My Musings on Game of Thrones: The Long Night (Season 8, Episode 3)

My Musings on Game of Thrones: The Long Night (Season 8, Episode 3)

April 29 was an intense day on social media. As soon as the Long Night (Game of Thrones Season 8 Episode 3) finished, social media accounts were caught in a frenzy, posting (and virtually screaming) all sorts of reactions: from status messages without context, to memes, to downright spoilers. Blood pressures went up and friendships were lost (because of spoilers), but now we’re left with the question: Was it worth all the hype? I can’t speak for everyone, but…

The #Beardict: As the most ambitious episode/battle sequence Game of Thrones has released to date, The Long Night (Battle of Winterfell) tries to live up to the very high expectations through its non-stop action and suspense, but ultimately ends up lacking in storytelling. Although it does give us with the greatest assembly of Game of Thrones characters ever, fitting farewells to the characters we’ve come to love since Day 1, and a sense of direction moving forward, I can’t help but feel that a very important part of the show was closed abruptly, leaving a lot of questions unanswered.

I know what you’re thinking. It’s impossible to please everyone, and we should just be happy that we’re alive to witness such a great moment on television. Be that as it may, being a loyal fan doesn’t mean we should not provide criticism when it’s due. Let’s get into our points, shall we?

WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD

Many things didn’t make sense, and characters made very poor decisions. The Dothraki were the very first victims of this episode. This is what happens when your group is not represented properly when battle plans are made the night before. Haha. Whose bright idea was it to make them run into the dark when they’re not winter folk? The scene spit on Khal Drogo’s grave. I also get why Jorah Mormont was with them, semi-leading, but why was Ghost even in their faction?

Daenerys didn’t use Drogon enough to help her soldiers on the ground. She saved Jon Snow when he was surrounded by wights, but for some reason, decided not to fly again, allowing Drogon to get super mobbed. Jorah basically died because Dany froze. Her case to be queen of Westeros just went out the window (Side note: It’s possible that there’s a deeper reason why Jorah was killed off this early in the season—without her stalwart sentry, traitors have a more open line to Dany *cough” Varys *cough*).

Additional questions: How did Sam and Davos survive even if they don’t really know how to fight? Why did Bran warg into crows and do nothing else? Was he taunting the Night King or recording history? Why was the crypt emphasized even though all the main characters were miraculously unharmed by the end of the ordeal?

The Lord of Light is real, but the Azor Ahai isn’t? During the trench scene, Melisandre had her most vulnerable moment in Game of Thrones as she was not sure if the Lord of Light would heed her call and provide fire to keep the wights at bay. Thankfully, he did—visible proof that he is real. If that is the case, then why does it seem like the Azor Ahai prophecy is fake?  Throughout the series, Melisandre has been going on and on about the “one who was promised” by the Lord of Light, someone who would defeat the forces of darkness (presumably, the Night King) and save everyone in the realm. At first, she thought the reincarnation was Stannis (let’s face it, everyone was way ahead of Melisandre on this one and figured he’s not the Azor Ahai) but changed her mind when she saw Jon Snow. Steady in her newfound belief, she even goes to the extent of resurrecting Jon when he dies at the hands of traitorous Night’s Watch folks. In The Long Night, since Arya ends up being responsible for shattering the Night King into a thousand pieces, then why was Jon resurrected in the first place? Did he fulfill his destiny by bringing everyone together to fight the Night King? Was there really a coming of an Azor Ahai, or was Melissandre just busting our collective balls the entire time?

Arya’s Destiny: Did Arya need to be the one to kill the Night King? Okay, since we just discussed the Azor Ahai prophecy—did Melisandre change her mind yet again and thought Arya was the one who was promised? She reveals that Beric Dondarion can now rest (he was resurrected by Thoros multiple times in the series) since he’s finally fulfilled his purpose—saving Arya from wights in this battle. However, Arya would be an odd choice to be the Lord of Light’s champion because she, in a way, believes in the Many-Faced God (this is the reason why she can wear many faces).

