The Game of Thrones Fantasy League – 8.03 – The Long Night

Game of Thrones – 8.03 – The Long Night

Ah wow, I guessed right about the title of this episode!

This was a juggernaut of an episode and one of the trickiest to record scores for. There has never been television on a scale like this. Has there been anything as metal as seeing two dragons claw out the throat of an ice zombie dragon? This episode contained some extraordinary grace notes: I just love Jon entering Winterfell as dozens of wights precipitate behind him; the smirk the Night King gives as he emerges from the dragonfire unscathed; his “come at me bro” ¯\_(“”)_/¯ pose; Jon coming out to face Viserion; Daenerys picking up and wielding a sword; Lyanna Mormont’s glorious charge; Beric’s sword throw; the wights scrabbling over Drogon like frenzied ants; the Deakins-esque illumination of the fog with fire; and Arya’s checkmate dagger move.

I could have done with some more meaty combat from the point of view of Brienne, Jamie, Pod, Tormund and Gendry, however. Bran was totally useless. His warging assisted in no way, and he could have at least tried to distract TNK when Arya was sneaking up. I like Missandei defending Daenerys. It’s hard not to think of Sansa as a resentful Leave voter at the moment. As much as she wants the North to break away from the Seven Kingdoms, the North only wanted their independence when their only option was to pay fealty to the boy king who had executed their Warden, Ned Stark. An option, lest Sansa forget, that she urged the Starks to agree to! The circumstances are completely different now and although a woman of the North saved everyone this night, they’d have been totally fucked without Daenerys’ armies. I really think Arya also deserves to be knighted after her supreme kill this episode.

One more star deserving of recognition for this episode is Ramin Djawadi. His music in this episode was an absolute gift. I loved the apocalyptic reworking of the Army of the Dead theme as the battle is ramping up and the return use of piano during the last fifteen minutes of the episode was an all timer that ranks alongside Light of the Seven as the best of the series. Both tracks share a glimmer of the title theme (where Margaery tries to push through the Sparrows; here, when Theon gets impaled), the use of which is just marvellous. Put him and director Miguel Sapochnik together and you have a marriage of musical and visual ecstasy. They reteam one last time for the penultimate episode of this season and I find myself most excited and hopeful that we get one more glorious symphony before the end.

Possible points of contention

As in the last two seasons, encounters/kills wight, encounters/kills white walker are capped at five times.

The last time we had seen Melisandre, she announced her plans to visit Volantis. That occurred offscreen and between seasons so she would not gain points for crossing the Narrow Sea to go there. However, she does gain points for crossing the Narrow Sea back to visit Westeros in this episode.

No one gains points for Beric’s sword igniting as that happens off screen.

Only Jon and Ser Jorah are shown withdrawing their swords from their scabbards so they are the only characters to gain points for doing so. Brienne, Jaime etc all apparently draw their swords off screen.

Ser Jorah and Ghost are at the forefront of the Dothraki army’s charge making them the only characters to gain points for leading an army into battle. Grey Worm, Lyanna, Tormund, Theon and Brienne have command of armies but as they are on the defence, this does not count as leading into battle. The Night King, Jon and Dany are far away from the fray when battle commences so none of them gain points.

Witnesses magic occurred five times during the episode, keeping track of who witnesses what was tricky.

• Melisandre lighting the arakhs – witnessed by Melisandre, Ser Jorah, Ghost, Arya, Sansa, Ser Davos, Grey Worm, Brienne, Jaime, Podrick, Dolorous Edd, Samwell, Gendry, Sandor, Tormund, Beric, Jon, Daenerys
• Melisandre lighting the trench – witnessed by Melisandre, Sandor, Grey Worm, Daenerys, Drogon, Jon, Rhaegal, Ser Davos, Arya, Ser Jorah, Beric (no points for Jaime, Brienne, Podrick, Samwell, Tormund, Gendry, Bran, Theon or Lyanna as they are within the walls of Winterfell)
• Theon seeing Bran warg – witnessed by Theon (not Bran, as his eyes are elsewhere)
• The Night King raising the dead – witnessed by The Night King, Jon, Jaime, Brienne, Podrick, Samwell, Grey Worm, Tormund, Gendry, Gilly, Tyrion, Sansa, Missandei, Varys (Daenerys sees wights spring to life after they fall off Drogon, but I don’t believe the wights had died from their fall, so she does not gain points)
• Melisandre’s glamour dissolving – witnessed by Melisandre, Ser Davos

The Night King gains points for killing wights as he commands them to impale themselves on the flaming trench.

