The long winter for Game of Thrones fans is nearly over, but Westeros is bracing for a storm.
You’ve likely forgotten where Jon, Tyrion and the gang all ended up as the curtain closed on season seven, back in 2017. For those who witnessed the Great Wall crumble, here’s a reminder of the lay of the land heading into the final battle against the Night King’s army.
After season of chain-busting and char-grilling slave owners, Queen Daenerys Targaryen reached Westeros and began her bid to take the Iron Throne. However, her allies were defeated by the tag-team efforts of Queen Cersei, Jaime Lannister and the Viking-like Ironborn.
Daenerys finally met Jon Snow, the newly crowned King in the North, and fan-fiction dreams came true as they were shagging like Lannisters at a funeral by the season’s end.
Elsewhere, Daenerys attacked Jaime and Bronn as they guarded a gold haul, and we witness the money shot of the season as dragon opened fire on the Lannister army, with the Dothraki charge barbarically butchering the stragglers on horseback.
Bronn tried to harpoon the beast dragon by himself, whilst Jamie dumbly attempted to kill Daenerys. Both plans go about as well as the Red Wedding.
The trio of surviving Starks (Sansa, Arya and Bran) reunited back at Winterfell. Bran acting strange, in case you forgot he connected to medieval WiFi, went back in time and ruined Hodor’s life. Littlefinger tried to get shady and cause trouble, but the siblings banded together to stop him with an Arya slit to his neck as everyone else watched with a “Jesus Arya calm down” sort of look.
Further north, Jon assembled a suicide squad that included The Hound, Gendry (who finally turned up after three seasons of rowing a boat), a newly cured (but still friend-zoned) Jorah Mormont and Tormund Giantsbane. Their expedition is somewhat successful, as they managed to capture an undead Wight. However, Jon tried to be a hero and royally messes up the mission and gets one of Daenerys’ dragons killed.
Jon and Dany travelled to King’s Landing to show off the Wight and try and get some support for their attempt to save the world from the rapidly approach walker army. Only Jaime Lannister is swayed and he leaves Cersei to “fight for the living.” Meanwhile Tyrion secretly meets with Cersei, but we are not treated to the whole conversation so expect that plot point to rear its head next season. Tyrion ends the finale intensely staring at the door of Jon and Dany’s bedroom.
The mystery of Jon’s family tree was solved as Bran confirms that Jon isn’t in fact the bastard son of Ned Stark, but the true-born child of Daenerys’ dead brother and Ned’s sister, making him half Stark and half Targaryen. Rendering the later scenes of intimacy between Daenerys and Jon super awkward to watch because, well, she’s his auntie.
The dramatic, jaw-dropping finale saw the big bad Night King riding the reanimated corpse of Daenerys’ dragon to destroy the wall and marching his army south to ruin everyone’s winter.
Game of Thrones returns to Sky Atlantic and NOW TV on April 16th.
You must log in to post a comment.