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Thursday, February 28, 2019
Marvel partners with Serial Box so you can enjoy superhero stories 24/7
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Character Posters (and Twitter Emojis) for Game of Thrones Season 8 Released!
The final season of Game of Thrones is ever closer and by this point you’re all probably waiting for a trailer, if the threads of any and all tweets from the official Thrones and HBO account are anything to go by. I’m afraid we’re not there yet, but we must be pretty close, because HBO just released the traditional character posters for season eight! Also, Twitter emojis for each of the characters, because it’s 2019. So, let’s go! For the Throne!
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Wednesday, February 27, 2019
EW confirms no GRRM cameo in Game of Thrones season 8
Fans have often expressed the desire to see A Song of Ice and Fire author George R. R. Martin turn up in Game of Thrones, but it looks like that will never happen. Entertainment Weekly reports that Martin was actually offered a cameo in the upcoming final season- but the author said no!
Martins tells EW, “David [Benioff] and Dan [Weiss] invited me to a cameo in one of the final episodes, which I was tempted to do…But I didn’t think just for the sake of a cameo I could take the time to return to Belfast.”
In the EW report, we’re reminded of Martin’s cameo in the original ill-fated Game of Thrones pilot, where the writer turned up as a guest at Dany’s wedding. Over the years, fan have often wondered if Martin would pop up at a different wedding (c’mon, it would’ve been amazing to see him getting killed at the Twins) but alas it never came to be. I suppose we can appreciate the silver lining- that GRRM’s focus is on writing, and just did not want to take the time to travel. It’s hard to complain about that!
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Emilia Clarke and Kit Harington discuss Jon and Dany’s relationship in new HBO Asia promo
The Night’s Cast Episode 13: Recapping ‘Eastwatch’ with special guests Maester Monthly!
“Eastwatch” isn’t perfect, but this heartfelt goodbye between Dany and Jorah is a nice moment.
Dragonflame and charging Dothraki hordes are a tough act to follow — and Season 7 had its share of ups and downs — but Episode 5, “Eastwatch,” filled the bill nicely. Or at least that’s the conclusion we came to on this week’s episode of The Night’s Cast, the official podcast of Watchers on the Wall.
Join Vanessa, Bex, Samantha and special guests Michael and Matt (also known as Watchers’ very own JoeMagician) of Maester Monthly as we talk Episode 5 and somehow find a way to fit in more than one reference to Limp Bizkit!
The Night’s Cast is available on iTunes and SoundCloud, and you can follow us on Twitter as well. Happy listening!
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Tuesday, February 26, 2019
David Harbour (Sheriff Hopper) originally thought Stranger Things was going to be a “disaster”
Neil Gaiman revives Jim Henson’s The Storyteller, talks American Gods, is everywhere
Game of Thrones directors recall the show’s most iconic moments
Monday, February 25, 2019
Aidan Gillen (Littlefinger) shredded his Game of Thrones scripts to avoid leaks
Emilia Clarke Hypes up Game of Thrones Season 8 at 2019 Oscars Red Carpet
Jason Momoa, Lisa Bonet, Emilia Clarke, Oscars 2019 (@prideofgypsies)
I hate to sound like a broken record, but season 8 of Game of Thrones might just blow your mind, guys. But don’t ask me, ask the entire cast, who Literally. Can. Not. Stop. The. Hype. Machine. The latest cast member to dish on the full speed ahead-ness of the final season is none other than the Mother of Dragons herself, Emilia Clarke (Daenerys Stormborn of House Targ – oh, you know by now, come on). While on the red carpet for the Oscars, awards presenter Emilia talked to the busiest man in show business, Ryan Seacrest where she waxed poetic about what’s to come…
Tell me if you’ve heard this before: Emilia says that season 8 will “shock” you. Crazy, right?
“It’s going to be huge, that much everyone needs to know…It took us a very long time to shoot this one for a very good reason. … I know there’s going to be some things in this last season that’s going to shock people.”
My reaction to this can be summed up by (coincidentally, also a 2019 Oscars presenter) none other than Mike Myers:
I know that they can’t tell us anything, and truth be told, I love being spoiler free, but I just wanna know WHAT’S SO EPIC AND WHY WILL IT BREAK OUR HEARTS?!?!
