Unsullied Recap, Game of Thrones Season 6 Episode 10: The Winds of Winter

Spoiler note: The discussion in this post is primarily for non-book readers as well as viewers who have NOT been spoiled by leaks (book fans can discuss the show-only here). We ask that all Sullied book-readers refrain from posting spoilers in the comments here, veiled or otherwise. No spoilers, at all! This show is best viewed without knowing all the surprises beforehand or afterwards, so please be respectful of your fellow fans. Thank you!

While in King’s Landing, be sure to visit the historic Sept of Baelor. It’s a blast! – King’s Landing Commerce and Tourism Guide

Welcome to final, unadulterated Unsullied recap of Season 6. A man is truly at a loss for words other than the usual four-letter expletives that naturally come to mind.

Not only did the finale live up to the hype train, it gave us plenty to discuss during the nine and a half long months of darkness. Enter at your own risk… it’s about to get hot.

So, I’ll start with this… last night’s episode gave us an enormous of amount of information that will likely lead to an unprecedented number of possibilities at to what may follow in the final two seasons. There is no way in hell to go into all of it on this post, so I won’t even make an attempt.

This is simply to recap and discuss what transpired in the 68 minutes of awesomeness we witnessed last night/early this morning. We’ve got plenty of time to guesstimate where it all may lead. And we will, which is exactly the reason you should stick around during the off-season.

So let’s go…

 

Angry Birds in King’ Landing

If you were one of the many that speculated that Cersei would light a match to the motherfucker, then pat yourself on the back. But she didn’t take it all out. She had to leave herself a kingdom to rule.

The beginning of the episode was absolutely stunning. From the wardrobes to the music to the various character preparations, you knew that something historic to the world of ice and fire was about to transpire.

Loras was broken completely, and would admit to all of his transgressions with no trial necessary. Of course, noticeably absent were the King and his mother. When Tommen finally decided it was time to go, he was blocked by the Mountain. At that point, it was only a matter of time.

Pycelle would be stopped by a whispering child and lured into the lair of the mad scientist. Instead of letting him burn with the others, Qyburn apparently wanted the joy of watching Pycelle die at knifepoint, compliments of his angry birds.

Another angry bird is seen running out of the Sept and pursued by Lancel Sandwich. And as you are all aware, what he saw wasn’t good. Lancel is stabbed and painfully crawls to find candles sitting in a pool of wildfire. The rest is history.

Margaery realizes that all of the occupants of the Sept are in danger and pleads with the High Sparrow to take action and to evacuate. But in true faith militant fashion, the crowd is blocked in including Kevan Lannister, Loras, Margaery and Mace Tyrell.

Arguably the biggest surprise to me was that Marg didn’t get out. The curtain call list 20 minutes in was already a mile long.

Shortly after the faith inferno, Cersei has her favorite Septa chained down. After they share a glass of wine, Cersei then gives the Mountain the gift of Unella. Brutal.

Of course, the real tragedy here is Tommen. I think Ozzette shed a tear and tried to hide it. But this innocent kid never had a chance.

Frey Party

The Freys and the Lannisters celebrate their victory in taking back Riverrun. But Jaime is not in a celebratory mood. He was chipper enough to set up Bronn with a couple of nice ladies but when Walder sits down, Jaime would not be as cordial. Jaime questions whether Walder ever had to personally fight for anything and why the Lannisters needed the Freys at all.

Later on, a server that had been staring at Jaime brings Walder some finger-licking good pie. When Walder asks where his sons are, the server tells him that they are already there and reveals that she is Arya Stark. And all of a sudden, the list got shorter.

Citadel Sam

Sam, Gilly, and baby Sam arrive at the impressive landscape of the Oldtown and are greeted at the welcome center by Bean.

Sam is allowed access to the grandiose Citadel library where I was convinced that his father Randyll was going to cut his head off and reclaim the family sword. But thankfully Sam will live to see Season 7. And Gilly and the baby will reside in the welcome center lobby with Bean while Sam begins his studies.

The New King in the North

After finding out what really happened to Shireen, Davos confronts Velvet and makes her admit it to Jon. As punishment, Jon commands her to ride south and Davos threatens that if she ever returns that he will execute her himself.

Later, Littlefinger would admit to Sansa that what he really wants (and what we have assumed for quite some time) is the Iron Throne with her by his side. He tells her that he has pledged the Knights of the Vale to the Starks and makes it clear that she should be the leader rather than the “motherless boy from the south.”

In a meeting of the northern houses, the young Lady Mormont once again proves to be the biggest man in the room and pledges her loyalty to Jon and House Stark, even though Jon is technically not a Stark. She declares Jon the King in the North and Manderly and Glover admit they made a mistake by not supporting him.

Of course, this didn’t work out quite the way Littlefinger had planned. I’m not going to delve into deep speculation here, but Sansa is obviously concerned about the presence of Lysakiller. I told you Baelish wasn’t done yet.

