#this is exactly how melisandre described her visions of him btw

[winterprince601]

jon?? in MY maegi resurrection blood ritual??

[rainhadaenerys]

What do you think of the evidence for Jon Snow being AA? I know you and others have talked in detail about the overwhelming evidence for Dany, but there is also the not so subtle foreshadowing of Jon dreaming he’s fighting the Others with a flaming sword or Melisandre asking for a glimpse of AA and being shown only Snow. Do you think this is a case of both Dany & Jon fulfilling the prophecy together or is GRRM keeping his options open until the last minute? Btw, I agree with you that Dany is AA.

About the dream with the flaming sword, I don’t think that’s a particularly strong evidence. Jaime also dreams that he and Brienne are wielding flaming swords (and don’t think Jaime or Brienne are Azor Ahai). Besides, it’s quite likely that Jon could get a flaming sword just like Beric got one after being resurrected. However, that doesn’t make Beric Azor Ahai, just like it doesn’t necessarily makes Jon Azor Ahai.

I know some people have tried to look for other evidences. I’ve seen people say that Ygritte was Nissa Nissa and that Jon sacrificed her for the Night’s Watch, and that the Night’s Watch is Lightbringer. While that’s an interesting way to look at things, the story of Azor Ahai and Nissa Nissa is not part of the prophecy of Azor Ahai reborn, it’s just part of the legend of the first Azor Ahai. The Azor Ahai reborn prophecy is told to us in two different ways:

“In ancient books of Asshai it is written that there will come a day after a long summer when the stars bleed and the cold breath of darkness falls heavy on the world. In this dread hour a warrior shall draw from the fire a burning sword. And that sword shall be Lightbringer, the Red Sword of Heroes, and he who clasps it shall be Azor Ahai come again, and the darkness shall flee before him.” - Davos I ACOK

It is written in prophecy as well. When the red star bleeds and the darkness gathers, Azor Ahai shall be born again amidst smoke and salt to wake dragons out of stone. - Davos III ASOS

This is the prophecy of Azor Ahai reborn, Nissa Nissa is not part of it, it’s only part of the legend of how the first Azor Ahai forged Lightbringer. So even if you consider Ygritte as Nissa Nissa and the Night’s Watch as Lightbringer, it doesn’t really fit the current prophecy, that says that a warrior will be reborn amidst salt and smoke to wake dragons out of stone, and draw a sword from the fire.

I’ve also seen people say that when Jon died, Marsh was crying and Jon’s wounds were smoking, so that would fit salt and smoke. But where is the bleeding star? Is the dragon woken from stone Jon himself being resurrected and “woken from stone”? Is Lightbringer the flaming sword that Jon will be able to wield after he is resurrected, just like Beric? But then, what makes Jon different from Beric, why is Jon’s sword Lightbringer, but not Beric’s sword?

There’s also the theory that Jon was born amidst salt and smoke (Tower of Joy) and that Dawn (the sword of House Dayne forged from a falling star) being bloodied after the fight could be the bleeding star. But then, where is the dragon woken from stone? Is it Jon himself again? But where is Lightbringer? And even if we accept this, when Marwyn talks about the prophecy, he doesn’t just talk about a bleeding star, he says the Azor Ahai won’t simply be born when there’s a bleeding star around, but beneath the bleeding star:

“Born amidst salt and smoke, beneath a bleeding star. I know the prophecy.” - Samwell V AFFC

Dawn might be considered a bleeding star, but was Jon born beneath Dawn? I mean, I guess you could consider that he was under the protection of Arthur Dayne, and thus under the protection of Dawn. So maybe. It’s also possible that there are different versions of the prophecy and Marwyn could be a little inaccurate in his description of the prophecy.

So with those evidences I mentioned above, I consider to be unclear. Though I do consider Melisandre’s vision in the flames to be a stronger evidence:

Yet now she could not even seem to find her king. I pray for a glimpse of Azor Ahai, and R'hllor shows me only Snow. - Melisandre I ADWD

She is explicitly asking for a glimpse of Azor Ahai, and the flames only show her Snow. And Snow is capitalized. I don’t know if it was meant to be capitalized, or if it was just a mistake from GRRM, but this could be GRRM slipping something about Azor Ahai that he didn’t really intend to reveal. So this evidence, in my opinion, is the strongest. I don’t see many other ways to interpret this line if not to mean that Jon is Azor Ahai.