Anyway, before this episode, there was no indication that she was going to be the one to get rid of the Night King. Until recently, she didn’t even know about the looming threat of the White Walkers. You can say that the surprise is the beauty of it, but it disrespects the revenge list that Arya herself promised to finish. Her entire badass character growth was hinged on that list, and the Night King is such a deviation to her otherwise calculated plans.

Melisandre mentioned brown eyes, green eyes, and blue eyes—did this mean Walder Frey, Cersei, and the Night King? Or Meryn Trant, Littlefinger, and the Night King? People now have many combinations for Arya’s list of actual and potential victims, and although many fans are predicting a Cersei death under Arya’s capable hands—I don’t think this will happen anymore. Her contributions to the Battle of Winterfell have already propelled her to the top GoT characters tier (so much so that expecting mothers are planning to name their daughters Arya), and it will be quite unfair to the story/unbelievable if she ends up killing Cersei as well. My fearless forecast is that Cersei will be the one to kill Arya to make the finale really sting.

The Night King went down like a punk without enough backstory. We know that to defend themselves from the First Men, the Children of the Forest did some nasty experiments and led to the creation of the Night King. Although it has been reported that his origin may be fleshed out in the planned Game of Thrones sequel, it’s quite sad that the Night King is now gone (after he was hyped season after season) but the questions still remain. Bran says the Night King wants “an endless night” to devour the world, but why? Who is he, really, and why can he smile but not talk? When Daenerys used Dracarys on him, he was quite smug about it because he knew he would not die. Since he was not affected by dragon fire, does that make him a Targaryen, or just an illogical ice being? While we’re on the subject of the Night King, let’s mention how he was so easily dispatched by Arya. She’s an assassin and all, but she’s still human, and he is not (Side note: You know why that Arya move is so familiar? Think Rey and that Last Jedi fight scene with Kylo Ren and the Praetorian Guards of Snoke).

“You did nothing, Jon Snow.” A lot of memes are going around saying that Jon Snow was basically useless in the Long Night. After watching the episode twice and thinking about what Jon did, I can indeed say that he was, unfortunately, near useless. This started because Jon chose to ride Rhaegal and do How To Train Your Dragon adventures with Daenerys (as my girlfriend called to it) while all hell was breaking loose down below. As he’s not experienced with a dragon, he should have just remained on the ground with Ghost and did damage there. He could have joined Lyanna Mormont and her men in defending the opening, or helped out Theon in protecting Bran, or stayed with Daenerys so he and Jorah could team up to save the woman they love the most. Instead, he ended up running around aimlessly, lost on what to do. At one point, he saw Sam getting mobbed by wights and he didn’t even attempt to help his best friend. Before Arya struck the Night King with a dragon glass blade, he was seen screaming in front of Viserion, ready for his suffering to end (I thought Viserion would try to engulf him with blue fire but he’d survive because he’s a Targaryen). Fans suggest that he was actually distracting the ice dragon so Arya can head past them undetected, but I highly doubt that’s what the episode was going for.

To be fair, we did see that Jon was feared by the Night King and his generals. When he was swerving with Rhaegal to attack the White Walkers below, a mysterious shroud intervened and pushed him away. When the Night King saw that Jon was only a few meters away from him, he rose an army of wights to come between them (it seemed he did not want to fight Jon one-on-one, because he might lose—he already saw Jon take care of White Walkers beyond the wall).  It’s kind of like when NBA teams play the Golden State Warriors – they concentrate their efforts in locking down Steph Curry, forcing him to have a bad game but freeing his teammates to do the work and attack the opposing team. This was a bad episode for Jon (even MVPs have bad days I suppose), but he did succeed in making the Night King lower his guard when he got taken out of the picture, leaving the path free for Arya to take advantage of. It’s just sad that what Jon set out to do from Season 1 was to protect Westeros from those beyond the Wall, and it’s not even him who gets to take the final blow.

Will Jon get to take the Iron Throne? No. Does he even want it? Not really. Will he help Dany take it? Most likely! Will they succeed? I don’t think so. Whatever happens, let’s all hope Jon Snow’s character is given justice and closure. He deserves at least that.