Goodbye Again, Benjen

Benjen drops off Bran and Meera near the Wall and bids them farewell while telling them that he will do his best in fighting for the living.

Bran almost immediately touches the weirwood and continues his vision from the tower to learn the true parentage of Jon. And finally, the theory is confirmed.

Congratulations to everyone who figured this one out (especially the book readers who have been fretting over this for YEARS). Keep in mind that this is a shock to many viewers of the show who had very little reason to believe that Jon was someone other than Ned Stark’s bastard.

Dorne Reborn

You knew that the writers didn’t include Dorne at the beginning of the season with the intention of never revisiting it, didn’t you?

After losing everyone that she loves in Cersei’s blaze of glory, Grannie Flowers shows up in Dorne. As speculated, Ellaria and Olenna have a common hatred and unsurprisingly form a bond.

Many speculated that Varys was headed to Dorne as well. They were correct too. Maybe this is an opportunity for the Dorne storyline to reinvent itself, especially with Thorns demanding respect and verbally abusing the Sand Snakes.

Traveling Dany

After five years of being teased with Dany’s intent to sail to Westeros, she is FINALLY on her way. In this weekend’s Death Odds post, my wild card was Daario and the probability of at least one more twist from Meereen before Dany left. Daario wouldn’t die, but he would be left behind to keep the peace at the “Bay of Dragons.”

Dany would later name Tyrion “the Hand of the Queen” and the fleet would set sail.

But Dany would not be the only Queen who would be in need of a “Hand.”

The Ruling Cersei

Wow.

When Qyburn showed Cersei the remains of Tommen, she seemed both unsurprised and unaffected. Perhaps she has grown immune to dying children. But at this point, she had to know by the prophecy of the swamp witch that Tommen’s death was imminent. Did part of her Sept barbecue plot include her ultimately staking claim and personally sitting on the Iron Throne?

Regardless, wow.

The telling glare from Jaime to Cersei as he arrived in the throne room said it all, all without saying a word.

But as Cersei said to Ned way back in Season 1, “In the game of thrones, you win or you die. There is no middle ground.” Cersei wins. For now.

Episode 610 Personal Awards

Favorite Quotes:

 “But sometimes before we can usher in the new, the old must be put to rest.” -Qyburn

“I do things because they feel good.” –Cersei

“Can’t go killing my son by law, wouldn’t be right. Give my family a bad name.” –Walder

“What is your name again? Barbaro?” –Olenna

“The King in the North!” -The Northern Houses

“If Robert finds out, he’ll kill him. You know he will. You have to protect him. Promise me, Ned. Promise me.” -Lyanna

Ow, That Shit Hurts Award: Pycelle’s death was rough, and the “It’s not you, it’s me” moment from Dany to Daario had to sting.

Jackass Award: Tough not to give it to Walder as he ranks right up there on the leaderboard with Ramsay and Alliser. But in the end, he had his pie and ate it too.

I’ll give it to Cersei for nearly taking out the entire Tyrell family, along with an Emmy for Lena Headey.

Overall Thoughts: Amazing episode and arguably one of the best finales in the show’s history. The visuals were stunning. The landscapes were beautiful. The costumes were superb. The direction was first-class. And the acting was fantastic.

Even more important was that it gave us a lot to digest and plenty of fodder to chew on for the off-season. A rewatch is mandatory. The new alliances. The death of so many long-term characters. The fallout of everything that transpired.  There’s plenty to chat about at the water cooler until next April.

Considering the episode name, I was a little surprised that we didn’t see the White Walkers. But the episode had plenty of winter references. Varys sailing to Dorne, and then sailing back to Meereen, and then sailing again for Westeros came across as a little odd.  Think of all the gas money he wasted.

I’m actually fine with the Daario deal as he has never been my favorite character. But will we ever see that guy again? My guess is yes. I’m more happy to know that somewhere, Jorah Mormont is still limping along looking for a cure and that he presumably lives at least until the next season.

Alright kiddos! Enough of my take. Give me yours. So much info. Spit it out. I haven’t read a comment anywhere about anything, so I’m interested to see what you have to say.

And look… just because the season is over doesn’t mean you have to run for the hills and leave us here alone at the Wall. The off-season is full of casting, filming info, mindless speculation, and all the donuts you can eat. So don’t be a stranger. Hang out and stay awhile. Invite an Unsullied to join us. And may there always be peace in your realm. –Oz

Find Oz on Twitter.

**SPOILER NOTE: The Management of this fine site would like to remind you that spoilers (book or leak) are not allowed in Unsullied posts. This includes spoilers that may be covered by code or otherwise. Personally, I appreciate feedback from Sullied and Unsullied alike, so long as they do not include any type of hinting or conversation related to the written verse. However, spoiler coded comments do tend to lead to further Sullied conversation and for that reason, we ask that you please refrain from posting any SPOILERY content whatsoever in Unsullied posts. Thank you for the coop. -Oz

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