But the pieces are still missing. With Dany, I have no doubt that she is Azor Ahai (see HERE, HERE, HERE, HERE, HERE and HERE for evidence). She already fulfilled everything in the prophecy, except the part “darkness shall flee before him” (obviously, because the Long Night is not here yet, so Dany can’t really fulfill that part before she actually fights against the Others). The dragons are also described exactly like Lightbringer was described (see HERE), so I don’t really have any doubts about them being Lightbringer. But with Jon, things are still unclear. So I think it’s possible that Jon is Azor Ahai just like Dany (not alone, though. Dany is Azor Ahai whether Jon also fulfills the prophecy or not). I love Jon/Dany parallels, so I would like to see that. But we still need more details and better evidences that Jon fulfills the prophecy, I don’t think he already fits it completely. He might come to fit the prophecy in the future, but not now. But I also think it’s possible that Jon is not Azor Ahai, and is just a red herring. Jon is the conventional male hero that everyone would expect to be the hero of the prophecy. Jon’s dream of a flaming sword and Jaime’s dream of flaming swords could very well be a red herring, since they very explicitly show them carrying flaming swords. The reader expects Lightbringer to be a sword, but in the end, it could be just the dragons.

So I guess my answer is that we���ll see. I’m sure Dany is Azor Ahai reborn and that the dragons are Lightbringer. I don’t think GRRM is trying to keep his options open with her, I think it has already been decided for a long time (and GRRM says he doesn't change things at the last minute or just because people guessed it, or else none of the clues he left will make sense). For Jon, I think the evidence is still flimsy, but maybe those evidences will make more sense if we get more clues in the next books. So I do think it’s possible that both Jon and Dany will fulfill the prophecy. But I wouldn't really say it's certain in Jon's case.

[choupetit]

GOT Recap: Beyond the Wall

Airdate:  8/20/17; Season 7, Episode 6

 Um, Houston…we have a problem. Ya know how when you see somebody about to do something that seems like a really bad idea, and then it turns out even worse than you imagined? Cool, cool, cool. Well, that pretty much sums up this week’s Game of Thrones - the penultimate episode of the season.  This was a super-sized episode and we got lots of action, a handful of surprises, a few history lessons and some pretty creepy behavior from one of the Stark siblings. Grab a paper bag to breathe into…and maybe a couple of tissues, too, because we are about to take a terrifying recap journey “Beyond The Wall”!

Bachelors in Parad-ice 

The episode starts off North of the Wall as we see Team Awesome - aka Jon Snow, Jorah Mormont, Gendry, The Hound, Tormund Giantsbane, Beric Dondarrion,  Thorros of Myr, and a few additional unnamed men (I’d say it’s fair to call them “expendables”)  - on their way to catch a snow zombie beyond the wall so they can bring it to Queen Cersei. I’m still trying to wrap my mind around why this seemed like the best way to convince her of the existence of Whitewalkers.  Wouldn’t it be easier to kidnap Cersei and take her on a quick dragon flight up North for a sneak peek?  But I digress.  It’s a long walk, with plenty of time for conversation.

 Jon brings Tormund up to speed on his stay at Dragonstone and tells him of Daenerys’ request to bend the knee to her before she’ll lend any of her forces for the impending war against the Army of Dead.  Tormund pretty much tells Jon to suck it up – he says that even though Mance Rayder was the much-respected leader of the Wildlings, his pride caused a lot of them to die, unnecessarily.

Behind them, Thorros of Myr is talking to Gendry asking if he is still butthurt that the Brotherhood sold him to Melisandre to do her witchy voodoo magic with his blood. Turns out, Gendry is indeed still mad – he wanted to be a part of the Brotherhood and they totally screwed him over. Plus, he almost died. The  Hound tells him to quit his whining, and points to Dondarrion , “That dude died six times already and you don’t hear him complaining.”