Cersei as the big bad of Game of Thrones? When you progress in video games, you usually fight lesser bosses first before going up against the big boss at the end. The enemies you triumph against serve as stepping stones for the final showdown. Although Game of Thrones is not a video game, is it essentially saying that Cersei is a bigger bad than the Night King? It’s certainly anti-climactic given the Night King was described as the greatest threat the entire world has ever known. I’m under the belief that if the first scene of the show is about White Walkers, then one of the last scenes should be about them as well. However, the showrunners are probably reeling us towards the fact that at the heart of Game of Thrones is politics and warfare (Remember the War of the Five Kings?). Season 8 Episode 5 has been teased to even have a bigger battle than that of Winterfell, so I’m keeping my hopes up.

Bonus: The dark cinematography – was it necessary? This is a controversial topic among fans, but in case you didn’t notice, The Long Night was unusually dark, bordering on pitch black already during some scenes. I joked that the only times the screen was visible (aside from the fire scenes) were when the clouds and subtitles were shown (The night is dark and full of darkness. Haha). The Internet complained and declared that the Battle of Helm’s Deep (from the Lord of The Rings: Two Towers) is still the best medieval-fantasy battle scene more than 15 years after its release. However, a lot of people were also quick to defend how the Battle of Winterfell was shot—that the show wanted us to feel how it was like being there: stressful and full of desperation. They also pointed out that this is why TVs have the brightness function. According to a Mashable report, the cinematographer Fabian Wagner blames “HBO’s video compression which he claims added pixilation and dark colors.” My stand here? HBO should have already told viewers in advance that the Long Night is meant to be dark, and that people can adjust the brightness if they become uncomfortable and can’t see anything anymore.

Thank God the Episode 4 preview already shows us some sun. Haha. Can’t wait for it!

Photos courtesy of HBO. Game of Thrones returns on HBO on May 6, Monday (SST 9AM).

Game of Thrones – Season 6, Episode 10 – The Winds of Winter (Recap and Speculations)

SPOILERS AHEAD

Photos courtesy of Home Box Office (Game of Thrones)

Let us have a moment of silence for all the lives lost in the Season 6 Finale, The Winds of Winter.

Now that we’ve done that, it’s time to ask this: WHAT IN THE WORLD JUST HAPPENED? It’s like the whole Game of Thrones world just exploded! If we thought Battle of the Bastards changed the landscape of the series (check out our review here), what more about this episode? Things will never be the same for Westeros (and all places, for that matter). If you didn’t get satisfied with the events here, then nothing will. The Winds of Winter is hands down the best finale of all the GoT seasons combined, and arguably the best hour of fantasy drama you will ever see on TV. Aside from the shocking developments, confirmation of fan theories, and crazy deaths, Episode 10 really works because it’s so holistic – it involves all major characters possible (bar for Brienne and Sandor) and makes their story arcs interesting enough for the 7^th season.

Highlights of the Winds of Winter (This is a bit tricky is everything is SO IMPORTANT so bear with me):

CHECKMATE! BOOM!

Cersei the Mad Queen, Mass Murderer, and Tour de Force

Someone should write a book and name it Cersei’s Art of Revenge. Sure, she was stupid for giving the High Sparrow so much power in the first place. However, she just reminded all of us the reason why she’s still alive: Power is power. She shows us that if you’re going to go about things as ruthlessly as possible, then your enemies will become no more. Did she really feel good though, as she repeatedly said? We see her with a stern look on her face when she was crowned Queen of the Seven Kingdoms. Was she remembering all the deaths of her children?

Wine, Cersei’s favorite thing in Westeros

Clad in black, she didn’t really look surprised about Tommen’s death. If she didn’t want this to happen, then she should have rushed to his side after the explosion. Instead, Cersei let Tommen watch the Great Sept of Baelor disintegrate, along with everyone inside. Despite previously being all about family, Cersei got pushed over the edge too much and sacrificed her baby boy to seize control of the Seven Kingdoms. Does this mean Jamie is eventually going to be known as both Kingslayer and Queenslayer?

