Women can play this ‘Game’ too
Cersei, Daenerys and the Stark sisters seize power in a blazing blue flurry of a finale.
During the seventh-season finale of HBO’s “Game of Thrones,” Sansa Stark — once a naive princess with dreams of marrying a handsome prince and becoming his queen — proved herself a ruler in a very different way.
Sansa (Sophie Turner) ordered Lord Baelish (Aidan Gillen), the former brothel owner nicknamed “Littlefinger” and one of the last men with the power to make or break an entire dynasty, to be executed.
In a series where beheadings, impalements and mutilation are as common as goofy sweaters on “The Cosby Show,” it was a moment that stood out given the trajectory of the women on “Game of Thrones” — and the men who tortured them.
This penultimate season found Sansa, her sister Arya (Maisie Williams), Cersei Lannister (Lena Headey) and Daenerys Targaryen (Emilia Clarke) all applying strategies and tactics they’d learned from cruel fathers, violent captors, brutal husbands and deadly manipulators to change their fortunes and those of their followers.
“I may be a slow learner … but I learn,” said Sansa before she had her sister kill the man who tried to divide them. Now she and the other female characters who’ve survived over 67 episodes of rape, slavery and servitude have seized power — and ultimately the narrative — moving into the final season. And moving it is, fast. For all the accolades “Game of Thrones” has received since it debuted in
With another season of “Game of Thrones” behind us, we’re now only six episodes away from finding out who will finally sit on the Iron Throne and, more important, if it will be a vaguely blue ice-corpse.
(And consider this fair warning: This is the season finale wrap-up, and there are spoilers ahead.)
But now that a long winter of speculation has returned for viewers — and please let that talk of 2019 for the next season premiere be more vague promises from a novice Three-Eyed Raven — questions still remain. Here are nine to consider while also wondering: Do zombie dragons breathe blue fire or explosive ice?
1How will “Jonaerys” take the news that they’re related?
You had to know it was coming — all those lingering glances in court, the foolish refusal of Jon (Kit Harington) to go back on his loyalty pledge to Queen Daenerys (Emilia Clarke) — but the wolf and the dragon of the season finale’s title finally gave in to their desires en route to Winterfell. Of course, while that romance was setting sail, Sam was letting Bran know about Rhaegar Targaryen’s annulment and subsequent marriage to Lyanna Stark, thus confirming Jon’s standing as the actual heir to the throne. This will be an awkward conversation — or not, given the troubling history of genetics of “Game of Thrones.”
2Speaking of, can Dany conceive a child with Jon?
As Jon Snow — err, Aegon Targaryen — pointed out, maybe a desert witch isn’t the best fertility consultant when being told you’re barren. And does Jon’s standing as Dany’s nephew help or hurt his chances of fathering a child with her, given the Targaryens’ documented fondduring
ness for incest? It’s beginning to feel like this is all going to end up with two armies squaring off on a battlefield being led by two very pregnant women — since Cersei (Lena Headey) has a Lannister bun in the oven.
3Who else is in love with Daenerys? Tyrion (Peter Dinklage) looked pretty distraught upon realizing there was a metaphorical sock on his queen’s doorknob as he approached her chamber. Does he recognize her coupling with Jon Snow only further complicates alliances going forward? Or does he join a rather long list of men who have fallen for Daenerys while serving under her? Or perhaps, he thought he could be the successor to Dany, should children not become a factor in her royal lineage. If nothing else, he and Jorah now have a lot more to talk about when they drink.
4When will Bran get better at this ThreeEyed Raven business?
After a season spent brooding in Winterfell, it was nice to see Bran (Isaac Hempstead Wright) turn up the quasi-trial of Lord Baelish (Aidan Gillen), where he testified to his machinations and sealed his fate at Arya’s hand. But the ability to skip around in time has to have more useful applications in the war ahead than being the deciding witness in Westerosi People’s Court. And this doesn’t even take into account Bran’s knowledge of Jon’s standing as a bastard being disproved by a returning Sam (John Bradley), who found the information in a book. If Bran knows all and sees all, how is he being one-upped by an ex-librarian?
5Will anyone miss Littlefinger? After so many seasons of backroom deals, intricate plots and tireless work toward his own improbable chances at the Iron Throne, it all comes to an end for Lord Baelish, bleeding out in Winterfell, done in by Arya Stark (Maisie Williams) and the blade he handed her — originally intended by him to kill Bran. Though some might miss Gillen’s fevered Irish whisper, his search for salvation from the Knights of the Vale went nowhere, proving it takes more than a custom pin to build a house. Still, he really did bring the Starks together, and we can be thankful for that.
6Which way is Jaime heading? You could see it on Jaime’s (Nikolaj CosterWaldau) face when Cersei took hold of the Iron Throne at the end of Season 6: This was not going to end well. And now after his sister/ lover nearly sicced the Mountain on him when Jaime defied her and departed to honor his vow to fight the army of the dead with Jon and Daenerys, is the Kingslayer really headed north? He seemed to be riding away on the outskirts of King’s Landing, but then he turned back once he noticed snowflakes finally falling on the south. If he turns his back on Cersei, there is no turning back. He’d better not be leaving alone.
7Is Yara Greyjoy alive? What about Tormund and Beric?
Theon (Alfie Allen) certainly went a long way toward getting a measure of his swagger back when he (barely) beat up one of his countrymen to inspire them to set sail for wherever Uncle Euron (Pilou Asbaek) has his sister imprisoned. Can Yara (Gemma Whelan) be saved? Or was this just more mind games from Theon’s crazy uncle who we learned is still in cahoots with Cersei?
It appeared that both of the major characters at Eastwatch — Tormund (Kristofer Hivju) and Beric Dondarrion (Richard Dormer) — were on the side of the wall that didn’t come down with a few brisk blasts from a zombie dragon. We’d prefer not to be wrong — seems like the Lord of Light demands a bit more of a dramatic departure for Beric. And what of Tormund’s plans for making super-babies with Brienne? (Torienne?)
8Who will get to Winterfell first? Jon and Dany or the Night King and his army?
If this season taught us nothing else, it’s that time is flexible in “Game of Thrones.” Now that the Starks are united and waiting for Jon’s return, will he get there in time to defend their home? They had better hope the army of the dead is still marching as slowly as it seemed earlier in the season. Though they clearly don’t have those dragon-dragging chains weighing them down anymore.
9Where did Bronn take Podrick to get a drink, and do you have to know the doorman?
Sure, neither one of them really fit in among the “fancy folk” deciding the fate of civilization. But if there really is a spinoff, or potentially several, as has been rumored, we really need to see what happens at the “Cheers” of King’s Landing.