The dragons gain points for encountering each other as relatives but do not gain points for encountering each other as dragons. Encountering the dragons was also difficult to document.

• Drogon and Rhaegal – encountered by Bran, Jaime, Brienne, Sam, Theon, Gendry, Melisandre, Tormund, Beric, Edd, Podrick, Lyanna, Ghost and The Night King (everyone else is in the crypt or has already encountered them)
• Viserion – encountered by Bran, Daenerys, Jon, Jaime, Brienne, Sam, Ser Davos, Ser Jorah, Theon, Gendry, Tormund, Grey Worm, Podrick (By the time Viserion flies directly over Winterfell, Arya, Melisandre and Sandor are indoors, Beric, Edd and Lyanna are dead, Ghost hasn’t returned to Winterfell)

Viserion’s blue flames appear to take out both living and dead soldiers, docking him points for humans and gaining him points for wights.

Lyanna takes out a giant wight, which deserves double what you would normally get for killing a wight.

Melisandre’s recitation of her prophesy to Arya spurs her on to kill The Night King, this is enough to gain her points for making an inspiring speech. Conversely, Bran’s compliment and thanks to Theon don’t count as I believe Theon was already inspired to die for him. Beric’s encouragement of the Hound is a little bit more of a grey area but I will not award points as his words do not carry enough weight to count as a speech.

Lyanna and Edd die twice during this episode but as you lose so many points for dying, I’m capping that at once per episode. The Night King and Viserion still lose points for dying.

Sam lies on a pile of writhing bodies while stabbing them, which gains him crowdsurfing points.

Arya takes out the Night King, which deserves 100 points. This is included in her 5 kills cap. Several white walkers die because of this, they are also included in her 5 kill cap.

All survivors gain points for winning the battle. Ser Jorah and Melisandre die after the battle ends so they still gain these points.

Bran and Drogon both gain last line points as Bran has the last line of dialogue and Drogon makes the last noise.

Melisandre’s costume slips off her torso, giving her nudity points. Her hair colour changes from red to white, also giving her points for hair changing colour.

Character Scores

Here is a full list of the characters and their awarded points. If one of your characters does not appear in the following lists, this is due to their absence from the episode, for which you shall be deducted five points per character:

Group A

Bran Stark – 445 points: appears (+5), wargs into animal (+30), 3x encounters dragon (+20), 5x encounters wight (+20), 5x encounters white walker (+40), wins battle (+40), last line (+10)

Daenerys Targaryen – 520 points: appears (+5), 2x witnesses magic (+30), 5x encounters wight (+20), rides dragon (+20), 5x kills wight (+15), encounters dragon (+20), 5x encounters white walker (+40), wins battle (+40)

Jon Snow – 560 points: appears (+5), 3x witnesses magic (+30), 5x encounters wight (+20), rides dragon (+20), 5x kills wight (+15), encounters dragon (+20), 5x encounters white walker (+40), unsheafs sword (+10), wins battle (+40)

Group B

Arya Stark – 855 points: appears (+5), 2x witnesses magic (+30), 5x encounters wight (+20), 5x kills wight (+15), gets injured (-5), encounters dragon (+20), 5x encounters white walker (+40), 5x kills a white walker (+65[+35 Night King bonus]), wins battle (+40)

Jaime Lannister – 335 points: appears (+5), 2x witnesses magic (+30), 5x encounters wight (+20), 5x kills wight (+15), 3x encounters dragon (+20), gets injured (-5), wins battle (+40)

Sansa Stark – 220 points: appears (+5), 2x witnesses magic (+30), 5x encounters wight (+20), gets kissed (+15), wins battle (+40)

Tyrion Lannister – 206 points: appears (+5), 5x encounters wight (+20), 2x drinks wine (+8), witnesses magic (+30), has kiss (+15), wins battle (+40)

Group C

Brienne of Tarth – 335 points: appears (+5), 2x witnesses magic (+30), 5x encounters wight (+20), 3x encounters dragon (+20), 5x kills wight (+15), gets injured (-5), wins battle (+40)

