Beyond The Wall [Game of Thrones]

Beyond The Wall

I have know watched "Beyond The Wall" twice and listened to a few instant reaction podcasts. This episode has seemed to left some people complaining about the believability factor. This is a fantasy show, some of the nitpicking is rather ridiculous, but that doesn't mean I don't have my own complaints about the episode itself. I'm not bothered by the fast traveling, but the writing of the Stark girls is leaving me pissed. As far as the complaints go about fast traveling ...they were stuck beyond the wall for nearly two full days. If you pay attention the sun is down when Gendry makes it back to the Wall and it's a new day when the ice battle happens. When Dany arrives it seems to be getting near dark again, which meant the Ravens had all night to travel to Dragonstone. I'll assume they arrived in the morning and that dragons travel faster. Unfortunately the season is short, so short cuts are necessary and I'm not going to complain as long as stuff makes sense. 

The stuff in Winterfell is making less sense to me and I almost wish that we didn't get any Winterfell scenes at all verses a convoluted storyline. On the first watch I hated every bit of it. Even though Sansa and Arya were never close to begin with, it's still hard to watch the last remaining Starks argue. I remember in season one when Ned told them that they are sisters and they have to stick together.... 

The first scene with Arya and Sansa started out great, Arya is reminiscing with Sansa about their father, which always gets me emotional when they bring up Ned. As Arya is telling Sansa about the time he watched her training with a bow, the sweet moment turned super dark when Arya accuses Sansa of helping the Lannister's kill their father and starts reading the scroll that Sansa wrote under duress. I felt Arya was way over the line in her accusations towards Sansa. Sansa was totally in the right to defend herself. She was a stupid little girl. I understand Arya's anger, because I remember hating Sansa a lot in season one for her idiotic naïveté that led to Ned's arrest, but I was cheering for Sansa standing her ground and even taking credit for winning back Winterfell. Sansa's not wrong. She's been through a lot, she's grown up and she's not the same girl anymore. 

The next Winterfell scene leads into Sansa talking to Littlefinger about Arya. It was actually a great scene too. Sansa is worrying about what the northern houses would do if they find out about the letter and she's confessing her fears to Littlefinger about Arya being a danger. I think at this point Sansa's concerns are valid, but opening up to Littlefinger is completely and utterly stupid on her part. Of course he cleverly manipulates the situation and brings up Brienne's sworn oath to protect them both. This brings us to another scene that actually pissed me off. Sansa receives a Raven that summons her to Kings Landing and she decides to force Brienne to go and represent her. Brienne is protesting and doesn't want to leave Sansa unprotected, but Sansa flat out acts like a bitch towards her and forces her to go. I wanted to smack her for the way she acted towards Brienne, but I also felt like it was purposely done to get her out of the way for some other reason that's not quite clear. 

The last Winterfell scene is the one that bothered me most of all. Sansa is searching Arya's room for the scroll when she discovers the severed faces, Arya sneaks up behind her and starts acting like a freaking psychopath! I mean she is straight up Dark Arya as she tells Sansa about her faceless man training and that she can become anyone she wants to be, even her and all she would need is her face. I was really tense during this scene! Arya was holding the catspaw's blade and for a second I thought she was going to flat out kill Sansa, so when she handed her the blade I was relieved. I really hated this on first watch because I felt it was just over the top and ridiculously bad writing as well as  pointless screen time to create drama between the sisters. On second viewing I still didn't like it much, but I've come around into thinking that there may be something more going on. I'm hoping this is some set up to kill Littlefinger, but even if it is, I think the way they're getting there is extremely annoying. I'd rather just have a scene of Bran telling Sansa and Arya he's behind it all than having to watch forced drama between them. All of this at Winterfell just really affected the episode as a whole for me. 

