Game of Thrones – 6.10 – The Winds of
Winter
Holy shit.
What an outstanding season. This show
continues to top itself each year, this was perhaps the best finale they’ve
done: spectacle, suspense, surprise, revelation, gore, murder and a total
overpowering of the patriarchy. This episode contained a number of
extraordinary and satisfying moments and managed to make us hunger for season
seven without having to leave us dangling off any cliff-hangers like last year.
This was a finale that served as a perfect closing chapter to a brilliant
season and I can’t wait for the next one.
The soundtrack surpassed itself, the
opening sonata in King’s Landing is just absolutely phenomenal and has been heavily
rotating at my home since the episode. They definitely need to get Miguel Sapochnik
directing for every season. That entire sequence was brilliantly tense and a
dynamite way to open a finale. It is up there with Hold the Door as my
favourite moment of the season. In one fell swoop, so many characters just got
eliminated from Season 7! Tommen’s suicide was beautiful and artful. Pycelle’s
version of “For The Watch” seemed a little unnecessary. I appreciated that it
was a nod to the book but I don’t know why he was not made to blow up in the
Sept with everyone else: the Grand Maester didn’t appear to do anything
particularly reprehensible to Cersei to warrant this separate punishment so I’m
not sure why that’s there really other than to reference a moment from the
books (that actually happens to one of the characters IN the explosion). God
knows what’s happening to Septa Unella but I think I don’t need to add her to
next year’s league. I’m so pleased that this year I got to bust out the points
behemoth “is officially declared ruler of Westeros”, I wasn’t expecting any
character to gain it, but I’m pleased to bestow it on Cersei. Long may she
reign.
Arya said she was going to Winterfell,
but has instead stopped at the Twins to exact revenge on Walder Frey. I am glad
that she was the one to kill him as he deprived her (and us) of reuniting with
her mother and brother but I REALLY hope she finds out that Jon and Sansa are
at Winterfell and gets her arse back there instead of being consumed by
revenge. If she is heading north, it’s possible that she might cross paths with
the Brotherhood Without Banners and have a reunion with the Hound.
I also think that the Brotherhood may
run into Melisandre now that she has been banished south. With nowhere else to
go, it makes sense that she would look to finding another priest of R’hllor.
Melisandre did say back in season 3 that she and Arya will meet again - and The
Red Woman was on Arya’s list. Perhaps all three will clash at the same time and
Arya will kill Melisandre for abducting Gendry.
Jon’s exile of Melisandre was a good
call, honourable and decent: what you want in a leader. I am hoping that Sansa
can be as humble as Theon to stand aside and let the right person be in charge
but it doesn’t look like it. Littlefinger has sowed seeds of dissent and her
jealousy at not being given credit for rallying the Knights of the Vale could
break up this once happy pairing. And, er, you know, you’d probably get more
credit for getting the Vale Knights to turn up if you’d, you know, actually
told someone that they were coming, but whatever, Sansa.
And yet this whole power struggle for
Lord/Lady of Winterfell might just be moot as Bran has now made it to the Wall
and is heading south. He is the rightful heir of Winterfell so hopefully in
season seven he will claim his title and keep us in visions! There IS a
weirwood tree in the castle grounds, as we were reminded this episode, so
hopefully that will come into play next year. I thought the transition from
Lyanna’s baby to Kit Harington’s dark brown eyes was an exceptionally beautiful
moment, although predictable for most of us. While we know now for certain who
his mother is, what was missing from this revelation was the impact it has on
Bran. I’m not sure why the sound is muted when Lyanna is telling Ned what to
call her baby, whether it was to keep the identity a secret until the visual
cut to Jon or that his name might not actually be Jon. I hope the former as the
latter’s stupid. What will happen with this revelation next year? Perhaps Bran
returns to Winterfell and tells Jon about his mother, leading him on a quest to
find out who his father was, if not Ned...though at this point a large
percentage of the audience has already figured this out!
There is a theory that if the magic
that stopped the wights and White Walkers from entering the Three Eyed Raven’s
cave is the same as what prevents them from passing the Wall, Bran’s mark from
The Night King may result in those enchantments not working. However, we’ve
already seen those enchantments fail when Jon, Ghost and Jeor Mormont had a
wight fight in season one at Castle Black. For safety’s sake, Bran should
probably just have gone by boat around Eastwatch-by-the-Sea. In fact, I’m not
sure why no one has suggested this before: Bran’s arms work, it’s not like he
can’t row!
