With little resources and training, the people of Winterfell feel hopeless as they prepare to face an impending White Walker attack.
Daenerys leads a meeting about Jaime where she says Viserys told her stories about the man who killed their dad, and what they'd do to him after re-taking the throne.
Jaime admits Cersei lied to both of them, and reveals the forces she's garnered, causing Dany to shoot dagger eyes at Tyrion. She is skeptical when Jaime claims he wants to fight for the living as he pledged, and shuts down Tyrion for claiming he knows his brother, since he also "knew" Cersei. Tyrion points out it'd be foolish for Jaime to come, but Dany thinks it's a trick, and Sansa agrees, bringing up how he attacked Ned in the streets and fought her family. Frustrated, Jaime says he did these things for his family during war-time and would again; Bran comments "The things we do for love," but doesn't explain to the others. Dany asks why he'd turn on his family now, and he repeats Brienne's statement on how this is about surviving, not loyalty. The latter vouches for his honor, sharing the story of how he lost his hand defending her and helped her find Sansa. With Brienne certain she'd fight alongside him, Sansa relents and says he can stay. Dany asks for Jon's opinion, and he says they need every man they can get, so she returns Jaime's sword and the meeting has a gruff dispersal. Dany snaps at Tyrion in the hall, saying he must be a fool or traitor considering his advice about Cersei; he says he's a fool, and she threatens to replace him as hand. Arya visits Gendry at the forge, staring as he works on dragonglass; she asks about a weapon, but he says he has to make thousands of others. She tells him to make hers first and taunts him about his work, but he ignores her. He tells her it'll be safer in the crypts anyway, but she points out he won't be there, since he's a fighter, and asks what the undead army is like. His simple description of their foes disappoints her, so she asks for info like what they smell, sound, and hit like. Gendry finally snaps that while she's not afraid of rapists or murderers, their new enemy is simply death. Arya calmly states that she knows death, flinging multiple dragonglass blades into a nearby post, and says she wants to see this face of death. He promises to get started on her weapon as she walks out. Jaime finds Bran at the Godswood and apologizes for pushing him; Bran says he wasn't sorry then, as he was protecting family. Jaime claims he's different, and Bran says he wouldn't be if he hadn't pushed him, and Bran would just be Brandon Stark. He explains to the confused Jaime that he's something else now and isn't angry with him or anyone. As he didn't tell the others because Jaime can't help if they kill him, the knight asks what happens after, and Bran asks how he knows there'll be an after.
Tyrion comes across Jaime while walking around the soldiers, who are preparing defenses, and the two take note of the disgusted northfolk watching them.
While Tyrion admits they're also wary of Daenerys, being a Targaryen, he's certain they'll come around and assures his brother she's different. Jaime points out she doesn't feel the same about Tyrion, and the latter takes the blame, as he underestimated Cersei thinking the pregnancy had changed her. Jaime tells him the pregnancy itself wasn't a lie, as Cersei is good at using the truth to lie. He claims she's lied to him more than others, but Tyrion says she never fooled him; he loved her despite always knowing who she was. Tyrion is disheartened saying he'll die at Winterfell, giving a callback to a past moment by repeating how he always wanted to die, a plan Jaime already knows. Looking on the bright side, Tyrion says Cersei won't get to kill him, and maybe he'll be able to kill her instead; he realizes Jaime has walked away from the conversation. The latter is in fact staring over the wall at Brienne, whom he goes to see as the soldiers prepare defenses and Podrick trains new fighters as she looks on with pride. He commends her for how far Podrick has come, and as she keeps a bit of distance, she confirms where she's stationed to try for a tactical advantage. She grows annoyed and confused as Jaime agrees with her plans, pointing out they've never had a talk where he didn't insult her. Snapping at first, he reveals he came to Winterfell because, despite his loss of combat prowess, he wants to fight under her. Elsewhere, Jorah meets with Daenerys and points out he has failed her many times and she forgave him. He admits he didn't like Tyrion at first and was heartbroken to hear he'd been named hand, but has since come to realize it was the right choice. She says Tyrion has made mistakes, but Jorah counters that everyone does, and Tyrion owns up to and learns from his; he advises her to forgive the Lannister. Dany seeks out Sansa, who is preparing with Lord Royce, and once alone, she brings up how close they were to agreeing earlier about Jaime. Sansa puts faith in Brienne, and tells Dany, still annoyed at Tyrion, that he is a good man, but Dany says she chose him for his cunning and occasional ruthlessness. Sansa points out she trusted Cersei just like he did, and says family is a complicated matter Dany claims complicated families are something they have in common. More than this, she tells Sansa they are both women in power who've had people question their rule; she doesn't want to be at odds with the Stark. Sansa brings up how Jon loves Dany, and says the problem is men do stupid things for women, and are easy to manipulate. Dany counters that her entire goal in life was re-taking the throne from the people who stole it and have harmed the Starks, but this changed when she met Jon, suggesting she's the one who was manipulated since she's fighting his war. Sansa decides she should've thanked Daenerys when she arrived, and the latter says she's here because she loves Jon; he is the second man in her life she is able to trust and know he's honest, referencing Drogo. Though things are going well, Sansa asks what happens after they win and Dany has the throne; what happens to the North, who vowed to never bow to anyone again? They sit in silence until a maester enters to take them to another room where Theon is waiting; he bows to Dany and tells her about Yara. He continues that he wants to fight for Winterfell, and Sansa wraps him in a hug.