Although I found little joy in Winterfell, I loved everything else. Dany and Tyrion had great scenes with great conversations, but the majority of the episode took place beyond the Wall with Jon, Tormund, Gendry, The Hound, Beric, Thoros and Jorah. Even though the plan to go beyond the wall was entirely stupid, I loved seeing all these people interact once they got there! Tormund and The Hound were hilarious. One of my favorite parts of the episode is when Tormund is declaring his love to Brienne to the Hound. Sandor's reaction to Tormund's crush was hilarious. We got comedy, but we also got an extremely touching scene between Jon and Jorah. Jon reveals to Jorah that has Longclaw, given to him by Jorah's father. Jon offers it back to Jorah and Jorah tells him to keep it because he doesn't deserve it for the shame he brought to his family. This is probably one of my favorite moments in the episode. It was a touching moment between two characters that hardly know each other, but the sincerity of the moment felt real due to their mutual respect for Jorah's father.  

There was several fun conversations and interactions between all characters to some degree, but then the first danger strikes when they get attacked by a reanimated dead polar bear! When that bear jumped out and attacked one of the nameless characters it gave me a jump scare. The bear kills one of the nameless characters and they set it on fire, the burning bear attacks Thoros and injuries him badly but he survives the initial attack. After they survive the polar bear attack they continue their journey and find a group of wights with a White Walker. They set up a trap to capture one of the wights. It works at first until the wight sends out a scream alerting the rest of the dead to danger. That's the only way I can describe what happened, because suddenly the entire group is over run by the dead. Jon makes Gendry run back to the Wall to get a raven to Dragonstone. The rest of the group start running and make their way to a frozen lake with an island in the middle. As thousands of the dead begin to cross the ice, it breaks and they sink to the bottom as our group watch from safety.  

This is where the episode gets a little bizarre and you have to suspend disbelief to a certain extent, because the Night King is there and chooses to wait them out. I feel like he has the ice magic to refreeze the lake, but he just stands and watches them almost like it's part of plan. We see it's nightfall when Gendry makes it back to the Wall and tells Davos to get a raven to Dragonstone. The group remains stranded over night and Thoros succumbs to his wounds. I had been spoiled on his death thanks to the internet, but losing the the red priest was still a little sad. This also means that Beric has no one to revive him the next time he dies, which I felt was likely to happen before the episode was over because upon realizing the lake is re frozen (thanks to the Hound), the wights start attacking our group. This was a super intense scene and I thought for sure Tormund would die at one point as the wights were trying to pull him beneath the water, but the Hound saves him. The group is still over powered and over run by the dead and it looks like all hope is lost. I know this would have been an incredibly emotional moment, but thanks to the leaks, I was spoiled on what would happen, so I knew Dany would show up and save them. However that scene was absolutely stunning and breathtaking as all the dragons fly in and start spitting fire at the end. The music that plays for these moments with the dragons also makes the scenes even more impactful. As Dany is getting the group on top of Drogon, Viserion and Rhaegal are still catching the dead on fire ....then it cuts to the Night King as an Other hands him this giant ice spear. My heart stopped at this moment, because I knew what was about to happen. The Night King throws the spear and hits Viserion, the dragon starts bleeding Fire and falls to his death and sinks beneath the lake as Dany watches. This scene was one of the most gut punching moments in the entire series! I know they're cgi dragons, but they're real in the context of the show and we have watched them grow up for season years and seeing one die left me in tears. It was such a tragic moment. Now we know that the dragons can easily be killed by the Night King and this changes everything. 

Jon is still trying to fight off the dead and for some dumb reason tells Dany to leave without him to get everyone to safety. Why he stayed behind didn't make any sense, but the Night King is throwing another ice spear and Drogon flies and dodges it thankfully! Jon gets dragged beneath the water by the dead ...but then he comes up again. Not sure what this is supposed to mean?? But he's still stranded and out numbered by the army, until Uncle Benjen shows up and rescues him, sacrificing himself in the process. I was let down by this particular part. I would have loved to have had more scenes between Jon and his uncle, and this is a moment that I think is ruined by the faster paces storytelling of this season. But at least Jon is alive and he makes it back to Eastwatch to the relief of Dany. 