Meanwhile Ser Jorah and Jon are rehashing a little history involving their fathers.  Jorah recounts how Ned Stark was going to execute him for trying to sell some poachers into slavery back in the day, which led to his exile and his family disowning him.   In turn, Jon offers his condolences for how Jorah’s father, Lord Commander Mormont met his demise and he assures Jorah all the mutineers who had a hand in the late Lord Commander’s death have been brought to justice.  

Jon then attempts to give Jorah the family sword – Longclaw - which Lord Commander Mormont bestowed upon Jon back at Castle Black.  This is the sword that’s made of Valyrian steel and it’s the same one that Jon used to kill a Whitewalker at Hardhome.  I want to scream at the screen “Why in blazing hell are you offering your amazing Whitewalker-killing sword to Jorah RIGHT NOW when you’re in Whitewalker territory??? Hold onto the damn sword, you idiot!” But no need, Ser Jorah insists that Jon keep the sword.  With his complicated family history, he doesn’t feel right taking it, and he tells Jon he hopes it will serve him well and his children after him.  Kids, you say? Well, well, well, aren’t we quite the optimist, as we walk the freezing tundra of the Night King’s turf!

 How Do You Solve A Problem Like Arya?

Back at Winterfell, Arya and Sansa stand on the balcony overlooking the courtyard and Arya shares a touching memory she has of their dad, but then she darkly ends things with “And now he’s dead, thanks in part to you.”  Sansa’s all “Ex-CUSE me?” And then Arya whips out the scroll she stole from Littlefinger’s room.  It’s the letter Cersei forced Sansa to write to her brother Robb urging him to swear fealty to King Joffrey back in Season 1 in order to help her father when he was imprisoned by the Lannisters,.  As we all know, Robb assumed it was written under duress.  And things didn’t turn out well for Ned Stark in spite of Sansa’s attempts. Arya accuses Sansa of being a hoity, toity wussy little traitor to their family.  She tells her she watched their father’s execution, and saw Sansa sitting loyally next to King Joffrey – all gussied up.  Sansa calls BS and has some choice words of her own for Arya.  “Um yeah, I didn’t see you trying to save dad, either. I did what I had to in order to survive. And btw the very reason we’re in Winterfell today is thanks to me and my political skills – because the Knights of the Vale support me.  In conclusion, my life has been one horrendous sh*tshow after the next, so why don’t you have the Winterfell seamstress make you some new clothes ‘cause those judgy-pants you’re wearing are looking awfully smug.”

Arya ends things with a thinly veiled threat that she just might show the scroll to the people who matter most to Sansa:  the Northern Lords. Will they be so fond of Sansa once they think of her as a coward who betrayed her family?  Sansa tells her not to do anything rash, and maybe grab a Snickers bar, because…you’re not you when you’re hangry.

Back to Team Awesome, Tormund and the Hound share some hilarious banter with the Hound ragging on redheads and Tormund telling him of this gal he has back home – as he describes her, the Hound realizes he’s talking about Brienne of Tarth.  It’s a great scene with some much-needed humor.

Beric Dondarrion and Jon Snow are chatting, discussing their shared experience of dying and being brought back to life.  Dondarrion is pretty much a veteran at this, seeing how Thorros of Myr has brought him back six times so far.   When Jon wonders what it’s all about, Dondarrion tells him there’s only one enemy: Death.  And even though death always wins in the end, it’s their calling to fight back as much and as often as they can.  Jon’s all, “Cool story, bro. That works for me.”

Suddenly they all halt and the Hound points to a mountain that looks like the one from his vision. He senses the Army of Dead can’t be too far.  Meeep! I’m getting anxious.

