Game of Thrones officially entered the Medieval Fantasy Hall of Fame this week, bringing fire-breathing dragons face to face with the Night King’s zombie army (and one super-powered ice javelin) in a fantastic showdown that was more satisfying than watching King Joffrey choke on his own bile.
The epic scenes that had been brewing since season 1 met with Game of Thrones season 7’s gigantic budget to bring fans dragon battle overload in “Beyond The Wall” – and a heartbreaking, but not all that shocking, character death.
The penultimate (yes, already) episode of season 7 kicked off with Jon Snow and the A-Team trudging through the snow on their suicide mission to capture a White Walker and bring it back to Cersei as proof of their existence.
And they did in fact succeed in tying down one of the screechy, convulsing creatures, but not before being attacked by a zombie ice bear and a bunch of other rogue White Walkers. The moody Band of Brothers also noted a zombie glitch when it came to killing them off – apparently if you slay the main leader of the group, they all die. Great news, now all we need to do is go straight for the Night King…
Things took a turn for the worse when the gang ran into a whole lot more Wights and found themselves eerily trapped on an ice cap surrounded by the army of the dead, with nothing but a gradually freezing lake and an awkward silence between them.
Gendry manages to run to the Wall to raise the alarm, and in record quick time Daenerys received a raven and flew to the rescue, in spite of Tyrion’s warnings (no one seems to be listening to him at all anymore). The Lannister dwarf, whose counsel was once highly sought after, appeared to be further doubting his allegiance with Daenerys when he somewhat prematurely questioned who will continue her cause after her death.
Photo credit: HBO
His unclear motives and wavering loyalty combined with Dany’s growing paranoia are a recipe for major drama in the coming episodes. Nonetheless, Daenerys took her dragons beyond the wall to save Jon – and it was nothing short of epic.
Let’s be honest, there have been less surprises this season. We all knew this was coming and many of us had also anticipated the death of Viserion and his resurrection as a blue-eyed ice dragon (thanks, HBO, for the really unsubtle promo posters).
But that didn’t stop it from being the hair-raising, thrill-inducing, ice-and-fire-clashing masterpiece we had all hoped for. From Dany’s last minute arrival to Drogon demolishing scores of White Walkers in one fiery breath, the Night King’s sinister glare before spearing Viserion, and him awaking as a terrifying zombie dragon with just one touch from the army’s leader, the battle beyond the wall was undoubtedly one that will go down in Game of Thrones history.
Also throughout the 70-minute long episode, we very nearly lost our favourite ginger Tormund Giantsbane and saw the end of Lord of Light preacher Thoros of Myr at the hands of the White Walkers. Jon Snow had a narrow escape after attempting to run straight at the Night King (not his smartest move) and being left behind to fight off the army of the dead by himself.
It looked as though he might be in for it (again) until Benjen Stark miraculously appeared and provided him with a horse to escape on. All very convenient, but we appreciate Benjen’s sacrifice all the same – I’m still recovering from Jon’s first death.
Prior to the drama, Jon Snow presented Ser Jorah Mormont with his sword, Longclaw, which was bequeathed to him by Jorah’s father. Jorah declined the offer, since he had brought shame on his House. But did you spot the wolf on the sword open its eyes when Jon emerged from water after battle?
Photo credit: HBO
Another stand out interaction was the phenomenal banter between the Hound and Tormund over their mutual friend, Brienne of Tarth. I’ve missed the Hound’s savage sarcasm, and there’s a hell of a lot more chemistry between these two than Jon and Daenerys, who are now DEFINITELY going to ‘do it’, by the way.
Yes, come what may, Game of Thrones plot writers are determined to force the pair into bed and this was finally confirmed in Beyond The Wall. Daenerys rushed to her new crush’s rescue and took the opportunity to ogle Jon’s bare torso at his bedside.
While their imminent romance is a tad forced, we look forward to watching them follow through on all those longing glances – and eventually find out that they are related, of course.
Back in Winterfell, sibling rivalry hit record levels when Sansa went rummaging through Arya’s things and discovered her bag of faces. Arya not only accused Sansa of being complicit in their father’s death, but basically threatened to cut her face off and wear it.
Meanwhile, Little Finger is looking on in smug satisfaction as the Stark daughters lose any trace of childhood innocence and their relationship moves into ever more dangerous territory. The question is, who will kill who first?
Watch the season 7 finale of Game of Thrones on Sunday 27 August at 9pm BST on Sky Atlantic.
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