Game of Thrones fans here?

[Vander Blue Man Group]

Yeah, that was Eastwatch,  next stop the big wall.

Was that fire or ice coming from its mouth?

Is Jaime enroute to Winterfell by himself to alert them Cersai has gone back on word?

Ayria still has The Hound and Cersai on her list.  Should be interesting if she actually makes it.

One year to go, filming starts in October for last season with a September/October finale start date.  Read that today.

Nice - I had read the last season wouldn't premier until early 2019. Glad it hopefully won't be that long.

[Vander Blue Man Group]

Seems clear (at least to me) that last week was absolutely a plan by the Night King to get a dragon, which erases some questions.

[tower912]

I think the last two sequences lends a lot of credence to the notion that Brann is at minimum connected to a white walker and probably the king. 

[jesmu84]

One year to go, filming starts in October for last season with a September/October finale start date.  Read that today.

Source?

[Vander Blue Man Group]

This article says the timing hasn't been finalized but that 2019 is still a possibility:

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/game-thrones-why-wait-final-season-isnt-a-big-deal-anymore-1032873

[nyg]

Source?

Can't recall and didn't save.  Production/filming starts in October (saw that in interview with Jaime actor) and then hoping for September/October.  Season 7 was delayed because of weather, so it could depend on that.  Thats the source. 

[jesmu84]

I think the last two sequences lends a lot of credence to the notion that Brann is at minimum connected to a white walker and probably the king.

Wondering why you think that?

[chapman]

I fully buy in to Jaime being the one to kill Cersei.  Yet I still fell for the bluff.  Can't wait to see how it all turns out.

[Hards Alumni]

Overall, this was a much better episode than last week's.  The main problem that I had was: What was the Night King's plan to get past the wall if the Band of Bros didn't go North to capture a wight, and then somehow they got word to get Dany to come with her dragons.  WHAT WAS THE PLAN THEN?  Just chill at the wall?  Climb it like the wildlings did?

You can't call it a trap or a plan for the NK to get a dragon because he has no known knowledge of dragons even existing anymore!

Now that I've got that out of my system, this season at Winterfell was a mess, but it ended well.  The scenes with Sansa and Arya earlier this year could have gone differently and I know they were just trying to build suspense... but it was sloppy.

I thought the scene at the Dragon Pit and everything surrounding Jamie and Cersei was great.  Well written, well acted, and individual character reactions and explanations all made sense... That said, I didn't love the fan service for CLEGANEBOWL. 

Jon and Dany scenes were well done as well.  Really good episode 8/10

[CreightonWarrior]

You can't call it a trap or a plan for the NK to get a dragon because he has no known knowledge of dragons even existing anymore!

http://gameofthrones.wikia.com/wiki/Red_Comet

I read somewhere that the NK would probably have seen the red comet we saw in S2 so he knew dragons were born and has been preparing for it. They seemed to have those spears ready for the dragons, not to mention the chains.

[Pakuni]

Overall, this was a much better episode than last week's.  The main problem that I had was: What was the Night King's plan to get past the wall if the Band of Bros didn't go North to capture a wight, and then somehow they got word to get Dany to come with her dragons.  WHAT WAS THE PLAN THEN?  Just chill at the wall?  Climb it like the wildlings did?
You can't call it a trap or a plan for the NK to get a dragon because he has no known knowledge of dragons even existing anymore!

I'm not sure I understand your argument here.
Do you believe that the NK is connected enough to the world beyond the wall to have learned dragons went extinct at some point, but not connected enough to learn they were back?

[mayfairskatingrink]

So if Sansa and Arya had hatched this plan and were playing and setting up Littlefinger, why were they so antagonistic in their scenes together that only the audience could see?

[MUBurrow]

I think the last two sequences lends a lot of credence to the notion that Brann is at minimum connected to a white walker and probably the king.