Filming restrictions at the Alcazar of Seville means that Dorne scenes are always hurried with
little time for pause. The new alliance between the Martells and the Tyrells
(well, Tyrell) should mean that the Sands will be travelling out of Sunspear,
allowing for some fleshed out scenes in the future.
The scene between Daenerys and Tyrion
was emotionally resonant and one of the finest in the series. They make
terrific scene partners, Clarke and Dinklage are at their best when they are
together and I’m encouraged at their alliance, crossing the Narrow Sea into
Westeros with a massive fleet, an army of Unsullied and Dothraki and three
bigass dragons.
I can’t wait to see Cersei’s face when
Tyrion turns up in King’s Landing with the posse. Ha!
But presumably, the Targaryen fleet
will get into an over water battle with Euron Greyjoy and his war machine
before that moment, with perhaps one of the dragons getting quite badly injured
or dying, so that the eventual fight against Cersei’s forces won’t be too
one-sided.
So, onto the scores for the finale:
Despite EIGHT fantasy league characters dying in this episode, this was the
second highest scoring episode of the season, behind The Door. You will learn
who the Season Six champion is after some final points on how some debatable
scores were permitted.
Possible points of contention:
Arya should have received Witnesses
Magic points for the Waif’s facial transformation back in episode seven. That
has been amended to her score for that episode.
Grand Maester Pycelle and Ser Loras
both get points for having the first line. Loras makes the first noise, Pycelle
is the first fantasy league character to speak a line of dialogue.
Kevan and Lancel gain points for
encountering each other for the first time this season, as do Mace Tyrell and
Ser Loras.
Arya gets haircut points for her
transformation before killing Walder Frey. She only gets minus points for
killing Frey, not his sons, as that occurs off screen.
There is sufficient walking and
plotting in the Winterfell gardens for Littlefinger to gain points for walking
around a garden plotting. However Sansa does no plotting so she does not get
points.
There is no walking in the Water
Gardens of Dorne so none of the Sandsnakes or Olenna can gain plotting points.
Sansa, Jon, Tormund and Davos gain
points for eating but not for drinking wine as its unclear what drink they have
in front of them.
Varys gets points for crossing the Narrow
Sea twice as he arrives in Dorne from Meereen then inexplicably is back in
Meereen in time for the end of the episode.
Grey Worm, Missandei and Tyrion get
points for encountering only Viserion and Rhaegal as they have recently had a
scene with Drogon. Varys, Yara and Theon get points for encountering all three
dragons.
The last spoken dialogue from a fantasy
league character is Qyburn crowning Cersei, but the last noise is from one of
the dragons and it is difficult to identify which. As such, Qyburn and all
three dragons gain points for having the last line of the episode.
Everyone in the final scene gets points
for being the last on screen as the final shot is a giant wide of the entire
area, so all arguably were the last on screen.
