This episode opens in Dragonstone. The wind is sharp and the storm is ferocious – Varys, Tyrion, Missandei and Grey Worm stand with Daenerys as she turns to Varys and begins to question his loyalty to her. The scene brings forth a conundrum of how loyalty is perceived by kings – most rulers and leaders believe blind allegiance to be a comfort and service, and Varys reminds Daenerys that even though he may have “betrayed” many rulers before her, saved his own life and gave up on many others, he is still loyal to an idea and that idea is wanting what is good for the common people he saw and grew up with. His words echo the spirit of democratic rule under monarchs, which is an oxymoron – but hold weight nonetheless. Daenerys believes his reasons but also instructs him, in the tone of the dragon-queen that she is, that he would tell her where she is failing instead of betraying him or she would not spare him.
Daenerys thence meets Melisandre who tells her of a prophecy that may involve her and Jon Snow – this sets the plotline of Jon and Daenerys’ meeting in further momentum. Jon wants Dragonglass to kill the Army of the Dead and Daenerys not only wants North to be her ally but also believes the words of Melisandre. Sansa doubts this meeting as positive as does Davos but Jon leaves Winterfell to Sansa and decides to go to Dragonstone with Davos nonetheless.
Both these characters seem to be on a path to success but it looks too easy. Daenerys’ dragons are the key to defeating the White Walkers and Jon’s armies are a key to Daenerys’ victory over the seven kingdoms – rest assured the snags will only mount, now that the more obvious difficulties are out of the way.
But are they out of snags yet? We see towards the end of the episode as Theon, Yara and Greyjoy are attacked by their uncle’s army – all for winning Cersei’s favour. And perhaps all will not be so well at Winterfell since Lord Baelish still has his eyes set on Sansa. It remains to be seen if Sansa’s character has developed into someone heartless enough to stand against a manipulative, selfish antagonist like Baelish.
Cersei is able to manipulate the fear of many houses to ally with her – interesting to note how Jaime does her bidding: he does seem to genuinely believe in Cersei’s vision as queen, rather than out of love or mere affection. He convinces Lord Tarly to fight with him and in a plethora of arguments that he lays down in front of him (not all of them convincing), it seems clear that he is not only fighting for love but also for some sort of warped ideology where he thinks Cersei will be a better queen to the Seven Kingdoms than Cersei.
The Citadel sees a silent mini-mutiny of another kind as Samwell Tarly decides to treat Jorah Mormont for his disease and once again the showrunners increase the bar on what is gross and what is acceptable. As Samwell Tarly digs through Mormont’s skin, Arya digs through pies made by her old friend, aptly named as, Hot Pie. Here she finds out that Jon Snow is now King in the North – and Arya heads to see him instead of King’s Landing. She also encounters Nymeria in a powerful scene – where Nymeria refuses to come with Arya – speaking volumes. Arya has changed a lot since she and Nymeria were separated and perhaps it was this change that let Nymeria to turn back. Could this also mean that Arya has turned darker than she realises?
It is a time of love and war in this episode. Greyworm and Messandei are bidding goodbyes and making love, the Greyjoys’ civil war will cost Daenerys an army and no one wants to see a stronger, more wilful Cersei than she is now. Tyrion’s great plan of using the Dornish army via the Greyjoy fleet to lay siege on King’s Landing is in shreds as Euron would ostensibly take Yara and Ellaria as ‘gifts’ to Cersei.
Despite this power-packed, action-filled episode, perhaps Lady Olenna Tyrell uttered my most favourite lines as she gives counsel to Daenerys, “I’ve known a great many clever men. I’ve outlived them all. Do you know why? I ignored them. The Lords of Westeros are sheep. Are you a sheep? No. You’re a dragon. Be a dragon.” Not that Daenerys is unaware of her own capabilities as a Queen but her vulnerabilities of dealing with an ambition as high as ruling over all the seven kingdoms may make her question her own stature. Lady Olenna’s words may give her the push she may need in the future to make some necessary executive decisions.
Published in Daily Times, July 27th 2017.