Always one for a laugh, Emilia mentioned that she did attempt to smuggle some props off set, but alas, the Iron Throne didn’t fit in her car:
“I’m not going to lie. I’m such a goody two shoes. Everyone was watching me all the time!” she said. “I tried to throw some things under the wig, hide them in my bag, nothing!”
Ever the one for good humor, I kind of hope that Emilia tries her hand at comedy soon. I think she really has a knack for it. April 14th is coming, you guys…
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Did The Last Jedi backlash affect how J.J. Abrams directed Star Wars: Episode IX?
Netflix picks up streaming rights to Chinese sci-fi blockbuster The Wandering Earth
Sunday, February 24, 2019
New peek at Game of Thrones season 8 in HBO ’19: It All Starts Here video
HBO dropped a nice surprise for fans today, though it puts a damper on the hopes of those who were praying for a Game of Thrones trailer before tonight’s True Detective season finale. The network released a video focusing on their offerings for 2019 entitled “It All Starts Here”, teasing the best of their shows coming soon including of course Game of Thrones.
Spoilers, of course!
The Unsullied marching into Winterfell accompanied by a dragon is an awe-inspiring sight, for us and for Arya and the people of Winterfell both! I can’t wait to see how the dynamic shifts with these different groups coming together even more, and of course Arya and Jon’s imminent reunion.
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WiC Weekly: February 16-22
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Announcing The Winner of the Game of Thrones Fun.com Party Pack Giveaway!
Call the banners and rally the realm: it’s time to announce the winner of our Game of Thrones Fun.com Party Pack Giveaway! To celebrate the long-awaited arrival of Season 8 and the end of our fandom’s Long Night, the good folks at FUN.COM offered our readers the opportunity to win this perfect party pack consisting of:
- Game of Thrones Weirwood Tree Old Gods Goblet
- Game of Thrones House Targaryen Logo Silicone Ice Mold
- Game of Thrones I Drink and I Know Things 16oz Pub Glass
- Game of Thrones Sigil Banner Garland
We’re happy to announce the winner is….
Damon Snow!
Congratulations, Damon Snow! Thank you to everyone who entered and shared their memories of the past seven seasons. It was a blast to read through it all. As always, you can look forward to more giveaways as we roll onward into the new (final *sniff*) season!
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Saturday, February 23, 2019
Friday, February 22, 2019
URGENT NEWS: Lena Headey may or may not be looking at pizza in season 8 image
Disney head talks Star Wars, animated remakes, and the studio’s future
Alt Shift X video explores the mysterious connection between the Starks and the White Walkers
Thursday, February 21, 2019
In case Return to Oz didn’t scare you enough, Legendary is making a new, darker Wizard of Oz show
Peter Dinklage and Meryl Streep finally team up, and other celebrity news
Wednesday, February 20, 2019
Sansa suits up: What Sansa’s new costume means for her role in season 8
Press junkets begin for Game of Thrones Season 8, and Sophie Turner reveals a costume change for Sansa!
The phrase “So close, yet so far away” keeps springing to mind these days whenever we see anything about Game of Thrones Season 8 — we know the premiere is coming (April 14th), and we’re happy to see more news, but we’re still stuck with a lot of bland interviews and glimpses from cast members’ social media accounts. But did we catch something interesting? Maybe! There are possible spoilers below the cut, considering a story we reported on last week, but bear in mind this is speculation only.
There were some blink-and-you’ll-miss-them Instagram stories from Sophie Turner and Carice van Houten recently, both of which referenced press junkets — the blitz of interviews and other publicity that the cast of a film or TV show participate in as its release date nears.
Turner posted a selfie of her and castmate/partner in crime Maisie Williams with the caption “GoT press with my 1 n only,” while Van Houten posted a close-up of what looks remarkably like a dragon egg featuring an engraved House Arynn sigil (complete with their house words, “As High as Honor”) and the caption: “Press day Game of Thrones.”
The latter is interesting for what it could mean for Season 8 let’s say the dragon eggs are name plaques for actors to sit behind or next during a series of interviews throughout the day, as many press junkets are, and each one has the sigil that corresponds to that actor’s character. Last week we learned that Lino Facioli, who plays Robert Arynn, will return (according to a cast listing that’s been since tellingly removed by HBO,) so maybe Facioli was around as well. Admittedly, van Houten’s post could be showing nothing more than generic Thrones-themed decor for the press table.