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 – Main Characters
Arya Stark – 65 points: appears
(+5), crosses the Narrow sea (+50), has a haircut (+20), kills someone (-10)
Bran Stark – 145 points: appears
(+5), rides horse (+10), has vision (+40), 3 X reunites with previously lost
blood relative (+30)
Cersei Lannister – 153 points:
appears (+5), first on screen (+15), drinks wine (+8), inflicts harm (-5), is
officially declared ruler of Westeros (+100), reunites with previously lost
blood relative (+30)
Daenerys Targaryen – 58 points:
appears (+5), drinks wine (+8), travels by boat (+15), last on screen (+30)
Jaime Lannister – 60 points:
appears (+5), rides horse (+10), visits King’s Landing (+15), reunites with
previously lost blood relative (+30)
Sansa Stark – 27 points: appears
(+5), has kiss (+15), eats (+7)
Tyrion Lannister – 98 points:
appears (+5), drinks wine (+8), travels by boat (+15), last on screen (+30) 2 X
encounters dragon (+20)
Group B – Supporting Mains
Margaery Tyrell – -25 points:
appears (+5), dies (-30)
Melisandre – 15 points: appears
(+5), rides horse (+10)
Petyr Baelish – 35 points:
appears (+5), walks around a garden plotting (+15), mentions Iron Throne (+15)
Samwell Tarly – 5 points:
appears (+5)
Ser Davos Seaworth – 23 points:
appears (+5), unsheafs sword (+10), eats (+7)
Theon Greyjoy – 110 points:
appears (+5), travels by boat (+15), last on screen (+30), 3 X encounters
dragon (+20)
Varys – 210 points: appears
(+5), 2 X crosses the Narrow Sea (+50) travels by boat (+15), last on screen
(+30), 3 X encounters dragon (+20)
Group C – Rest of the Mains
Daario Naharis – 13 points:
appears (+5), drinks wine (+8)
Ellaria Sand – 13 points:
appears (+5), drinks wine (+8)
Gilly – 5 points: appears (+5)
Missandei – 90 points: appears
(+5), travels by boat (+15), last on screen (+30) 2 X encounters dragon (+20)
Ser Bronn – 55 points: appears
(+5), drinks wine (+8), eats (+7), says C word (+10), rides horse (+10), visits
King’s Landing (+15)
Tommen Baratheon – -25 points:
appears (+5), dies (-30)
Tormund Giantsbane – 12 points:
appears (+5), eats (+7)
Group D – Side Characters
Grand Maester Pycelle – -15
points: appears (+5), first line (+10), dies (-30)
Grey Worm – 90 points: appears
(+5), travels by boat (+15), last on screen (+30) 2 X encounters dragon (+20)
High Sparrow – -25 points:
appears (+5), dies (-30)
Meera Reed – 35 points: appears
(+5), witnesses magic (+30)
Obara Sand – 5 points: appears
(+5)
Olenna Tyrell – 5 points:
appears (+5)
Tyene Sand – 5 points: appears
(+5)
Group E – Side Characters to the Side
Characters
Kevan Lannister – 5 points:
appears (+5), reunites with previously lost blood relative (+30), dies (-30)
Lancel Lannister – 0 points:
appears (+5), reunites with previously lost blood relative (+30), gets injured
(-5), dies (-30)
Mace Tyrell – 5 points: appears
(+5), reunites with previously lost blood relative (+30), dies (-30)
Nymeria Sand – 5 points: appears
(+5)
Ser Loras Tyrell – 10 points: appears
(+5), first line (+10), reunites with previously lost blood relative (+30),
gets injured (-5), dies (-30)
Group F – Weirdos
Qyburn – 25 points: appears
(+5), last line (+20)
Ser Robert Strong – 5 points:
appears (+5)
Group G – Animals
Drogon – 55 points: appears
(+5), last line (+20), last on screen (+30)
Rhaegal – 55 points: appears
(+5), last line (+20), last on screen (+30)
Viserion – 55 points: appears
(+5), last line (+20), last on screen (+30)
Group H – Definitely Dead?
Benjen Stark – 15 points:
appears (+5), rides horse (+10)
Jon Snow – 67 points: appears
(+5), has kiss (+15), appears in vision (+40), eats (+7)
Group I – Where are these fuckers?
Yara Greyjoy – 110 points:
appears (+5), travels by boat (+15), last on screen (+30), 3 X encounters
dragon (+20)
The Leaderboard
Players can see their scores by
consulting their initials in the table below. This week’s points champion is AA
who managed to claw her way into the top five with this episode’s highest score
of 493!
I would also like to give praise to
RCB, HC, DT, AA, SR, YD, MS, LH, AB and NA for managing to avoid getting a
negative score for any episode this season!
This year’s wooden spoon goes to JM
whose poor team made him score negative points for all but three episodes, leaving
him stranded on minus points until finally the finale which brought him to an
overall total of 99 points.
…and the winner of the Game of Thrones
Fantasy League Season Six is…CH! After blazing ahead with gaining nearly 900
points for episode five, it remained all but impossible to catch up with her
for the rest of the season. This was an outstanding achievement, considering
that she was one of the few players to have not picked Jon Snow for her team.
Had she done so, she would have had even more of an unbeatable lead. Absolutely
well done, CH, I will be in touch about your prizes very soon!
