GoT S7E6 Recap — The Great War Begins

Samit Sheth
Aug 25, 2017 · 14 min read

I’m back like white supremacy in America! Wait, no… that’s depressing. I’m back like Gendry! Much better. Here’s my recap for Season 7 Episode 6, “Beyond The Wall.” This post also contains some random thoughts from Season 7 Episode 5, “Eastwatch.”

Disclaimer: I try and write the majority of these before taking in any other recaps/reviews, though some things in here I either heard from friends or saw on twitter. There will be a couple predictions for what’s to come here, so spoiler warning in case I’m right! Also, I’ll keep the “Next On…” trailer stuff in the last section for those of you who avoid the previews/trailers. One thing I’ve noticed is images and GIFs may not load properly on mobile, so if possible I recommend reading these on desktop. If you like it and/or have thoughts, feel free to clap (Medium changed it!) at the bottom, and share as you please!


Preliminary Thoughts / Episode 5 Thoughts

  • This show can simultaneously be exhilarating and terribly frustrating. After thinking about it for a while, I realized all my grievances with the show come back to one thing: the decision to complete the series in 73 episodes. The Season 6 finale was, in my opinion, the greatest episode of television ever created. Emotional, thrilling, and immensely satisfying; that was Benioff & Weiss at the peak of their powers. At that time, viewers had a sense that we were nearing the end but there was plenty of story left to tell. And then we heard that B&W made the decision to complete the story with 13 episodes. It didn’t feel like enough at the time, and the effects of that decision are many. They happen to coincide with all of my main complaints about the show this year:
  1. The Sam / Ser Jorah greyscale cure. This just felt incomplete. Jorah got greyscale, was resigned to committing suicide, Sam flayed him alive and put Neosporin where the greyscale was, and he’s back in action. What was the point of the greyscale?
  2. The hasty incestuous relationship developing between Jon & Dany.
  3. The absurd lack of acknowledgement on Jon’s behalf that Bran and Arya are alive and in Winterfell, his home that he had just left.
  4. Gilly’s unsubtle, rushed reveal (to the audience) of Jon’s legitimacy as a Targaryen and his claim as the rightful heir to the throne. And Sam’s lack of interest in his best friend’s parentage.
  5. The strange decision of Dany and Tyrion to see Bronn/Jaime jump into a lake, not take them as prisoners, and then for Tyrion to be smuggled into King’s Landing to go meet with them anyway.
  6. The insane plan to team up, go grab a Wight, keep it alive, show it to Cersei, and hope that makes her change her mind about sitting on the Iron Throne and bending the knee to Dany.
  7. The reverting of Arya/Sansa’s relationship from a warm embrace after 6 very formative years apart, only to devolve instantly over childish pettiness.
  8. The hand-waving towards the element of time and distance in the show now.
  • Every one of these issues would’ve been significantly reduced if the show had committed to 80 episodes and actually taken the time to develop these plot lines. The greyscale cure could’ve been more of a multi-step fix. We could’ve actually seen Jon/Dany do what Tyrion suggested in S7E3 — talk to each other’s advisors, and witness the mutual respect and affection develop. They could’ve found a way to either prevent Jon from knowing about Arya/Bran being alive, or given him no choice but to forego these reunions he should be yearning for because something else was absolutely imminent. Arya and Sansa’s rift could have had an organic cause and been a more believable obstacle. They could have had a more subtle nod to fans regarding Rhaegar divorcing Elia Martell and marrying Lyanna Stark, making Jon Targaryen the legitimate heir to the throne, instead of having Gilly spill it in cringe-worthy explicit detail only to be ignored anyway. And finally, instead of letting Jaime/Bronn escape scot-free, they could’ve been taken prisoner. Then Tyrion could have freed Jaime (a Lannister always pays his debts) on the condition that Jaime would stand down the Lannister army if shown proof of the Army of the Dead, perhaps preventing this episode from feeling like it hinged on a vacuous premise.
  • Okay, enough whinging. Even with all of this, I still love this show. Incessant haters/complainers, this is for you (h/t Palak Sheth). These frustrations have been earned because of several years of incredible storytelling, with major plot points almost always feeling both earned and ground-shaking. And even when the show is having these issues, it still delivers a visual spectacle unlike anything ever seen on TV. And there is still enough intrigue left in the known and unknown mysteries for them to be able to wow us several times before the end.
  • Is Cersei really pregnant? I say yes, which gives her an expiration date. Maggie the Frog told her she would have 3 children. I think this means her demise is near, likely at the hands of Jaime. I realize that it’s quite possible she’s lying in order to keep Jaime unflinchingly loyal, but I’m going with she is pregnant. Also out of this E5 scene, is Bronn in trouble?
  • Gendry / Jon as Robert / Ned 2.0 was heartwarming. Gendry even has his father’s signature weapon, the war hammer. Ironically though, their real fathers, Robert / Rhaegar, hated each other and Robert ended up murdering Rhaegar at the Battle of the Trident.