I loved the next scene! They're taking Jon's frozen armour off and as Dany looks on, she finally sees all his wounds he suffered at the hands of the Night Watch, including the one in his chest. In that moment she's understands that there is something truly special about Jon Snow. Dany is sitting by his side when he wakes up and Jon apologizes to her for going beyond the wall and costing her the life of one of her dragons. Dany has tears in her eyes as she tells him she's not not sorry, because now she's knows and she makes a promise to help him defeat the Night King. Then something monumental happens! Jon calls Daenerys his Queen! This is something I did NOT want to happen in earlier episodes because Dany was trying to make him bend the knee and as I've said in an earlier blog, I always loved her arc because people chose to follow her. Jon is choosing to follow her now because he believes in her and I think it was a touching moment.

The episode ends on a game changing moment that was completely spoiled for me. We go back beyond the wall and see the dead using these giant chains to pull a dead Viserion out of the water. Then the Night King walks over and touches the dragon and Viserion opens blue eyes ...the Night King now has his own weapon of mass destruction to use against Daenerys. I can't even imagine what this is going to mean for all the living.

Beyond the Wall that had some incredible moments and for the most part I loved it. The stuff in Winterfell is the only stuff I out right hated, but another thing did nag me about this episode. I still can't figure out why the White Walkers didn't use ice magic to freeze the lake. I swear it's like they purposely waited for Daenerys to arrive, like they knew she would be coming. Having the chains there and ready also makes me feel like he knew and this was all a plan to trap them so he could get his own dead dragon to control. I can't help but to wonder if the Night King has green seeing powers like Bran. Hopefully with next week's season finale we get some actual answers from Bran!

7/10

Eastwatch [Game of Thrones]

Eastwatch 

I had so many expectations for Eastwatch coming off The Spoils of War. There was a lot of things I really wanted to see happen or that I expected to happen, that it made my initial watch a little frustrating and I wasn't sure how I felt about it overall. I decided to re watch it again without any expectations and I actually really loved it a lot on second viewing. I found certain scenes a lot more emotional and I was able to take in some of those breathtaking moments without being irked by the things I wanted to happen. While this episode didn't give me what I wanted to see, it gave us a lot to take in.

Eastwatch picks up where Spoils left off, Jaime and Bronn survived the loot train battle. This is where I was initially annoyed. I had this idea that Dany would take Jaime and Bronn hostage, but instead they cleanly escaped her. I was stunned they just came out the other side of the water with no one waiting for them. However, on second viewing I actually really loved the dialogue between them. Jaime admitted they will lose the war against the dragons. Bronn had a funny line about his work ends when dragons get involved. What I thought was great about the scene was how visibly  shaken Jaime still is after seeing the destruction one dragon did and he's already acknowledging Dany has three and really hasn't decided to use any of them fully. I'm really enjoying all the reactions to the dragons, especially from characters that deemed them a non threat in earlier seasons. 

The next scene was freaking incredible. Tyrion is walking among all the death and destruction, visibly shaken himself by seeing what Dragon is cable of. Then it cuts to Drogon and Dany standing in front of a few survivors and she's offering them the choice of bending the knee or death if they continue to oppose her. Majority kneeled before her, but Randyll Taryl and Dickon refused. Randyll chose honor over bending and I have to admit I grew to respect him in that moment. There's a lot of talk about Dany becoming a mad queen in this scene. Even Tyrion was trying to talk her out of killing those who refused to bend, allowing them to be taken prisoner instead, but I don't think what she did was mad or evil. They were given a choice. However, the one thing that I don't like about this choice is that Dany has always had people follow her out of loyalty and this is the first time that I felt people kneeled, not because they believe in her but because they're terrified of being burned alive. It's why I actually felt moved and emotional by Randyll sticking to his honor and refusing to bend and dying for something he did believe in. It was a powerful scene. 

I'm going to jump around the episode a bit, because we get another incredibly powerful scene involving Drogon, but this time it's with Jon Snow. Dany and Drogon make their way back to Dragonstone and Dragon lands right in front of Jon. This scene was both beautiful and terrifying. Drogon looks amazing and this scene was gorgeous and terrifying at the same time. Drogon smells Jon and he recognizes Jon as a Targaryen. I got some chills watching. I think Daenerys did as well....there was also really great moments between Jon and Dany, but another big moment here was the reunion between between Jorah and Dany, which I found incredibly touching seeing them back together again. 