Cersei’s Victims:

Natalie Dormer, you will be missed.

Queen Margaery Tyrell – Another favorite bids us farewell. I hate the fact that Margaery didn’t go out in a glorious fashion, unless you consider getting obliterated by wildfire a bit glorious. She got so good at playing the game of thrones that she ended up overplaying, and she and her family paid the price. All her little moves across the board didn’t save her from being checkmate. Only Lady Olenna, who is also at fault here for ignoring Cersei’s proposition to be allies, was spared.

Loras and Mace Tyrell– Loras Tyrell is now free of his burden, his fists no longer in iron chains (Get it? Finn Jones was cast as Marvel’s Iron Fist. Hehe.). We will  miss Mace and his uncanny ability to be awkward at all times.

Y’all got wildfired!

The High Sparrow, Septons, and the Faith Militant: The High Sparrow should have allied himself with Cersei. After he made her do the Walk of Atonement, he painted a large target on his back, assuring his eventual death and the death of the rest of his followers. SHAME!

Tommen Baratheon: When he put away the crown, we knew Tommen was a goner. I thought he was going to hang himself and we’d hear him wiggling, but well, at least we were spared of that, and now we have the saying “It’s not called King’s Landing for nothing!” If he only let his mother in and didn’t disallow Trial by Combat, he (and everybody else) might still be breathing now.

Kevan and Lancel Lannister: Father and son were pretty annoying (and stupid until the very end) so I can’t really feel sorry for them.

What did Qyburn promise these children? Unlimited candy?!

Pycell (c/o Qyburn and creepy children with no conscience): Pycell had it coming since Season 1. The whores in King’s Landing better find another paying customer; this one is now permanently unavailable. Qyburn now belongs to a council of one, and can either become the maester or Hand of the King, or both.

WOAH

Samwell “Books Are Better Than Sex with Gilly” Tarly

Okay, so he didn’t say this, but his face certainly did. Bookworms unite! This was the only light part of the episode. It was strategically placed in between all the violence to temper our troubled emotions.  We understand how Sam felt when he saw the Citadel Library. Imagine gaining access to a 10-storey bookstore during your lifetime. Wow! Maybe George R. R. Martin needs to visit this library so he can be inspired to come out with the next book of A Song of Ice and Fire series. Anyway, if Jon does eventually become King of the Seven Kingdoms, we’ll probably see Sam as his maester in King’s Landing.

Melisandre, you get to live because I’m trying to avoid bad decisions right now.

Jon Snow, the Second King in the North. Gulp.

Second time’s the charm? We all know what happened to Rob Stark when he was proclaimed King in the North by his “followers.” Since Jon is bound to make bigger decisions soon, he needs to learn how to play the game quickly. Executing allies is not the way, and it seems he has already learned his lesson since he spared Melisandre’s life despite Davos’ plea.

The Toughest Northerner

To survive, he needs to refrain from attending weddings and trusting children named Ollie. Moreover, he needs to make Lyanna Mormont his Hand as soon as possible. That kid has the biggest cajones in the entire show. Lyanna is now everyone’s favorite. With that said, please don’t kill her off, please don’t kill h—Ah forget it. Valar Morghulis!

Will Sansa be the new Littlefinger?

The Littlefinger and Sansa Connection

There’s some kind of tension going on between Baelish and Sansa. Only a fool would trust Littlefinger, Sansa says, but somehow, she trusted him enough regarding the Knights of the Vale. That may have been born out of desperation, but I have a feeling Season 7 will be filled with a lot of their collective scheming. At first glance, Sansa seems to be the loser in this relationship since she now owes him, but remember that knowledge of Littlefinger’s next move might is such a powerful thing to have. He tends to be very honest when talking to her, revealing this grand plan he has inside his head. Fearless forecast: Sansa will be Littlefinger’s undoing.

I can teleport too.

Varys, the True Master of Whispers (and Master of Time?)

