Welcome to I Am Your Target Demographic and today we’re recapping seven seasons of Game
of Thrones to prepare you for the final season! We won’t cover everything that’s happened
in seven seasons but the things that will likely come up and be pertinent plot points.
Because of this, it’s obviously preferred that you go watch Game of Thrones and make
the time for it, but if you can’t or just need a superficial recap, we’ve got you
covered. Let’s start in the capital, King’s Landing.
Right now, a woman named Cersei Lannister is the Queen, only because her husband the
King was killed and the three heirs to the Throne have all been killed as well, two murdered
and one committing suicide. Cersei is persistent so steps up to take the Throne. She’s manipulative
and cunning, in love with her own brother Jaime Lannister, a former knight who lost
a hand and his ability to swordfight while held hostage. Jaime was the father of all
three supposed heirs to the Throne, which was quite a controversy in the first few seasons
of the show. Cersei has a few people guiding her, including the morally grey Qyburn, who
managed to take one of Cersei’s greatest knights known as the Mountain and save him
from death, turning him into a silent Frankenstein’s monster. The other person standing by her
is a slimy sailor named Euron Greyjoy, who wants to wed Cersei. Euron comes from a place
called the Iron Islands, formerly ruled by his nephew and niece Theon and Yara. Theon
was in line to become the ruler of the Iron Islands until he was tortured and emasculated
and made into a shell of his former self, so he now concedes that his sister Yara should
be ruler. Both of them were chased out of the Iron Islands by Euron though, who now
seeks to tie the Greyjoys to the Lannisters. Yara is imprisoned in the capital, while Theon
has mustered up the courage to try to free her.
Alongside her brother, Cersei also has allegiance from a warrior named Bronn who helped Jaime
to learn to swordfight after losing his hand. Bronn has been elevated to knight but will
do whatever it takes to rise in the ranks. Cersei needs more allies though, so she sent
Euron across the Narrow Sea to bring back what's called the Golden Company. This is
a band of mercenaries rumored to include giant elephants and thousands of men. Cersei is
paying for this by taking a loan out from the Iron Bank, a group that will be quite
upset if she doesn't pay what is owed. Cersei has a fairly small following but has
the actual title of Queen, while two of our other major players have larger followings.
Let’s start with the King of the North, Jon Snow. For a majority of the show, we believed
that Jon was the bastard son of Ned Stark, the warden of the north, which means ruling
over a large amount of fairly independent houses that all fall under one umbrella. We
thought that Ned had gone off to war and come back with a bastard, but what really happened
was that Ned’s sister Lyanna was taken by a warrior prince named Rhaegar. People thought
it was a kidnapping, but they were in love. They were secretly wed and Lyanna had his
son. Now, in the fallout of this massive war, this child would have a claim to the throne,
so if people knew that this son existed, he would’ve been killed, so Ned lied and claimed
that the child was his, when in reality, Jon Snow was born with the name Aegon Targaryan
and was the actual heir to the throne. However, Jon doesn’t know this, he was raised by
the Stark family and eventually went off to join the Night’s Watch, a group of people
who stood vigilant at a large wall that separated the North from the wilderness beyond. Jon
rose through the ranks and eventually became Lord Commander, though he did so by forming
a truce with the barbaric wildlings beyond the wall, which caused his own men to murder
Jon Snow in the night. A mysterious witch who worships the Lord of Light brought Jon
back to life, claiming that the Lord of Light is not done with him yet. Jon reclaimed leadership,
killed those that betrayed him, and rallied both men and wildling alike to defend the
wall. He is now called the King of the North and has a major beef with the Lannisters such
as Cersei, who beheaded Ned Stark and had both Catelyn and Robb Stark murdered as well.
On the main island of Westeros, these two factions are the main ones in opposition.
There are a few Starks still alive though, including Sansa Stark, who has gone through
some turbulent ups and downs before ending up back at her home of Winterfell. She’s
been reunited with her sister Arya, who left Westeros for awhile to train in the art of
assassination. She’s ruthless, taking revenge on the men who murdered her mother and brother
at the event known as the Red Wedding. She’s learned how to use faces, a magical skill
to appear as anyone, we believe anyone who’s been killed. She will for sure use this skill
more in the final season. Before becoming independent, she had two warriors who fought
to protect her. The Hound, who was a former Lannister warrior who was scarred by his brother
the Mountain when they were kids, the Mountain who now exists as a silent monster. The other
warrior is Brienne of Tarth, the good-hearted knight who made an oath to Lady Stark before
she was killed to look out for her two daughters. Arya believes the Hound was killed, but we’ve
since discovered that he’s alive and formed up with a group of men known as the Brotherhood
Without Banners, who only serve to protect the realm and have sided with the Night’s
Watch to protect against a threat larger than the Lannisters. We’ll get to that.
Sansa and Arya are now reunited with their brother Jon in Winterfell. Sansa was being
played by a man named Peter Baelish, until she found out his ploy and Arya ended him.