Elsewhere, Turner gave an interview to EW in which she divulged that Sansa will finally get her own “armor” for Season 8 — although it’s not the kind we think it is.
Sansa will be sporting a “jet-black ensemble made of thick leather or similar material,” which is obviously “the first time I’ve had armor,” Turner said.
“We [had] the idea of it being very protective and she buttons herself up,” Turner said. “I wanted her to have a bit of armor and be a bit more warrior like. She’s like the warrior of Winterfell.”
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Syfy cancels George R.R. Martin adaptation Nightflyers after one season
Rumor: Disney considering several more Star Wars shows for its streaming service
Tuesday, February 19, 2019
Bella Ramsey says she expected us to “hate” Lyanna Mormont
It’s not always clear what makes a character a fan favorite. Certainly if there were a set formula, every person on every show would be adored. Still, it’s a testament to how unpredictable character likability can be that Bella Ramsey fully expected fans to loathe Lyanna Mormont.
In a recent interview with Metro.co.uk, Ramsey admitted that she did not see her character’s popularity coming.
“I was petrified when [season 6] came out, as I [was] expecting people to hate what I’d done and not like Lyanna,” she said. “I was scared I’d be received in a bad way. I was very shocked people liked my performance.”
Ramsey didn’t elaborate on what she expected audiences to dislike about her portrayal of Lyanna but it’s easy to imagine how the Mormont lady might have come across as unlikable on the page.
After all, in her very first scene Lady Mormont refuses to help Jon and Sansa take back Winterfell from the Boltons (at first) and makes a joke about Sansa’s multiple marriages. While her reluctance to, as she puts it, “sacrifice one more Mormont life for someone else’s war” is well-founded, in my opinion, one can imagine why Ramsey expected such reticence to rub viewers the wrong way. And, of course, there is a well-established precedent for powerful female characters to have … divisive receptions in fandoms.
But moving on, the 15-year old actress also discussed how her life has changed since appearing on Game of Thrones and how she’s handling the pressure to promote herself.
“When Game Of Thrones came out lots of interviews were coming in and people [were] asking me to do certain things which would push me out there,” she said. “Like this whole Instagram and Twitter thing, getting more followers doesn’t bother me at all … So I held off from doing interviews, because I want my life to be my own. I think we could have pushed it more and I could have been more of a celebrity, but that isn’t something I wanted to do.”
Ramsey said Kit Harington offered her his two cents on how to handle the media whirlwind.
“He always said [to go to him] if I want some bad advice, but I don’t think his advice is bad!” she said, laughing. “When I went to the Baftas I asked him about live interviews, what advice he would give, and he said ‘just be yourself and don’t try to say what you think people want you to’. That’s the best advice you can give.”
As cool as it must be to be 15-years old and having Kit Harington give you life advice, Ramsey appears to take it all in stride and says she doesn’t get starstruck.
“I get to meet a load of people in an environment I’m really comfortable with. But all these big names, they started out just like I started out and they’re just normal people underneath,” she said. “Certainly no one I’ve worked with so far has been changed or manipulated by fame … it’s cool to meet people if I’ve seen them in a film or series. I just like getting to know people.”
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Tour a 3D model of Season 8’s King’s Landing set—but beware of spoilers!
Back when season eight of Game of Thrones was in production, the greatest journey we took as spoilerphiles was the incredibly long construction of the King’s Landing set, which we initially took to be a castle until we realized it was an immense recreation of the streets of King’s Landing, from the city walls to the gates of the Red Keep.
During pre-production and filming, we reported on dozens of sneaky photos of the set, which you can find stored here, but the truth is nothing can quite compare with a coveted aerial shot… and now we have something even better than that! Before you see it below, we must warn that you may be slightly spoiled by the mere state of the city…
Apple Maps just updated their 3D recreation of the Belfast era, which means this wonderful technology covered the King’s Landing set on Titanic Studios. So, as long as you have an Apple device (hopefully Google Maps updates their 3D view of the area soon,) you can tour the streets of King’s Landing, post-battle and post-dragonfire!
The city lies beyond the snowed-in exterior, through the fallen city gate and towers.
