Game of Thrones – Season 6, Episode 10 – The Winds of Winter (Recap and Speculations)

SPOILERS AHEAD

Photos courtesy of Home Box Office (Game of Thrones)

Let us have a moment of silence for all the lives lost in the Season 6 Finale, The Winds of Winter.

Now that we’ve done that, it’s time to ask this: WHAT IN THE WORLD JUST HAPPENED? It’s like the whole Game of Thrones world just exploded! If we thought Battle of the Bastards changed the landscape of the series (check out our review here), what more about this episode? Things will never be the same for Westeros (and all places, for that matter). If you didn’t get satisfied with the events here, then nothing will. The Winds of Winter is hands down the best finale of all the GoT seasons combined, and arguably the best hour of fantasy drama you will ever see on TV. Aside from the shocking developments, confirmation of fan theories, and crazy deaths, Episode 10 really works because it’s so holistic – it involves all major characters possible (bar for Brienne and Sandor) and makes their story arcs interesting enough for the 7^th season.

Highlights of the Winds of Winter (This is a bit tricky is everything is SO IMPORTANT so bear with me):

Cersei the Mad Queen, Mass Murderer, and Tour de Force

Someone should write a book and name it Cersei’s Art of Revenge. Sure, she was stupid for giving the High Sparrow so much power in the first place. However, she just reminded all of us the reason why she’s still alive: Power is power. She shows us that if you’re going to go about things as ruthlessly as possible, then your enemies will become no more. Did she really feel good though, as she repeatedly said? We see her with a stern look on her face when she was crowned Queen of the Seven Kingdoms. Was she remembering all the deaths of her children?

Clad in black, she didn’t really look surprised about Tommen’s death. If she didn’t want this to happen, then she should have rushed to his side after the explosion. Instead, Cersei let Tommen watch the Great Sept of Baelor disintegrate, along with everyone inside. Despite previously being all about family, Cersei got pushed over the edge too much and sacrificed her baby boy to seize control of the Seven Kingdoms. Does this mean Jamie is eventually going to be known as both Kingslayer and Queenslayer?

Cersei’s Victims:

Queen Margaery Tyrell – Another favorite bids us farewell. I hate the fact that Margaery didn’t go out in a glorious fashion, unless you consider getting obliterated by wildfire a bit glorious. She got so good at playing the game of thrones that she ended up overplaying, and she and her family paid the price. All her little moves across the board didn’t save her from being checkmate. Only Lady Olenna, who is also at fault here for ignoring Cersei’s proposition to be allies, was spared.

Loras and Mace Tyrell– Loras Tyrell is now free of his burden, his fists no longer in iron chains (Get it? Finn Jones was cast as Marvel’s Iron Fist. Hehe.). We will  miss Mace and his uncanny ability to be awkward at all times.

The High Sparrow, Septons, and the Faith Militant: The High Sparrow should have allied himself with Cersei. After he made her do the Walk of Atonement, he painted a large target on his back, assuring his eventual death and the death of the rest of his followers. SHAME!

Tommen Baratheon: When he put away the crown, we knew Tommen was a goner. I thought he was going to hang himself and we’d hear him wiggling, but well, at least we were spared of that, and now we have the saying “It’s not called King’s Landing for nothing!” If he only let his mother in and didn’t disallow Trial by Combat, he (and everybody else) might still be breathing now.

Kevan and Lancel Lannister: Father and son were pretty annoying (and stupid until the very end) so I can’t really feel sorry for them.

Pycell (c/o Qyburn and creepy children with no conscience): Pycell had it coming since Season 1. The whores in King’s Landing better find another paying customer; this one is now permanently unavailable. Qyburn now belongs to a council of one, and can either become the maester or Hand of the King, or both.

Samwell “Books Are Better Than Sex with Gilly” Tarly

Okay, so he didn’t say this, but his face certainly did. Bookworms unite! This was the only light part of the episode. It was strategically placed in between all the violence to temper our troubled emotions.  We understand how Sam felt when he saw the Citadel Library. Imagine gaining access to a 10-storey bookstore during your lifetime. Wow! Maybe George R. R. Martin needs to visit this library so he can be inspired to come out with the next book of A Song of Ice and Fire series. Anyway, if Jon does eventually become King of the Seven Kingdoms, we’ll probably see Sam as his maester in King’s Landing.

Jon Snow, the Second King in the North. Gulp.

Second time’s the charm? We all know what happened to Rob Stark when he was proclaimed King in the North by his “followers.” Since Jon is bound to make bigger decisions soon, he needs to learn how to play the game quickly. Executing allies is not the way, and it seems he has already learned his lesson since he spared Melisandre’s life despite Davos’ plea.

To survive, he needs to refrain from attending weddings and trusting children named Ollie. Moreover, he needs to make Lyanna Mormont his Hand as soon as possible. That kid has the biggest cajones in the entire show. Lyanna is now everyone’s favorite. With that said, please don’t kill her off, please don’t kill h—Ah forget it. Valar Morghulis!

