Game of Thrones Season 7, Episode 3 discussion thread *SPOILERS*

[OlennasWimple]

WARNING: HERE BE DRAGONS (probably) AND SPOILERS

THIS THREAD IS FOR DISCUSSION OF SEASON 7, EPISODE 3 "THE QUEEN'S JUSTICE"

Come and discuss the third episode in the penultimate series, airing July 31st at 2am UK time! Don't read the thread if you want to avoid finding out what happens in Season 7 but also Seasons 1-6

HBO description of the episode: Daenerys holds court. Cersei returns a gift. Jaime learns from his mistakes.

Please avoid discussing leaks and production details for Seasons 7 and 8 but speculate away on what we have learnt from the new episodes and what it might mean for the rest of the Season and the ultimate winner(s) of the Game of Thrones

Was there a special discount on black fabric when they commissioned the costumes for this season?

No hound again AryaUnderfoot? What are they playing at? Don't they want us to watch? I'm sure he filmed in quite a few locations so he must be about to take all the rest of the series by storm.

Well, I enjoyed it, but I always do. I don't find Tyrion boring at all.

(Spoilers for this episode do follow, if you're checking in before you've watched.)

I was delighted by that last scene, although very sad to see Diana Rigg go, but I doubt Cersei will believe now that Tyrion had nothing to do with Joffrey's death. I was very glad that there was more suggestion of horror to come than gory stuff with Ellaria and her daughter.

So now that Cersei has Hightower, she has no worries about food or money for the foreseeable future and is well placed to take Dorne too if she should be so minded, as it's halfway there. She is also now in charge of Oldtown as that's quite near Hightower and was under the protection of House Tyrell. Hmmm. Nice to see Mark Gatiss back, and also Bronn.

I'm hoping that next week Arya gets back to Winterfell too, but I wouldn't bank on it.

Cersei may have taken Highgarden but it's a hell of a long way from King's Landing and she's got to get all the food/wealth back there somehow. Of course, she has Euron's omnipresent and all powerful fleet so she shouldn't have any problems.

The Hightowers and Redwyne's seem to have fallen into another large plot hole somewhere, so I gueess Oldtown and the rest of the Reach will just roll over and be quiet.

Dorne has historically been nigh on impossible to conquer and hold. I think it will be written out of the series entirely. Who's even the ruling family in Dorne now? The Daynes, Yronwoods and Drinkwaters have never been mentioned AFAIK.

MyOtherProfile there was that scene with Beric and the flaming sword in the trailer. I think we will see the Hound again in that episode but he has definitely been underused so far this series (what's new).

So, what will Sam find in Checkov's mouldy scrolls? The recipe for Valyrian steel which will be as easy to follow as the cure for greyscale?

I loved when dany and Jon were introduced to each other

queen danerys, blah blah blah blah breaker of chains, seven kingdoms, mother of dragons etc etc etc

This is Jon snow. King in the north.

😂😂

And yes, she didn't even quibble with Yara so why so bothered about making Jon kneel?

I was hoping it would have been Arya arriving at winterfell too.

I thought that episode was great!
Olenna is such a badass. Sorry she's gone. Loved Jaime's face as the penny dropped.
Daenarys didn't force Yara to kneel as Yara isn't a real threat. Jon and the Starks are plus she fancied her a bit
I enjoyed the the beginning of the Snow/Targaryan alliance - they want to work together but are wary.
Bran is now a bit like Arya - his humanity has been purged away through his experiences. Sansa was so heartfelt and he looked confused. Sansa will come out the best at the end because she still has her humanity.
Littlefinger is just getting on her nerves I think.
I'm worried for grey worm. I love that missandei is a trusted adviser- she's clearly highly intelligent and a woman and a former slave- just the sort of curve ball Daenarys likes to throw. She knows a lot about different cultures, I would say that's very useful knowledge for a queen to have.

From Mad Danelle's actions this series so far, I think we can safely say she is not going to be ruler of the 7 kingdoms at the end of series 8.

If she is, I will be seriously pissed off.

Mad Danelle? You mean Daenarys? Why do you think that?

I enjoyed it.

Davos got on my nerves again, interrupting.

I liked the C.Rock/Highgarden twist as a couple of episodes ago I wanted more of an equal fight. It seemed Dany had it all and Cersei not much.

I was actually laughing at the three eyed Raven scene at first and Bran's explanation. Though he stressed needing to talk to Jon. I thlught it would be Arya at the gate.

I need to believe Jaime can come good. I read or watched something saying he and The Hound are the most alike in terms of being torn between two sides of their personalities.

I think they tried hard for banter between Tyrion and Jon but both are a tad dull right now.

I wonder if Sam will find anything in the scrolls he's been asked to repair/sort.

Mad Danelle = show Daenerys. Danelle Lothston (Mad Danelle) is a book only character and distant ancestor of the Tullys. Seems quite fitting really. Sorry, I find her thoroughly awful to watch. I don't know what the writers are doing with her character.

Centuries of peace and prosperity under the Targeryans?

