Arya's entire storyline in Essos now looks to have been a complete waste, as was the whole Blackfish revival.
Not sure about that. There's something about Jaqen that tells me his involvement with Arya is a lot larger than we are assuming. There's a thread about justice and revenge running in her storyline which I find interesting because earlier Ayra was just consumed with revenge, but over time she has developed a sense of justice and mercy that we saw displayed with her refusal to kill the actor and warn her about her understudy. In comparison the Waif had no sense of justice whatsoever and no compassion either. I think that plays into things and why Jaqen says to Ayra that "A girl has finally become nothing" to which she replied that she was Ayra Stark, upon which he nodded and let her go. It was as if he was helping her find her true self, but hand her assassin skills in the process.
I mean, ask yourself , what was Jaqen doing in Westeros to begin with if his operation is out of Essos? I have heard it suggested that Jaqen might have been her 'dance instructor' from the beginning. That would be interesting but I am not sure how he would have escaped Meryn Trant if that was the case, except to say Jaqen can cheat death apparently. It is an interesting theory, but as often happens, theories get blown out of the water as the show progresses.
The only possible point to the latter is if Brienne and Pod meet up with Sandor and the Brotherhood heading North, because they will have needed an excuse for Brienne to go south.
I think the conversation Brienne has with Jaime at the siege about honor and knighthood is going to play very huge later on. Very huge if your theory about wildfire under Kings Landing and Cersei going full Targaryen plays out.
I do think it would be very fitting within the narrative of GOT to have Jaime strangle and kill his own sister. I'm not sure her loss would leave him empty for long. I think he has feelings for Brienne because she has shown him what true Knighthood honor looks like outside of his hidden secrecy of an incestuous life where everything that lit the conflicts in Westeros ignited. That conversation those two had at Riverrun may set the stage for what may come later.
I assume Varys was leaving for Dorne -- seems that absent that, there would be no reason to have a Dorne storyline in the show at all.
Not sure about that. He said something about needing 'friends' in Westeros. This of course was before Theon and Yara showed up at Mereen and before Danerys got a fleet of ships from the Masters. But perhaps Varys has to pave the way for her coming to Westeros and he has to seed the playing field in terms of politics and benefits. Of course he was also shaken up quite a bit about what the Red Priestess knew about him and what that voice spoke to him out of the fire. I think he wanted to get out of there on a personal basis because of whatever she knows about his past, or also because Varys has no desire to face whatever the demon was that spoke to him again.
Good episode, but one thing that kind of frustrates me about these kind of battle scenes (LOTR had the same issues) is the artificiality of the way the troops move.
Only to the educated historian and trained eye. The bulk of the audience has no such familiarity so it's just pure storytelling. Plus a large amount of the troops are CGI.
The Boltons forming this perfect circle of perfectly formed spears around Jon's forces was just so obviously scripted that it kind of took me out of the moment. Eye-rolling time.
Not for me. Wasn't that the same thing that Hannibal did to the Romans at Gaul? Or was it what the Mongols did to areas they conquered? It was interesting to see that strategy actually filmed and depicted. Fits perfectly with the psychological terrorism Ramsay was so fond of. He just did it on a massive scale. Ruthless to say the least.
Also was kind of frustrating to see Jon acting so damn impulsively and irresponsibly in charging Ramsay's army by himself.
Jon has the same exact problem that Ned Stark had: he was honorable to a fault that would lead him right to his own death. He did not listen to Sansa warn him about Ramsay at all. He did what Jon always does, and apparently he did not learn the lesson for that trait when he was killed at Castle Black by his own men.
More importantly, Sansa's apparent/unexplained decision to not tell Jon about her contact with the Vale is simply absurd.
Not so. Sansa has learned to lie, even when it was in her best interest to tell the truth in order to get what she thinks she wants. Littlefinger took that trait to a whole new level. Jon was insisting they go to war with the army they had when Sansa knew it was not going to be enough against Ramsay. Jon was clearly not going to listen to her, so she did what she has learned to do and set other things into motion at the same time her brother was acting.
The aftermath and politics of what happens to Winterfell is going to be interesting. There are technically no Starks left there and Jon is a bastard. That would leave either Sansa to keep the Bolton name or Little finger may claim himself Warden of the North and attempt to convince Sansa to claim her marriage name to Tyrion and hoist Lannister Banners over Winterfell. Perhaps like everywhere else, the established order may be turned on it's head and Sansa proclaims herself Wardeness. Will be interesting to see what direction they go in.
I'm happy as to how that episode unfolded. Especially the Dragon battle at Mereen. I was on my feet clapping for that sequence. Tyrion was great as always. The pact with the Greyjoys was interesting too. I sense another massive naval battle coming up sometime in the next season if Dany starts towards Westeros, but perhaps the dragons will make short work of that, one could hope. I actually hope they hold off on her push West as she seeks to settle her reign in the East. I'm fond of the idea of Dany heading West to save Westeros from the army of the dead rather than simply to conquer it outright.
I do think Cersei sets Kings Landing on fire, because I recall that vision Dany had back at the House of the Undying and the Red keep was burned out, empty and snow-filled. We shall see.
The only small complaint I would make, and it's not really a complaint, just an observation - but it seems the pacing has dramatically picked up from where the other 5 seasons were and you can definitely sense that the producers are speeding the story along to get to the conclusion they have mapped out already.