Into this week’s episode!


Winterfell — Sansa Stark, Arya Stark, Brienne of Tarth, Littlefinger

“You should be on your knees thanking me. We’re standing in Winterfell because of me.” — Sansa Stark

Arya gives Sansa the Valyrian steel dagger
  • Arya has stolen the letter Sansa wrote back in S1 in a futile attempt to save Ned. While it was obvious to those who read it at the time that it was written under duress, it seems Arya, master spy and expert at the Game of Faces, believes her sister was a traitor. Although, she is reading this letter awfully loudly in the courtyard, almost as if she wants people to hear them fighting.
  • Sansa is 100% right that the Starks wouldn’t have Winterfell without her. She’s also proven herself as a wise and able leader in Jon’s absence. It would be thoroughly disappointing if Littlefinger outfoxed her yet again.
  • After Littlefinger suggests to Sansa to seek the protection of Brienne in case Arya threatens her, Sansa looks like she’s plotting something of her own…
Sansa’s rain man-ing this situation
  • …and then immediately sends Brienne away. The sister-fighting and success of Littlefinger’s machinations has been frustrating to all of us, but I think there’s a serious plot twist coming. She could be sending Brienne away so that she could have someone harm Arya, but I’d bet everything I had that Sansa, Arya, and Bran root out Littlefinger’s deception and end him once and for all, hopefully in next week’s finale.
  • H/t to Ankur for fully calling the briefcase full of faces. Creepy. I’m not sure who the first face is, though the second is pretty clearly Walder Frey.
  • Arya, after revealing what her training as a Faceless Man entailed, hands Sansa the dagger. Why? Ideally, Sansa gets her own first kill next week.

Dragonstone — Tyrion Lannister, Daenerys Targaryen

“How do we ensure your vision endures? After you break the wheel, how do we make sure it stays broken? You say you can’t have children, but there are other ways to choose a successor. The Night’s Watch has one method, the Ironborn, for all their many flaws, have another.” — Tyrion Lannister

Three dragons becomes two
  • Dany doesn’t like heroes like Drogo, Daario, Jorah, & Jon Snow. Tyrion’s like, “hmmm… what do all these guys have in common?” By the end of the episode, there’s no need for Dany to play coy anymore. Jon’s love is clear, as is hers.
  • Tyrion resurrects the “break the wheel” conversation, and wants to discuss exactly how Dany is going to change Westeros. Specifically, he seems to want to introduce democracy to the realm. He cites the Night’s Watch (Lord Commander election) and the Ironborn (Kingsmoot) processes, both of which are essentially democratic elections. The transition from a monarchy to a democracy would be interesting to see in this world. Let’s hope the citizens of the Seven Kingdoms can’t be duped by the Breitbarts of their world. Luckily, the Trump of GoT died a few seasons ago.
  • In bringing up the succession of her as ruler, Tyrion states that Dany has said “[she] can’t have children”. This is the first of a few references to her descendants through the episode. Dany believes she’s barren because of Mirri Maz Duur’s response to her back in Season 1:
Dany thinks Mirri Maz Duur is poetically listing impossible events
  • Despite Tyrion’s warnings about the danger involved, after receiving the raven about Jon and crew, Dany takes off on the flight path that opens this episode: north from Dragonstone, beyond the wall, to save her friends.
The path Dany & her dragons will take

Beyond the Wall — Jon Targaryen, Daenerys Targaryen, Tormund Giantsbane, Sandor “The Hound” Clegane, Gendry, Beric Dondarrion, Thoros of Myr, Ser Jorah Mormont, The Night King

