OnScreen Recap: Game of Thrones ‘The Dragon and the Wolf’
Brittany Strelluf
The following contains spoilers from season 7 episode 7 of Game of Thrones.
There were many questions going into this episode. Will Jon learn his true parentage? Will one of the Stark sisters die? Will Cersei be persuaded to join the fight against the dead? Will the Night King appear? Will Viserion breath ice, or blue fire? Most importantly, who will die? These questions were answered in the season finale.
Tensions are running high in KIng’s Landing where many of our heros and villains coming together. Characters present here include Daenerys, Cersei, Jaime, Qyburn, Brienne of Tarth, the Hound, the Mountain, Jorah, Bronn, Missandei, Grey Worm, Theon, Euron, Podrick, Varys, Tyrion, Davos and Jon.
The Clegane brothers are face to face once again. There was something oddly satisfying about seeing Sandor look his brother in his dead eyes and tell him he is ugly. Sandor also has a brief but sweet exchange with Brienne, where they show respect for one another and a mutual concern for Arya Stark. After everyone assembles in the dragon pit, Daenerys arrives on the back of Drogon. Euron starts running his mouth and swaggering until Ser Gregor shuts him up. Tyrion and Jon address the crowd. Cersei clearly doesn’t want a truce.
The Hound carries out a crate with the Wight inside. He sets it down and for a moment nothing happens. The tension snaps when the Wight bursts forth, a shrieking, dead, demon. Qyburn is fascinated by the undead creature before him, and examines a moving detached arm. Euron Greyjoy confirms that the Wights cannot swim and makes a hasty exit. The crowd is sufficiently convinced that the Wights are no longer just a bedtime story.
Tyrion goes to his sister, accompanied by the Mountain. This scene was great, the audience has pretty much just seen Cersei interacting with Jaime, Ser Gregor, Qyburn, and the Iron Bank this season., So seeing her with Tyrion, who she hates and believes will be her ultimate destruction, was quite powerful. It was also some of the juiciest acting material that Peter Dinklage was presented with this season. In the end, Cersei comes to Jon and Dany and says she will help fight the Night King.
At Dragonstone, Jon speaks to Theon. Jon tells the Turncloak that he has forgiven Theon for the ways he has betrayed their family. Jon tells him that he is both a Stark and a Greyjoy. Theon confronts the other Ironborn to get Yara back. Theon and Harrag fight and Harrag says to stay down or he will kill him. This was a missed opportunity for the house words of “what is dead may never die” to be spoken. However, Theon beats Harrag and he washes his face in the sea.
Arya enters the main hall at Winterfell. She is surrounded by the Northern lords and knights. Sansa reads a list of grievances of treason and murder- against Lord Baelish. The Stark children put the pieces of Petyr’s puzzle together before the people of Winterfell. Petyr murdered
Lord Arryn and Lysa Tully, which is what started the action of the series. Baelish first says that nothing can be proven, because no one was there. Bran then begins to speak. Littlefinger begs pathetically for mercy. Arya slits his throat with Catspaw, swiftly killing Petyr with his own blade. This scene was incredibly satisfying. Sansa’s character arc is finally where it should be. The Stark children are all on the same side. It will be wonderful when Jon is with them again.
Later, the two Stark ladies stand on the wall of Winterfell. Arya tells her sister that she could not have survived in King’s Landing and later the Boltons. Sansa tells Arya that she is the strongest person she knows. Seeing the relationship between these characters grow is wonderful.
Back at King’s Landing, Cersei and Jaime speak about their plans for the future. Jaime tries to talk some sense into his queen. Cersei talks down to him cruelly. The queen has gone mad at this point. Cersei reveals that Euron has not actually walked out, and she accuses Jaime of treason and conspiracy. Jaime finally understands what kind of person Cersei really is. The Kingslayer leaves King’s Landing as snow begins to fall all over the city.
Bran and Samwell meet together and Bran tells Samwell the biggest bombshell of the season. Jon is not the bastard son of Ned Stark and some random woman. He is the legitimate son of Rhaegar Targaryen and Lyanna Stark. His name is really Aegon Targaryen and he is heir to the Iron Throne. This is something most viewers knew, and has been a fan theory for years. Aegon Targaryen was also the name of the original king of Westeros, who unified the Kingdom. Hopefully, Jon will also be successful in unifying the Kingdom against the Night KIng. This information will complicate the next season politically and also the blossoming relationship between Daenerys and Jon as they fall in love.
In the final scene, Bran wargs a flock of crows and checks in at the Wall. Tormund and Berec look out and see the White Walkers and the army of the dead appear out of the forest. All is still for a moment and Viserion appears in a streak of blue fire, the Night King on his back. In an absolutely incredible sequence, Viserion blasts a hole in the 700-foot barrier that has protected Westeros for thousands of years. The Wall has been breached and the army of the dead is officially on its way south. Winter is here.
This episode had a theme of family running through it. The family we love, the family we hate, the family we create, the family we find, the family we choose, and the family we leave. There is a great war ahead, can these families unite against the Night King? We will find out next season. This season had some incredible moments and developments. The production values and achievements of this series is phenomenal. Rumor has it that season 8 episodes will possibly be feature length. It will be a long wait for the final season.
One good thing about the long hiatus, it gives viewers time to read, or re-read the book series. As Tyrion once said, “A mind needs books like a sword needs a whetstone.”