Next we go over to Winterfell and we get this incredible scene where Bran has warged into several Ravens and they're all flying beyond the wall and he's watching the army of the dead marching towards Eastwatch. We see the Night King look up and the ravens fly away at once as Bran "wakes up" and tells the maester to gather the ravens, which are sent to Jon in Dragonstone and the Citidel. This was another stunning scene that was so dark and foreboding, but I loved it visually. The beauty of snow and mountains beyond the Wall juxtaposed with the army of the dead just looked both incredible and chilling.

Also in Winterfell, Sansa is dealing with the the Northern houses being upset that Jon has decided to go beyond the Wall instead of returning to Winterfell. This leads to some scenes that I felt very conflicted over.  Arya is listening to the Houses disrespect Jon and she goes really hard on Sansa for not punishing them. This has been the first time that I felt very pro Sansa and thought Arya was being way too hard on her sister and she came off extremely dark. I hated that they were reverting back to their season one behaviors of arguing and of course Littlefinger is using this to his advantage when we see Arya spying on him, which was all a set up of cat and mouse ..he lead her to a scroll that Sansa was forced by the Lannisters to write in season one that makes her look like she's betraying her family in order to marry Joffrey. What Arya will do with this information can't be good. I'm really hoping that Arya knows she's being set up ....

Jaime makes his way back to King's Landing. He tells Cersei the same thing he told Bronn, that they stand no chance against Daenerys. The best part of this scene was the revelation he made to Cersei about Lady Olenna being behind Joffrey's death, not Tyrion. I could feel Cersei's anger in just her facial expressions. The rest of the King's Landing scenes I felt beyond frustrated with, starting with Tyrion re-uniting with Jaime and Bronn. I felt very cheated out of a Bronn and Tyrion reunion. Even Jorah and Tyrion were given more dialogue later in the episode (which was awesome), but for two characters that spent a lot of time together in previous seasons to not get much dialogue felt a disservice to fans. The Jaime and Tyrion reunion was a bit better and I wish we could have spent more time with it because I loved the emotions that were coming out about previous events, but it was cut short in order to deal with the present day events. Tyrion tells Jaime that Dany is offering a temporary truce in order to fight the dead and we later see Jaime return to Cersei with the offer....and this is where I'm beyond annoyed with the writers. Cersei agreed to the truce but then tells Jaime she's pregnant. Are you freaking kidding me?? I'm not sure she's telling the truth, it could all be a part of a scheme to keep Jaime loyal to her, but as a book fan I'm already having to come to terms with Jaime's unrelenting loyalty for his sister on the show, but I was hoping Olenna's confession would cause Jaime to snap out of his love and side with Tyrion. Thankfully the  King's Landing stuff was saved by Davos and the return of Gendry!! And he even has his own war hammer! I'm glad to see him back in the show and teaming with with Jon and Davos has me excited. 

Another incredible and equally frustrating revelation this episode happened when Gilly tries to make causal conversation with Sam and reads that  Rhaegar Targaryen had an annulment to his wife and re married someone else in Dorne. OH MY GOD!! I wanted to scream at Sam for interrupting her!! This is the single most important information in the entire episode and it was just thrown out and then ignored! Jon Snow was NOT born a bastard, but is the true born son of Lyanna Stark and Rhaegar Targaryen. This makes him the rightful heir to the throne. I slapped my forehead at this point and screamed an ughhhhh ... why is the show doing this to me ...I just hope Sam and Gilly packed that book with them before they left!

Even though I had a lot of things bug me this episode, it still was a fantastic episode and the culmination of several of our favorite characters coming together at Eastwatch has me hyped for the next episode as they journey beyond The Wall to capture a Wight to send back to King's Landing. It ended on a fantastic shot of Jon, Tormund, The Hound, Gendry, Jorah, Beric and Thoros. Not all these people like each other, but they're all on the same side of the living. ..which makes them allies in the war to come and has me both excited and scared to see what happens next. 