Samwell Tarly – 390 points: appears (+5), first on screen (+15), 2x witnesses magic (+30), 5x encounters wight (+20), 3x encounters dragon (+20), 5x kills wight (+15), gets injured (-5), crowdsurfs (+40), wins battle (+40)

Ser Davos Seaworth – 255 points: appears (+5), 3x witnesses magic (+30), 5x encounters wight (+20), encounters dragon (+20), wins battle (+40)

Ser Jorah Mormont – 310 points: appears (+5), rides horse (+10), 2x witnesses magic (+30), unsheafs sword (+10), leads army into battle (+25), 5x encounters wight (+20), 5x kills wight (+15), encounters dragon (+20), gets injured (-5), dies (-30), wins battle (+40)

Theon Greyjoy – 440 points: appears (+5), witnesses magic (+30), 5x encounters wight (+20), 5x kills wight (+15), 3x encounters dragon (+20), 5x encounters white walker (+40), dies (-30)

Varys – 175 points: appears (+5), 5x encounters wight (+20), witnesses magic (+30), wins battle (+40)

Group D

Gendry – 340 points: appears (+5), 2x witnesses magic (+30), 5x encounters wight (+20), 5x kills wight (+15), 3x encounters dragon (+20), wins battle (+40)

Gilly – 175 points: appears (+5), 5x encounters wight (+20), witnesses magic (+30), wins battle (+40)

Melisandre – 475 points: appears (+5), crosses Narrow Sea (+50), rides horse (+10), 2x communicates with deity (+15), 3x witnesses magic (+30), 5x encounters wight (+20), 5x kills wight (+15), 2x encounters dragon (+20), makes inspiring speech (+20), wins battle (+40), hair changes colour (+15), gets naked (+15), dies (-30), last on screen (+15)

Missandei – 175 points: appears (+5), 5x encounters wight (+20), witnesses magic (+30), wins battle (+40)

Sandor Clegane – 280 points: appears (+5), 2x witnesses magic (+30), 5x encounters wight (+20), 5x kills wight (+15), wins battle (+40)

Tormund Giantsbane – 340 points: appears (+5), 2x witnesses magic (+30), 5x encounters wight (+20), 3x encounters dragon (+20), 5x kills wight (+15), wins battle (+40)

Group E

Beric Dondarrion – 245 points: appears (+5), 2x witnesses magic (+30), 5x encounters wight (+20), 2x encounters dragon (+20), 5x kills wight (+15), gets injured (-5), dies (-30)

Dolorus Edd – 265 points: appears (+5), witnesses magic (+30), 5x encounters wight (+20), 2x encounters dragon (+20), 5x kills wight (+15), dies (-30), comes back from the dead (+45)

Grey Worm – 330 points: appears (+5), 3x witnesses magic (+30), 5x encounters wight (+20), 5x kills wight (+15), encounters dragon (+20), wins battle (+40)

Lyanna Mormont – 195 points: appears (+5), first line (+10), 5x encounters wight (+20), 2x encounters dragon (+20), gets injured (-5), kills giant wight (+30), dies (-30), comes back from the dead (+45)

Podrick Payne – 340 points: appears (+5), 2x witnesses magic (+30), 5x encounters wight (+20), 5x kills wight (+15), 3x encounters dragon (+20), wins battle (+40),

The Night King – 120 points: appears (+5), 5x kills wight (+15), rides dragon (+20), 2x encounters dragon (+20), witnesses magic (+30), 2x kills someone (-10), dies (-30)

Group F

Drogon – 485 points: appears (+5), witnesses magic (+30), 5x encounters white walker (+40), 5x encounters wight (+20), 5x kills wight (+15), encounters previously lost blood relative (+30), gets injured (-5), wins battle (+40), last line (+10),

Ghost – 240 points: appears (+5), witnesses magic (+30), leads army into battle (+25), 5x encounters wight (+20), 2x encounters dragon (+20), wins battle (+40)

Rhaegal – 475 points: appears (+5), witnesses magic (+30), 5x encounters wight (+20), 5x kills wight (+15), 5x encounters white walker (+40), encounters previously lost blood relative (+30), gets injured (-5), wins battle (+40)