The breach of the wall can also be appreciated from the inside
An overall look of the city, from the Red Keep gate (bottom left) to the city gate (top right)
A map for those who are lost: the gate opens to a main street, with several burnt-down buildings, which divide into a side-alley and two streets, one of which leads to the Red Keep
Though we tried to give you the best possible look at the set with these screen captures, particularly the map, the truth is there is nothing quite like immersing yourself into the 3D environment, getting as close as you can to the buildings, and seeing not only the incredible craft on display but all the damage that the climactic battle will do to the city.
Search for “Titanic Studios, Belfast” on Apple Maps and you’ll get to sightsee the capital too. It’s not quite like visiting Dubrovnik, but there’s more evidence of dragons here!
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HBO Invites Game of Thrones Fans to Bleed For The Throne!
Adding an innovative humanitarian twist to the usual promo campaign, HBO invited Game of Thrones fans to bleed for the throne today- literally. The network announced, as part of their #ForTheThrone campaign leading up to Season 8, a blood drive in partnership with the National American Red Cross. The Bleed for the Throne campaign kicks off March 7th with an immersive experience at SXSW.
According to HBO, Bleed For The Throne is “the largest blood donation promotional effort by an entertainment company in American Red Cross history, with six days of coordinated giving from fans across the entire country. The partnership will include an immersive experience at SXSW from March 7-9, in addition to blood drives in 43 states and 9 colleges and universities across the U.S. from March 7-12.” The SXSW drive will take place at Fair Market in downtown Austin.
So what’s in it for the fans who step up to the throne and give? Fans who present to donate during the above period will reportedly receive an exclusive Bleed For The Throne t-shirt (while supplies last). As a very cool bonus incentive, people who present for blood donation at any Red Cross blood drive by March 17th will automatically be entered to win a trip to the season 8 world premiere of Game of Thrones!
Blood donation appointments are available starting today at 11:00 am ET and are expected to fill up quickly, with a standby line available for fans who are unable to make appointments online. The link to register with Red Cross!
Lyft is also helping out with the cause by providing rides (up to $10) at SXSW and to all 163 Red Cross blood donation centers across the country. Donors can visit the American Red Cross website leading up to the blood drives to learn more about how to access the Lyft rides.
SXSW Activation Location:
Fair Market: 1100 E. 5th Street, Austin, TX 78702
SXSW Activation Hours:
Thursday, March 7th: 12-6pm CT
Friday, March 8th & Saturday, March 9th: 10am-6pm CT
Learn more at forthethrone.com/bleed!
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Monday, February 18, 2019
Heisting Wights: Why the Season 7 setpiece may not have been such a bad idea after all
In every season of Game of Thrones, there are important events that set the tone. Ned’s beheading. The Red Wedding. Anytime Daenerys says “dracarys.” These are dramatic moments that often redefine the political landscape of the show. Occasionally, there are moments that are not so revered. Jaime and Bronn fighting the Sand Snakes. Daenerys yelling “Where are my dragons?” Arya vs the Waif.
Season Seven, despite featuring amazing action sequences, also drew its share of criticisms. Some felt Tyrion was not up to his usual brilliant self. The manufactured crisis between Arya and Sansa. Ed Sheeran.
And then there was the Wight Heist.
Tyrion: We’re gonna have to heist a wight.
Jon Snow: Can we?
Tyrion: It won’t be easy. We’ll need some muscle. Our own undead knight might be nice.
Jon: And someone who can run fast. You always need that.
Davos: I know a guy. I don’t know how fast he can run, but he’s the only guy I know.
Jon: Just as long as he’s not prettier than me.
Tyrion: Relax, Jon. You’re the Brad Pitt here. And I’m the Clooney. Why are you all laughing?
THE HEIST
The explicit declaration of the wight heist (I prefer the term Wight Heist over the more commonly used phrase Wight Hunt, because heist communicates such an Ocean’s Eleven vibe) happened in the fifth episode “Eastwatch”, which not only introduced the plan but included negotiations between the Lannister brothers, showed the recruitment of the individual team members, shipped everyone at the King’s Landing latitude to Eastwatch, and saw the dream team heading out into the true North. Even in a season where an Ironborn fleet can be near King’s Landing at the beginning of an episode and lobbing firebombs near Lannisport at the end of the episode, that’s a lot of activity and passage of time for one episode.
The motivating event to the wight extraction plan’s creation was an intelligence report from Bran Stark.
Jon: Bran saw the Night King and his army marching towards Eastwatch. If they make it past the Wall –
Varys: The Wall has kept them out for a thousand years. Presumably.