8/10

The Spoils of War [Game of Thrones]

The Spoils of War

Holy smokes! What an episode! Trying to avoid all the spoilers after the HBO hack has been difficult and thankfully the only part that was ruined for me was the Arya reunion, but that had been semi confirmed, so not that major of a deal. I'm so thankful that I didn't read anything else, because seeing it all play out tonight was one of most thrilling and exciting Game of Thrones experiences I've ever had. I was such a whirlwind of emotions, starting with Arya over looking Winterfell. Just seeing her sitting on her horse and looking at her home and hearing the beautiful Stark theme music hit me in the feels. All the last true born Starks are finally back in Winterfell. We haven't seen this since the first couple of episodes of season one and it's been a long journey for them all. 

Stark reunions wasn't the only thing going on in Winterfell. Littlefinger is giving the Catspaw's dagger to Bran and telling him how much he regrets not being able to save Catelyn, but now wants to protect her children. I was disgusted by Littlefinger. He's the reason Ned got killed and when Bran told him that chaos is a ladder, the look on Littlefinger's face was priceless. It was a subtle, but Bran unnerved him. We rarely see Littlefinger lose his composure, but he's slowly coming undone. The other thing about this scene is that Bran asked Littlefinger does he know who the blade originally belonged to ..Litttlefinger said he didn't, Bran must know, yet he never revealed. I do wonder if there's going to be something else special about the dagger now or if we will ever get a definitive answer on who hired the assassin. The book reveals the assassin, but it could play out differently in the show. 

Meera is leaving to return home to her family and we get more insight into Bran as the Three Eyed Raven. He reveals to Meera that even though he remembers everything as Bran, he remembers so much more now. I guess that makes everything that's happened to him small in comparison, but I can't blame Meera for feeling upset by his lack of emotions.        

Arya and Sansa's reunion in the Crypts was beautiful and realistic. They've both been through hell and back. They  were never close as siblings, so I'm glad it wasn't over played too much and I was happy that Sansa acknowledged Arya and Jon's close relationship...which is the one that fans want to see the most. It almost makes me worry that we won't get it. This show makes me scared to get too hopeful! Arya asked Sansa did she really kill Joffrey and reveals to Sansa that she has a kill list and Joffrey was the first name on her list. Sansa didn't take her too serious....but told her Bran was also home. 

When Bran and Arya finally reunite, he gives her the Valyrian dagger. He also tells her that he can see everything. I don't think Sansa and Arya really understand until Bran mentions Cersei being on Arya's kill list. I think Sansa finally realizes that Arya was dead serious and this is further shown when Arya meets up with Brienne, which was also a great moment in the episode. Seeing Arya and Brienne spar was exciting! All Arya's lessons with Syrio and Jaqen have paid off! The only thing that left me uneasy about the scene was the look on Sansa's face as she was watching Brienne and Arya. I'm not sure if she was just shocked, but to me it seemed like she was reverting back to season one Sansa. She always looked down on Arya's training, but now it seems like she's jealous that Arya is a strong warrior like Brienne and Sansa herself relies on Brienne for protection ...maybe I'm reading too much into her facial expressions.          

Everything in Winterfell was so good, but that was just the beginning! We soon go over to Dragonstone. Davos and Jon have a great conversation with Missandei about Dany being their chosen Queen, not because of some birthright, but because they believe in her. I think this was a great parallel to Jon himself, who was also chosen King of the North by his people despite him being a bastard. Then Jon discovers all the dragonglass in the cave, but that's not all! He also found symbols and drawings that the children of the forest made inside the cave, telling of how they worked together to defeat a common enemy. He shows these to Dany and Dany tells Jon that she will work with him to save his people ...if he will bend the knee. Arrrrghhhhhhhhhhgh! Stop being bloody difficult Dany! However, their conversation about his pride and refusing to bend was very reminiscent of Jon's conversation with Mance Rayder. It was a really good scene but the symbols felt a little bizarre and little convenient. It didn't hurt the episode any though and the next scenes saved any issues I had with that particular plot point when Dany learns that their plan to take Casterly Rock had a draw back when the majority of the Lannister army took High Garden. Dany is ready to bring Fire and Blood down on Cersei and Kings Landing even though Tyrion is telling her not to. She asks Jon for advice and he tells her that if she does that she won't be bringing any changes to Westeros, only more of the same. I loved the moment. I love seeing Fire and Ice together! 

