#thorros

[kingsmoot]

🔥 aspect of worldbuilding that you like and fandom doesnt seem to

oooo i love this question this is super interesting!!

i love that the faith of the seven is really underdeveloped and only gets brought up sometimes for plot reasons

i've seen plenty of (good!!) critique about how it's half baked and how it fails as an analog to medieval christianity and how characters don't truly center their lives around the faith

but i would personally find a realistic portrayal of a fictional domineering religion extremely boring

so for me personally i love that the gods generally fall by the wayside except for specific characters who are fanatically/singularly devoted to them (thorros, melisandre, aeron)

[angrychrist]

There's a glowing red aura

Around the embers of my fire

The flame has long burned down

It's just me that gets higher

There's a train long left my station

The L & M used 2 run down my tracks

But the coal is low like the soul it goes

Like it never meant 2 come back

Nothing left but wooden ties

And there just full of cracks

Some great Engines go 2 rust

In over grown train stations

But sometimes some 1 finds the beauty

In the long forgotten

And polish the chrome windows

And treat the wood from going rotten

Maybe I can be the 1 2 do it

Or draw attention 2 the disappearing grace

Maybe we both will get put 2 it

Meeting our minds face 2 face

I retired the conducter

But it's still full of volts

Maybe we'll get past the corupter

Discover the thorro breads in these colts

Pssst

Not whispering

Opening the colt

It's ice cold

Like the surface of my heart

Cheers

[nedcatweek]

Day Four: Lord & Lady Stoneheart

Oh dear, Thorros, you really did something here didn’t you? I understand that you ship them very hard but do you have any idea what you’ve unleashed on the world and the Starkling’s psyche?

2025 Collection | Prompt List

[theultimatetamer]

Your Thor Vs. OUR THOR

[toonmienshao93]

Hirokawa and Itani - Seganku and Thorro Aki - Long Snouted Otter

[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.

[mirrors-war]

Spoilers Monster Allergy Evolution 3

I am quite happy that the whole story with Thorro might be ending, because I never could take him seriously as the main villain of a “more serious and adult” MA, especially compared to the original MA, with Magnacat, the Dark ghosts army and the Dark ADULT Tamer. Thorro is like, 12, and I can’t take him seriously at all. I always think Zick or Elena is that close to give him a good spanking, and I can’t imagine them doing that to Magnacat :D

[silverbluebaka]

