The Winds of Winter
Immediately following the premiere of the season 6 finale of Game of Thrones aptly titled The Winds of Winter, compliments started pouring in, lauding it not only as the best finale thus far, but potentially also the best episode. It was a different style than we have seen; this finale was longer, more densely action-packed, and decidedly optimistic. From the start, the brilliant director Miguel Sapochnik went a different direction, with pacing, style, and even piano. All of it was stunning. This was Thrones at its finest hour, well, hour and 20. And about damn time.
King’s Landing
I am amazed this was so good that I don’t even care if Cleganebowl never happened. Cersei just single-handedly mass-murdered a lot of actor jobs.
People we lost in The Winds of Winter:
- Pycelle, the old fart
- Lancel Lannister, named by some half-wit with a stutter
- The Prettiest Tyrell Rose
- Margaery
- The High Septon
- The Blubbering Oaf of High Garden
- Tommen
- Random dude who first got hit by a large, church bell before burning
- Pretty much the whole Faith Militant
- She might not be dead yet, but Septa Unella is about to have the worst time of everyone on the show so far, I bet.
Kudos to Cersei for inventing Wine Waterboarding and looking really fierce throughout this whole affair:
The Twins
It’s a bit late for Jaime to shit on Walder Frey after he stole back Riverrun for him, methinks, but the words were still satisfying to hear. I definitely did not call Arya being googly-eyes but watching her slit Walder Frey’s throat was one of the best feelings this show has ever given me. Maybe after Jon’s revival. And Dany burning the masters. And the Hound wanting to eat every fucking chicken in the room. Okay, it was in the top 5 of all moments.
Total deaths:
Rat King
Frey son
The harder to carve Frey son
The Citadel
All I need to say about the Citadel is that whatever man gets me a library 1/10th that big, I will marry on the f***ing spot. And then ignore forever while I read until the books swallow my body and I become one with them.
Winterfell
Sansa and Jon have a very sweet moment here right before Littlefinger littlefingers the fun out of it. The guess here is, and I hope this is the case, that Sansa is just toying with him. She could send Littlefinger away, but then she couldn’t use him. This way, she could always kill him if he presumes too much, or stops being useful. She has not fed her previous husband to his own dogs to become another pawn so easily, over some petty jealousy.
Oddly enough, no deaths here!
Meereen & Dorne
Just kidding, we are finally leaving. Props here go to Tyrion’s meta moment; no, we cannot believe it is finally happening. The scene where Tyrion was made Hand of the Queen was one of the most emotional moments for me. There is really cool parallel here: season one’s finale is the one in which Tyrion is made Hand in King’s Landing. It is also the one where Dany has to part with a lover. At least Daario Naharis survived, unlike Khal Drogo (who I still and will always miss).
The show writers have discovered that the only way to make Dorne interesting is by putting Olenna in the middle of the action and making her insult everyone present. As effective a trio as Dany, Tyrion and Varys may be, Olenna can only make it better.
The only death to occur here was that of sensible travel. Littlefinger seems to have allowed Varys to borrow his apparating abilities for a time.
Looking Ahead
We seem primed for crazy Cersei setting fire to everything and Jaime’s hand ghost itching to go around her throat. I’ll bet that by the time Dany gets there, a battle will be unnecessary.
I’ve also come across an amazing theory I wish I could take the credit for. We’ve long supposed that the Prince that was Promised and Azor Ahai are the same person. There has also been mention of the Last Hero who goes north to save mankind. I would venture to guess these are all separate individuals, especially as the prophecies hail from different places as well. Here are the contenders:
Dany as Azor Ahai
This tale comes from Asshai and Essos, where the Lord of Light religious stronghold is. What we know of this person is the following from the original story is that he labored for 30 days and nights to create a sword called Lightbringer. He was able to successfully temper it by driving it through his wife, Nissa Nissa’s heart.
His return is described as such: “There will come a day after a long summer when the stars bleed and the cold breath of darkness falls heavy on the world. In this dread hour a warrior shall draw from the fire a burning sword. And that sword shall be Lightbringer, the Red Sword of Heroes, and he who clasps it shall be Azor Ahai come again, and the darkness shall flee before him.” (A Wiki of Ice and Fire)
Melisandre also comments that the red comet heralds his coming and it is said that he is born amid salt and smoke.
So let’s go over what we know of Dany:
- She was reborn from the fire
- She sacrificed Khal Drogo (and their unborn child and the witch) to birth her 3 dragons
- The red comet appears after her dragons are born
- Her dragons are metaphorically “bringers of light” and will be the best weapon against the Others
Bran is the Last Hero
The Last Hero is from Westerosi legends. He is rumored to have travelled North in search of the Children of the Forest in order to defeat the Others, causing their retreat to the Land of Always Winter. His fate was unknown. It is highly possible that the Last Hero from stories was Bloodraven. It is also possible that Bran is the new Last Hero. In the stories, he set out with a horse and a dog. By the time he reached his destination, both the horse and dog froze. Perhaps the dog is Summer. Hell, maybe time is a flat circle and Bloodraven is time-traveling Bran. Your mind, blown.
Jon is the Prince that was Promised
The Prince that was Promised is said to be who the Song of Ice and Fire is for. Jon Snow, now definitively proven to be half-Stark and half-Targaryen, fits the prerequisite. It is also claimed that he is born beneath a bleeding star. As we know from The Winds of Winter, Jon Snow was born in the Tower of Joy, which is located in Dorne. The sigil of the Martells of Dorne, coincidentally, is a spear-pierced sun. The Prince that was Promised is also said to be The Blood of the Dragon. It has long been said that the last dragon was Rhaegar, at least until Dany came along. As such, Jon will be our great unifier. LONG LIVE DA KING IN DA NORF!