Jon: I need to go home.
Daenerys: You said you don’t have enough men.
Jon: We’ll fight with the men we have. Unless you’ll join us?
Dany: And give the country to Cersei? As soon as I march away, she marches in.
Tyrion: Perhaps not. Cersei thinks the army of the dead is a story made up by wet-nurses to frighten children. What if we prove her wrong?
The inarguably rushed planning and travel time presented within the episode was not warmly received by the fan audience. Particularly because the stated goal of the heist was to convince Cersei Lannister to consider the long term survival of humanity. On the face of it, not likely to succeed. Because of this perceived flaw in the mission objective, the enjoyment available in the following episode where Jon and his companions marched heroically and dramatically into adventure was undercut.
That episode – “Beyond the Wall” – was not perfect on its own merits. The logistics involved with Gendry being sent at a run for Eastwatch to send a raven on a trip halfway along the long axis of the continent to Dragonstone, requesting Daenerys to return with dragons was absolutely ridiculous.
Even if Daenerys had received a letter days in advance by a prescient Bran directing her to saddle up and fly to the expedition’s rescue – Jon Snow should have no expectation that his plan to send Gendry could ever work. Unless he’s never seen a map of Westeros.
Sandor: So, why does that kid get to survive this and not us?
Jon: Relax, he’s going to call for help. Just hunker down. How long could it take?
Maester Luwin’s Ghost: This is my fault. I should have tried harder to teach Jon geography.
But improbable rescues aside, the episode featured some of what Game of Thrones does best: having characters talk to one another with the intersections of past character beats brought into a current context.
- Jon and Beric talking about death
- Jon and Jorah talking about Longclaw
- Tormund and Sandor talking about Brienne
- Everyone dismissing Gendry’s legitimate grievances
But the shadow of the rushed mission premise hung over the episode. For some, it was hard to appreciate the drama of the events north of the Wall if it was hard to accept the reason for them to be there in the first place.
With flaming polar bears, icy standoffs, fiery bombardments, dragonslaying missiles, and last moment rescues by undead uncles, the episode provided not only spectacular action beats but a wight to be taken on a trip to the sunny south.
In the season finale, Cersei was presented with this wight as proof of a pressing need for the cessation of hostilities with Daenerys. Cersei’s deceptive reaction—to falsely promise aid while planning a new offensive—was interpreted as a failure of the wight heist. After all, if the point of the heist was to convince Cersei about the danger then the entire operation failed. Since the plan failed, the rush to make it happen by the showrunners earlier in the season was also deemed a failure, justifying the earlier complaints and repudiating the spectacle of the Beyond the Wall episode.
That might all be true.
True, if the point of the wight heist was to convince Cersei. But that was not the main purpose of the expedition.
CONVINCING A QUEEN
Cersei Lannister and her opinions of an army of the dead was ultimately of secondary importance to the entire operation. The primary focus, i.e. the queen who needed to be influenced, was not Cersei but Daenerys Targaryen.
Jon Snow came to Dragonstone for two reasons. One was to obtain obsidian for use against the White Walkers and wights. The second reason was to get Daenerys to commit her living weapons – her dragons – to the defense of humanity. Jon needed Daenerys to bring her metaphorical children to the North, since that kingdom would be the first to face the White Walkers when they breached the Wall.
Face to face at Dragonstone, Jon was unable to convince Dany, not even with a stirring speech by Ser Davos about corpses on the Iron Throne, that the army of the dead was a pressing threat and one that should take priority over the current mundane and non-apocalyptic political games happening in the south.
With diplomacy failing, Jon and Tyrion commiserated during a cliffside brooding session.
Jon Snow: It’s hard for me to fathom. If someone told me about the White Walkers and the Night King … you probably don’t believe me.
Tyrion: I do actually.
Jon Snow: Grumkins and snarks, you called them.
Tyrion asserted that the entire notion of a horde of walking dead and Jon’s insistence that Daenerys should prioritize the defense of a kingdom in rebellion over retaking the Iron Throne nearly in her grasp was unreasonable. Tyrion truly believed Jon’s reports, not only because of his personal experience with Jon, but with the deceased Lord Commander Mormont. But even though Tyrion was convinced, he wasn’t the one who had dragons at their disposal.
Jon Snow: How do I convince people – who don’t know me – that an enemy they don’t believe in is coming to kill them all?