We get to know why Varys disappeared before the Meereen siege. His mission involved heading to Dorne (Yes, Dorne, there’s still a place called Dorne contrary to popular belief. Haha.) and brokering an alliance with the Sand Snakes. We see Olenna Tyrell explaining to Ellaria Sand (who seems to have not moved from her spot since Episode 1) how the High Garden royalty was murdered in one swift blow. Varys comes in and says “Fire and Blood,” and thus, the Tyrell-Dorne-Targaryen alliance was born.

See? Varys is the fastest man alive.

I’m curious to know two things about Season 7. Are the Sand Snakes finally going to relevant, or will they still remain as boring plot devices? Oberyn must be shaking his head right now (oops, wrong choice of words). More importantly, will they reveal how Varys seems to defy the laws of time? Did being a eunuch grant him teleportation powers?

Daario Gets Benched – Forever.

Ouch. Danaerys just dumped Daario in the coldest possible way. The guy wants to fight for her and tells her he loves her, and she just goes on with her business. She even admits to Tyrion that she did not feel anything about their “breakup.” Lord Friendzone fans should be pleased!

To Jorah: “You will not walk away from your queen, Jorah the Andal. I command you to heal yourself. When I take the Seven Kingdoms, I need you by my side.”

To Daario: Who’s a good boy? Stay here and watch Meereen for me, will you?

SAVAGE KHALEESI!

“You’re in the great game now, and the great game’s terrifying.”

Team Tyrion and Daenerys

Banter between Dany and Tyrion is always delightful. From the moment Tyrion arrived in Meereen, he has kept her level-headed. Dany, for her part, has always respected what Tyrion has to say and inspires him enough to make him believe that his life is still worth living. My friend says they act like siblings. Well, they are, to each other, the brother and sister they never had. Viserys and Cersei were extremely low bars to begin with!

“And so I said no thank you to belief, and yet here I am… Yours, now and always.”

The Hand of the Queen scene was such an awesome moment. It wasn’t the most exciting one but definitely the most heartwarming.

 

We’re the same, you and I. Umm, yeah right.

Walder Frey Ate His Sons – That Holy Shxt Moment

Walder Frey ate his sons. Walder Frey ate his sons. WALDER FREY ATE HIS SONS! Sorry, I can’t get over it. As my girlfriend put it, it’s a Sweeney Todd moment (except we don’t get a finger inside the pie this time). At first, I thought Jamie tasked the servant girl to kill Frey, but then when Arya revealed herself, it made so much sense. I don’t know what’s scarier, Sansa’s smirk while she fed Ramsay to the hounds or Arya’s blank face as she slit Frey’s throat. In any case, we get further confirmation that Arya has become both no one and someone at the same time. Pretty incredible, right? She’s now on track for a reunion with Jon and Sansa!

Three-Eyed Bran

Bran Becomes Useful and Confirms Major Theory

Will we ever forgive him for Hodor and Summer? Never! However, he himself said he’s the Three-Eyed Raven now so we better get used to him sticking around. Ugh, Bran, you can walk in your visions. Would it have killed you to walk a few paces more so we heard what Lyanna was saying to young Ned? You, boy, are a very bad eavesdropper!

Ned’s honor finally gets vindicated.

Although the truth revealed was still incomplete, we know enough that Jon Snow is a Stark. Is he also a Targaryen? All these Dany-Jon shippers are ruthless in their pursuit for incest. Oh, and yeah, Uncle Benjen just admitted to being a half-zombie. He’s still alive though, which is a lot better than supposedly major characters in this show.

George R. R. Martin, The True Winner?

This season, the series lovers finally achieved equal footing with book followers as the material used is no longer based on an existing A Song of Ice and Fire book. However, George R. R. Martin still plays a key role in how the story of the show is developed. Is George playing Game of Thrones with showrunners Weiss and Benioff? Is he letting them finish the story via TV so that he can continue the books based on it instead of the other way around? Admit it, if you read his books before, you’ll buy the new one as soon as it comes out anyway.

I was a cute baby. You know it’s true.

