I Spy a Witch

I honestly can’t think of another episode of the series that was so goddamn satisfying, had so many reveals, so many pay-offs, and a brilliance on narrative, technical, and musical levels. This was very much a curtain call on the second act of this sprawling play, setting up very nice the final third act, that will comprise the (highly shortened) last two seasons.

R+L=J Reveal - I couldn’t ask for anything better for this. One of the most iconic and beloved sequences in the novels, it was translated to screen perfectly. Dialogue was fantastic, music was beautiful, the actress cast as Lyanna was spot-on, and the perfect editing how it cut from baby Jon to adult Jon was spectacular. Beautifully, beautifully, executed, and will definitely go down as one of the best scenes in the series’ history.  

The King in the North - Very much an echo of Robb’s coronation, and yet so very different, under very different circumstances. I watched this particular scene about 10 times (and will watch it repeatedly) because I adore how masterfully written and shot it was. From that initial segue from the Tower, the initial arguments between the Northern Lords and the Knights of the Vale, to young Lyanna Mormont’s badass speech (there’s absolutely no one who doesn’t love this girl right now), and the Stark theme swelling up to the chants of “KING IN THE NORTH!”. I watched it with a couple friends, and we, like so many, were absolutely cheering as Jon was crowned the new King in the North, and it just goes to show how far he’s come as a character - and from death even. Here was a bastard who thought he accounted for nothing (or as Littlefinger described him, “a motherless bastard from the South”), and now he’s ruling the North, and possibly has a higher claim on the Iron Throne than his aunt, who’s setting sail for it and has her eyes on it. It’s worth noting that in the books, I recall a passage from Jon’s POV where as children, Robb and Jon would play together, and Jon would claim himself as “The Lord of Winterfell!” before Robb corrected him. It’s thus that after so long, he’s got what he always dreamed of, but never expected. 

I especially loved how they were sure to include shots of the snow falling outside the windows of Winterfell, the most apt place in Westeros imaginable for such a coronation, really to emphasize the fact that “Winter is Coming”, and the fight is only just starting. Bravo. All hail Jon Snow, the White Wolf, the King in the North!

The slimy sleazeball that is Littlefinger couldn’t have been expecting Jon to be crowned King, and it’ll certainly be interesting to see how he reacts to this in Season 7. Maybe he’ll try and manipulate Sansa, to undermine the relationship between the two siblings (cousins), but Sansa, like she did today, should be able to rebuff Baelish’s machinations. The last thing we need is a civil war within the family.

Arya serving Frey Pies - Ridiculous teleportation devices in Westeros be damned, this was yet another fantastic cheer raising moment. Arya is back, and is definitely on a warpath - her sadistic smile was more than slightly worrying, as was Sansa’s last week after she set the dogs on Ramsay. I loved the shout out to the Rat Cook story and Wyman Manderley’s infamous Frey Pies from the novels. It does appear that Arya has taken on the role of Lady Stoneheart - which was to kill the Freys responsible for betraying Robb, and now with the Freys more or less destroyed, LSH role is pretty much over with - House Stark’s treacherous enemies are all dead, and only Cersei truly remains. 

Mad Queen Cersei - The hints and clues leading up to the explosive finale were peppered throughout the season, and the pay off we got for them was stunning. The opening scenes of the episode could not have been more perfect. It was cinematic brilliance of the highest, highest, order. There’s hardly any dialogue spoken, and tension is raised by the beautifully eerie score’s (the track, which I just can’t praise enough, is called “The Light of the Seven”, I believe) cello, organ, and choral music. Through Lancel’s eyes, we witness Cersei’s masterplan at work, as he discovers the Wildfire caches - with just a small wick of candle keeping it from exploding. In the sept, it’s only Margaery who realizes that with Cersei’s absence, something is amiss, but it’s far too late, and in one fell swoop, Cersei has managed to eliminate all of her political rivals in King’s Landing - destroying all of House Tyrell in the process, with the exception of Olenna. Margaery, Loras, Mace Tyrell, Lancel Lannister, Kevan Lannister, the High Sparrow and his followers, along with Pycelle at a different location, were all killed in just one day. She even gets revenge on Septa Unella, subjecting her to the horrific abuse of the Mountain, something that’s properly Tywin-like in its depravity. But even Cersei’s greatest victory yet is short-lived, when Tommen commits suicide by jumping out of a window - really poetic justice when it was Jaime who shoved Bran out of one. With all 3 of her children dead, Maggy the Frog’s prophecy comes true (”gold will be their crowns, and gold will be their shrouds”), and Cersei becomes Queen of Westeros, gaining the power she’s always wanted - but losing almost everything she held dear to gain it. Since her children are gone, she really has nothing to lose at this point - leaving her free to indulge in the insanities and evil she will unleash upon the world. Even Jaime, the only person arguably in the world left she loves, is disturbed by what he sees, bringing him troubling flashbacks to Aerys’ reign. Perhaps he’ll have to kill her, fulfilling Maggy’s valonqar prophecy. Though the odds are she’ll run into Dany and her other little brother again before that. What a meeting that will turn out to be. 

Daenerys and the Narrow Sea Crossing (at last!) - At last, at long last, after 6 seasons and 60 hours of television, and almost 20 years for book readers, we get this fantastic scene everyone’s been waiting for. I really appreciate that it took this long actually, because throughout the course of the show, we’ve seen Dany grow and change as a character - she certainly isn’t the same young girl from Season 1. She’s had glorious victories and grievous defeats, conquered cities and lost cities, loved people and lost people, and learned a great deal about the nature of people and the nature of war. She’s finally in the ideal position to invade Westeros just like Aegon did three hundred something years back, with an enormous army, a huge navy, three powerful dragons, and possibly the best advisor she could ask for in Tyrion. It was a huge moment for him as well I think, and I really appreciated the moment we saw Dany appoint him as Hand of the Queen. Throughout the books and series, Tyrion has always been ostracized by society on account of his dwarfism, and most of his family hates him. Despite that, he’s always been compassionate to those less fortunate than him, as he sees them as kindred spirits. He repays in scores the kindness people show him, like the loyalty and political prowess he proved to Dany while she was away. In joining her, he finally finds a cause that he actually believes is worth fighting for, and his relationship with her couldn’t be more different to the one he has with his biological sister, who despised him. With Dany’s military might and charisma, and Tyrion’s considerable political acumen, they’re an unstoppable force, especially in a greatly weakened King’s Landing that’s ripe for the taking. Something tells me Cersei won’t be Queen of the Seven Kingdoms for much longer. 

One final note - we can all agree Ramin Djawadi was on fire this week. Every single scene couldn’t have been what it was without his incredible score - the mournful cello and violins in the opening, during Cersei’s bombing and later coronation, the music that played during the Tower of Joy reveal and it’s eventual segue into Jon’s coronation, and lastly, that unforgettable score set to Dany setting off into the sunset, with an army, a navy, her shrewd team of advisors, and her 3 dragons, off to conquer the Seven Kingdoms. We’re truly lucky to have him scoring the show. Give him the Emmy right now ffs.