Tyrion: Good question.
Jon Snow: I know it’s a good question. I’m looking for an answer.
Tyrion: People’s minds aren’t made for problems that large. White Walkers, the Night King. Army of the dead. It’s almost a relief to confront a comfortable, familiar monster like my sister.
Eventually, Tyrion did convince Daenerys to agree to one of Jon’s requests.
Daenerys: I will allow you to mine the dragonglass and forge weapons from it. Any resources or men you need, I will provide for you.
Jon: Thank you. So you believe me then, about the Night King and the Army of the Dead?
Daenerys: You’d best get to work, Jon Snow.
Daenerys did not believe in Jon’s concerns, and was not going to re-prioritize her campaign against Cersei. Because Cersei was a more comfortable monster to deal with. The devil you know rather than the devil you don’t know.
Game of Thrones is a rich and complex story, and often allusions are made to other works of literature. The assassination of Jon Snow brings out references to Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar. Lyanna Stark’s elopement with Rhaegar is framed as a re-telling of the root cause of Homer’s Iliad. But Game of Thrones is such an expansive story that the latter seasons can be examined as echoes to events early on in the show.
History does not repeat itself, but it often rhymes
— proverbial wisdom often misattributed to Mark Twain
Daenerys being asked to choose between pursuing a conventional campaign against the Lannisters or withdrawing from the south to defend the North from threats beyond the Wall is a situation that another resident of Dragonstone previously faced. Stannis Baratheon chose to go to the North.
It wasn’t an easy decision for Stannis to make. He felt that the throne was his by right, and any of Cersei’s children ruling from King’s Landing was an abomination. But his options in the south had successfully gotten worse and worse. The bulk of his military forces were defeated at the Battle of the Blackwater, and his witchy advisor Melisandre’s magical promises were rendered null and void when his nephew Gendry – a candidate for blood sacrifice – escaped with the aid of the moral Ser Davos.
Rather than punishing Ser Davos for his stubborn resistance to the ends not justifying the murderous means, Stannis pulled up his stakes, went deep into debt with the Iron Bank to finance troops and ships, and rescued the Night’s Watch, an ancient and vulnerable public institution, from the depredations of the wildlings.
Daenerys, although suffering similar military setbacks due to Euron and his Iron Fleet, was not quite in the same desperate position as Stannis when Jon first brought her word of the army of the dead. Later, when word came from Bran that the White Walkers were on the move, Dany’s forces had recently claimed momentum in the battles between Targaryens and Lannisters. She’d crushed Jaime’s army and had compelled Lannister bannermen to bend the knee to her.
Her successes made it even more unreasonable to insist that she abandon the south and side with the North against monsters.
Jon: We’ll fight with the men we have. Unless you’ll join us?
Dany: And give the country to Cersei?Tyrion: It’s almost a relief to confront a comfortable, familiar monster like my sister.
Even though the stated goal of the wight heist was to convince Cersei that monsters were real and that she should take a break from being a monster at the moment, the real goal was to change Daenerys’s comfort level in regards to the risk of leaving the south to Cersei’s tender mercies.
CERSEI IS NO STANNIS
With a viable wight procured, the combined Stark and Targaryen delegation presented Cersei with proof that there’s at least one feral walking dead creature in the world. (She’d have to take their word that there were another hundred thousand of the ghouls.)
The negotiation request was simple: cease hostilities until after the army of such creatures and their inhuman masters were dealt with. Cersei wasn’t asked to yield or surrender, or even contribute to the general welfare of the realm. Just to not take advantage of Dany’s absence to further the Lannister ambitions. By agreeing to these terms, Daenerys could comfortably choose to go North and possibly save the realm.
Initially, Cersei could not agree.
Or rather, she indicated that she could agree to those terms if Jon Snow would pledge to not contribute to Daenerys’s later efforts to retake the throne, after the war against the dead was done. Jon, who’d sworn fealty to Daenerys after she’d saved the day, could not agree to Cersei’s counter-offer. Nor could he pretend to agree and then go back on his word later.
With the negotiation at an impasse, Dany had to reconsider the Baratheon decision of either continuing her martial interest in the south or to commit to responding to the terrifying threat in the north, one that she’d seen firsthand and one that had claimed the life of one of her dragons. She could no longer pretend that the threat might not be real, as she did when humoring Jon as a potential ally.