BEARDICT: The white raven has been sent, and winter has finally come. Jon, Daenerys, and Cersei have all consolidated their power. We will surely see the White King and his walkers next season. Clearly, television was invented to reach this level of greatness!

There are only nine months left until we get Season 7 of Game of Thrones. Nine, useless months. Haha. See you next time!

Catch the 7^th season of Game of Thrones in 2017.

Game of Thrones – Season 6, Episode 9 – Battle of the Bastards (Recap and Speculations)

SPOILERS AHEAD

Photos courtesy of Home Box Office (Game of Thrones)

How are you guys feeling? Still pumped from all that Jon Snow hack-and-slash from Episode 9? After almost a whole season of waiting, we finally got to witness the most action-packed episode of the entire series in the form of Battle of the Bastards. We thought nothing could top the Battle of Blackwater Bay and Battle of Castle Black. It turns out we were highly mistaken. The hype is real!

RAAAWR!

Highlights of Battle of the Bastards:

• The battle for Winterfell was masterfully done and avoids the trap of looking fantastic or synthetic. It was ugly and brutal, like a true battle should. There was nothing sensational or glorious about it. The bodies just piled up like discarded pieces of meat, and Jon almost suffocated because of them. Everyone was dying left and right, and you’d have to wonder how these guys knew who to hit since all of them were wearing gray colors. You can see the panic in Jon and Tormund’s eyes— the struggle is more than real. Kudos to the GoT team for an episode with such a high production value.
  

  I need a long bath after this.

• YAAAS, we get the bastard versus bastard showdown that’s been a long time coming. Although Jon beating Ramsay to a bloody pulp was so satisfying to watch, it’s still somehow disappointing that they didn’t really have a fistfight, or even a brief swordfight. Ramsay should be smarter than a goof who shoots arrow after arrow at a raging guy with a shield.
  

  Let’s put a smile on that face!

• Okay, so people are angry about Rickon’s death but not because of the reason you’d expect. We knew he was going to die. Heck, even Sansa knew it. At this point, I think nobody has an emotional attachment to him anymore and Shaggydog’s severed head would have elicited more emotion from viewers. People are actually angry because they’re saying Rickon should have run in a zigzag manner instead of a straight line. Because the Internet is such an awesome place, a lot of memes have come out, prompting Art Parkinson to comment about his character. We can complain all we want, but Bran is again at fault here. Tsk tsk, if only he took Rickon with him, then they’d be having a picnic with Uncle Benjen right now.
  

  Reunited and it feels so good

• Battle of the Bastards, although excellent, is not without clichés. Many fans saw Littlefinger and the Knights of the Vale from a mile away, and a lot of references to the Battle of Helm’s Deep from The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers were actually made in the predictions. Is Petyr Baelish now as valiant as Gandalf the White? Sure, if Gandalf didn’t lead the charge and stayed behind and looked on with pure smugness on his face.
  

  Surrender, you say?

• Unlike Battle of Castle Black which focused on, you guessed it, Castle Back the entire episode, Battle of the Bastards dedicates a few minutes to Team Daenerys and their ongoing efforts to save Meereen. They finally get their bearings. Daenerys and Drogon burn the enemy ships to kingdom come while Grey Worm shows he has a certain set of skills. One swipe, and you’re dead. Yara and Theon Greyjoy get to meet with Daenerys and discuss their alliance (How did they get there so fast? Are there jets in Game of Thrones now? Haha). Theon seems to be really reformed as he does not go on defensive mode when assailed with Tyrion’s insults. Yara and Daenerys have a who-run-the-world-girls moment, and all is well for now.
  

  Bow before me!

• Speaking of girl power, let’s talk about how Sansa has transitioned from being the worst character in Game of Thrones to arguably the best and most interesting. She now has a steady spine to play the game and actually made a deal with the devil when she called on the Knights of the Vale. If Sansa were an NBA team, she’d be getting bandwagon fans by now. Sansa’s character has been redeemed and all the transgressions against her are now far behind. Fearless forecast: One of these days, she’ll manipulate Littlefinger and after she gets what she wants from him, she will kill him in his sleep (or through another morbid act). Just wait for it! That wicked smile she gave when Ramsay was being eaten by the hounds could be a foreshadowing of what she will accomplish. Maybe Daenerys is not the one in danger of becoming the Mad Queen?
  