I really hope this is right, because I think the final season has real limitations without at least some additional information about the white walker's nature and motivations. MWith the characters that are left, at some point more fight scenes and dragon on dragon violence gets a little tired, and the antagonists are becoming less three dimensional all the time. Outside of the walkers, Cersei/Euron are the only real antagonists left, and are starting to look like more powerful versions of the Freys, Boltons or other one-dimensional villains, whose motivations didn't need to be interesting because they played fairly transient roles. But Cersei had long been one of the more interesting characters in the show - her early scenes with Robert are great - and Headey is probably one of the best if not the best actor on the show. But Littlefinger, Varys, and some of the slower, cerebral characters added a ton that is getting lost now that things are moving so quickly (not that I'm sad to see this Littlefinger storyline end, because it was hot garbage).  My hope is that the writing sort of sacrificed what GoT was for the first 5 or so years this season for the sake of setting up a return to that slower, multi-dimensional pace of the earlier seasons.

[forgetful]

Overall, this was a much better episode than last week's.  The main problem that I had was: What was the Night King's plan to get past the wall if the Band of Bros didn't go North to capture a wight, and then somehow they got word to get Dany to come with her dragons.  WHAT WAS THE PLAN THEN?  Just chill at the wall?  Climb it like the wildlings did?

You can't call it a trap or a plan for the NK to get a dragon because he has no known knowledge of dragons even existing anymore!

Now that I've got that out of my system, this season at Winterfell was a mess, but it ended well.  The scenes with Sansa and Arya earlier this year could have gone differently and I know they were just trying to build suspense... but it was sloppy.

I thought the scene at the Dragon Pit and everything surrounding Jamie and Cersei was great.  Well written, well acted, and individual character reactions and explanations all made sense... That said, I didn't love the fan service for CLEGANEBOWL. 

Jon and Dany scenes were well done as well.  Really good episode 8/10

Agree with all of this. 

As for the plan if they didn't get a dragon.  The intro to the show has clearly indicated that the ocean next to East Watch has completely frozen over so there is a land bridge around the wall.  Pretty much everyone thought they would use this to go around the wall. 

With the dragon they could now go through it, saving time/distance. 

The idea that the NK planned for a dragon is stupid, and even the directors haven't gone there.  There is no logical reason to predict that people would go north with a dragon that could be captured. 

The only things I wish was done differently on this episode was to have Arya pass the sentence so that the person passing the sentence would do the deed, like the Stark way.  Minor detail though. 

The other is the narrative regarding Cersei/Euron.  There was no way for them to predict them bringing a wight that would scare Euron into leaving, and no discussion between the two before he asks if they can swim and he runs.  So they couldn't have planned him sneaking off.  Again a minor detail that doesn't affect anything.

So overall great episode.  It sets up for a lot of political story lines next season and assuredly some great battle sequences. 

Big open questions:

What is Mellisandre doing in Essos?
Will the Golden Company stab Cersei in the back to reclaim the throne for themselves (that has been their goal)?
Will they craft new Valyrian steel?
Which army gets to Winterfell first, the dead?...or Jon/Dany?
Do they have time to craft dragonglass weapons?

Is Ellaria Sand still alive?

and so many more.

[brewcity77]

I think last night completed Dany's Prophecy of Threes from the House of the Undying. Here's the original prophecy:

. . . three heads has the dragon . . .
. . . three fires must you light . . . one for life and one for death and one to love . . .
. . . three mounts must you ride . . . one to bed and one to dread and one to love . . .
. . . three treasons will you know . . . once for blood and once for gold and once for love . . .

Okay...so let's break it down. My belief is that the first item in each line has already occurred at the time of the prophecy:

• Fire for Life: Birthing the Dragons This happened when Dany lit Khal Drogo's funeral pyre with Mirri Maz Duur chained to it and the dragon eggs. She survived and the dragons were born, thus "fire for life".
  
• Fire for Death: Sacking of Astapoor When Daenaerys agrees to exchange Drogon for her army of Unsullied, then says "Dracarys" which initiates Drogon killing the Good Masters. This qualifies as death both for the direct death of the Good Masters and the acquisition of death as the Unsullied are considered an insurmountable killing force.
  
• Fire for Love: Burning the Undead Army Dany goes north to save Jon and his band from the Night King's army. Yes, she loses Viserion, but destroys much of the undead force to save her love, Jon Snow.
  
• Mount to Bed: Khal Drogo Dany had to go to bed with Khal Drogo to seal their marriage. It was simply political at the time as she did not grow to love Drogo until later.
  
• Mount to Dread: Drogon I think this is the most obvious. Drogon is the most fierce dragon and most destructive killing force in all the lands. Clearly all dread him, save maybe the Night King.
  