Dany: You were right from the beginning. If I had trusted you, everything would be different.
Jon: So what now?
Dany: I can’t forget what I saw north of the Wall. And I can’t pretend that Cersei won’t take back half the country the moment I march north.
Jon: It appears Tyrion’s assessment was correct. We’re f&*^ed.
And then, Cersei made a surprise move.
Cersei: My armies will not stand down. I will not pull them back to the capital. I will march them north to fight alongside you in the great war. The darkness is coming for us all. We will face it together. And when the great war is over, perhaps you’ll remember that I chose to help. With no promises or assurances from any of you.
So what had changed? Why was Cersei not only setting aside her request for northern neutrality in a later conflict, but offering military support?
The private meeting with Tyrion had orchestrated this sea change in Cersei. After the temporary breakdown in the talks, the viewing audience saw some of the tense conversation between Cersei and Tyrion. She was reluctantly hesitant to have Ser Gregor kill Tyrion, and Tyrion learned that his sister is pregnant. The scene otherwise had little information to offer and ended abruptly, followed by Tyrion scuttling ahead of Cersei’s contingent coming to make her royal proclamation of support.
My speculation is that Tyrion impressed upon Cersei that it was in her best interests to at least appear amenable to Daenerys and Jon’s needs. Dany had brought her army to King’s Landing. If she couldn’t get assurances from Cersei, it could easily lead to bloodshed. Tyrion probably gave Cersei similar advice to what he gave to Daenerys when Jon came asking for help in the great war.
Tyrion: You don’t have to believe him. Let him mine the dragonglass. If he’s wrong, it’s worthless. You didn’t even know it was here. It’s nothing to you. Give him something – by giving him nothing.
Daenerys’s permission to Jon, authorizing him to mine the dragonglass was not exactly an empty gesture on her part, but it cost her little and gained her Jon’s goodwill.
Jon: Thank you. So you believe me then, about the Night King and the Army of the Dead?
Daenerys: You’d best get to work, Jon Snow.
I assume the conversation went something like this:
Tyrion: They’re not going to leave with nothing, Cersei. You’ll have to do something so unexpected, they’ll believe your lies.
Cersei: Hmmm. What would Stannis do?
Because Cersei is not going to follow through on her statements – she’s not going to send her troops north – her gesture of support is an empty offer. But it’s not worthless to Dany. Now Daenerys doesn’t have to make a hard choice. Now they don’t have to feel f&*^ed.
Tyrion would expect them to accept such an offer without questioning it too closely, because both Jon and Dany desperately want this kind of gesture from Cersei. Daenerys needs to get her dragons to the North, as soon as possible. But that’s hindered by her belief that she has to remain in the south to counter Cersei. The comfortable monster.
But now the comfortable monster is no more. Cersei presented herself as the one making the decision that Dany wants to make, the Stannis decision. Dany and Jon want to believe it is true, and so they do. The phenomenon of confirmation bias had been brought up earlier on the show by Tyrion, a keen observer of psychology.
Daenerys: And what do you think about this army of the dead – and White Walkers – and Night Kings?
Tyrion: I would very much like to believe that Jon Snow is wrong. But a wise man once said that you should never believe a thing simply because you want to believe it.
Dany: Which wise man said this?
Tyrion: I don’t remember.
Dany: Are you trying to present your own statements as ancient wisdom?
Tyrion understands biases and the danger they pose to decision making. He also understands that not everyone thinks things through like he does. He could coach Cersei on what to say to salvage the diplomatic summit and achieve his goals. Is Tyrion betraying Daenerys by aiding Cersei with his counsel, so Daenerys would abandon the battle in the south and go north?
Stannis: Yes. Tyrion is betraying the Targaryen girl by conspiring with that Lannister bitch.
Davos: Sort of like how I betrayed you by allowing your nephew to escape. To free you from having to burn him.
Stannis: Something along those lines.
So the wight heist succeeded in two ways. It gave Daenerys first-hand exposure to the dangers posed by the White Walker, which forced her into considering a Stannis Baratheon decision point. And the wight display in the dragonpit gave Cersei the opportunity to fake an imitation of Stannis, pretending to set aside her southern ambitions so Dany would go north.
Tyrion: Mission Accomplished.
