In the season finale of the Game of Thrones‘ seventh season, The Dragon and the Wolf gives us a long awaited meeting between the different houses. Daenerys arrives in style as the Jon, Cersei, Tyrion, and many others await in old arena. A tense meeting is held after which Tyrion has to do some risky convincing. Sansa and Arya enact a very satisfying revenge. The truth is revealed about Jon’s lineage, and the dead make it to the edge of the northern wild lands. The Dragon and the Wolf had us on the edge of our seat at times and gave us what we have been craving on this long journey. Here is our recap of the season finale of Games of Thrones. Spoilers be below…
The Dragon and the Wolf begins with Jamie and Bronn overlooking a field filled with the Unsullied lined up in an impressive show off force. As they look at them from above, they talk about fighting in a cockless army. Bronn tells Jamie there would be nothing to fight without his appendage. As they speak, a horn sounds and the Dothraki ride up through the Unsullied. Jamie and Bronn know that if they decided to attack, they would most likely not survive.
On the shores, Tyrion arrives by ship with Jon, Davos, and a crew that includes the Hound, Theon, and Jorah among others. The Hound wanders below the decks and stops near a locked box. He pauses for a moment, and knocks on it. As soon as he does, the captured wight starts screaming.
Meanwhile, Cersei prepares to head to the meeting. Before she does, she consults with Qyburn, and tells the Mountain that if anything begins to go wrong, he is to kill the silver haired bitch first then her brother, Tyrion.
As Tyron, Jorah, and Jon walk around toward the meeting place, which is old arena called the Hero of Blackwater Bay that held dragons, they meet Bronn on the road. Brienne is already with him from her quick trip down from Winterfell. Bronn tells them he has come to escort them to the meeting. The Hound and Brienne talk, and Brienne tells him Arya is alive. Tyrion tells Bronn he will double whatever Jamie is paying him if he switches sides. Bronn tells Tyrion he is doing fine because he has brought two traitors through Cersei’s door that she could capture if she chooses.
As they enter the empty arena, they all look uneasy as if they are unsure if it’s a trap. The Hound asks Tyrion if he’s going to “die in this shit city”. Tyrion says, “You might”. Cersei then enters the arena accompanied by the Mountain, Jamie, Qyburn, and Huron Greyjoy. The Hound sees his brother and walks up to him. He asks if he remembers him as the Mountain remains silent. The Hound then tells him that he is uglier than him now. He says, “you know who’s coming for you. You’ve always known,” and walks away. Cersei asks, “Where is she?” Tyrion says she will be here soon. Daenerys then very impressively arrive on Drogon. He roars in a show of strength as she steps off of him. If Cersei is intimidated, she doesn’t show it. It actually seems to harden her resolve.
As soon as Daenerys is seated, Cersei complains that she was late. Tyrion gets up and starts speaking, but Huron immediately stands up and interrupts him by telling Theon that he has her sister and he will kill her if he doesn’t submit. Tyrion tells him they have bigger things to worry about to which Huron asks why he is talking then, and tells him he should quit talking. Jamie speaks up and tells Huron to sit and Cersei backs him up, surprisingly. Jon then jumps into the conversation and tells Cersei of the White Walkers. Cersei makes a snide remark, but Jon tells her it is serious situation. Daenerys chimes in and tells her it is true. Cersei tells her she is only trying to get her to let her guard down so she can take her kingdom, and calls her a would-be usurper. Jon tells Cersei they have brought something to show her.
The Hound brings the box up, unlatches it and stands back, but nothing happens. He kicks the box forward and it screams out at a full run. It runs right up in Cersei’s face until the Hound hold it back by a chain. He then cuts it in half and cuts an arm off, but it still squirms. Qybun picks up the undead hand and admires it. Jon shows that burning the hand kills it. He tells her they can kill them by burning them, and they can also kill them by dragonglass… then he finishes off the wight with the dragonglass blade. He tells them all that the Great War is the only one that matters and it is here. Jamie asks how many there are and Daenerys tells him there is at least a hundred thousand. He is taken aback. Huron asks if they can swim, Jon says they cannot. Huron tells them that he is taking his fleet back to the Iron Islands, because this is the only thing he has seen that terrifies him. Cersei says he is coward as he leaves.