“We are going to destroy the Night King, and his army. And we’ll do it together.” — Daenerys Targaryen

Jon Snow vs Night King
  • The best moments of this episode were the small exchanges between characters on their walk towards the arrowhead shaped mountain. Tormund & Jon, Tormund & The Hound, Jon & Jorah, and Jon & Beric all had A+ dialogue that posed important questions, moved the plot forward in key ways, or were just downright hilarious:
  1. Tormund & Jon: Jon tried to convince Mance years ago to bend the knee to Stannis Baratheon, as his men’s lives were more important than his pride. Dany posed the exact same question to Jon earlier this year. With Tormund acknowledging that Mance’s decision was a mistake, Jon is convinced by the last person he would expect to give him the go-ahead. This pays off before the end of the episode.
  2. Tormund & The Hound: Just the best. We get a quick reminder of the origin behind The Hound’s face scar, with him telling Tormund he was pushed into the fire as a baby (by his brother The Mountain). I think this is subtle foreshadowing to the impending Clegane-Bowl many of us have been waiting years for. Tormund learning the word “dick” was the first laugh-out-loud moment of the episode, and his profession of love/desire to “make great giant babies” with Brienne of Tarth, who almost killed the Hound, is delightful.
  3. Jorah & Thoros of Myr: We get some more info around the connections shared between characters. Jorah knows Thoros from the Siege of Pyke, where they fought together. Jorah “thought [Thoros] was the bravest man he ever saw.” Thoros: “Just the drunkest.”
  4. Jon & Jorah: When discussing Lord Commander Jeor Mormont’s death, Jorah says “I can’t think of a worse way for him to go. The Night’s Watch was his life. He would have died to protect every one of those men. And they butchered him.” This is equally descriptive of Jon. When Jon offers Jorah Longclaw, his ancestral Mormont Valyrian steel sword, and Jorah refuses, he says “may it serve you well, and your children after you.” More foreshadowing of Jon & Dany’s offspring.
  5. Jon & Beric: The 2 people we know who have been resurrected by the Lord of Light. This conversation makes it painfully clear that Jon is still struggling to understand why he was brought back and what his purpose is. Beric explains that maybe he’s not meant to understand. Death always wins, but it is their job to fight it, to protect those who can’t protect themselves, which brings Jon back to the words he said 6 years ago in his Night’s Watch oath: “I am the shield that guards the realms of men.”
  • Our crew gets attacked by a huge, terrifying, Wight polar bear, who gets lit on fire by one of the flaming swords. This causes the Hound, as he has in the past, to completely freeze:
  • After escaping that bout with only one injury (that we care about), Thoros, Jon and co. set a trap for a small portion of the Army of the Dead, where we learn some crucial new info:
Killing White Walkers destroys all of the Wights that White Walker has raised
  • After the bear attack injuries, Thoros of Myr seemingly freezes to death overnight, which is quite frustrating considering he and Beric can create fire out of nowhere:
Maybe use this little trick for some nighttime warmth?
  • I’m fine with Gendry’s speed. Even if they had been walking on and off for a few days, I’m cool with Gendry having run an ultra-marathon over night.
  • The Army of the Dead force our crew to retreat to a rock in the middle of this frozen lake, and after the Hound inadvertently shows the Wights the lake has frozen over again, they attack. Tormund is being pulled under the ice before the Hound’s last-minute-save, and all seems lost, until…
Drogon Ex Machina
  • Everyone except Jon (and Viserion, but we’ll get to that later) makes it onto Drogon and gets back to Eastwatch safely. Jon, fighting off Wights and trying to give his friends time to escape, gets pushed into the icy water. Of course he’s not dying, and when he rises something interesting happens (h/t @LaceyPutman on twitter):
Is the eye on the wolf pommel of Longclaw opening?
  • The more you look at it, the more you can see it’s reflecting some of the darkness of Jon’s glove or water. But I ran across this theory on Twitter that was too juicy not to share anyway, so here goes: Jon is completely lost but for a last-minute save from Uncle Benjen/Coldhands. The last time we saw Uncle Benjen save a Stark, it was Bran & Meera. He tells Meera then that “the Three-Eyed-Raven sent for me.” The Three-Eyed-Raven is now Bran. Could Bran have been warging into a sword, locating Jon, and sending Benjen directly there to save him? It was probably just an accident, but this is way more fun.
  • Jon and Dany share a tender moment at his bedside, where she once again tells him she’s unable to have any children. This is the 3rd time this episode the idea of Jon & Dany’s progeny is being discussed. One Queen in the realm already (claims that she) is pregnant. Is there another pregnant queen on the way?
  • Did the showrunners just effectively shut down one of the longest-running and favorite theories in the history of GoT fandom? We’ve long speculated that Jon is not the only secret Targaryen. After all, we’ve been told many times that the Dragon has 3 heads. And if Dany rides Drogon and Jon rides Rhaegal, who would ride Viserion? Tyrion, of course! 3 of our strongest protagonists, all of whom killed their mother on their way out of the womb. Even just one episode ago, the show seems to have been going out of its way to connect Tyrion to dragons:
S7E5 (“Eastwatch”) — You don’t frame a shot like this by accident
  • Alas, now it seems pretty definitive that unless something crazy happens, the 3 heads of the dragon are in fact Dany, Jon, and the Night King. Unless, of course, Bran is able to warg Viserion somehow. Regardless, this was spectacularly devastating:
  • Some were asking if the dragon is a Wight or a White Walker. My guess is a Wight. White Walkers were created from living men. Wights are the dead resurrected. Even if the Night King does touch Viserion, instead of just raise his arms.

