys. But Ned was more of a father to him than his own father and he betrayed him. “You never lost him. He’s a part of you, just like he’s a part of me,” Jon says, which is nice of him. He forgives Theon. He can be both a Greyjoy and a Stark. Theon talks about how Yara was the only one who tried to save him from Ramsay, so he has to save her.
So Theon goes to his men and says they all left to fight with Yara. She wouldn’t leave one of them behind and they can’t leave her behind. They refuse to go and say she’s dead and he left her to die. But Theon announces he’s going to find her and set her free. One of them men starts fighting him. He orders Theon to stay down or he’ll kill him, but Theon fights back. Theon kills the other man and the others all fall in line. “Not for me. For Yara,” he declares.
Will Jaime Betray Cersei?
Cersei comes across Jaime strategizing the war with the Army of the Dead with some other soldiers and calls him “the stupidest Lannister.” She didn’t mean it when she said she’d fight with the others. She wants the others to defend the North and for them to stay in King’s Landing and raise their kid to rule. Of course, she was lying. She wants the others to fight each other while they take back their lands. Cersei also points out that the third dragon was missing, which means the dragons could be killed. Plus, they have the Iron Bank behind them. She reveals that Euron didn’t really run away. He’s sailing to Essos to bring the gold back. Jaime feels totally betrayed, but Cersei was furious that he met with Tyrion earlier.
Jaime says he’s going to ride North anyway, and Cersei calls it treason. Jaime turns to leave, but the Mountain stops him. Cersei almost has the Mountain kill him. “I don’t believe you,” he says and walks away.
So Jaime starts to ride North. And suddenly, he feels snow. That’s right. Winter has come to King’s Landing. And there’s a major rift between Jaime and Cersei.
The Truth Comes Out
So Dany, Jon and the others go back to Dragonstone to plan. Jorah suggests Dany fly North because the Northerners hate her and will want to kill her if they see her, but Jon says they should be seen together as allies. Dany agrees and they head out together.
Sam and Gilly, meanwhile, arrive in Winterfell and Sam goes to visit Bran. Bran explains all about being the three-eyed raven and tells Sam that Jon needs to know the truth about himself. He tells Sam that Jon’s really Rhaegar and Lyanna’s son! His last name isn’t Snow. It’s Sand. But then Sam says that Rhaegar’s marriage was annulled and he married Lyanna in secret ceremony. Can Bran see that? Oh, yes, he can. We get to see Rheagar and Lyanna’s wedding! This also means that Robert’s Rebellion was built on a lie! Rhaegar didn’t kidnap and rape Lyanna. They loved each other. And Jon, of course, is legitimate. And his name is Aegon Targaryen! “He’s never been a bastard,” Bran says. “He’s heir to the Iron Throne. He needs to know. We need to tell him.”
Of course, that’s the minute that Jon and Daenerys finally hook up on their boat. Tyrion also notices and is pretty upset.
The Wall Comes Down
Bran has another vision. And it’s absolutely terrifying. Tormund and Beric Dondarrion are standing guard on top of the Wall. Suddenly, the Army of the Dead shows up. Then Viserion swoops down breathing ice, with the Night King riding him, and just destroys the wall. The Wall is down, people, and the Army of the Dead is marching through. It’s the moment we’ve all been waiting for.
Do you think the Army of the Dead can be defeated? How will Jon Snow react to his true parentage? Will Jaime tell the others Cersei isn’t really sticking to the truce? Leave your comments below!
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(Image courtesy of HBO)
Contributing Writer, BuddyTV