Outside, Davos is working a food line when one man desperately tells him they're not soldiers; at first flippant, Davos comforts him by saying they can live through this if he was able to live through the Battle of the Bastards.
As Gilly deals with people, she notices a girl ask Davos where she should go; he asks where she wants to go, and she says as her brothers were soldiers, she wants to fight. Gilly sits down and commends her for this, saying she would like the girl to protect her and Little Sam in the crypts. Davos encourages her as well, and the little girl agrees. A horn signals the arrival of the men from the wall, and after Jon greets his friends, they tell of the devastation at Last Hearth. Tormund says anyone not at Winterfell is dead already, and gravely reveals the Walkers will arrive before the sun comes up. The soldiers arm themselves and test their defenses, while in a strategy room Jon tells everyone the strengths and weaknesses of the Walkers. As a straight-forward attack is out of the question, Jon determines the Night King should be their target, but Jaime points out he wouldn't expose himself. Bran interjects that he will, in attempting to get at the new Three-Eyed Raven as he has with many before. He explains the Night King wants an endless night and plans to erase the world by targeting the person who has all memory of it. Sam gets philosophical about memories, and Tyrion asks how they'll find Bran; the latter says the Night King's mark on his arm lets him know where he is at all times. Jon wants to put him in the crypts, but Bran says they need to lure the Night King out, so he'll wait in the Godswood. Sansa and Arya hate the idea, but Theon offers to protect Bran with his Ironborn. Davos says they'll fight as long as he can, and when Tyrion adds they'll give the signal to light the trench, Daenerys tells him he'll be in the crypt. He objects, but she explains there is only one of him, and she'll need his mind if they survive the night. Davos brings up the dragons, and Jon decides they need to be far enough from Bran that the Night King will come, but close enough to follow him. Arya asks Bran if their flames will kill the Night King, and he says he doesn't know, because no one has ever tried that before. With everyone feeling hopeless, Jon dismisses the meeting, giving Dany another curt farewell, and Tyrion goes to Bran to hear the boy's story. Bran says it's a long one, but Tyrion points out they have nowhere else to go. With everyone feelings it's their last night, Grey Worm makes a proposition for Missandei, Arya re-visits some old companions, a hodgepodge group discusses tradition and irony, and Jon has to choose if he'll tell Daenerys.
Much like last episode, here we see a lot of reunions, especially since Jaime joining the fray is something most find difficult to trust.
