The fall out over the Battle for Winterfell hits hard and real this week.

Spoilers are coming! You’ve been warned.

Aftermath

The episode after a giant battle like we have last week can be difficult to balance. The writers need to show the fallout from the battle but also push us on. Audiences need time to see and feel for the dead, but you don’t want to linger too long.

This episode starts out very strong. We open on our biggest deaths from last week with Jorah and Theon. More than that though, we get to see the effect these deaths have on the characters that remain.

It was hard to watch as Daenerys mourned over losing her protector. While it wasn’t in a romantic way, she did love Jorah. It is slightly shocking to me to see how Sansa cries over losing Theon though. I know that Theon was a ward of the Starks at the beginning but he invaded their kingdom, claimed that he burned their brothers, and other things. Still, it was nice to know that someone cared for him.

Whether he is a redeemed character or not is another question for another day.

We watch as the Queen and her followers burn the bodies of those that died on the battlefield. There are pyres filled with bodies as the living pay the respects to the dead.

Dinner

Things continue to be dour at dinner. The hall is quiet and everyone seems content to keep it that way. Except for Gendry.

Gendry has caught the feels for our Night King Slayer and he is doing that thing where you try to look for that person whenever they might be around. Am I the only one that ever did that? No? Maybe?

Well Arya isn’t around so Gendry goes looking for her. What he finds though is a promotion to an official Baratheon and given land by the Dragon Queen. He’s floored and happy and that sets off a celebration.

Little does he know that Daenerys is starting her play at the game of thrones.

The morale in the entire hall changes. Everyone turns from the mourning of the dead to a celebration of life. Tyrion, Brienne, Jaime, and Pod begin playing a drinking game which seems like the much more aggressive version of “Never Have I Ever” which leads to some relationships being pushed forward.

The love triangle between Jaime, Brienne, and Tormund plays out here. Brienne gets hurt while playing the game and retreats to her quarters. Tormund attempts to go after her, but is cut off by Jaime. Jaime goes to check on her. He makes the cheesiest of moves saying that the room is so hot and starts to take clothing off. It works on the knight how never really needed love until now. Jaimes ends up bedding the woman he knighted just a day before.

I’ve never slept with a knight before

Jaime Lannister

Tormund, true-to-form, doesn’t appear hurt for long for he too beds a Northern woman.

Sansa shares a weird moment with the Hound. For a moment it looks like it might be intimate as well but Sansa ends up leaving him there reminding him that she isn’t a little bird anymore. She has been through so much and it has made her powerful.

Power Plays

Meanwhile, Gendry has continued his search for Arya and almost dies by her arrow as he searches. In a sweet moment, Gendry claims his love to Arya and asks her to marry him.

She gets down on one knee as well and rejects him. She isn’t a lady, and she isn’t interested in being the lady. She’s a killer and she still has a name on her list. It funny that when they hooked up I thought it was weird. It was like seeing a family member hooking up with someone. Now though, I’m routing for them to be together. They both deserve some happy, why not together?

Back in the dining room, Dany watches (Starbucks coffee in hand, ya basic) as all the people begin to gather around Jon. They love him, and she starts to realize it when they start calling him King. Nice move everyone. You’ve now put a target on John’s back.

Dani finds Jon in their chambers and tries to lay down the law. Even though Jon has no interest in leading (sounds like a great leader already) she still fears him. She doesn’t want the truth to come out whether he wants to rule or not.

This is where she gets herself in trouble. She tells Jon not to tell his sisters about his true parentage. She knows that if they know, they will plot against her. Hard to say that she’s wrong with Sansa being all broody since she arrived.

Then, Dani storms out.

This puts a strain on things to say the least. It also starts us towards what will most likely be our main conflict heading into episode 6, I’d guess.

The Truth

It doesn’t take long for Jon to tell his family. They hold an intervention for him. Everyone wants him to be the king and not the dragon queen. They want him to rule them or at least tell Dani no.

He instead tells them his secret which will be his undoing.