• Mount to Love: Jon Snow/Aegon Targaryean Jon seems to have been her predestined "love" for a long time. I always believed Dany was watching her father's birth in the House of the Undying until last night when Jon's true name of Aegon was revealed. Then just before the end of the episode, she "mounted" him. Aegon is the final mount.
  
• Treason for Blood: Mirri Maz Duur Mirri became Dany's closest advisor before orchestrating Khal Drogo's death.
  
• Treason for Gold: Jorah Mormont Another straight-forward one, Mormont took money from King Robert to betray her. He later came around to love and respect her, and even return to her service, but he was her closest advisor and betrayed her for gold.
  
• Treason for Love: Tyrion Lannister He has now become Dany's most trusted advisor, and there was clearly more said after he went to meet with Cersei. Cersei may have planned betrayal all along, but look at Tyrion's recent history. His plans cost Dany her allies in both Dorne and Highgarden. His plans made holding Casterly Rock impossible. His plans lost her Asha/Yara's fleet. Then he goes to meet with Cersei, she agrees to a truce, only to immediately backstab them? Tyrion has always said how he loves his family, loves the Lannister children, loves his brother, he has well-documented and immense love for the Lannisters. Maybe his intent is to take the Iron Throne for himself, maybe he plans for Cersei's child to sit on the throne after Dany passes since he has heard she cannot bear children, but all along the Imp has been instrumental and now he has worked himself close to Dany. He would be the ideal third treason as it would benefit what he loves (the Lannister family) and, like Mirri and Jorah, he has become her closest advisor. I would love to know what Tyrion said in his meeting with Cersei, but I think he may have told Cersei to lie about sending troops (he knows she likes to lie, knows lies are necessary, and just got done railing on Jon Snow for his unwillingness to lie). If this is correct, Tyrion's treason would possibly complete the Prophecy of Threes.

[brewcity77]

As far as the Cersei/Euron plot, I think maybe Cersei DID know what was in the box. I think Tyrion may have fed her information and already betrayed Dany to his family before they even arrived at the Dragon Pit. It would allow Cersei and Euron time to hatch a reason for him to bail immediately to acquire the Golden Company. If Tyrion is the traitor, it explains a lot as far as how Cersei and Euron would be able to run roughshod over Dany's army and navy as they arrived, how they had the knowledge they did, and how they could plan contingencies for the impending Great War.

Also, the only time Dany has really been able to successfully combat Cersei's armies were when she went against Tyrion's advice and took Drogon to destroy Jamie's armies on the Rose Road. Tyrion's advice for Dany has worked out in spectacularly disastrous fashion since their return to Westeros.

[LloydsLegs]

My only disappointment was thinking of Ned and how the person that passes the sentence should swing the blade.

.

great call

[Pakuni]

As far as the Cersei/Euron plot, I think maybe Cersei DID know what was in the box. I think Tyrion may have fed her information and already betrayed Dany to his family before they even arrived at the Dragon Pit. It would allow Cersei and Euron time to hatch a reason for him to bail immediately to acquire the Golden Company. If Tyrion is the traitor, it explains a lot as far as how Cersei and Euron would be able to run roughshod over Dany's army and navy as they arrived, how they had the knowledge they did, and how they could plan contingencies for the impending Great War.

I'm not sure you have to go that far. Even without knowledge of the wight, Cersei knew the meeting was to broker some form of peace or truce. She and Euron could have hatched the plot for him to march off as if he's abandoning her regardless of what was in the box (what's in the box????).

[TAMU, Knower of Ball]

You can't call it a trap or a plan for the NK to get a dragon because he has no known knowledge of dragons even existing anymore!

First, what Pakuni said. Second, we know that the NK has some power of foresight given his ability to "see" Bran. Its not much of a stretch to think that the NK was well aware of Jon's plan, including that Dany would come to the rescue.

Agree with all of this. 

As for the plan if they didn't get a dragon.  The intro to the show has clearly indicated that the ocean next to East Watch has completely frozen over so there is a land bridge around the wall.  The other is the narrative regarding Cersei/Euron.  There was no way for them to predict them bringing a wight that would scare Euron into leaving, and no discussion between the two before he asks if they can swim and he runs.  So they couldn't have planned him sneaking off.  Again a minor detail that doesn't affect anything.

