GOT season 7 episode 6

Submitted by jdon on

Well, here we have the penultimate episode of the penultimate season.  If we follow the formula of the first 6 seasons wherein the second to last episode of each season provides the most dramatic twist leaving the final episode for exposition, then I think we can expect one hell of an episode tonight.

What are you looking for?  And please refrain from commenting if you already have seen the link.

 

I expect a couple of people to die north of the wall, probably Jorah and Tormund (I will cry).  I also expect someone to die in Kingslanding (probably Bronn as a punishment for last week).  I am hoping we see Benjen and/or a dragon with Dany arriving to save the day.  I am also hoping we see a surprise reveal from Sam or Bran.   The only thing I don't want to see if Jamie or Jon die...

I would like to see Arya stab littlefinger but I don't think that is in the cards yet.

kick back and enjoy!

jdon

 

Edit: I wrote episode 7 the first time.  

crg

August 21st, 2017 at 3:37 PM ^

Yes, it was quite convenient to stumble upon a small detachment of wights (with one Walker) separated from the entire dead army, especially considering every other scene where the dead army was on the move it was always en masse. Now, there is a question about any clairvoyance the Night King may have (like the greenseers or the other prophecies described in the shows/books). Perhaps he knew that his army needed to be there in order to kill and reaminate a dragon (which could probably be used to defeat the wall).

kehnonymous

August 21st, 2017 at 11:15 AM ^

The dialogue bits were great as usual, particularly the banter with Tormund and the Hound.  The climatic action was great - dragons roasting armies is always a good time unless you're in the army.  The acting was also generally good - I think Sophie Turner's controlled underplaying of Sansa is one of the more underrated performances.

But I'm having a really really hard time getting past the writing and story direction of this episode.  

This episode was a master-class in 'let's have characters act stupid so we can advance the plot'  I'm far from the most critical viewer out there, so if I'm noticing it than that's pretty bad.  Jon's plan of 'kidnap a wight' so we can prove we're not loony-toons is idiotic and even though Dragonstone isn't as far from the North as people think, I'm having a really hard time believing that in during the time it took Gendry to run back to Eastwatch, then have a raven fly to Dragonstone and then have the dragons fly north, that the whole team (minus maybe Tormund) wouldn't have all died for frostbite.

Sansa v. Arya just really feels like forced tension to fill up time.  Even if acting like idiots is the Stark was, it's just beyond plausible at this point.  We gotta figure that this is all gonna blow up in Littlefinger's face but when/if it does, it's going to be totally unearned.  You know how, in Agatha Christie mysteries, the action noodles along, then you find out who the killer is (who is someone you didn't suspect) and you see the seeds and breadcrumbs that were left out that pointed to the killer all along?  If the Stark girls are playing some long con, I'm just not seeing it - they have one more episode to salvage this storyline but it's getting late early.

ST3

August 21st, 2017 at 12:30 PM ^

I hear you. During the beginning of the episode when they are walking beyond the wall in search of a wight, I noticed that no one's ears or nose was red, no one had a runny nose. There was no frost in the beard. I grew up in Michigan. That scene didn't pass the smell test to me. I know they have to make allowances for TV, but no way they are walking around without a decent hat on.

TIMMMAAY

August 21st, 2017 at 2:11 PM ^

I promise there is no long con happening with Sansa and Arya. Anyone who has watched this show, yet still believes that is what is happening... well, I have a bridge for sale at a very good price. 

The show-runners are plainly not capable of that kind of writing. They have made that abundantly clear in the past three seasons (once they ran out of source material). 

Solecismic

August 21st, 2017 at 4:26 PM ^

GRRM is still involved to a certain extent, and there are plot lines he set up in the original book that still have life. GRRM is also the champion of the underdog and the unexpected hero - one of the pieces that makes his work unusual. We don't have one underdog in this game; we have many. Tyrion, Brienne, Daenerys, Sam, Jon... I think you're right that the show-runners are struggling. The question is whether this somewhat accelerated tension with Sansa and Arya is part of Littlefinger's story. He's one of that handful of underdogs from the first book who has extraordinary powers elsewhere. And in his case, he doesn't seem to have the moral filter of some of the other unlikely heroes. His story somewhat parallels Varys' story, only on the darker side. There's some cleverness in their writing this season, though. Arya engages Sansa from a spot on a walkway (or it's that bridge I'm apparently buying) and talks about how her father cheered when she hit a bullseye. But just a while back, it was Littlefinger smiling, unseen, from the same spot as Arya battled Brienne. Littlefinger was the one behind Eddard's death, for the most part. He wants Arya away from Sansa the same way he wanted Eddard away from Catelyn. His game has been with Sansa for a long time now, and I'd be surprised if there isn't a big role for this conflict next season. Or maybe I'm just looking for something positive after that shit-show of a story line that ended up with a row of muggles riding a dragon.

WestSider

August 21st, 2017 at 12:36 PM ^

enough fur to outfit a group three times the size. I would have been sweating, and the body heat would prevent ice on the face and beard. No red in the face though, good point there.

Ann Harbaugh

August 21st, 2017 at 12:40 PM ^

Was anyone else bothered by how easy it was for the dragon to go down? Like the crossbow that Bronn shot barely damaged it, but a hand thrown spear takes one down? Also where did the white walkers get the chains to bring the dragon from the bottom of the lake?

TrueBlue2003

August 21st, 2017 at 2:28 PM ^

are vulnerable to Valerian steel.  There is some sort of mystical fire property in valerian steel that kills them.

And whether the dragons, being fire creatures, are vulnerable to ice in general (the way wights are vulnerable to obsidian) or if those are special mystical ice spears like valerian steel, there is a big difference between the regular iron/steel that Bronn shot and those ice spears, which literally exploded upon contact, sort of the way the white walkers shatter when hit with valerian steel.

TrueBlue2003

August 21st, 2017 at 2:29 PM ^

seemed totally absurd.  And my wife was irate about those.  Where they got them, I dunno.  I guess they have a massive mine and blacksmith operation somewhere.

It is somewhat believable that, assuming they have the ability to make the chains, they would bring them south because the chains could be used perhaps to bring down the wall.  Also, it could explain why they're going so slowly since they have to haul the chains.  Although we saw a few episodes ago that there are zombie giants, and they were nowhere to be found this episode.

3PG

August 21st, 2017 at 4:21 PM ^

My thoughts exactly. That is a hell of a feat of engineering to haul a massive object from the depths of an icy lake. I didn't realize the dead were such good workers. Why doesn't the Night King just have them build him a giant castle and then he can just hang out there with 10s of 1000s of servants at his beck and call. That's the whole point of it all, isn't it?

crg

August 21st, 2017 at 6:33 PM ^

Yeah... the show has done a very poor job of explaining the motivations of the Night King. Yes, he was created to stop the aFirst Men from killing the Children, but how did he turn on the Children (and how did they stop,him the first time)? There is still a season to go, but I don't have high confidence in the showrunners capacity for plugging plot holes.