Summary: Jon arrives on Dragonstone and meets with Dany. Dany doesn't believe Jon's claims and Jon refuses to bend the knee. News arrives of the destruction of Yara's fleet. Euron returns to King's Landing and gifts Cersei her vengeance on Ellaria. Bran returns to Winterfell and reunites with Sansa. Jorah is cured and leaves while Sam is allowed to stay. The Unsullied attack Casterly Rock but the Lannister army is gone. Euron's fleet attacks them. The Lannister army takes Highgarden. Jaime allows Olenna to die through a painless poison and in exchange Olenna reveals that she murdered Joffrey.
The Good: This was a very strong episode with a number of great scenes. The big one was Jon and Dany's first meeting. The moment felt appropriately significant and was very fun to watch. The initial introduction was hilarious as Missandei spewed Dany's 500 titles and Davos responded with "this is Jon Snow... he's King in the North". The ensuing conversation was really strong and both characters stuck to their morals while conversing. Both went in with their own ideals, Dany wanted Jon's loyalty and Jon wanted Dany to fight the dead. Dany pleasingly didn't believe Jon's claims as they do sound rather insane and Jon pleasingly did not kneel to somebody he didn't even know. Both characters are asking for things we want to see happen, but thankfully the writers show restraint and now we have to see both Dany and Jon win each other's trust. Tyrion was excellent in this episode and had several strong moments of dialogue. Tyrion and Jon's scenes were terrifically written and served as a strong reunion between two friends. I appreciated Tyrion honestly telling Jon what he thinks about the White Walkers threat, and it does a good job of making me anticipate a team-up from these characters. I enjoyed the scenes in King's Landing. Euron feels incredibly out of place in this show but I enjoy his charismatic personality too much to be bothered by it. He had some great moments in this episode too and has been one of my favourite aspects of this season. Cersei's vengeance on Ellaria was really good. I'm pleased that we weren't given any gratuitous violence surrounding how Cersei tortures Ellaria and we instead got to focus on the emotions of the scene. Cersei enjoyed getting revenge and Ellaria suffered watching her daughter get a death sentence and those were thankfully the moments we focused on. The ending strategy sequence was conveyed pretty well. I liked Tyrion talking through the plan to take Casterly Rock as it happened and the sequence was crafted well. The twist that it was the trap was pretty good and caught me by surprise. I was surprised to see Dany lose practically all of her allies in two back to back episodes but I think it is a good development overall. This forces Dany to respect Jon and win over his trust as he is her only hope for an ally now. The final scene with Jaime and Olenna was awesome (see: Best Moment). I thought Olenna's last scene was executed very well as she got a death fitting of the title "Queen of Thorns", pricking Jaime for showing her a little bit of mercy. I also appreciate the irony of Olenna dying via poison, the same way she murdered Joffrey. A few other scenes were done very well too. I was really happy with Sansa and Bran's reunion. It was a sweet moment, but it was quickly spoiled by the fact that Bran isn't himself anymore. His scene with Sansa at the Weirwood was really creepy and did a great job of making Bran feel like a more interesting character. He has been stale for a long time so this new change actually feels refreshing. The Archmaester's reaction to Sam's operation was good too. I appreciate that he gave Sam credit for performing an extremely tough operation but still punished him for breaking the rules. The Bad: Dany is too rude to Jon for my liking. Surely she understands that he is a King and should be treated with more respect than he is. Yet for some reason she slanders him at every opportunity and he sometimes does the same to her. Robb was much better at the young king business because at least he tried to carry himself like royalty while also respecting his allies. Jorah's Greyscale ended up being a bit pointless. It accomplished nothing important and only served to be a delaying tactic so he doesn't get back with Dany so quick. It's a shame as I saw some potential in that storyline. This episode really suffered from the 7 episode season. The developments all felt extremely rushed and a whole ton happened here with little time to breathe. The ending sequence felt like it could have happened over two episodes but we got it all in under ten minutes which is crazy. It wasn't a huge problem since this episode was very good overall but it could lead to issues later on. Also, Highgarden was weirdly easy to take. No siege or anything and Jaime practically just walked right inside. The excuse that Tyrells suck at fighting is nowhere near good enough to explain this. A bunch of nitpicks again with the writing. How did Euron know the method of Myrcella's death which he referenced to Cersei? There is no way he would have received word about it. Tyrion's reference to Bronn felt like blatant and unnecessary fanservice. Euron made it to Casterly Rock at a shockingly fast rate which shouldn't be possible. I was confused why everyone at King's Landing were cheering on Euron. I thought they hated Cersei. Did they already forget that she blew up the Sept? The Unknown: Has Melisandre seen her own death? Apparently she has seen Varys' too. How do they die? Will it be significant? Will Dany and Jon end up forming an aliance? Best Moment: Jaime is a good man and he showed mercy to Olenna. A kindness that Cersei never would have given. And despite that, he still ended up suffering as Olenna thanked him in the most brutal way possible. I guess showing mercy will be another mistake for Jaime to learn from. Character of the Episode: Olenna. Conclusion: This was very good. There were a lot of good scenes and the story progressed in good ways even if it felt a little rushed. This was a good return to form after the previous episode. Score: 69
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Aaron DhillonJust a university student who loves to watch TV. And analyze it way too much. Archives
March 2024
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