Hey everyone and welcome to my review for Game of Thrones Season 7 Episode 5, Eastwatch.
So where do I begin with this, I’ve heard some people saying this was a slow episode
or speaking negatively about it, but I did not see it that way at all.
I absolutely loved this episode, it’s my 2nd favourite of this season, and had some
of my favourite scenes in the entire series.
But as I’ll talk about in a bit, there was one very specific reason why I loved this
episode so much, and I’m not even talking about the final scene which also blew my mind.
So let’s jump right in with my top 5 moments of the night,
At number 5, There was the moment between Jon Snow and
Drogon, when he reached out and touched the creature, and it looked at him, and seemed
to sense he was a friend, likely because of Jon’s Targaryen blood.
We’re really getting a sense now of just how smart these dragons are and how attuned
they are to those of Valyrian blood.
From the books we know of a case during the Dance of the Dragons civil war, where Queen
Helaena went mad after losing a child, and killed herself, by throwing herself from a
window.
Meanwhile, her dragon Dreamfyre, who was locked away in the dragon pit, sensed her death and
roared so loudly she snapped some of the chains holding her bound.
So now seeing Drogon recognize Jon, and obey Daenerys so precisely really makes me excited
to see all 3 dragons in action, hopefully each with their own rider.
At number 4: I chose the conversation between Sam and Gilly,
where she casually mentions that High Septon Maynard once recorded the annulment of Rhaegar’s
marriage to Elia Martel, so he might marry Lyanna Stark in a secret ceremony in Dorne.
The implications of such an arrangement might have drastic repercussion for the continent,
so it was especially funny seeing Sam ignoring what she said.
The marriage of Rhaegar and Lyanna, means that there are now 3 and possibly 4 strong
claimants to the Iron Throne, though who exactly is more legitimate at this point is irrelevant
in my mind, since I feel like the person with the strongest armies at the end is going to
be king or queen, regardless of their lineage.
But that being said, the viable claimants at this point are:
Jon Snow, last living male child to Rhaegar Targaryen, heir to the Iron Throne under the
Mad King Aerys II.
Then there is Jon’s aunt Daenerys, younger sister of Rhaegar, and if following traditional
Targaryen succession practices, she can only inherit the throne, if no other males exist
in her family.
The third claimant is Cersei Lannister, wife of King Robert, and mother of King Joffrey
and King Tommen.
Although her claim may not be seen as strong, her relationship to previous kings and years
spent as queen make her an acceptable choice by many, and since she currently sits the
Iron Throne with a loyal army at her back, it is impossible to deny her claim.
Finally, I believe Gendry, last living son of Robert Baratheon, also has a claim, though
because he is a bastard never recognized by his father, he likely would get little support.
However, there is some chance Jon Snow as King in the north can make him legitimate,
just how Stannis wanted to do for Jon years earlier before he became Lord Commander of
the Night’s Watch.
At number 3: There is the burning of Randyll and Dickon
tarly.
I thought this was a very powerful scene, and I completely understand Lord Tarly’s
reason for not submitting to Daenerys.
She definetly is a foreign invader as far as I’m conscerned, as were her ancestors
like Aegon the Conqueror.
The Targaryens in my opinion have to business ruling Westeros, so I feel that Randyll Tarly
died with honor, as did his son, who clearly was not meant to reveal himself, and was even
given permission to bend the knee by his father.
But still he would not.
At the same time, I found it funny that Daenerys acted like she was giving the soldiers a real
choice.
And I find it crazy to believe that those men she terrified into kneeling will really
be loyal to her, loya;lty bought at the point of dragonfire is not real loyalty in my opinion.
I do however agree that Ranadyll and Dickon Tarly needed to die, it is a war afterall
and they will not serve Daenerys.
However they should have been executed quietly, in a manner befitting their status as nobles
and given proper funeral rights.
Not because they were such great people, but because that’s how a dignified ruler deals
with enemies, burning father and son alive by dragonfire is far to reminiscent of the
Mad King, who tortured and killed Rickon Stark and his son.
Not to mention that she did in front of terrified soldiers who will now go all over the continent
spreading rumors about the mad queen, who appears to be just as cruel and crazy as her
father.
Now she isn’t really like her father, but many7 of these people have heard nothing but
terrible things about Dany, and then when they finally see her in person, she is at
the head of foreign army, roasting their leaders alive and demanding loyalty at the point of
death.
At number 2: we are finally getting to the scenes that, for me, took this episode to
another level.