Pre-Finale Thoughts / Predictions / Questions / “Next On…”

  • Behind the scenes this week.
  • Awesome drama doesn’t always have to be surprising. Some of us called the Ice Dragon weeks, if not years ago. Seeing it was still something to behold.
  • What does the Ice Dragon breathe? Ice? Normal fire? Blue fire? Nothing?
  • Did the Night King create all of the subsequent White Walkers? Is Jorah right in guessing that, if they kill the Night King, the entire Army of the Dead would cease to exist?
  • Was the Night King setting a trap for Dany, so that he could kill and take a dragon? It seems like he could have frozen the lake well before the Wights realized it was frozen, or thrown his dragon-piercing spears at the crew on the rock. Did he know Dany would come on her dragons? Why else have those spears (and chains) ready?
  • What is he going to use the Ice Dragon for?! Can he now fly over or around the wall? Is the magic that prevents the dead from passing The Wall useless to those who can fly over it? Speaking of, how did the Wight that our crew captured get across unscathed? Did Dany fly it over on Drogon?
  • I’ve seen the “Bran is the Night King” theory around, especially after some similar wardrobe choices this year. I don’t buy it.
  • Jason Concepcion at the Ringer, one of the best GoT writers around, has had a theory for a while that Jon Targaryen wants to die. After his conversation with Beric, it’s clear he’s still struggling with trying to understand why he was resurrected. He does seem to go out of his way at time to seek danger. Perhaps Beric gave him a reason to keep fighting to be alive, to be the shield that guards the realms of men.
  • The finale is titled “The Dragon and the Wolf.” Trailer here. This season has had some ups and downs, but I really am confident they close with a bang. “Beyond the Wall” was the longest episode of GoT ever, and it’ll hold that title for exactly 1 week, as “The Dragon and the Wolf” is an 80-minute mini-movie.
  • Some predictions/things I’m excited for:
  1. Cersei lives
  2. Littlefinger dies
  3. Ghost returns!
  4. The Sansa/Arya plot has a bigger twist that involves Arya’s faceless training
  5. Clegane-Bowl 2K17, and the Hound kills the Mountain for good
  6. Jon learns the truth of his parentage (if not yet his legitimacy)
  7. Brienne & Jaime see each other again
  8. Bran gives us a key flashback
  9. The Wall comes crashing down
  • I’m creating a GoT jeopardy for your watch parties this weekend. It’ll be here as soon as it’s finished (where this bullet is). Feel free to use! — EDIT, here it is: https://www.jeopardyapp.com/play/game-of-thrones-season-7-finale-jeopardy
  • I can’t believe the season is just about over already. Thank the old gods and the new for Michigan Football. #GoBlue
  • It’s a chaotic echo chamber filled with fake news and fake people. But sometimes, rarely, Twitter is perfect (h/t Archbomb):

In Memoriam,

Sam

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