Targaryen Stratageryen

Aaaaand, cut to Dragonstone, where it’s Smores Sunday, y’all!!!  Daenerys and Tyrion are hanging out by the fireplace and Dany gives Tyrion a backhanded compliment…or shall we say a real compliment that lands terribly – and is really just a guise for her to talk about Jon Snow: “Ya know what I like about you? You’re not a hero. You don’t go showing off doing stupid things that will get you killed like  hunky Drogo, Dreamboat Daario, Valiant Jorah, or Sexy Jon Snow.  Just kidding, Jon’s totally not sexy, he’s way too short for me. Uh…not that there is anything wrong with men of short stature, ‘cause they’re totes cool…and um, I know you’re totally brave and stuff, too.  Ok. So…let’s talk Cersei strategy.”

Tyrion’s all “Yeah, thanks. Ok, so Jaime said he’ll keep the Lannister Army in check.  Cersei be cray and is an all-around terrible person.  She’s probably going to say stuff to get your goat so…maybe don’t take the bait by being impulsive during truce negotiations?” Dany’s all, “WHAT??? I’M EVEN-KEELED ALL THE TIME! Why would you even say that?”  Two words: Tarly Barbecue.

Tyrion adds that patience is a virtue for a ruler and  the world that Dany wants Westeros to become won’t happen overnight.  It’ll take a lot of time.  Perhaps even a lifetime.  Now might be a good time to do some estate planning and figure out who’s going to be Dany’s successor if anything should happen to her.  Dany tells him in no uncertain terms that her dragons are the only children she’ll ever have and they will talk about successors once she’s on the throne.  Conversation over.

We’re back up North with Team Awesome and they are walking through a blizzard.  Their scout is walking ahead and we see a figure obscured by the raging snow storm.  The anticipation is intense.  Out of nowhere, a huge bear appears and savagely attacks the group.  If you haven’t seen the Revenant yet, you’re in luck…you get to watch a bear maul somebody without all the boring parts! Woot!  As the beast attacks the men, we see it has blue eyes.  Holy moly, it’s a zombie bear!!!  The beast attacks Thorros and somebody in the group manages to stab it with some dragon glass and it shatters.  Thorros is pretty torn up, but Beric Dondarrion cauterizes the wound with his awesome flaming sword and the group moves on.   

At Winterfell, Sansa invites Littlefinger to her room to talk about Arya and wonders how she got the scroll in the first place.  Littlefinger shrugs “Beats me.” Sansa worries that the Northern lords are growing restless during Jon’s absence, and might take any reason they can find to leave Winterfell.  This scroll might push them over the edge.  Littlefinger suggests Sansa might have Brienne intercede on her behalf if there is any sign that Arya might do her and her reputation harm.  After all, Brienne has sworn to protect both Stark sisters.  Sansa considers this.  But what exactly “interceding” means  is a bit unclear to me – especially as this is a suggestion coming from Littlefinger.

Back North again, Jorah speaks with a limping Thorros, who constantly takes sips from his flask. Jorah is recoutning one of the battles that happened during Robert’s Rebellion, when Tormund hears something and everybody stops.  In a valley below, they see a handful of snow zombies walking.  They wonder where the rest of the group is.

Our heroes lay a trap and ambush the snow zombies and the single Whitewalker who’s with them.  Jon strikes down the Whitewalker with Longclaw and the army of dead around them all crumble to pieces.  Just one snow zombie is left standing – that’s their zombie that they can bring back for Cersei!  Woot woot! Only thing is, they have to subdue the damn thing, and let me tell you, zombies sure know how to put up a fight. As they wrestle the zombie to the ground, it lets out a deafening high-pitched scream.  Suddenly snow tornados start to build in the distance. Ruh roh, that’s the same thing that happened at Hardhome before all the Army of Dead appeared.  Trouble is coming!  Jon tells Gendry – who is the fastest of them all – to run back to Eastwatch to send a raven to Daenerys.  The Hound grabs Gendry’s battle hammer and tells him to leave it, as he’ll run faster. Gendry bolts.

The remaining members of the group make a run for it, dragging their zombie hostage along, and steel themselves for a fight. We see a mass of snow zombies run in from all directions.  Team Awesome suddenly hear the ground below them crack and they realize they are standing on a lake of thin ice. They rush to the center of the lake where a stone island juts out.  The snow zombies run after them at full force, some fall though the broken ice.  Are they gonna walk underneath the ice, I wonder in horror.  Nope, we’re good.  We see an aerial view showing Jon & Co. stranded on the rocky island, completely encircled.  It’s like Battle of the Bastards all over again and dread washes over Jon’s face. Then, all of a sudden, the Army of Dead stops.  Turns out…they don’t like water!  Huh. They all just lurk at the outskirts of the lake.  Standing. Waiting silently.  It’s beyond freaky.