Cersei accepts Daenerys’ truce proposal, but she also says the King in the North will extend the truce also and must remain in the north and pledge loyalty to her. He says he cannot give what she asks because he cannot serve two queens… he has already pledged his loyalty to Daenerys. Cersei then says the truce is off and she will deal with what is left of the dead after Jon and crew tear through them. Brienne tries to appeal to Jamie, but he doesn’t know what he can do to sway Cersei. After Cersei storms out, Daenerys tells Jon that she is grateful for his loyalty, but she wishes he would have lied to avenge her dragon’s death because he has died for nothing if they fail. Tyrion also says he should learn how to lie once in a while. Tyrion tells them that he is going to talk to Cersei alone to try to convince her.
Tyrion walks through the halls beside the Mountain, and meets Jamie in the hall. He says Cersei thinks he is an idiot for trusting him. Tyrion says he is the bigger idiot because he is going to see her after she has tried to kill him twice. When he enters the rooms, Cersei accuses Tyrion of working toward the destruction of their family. He says he is not. In fact, he is trying to do the opposite. She blames him for their father’s and her children’s death because no one would have touched them if Tywin were still alive. Trion tells her she should end his life then if he is the problem. She almost does, but relents. Relieved, he downs a glass of wine then offers one to her. He tells her that he is more sorry about the children than anything. She tells him that what he did has cost their family the future. As they talk Cersei grabs her stomach and Tyrion suspiciously looks at her. Then he says, “You’re pregnant.”
Jon and Daenerys are still in the arena waiting for Tyrion as she tells him that she respects what he did. She says then reminisces that this place was the beginning of the end for the dragons. She thinks of the dragons that were locked in away from everyone. She then tells Jon that she can’t have children because the witch who killed her husband told her so. He says that maybe she shouldn’t believe her as Tyrion returns to the arena with Cersei and crew following shortly behind him. Cersei announces that her armies will not stand down, but they will march north to help them fight the Great War. She hopes they will remember that she chose to help them when the war is over.
In Winterfell, Sansa has received a letter from Jon saying he has pledged allegiance to Daenerys. Little Finger tells her it is probably because he wants to marry Daenerys, but she can’t see. Little Finger keeps working doubt into her head, and then suggests Jon should be removed. Sansa tells Little Finger of Arya being a faceless man, and he wonders aloud what she is after. He tells her that she needs to figure it out, and to do that, she should assume the worst and then ask if its possible. He then asks her what the worst thing Arya could want is. Little Finger coercises Sansa into thinking that Arya came to Winterfell for her perceived betrayals to the family so that she can kill her and become the Lady of the Winterfell.
At Dragonstone, they begin planning their attack. Jorah tells Daenerys that she should fly to Winterfell because it is too dangerous to take the roads. Jon disagrees and says it sends a better message if they sail together. She chooses to sail with Jon, which leaves Jorah nervous. As Jon leaves, Theon asks if he can speak with him. He asks why he didn’t lie, especially to an enemy when it could have jeopardized everything. Theon says that Jon always knew what was right even when they were younger. He goes on to say that he always wanted to do the right thing, but never knew what it meant.. he says he was stuck between Greyjoy and Stark. Jon tells him that Ned was more of a father to Theon than his own father and he betrayed him. He says he will forgive Theon for what he can and that he is a Greyjoy and a Stark. Theon tells Jon that his sister is the only one that tried to save him from Ramsey Bolton and she needs him now. Jon asks why he still talking to him then.