  Farewell, Joffrey II.

• I should be totally happy that Ramsay is gone, but I’m not. I’ll miss the guy, and I’m sure I’m not alone in this. He was far from the plain villain we usually get, and Iwan Rheon portrayed his sinister ways wonderfully. Ramsay is now dead, Joffrey has been dead for three seasons now. Who are we going to hate now? Can we ask Melisandre to bring Ollie back so Jon can kill him again? Haha. They better introduce an annoying character again in Season 7. As a dog lover, I felt sad that the hounds were trained by their master to eat human flesh. Sigh. There’s a popular theory now that says Ramsay Jr. might be alive inside Sansa’s belly? What could be the possible consequences if this is proven to be true? Wow, a Stark-Bolton. Imagine the possibilities!
  

  Wun Wun the Hero

• Even if you forget everything in this epic episode, I’m pretty sure you won’t forget Wun Wun the Giant. Much praise has been given to WunWun by the Internet. Just watching the fella go during the battle was enough for us to be glued to the screen. Did you see how he snatched that Bolton footman and snapped his body like a twig? All that power was enough to punch through the front doors of Winterfell like it was nothing. Alas, a multitude of spears and arrows got the better of him in the end. It wasn’t really a surprise that he died though. It would probably be costly for the show to always have a giant hovering around Winterfell, and story-wise, Jon’s army would just be too strong with a giant in it. Nevertheless, forget about Lebron James or Stephen Curry; Wun Wun – you da real MVP and GOAT (Greatest of All Time). You saved everyone’s butts in this battle.
  

  Davos was also in this episode, FYI.

• Mereen is saved and the Starks are finally home. Is this the best Game of Thrones ending or what? Knowing D.B. Weiss and David Benioff, this is probably the best we’re going to get in a LOOONG time. I actually feared an Oberyn moment when Jon didn’t finish Ramsay off; part of me thought Ramsay was going to get up and slit Jon’s throat. Hahaha. Despite Rickon’s death, we can still say that the good guys finally won.

BEARDICT: If you took a leave last Monday or called in sick to watch Game of Thrones, then it was a worthwhile deception. Battle of the Bastards is that episode you need to watch right away (As they say, “the night is dark and full of spoilers.”). It is a welcome break from a show that usually centers on medieval politics and power struggles.

We get the finale next week. Ugh, we should definitely have Game of Thrones 9 months out of 12 instead of the opposite. Haha. Here’s to hoping HBO produces a new show with top notch caliber while we wait for our beloved GoT to come back.

Catch Game of Thrones every Monday night at 9pm (Philippine Time) on HBO.

Game of Thrones – Season 6, Episode 7 – The Broken Man (Recap and Speculations)

WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD

Photos courtesy of Home Box Office (Game of Thrones)

Wow. Let me get my bearings first. The Broken Man was quite the episode.

Okay, so we all know we’ve been through a lot thanks (or no thanks) to the first six episodes of this season. Jon Snow gets resurrected by Melisandre. Who knew a trip to the salon was all he needed? After getting her eyes back, Arya Stark is now on the run from Jaqen and Waif for botching up Lady Crane’s assassination. Yes, Arya suddenly realized she still has a conscience. Daenerys once again burns a bunch of rude men alive and ends up getting the loyalty of many Khalasars. We discovered that Bran basically ruined Hodor’s life and we should stop making excuses for the kid. We shall never look at doors the same way again.

Poor Hodor. There are just some things you can’t get over.

Just when we thought that all surprises would now happen during the 9^th or 10^th episode, David Benioff and D.B. Weiss show us through the seventh episode that at any point during the season, we should never think that our emotions are safe. Expect each GoT experience to be some sort of sadistic pleasure. In this show, bad moments outnumber happy moments 100 to 1.