RUSHING THE HEIST
Although I don’t agree that the wight heist was a waste of time, or crazypants (as I have seen it described) and I do suggest that it is an under-appreciated element of Season Seven, the wight heist is not above criticism. The introduction and pre-expedition execution was a lot to cram into one episode that basically sets up the most critical part of the season.
Everything in the season leading up to the Eastwatch episode (in regards to the Cersei-Dany conflict) was prologue to the wight heist: resetting the perceived power balance between Dany and Cersei (since everyone assumed Dany would roast Cersei in episode one), and giving Dany narrative momentum from the Spoils of War episode so she’d have something to lose if Dany went North.
Everything after the Eastwatch heist-planning episode was the execution of the heist and the fallout, which vindicated the mission goal of freeing Dany from her hesitation to commit to fighting the White Walkers.
Therefore, the wight heist operation was the spine of Season Seven. It was the defining sequence, even more so than the Loot Train battle at the end of episode four.
Not everyone is going to agree with that assessment, but I’d suggest that the rushed nature of the seventh season, with less episodes to space out events and allow plot points to be introduced and develop more naturally, hurt the presentation of this most critical element of the season.
It’s not that the wight heist made Season Seven bad, but that the the structure of Season Seven did not properly serve its most important aspect.
One argument dismissing the wight heist would be the observation that Dany’s rescue of the adventuring party handed the Night King his means to breach the Wall and swarm into the kingdom of the North. The speculation is that had Jon and his team not gone hunting wights, they wouldn’t have been threatened and in need of rescue, and Viserion would not have died and then raised as a Wall-bashing thrall for the Night King.
This is entirely a fair read, assuming that in an alternate universe where Dany ignored Jon’s concerns entirely, the White Walkers are just pacing back and forth along the boundary of the Wall, awake, active, but unable to do anything about it.
Edd: I know I usually see the bad side of any situation, but this seems like a win-win. We don’t have to do any more northern ranging, and there’s never any wildling raids anymore – since they’re all undead and stuck beyond the Wall. Nothing bad can come from this situation.
Except – the northern narrative guarantees that the White Walkers would eventually come south. Almost everything Jon does since Season Four was based on the idea that the White Walkers and the army of the dead was an imminent threat.
- Jon brought wildlings through the Wall because he was saving them from the White Walkers.
- After Jon was betrayed and murdered by his comrades, he was resurrected specifically because he was needed in the fight between the dead and the living.
If the White Walkers were never a serious threat, what was that all for? What was Hardhome for? Did Karsi die for nothing? Olly died for nothing?
Or maybe Jon’s mission was fated to happen, as was the rescue attempt by Dany and the loss of Viserion, but if that’s the case then the wight heist has been justified by Fate, and there’s no need to be angry about that.
The more satisfying conclusion would be that Jon’s concerns were valid. That the White Walkers would eventually get through and the living had to prepare for that eventuality. That had the Night King not gotten his hands on a dragon, then they’d have found some other way past the Wall. Maybe they’d amass a large enough of a wight army to just topple over a section, or that the ancient wards would fail and they’d scuttle over, or Cersei would exile the entirety of Dorne to the Wall and their spicy pepper meals would melt the ancient barrier.
If that were the case and humanity had been aware of the threat but had taken no action in preparation based on the idea that the Wall was impenetrable… that would have been far more nonsensical than going north to fetch a wight.
Jon: Was it nonsensical? In Season One we brought back two wights. Just found them lying around. Seems like good odds we’d find wights again.
Bran: Especially since I told you where they were.
Tyrion: And should Ser Jorah Mormont and the King in the North happen to not come back from this dangerous assignment, at least Queen Daenerys would continue to benefit from my excellent advice.
Daario: It’s funny how everyone in the Khaleesi’s inner circle gets sent away.
Barristan’s Ghost: Or dies.
Lady Olenna’s Ghost: It is rather suspicious.
Regardless if someone thinks that the mission to acquire a wight was ill-conceived, or that the desired goal of the mission could be achieved by other means, or that the execution on-screen was flawed (parts of it were) – Daenerys has taken her forces northwards because of the heist.
And Cersei, thanks entirely to a captured wight, gets a chance to shore up her position in the south.
The political landscape on the show has again been redefined. And that’s not a bad thing.
The post Heisting Wights: Why the Season 7 setpiece may not have been such a bad idea after all appeared first on Watchers on the Wall.
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