Battle in the Night

It would have been better had we been able to see all that was going on.

Yes, it was fitting that the climactic battle between the forces at Winterfell and those of the Night King take place—well, at night—but seeing who lived and died was difficult at times. And while the technical stuff was a wow! the fighting was pretty repetitious (My favorite in the GoT Combat Division is the Battle of the Bastards. Interesting fighting, an almost save of Rickon Stark, and most of all, it took place in daylight!). But it was worth sitting through 85 minutes of this just to see Arya outwit the wights to finally kill the Night King, thus destroying his empire. In Stark We Trust.

By the way, does Winterfell have a Department of Public Works? Who gets to clean up all that wight mess left behind?

So the end score was Night King: 2, House Mormont: 0. Jorah’s been in the GoT death pool for several seasons now, and it was good to see him have a fitting departure, battling to the death to save his Khaleesi. Ah, unrequited love. And little Lady Mormont likewise did herself proud with that bullseye to the eye of that ice giant. I’ll miss her.

No surprises with respect to the rest of the dearly departed. Theon Greyjoy’s been a dead man walking ever since he opted to rejoin House Stark. At least he received that final purifying “You’re a good man, Theon” from Bran. Other non-surprises were Edd and Beric Dondarian who, per that witch Melisandre, had “served his purpose,” living one more life just to save Arya. And speaking of departures, I knew Melisandre could only die by turning into dust. Someone better rescue that ruby fast!

Two quickies to end this discussion:

It was great to see two formerly non-combatants swing swords, namely Dany and Sam Tarly. Good work!

I still think Tyrion and Sansa will end up back together, despite her opinion that their marriage never would have worked out. His reaction to her “You were the best of them” was one for the books. By the way, did anyone else think Sansa was going to pull a murder/suicide with Tyrion in order to avoid Death by Wight? Her mother’s daughter for sure.

Now all these people get to kill each other in the fight for the Iron Throne. See you next week.

Home Stretch

I’d been studiously sitting out the 24/7 “Game of Thrones” party that seems to have been everywhere during the last several months. This is one show for which I’ve always avoided spoilers like the plague, because there’s nothing like a GoT “OMG! Did they actually do that?!?” gasper. Since I went HBO-less for several months after I received my cable company’s latest rate hike, I didn’t even rewatch any of the episodes except for some bits and pieces in the week leading up to this season’s premiere. However, you can be certain I was sure to catch one of the most satisfying scenes in GoT, namely Littlefinger’s demise at the hands (and dagger) of Arya—good times. In Stark we trust.

So here we are again, in snowy Winterfell, this time preparing for battle against the White Walkers.

Does finally getting your heart’s desire automatically move you up in the GoT death pool? Brienne gets dubbed a knight, Arya has sex for the first time (and knowing GoT, it may be her last), and Jamie gets a pass from Bran for shoving him out that window so many years ago. Several seasons ago I predicted Jamie and Brienne would die side by side in battle, and it seems to be coming more and more into focus now.

That having been said, is there any doubt that Theon Greyjoy is Numero Uno in the death pool? I’d throw Euron Greyjoy into the pool, too, because I doubt Cersei will be putting up with him as soon as she gets her elephants. A little poison in the mead goes a long way.

I’m so enjoying the Danaerys/Sansa stand-off. Oh, Sansa—in-law trouble already and they’re not even hitched. I loved the initial meeting between these two ladies. You could actually smell the rancor. Things became far more interesting in last night’s episode, which clearly demonstrated their differences. Sansa is internally guided—she’s learned the hard way from her experiences with Geoffrey, Cersei, Littlefinger and the Boltons. She’s absorbed all this and has no need for outside counsel. Thus her pardoning of Jamie, not to mention her unyielding demand that the North remain its own kingdom, even with Dany on the Iron Throne. In contrast, Dany is constantly guided by voices not her own, most recently that of Jorah Mormont who astutely reined her in. Now that she knows Jon’s claim to the throne is greater than hers (not to mention that she’s slept with her nephew), I’m not certain any advisor will be able to help.

Just a couple of quickies before next week’s Big Battle:

Tormund still has it for Brienne. Will anything ever come of this?

I hope Sam Tarly avoids the death pool. Even though they treated him badly, it was heart-rending to see him learn the fate of his father and brother from Danaerys, whose dragons melted them. Sam needs to stick around–it will take a scholar to tell this tale to future generations.

How many Iron Throne claimants are there in the picture? There’s Jon, Dany, conceivably Jamie as a Cersei-usurper, and don’t forget Gendry, Robert Baratheon’s bastard. Assuming the Night King is defeated, who will prevail? It seems the real battle lies further ahead.