This episode saw:
- Ramsay’s hounds get fed
- Dragons doing dragon things
- Winterfell returns to Stark hands!
Thoughts:
What an episode. It was the moment we’ve been waiting for all season and it [almost] lived up to my expectations. While I’m sure every GOT fan was screaming at Rickon to zig-zag, I feel comfortable declaring that this episode was by and large a success.
Visually the battle sequence was stunning. I felt like I was watching The Revenant all over again. This might have been the best cinematography I’ve ever seen in a television show. I can’t even imagine the logistical challenges that went into executing this scene, and the finished product certainly shows all the hard work that went into crafting one of the coolest battle sequences out there.
Maybe the biggest takeaway from this episode is that Sansa Stark is now a force to be reckoned with. Jon Snow is great, but after that performance he shouldn’t be leading an army any time soon. It was Sansa who saw through Ramsay, did the right thing in reaching out to Littlefinger, and took her glorious poetic revenge on Ramsay. Jon may have the brawn, but it appears that Sansa has the brains.
I was a little disappointed by the way the battle sequence ended. Maybe its just me, but I feel like the episode kept trying to push that notion that Jon was going to die again in a really obvious and transparent way. Having the Knights of the Vale sweep in at the last second was just too predictable and a convenient way out of the trap Jon had fallen into.
I can’t wait to see how the Sansa-Jon-Littlefinger dynamic plays out. Sure Littelfinger saved Jon’s butt, but I’m pretty sure every GOT viewer knows that he is no good. The real question is, can Sansa see through it this time? Who is going to hold the power at Winterfell? Jon is the hero, but Sansa has the Stark name. Is she going to have to marry to solidify her grip on power?
On to Essos. There really isn’t much to say about the Dany plotline except that she’s awesome, owning three dragons is awesome, and having a fleet and a horde of Dothraki is also pretty awesome. Along with Sansa, Dany, Yara, and Margaery combine to form a collection of female characters that appear to be the next generation of rulers in the Seven Kingdoms.
Predictions:
-I still don’t think Margaery bought into the religion of the High Sparrow and we’re going to see that next week
– I think Cersei’s time on this show has come to an end.
– I don’t see Cersei going down without Jamie, so maybe we see the end of both of them next week?