There’s another Stark son who is still alive named Bran, or Brandon. In the first few episodes
of the show, Bran saw the brother sister Jaime and Cersei in bed together and Jaime pushed
him from the balcony, breaking his back and causing him to never walk again. Since then,
Bran has realized that he’s what’s called a Warg, with the ability to go into the minds
of animals like wolves and birds and take them over for a time. He’s even done this
to humans, something no one believed possible. He’s ventured far beyond the wall, where
he’s taken over the position as the three-eyed raven, able to see both past and future all
at once. It’s through Bran that we see Jon Snow’s true parentage. However, Bran doesn’t
just see the past but it seems as if he can alter it or change it, so we may discover
that Bran has potentially caused some of what is going on in current day. Bran is also at
Winterfell with his sisters now, though his new powers distance him from them.
Also in Winterfell, we have a few other rogue characters that are now relics of plotlines
that have essentially wrapped up. The smuggler Davos serves Jon Snow as an advisor, kind-hearted
and savvy. The wildlings in the north follow Tormund, a mighty warrior who is respected
by his people and he has an eye for the woman warrior Brienne.
Now the third major faction starts across the sea. Remember the valiant warrior Rhaegar?
He was the oldest son in the Targaryan family. His father went mad and tried to destroy the
entire city of King’s Landing, eventually killed by Jaime Lannister. While Rhaegar was
bested in battle, he had two baby siblings who were smuggled out of the country. Only
one is still around, Daenerys. She’s been slowly building loyalty around her, including
being wed into the horse warrior clan known as the Dothraki. She also was given three
ancient dragon eggs which surprisingly hatched and gave her the moniker Mother of Dragons.
She bought an army of slaves called the Unsullied, though had them turn on their former owners
and gave them freedom, so they now serve her willingly, led by the warrior Grey Worm. She
also has a translator named Missandei who’s had some romantic relations with Grey Worm.
She also has a Westerosi knight named Jorah who was banished from Westeros but serves
her as a way to find home again.
She’s also inherited some former Lannister loyalists who have traveled far to meet and
follow her, including the younger sibling to the incestuous twins, a man named Tyrion
who is called the Imp much to his disdain. Tyrion was never really loved in his family,
as he killed their father on the way as he escaped King’s Landing. Tyrion is now “the
hand of the Queen,” meaning Dany’s right-hand man and advisor. She is also advised by Varys,
a former Lannister advisor who has a mastery over whispers and rumors, believing Daenerys
to be the best hope for Westeros’ future. The two Greyjoy siblings Theon and Yara sided
with Dany before Yara was captured by her uncle.
After seasons and seasons of building up this force and these dragons growing to become
giant and nearly uncontrollable, Dany finally crosses the narrow sea to bring her armies
to Westeros, landing at the castle Dragonstone that belonged to her family back in the day.
Now, let’s time out. I haven’t been explaining a critical piece. These three factions are
all human and care about the literal throne. There’s another faction of unquestionable
evil that has been slowly advancing on Westeros and will require these three Kings and Queens
to unite. Let’s start at the beginning. In a magical time long ago, creatures called
Children of the Forest created these warriors to help defend them against men, who showed
up and began destroying nature. These White Walkers have the ability to kill and then
raise the dead under their control, building a massive army of undead. The leaders of this
army are only susceptible to dragonglass, also called obsidian, or a type of metal called
Valyrian steel, of which only a few swords in Westeros are made. It’s also been theorized
that a dragon’s fire might kill them as well. The White Walkers are led by one specific
character, called the Night King, who has been shown transforming human babies into
new White Walkers with just a touch. These White Walkers have been moving south
and are approaching the Wall, the only thing built to stop them from crossing into Westeros.
Jon Snow knows this but knows that their forces are too slim, so he seeks to unite with Daenerys
and stop the White Walkers together. He eventually bends the knee to Daenerys and ends up sleeping
with her, neither of them knowing that he’s actually her nephew. They go to meet with
Cersei and try to unite with them as well, even bringing an undead to King’s Landing
in a hope of scaring them. Cersei promises to send troops to fight, though in reality
she wants the White Walkers to kill all of them. Jaime makes a drastic choice and leaves
her side, knowing that he can’t let them fight this war on their own.
In a major battle, Dany must rescue a handful of warriors and the Night King manages to
kill one of her dragons, then raising it back to life as an undead dragon spewing icy blue
flames of some sort. Jon seeks to learn everything about them, turning to his friend Sam, who
goes to a large library and finds old texts focusing on dragonglass and weapons that can
kill the undead. In his textbooks, Sam also learns about Rhaegar Targaryan’s secret
marriage, later talking to Bran and discovering that Jon is a true heir to the throne. With
knowledge of the dragonglass, they discover a massive amount of it under Dragonstone,
where Daenerys lives now. A blacksmith named Gendry is sent to start to weaponize this
resource, it’s also probably worth noting that Gendry is a bastard from a former king
so he also has a loose claim to the throne as well.
As the season comes to a close, the White Walkers march on the wall and with their new
dragon power, they destroy it easily and march across, ready now to destroy every living
thing in their path. I know this summary didn’t cover everything but it’s hopefully a helpful
refresher for who is where and who is alive. Season eight is slated for an April 14th premiere
and will only have six episodes. Thanks for watching and subscribe for more stuff just like this!