 How’s Gendry doing? He’s running and running, and mercifully, no snow zombies are on his trail.  I’m totally hearing the “Run Forrest, Run!” chant in my head…but with Gendry’s name, obvi. He can see the Wall off in the distance. 

Night falls on the little rock island and all is still.  Team Awesome looks out as the Dead look back.  

 Gendry is maybe 50 feet out from Eastwatch when he collapses into the snow. Oh man! Seriously, dude? You’re so close! The gate opens and some men rush out to get him. As Davos bends down to ask what happened, Gendry utters “I need to send a raven!” Whew, at least word will get to Dany!  

It’s morning on the rocky platform, and our heros start to do sun salutations and discover that Thorros has passed in the night.  They use the alcohol in his flask to burn him, but without a resurrectionist on site, Dondarrion and Jon are on their last lives.  

Jorah wonders about what happened earlier when Jon killed the Whitewalker and all the zombies fell. Jon assumes it’s because that particular Whitewalker turned them, except for the zombie hostage they took. Makes perfect sense, I mean, this is basic Vampire Mythology 101, people!  So maybe they just need to kill all the Whitewalkers on site to get out of this jam.  As he looks around and sees the Army of Dead patiently waiting, Jon utters “Nope, then we lose our hostage.  Dany is our only hope.” “Not necessarily,” interjects Dondarrion.  If they can kill the Night King, who turned all the Whitewalkers, then they can kill all the walking dead.  That would be pretty easy peasy, doncha think?

 Back at Winterfell, Sansa gets more bad news.  She’s been invited to King’s Landing, but no way is she stepping foot back there with evil Queen Cersei on the throne.  She decides to send Brienne as her emissary, but Brienne protests “If I leave, then you’re not safe from whatever Littlefinger is planning. Let me at least leave Poddrick.” Sansa’s like “Um, news flash, I own this place and my guards will protect me. Hit the road now, BriBri, if you wanna get there on time!”  Hmmm, is she getting rid of Brienne on purpose?  On the bright side, Brienne will get to see her number one crush, Jaime Lannister!  

Gendry’s raven has arrived at Dragonstone, and Queen Daenerys is wearing  a fabulous coat from her new Dracarys winter collection. She’s ready to hop on her dragon and bail out Team Awesome.  Tyrion attempts to talk her out of it, saying sometimes doing nothing is the best decision. Based on his recent track record, Tyrion’s suggestions have proven to be just plain awful, so Dany ignores his advice and takes off on Drogon with her other two dragons in tow.

God Willin’ And The Creek Don’t Freeze

We’re back at the Rock of Doom, while our heroes are sitting ducks and the Army of Dead continues to loom in the distance.  The Hound has taken it upon himself to do a little target practice by throwing rocks at one of the decomposing soldiers’ heads.  Its jaw comes off and he picks up another rock for funsies, but it falls short and lands on the ice…which doesn’t break.  The Hound channels his inner Urkel  -“Did I do that?” - as it dawns on everybody that the Army of Dead can safely walk straight to them.  

The zombies start to cross the ice, spaced out enough as not to break the ice.  Team Awesome are in for a terrifying battle as more and more snow zombie close in on them.  Luckily, the men all have dragon glass weapons with them, but they are outnumbered by about 100 to 1.  As they engage in combat, things are rough with zombies coming at them left and right.

The Hound pounds a huge hole in the ice with the hammer Gendry left behind and that helps to stop at least some of the snow zombies. Enjoy your jacuzzi, mofos!  