The Littlefinger and Sansa Connection

There’s some kind of tension going on between Baelish and Sansa. Only a fool would trust Littlefinger, Sansa says, but somehow, she trusted him enough regarding the Knights of the Vale. That may have been born out of desperation, but I have a feeling Season 7 will be filled with a lot of their collective scheming. At first glance, Sansa seems to be the loser in this relationship since she now owes him, but remember that knowledge of Littlefinger’s next move might is such a powerful thing to have. He tends to be very honest when talking to her, revealing this grand plan he has inside his head. Fearless forecast: Sansa will be Littlefinger’s undoing.

Varys, the True Master of Whispers (and Master of Time?)

We get to know why Varys disappeared before the Meereen siege. His mission involved heading to Dorne (Yes, Dorne, there’s still a place called Dorne contrary to popular belief. Haha.) and brokering an alliance with the Sand Snakes. We see Olenna Tyrell explaining to Ellaria Sand (who seems to have not moved from her spot since Episode 1) how the High Garden royalty was murdered in one swift blow. Varys comes in and says “Fire and Blood,” and thus, the Tyrell-Dorne-Targaryen alliance was born.

I’m curious to know two things about Season 7. Are the Sand Snakes finally going to relevant, or will they still remain as boring plot devices? Oberyn must be shaking his head right now (oops, wrong choice of words). More importantly, will they reveal how Varys seems to defy the laws of time? Did being a eunuch grant him teleportation powers?

Daario Gets Benched – Forever.

Ouch. Danaerys just dumped Daario in the coldest possible way. The guy wants to fight for her and tells her he loves her, and she just goes on with her business. She even admits to Tyrion that she did not feel anything about their “breakup.” Lord Friendzone fans should be pleased!

To Jorah: “You will not walk away from your queen, Jorah the Andal. I command you to heal yourself. When I take the Seven Kingdoms, I need you by my side.”

To Daario: Who’s a good boy? Stay here and watch Meereen for me, will you?

SAVAGE KHALEESI!

Team Tyrion and Daenerys

Banter between Dany and Tyrion is always delightful. From the moment Tyrion arrived in Meereen, he has kept her level-headed. Dany, for her part, has always respected what Tyrion has to say and inspires him enough to make him believe that his life is still worth living. My friend says they act like siblings. Well, they are, to each other, the brother and sister they never had. Viserys and Cersei were extremely low bars to begin with!

“And so I said no thank you to belief, and yet here I am… Yours, now and always.”

The Hand of the Queen scene was such an awesome moment. It wasn’t the most exciting one but definitely the most heartwarming.

 

Walder Frey Ate His Sons – That Holy Shxt Moment

Walder Frey ate his sons. Walder Frey ate his sons. WALDER FREY ATE HIS SONS! Sorry, I can’t get over it. As my girlfriend put it, it’s a Sweeney Todd moment (except we don’t get a finger inside the pie this time). At first, I thought Jamie tasked the servant girl to kill Frey, but then when Arya revealed herself, it made so much sense. I don’t know what’s scarier, Sansa’s smirk while she fed Ramsay to the hounds or Arya’s blank face as she slit Frey’s throat. In any case, we get further confirmation that Arya has become both no one and someone at the same time. Pretty incredible, right? She’s now on track for a reunion with Jon and Sansa!

Bran Becomes Useful and Confirms Major Theory

Will we ever forgive him for Hodor and Summer? Never! However, he himself said he’s the Three-Eyed Raven now so we better get used to him sticking around. Ugh, Bran, you can walk in your visions. Would it have killed you to walk a few paces more so we heard what Lyanna was saying to young Ned? You, boy, are a very bad eavesdropper!

Although the truth revealed was still incomplete, we know enough that Jon Snow is a Stark. Is he also a Targaryen? All these Dany-Jon shippers are ruthless in their pursuit for incest. Oh, and yeah, Uncle Benjen just admitted to being a half-zombie. He’s still alive though, which is a lot better than supposedly major characters in this show.

George R. R. Martin, The True Winner?

This season, the series lovers finally achieved equal footing with book followers as the material used is no longer based on an existing A Song of Ice and Fire book. However, George R. R. Martin still plays a key role in how the story of the show is developed. Is George playing Game of Thrones with showrunners Weiss and Benioff? Is he letting them finish the story via TV so that he can continue the books based on it instead of the other way around? Admit it, if you read his books before, you’ll buy the new one as soon as it comes out anyway.

BEARDICT: The white raven has been sent, and winter has finally come. Jon, Daenerys, and Cersei have all consolidated their power. We will surely see the White King and his walkers next season. Clearly, television was invented to reach this level of greatness!

There are only nine months left until we get Season 7 of Game of Thrones. Nine, useless months. Haha. See you next time!

Catch the 7^th season of Game of Thrones in 2017.