Here is one of Jon’s faults though. He is such a likable character because he believes, just like his adopted father, in the truth. Jon must have been too far north to really understand that the truth is what got Ned Stark killed. This is also what makes us like him. He is truthful to a fault.

He swears his sisters to silence about his parents because he believes that they are like him and won’t tell the secret.

So naturally, by the end of the episode, everyone knows.

The writers are doing an expert job of pushing this drama to the forefront here. It was a bomb that never really got to go off for those involved. Jon was told at the end of episode 1, he told Daenerys in episode 2 just before the white walkers showed up. Now we are dealing with the fall out.

Isolation and Rage

What the writers did a great job with this week is making Dani feel isolated. The Dragon Queen lost her focus this week. She has all these advisors with her for planning wars, but Jorah was the one that really planned her heart.

Before the battle, Jorah was the one that fought for Tyrian when Dani was ready to end him. He knew that Tyrian would be important (I’m still waiting, but I’m giving up hope). He has always tried to keep Dani clean and pure.

But he’s dead now.

Who can keep her heart straight now?

As she mourns Jorah and sees everyone turning to John, she starts to panic. She starts to force her will on Jon and the others. She isn’t listening because she is so focused on winning the Game.

Once her forces leave Winterfell, things start to get even worse for her.

She marches her people towards The Red Keep and Cersei too soon. Sansa tried to warn her, that the troops needed rest. But Dani is in such a rush now to claim her throne that she’s not thinking straight.

Then Euron, with the Greyjoy fleet attack. Rhaegal is hit by the new upgraded dragon-killing crossbows and he hits the water. But we’ve already mourned today, so the death doesn’t seem too dramatic.

Eron then attacks the fleet of ships that holds Greyworm, Messandie, and the others. Cut to black as the attack happens, then things happen and we cut back in on the beach.

I get that there is limited time and budget here. But things happened in the black cut that we are just supposed to accept. The fleet is destroyed, Messandie is captured somehow, and Dani is flying around on a dragon and not blasting the boats.

Wizards duel

Now that everyone is privy to the information that Jon Snow is really Aegon Targaryen they must all play the game over him. Varys and Tyrion expound on who would be the best to rule.

Tyrion wants a happy union between them and even brings up the ew factor of marrying an aunt. It apparently was very common for the Targaryens so it wouldn’t be weird there. Jon might not think so though. Still, that hasn’t really been an issue in the power battle between them.

While I don’t think Tyrion makes the point correctly, I think the writers are trying to say that a union like this would be the best way to rule. You have the ones that care and do the things for the people (Jon) and you have the ones that will act (Dani).

Still, we must have this conversation because it will come down to Jon, Dani, or Cersei ultimately ruling.

While I don’t think it was as smart as it was back when they had the books to lean on, our smart people finally did something. I questioned last week why the smart people had been so dumb lately. This week, they actually plotted and schemed a little. It was like George R.R. Martin was half there or something.

Ghosts

So 2 dragons down now. Rhaegal is at the bottom of the ocean. It was sad, but most glossed over.

Ghost, on the other hand, is alive. I questioned last week if he just wasn’t seen again because he cost too much. He was alive only so that Jon could give him a bro nod and be done with him.

I mean really! If we are supposed to care for Jon, then we need a little more than just a nod to the wolf that has fought for you and saved your life more than once. I mean, come on.

The episode ends with Messandie dying at the hands of Cersei. It was another blow and more emotional than some of the deaths we’ve seen.

All of these things are adding up to cause Dani to just torch Kingslanding. They are trying hard to bring out the mad queen side here.

Also, what’s up with Bronn? He could have come in and shaken things up, but instead he just brought a warning and faded into the distance to wait for his pay day? Eh.

Wrap Up

Well, it was the most Martin-esque episode in a while. There was political play, surprise deaths, and more.

It was an entertaining episode, to say the least. I’m trying to take this season as a whole instead of episode by episode. I think there is a solid narrative going through it, and we might look at some of these episodes differently once it’s all done.

But we might not too.

Still, it has been a wild ride and we still have two episodes left.

What did you think of the episode? Are you ready for the next big battle, because it looks like it’s coming next week.