 Jon yells for them to fall back – um, to WHERE, dude?  The back of the rock island juts  a bit higher so the zombies behind them can’t reach them.  During their retreat, Tormund gets attacked by a group of the dead all at once and they start to pull him into the hole in the ice.  Oh no, does this mean we’ll never get to see the love that could blossom between Tormund and Brienne?!  Just when it looks like it’s game over for our fave Wildling, the Hound saves him!  Hey, he DOES like gingers!

The group retreats as much as they can with zombies clawing up at them, and Jon looks around , his face screams “Just go to your zen-filled happy place, Jon!” Just when it looks like they are total goners, we see a stream of fire come down from the sky – huzzah, Queen Dany to the rescue!!!  Drogon and the other two dragons, Rhaegal and Viserion swoop in, and similar to the battle with the Lannisters, Dany’s dragons torch the place and snow zombies fall left and right.  Climate change is real, biatches!

 Drogon lands on the rock island and the members of Team Awesome start to scramble up on the dragon, except for Jon, who feels the inexplicable need to show off or something. He fights off snow zombies as the others climb aboard Drogon Airlines.

Meanwhile, the Night King and his Lieutenants look on, with their usual expression - a mix of  calm reserve and bitchy sourface.  One of the lieutenants grabs a huge ice spear and slowly, deliberately hands it to the Night King.  Oh, crap.  Just when I was thinking that at least they weren’t going into dragon-slayer territory, the Whitewalkers prove me wrong.  The Night King takes aim at one of the dragons, methodically tracking it and then – whoosh – he throws the spear with incredible force and accuracy and it hits Viserion, who tumbles from the sky.  

 Time seems to stop as Dany sees her dragon-child fall and her face just breaks.  Viserion hits the ice and slowly sinks down into the water below and disappears.  Jon starts to run to the others, but when he sees one of the Whitewalkers reach for yet another spear, he shouts for Dany and the others to leave.  As he runs, a group of snow zombies tackle him and they all fall through the hole in the ice.  

Drogon takes off with Dany and the Team Awesome members, along with their snow zombie hostage, and the Night King takes aim at them.  He launches the spear, but this time the dragon does an excellent serpentine dodge, and the spear misses its mark.  The Night King and his Army of Dead start to saunter off. 

On the ice, Longclaw lays forgotten when suddenly Jon emerges from the water and claws his way back onto the ice.  As he ambles, shivering, in the general direction of Eastwatch, some of the retreating Snow Zombies take note and turn to attack him.  Jon, braces himself to go down fighting, when a rider appears behind the zombies and whacks them in the head with a flaming ball and chain – Uncle Benjen saves the day! Benjen gallops up to Jon and puts him on this horse, then stays behind as Jon rides off.  Uncle B gets a few good swings in at the zombies, but their sheer volume is too much for him to take on, and he vanishes in a sea of snow zombies.

At Eastwatch, the Hound is loading the snow zombie into a boat, while Dany and Jorah look out from the watchtower, scouring the woods and snow below for a sign of life.  Jorah tells Dany it’s time to leave, but Dany wants to wait just a little longer.  She finally turns to leave when a horn blows and the horse appears from the trees below with Jon collapsed over its back.

On Dany’s ship, heading back to Dragonstone, a group of men are pulling off Jon’s frozen clothes and settling his unconscious body into bed as she looks on.  If this was any other kind of show, I’d expect somebody to say “He’s suffering from hypothermia and needs some bare skin on him to warm up! Anybody have any suggestions?”  As Dany sees his bare chest, she notices the stab wounds in his heart and chest…and hey, Jon Snow is surprisingly ripped!  Maybe short guys aren’t that bad after all. 

Sibling Rivalry

Back to the Winterfell saga! Sansa is snooping around Arya’s room, presumably looking for the damaging scroll, when she comes across a satchel filled with…faces? Arya surprises her from behind. “Hey sis, looking for something?” Sansa is disturbed by her discovery and asks, “What’s with the Ronald Reagan mask, Arya? Has somebody been watching too much Point Break?” Then Arya creepily asks if Sansa wants to play a game.  If she starts to ask what Sansa’s favorite scary movie is, I’m gonna lose it! Arya tells Sansa of her “Game of Faces” she used to play at the assassin academy.  Sansa puts on a brave face, but you can tell she is terrified, heck even I’m worried about what Arya will do.  The younger sister grabs the Catspaw dagger Bran gave her the other day, and she tells Sansa how she can become anybody she wants to – why, she could even be Lady Stark of Winterfell – all she needs is her face.  Arya raises the dagger, and then gives it a quick twirl and hands it to Sansa before walking away.  Jeepers Creepers!!