Dragonstone also gave us another reunion ...this time of a different sort. Jon sees Theon for the first time since betraying Rob and burning Winterfell. I think the scene played out perfectly. Jon has every right to hate him and want to kill him for everything he has done to his family, but Theon did help save Sansa and for that he spares his life. Theon tells them that Euron has taken Yara hostage and wants Dany's help to get her back ...but Dany isn't there. ..

Jaime, Bronn and the Lannister army are still in High Garden packing up their "spoils of war" to take back to Kings Landing so they can pay off their debt to the Iron Bank. Which was Cersei's plan all along. Earlier we got a scene between Cersei and the Iron Bank guy,  but it was the least interesting part of the episode to me so eh..back to High Garde.. As they're having a conversation Bronn hears riders in the distance and they soon realize a Dothraki army is descending upon them and holy shit here comes a dragon ...and this is when shit gets crazy!

There's been a lot of epic battles in Game of Thrones, but this is the first time that I felt high stacks on BOTH sides. I love Jaime, I love Bronn....I love Dany and I love Drogon. As much as I loved seeing the rest of the Lannister army roasted, I had high anxiety that one of my favorite characters wasn't going to make it out alive! I literally started screaming as I was watching, grabbing my head and just repeating "oh my god oh my god oh my god"...all I could  think was please don't kill Bronn! And then Bronn makes his way to the scorpion and started shooting arrows at Drogon and I totally lost my shit and started screaming and making inhuman noise because I was terrified for Drogon and terrified for Bronn! When Bronn injures Drogon and he lands down on the ground my heart was pounding and I started shaking!First time Ive ever had that happen watching television! Then it cuts to Jaime coming towards Dany and Drogon!  Drogon looks at Jaime and holy shittttttt what is happening OH MY GOD...Jaime is saved from being burned alive and it fades to black as Jaime is drowning in the water ... I'm still losing my shit ...it was the one of the most thrilling moments of Game of Thrones EVER!!! The entire battle was freaking amazing and now Dany has finally got a win over Cersei! Jaime and Bronn's fates are uncertain but Tyrion is there  watching it all unfold and I don't think he will allow Dany to kill his bother or Bronn! 

I have to say as awesome as the action was, the acting was also incredible. Nikolaj Coster-Waldau (Jaime) and Jerome Flynn (Bronn) were giving incredible performances with their facial expressions at seeing the dragon burn their armies alive. Even Peter Dinklage as Tyrion was looking at Dany's destruction with new eyes. These aren't some people in Mereen he barely knows getting roasted, they are people sworn to protect his family and his brother was down there. Tyrion was experiencing a lot of mixed feelings as he watched ...I think Tyrion was in the same position as the viewers as the destruction unfolded. That being said, Daenerys never fails to send chills down my spine every single time she delivers a "Dracarys" and as conflicted as I was watching the battle, Drogon roasting the Lannister army had fucking amazing visuals and it was just awesome!

10/10

The Queen's Justice [Game of Thrones]

The Queen's Justice 

Fire and Ice finally meet for the first time and it was such an awesome scene. Dany and Jon are two of my favorite characters and I've known from the start that they would have to meet one day since this is a song of Ice and Fire after all. I thought the scene was incredible. I was very much worried that Dany would throw him in the cells for refusing to bend the knee and pledge loyalty and I was equally worried that Jon would actually do it just to get her help. They are both rulers in their own right and I ultimately loved how it played out with neither of them  really trusting each other, but Dany still being reasonable and not just taking him prisoner. Part of me is frustrated with Dany for not believing him, but honestly, who would?? I think it's incredibly fair that Dany would be skeptical of someone saying the dead are coming without solid proof. I can't wait to see how they will ultimately learn to trust each other and work together. I also loved seeing Jon's reaction to the dragons...he's a dragon himself and I felt that scene was incredible in itself since he doesn't yet know, but I have a feeling he will be riding one before the war is over.

