Daenerys is ready to take back the throne, and the losses she's experienced have her going over the edge of madness.
Varys is writing a letter about Jon's true parentage when one of his little birds, Martha, enters with news that Daenerys isn't eating and is keeping to her room.
He says they'll "try again" later, suggesting he's trying to poison the queen, and reminds Martha that the biggest risks provide the biggest rewards. Tyrion watched Varys meet Jon on the beaches; while commending Jon for worrying about Dany, Varys is more concerned about everyone else. Bringing up the phrase of tossing a coin when it comes to Targaryens, he bluntly states they know what Dany is going to do. Jon says it's her decision as queen, but Varys claims men decide where power truly lies. He says he just wants the right ruler on the iron throne and reveals he knows Jon's secret. Though Jon says he doesn't want the throne, Varys brings up how many rulers he's served, claiming Jon would rule well; Jon cuts him off that Dany is his queen. Tyrion takes news of the betrayal to Dany, and is puzzled when she decides Jon is the betrayer, since he obviously told his sisters about his parentage. She also brings up how he told Varys before her, and says Sansa obviously told him because she knew he'd spread the secret. He begs her forgiveness, saying he and Varys want the same thing she does, but realizes it doesn't matter, and Varys has made an unforgivable mistake. That night, the Unsullied march to Varys's room, where he quickly burns his letter from earlier and removes his rings before they lead him to the beach. Tyrion admits his responsibility for this to Varys, who says goodbye after claiming he hopes he deserves death and Dany will turn out to be a good queen. After getting her obnoxious titles out of the way, Daenerys sentences Varys to death, and Drogon incinerates the Master of Whispers.
Daenerys reminisces sadly in her room over Missandei's slave collar, her only possession when she joined Dany. Grey Worm looks at it for a moment, then burns it.
She has him leave when Jon arrives, and chastises him for telling Sansa, whom she claims is responsible for Varys's death and sees it as a victory. Dany has realized she only has people's fear in Westeros, unlike the love they have for Jon who says he loves her and declares her his queen. She kisses him after asking if that's all she is to him, but remembering their true relationship, Jon pulls away. She coldly decides she'll just have to use fear to rule. Tyrion tries to persuade Dany not to harm the people of King's Landing, saying they're innocent like the ones in Mereen, but she reminds him the people of Mereen rose up when she faced the slave masters. He calls them hostages, aghast when she says it's not her fault. She believes Cersei will use them thinking kindness is Dany's weakness, and he begs her not to kill innocents. She says mercy is her strength and future generations will be free of tyrants, ordering Grey Worm to prepare the Unsullied. Tyrion hurriedly begs her to give the people a chance: if they ring the city's bells, it means they're surrendering. She simply tells Grey Worm to be ready for her. As he leaves, she reveals Jaime was caught trying to return to Cersei, and warns the next time he fails her will be the last time.
Jon and Tyrion meet with Davos and their forces later, and after deciding when to attack, Tyrion asks Davos for a smuggling favor.
That night, a guard stops Arya and the Hound, bewildered when Arya says she plans to kill Cersei. Sandor points out they could end things without a violent siege, and the two leave when he says he has to talk to his captain. Tyrion stumbles through High Valyrian trying to get past some Unsullied to see Jaime, only to learn they speak English. He gets them to leave by pointing out he outranks whomever ordered them to stand guard. Inside, Jaime reveals his gold hand is what got him caught, remarking how Cersei called him stupid in the past. Tyrion urges him to save Cersei and everyone by changing her mind, revealing the key for his chains, but Jaime says he can't do anything about Cersei and callously claims he never really cared for the people. Tyrion believes Cersei's new baby is the key, but Jaime says it's the reason she'll never give up, and he believes she has a chance to win. He points out her advantages, but Tyrion is certain she'll die the next day, and Jaime claims he will as well, then. Tyrion suggests he instead lead Cersei to the crypts where the dragon skulls are kept, and they'll eventually be outside, where they can sail a dingy to Pentos. Jaime is skeptical, but Tyrion says he'll never see Cersei again otherwise, so he agrees, and says he'll try to give the order to ring the bells and open the gates. Knowing Dany won't like what he did or want to show him mercy, Tyrion feels it'd be fair to trade his life for the thousands in King's Landing. He thanks his brother for protecting him throughout their childhood; Jaime was the only one who didn't treat him like a monster. After a hug, Tyrion leaves.