Viserion – 85 points: appears (+5), 2x encounters previously lost blood relative (+30), 2x kills someone (-10), 5x kills wight (+15), gets injured (-5), dies (-30)

Mid-season review

At this halfway point in the game, let’s see what character choices would gain you the most points:

Jon Snow – 890 points

Arya Stark – 1058 points

Jaime Lannister – 438 points

Theon Greyjoy – 517 points

Melisandre – 465 points

Grey Worm – 380 points

Drogon – 492 points

Lyanna Stark – 35 points

Any Group H character – -15 points

This combo of characters in conjunction with episode 3 as a Joker would gain you 11,200 points! With two of those characters now dead it’s likely that this lineup will be different once we reach the end of the series.

Conversely, here’s the worst performers in their groups:

Bran Stark – 530 points

Cersei Lannister – 22 points

Tyrion Lannister – 329 points

Varys – 215 points

Ser Bronn – 53 points

Ser Gregor Clegane – -5 points

Ser Pounce/Nymeria – -15 points

Aerys/Catelyn/Rhaegar/Robert/Brynden/Syrio – -15 points

Any Group H character – -15 points

That’s a dismal 884 points! Thankfully all of us have reached at least quadruple digits by this point.

The Leaderboard

Congratulations to JB who gained the most points this week with 9,498! This shoots him to top place with a lead of over 500 points.

As horrifying as it is to say, if you’ve already had your Joker episode and you’re still circling the bottom of the board, the chances of breaking into the top tier are rather slim. Stranger things have happened, though! The league is half over and there’s just one more triple Joker left. Now that wights/white walkers are out of play, can any of the rest of us claw our way to the top? Find out next week with episode 8.04!

The Game of Thrones Fantasy League – 8.02 – A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms

Game of Thrones – 8.02 – A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms

There is a disagreement in Thrones fandom about what the show should be, people talking in rooms or ice zombies and dragons. I personally enjoy a healthy dose of both and it’s wonderful that before we’re hit with the inevitable spectacle of next week, we’re served with this elegant and wistful episode that focuses on these characters’ complexities. However, this doesn’t transfer so healthily in terms of fantasy league points as this episode scraped just over half of what the first episode got.

It’s quite nice that this episode is titled “A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms”, referring to Brienne, as that is also the name of GRRM’s chronicles about Ser Duncan the Tall, who has been hinted in the books as an ancestor of Brienne’s. Everyone keeps saying that people will be safe in the crypt: please, if you’re about to face off with someone who can bring people back from the dead, sheltering alongside a bunch of skeletons is definitely not the place to be, no matter how brave Davos’ Shireen substitute is.

Death predictions for next week: I think the only safe person is the Hound as it would be narrative blue balls if he didn’t get to kill his brother. Perhaps he will also learn to overcome his fear of fire as it’s going to save his life against various wights. Other than him, I kinda think everyone else is fair game, it is the final season after all. The show’s arguably been pretty toothless since resurrecting Jon, now’s the time to get ruthless. I’m most worried about Theon, Brienne and Jaime, though. I’m fairly sure the show will want to break our hearts so I can easily picture some of these fallen warriors getting reanimated as wights.

Possible points of contention

Jaime and Tyrion do not get points for encountering each other as they both knew where each other were since they last saw each other. You may be wondering why Sansa, Lyanna and Jon gained these points last week as Jon would have known Sansa and Lyanna to be at Winterfell. Since he last saw them he’d been involved in a battle elsewhere, facing uncertain death, which automatically updates his status to “lost”. As Jaime and Tyrion hadn’t fought any battles and knew where they were, they do not count as lost relatives.

Although Bran is seated away from the map of armies, he can be seen looking at it during the scene.

Jaime’s invocation of some of the Holy Seven while knighting Brienne counts as communicating with a deity.

During Jorah and Lyanna’s argument, neither of them refute what the other is saying, so they do not gain points for disagreeing with each other.

Jorah partially withdraws Heartsbane from its scabbard, which is enough to gain him points for doing so.

Neither “Aegon Targaryen” nor “Jon Snow” count for false name points.

None of the characters so far qualify for encountering the white walkers at the end of the episode as they’re too far away.