Another really good scene was between Varys and Melisandre, but man was it ominous. Varys told her not to return to Westeros for her own safety, she replied she would have to one last time because she's meant to die in Westeros, same as Varys. Like whoaa, that entire exchange was unsettling. Varys dying has never crossed my mind before, for some reason I've always felt he'd be one of those who would make it to the end. I can't imagine what she's seen in the flames regarding Varys future! I feel her fate is intertwined with Arya's. I remembered the scene where she told her they would meet again..so something will have to bring them back together.

Speaking of unsettling scenes, Bran and Sansa's emotional reunion was cut short by Bran's creepy ass behavior and talk about being the Three Eyed Raven. I just never expected him to return and act like an entirely different person and if I were Sansa, I would be questioning his sanity. Also, it was unnerving for him to bring up Sansa's wedding to Ramsey. I know he has to say something that would make her know he's telling the truth and hasn't lost his mind, but that was just a messed up thing to bring up to her in that moment. It almost made me forgive her for being so quick to point out he's the rightful Lord of Winterfell. I was frankly a little pissed she already tried to ruin Jon's claim to Winterfell. That scene showed just  how little she still thinks of Jon and still sees him as a bastard and not a true born Stark. Not cool Sansa -  and with Bran acting creepy and unsettling, I'm not sure how anyone will believe him when he finally reveals Jon is actually a Targaryen.

Jorah is cured from the grayscale!! Sam didn't get expelled from the Citidel! But I still don't know what the hell greyscale has to do with the fight against White Walkers. I just hope Jorah makes his way to Dragonstone and finds Dany, because she's going to need all the help she can get ...

The episode is titled The Queen's Justice and as much as I truly hate Cersei, I couldn't help but to root for her as she got revenge on Ellaria. The call backs to Obyern fighting The Mountain were really good and I can't help thinking how Ellaria's bloodlust for revenge went against everything Obyern stood for. In season four he says himself that they don't hurt little girls in Dorne and he stood by Tyrion and didn't judge him for the sins of his family. Ellaria's quest for revenge ultimately lead to the downfall and death of all the Martell's and I really hated her for dishonoring him by killing Myrcella, who was a true innocent in the world. There's poetic justice in killing Tyene the same way Myrcella died and making Ellaria watch the same way Jaime had to watch Myrcella. 

The Queen's Justice ended with another shocking turn of events when we got to see two locations we have never seen before - Casterly Rock and High Garden. Tyrion's plan for the Unsullied to take Casterly Rock seemed to go off as planned and I loved the monologue that was playing over the battle scene ...I loved the entire sequence and was really feeling good about something finally going right, especially after Euron destroyed her Greyjoy fleet. I should have known that it was going far too easy. My heart sunk when I saw Euron's fleet destroying the ships and then Oh My God, the entire Lannister army just completely wiped out High Garden. I did NOT see that coming in a million years. Jaime mentioning Rob Stark's strategy was a great callback. And holy shit! I did not even fathom Lady Olenna dying and I'm a little heart broken over her death. She's been one of the best characters ever since she was introduced. She's crushed every scene she's ever had and I figured if she was going to die, it would have been last season. The scene between her and Jaime was so damn good and I'm glad she went out on a high note, getting in the last word and revealing she's the one that had Joffrey killed. For a minute I thought Jaime was going to strangle the life out of her before the poison could do its job. I have to say that I'm actually shocked that this information was revealed. I didn't think Jaime or Cersei would ever find out the true killer and it was complete satisfaction how she dropped the bombshell, knowing her death will be painless while Joffrey's was agonizing. 

When the season first started, I didn't think there was anyway Cersei could stand a chance against Dany with her dragons and her allies. Now I'm not so sure anymore...Euron destroyed Yara's fleet and holds her prisoner, the Lannister army totally wiped out House Tyrell and the Unsullied are stranded on Casterly Rock. All that's left are the Dothraki and her Dragons. So much has happened in just three episodes and the real war to the North hasn't even begun!

8/10