Cersei's forces prepare for battle and Drogon the next day, directing people to the Red Keep as Arya, the Hound, and Jaime enter the city.
Dany's forces gather opposite the gate, and Tyrion reminds Jon of the bells, but the latter doesn't seem to find this idea likely. With Cersei watching from the Red Keep, the soldiers suddenly close the gates after Arya and Sandor squeeze through, causing the crowd to panic. Jaime is unable to get a soldier's attention, so he runs down an alley. Euron sees Drogon break through the clouds, but the fleet struggles to move and aim the scorpions fast enough to take him down as he burns their ships. The soldiers on the walls don't fare any better, with Drogon easily roasting them. Sounds of Dany's attack reach the gates, which she soon smashes through before barbecuing the Golden Company. Her forces charge as the Company falls, with Grey Worm taking down Harry Strickland. The army overwhelms the Lannister soldiers, and Dany scorches the walls as Tyrion wades through the devastation and Cersei watches from the Red Keep. She is certain they can take down Drogon, even after learning from Qyburn they've lost all their scorpions, the fleet, the gates, and the Golden Company.
With Tyrion awaiting the bell, Jon, Grey Worm, and Davos head to the front of their forces, who are at a standstill with a group of Lannister soldiers.
The terrified citizens flee as Dany and Drogon land on a wall, and the Lannister soldiers, having realized their situation, throw down their swords. Jaime picks up a sword as people call out to ring the bells. Tyrion watches anxiously as Dany and Cersei stare at one another, and the bells finally break the silence. To Tyrion's horror, Dany then angrily leads Drogon deeper into the city and begins obliterating everything and everyone in her path. Jon is left just as confused as Grey Worm takes this as a cue to attack the surrendering soldiers, and all of their men follow suit, ignoring Jon's orders. Watching his men slaughter civilians, Jon is left in a stupor until he sees one man trying to rape a woman. He kills the man and tells the woman to hide somewhere. Dany continues her rampage with Cersei watching, and the Red Keep begins to crumble as the miraculously living Euron challenges Jaime by the water. With Jaime struggling against Euron, Cersei finally agrees to flee, only for the Hound to arrive for the awaited "Cleganebowl," and Arya is stuck running through the city.
Like many fans, I was not at all pleased with this episode. Initially happy with what we got, I started to see more negatives in and after the third episode.
For "The Bells," I found myself confused and irritated throughout most of the episode as little seemed to make sense for the series. It's not that there was a lot of important deaths, or that I wasn't able to see the exact manner of these characters' deaths. It honestly just felt like all the progression for the characters was tossed out the window as the writers tried to rush to the end of the series. Jamie caught my attention early this episode, because the logical step in my mind was for him to be returning to King's Landing to kill Cersei. Last season, he abandoned her after realizing she was willing to sacrifice everyone just to have the throne, and even last episode talked about how evil she is. At that point there was an odd description of him as well, with Jaime claiming he's also a bad person because of the thing he's done. This comes after Theon sacrificing himself facing the Night King, when Bran called him a good man in spite of his deeds. As Jaime said, he's done terrible things for Cersei, but the way he said this made it seem like he was understanding she was the source of it all. Instead, he calls himself a bad person, even though he saved everyone in King's Landing because he wanted to do his duty as a knight and protect others, amidst the things Brienne brought up while vouching for him. It didn't make sense, therefore, for Theon to successfully complete a story of redemption, only for Jaime to randomly do a complete 180. I was further shocked when he told Tyrion he didn't really care for the people of King's Landing; this comment didn't make any sense considering his actions in the past, or his desire to be seen as an honorable knight. Then there's Daenerys, who in a few episodes became the massive tyrant she and her entourage have been trying to prove she isn't. Yes, we all know there was foreshadowing for what could be at such moments as Dany saying she'd take what was hers with fire and blood. The thing about that, though, is that she was talking about enemies who had opposed her and always made it a point to to protect the people. She was horrified when Drogon killed a child, and more recently than her "fire and blood" comment, she told Olenna she "isn't here to be queen of the ashes." Along with the redemption arcs we've had as characters got fleshed out, there has often been a theme of characters realizing they're more than their families. Theon didn't have to appease his dad because he was a Greyjoy, Tyrion didn't have to be self-absorbed and