The third presumably died but Ellaria her mother wasn’t poisoned and she could still rally Dornish reinforcements.
Blackfish died not Edmure. Edmure was the guy who married the attractive Frey girl and was dragged out for the bedding ceremony right before the massacre started at the red wedding. He betrayed his uncle(Blackfish) in season 6 by handing over Riverrun to the Lannisters.
Perhaps the reason the Northerners are seemingly more concerned with Jon not being King in the North than the threat of the White Walkers is that most of them have never seen the White Walkers up close? For them, it’s still a myth?
That’s still a big theme. Jon got a lot of allies and united the North, but most of them still think he’s being dramatic when he talks about the Army of the Dead and the End of the World coming any day now. The remaining Wildlings and Night’s Watchmen know the truth, and Dany and the Lord of Light crew have seen them, but the rest of the Westerosi aristocracy still think it’s a fairy tale.
Or maybe just Cersei making up her own reality, as is typical for her. However, her refraining from wine last season indicated to Tyrion she was actually concerned about a child. But in this episode she freely drinks wine with Euron. Knowing Cersei, she was probably making it up to manipulate Jaime and Tyrion. But she’s so crazy who knows.
Royce and the Knights of the Vale went to Winterfell under the command of Littlefinger but left Robin behind at Runestone (Royce’s castle). They now presumably are under the direct command of Sansa as Robin’s cousin. There would seem to be little point to bring an infantile adolescent to Winterfell where he would be completely useless and in danger.
Has this actually been stated in the show, either as a fact or a general belief? If so Danaerys evidently doesn’t believe it since she offered Jon a chance to ride a dragon. If it’s true, it should be an enormous reveal to her.
Ironically, the dragon Jon gets to ride is Rhaegal, named after his real father.
Tyene was still alive when last seen but had been given a fatal poison (the same one that killed Myrcella). Like I said Ellaria might pop up again in some role but given how badly the Dorne subplot was received I doubt Dorne itself will play a part in the upcoming battles.
For me, the best exchange in the episode was this:
Tyrion: Last time we spoke was at Joffrey’s wedding. Miserable affair.
Sansa (with a tiny hint of a smile): It had its moments.
This is the first time I can recall Sansa joking, and it’s a good one.
I had to look up where Runestone is (http://quartermaester.info/) and it’s far enough south that he should be safe for now. I was thinking about Sansa saying all the houses in the north needed to come to Winterfell for safety.
I don’t know if anyone ever actually stated it as fact. I’m just assuming this from the stories that Arya and Shireen told about the dragons. The only people ever mentioned riding them were Targaryens. That led me to believe they were the only ones that could. But you are right, it looks like Danaerys does know that it’s not true since she wasn’t surprised. Maybe she never said anything about it because she doesn’t know what stories were told in Westeros.
I really liked this episode. I expected the internet to hate it because they usually hate table setting episodes so the generally positive response has been a pleasant surprise. This felt like the first of a couple of deep breaths before all hell breaks loose.
I liked all the reunions and the mixing and matching of characters. It is a testament t well made long running shows that they can generate good scenes just by putting characters who never met together.
I really liked the parallels between this episode and the pilot. Beginning with a royal procession into Winterfell. Ending with a confrontation between Jaime and Bran.
Some of the humor felt a little forced to me. Very quipy and modern sounding. I think Cersei mentioning the Elephants once was enough.
Not sure what to make of Strickland. Even his name sounds like the Boss in a sitcom and not a sellsword from Essos.
I am torn about the wedge between Sam and Jon. In the moment I felt Sam was too sad regarding the news about his Father. His father hated him and wanted him dead. The brother, yes, they seemed t like each other, but not the father. But then again, it one thing to hate your father and another to find out your best friend’s girlfriend burned him alive. It might be more that I like the Sam and Jon friendship and don’t want to see it end which is actually good drama.
Something else: I thought I had read that while this season was very short but each episode would be 80 minutes or so. This one was just over 60.
Runestone is in the Vale and even more off the beaten track than the Eyrie. It’s not on the route between Winterfell and Kings Landing, so it’s one of the safest places to be unless the Army of the Dead overruns all of Westeros.
That was another good one. However, at the time he was mad at her because she refused to mercy kill him as he begged her to do, rather than mad that she didn’t help him.