So, in those 400 years there was no Field of Fire, no Aegon the Unworthy, no Maegor the Cruel, no Baelor the befuddled, no Dance of the Dragons, no Blackfyre rebellions, no mad King Aerys II?

Torrhen Stark bent the knee to prevent mass killing of Northmen at the hands of fire-breathing WMDs.

Interesting to see danerys who has everyone behind her and now cersi has eliminated her allies. Nice trailer of the next episode as daneries questions her ability to win the war.

I enjoyed it, it's filler ready for bigger things, but it was watchable filler

Nice to see bronn isn't dead as I was wondering if I'd missed a death scene when he hadn't been around for a while!!

Yes they sidestepped two big battles. Surely the Tyrels are dead in the water now and can be eliminated from the plot as the Frey's were? Ditto Dorn. All rulers are dead including the final sandsnake.

But what about Riverrun and the Tullys? Confused with that. Who is in control of the Vale? I've lost track.

Yup Denny is getting well up her own arse. I had hoped to see the dragonglass being mined (nerdy) but maybe that's to come?

God the pace is really cracking on now. I quite liked Jon and Dany being wary of each other, while both seeming to grudgingly respect the other. And Dany thinking Jon's talk of dead armies being a bit crazy.

It feels strange to see the characters catching up with each other's story arcs. Sansa and Bran, Jon and Dany, Jon and Tyrion. Sansa clearly thought Bran was a bit mad with his Three Eyed Raven, can't inherit Winterfell, all knowing chat.

I wonder what she will make of Arya when they meet. Both Arya and Sansa have become much more cold and calculating than the bickering little girls they left each other as. Both fiercely loyal to the Stark name though. I wonder how it will play out.

Loving watching all the action but definitely missing having dialogue from the books in these more recent seasons. Makes me think the book story will be an amazing read (once finally written).

And Olenna! Bloody going to miss that woman and her acerbic comments.

Now Jaime knows that Tyrion wasn't behind Joff's poisoning, will that be the push he needs to turn cloak against Cersei at some vital point? I think he's might end up being the Queenslayer as well as the Kingslayer. There are parallels between Cersei and the Mad King who Jaime killed before. And if Jaime has to choose between dying by Cersei's side, or siding with Tyrion and Daenerys to save the population of King's Landing, I wonder which he'll choose.

I liked Olennas confession.
I liked what Cersei did to the snakes.
I wondered, 'Where is Ghost?'

That was pretty much all...

Liked the Sherlock crossover :)
Looking forward to Jorah returning to Dany and Sansa & Arya reuniting.
Will miss Oleanna, liked her ending though.
Is Euron the new unspeakable villain you love to hate?

Oh missed the Sherlock reference! What was that?

Eurons "making me hard" comment couldn't have been more flashheart if Richard e Curtis had written it!

Euron's too captain Hook to be a credible villain outside of anything but a pantomime.

Although at least he's a bit better than he was last series.

I'm just sulking coz I'm missing Ramsay

I think this series was always going to be a struggle, with regards to pacing - I think it's because we're nearing the end so expect things to happen quickly - but actually, in all the previous series there were quite a few episodes where Not Much Happened.

In fact, I was rewatching the first series recently and it was, dare I say, kinda boring.

We're spoilt.

I don't know why they made the last two series so much shorter.

I'm guessing but I would think it might have to do with the timescales involved in doing CGI. It's presumably a lot quicker to film actors, even in scenes with lots of extras, but as they get to the end the dragons, direwolves, White Walkers, army of the dead, huge armies of the living, giants etc etc are all going to have to be seen a lot more. I doubt money is the issue, given how successful GoT is, I think it's probably more to do with trying to get a series out around a year of the last one finishing so they don't lose momentum. Fewer episodes = less to do to get it finished.

I've read all the books in the main ASOIAF series but not the prequels, and I can't imagine that more than 1% of the TV audience (probably a fraction of that) have even read the main series. So departing from the canon isn't really going to be an issue for most of us.

Skipped straight to the end of the thread as I didn't want to read the spoilers before seeing it, but this is me officially hopping aboard.

I'm going to watch it now while doing piles upon piles of ironing.

On a slightly random note: I wonder whether (in a modern setting, of course) a hot iron would work against white walkers. They do seem susceptible to anything fiery (actual fire, dragon glass) as well as to valyrian steel. Logic suggests that I should be able to fight them off with this nifty appliance if they suddenly decide to break the fourth wall in the literal sense and invade my living room while I'm doing laundry ...

Very much a feeling of tying up some loose ends (Olenna, will we ever see Highgarden, Ellaria / Tyrene)

Very much a feeling of knowing in-jokes / fan service (Tyrion and Jon's "brooding" conversation)

Gratuitous boob and bum flash from Cersei

Euron is growing on me, although now I have finally worked out that he reminds me of Javier Bardem in Skyfall I suspect I will go off him again

I'm glad that Dany isn't just walking straight into power, though I do wonder where all her Dothraki and their horses are right now?