power-hungry because he is a Lannister, and Daenerys certainly didn't have to be crazy because she's a Targaryen. It could've made sense if there was more progression to Dany going mad, but it all happened in a few episodes for silly reasons. People act like she was just betrayed all the time, and Dany believing this is an obvious similarity to Aerys, but she just stopped listening to anyone. Dany has started feuding with people who give sound advice, like Sansa wanting to wait before attacking King's Landing. She's blaming those around her for her losses, but the people of King's Landing had nothing to do with Rhaegal dying, and the reason he was weak and the scorpion got him was he was injured and they for some reason didn't see the fleet. In what has become a meme, one of the writers said Dany "forgot" about the Iron Fleet, as if they hadn't just been talking about the ships while planning. The fleet also seemed to have perfect vision and aim; obviously they'd be less accurate in this chaotic episode, but it took quite some time for Euron to even see Drogon, whereas last episode they shot numerous bolts right at Rhaegal. It also didn't make sense that Dany's course of action following her rage about Cersei was to burn the city and its people. The writers explained that Dany sees the Red Keep, which her ancestors constructed, int he hands of her enemies, and it filled her with rage. I suppose they're chalking it up to her madness, but I don't see how Dany saw a monument of her family, which she had just taken back, and decided "I'm going to turn it to rubble." Even less sense is that she doesn't even go straight for it. She knows Cersei is there, yet she spends the majority of her time burning the people. I didn't exactly understand Varys going about his plans so blatantly in the open this episode; he's known for intelligence and espionage, yet talked to Jon out in the open for people to see about committing treason. Tyrion has also made little sense to me this season, but this has been the case for a while, as his previously astute mind seems gone. All season, Tyrion has suddenly had overly compassionate beliefs about Cersei, asserting that she's not a monster. I would assume it's because of the baby, but even then, this is the woman who hated him his whole life, and he knows has always chosen atrocities over anything good. Ever since joining Daenerys, it seems everything Tyrion does results in him saying "it was a mistake," and he continues trusting Cersei despite her always betraying him. Back when Baelish was executed, Sansa called herself a slow learner, but now it seems like that better describes Tyrion. One of the only characters I felt made sense in how he's now acting is Grey Worm, who's going on a rampage after losing Missandei. All his life, Grey Worm was raised to lack emotions and be a cold killing machine, but then Dany liberated him and he fell in love with Missandei. I'd assume he would've had an idea of love at this point, but he was still dealing with something new that he was learning the joys of, only to have it ripped away. For such a character, violent rage is to be expected, and he's taking it out on those his leader has deemed is responsible for his pain. Then there's also just plain disappointing moments starting with the destruction of the Golden Company, who did absolutely nothing in the series. This group of sellswords, seen as the best in this world, were hardly even in the show, and when it came time to fight, they were all just blown away. Even their leader, Harry Strickland, only appeared in two episodes, and now he's dead without making an impact on the show at all. He wasn't even intimidating by himself, and then his and his company's performances this episode were laughable. Cleganebowl was also a bit disappointing. I liked seeing the two fight, though admittedly it's strange after he tried so hard to find a quiet life. Their battle has a strange setting, and Gregor takes numerous hits I would've expected to kill. Even if Qyburn has mysterious means when reviving Gregor, it seemed like it was intended to be just science, but Gregor seems magic. While I hated how Jon is so stubbornly sticking with Dany, I like that he realized he's on the side committing atrocities, rather than saving people from them. One thing I've always loved about this series is how George R.R. Martin always tries to write his characters as people, with faults as well as their positive aspects, capable of doing good things one day and terrible ones another. Jon has always been fighting for humanity, and now he's stuck watching his own men rape and slaughter civilians. Thankfully, he sticks to his honorable side and takes a first step to returning to a more positive side, saving the King's Landing woman from a soldier. Thus far in the season, this is the episode that has most bothered me and put me on the negative side, though people petitioning for a reboot are ridiculous. Daenerys has King's Landing now, but the people are obviously not out of the woods since she has gone off the rails.
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