Theon goes directly to crew of Iron-born and tells them that they are not leaving Yara behind. One man in the crew tells Theon that he left her to die. He admits that he did and that he was a coward. The man says they are going to find an island to be safe from the dead, but is insistent that they go after Yara. The man then spits in his face and tells him to run away right before he punches him, and they begin to fight with Theon losing badly. The man keeps telling him to stay down or he’ll kill him, but Theon keeps getting up. The man starts kicking him in the groin with no effect which throws him off, and lets Theon get the upper hand and defeat him. He then takes command of the crew to go after Yara.
Back at Winterfell, Sansa stands overlooking the courtyard. She tells a guard to bring her sister to the Great Hall. Arya arrives to the Great Hall with Bran and Sansa seated at the table and lots of guards in the surrounding her. Arya says, “Are you sure you want to do this?” Sansa she has to defend her family against those who would betray them. She then says, “You stand accused of murder and treason… Lord Baelish?” He is shocked and says he is confused. She says he murder Aunt Lisa. He says he did it to protect her. She says he murdered Jon Arryn, and he started the conflict between the Lannister’s and the Stark’s. She says it was his fault that her father was sentenced for treason. He tries to disagree, but Bran says “You held a knife to his throat.” Arya says he also lied about the knife belonging to Tyrion. He says again he was trying to protect her. Sansa then says she assumes the worst to figure out a person’s motives, and Little Finger knows he is done for. She says she is a slow learner but she does learn. He asks for chance to defend himself. He tries to command a Knight of the Vale to him there, but he refuse. He begs Sansa to reconsider, but she is not rattled. Arya then approaches him as he begs and cuts his throat.
Jamie is planning to march the Lannister army north when Cersei enters and asks for a moment alone. She asks what he is doing and tells him that she is not sending her army North. Jamie is shocked and says this isn’t about the living and the dead. She tells him that they are staying in the South. Jamie disagrees because he sees the threat and he made a promise. Cersei tells him to let the monsters kill each other and then they can rule. Jamie says that whoever wins will march south and kill them all. Jamie tells her they cannot win that battle because they don’t have the support of the other houses, but she says they have the Iron Bank which gives them the Golden Company. She then tells him that Huron did not really sail back to the Iron Islands, but instead, is sailing to gather the other army. Jamie is livid that he was not included in her plans. He says he made a promise and he is going to honor it by riding North. She tells him that is treason, but he says he is going anyway. Cersei tells him that no one walks away from her. She nods toward the Mountain as if giving the order to kill him. He says, “I don’t believe you,” and walks away. We see Jamie on horseback as he covers his golden hand, and rides off to north.
Samwell arrives at Winterfell, and speaks with Bran. Bran thanks him for helping them get beyond the wall. Bran tells him that he has become the three-eyed raven to which Sam says, “I don’t know what that means.” Bran asks why he came to Winterfell, and Sam says he has come to help Jon. Bran tells him that Jon is on his way back to Winterfell with Daenerys, and that he needs to know the truth about himself. He tells Samwell that Jon is the son Rhaegar Targaryen and Lyanna Stark, and his bastard name is really Sand. Sam tells Bran that he learned of a secret wedding between Rhaegar and Lyanna in a book. Bran finds the vision and learns that the rebellion was built on a lie, and that Jon is a Targaryen. He says that Jon’s name is actually Aegon Targaryen, and that he is the true heir to the Iron Throne and he needs to know. It’s going to be a little weird for Jon to hear now though because he and Daenerys finally hooked up in this episode.
Arya and Sansa talk about Little Finger’s death. Sansa tells Arya that she is the strongest person she knows. Arya says that is the nicest thing she has said to her. Sansa says she is still strange and annoying though.
Bran is at the Godswood. He is viewing through a raven again as they are flying along the wall at Eastwatch. Tormund and Beric are atop of it looking North when they see the huge army of the dead emerge from the trees with at least two giants. The horns on the wall sound, and the army stops. Daenerys’ dead dragon Viserion then flies in with an Ice King atop him. He shoots blue flames all along the wall until it begins to cave in. Tormund and Beric run along the top as a huge section of the wall comes down, and the army marches past the wall in the South. Let’s Tormund and Beric made it.
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Featured Photo: Courtesy of HBO