I’ll Stand By You

Jon awakens and Dany is waiting by his bedside.  He immediately apologizes for her dragon-baby loss and tells her he wishes they had never gone on their zombie retrieval errand.  Although she grieves for her dragon – the only children she’ll ever have, she’s sure to point out – she doesn’t regret them going, as it’s the only way she would believe the Whitewalker threat is real.  She offers Jon her support, no strings attached and says they will defeat the Night King together.

Jon tells her he’s ready to call her his Queen and that the Northern Lords will follow suit when they see her for who she is – a true leader.  He grabs her hand and when she starts to lets go he holds on just a bit as they share a long meaningful look, then she pulls her hand away and tells him to rest up.

Rise and Shine

Back at the zombie lake retreat, droves of zombies are pulling the fallen dragon out of the icy water with giant chains.  I guess Whitewalkers never leave home without their hardware.  Plus, they must have managed to get some snow zombies who hate water to do a little scuba dive to attach the chains, but that’s all petty details.  The main thing here is that they have a deceased dragon and a Night King who can reanimate the dead, so no good can come of this.  As the dragon corpse lays on the ice, the Night King walks up to him and touches his head – Viserion’s eye opens and it gleams a bright blue! Roll credits. 

 Well…that’s not good! I’ve always had a nagging feeling that we might be seeing an ice dragon at some point, and now we have.  I do wonder, though, about the logistics of an ice dragon - does it actually have any fire power, or does it just spray out a refreshing mist?  We’ll find out soon enough.  This is bad news bears all around, though.  They could very well just burn down the wall in one fell blow.  My one hope is that Cersei will in fact unite forces with her enemy to defeat the Whitewalkers, and they can put some dragon glass arrowheads on Qyburn’s weaponry.

Can we just take a moment to discuss how every time Jon Snow embarks on a dangerous mission, it always ends in disaster with somebody bailing him out?  I’m just saying, maybe we don’t wanna use him for the big battles anymore.  Perhaps having a Plan B or C in place would be a wise idea, too, in case things go south.  And, just throwing this out there: maybe Bran can start to tag along warg-style on dangerous endeavors, so when things go horribly wrong, he can send in the cavalry instead of everybody waiting for a messenger to send a raven.  Also, let’s hear it for the speedy ravens of Westeros, amiright?

As for the Winterfell happenings: What the heck is up with Arya?  She is being a major biatch to Sansa. Is this what she is like in her downtime? I mean, when you think about it, we’ve never really seen her socializing in normal settings - maybe she has PTSD where she just assumes everybody is an enemy.  Girl needs to take a chill pill and give Sansa a break.  I guess when you lead a nomadic lifestyle you don’t have to worry much about fostering relationships with others.  Also, where was Bran to just be like “Hey sisters, Littlefinger is just playing you.” Bran better have some amazing ace up his sleeve.

 As for Littlefinger…is his endgame here really just to get rid of Brienne? Did he suggest the “interceding thing” because he wants Brienne to engage Arya in combat? Brienne wouldn’t really ever hurt Arya, but I guess Arya is a loose cannon and could very well kill Brienne…which would take her out of the picture, and perhaps that is Littlefingers real goal?  Maybe Sansa is onto him and that’s why she sent Brienne to King’s Landing.  Or maybe that’s exactly what Littlefinger REALLY wanted.  Ack, it’s so complicated!

Next week is the finale episode and it’s gonna be even longer than this recent episode.  One thing’s for sure - tension is gonna be at an all time high as Cersei, Dany and Jon all convene in one place.  I mean, I assume Jon is going to King’s Landing, but I could be wrong.  Until then, let’s all pour out a forty for Viserion and pray that ice dragons can’t breach the wall.