The pack survives

I've been thinking about the conflict between Arya and Sansa, not in terms of conflict or shitty writing, but in terms of character growth. In episodes 5 and 6 they have had some serious and viscous arguments (which has led to a lot of heated arguments between fans) that seem OOC. Why can't they talk about their traumas? Why are they turning on the family that they've both been looking for? And why in the hell can't the assassin and the politician work together?? In my mind, it seems to be that they both have a final lesson to learn. Sansa needs to shake off the last of her beliefs in the songs and stories of hero's and safety. She has come a long, long, way in this. In season one she trusted in her "beloved Prince Joffrey", taking his side in everything. After her experiences with the Lannisters, she learned that the stories aren't real, and no hero will come. This is reinforced by her experiences with Ramsay; "no one can protect me." But she failed to grasp the core of this: she was most traumatised in Winterfell. Her home, where she should have been safe, according to the stories. Where she now believes herself safe and in control. But as Arya points out, the loyal soldiers are "not here now"(this can be literal, not in the room, or broader, not in Winterfell, dead from the wars). Arya's threats (real or not) should be finally showing Sansa, that she cannot rely on places or soldiers to keep her safe. She has to stop seeing things as she wishes them to be. This includes her sister, who she still sees as the wild child, not a survivor like herself. "You would never have survived the things I did" "you can't imagine what I've been through" and laughter at the list. For someone who complained that Ned never wanted her to see how "dirty the real world was" there are still a lot of things she doesn't see. Consider the hundreds of soldiers "loyal to me" she mentions. We haven't seen Lyanna Mormont, Alyse Karstark or Ned Umber on screen since Jon left. They are the loyal liegemen; Lyanna fought for the Starks, and the others swore fealty directly to Jon after he returned their lands. The soldiers in Winterfell belong to the Glovers and the Vale. They are not hers, and as Sansa herself points out they're like "weather vanes", not a good way to describe your liege men. The Glovers refused the call, and the Vale came because Littlefinger threatened Royce through Robin Arryn. Brienne even tells her the lords have been meeting with Baelish, and Brienne is a terrible player in the game. No house or lord is directly loyal to Sansa. If Sansa used her mind, rather than her belief in the safety of the home, she would realise this. Sansa thinks she is safe, because she thinks she is in control, and that she has mastered the game. She has become a great player, but Littlefinger is better, but she doesn't see him as a threat anymore. She knows what he wants, but thinks she is secure enough in Winterfell to refuse him. But he is the architect of the war, and the current divide between Sansa and Arya, and it was a mistake to think he could be ignored. The exchange with Bran drives this home for me; "he has declared for house stark... he's not a generous man, he wouldn't give you anything unless he thought he would get something in return." The irony is that he declared for house stark, brought the Vale forces and gave her winterfell because he wants her. His still being there shows that he still intends to have her. Sansa could easily figure this out if she realised that Winterfell is just as dangerous a place as any other. Sansa tries to appeal to Arya that "This is what Cersei wants" forgetting that there are closer enemies: look at the patterns, figure out who benefits. She and Arya fight in places tied to home and family: twice in bedrooms, and once in the balcony from season one episode one. These settings should teach Sansa that no place is safe, not even Winterfell. Finally, the Game of Faces. Arya tells her the rules about catching lies, but Sansa can't see the lies. She's learned to manipulate and how to manoeuvre but as we saw with littlefinger's "I have no idea" Sansa hasn't yet learned how to see things as they really are. I don't like this conflict between the sisters, but I think Sansa is heading for this realisation. Hopefully soon she will apply it to an alliance with Arya, rather than seeing Arya as the threat. Which brings me to Arya. First things first, Arya is my favourite character, because I see parts of myself in her; specifically her impotent rage. I get angry, I want bloody vengeance, but because I'm an adult in the real world, I've learned that that doesn't solve anything. Arya hasn't learned this, not fully anyway. As Gendry points out "you could have picked Tywin, or Joffrey, you could have ended the war", Arya has learned to deal with the most obvious problem first, even if it is not the "real" danger. While Sansa learned to play the long game, Arya had to focus on the closest problem first because to ignore it usually meant death. "and what did you do, did you charge the platform and save father?" Arya is thrown on the defensive by Sansa pointing out how from the beginning fighting can't solve some things. Through out the series we've seen Arya lose or be mocked by better fighters, over and over again; The Hound, the Brotherhood, the waif. She couldn't always solve her problems with violence but she never really learned another way because she saw that the most violent always won: the questioners at Harrenhal, the freys at the red wedding; She couldn't beat Thorros, so he captured her; The Hound could beat her, so she had to stay with him. In her experience, living in the wilds, in a war zone, violence always beat violence. This was only reinforced by her Faceless training. The Faceless were not about violence and revenge, but they were about certain death, for the good and the bad. All problems ended with death. (This could also explain why she stupidly wore her own face to spy on Littlefinger - if she was caught, she would just kill him.) But now she is back in Westeros, among the great houses, and she doesn't know the rules of the game. She spent at least 2 weeks in disguise with the Freys, so we know she can be patient and make plans, but that still lead to death. Sansa tells her that is not what is needed to play the game, but Arya can't see past the short term solution. Murmurs of disloyalty: kill them. But as Sansa points out, what happens after? Will the armies stay? Arya has not decided what to do with The Letter. This shows some (like a teeny bit) growth in this area, in that she talks to Sansa, rather than immediately plotting her murder, but this is overshadowed by the game of faces. Whether she lied in the threats she made is irrelevant. She was falling back on her world view that threats and violence are the only solution. The fact that she gives Sansa the knife could be interpreted in different ways (the game is over; I'll kill for you; kill him yourself) but one thing is clear from Arya's body language- she is not afraid of Sansa. Arya would never give an enemy a knife and then turned her back. And given that violence is the only thing Arya respects, this is a huge slap in the face to Sansa and the game. Some people have speculated that Arya will die; I don't buy it. That would be pointless on behalf of the asoiaf narrative. But I do think she is headed for a fall unless she learns to play the game. I like to think that the sisters will work together to take down Baelish, and personally I think Arya will wear his face to keep control of the Vale forces. Sansa needs a weapon like Arya (Brienne is too noble to do the assassinations of politics) ; Arya needs Sansa to direct her talents. They need to see the real value in each other's abilities in order to work as a pack.