For the Starks, Jaime is simply someone who has long been fighting their family, though most don't know what he did to Bran. For Daenerys, Jaime is the man who murdered her father, and she has no reason to trust Tyrion's judgment since she's hearing the truth about Cersei. Dany's outrage at the start of the episode just had me rolling my eyes, though, as she tried to intimidate Jaime by telling him of what she and Viserys wanted to do to him. She treats him as though he's some kind of mosnter for killing the Mad King, and I wanted so badly for Jaime to speak up like he did against Sansa, to essentially tell Dany "Oh well would you like to know what your dear old daddy wanted to do?" It's frustrating that Jaime has told only Brienne what really happened that day, but this was more irritating, as Dany treats him even worse than the people who've lived in Westeros their whole lives, who shouldn't hate him anyway. I never understood why everyone despised Jaime for killing Aerys the way he did; I understand it's a matter of honor, but would it have been better if Ned or Robert had made it to the capital and killed him instead? Jaime may have been in the kingsguard, but all he really did was help the rebels, and they treat him like scum for doing so. I really liked the scene where Sansa and Dany debate where they stand and why, especially the way Sansa ends it still focused on the North. It seemed like they were again starting to reach an agreement, but Sansa actually sticks to her guns and asks the important question of rule. With everyone focused on the here and now, it's important that she was able to consider the future as well, and she has a point there will be a struggle later. The North fought for their independence after what the Lannisters did, and there's no reason thus far for them to want to bow down to Daenerys later. I'm hopeful the show will have more moments that actually show Sansa as intelligent and strong, as while I know she is, I still find it silly Arya says she's the smartest. The encounter between Bran and Jaime brings up an excellent point this episode of how a single action can affect so much. Despite Jaime pushing Bran being a horrific thing, it set in motion essentially the whole series and a lot of the fighting, as Lysa Arryn's letter already had the Starks suspicious of the Lannisters, and the push solidified their anger. Because Jaime did what he did, Bran became the Three-Eyed Raven after learning how to warg, and Jaime experienced his own hardships. Despite not knowing who pushed Bran, the action is part of what causes the war, leading to Robb capturing Jaime, which causes the sequence of events leading up to the Lannister losing his hand. It's through all this that he becomes a better person, and it's noteworthy that he was away from Cersei at these moments. Speaking of Cersei, we don't see the King's Landing plot at all this episode, and I found this to be a plus, allowing us to focus on the characters preparing to face the Walkers. The show continues to develop a realistic relationship for Arya and Gendry, as one of the more talked-about scenes involves the two, and both this episode and the previous had moments full of sexual tension for them. The way Arya eyes Gendry as he works is an obvious sign of her interest, and he is impressed as she shows off her abilities. Another area of the show that apparently caught people's attention, sometimes negatively, was in how Gilly appears to have gained weight. There has evidently been people mocking the actress for looking bigger than she has in the past, and that's horrible, but it also caught my attention for another reason. When I noticed, I started to wonder if this was a part of the story. I felt bad even bringing it up, but I didn't feel negatively about the actress; I simply wondered if Gilly might be pregnant with Sam's child. This would be a huge new part of the story, especially as Sam would have even more to keep fighting and living for, and if he died, there'd be even more impact. You can see unease around Jon in this episode as he struggles to tell Daenerys the truth, likely also because he's having to process the information he got. Having his whole life turn out to be a lie is drastic enough, but Jon specifically learned his parents where the woman he thought to be his aunt, and the former prince. Because of that, he now also knows he has slept with his true aunt. There's a comical side to this as well, because throughout the show people have repeatedly given Jon titles that he doesn't seem to want. He always wanted to prove himself, but in the Night's Watch the made him Lord Commander, then when he returned he became King in the North. For a man who doesn't think he should be something so important, being given titles that are more and more prestigious is comically draining. Tormund is entertaining as always, switching from telling Jon the dark news about Last Hearth and the Walkers to asking about "the big woman." He flirts with her throughout the episode of course, taking great joy in the fact they're stuck at Winterfell for what might be their last night. In a later scene, he tells the story of his nickname in a rather disgusting way, and is the cause for them deciding to "fuck tradition" when it comes to who can be a knight. Despite his comical nature, the scenes become beautiful and emotional, especially for this moment, and Tyrion asks the group for a song. The following song is a haunting story about "Jane," which comes from a song in the books about Jenny of Oldstones, for whom Ser Duncan "The Tall" Targaryen gave up the throne to marry. An ominous story involving ghosts, there are dark connotations are the characters await what seems to be certain death. At the same time, the song seems to be a hint at a theory from the books that Brienne is a descendant of the famed Duncan. The White Walkers have arrived now, and with word weeks ago that there is an incredibly long fight scene this season, I have a feeling episode three will be brutal, amazing, and full of typical GoT death.
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