Sunday, August 20, 2017

Game of Thrones Season 7 Episode 6 Beyond the Wall

Game of Thrones (2011-)
Season 7 - 7 episodes (2017)

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Created by: David Benioff, D.B. Weiss
Starring: Emilia Clarke, Peter Dinklage, Kit Harington, Sophie Turner, Lena Headey, Maisie Williams, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, Aidan Gillan, Gwendoline Christie
 

Plot: 
HBO's fantasy drama series adapted from George R.R. Martin's book series A Song of Ice and Fire follows the civil war of kings and usurpers in Westeros who wish to sit on the throne. The scale and scope of the story is staggering, fully realized with a large ensemble cast.

The show is speculated to conclude after thirteen episodes, though it may be broken into two seasons. Season six put all the characters on a course to get back to Westeros for the big fight that's inevitable. You can devise a rough outline of where season seven is headed, though I expect many surprises.

Review: Episode 6 - Beyond the Wall
We're going beyond the wall! Jon, Jorah, Gendry, Tormund, the Hound, Beric, Thoros and five Brotherhood, twelve in total, venture beyond the wall. There goal is to capture a white walker, just one, from the large army marching South.

This is yet another incredible episode. We've had a string of three absolutely huge episodes, season finale type stuff. This episode might be the biggest yet with a hopeless battle, dragons wreaking havoc, Jon proclaiming Daenerys as his queen, and a zombie dragon.
This starts with quite the group. Jon, Gendry, and Tormund discuss how to stay warm above the wall. Gendry complains to Thoros about how he sold him to Melisandre and the Hound tells him to quit complaining. Beric has been killed six times, isn't dead, and isn't complaining.
Jon offers Jorah his sword, Longclaw, back, but Jorah refuses. He brought shame to his father and broke his heart. The former Lord Commander gave the sword to Jon, and thus he's the one that should have it.
Tormund chats with the Hound, who'd rather not be conversating. Tormund speaks of Brienne and his lust for her. Tormund is an unsung hero, great comic relief.

Beric chats with Jon about Jon's supposed father Ned, though that's not his true father. Beric and Jon have both been raised from the dead by the Lord of Light. What power do Beric and Jon hold and what power will the Lord of Light play in the lead in to the end? There's got to be a reason Beric was resuscitated six times.
As the snow gets thick, they encounter an undead polar bear. Beric sets it on fire which causes the Hound to hesitate as Thoros gets attacked. Thoros manages to live though a few of the Brotherhood meet their ends.
Jon and the crew come across a small detachment of white walkers. It's awfully convenient. They tussle and it appears that Jon defeating the head white walker of this group kills the rest of them, all except one. They then attempt to subdue and bring back a walker. That's what this mission is about. Of course the wails of that one white walker draw a large crowd. Jon sends Gendry back to Eastwatch to send a note to Daenerys.
They're right next to a frozen lake with a perfectly sized island. They run to the piece of land and just barely make it as the ice cracks and breaks, sending many white walkers into freezing water. They've got a boundary, but they're also surrounded. It's a standoff that lasts through the night. Thoros doesn't make it through the night.
With seemingly no hope, Beric suggests going after the head white walker, which could kill many of the people he's turned. If you kill the white walker, it kills the dead that follow it. That's easier said than done when king white walker is high on a ridge with thousands of dead between them.

In record speed, Gendry's note reaches Daenerys and she sets off riding a dragon to North of the wall. Those ravens travel quickly these days. Tyrion cautions her about risking her life. What happens if danger befalls her?
The Hound throws rocks at the dead, but unwittingly discovers the ice has frozen back during the night. Queue an epic battle. This might be one of the most lopsided battles we've seen but Jon's crew is chock full of grit. Tormund comes close to his last breath, but the Hound pulls him back from the brink.
Right as they are at the end with no more room and no hope, dragons! Dragons eradicate a large swath of walkers, as the crew boards a dragon with pet zombie in tow. Jon stays to fight, possibly showing off for Daenerys. This gives the head white walker enough time to throw an ice spear and kill a dragon.
A dragon is dead.
Everyone is stunned as Jon orders them to leave as the night king readies another spear. He's pulled into the water by walkers, but manages to pull himself out after the dragon has departed. He's alone and outnumbered, but Uncle Benjen shows up and saves him. I don't think Jon has seen Benjen since before he died, but Bran has seen him. The children of the forest prevented Benjen from becoming undead. Benjen has saved both Bran and Jon now, but it doesn't look like he'll be around for another day.
Back at Eastwatch, the Hound loads the walker up for King's Landing as Daenerys waits on the wall for Jon. You get the feeling that there is something between Jon and Daenerys. Jorah tells her it's time to go, but just as she turns to go a horn sounds and Jon appears on horseback. He's near death and in frozen clothes. This provides an opportunity for Daenerys to see his wounds and realize that stabbed in the heart for your men, something Davos said back in episode two or three was not a figure of speech as Jon told her in episode five.

Jon awakens on a ship bound for Dragonstone with Daenerys. He apologizes for the event, but Daenerys stops him. She doesn't regret it. She had to see it to truly believe it. She vows to destroy the night king and his army. They killed one of her children
Jon calls Daenerys his queen telling her his people will see her for what she is.

Cutting back to North of the wall, the walkers pull the dead dragon out of the lake. The night king makes it a zombie dragon. That's not good.
Meanwhile in Winterfell, Arya shares a story with Sansa about their father and the time she practiced with a bow. It was against the rules, but it wasn't wrong.
Arya reveals the note she found, the letter from Sansa. Arya blames Sansa for their father Ned's death. Arya remembers when Ned was killed, she was there.
Sansa stands up for herself  and tells Arya how she won Winterfell back. Sansa claims Arya never would have survived what she did, and Arya replies that they'll never know. Their fighting doesn't bode well for the Starks. It's by Littlefinger's hand, but what is his goal? Is he just making sure Sansa doesn't stray too far and side with Arya?

Sansa runs to Littlefinger about the note. It's exactly what he wanted, but what's next? It's an interesting dynamic with Sansa and Littlefinger. She's not the indepedent leader we've seen before, she's letting him lead her which isn't typical in general, at least not anymore.

Sansa gets a letter from King's Landing for an audience. She orders Brienne to go on her behalf but Brienne questions whether Littlefinger is planning a takeover of Winterfell. We know he's up to something, and Sansa should know the same at this point.

Sansa snoops in Arya's room and finds a few faces. Arya is almost scary and Sansa can feel it. Arya tells her about training to be a faceless man in Braavos. Arya overtly threatens Sansa before abruptly leaving.

Setting up Daenery's dragon riding, battle winning jaunt, earlier in the episode she and Tyrion chat about Jon, Cersei, and the war. Tyrion cautions her against ruling with fear. Tyrion believes in the world Daenerys wants to build, but it doesn't happen in one lifetime.
What's the secession of rule, Tyrion wonders. That doesn't sit well with Daenerys. She's concerned about Tyrion's alliances. It's easy to worry, he's the brother of their worst enemy, but at the same time it's a great risk to him too.

Back to zombie dragons. Will it spit ice? The white walker army has been marching South for a long time. They are now quite close to the wall. That should jump off any minute. Will the white walkers break through the wall and get all the way to King's Landing? Will Cersei see the white walker and help? I doubt it. She's only concerned about Daenerys.

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