*Spoilers*
Watch through Season 8, Episode 2 before reading!
If there’s one thing we should take away from the first two episodes of the season, it’s that we all just devoured with rapt attention what were essentially two hour-long episodes of placid preamble to the battle at Winterfell. With any other, less beloved show we might have criticized them as a storytelling blunder, but in this show it’s been necessary to bring all the dangling threads together and make them connect believably with one another. We sat absorbing these little moments of reunion with a gravitas reserved for the most sacred moments imaginable. These moments were the fantasy fan’s Last Supper, complete with all the bitter and sweet anticipation.
Naturally, this week’s discussions were split almost evenly between members voicing their reactions to the various reunions of beloved characters and predictions for the outcome of the inevitable battle to come. These reactions ranged from frustration to anger, the predictions from the tiniest minutia to grand “meta-gaming” theories. Certainly not forgotten, we all continue to endure the tease that is the show’s gradual revelation of the conflict between Dany’s single-minded desire to retake the iron throne and Jon’s (or should we call him Aegon now?) newfound claim.
Predictions Galore
ML Spencer: Dany will NOT be ok with Jon being heir ahead of her. I predict a huge blowout and a breakup. Dany loves her power, and I think Jon will see that. I mean…just think of Sam’s dad and brother. Jon will not be okay with that.
Lynn Fowler: Jon avoids physical intimacy with Daenerys, leading to a confrontation about his birth. She will be okay with incest. He will demure.
Robert W Glaub: I doubt that.
Reunions, Part Two
Lynn Kempner: Episode two was a huge reunion fest. Our favorite characters reunited. There were both touching and uncomfortably tense moments. So many great scenes. Arya was a huge surprise that night, but that weapon of hers is a badass dragon glass staff and she will be deadly with it.
After all, she learned from the best while getting beaten senseless with a staff and it seems to be her weapon of choice for the upcoming battle. Now that we are all comfy and nostalgic, in true GOT spirit, people are going to die.
Podrick’s Song
Anon: Podrick’s Song predicts Arya’s death.
Mariëlle Ooms-Voges: I don’t know if I can handle Arya’s death…
S. H.: In the books isn’t that a song about a Targ giving up the throne for Jenny? Which could mean either Dany or Jon giving up the throne for the other. This season hasn’t been very pretty for Dany so far, but maybe that’s a takeout—we’re meant to think she’ll resent Jon for his claim, or even kill him, but I wonder at the use of Jenny’s song.
John Kang: GRRM has said that if he kills Arya or Sansa, his wife will divorce him. Not sure how far that carries into the TV show, or if GRRM is telling the truth.
M.S.: Or whether he’s looking for a bachelor’s life!
Milk Scene/Meme-able Moments
Many of the reactions to the episode were not discussions at all, but rather an explosion of memes.
Can’t say we’re complaining, though.
Outside the Box Thinking
Mike Ekim: Bran is going to warg into Jamie and kill the Mad King. It was never Jamie that did it.
Amanda M Suver Justice: How about he wargs into Jamie and pushes himself out the window? 🙂
David Zampa: Suppose the Night King raises all the dead in the crypts, who then proceed to slaughter everyone, including Gilly, the baby, Missandei, Sansa, and Tyrion. It would be almost equivalent to another Red Wedding. Now suppose Jorah dies on the battlefield. Samwell would be ideally set up to reclaim his family’s sword and proceed to be the one to kill the Night King with the Valyrian steel blade, in poetic vengeance for Gilly and child.
I can’t help thinking that blade has gotten a LOT of screen time throughout the seasons, yet hasn’t really been used for anything significant yet. It’s the show’s Chekov’s Valyrian blade. It wouldn’t surprise me in the least if it turns out to be the weapon that eventually kills the Night King, and Samwell would be the vanquisher no one saw coming.
S. W. C.: Wonder if Jon’s dragon egg is in the crypt with his mama!?!?! The husband brought this to my attention this morning.
Contributors
Mike Ekim, ML Spencer, Robert W Glaub, Lynn Kempner, David Zampa, Mariëlle Ooms-Voges, John Kang. Many discussions took place outside of the official thread. Those contributors are cited using initials only.
You can join the discussion in our closed group here!
Jennie Ivins