Hey fellow geeks! Barbarella reporting in on my last day in sunny England. I didn’t weigh in on last week’s episode because I figured by the time I did, y’all would’ve already been sick of discussing it.
But lots of people are upset about Brienne and Jamie, so now I feel I have to weigh in on it. I think it makes total sense how things played out given what we know about the handsome Lannister. Brienne fell for Jamie, but he’s said time and time again that everything he does, he does for Cersei. Even though Cersei didn’t want him to ride north, he did that for her too. He used Brienne, and we all should’ve seen it coming. This is a cautionary tale - you really can’t trust the pretty boys. More often than not, they are trouble.
When Tormund realizes she likes Jamie, he handles the rejection like a real man. Of course he’s upset, but he doesn’t go after Jamie to fight him, and he doesn’t harass Brienne endlessly hoping she’ll come around. No. He realizes she isn’t interested, and he lets go of the dream. It’s an incredibly hard thing to do, but he has the strength and character to do it. Brienne, you should’ve given him a chance. He’s a great man who wouldn’t have broken your heart. But, if you’re not into him, you’re not into him. Still, falling for Jamie was a huge mistake.
Speaking of mistakes, Gendry offering Arya a ladyship feels so horribly wrong. It’s as if he doesn’t know her at all. I couldn’t feel sympathy for him when Arya walks away. Sex is not the same thing as love.
At any rate, this week brings us to King’s Landing. Arya and The Hound head to the Red Keep to go after Cersei and The Mountain. For me, the two most touching moments of the episode involve The Hound. The first occurs when he talks Arya into walking away from her revenge plan. The second, when he dies to ensure the Mountain gets killed. I do wonder why he didn’t have that moment with Arya at some other point on their journey. It takes days to get to King’s Landing from Winterfell. He couldn’t have made that point before they were both in a city under siege?
I also feel a bit emotional when Tyrion releases Jamie and tells him how much Jamie has meant to him. It’s a nice moment between them.
Also, Tyrion’s moment with Varys after betraying him got to me a little. I am surprised to see Varys die, especially because Drogon takes his time after the command “Dracarys” is given.
Daenerys has the worst battle plans ever. I guess the Targaryens never kept books on strategy. Let’s fly straight at the ships with the scorpions on them. Luckily she and the dragon didn’t get hit, but still. I’m no expert on warfare, but maybe sneak in from the side instead of flying in straight on.
Overall, it seems entirely too easy for her to destroy King’s Landing. The single dragon destroys most of it. Did she need any troops? It seems she could’ve attacked with no armies, when she had all three dragons, and gotten the same result, so why did she waste so much time building an army? I expected more uncertainty in the battle, so the quickness and ease of it all feels a bit disappointing.
I had my theories on how Jamie would die, and Euron killing him had never even been in the running. But, maybe he’s not dead. Sure he’s been stabbed and an entire building just collapsed on him and Cersei, but maybe they’re still alive. Surely this isn’t the end of Cersei’s threat.
If it is, it’ll be an odd way to end her reign. Besides, it’s a little weird how neatly things wrap up. The Night King and his army were defeated in a single episode. If Cersei is defeated in a single episode, this means the finale will be Jon against Daenerys. It feels so compartmentalized. I want more blending.
I also have questions. Where’s Bronn? More importantly, where’s Brienne? I didn’t see her this episode, but surely she’s around and I just missed her. Part of me would love for her to be the one to kill that pretty Lannister heartbreaker and give a little catharsis for all of us who’ve been hurt.
Barbara Kennedy
aka Barbarella