Character Scores

Here is a full list of the characters and their awarded points. If one of your characters does not appear in the following lists, this is due to their absence from the episode, for which you shall be deducted five points per character:

Group A

Bran Stark – 20 points: appears (+5), grimly surveys map of armies (+15),

Daenerys Targaryen – 135 points: appears (+5), first line (+10), 4xmentions Iron Throne (+15), grimly surveys map of armies (+15), mentions Rhaegar (+25), disagrees with relative (+10), last line (+10)

Jon Snow – 90 points: appears (+5), mentions dragonglass (+10), mentions Valyrian steel (+10), grimly surveys map of armies (+15), mentions Lyanna (+25), mentions Rhaegar (+25)

Group B

Arya Stark – 78 points: appears (+5), grimly surveys map of armies (+15), drinks wine (+8), has kiss (+15), gets naked (+15), has sex (+20)

Jaime Lannister – 88 points: appears (+5), first on screen (+15), grimly surveys map of armies (+15), drinks wine (+8), disagrees with relative (+10), unsheafs sword (+10), communicates with deity (+15), says episode title (+10)

Sansa Stark – 27 points: appears (+5), grimly surveys map of armies (+15), eats (+7)

Tyrion Lannister – 73 points: appears (+5), 3xdisagrees with relative (+10), grimly surveys map of armies (+15), drinks wine (+8), last on screen (+15)

Group C

Brienne of Tarth – 38 points: appears (+5), grimly surveys map of armies (+15), turns down wine (+10), drinks wine (+8)

Samwell Tarly – 30 points: appears (+5), grimly surveys map of armies (+15), mentions Valyrian steel (+10)

Ser Davos Seaworth – 38 points: appears (+5), grimly surveys map of armies (+15), turns down wine (+10), drinks wine (+8)

Ser Jorah Mormont – 40 points: appears (+5), grimly surveys map of armies (+15), unsheafs sword (+10), rides horse (+10)

Theon Greyjoy – 27 points: appears (+5), grimly surveys map of armies (+15), eats (+7)

Varys – 20 points: appears (+5), grimly surveys map of armies (+15)

Group D

Gendry – 55 points: appears (+5), has kiss (+15), gets naked (+15), has sex (+20)

Gilly – 5 points: appears (+5)

Missandei – 20 points: appears (+5), has kiss (+15)

Sandor Clegane – 13 points: appears (+5), drinks wine (+8)

Tormund Giantsbane – 30 points: appears (+5), grimly surveys map of armies (+15), turns down wine (+10)

Group E

Beric Dondarrion – 28 points: appears (+5), grimly surveys map of armies (+15), drinks wine (+8)

Dolorus Edd – 5 points: appears (+5)

Grey Worm – 35 points: appears (+5), grimly surveys map of armies (+15), has kiss (+15)

Lyanna Mormont – 20 points: appears (+5), grimly surveys map of armies (+15)

Podrick Payne – 31 points: appears (+5), drinks wine (+8), sings (+18)

Group F

Ghost – 5 points: appears (+5)

Group G

Lyanna Stark – 5 points: appears (+5)

The Leaderboard

Congratulations to AP who is this week’s points champion, gaining 1038 points, which pushes him up to first place with a total of 1550! That was his Joker at work, quite a gamble to use it so early on, but chances are any later on in the season, quite a few characters might be already dead.

Check back here next week for the results of the as yet unnamed episode 8.03, which surely must be titled “The Long Night”?

The Game of Thrones Fantasy League – 8.01 – Winterfell

Game of Thrones – 8.01 – Winterfell

Yaaaaay, the show has returned! A huge thank you the whopping 49 players who’ve chosen to compete in the last ever Game of Thrones fantasy league. Brace yourselves for a dramatic season! The premiere had a really strong showing for points, 1326 gained in total, thanks to all those reunions!