[anndee-123]

“Death is the Enemy”

My thoughts as the episode progresses.

Jon looks so young in those "Previously on...”.

LOL - I love that Ginger (”Down south smells like pig shit”...)

Hmmm, another mention of people dying for a monarch’s pride.

LOL - The Hound made a funny.

Of course, Jon does the right thing with the sword.

Of course, Jorah does the right thing with the sword.

Mention of children...hmmm.

Oh Arya, you can’t tell you are being played?

I really hate that they are pulling the Starks apart just as soon as they were brought together.

Tormund’s infatuation with Brienne is so adorable.  He wants to make babies.

Oh, Jonerys is so on.  Even Tyrion sees it.

All this talk of children.  I don’t think Dany is going to be so barren after all.

The bear is a zombie?  The effing bear?

So, will those the bear killed become wights?  They can just bring one of them back through the wall.

What the hell just killed them all like that?

Run, freaking run.  You know it’s bad, run!!!!

Gendry better come out of this alive.

Of course, they are on ice.  Isn’t that how it works? Like always?

And now they are stuck.  Is Gendry going to be able to get the raven to Dany and she’ll come and bring her dragons to save them?  Is this how we’ll learn that Jon is a dragon rider?

Is Thorros going to become a wight?  Nope, but now there isn’t anyone left to resurrect the dead (well, the “right” way).

Pfft. The Hound...he’s got some good lines this episode.

Ohhhh Tormund isn’t going to like that his Big Lady is meeting up with the Kingslayer.

Don’t listen to Tyrion.  Go Dany! Go!

Help is on the way idiots.  Don’t do anything stupid.

Oh shit!  Like that Clegane.  I meant something stupid like that.

Use the hammer idiot.  Use the hammer!

Hurry Queen of Dragons!  Your man needs you.

NO. No. Not Tormund.  

Yeah.  Way to go Clegane (Torgane?  New ship?)

YEAH!!!!  Get em Dany, get em.

Is Jorah gonna sacrifice himself for Jon?  Is the ice going to have no effect on Jon like the fire does with....NO NO poor dragon (Viscerion?)

Jon isn’t dead.  He’s not.  He’s already died.  He can’t die again.  Nope, he’s alive.  I was right. (Thank a god)

So is he going to fly out on Rhaegal?

No, looks like Uncle Benjen is coming to his rescue.

That look.  I mean I would want to see him naked too, but that is a look of a woman in love.

THE FUCK Arya!  Don’t you dare!

Yeah Sansa.  I’d be wary too. Arya is a bit more cray cray than I thought.

Oh yeah.  Jonerys is so totally happening.

Holy shit.  Are they going to make the dragon one of them? Holy shit, holy shit!

[oadara]

Beric and Thoros fighting with flaming swords. Jon vs Night King foreshadowed heavily. Lightbringer is coming.

Hi anon,

Well, now that Jon has died and been brought back to life by the same magic that brought Berric back to life, he’ll be able to wield a flaming sword. So yeah, he’ll wield his Lightbringer.

I wonder if Berric will show him how to do it. I believe it’s Thorros who dies, so Berric should still be around for a bit. And if II’m wrong about this don’t correct me. I don’t want to know.

TTFN