game of thrones season 7 episode 3 summary

Perhaps we’re headed to a true moment of humanity in which Stannis forgoes his magical mojo and enters battle high on love and decency. I have no knowledge as to where this particular plotline is going. (These direwolves are starting to remind me of the Spanish Inquisition.) So, hooray for Gilly, I guess? And now the idea that Stannis will sacrifice the daughter he was kvelling over just a few weeks ago hangs over our necks like the long blade of Ser Ilyn Payne.

“All rulers are either butchers or meat,” as Daario purrs between the sheets. So, on cue, Thrones pivots from last week’s awful rape scene to an equally ugly scene in which … someone isn’t raped. I understand why Ser Alliser stays sneering, but shouldn’t everyone else at the Wall be applauding this forward-thinking, hopeful audacity? Isn’t it long overdue? And are we entirely sure that Maester Aemon, after snoozing through 11 line-toeing Lord Commanders, didn’t die of boredom?īecause at its worst - and particularly in droopy midseason lulls like the one in which we’re currently mired - Thrones carefully constructs a false binary and presents it to us like gospel. The peace he’s attempting with Tormund is refreshing for a war-weary audience, but more than that, it’s a chance to witness something that has (apparently) never even been attempted in the many millennia so lovingly catalogued in George R.R.

It’s not just that the young Lord Commander has, in Ramsay’s words, “done very well for himself.” It’s about the way he’s done it: by smashing through orthodoxy and expectation like a fist through ice. It’s no coincidence that the best part of “The Gift” was the opening with Jon Snow. Think of Arya giving up her name or Tyrion doing his best to redeem his. When Game of Thrones is at its best, it uses its strongest characters to chisel away at thousands of years of invented hierarchy, bureaucracy, and violence. The lack of sentimentality that I once heralded for making the show truly unpredictable might now be the most unpleasantly predictable thing about it. (Although I must say, if there’s anyone out there still buying producer Bryan Cogman’s line about how Sansa is somehow “a hardened woman making a choice,” I have some oceanfront property in the Red Waste to sell you.) It’s this grinding sense that Theon’s words aren’t just a warning, they’re standard operating procedure that in any situation in Westeros, the worst case isn’t a threat, it’s a guarantee. And it’s not even solely to do with the continued struggles of Sansa. I’m sorry if I sound cranky, but not even an econo-goblet of Cersei’s finest claret can wash the taste of last week’s episode out of my mouth.

Episode 2 Recap: ‘The House of Black and White’.

Episode 6 Recap: ‘Unbowed, Unbent, Unbroken’.

Ask the Maester: The Origin of the Night’s King, the Wights, and Dragonglass.

‘Game of Thrones’ Season 5, Episode 9 Recap: ‘The Dance of Dragons’.

Ask the Maester: Dragons, Human Sacrifice, and More Dragons.

Honestly, I have! Don’t I deserve some kind of small reward? Yes, I understand that to expect a different result means one hasn’t “ been paying attention.” But, look, I have been paying attention. But I can’t say it was particularly interesting, so much as another opportunity to repeat Game of Thrones 101: Behind every kind smile is a cruel rictus of blood and muscle behind every open window is a long and perilous fall. Instead of watching a light go on in the high tower, we got to see one snuffed out behind Sansa’s eyes when Theon’s latest betrayal was revealed. It was logical advice from Reek, who knows how quickly Ramsay’s knife can go from gentle skimming to full-fledged chopping - and, indeed, it proved to be prophetic. The context was her daily imprisonment and nightly sexual assaults at the hands of her new husband, Ramsay Bolton. These are the words of The Artist Formerly Known as Theon Greyjoy as told to Sansa.

Game of thrones season 7 episode 3 summary