So much happened in this premiere, there’s a lot to chew on. First and foremost, I’m most troubled at how Cersei is back on the wine. She had been abstaining during season 7 as she was pregnant. However she only volunteered that information to her brothers, was that just a manipulative lie? Or is she actually pregnant and just pretending to Euron that she’s not in order to pass the parentage of her new incest-borne child off as someone who’s not her brother? Having new opening titles makes sense, I like that we now have some scale of how many stairs are in the Tower of the Hand at the Red Keep. Who knew Theon’s rescue mission would resolve so quickly? All the quicker to get him to Winterfell but I hope this is not the last of Yara! Theon going to Winterfell makes it look like he is in for a redemptive and heroic death. Bit of an underwhelming non-reaction about the news that Viserion is undead and under dominion of the Night King from Dany. You could probably chalk it up to having no idea who Bran is but it’s a shame this isn’t further discussed in the episode. The scene at Last Hearth was petrifying, especially as I was watching with a crowd on a big screen, I’m still haunted by the screams. I love the messiness of Samwell’s situation, I didn’t see that coming. I’m pleased that finally someone other than Sansa is challenging Jon now. Terrific steps forward in the narrative with Jon learning to ride a dragon and who his parents are, I’m very hungry for next week’s episode!

It’s disappointing to see that Jon is making the same mistakes that got him killed the first time. He doesn’t seem to have learned that in this war torn world, when your leadership is not supported, your followers will abandon you, no fucks given. When he invited the wildlings south of the wall, he expected the brothers of the Night’s Watch to accept it because the clear alternative is death at the hands of the Night King and his army. He overestimated the obedience and future-planning of his followers and they killed him. Here he is again, now resurrected and presenting his new followers with a parallel situation and employing the same method. He’s so certain that his people will abandon their entrenched prejudices and self-interests because that’s the only way they can survive this war. That’s never the case, as history shows. Unfortunately, despite being given a strong lesson that disillusioned and prejudiced people are blind to thinking about the future, he’s heading for another harsh lesson. He’ll be lucky to survive past the first half of this season. For this reason, despite all the Chosen One narrative swirling around him, I believe Jon would be a poor ruler of the Seven Kingdoms. I think the easiest way out of this knot is if he were to fall in battle if/when the Army of the Dead reach Winterfell.

Possible points of contention

Despite Jon’s newfound Targaryen lineage, the Stark siblings count as his blood relatives as they are now his cousins. Daenerys is the Stark siblings’ aunt by marriage so they do not gain points for interacting with each other.

Sansa and Arya gain points for encountering the two dragons but they are the only two to gain points as we do not see anyone else at Winterfell react to them. Everyone in Daenerys’ retinue does not gain points as it’s clear the dragons have been travelling with them.

Jon kisses Bran’s forehead upon seeing him, giving them both kissing points.

I looked very hard but couldn’t find any shot where Davos was arriving at Winterfell on a horse, so he misses out on those points.

Although they do not interact, Ser Jorah and Lyanna Mormont gain points for encountering each other.

Lyanna’s criticism of Jon provokes a fritter of murmurs from the other lords, but that’s not enough to give her points for making an inspiring speech.

Jon goes to the godswood but as he’s not explicitly praying, he does not gain points for communing with a deity.

As the Golden Company are from Essos, we can assume that Euron has crossed the Narrow Sea to come back with them. As Yara is on the boat with him, we can also assume that she also accompanied him on his journey.

I can’t tell for sure, but I believe that is a brothel, not Bronn’s house, giving him and Qyburn brothel points.

The prostitute pulls down Bronn’s trousers which is sufficient for nudity points.

Although it is callously interrupted after a few cursory thrusts, Bronn gains points for having sex.

Cersei and Euron gain sex points but not nudity as we can’t tell if they were naked when doing so.

Euron’s boat being moored in Blackwater Bay means that Yara and Theon gain points for visiting Kings Landing.

Yara’s headbutt is so powerful that Theon is knocked to his feet, docking them both for injuries.

Although they’re technically in a courtyard, Tyrion Davos and Varys gain points for walking around a garden plotting.

Sansa, Jon and Arya miss out on disagree with relative points, as they don’t technically refute each other’s statements.

When Daenerys meets Sam, she interrupts him as his head is over a book, giving him “studies book” points

Jon gains relative points for visiting Eddard’s bones. Lyanna’s tomb is featured too, so they gain appearance points and points for encountering Jon too.

Tormund, Edd and Beric gain witnesses magic points for witnessing Beric’s sword light up. They do not get witnesses magic points for seeing the wight come back to life as the boy had been reanimated before they arrived.

Jaime’s sigh as he gets off his horse at the end of the episode is not sufficiently audible for him to gain last line points. This instead goes to Tormund.