Nevertheless, not all the things that happened were bad, as evidenced by our first point here:

SANDOR LIVES!

• Sandor Clegane is alive and well (at least for now, I suppose). He basically did a Benjen! Hurray! Fans have always believed that he was still alive since his supposed death was never shown on camera. Ian McShane guest stars as Brother Ray, the head of the peaceful group Sandor is currently staying with—or rather, stayed with. Ugh, that last scene was pretty awful to look at. Although the episode title could be used to describe Jon or Jamie, Sandor seems to be The Broken Man. Is he now going to take up arms and challenge what’s left of his brother, perhaps? Clegane versus Clegane. That fight would be beyond epic!
  

  Ian McShane as Brother Ray

• Arya bribes a man to bring her back to Westeros, and there, she lived happily ever af—Fine, that’s not how it happened. You can’t blame a guy for trying though! Anyway, she repeatedly gets stabbed in the belly by Waif but manages to jump off a bridge. Arya’s part in the episode ends with her walking down the alley, losing blood and all that. She’s just met with apathetic stares from the crowd and no one attempts to help her. Is she going to bleed to death and scar us for the rest of our lives, or is someone going to come to her aid? I’m thinking Lady Crane will be in the next episode, and Arya is eventually going to master being faceless with her help instead. *fingers crossed* There is also this feeling that if Arya survives this endeavor, she and the Hound will cross paths again in Westeros.
  

  Have we seen the last of Lady Crane?

• Sansa and Jon try to convince the Wildlings and the other Northern houses to rally under the Starks as they did in the past, except most of them don’t recognize Sansa and Jon as legit Stark members. Ouch. You know the sales agents who give out pamphlets about condominiums? How they feel when you continuously reject them is how Sansa and Jon must be feeling right now. It’s an extremely hard task since they’re trying to sell a product AKA joining a suicidal mission to fight a maniac like Ramsay, something that nobody really wants to do at the moment. Luckily, Tormund convinces the Wildlings while Davos saves the day and convinces the fierce and current fan favorite Lyanna Mormont of Bear Island (where Lord Friend Zone comes from). If you recall, Davos was also the one that swayed the Iron Bank to lend Stannis enough gold to hire sell swords. Come to think about it, he’s like Littlefinger, only with loyalty and honor.
  

  Good luck finding an army.

• Queen Margaery continues to excel at playing the game of thrones as she tells the High Sparrow what he wants to hear, but secretly conveys to Lady Olenna that she has not lost her mind yet. I know King’s Landing is not the most exciting place right now but I’m intrigued with her storyline. Let’s just hope all this scheming will actually lead to something. Meanwhile, Cersei is still boohoo-ing. She seriously needs to up her game! I think she’s going to have the Mountain kill someone before this season ends.
  

  The Queen’s Strategy

• Bronn is just loads of fun. It doesn’t matter who they pair him with but right now, the Jamie-Bronn bromance is working just fine. Hahaha. On a more serious note, it was refreshing to see Jamie take command of the situation and actually make fools out of the Frey brothers. Unfortunately, Blackfish Tully doesn’t take any BS and won’t surrender. What can be Jamie’s next move? More importantly, are we going to see another castle siege? Yes, please!
  

  Bromance in the King’s army

• Greyjoy siblings have a little drinking session, which Theon finds highly uncomfortable. Yara reveals to us that they plan to use their uncle’s strategy and ally with Daenerys to take back the Iron Islands. Why do I get the feeling that she will die? Will Theon and Tyrion meet again in the city of Meereen? Since they disliked each other before, maybe they’ll kill each other this time around?
  

  We find out Yara is kind of obsessed with ale.

BEARDICT: The Broken Man is one of the best and most balanced episode of this season. It provides us with answers but also sets up the next three episodes pretty nicely. There was a lot of character development for Sandor Clegane so we should expect to see more of him soon.

Brace yourselves, this season will be over before we know it, and we’ll be left with a hole in our hearts once again. Seven hells! *raises fists to the air*

Catch Game of Thrones every Monday night at 9pm (Philippine Time) on HBO.