It was well established that everyone knew that Dany was coming to ask for a truce so that she could fight the army of dead in the north and that she was bringing some sort of proof. What else would the proof be? It would have been very easy for them to plan for Euron to come up with some sort of excuse to leave the meeting either angry or scared as a feint.

So if Sansa and Arya had hatched this plan and were playing and setting up Littlefinger, why were they so antagonistic in their scenes together that only the audience could see?

Littlefinger is a master of spies and knows everything about everyone. The only way to lure him into a trap is if he is convinced that the two are at odds. Only way to do that is to be antagonistic at all times.

Overall, I really enjoyed the episode. Thought the acting was great in the dragon pit, everyone had believable reactions to seeing a wight for the first time. Loved how everyone was freaking out about the dragon except Cersei who had her usual poker face. The line about Dany being late was deliciously dry. I really thought she was going to kill Jaime, I fell for the bluff. And though I never believed that she was actually sending troops North, they did about everything possible to make it seem like she was actually going to do it.

I agree with others that it wasn't the "Stark way" when Sansa handed down the sentence and Arya swung the sword. But I think the scene was supposed to emphasize that both characters had reached the pinnacle of their roles. Sansa as the lady and Arya as the warrior.

I enjoyed the scene with Theon as well. For some reason, I have always cheered for Theon and enjoyed seeing him get his groove back so to speak. The fact that it happened because the other guy was surprised by his lack of balls was humorous. I was expecting some sort of line about getting his ass kicked by a guy without a cock.

[MU82]

Holy Dragons, you guys are deeply into this!

I love reading all of this stuff. Very interesting.

[Stronghold]

Now that the dead are south of the wall, I can't see the armies of the living going head-to-head with them and winning.  There has to be some kind of intervention from Bran, Melisandre/Lord of Light, Children of the Forest making a return, help from the other continent, or something.  However they don't have to destroy the entire army, just technically the Night King himself.

[MUBBau]

Well I guess that settles the debate

https://twitter.com/GameOfThrones/status/902245407589187584

[brewcity77]

If nothing else, yesterday absolutely, 100% solidified that Jon Snow is "The Prince who was Promised". No doubt whatsoever. Here is the passage from A Clash of Kings with one of Dany's visions in the House of the Undying:

Viserys, was her first thought the next time she paused, but a second glance told her otherwise. The man had her brother's hair, but he was taller, and his eyes were a dark indigo rather than lilac. "Aegon," he said to a woman nursing a newborn babe in a great wooden bed. "What better name for a king?"

"Will you make a song for him?" the woman asked.

"He has a song," the man replied. "He is the prince that was promised, and his is the song of ice and fire." He looked up when he said it and his eyes met Dany's, and it seemed as if he saw her standing there beyond the door. "There must be one more," he said, though whether he was speaking to her or the woman in the bed she could not say. "The dragon has three heads." He went to the window seat, picked up a harp, and ran his fingers lightly over its silvery strings. Sweet sadness filled the room as man and wife and babe faded like the morning mist, only the music lingering behind to speed her on her way.

Now that we know Jon's true name is Aegon Targaryean, and Dany mistook this individual for her brother Viserys, it all becomes clear. The man in the vision is Rhaegar Targaryean, talking to Lyanna as she nurses Aegon Targaryean/Jon Snow. Rhaegar then confirms that Jon is the prince that was promised.

[MU82]

So just to get the lineage right ...

Dany is Jon's aunt?

[Hards Alumni]

As far as the Cersei/Euron plot, I think maybe Cersei DID know what was in the box. I think Tyrion may have fed her information and already betrayed Dany to his family before they even arrived at the Dragon Pit. It would allow Cersei and Euron time to hatch a reason for him to bail immediately to acquire the Golden Company. If Tyrion is the traitor, it explains a lot as far as how Cersei and Euron would be able to run roughshod over Dany's army and navy as they arrived, how they had the knowledge they did, and how they could plan contingencies for the impending Great War.

Also, the only time Dany has really been able to successfully combat Cersei's armies were when she went against Tyrion's advice and took Drogon to destroy Jamie's armies on the Rose Road. Tyrion's advice for Dany has worked out in spectacularly disastrous fashion since their return to Westeros.

If Tyrion fed Cersei that info I will stop watching this show all together.  That would be just awful.  it would be an enormous departure from his character and make zero sense.