Watching Jon Snow gather his companions together and head out beyond the wall, put a giant
smile on my face, as I thought about the Last Hero from the books, who during the previous
long night, set out with a sword, a dog, a horse, and a dozen companions, searching for
the children of the forest, so they might help them fight that war against the white
walkers.
Jon appears to be taking on the role of the Last Hero, marching beyond the wall with a
sword and some companions, but this scene would have been made even better, if Ghost
had finally re-emerged to join them on the mission.
I also found it odd Jon did not send ravens to Castle Black, asking for rangers to join
them at Eastwatch.
In addition, I find Tyrion’s plan of bringing back an undead creature to convince Cersei
into signing a truce seems like a pretty crazy idea.
I mean first of all, I don’t think Cersei will believe them even if they do bring a
Wight south, afterall, one of her kingsguard is already basically a walking corpse, and
if Qyburn could do that, what’s to stop Dany and Jon from finding a sorcerer to make
them an undead creature for the presentation.
Further, even if Cersei did believe them and agree to the deal, she will almost certainly
take the first opportunity to betray them, no matter the consequences.
In my mind a good plan would be for Cersei to agree to the deal, send her remaining soldiers
north at the same time as Daenerys, then sneakily bring in the Golden Company or other mercenaries,
to quickly conquer the undefended south, while the armies of Westeros fight in the North.
However none of this took away from the amazing feeling of watching Jon and his crew journey
on an epic quest beyond the wall.
Finally, at the number 1 spot, and the reason I loved this episode so much, was the re-emergence
of Gendry, bastard son of Robert Baratheon.
Robert Baratheon may very well be my favourite character in the entire ASOIAF/GoT universe.
The story of him standing up for himself and his friends and family, taking down the mad
Targaryen king and his heir is something I absolutely love.
And nothing makes me smile more then thinking about the great warrior Robert baratheon smashing
his warhammer into the chest of Rhaegar, who’s actions had sent the continent into an uproar,
paving the way for Robert’s Rebellion.
Although we now know that Lyanna likely went with Rhaegar voluntarily, and that perhaps
they were in love, in my mind it does not change what Rhaegar did, abandoning his family
and publically going after the betrothed of another, then running away together rather
then facing the truth, leaving the Mad King to torture and kill the Starks when they came
to search for Lyanna, leaving thousands to die in the war that followed.
And so Robert Baratheon has always been a character I absolutely loved, and I even loved
that he recognized his own faults as king, and left the realm to be governed by Jon Arryn.
But now seeing Gendry, who likely looks like a young Robert Baratheon, wielding a warhammer
like his father, and becoming friends with Jon Snow, it is like watching Robert and Ned
Stark in their youth, with even old Davos Seaworth, acting alike a Jon Arryn type, guiding
them and watching their backs.
Watching Gendry become the new Robert Bartheon also leads me to believe that if he survives,
he may become Lord of the Stormlands when the war is over.
Now for some Quick notes, I was shocked to see how disloyal the northerners are, what
happened to the north remembers, and Lord Glover saying he would regret not being loyal
to jon the rest of his life after the battle of the bastards.
To see his bannerman so ready to abandon him was very upsetting.
Made even worse when Sansa seemed to be enjoying their praise so much and did not stand up
for Jon in any meaningful way.
And so I was happy to see Arya confront her and call her out on her clear ambitions, but
then Arya also took it to far, talking about beheading bannermen.
I am glad she is so loyal to Jon but Arya definely needs to think a bit about the consequences
of her actions.
After seeing the death of the Tarlys, it seems like Sam will take up their family’s seat
in the future, however with his vows to the night’s watch that may prove difficult,
though I imagine Sam will become so important he will be allowed to leave once the war is
won.
Now for the Best kill of the night: it obviously goes to the Tarlys being comsumed by dragonfire.
I hated watching a father and son burn alive, but you can’t deny the scene was epic and
impactful.
The best Line of the night, goes to Gendry when he was speaking to Jon Snow about their
fathers, and while Jon’s biological father was a Targaryen, since Eddard Stark raised
him I will always consider him Ned’s son, and so was thrilled to hear them get along
so well.
After mentioning that Jon was raised on stories about their fathers, Gendry responds:
“All I ever knew was that they fought together, and won.
Ser Davos told me where you’re going your grace and why.
Let me come with you.”
Overall I gave this episode a 9 out of 10, and really enjoyed it, but what do you guys
think, do you agree with me that this was one of the best of this season, or are you
in the camp that sees this as a weak episode or in between, please let me know in the comments
below, and remember to watch the weekly recap video already up.
See you next time.