Hot off the back of last week’s blazing fist-pump dramatics was Sunday night’s extra long Game of Thrones season 7 finale – and a delightful return to wicked betrayal and general Throne-esque trickery.
If we were to compare the episode to the fantastical displays that came before it, some might say things felt a little lacklustre, but what the finale lacked in explosive battle scenes it made up for in emotional thrills and character reconnection.
That’s not to say it was completely devoid of the heart-stopping cinematics we’ve grown accustomed to over recent weeks. We thoroughly enjoyed watching the Night King looking pretty terrifying astride Viserion – AKA Zombie Ice Dragon – as he demolished the Wall and unleashed the dead army upon Westeros.
The episode opened, however, with the assembly of our favourite main characters in King’s Landing, a long-awaited occasion and poignant reminder of the remaining plots coming together ahead of the ending.
A tardy Daenerys came face to face with Cersei and Euron, along with Jon Snow, Tyrion and a few more familiar faces – Bronn reconnected with old pal Tyrion while The Hound found mutual interest with Brienne of Tarth.
The Hound also got to acknowledge his zombified brother, The Mountain, although there was never much love lost there. Brienne and Jaime briefly reunited during the deliberations – we can’t help but hope she’ll make a last ditch attempt at rekindling their bond, however unlikely it may be.
This was all overshadowed by the bitter glares between Cersei and Daenerys as the captured White Walker was presented to the Queen. Brutally tense and highly satisfying, Evil Queen Meets Silver-Haired Breaker Of Chains was definitely one of the highlights of the season.
Despite being genuinely terrified at the sight of the White Walker, Cersei storms off back to the Red Keep only to reconsider after an emotive private conversation with Tyrion.
The siblings’ glaring conflict was offset by an undeniable understanding of one other and for a moment things seemed to be going pretty well – Cersei agreed to send Lannister forces to the Wall to fight alongside Jon and Daenerys against the White Walkers.
We then received a harsh reminder that this is Game of Thrones we’re dealing with as Jaime discovered Cersei was fibbing and had no intention of following through on her promise.
Worse still, Euron was on his way to pick up a mercenary army from Essos – complete with ELEPHANTS – funded by the Iron Bank. Gold does win wars, after all.
Jaime, naively shocked at his sister’s sly moves, confronts her and is almost killed by The Mountain as a result. But Cersei just can’t give the order to murder the one person left in the world she loves, and Jaime rides off to Jon and Daenerys.
Their crumbling relationship bodes well for the final (hopefully) destruction of House Lannister, and Jaime – a brilliantly complex character – could in fact be the realm’s saving grace when push comes to shove.
Meanwhile, Jon and Daenerys finally tumble into bed on board their ship in a passionate sex scene that was made weird by Bran talking over the entire thing about how they are in fact related. Thanks, Bran, way to ruin a glorious shot of Jon Snow’s buttocks.
Indeed, Jon is the son of the happily married Rhaegar Targaryen and Lyanna Stark and his name is revealed to be Aegon. Robert’s rebellion against the Targaryen’s – who had supposedly kidnapped and raped Lyanna – was therefore built on a lie.
Now all we have to do is wait and see if the Dragon Queen can in fact have children and bear us a beautiful Jon and Dany hybrid…
The second biggest shocker of the episode was watching Little Finger’s scheming antics finally go awry. As Sansa brings Arya to trial for murder and treason, the tables are quickly turned when the sisters team together to out Little Finger for his crimes against their family.
No longer the puppeteer of Winterfell, Petyr Baelish is accused of plotting the sisters against one another and having a hand in their father’s death, and the Stark kids reconnect by condemning the master manipulator and slitting his throat. Cute.
Another (almost) heart-warming engagement took place as quivery Theon sought forgiveness from Jon for his many crimes. A reliably humble Jon did his best to forgive him, reminding Theon that he has always been both a Stark and a Greyjoy.
This seemed to spur Theon into action as he then resolved to go rescue his sister Yara from King’s Landing, beating up one of the Iron Islanders on the way and reclaiming some of his long lost dignity. Hurrah!
The season finale closed with Viserion tearing down the Wall with his icy breath, after which it wasn’t clear if our favourite Wilding Tormund had survived. There is every chance that he will return as a Wight given the thousands who have now descended south of the Wall and signalled the beginning of the Great War.
But that’s a wrap! Sadly our next Game of Thrones fix won’t be for at least another year, which gives us plenty of time to recover from an explosive season 7. In the meantime, keep up to date with Game of Throne news, views and more here on #ThroneWatch!