Character Scores

Here is a full list of the characters and their awarded points. If one of your characters does not appear in the following lists, this is due to their absence from the episode, for which you shall be deducted five points per character:

Group A

Bran Stark – 65 points: appears (+5), encounters previously lost blood relative (+30), has kiss (+15), last on screen (+15)

Daenerys Targaryen – 55 points: appears (+5), rides horse (+10), rides dragon (+25), has kiss (+15)

Jon Snow – 240 points: appears (+5), rides horse (+10), 5x encounters previously lost blood relative (+30), 2x has kiss (+15), mentions episode title (+10), unsheaves sword (+10), rides dragon (+25)

Group B

Arya Stark – 125 points: appears (+5), first on screen of premiere (+30), 2x encounters dragon (+20), encounters previously lost blood relative (+30), unsheaves sword (+10), mentions Valyrian steel (+10)

Cersei Lannister – 32 points: appears (+5), has sex (+20), drinks wine (+8)

Jaime Lannister – 15 points: appears (+5), rides horse (+10)

Sansa Stark – 85 points: appears (+5), 2x encounters dragon (+20), encounters previously lost blood relative (+30), mentions episode title (+10)

Tyrion Lannister – 50 points: appears (+5), first line of premiere (+20), mentions episode title (+10), walks around a garden plotting (+15)

Group C

Brienne of Tarth – 5 points: appears (+5)

Samwell Tarly – 83 points: appears (+5), studies a book (+13), mentions lyanna (+25), mentions Rhaegar (+25), mentions Iron Throne (+15)

Ser Davos Seaworth – 20 points: appears (+5), walks around a garden plotting (+15)

Ser Jorah Mormont – 45 points: appears (+5), rides horse (+10), encounters previously lost blood relative (+30)

Theon Greyjoy – 50 points: appears (+5), kills someone (-10), travels by boat (+15), visits Kings Landing (+15), encounters previously lost blood relative (+30), gets injured (-5)

Varys – 20 points: appears (+5), walks around a garden plotting (+15)

Group D

Gendry – 35 points: appears (+5), rides horse (+10), mentions dragonglass (+10), mentions Valyrian steel (+10)

Missandei – 15 points: appears (+5), rides horse (+10)

Sandor Clegane – 15 points: appears (+5), rides horse (+10)

Ser Bronn – 63 points: appears (+5), visits brothel (+15), gets naked (+15), has sex (+20), drinks wine (+8)

Tormund Giantsbane – 85 points: appears (+5), unsheaves sword (+10), witnesses magic (+30), mentions episode title (+10), encounters wight (+20), last line of episode (+10)

Group E

Beric Dondarrion – 70 points: appears (+5), unsheaves sword (+10), witnesses magic (+30), encounters wight (+20), kills wight (+15)

Dolorus Edd – 55 points: appears (+5), witnesses magic (+30), encounters wight (+20)

Euron Greyjoy – 105 points: appears (+5), crosses Narrow Sea (+50), travels by boat (+15), visits Kings Landing (+15), has sex (+20)

Grey Worm – 15 points: appears (+5), rides horse (+10)

Lyanna Mormont – 45 points: appears (+5), encounters previously lost blood relative (+30), mentions episode title (+10)

Podrick Payne – 5 points: appears (+5)

Qyburn – 20 points: appears (+5), visits brothel (+15)

Ser Gregor Clegane – 5 points: appears (+5)

Yara Greyjoy – 120 points: appears (+5), crosses Narrow Sea (+50), travels by boat (+15), visits Kings Landing (+15), encounters previously lost blood relative (+30), inflicts harm (-5), mentions episode title (+10)

Group F

Drogon – 12 points: appears (+5), eats (+7)

Rhaegal – 12 points: appears (+5), eats (+7)

Group G

Eddard Stark – 35 points: appears (+5), encounters previously lost blood relative (+30)

Lyanna Stark – 35 points: appears (+5), encounters previously lost blood relative (+30)

The Leaderboard

Congratulations to SV who hits first place this week with 680 points! She finished season 7 in second place and it looks like once again she has made some wise choices.

It will be interesting to see if this lead can hold next week when we start getting into the Joker episodes. See you back here next week for episode 8.02!