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Game of Thrones
Season 7 Finale
We finally made it. It’s been a long seven years, but the end is finally starting to crystallize, as Game of Thrones closes out its penultimate season with “The Dragon and the Wolf.” As I predicted last week, “The Dragon and the Wolf” focuses more on setting up season eight, rather than providing an exciting standalone, episodic romp. We don’t get a ton of action this week or any particularly harrowing cliffhangers, but the closing minutes are a thrill, and the seventh season finale is a good episode overall. The main focus is the culmination of Tyrion’s less than brilliant scheme to deliver a wight to Cersei, in the hopes that it will convince her to agree to a truce with Daenerys.
The meeting with Cersei goes about as poorly as expected. Tyrion makes some clever opening remarks, Jon pitches his tried and true “The Real War is Against the Army of the Dead” speech, all while Cersei looks on with smoldering contempt and mild disinterest. The tone quickly changes, though, when Sandor Clegane rolls out their trump card- the captured wight from beyond the Wall. Unfortunately, this dog and zombie show does little to effectively change Cersei’s mind; although, the entire reveal is quite exciting and well executed. It would have been easy for the writers to color Cersei as staunchly skeptical, even in the face of a snarling, teeth-gnashing wight. She could have ignored Jon's logical plea for mutual self-preservation, and viewed the wight as nothing more than a cheap parlor trick- a bit of magic conjured up by a red priest. However, the reactions of Cersei and her party are quite genuine- from the visible cracks in Jaime’s typically cool and confident demeanor, to Qyburn’s morbid fascination with the undead’s flailing severed hand. One thing’s for sure, everybody, even Cersei, understands just how real of a threat the White Walkers are.
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But of course, Cersei refuses to align herself with the enemies of her House, even when presented with such an obvious option that would benefit her own people, as well as the greater good of all of Westeros. She does offer her own counter-terms: that she’ll agree to a truce if Jon Snow, as King in the North, refuses to pledge his allegiance to either her side or Daenerys’. Jon predictably (and honorably) declines; however, even if he had agreed, it’s fair to wonder if Cersei would have even held up her end of the bargain, considering her actions from later on in this episode. (My bet is that she wouldn’t have.) But, is there some ounce of goodness in Cersei? Some innate desire to do the right thing? Somewhere buried deep, deep, (deep), down inside of her, past all of the horrific torture fetishes and affinity for wearing black? I kind of doubt it; or at least, if there is, I don’t think this small amount of goodness will ever manifest itself in a significant, tangible way. When it’s all said and done, Cersei still stands in our heroes' ways, even as the White Walkers start literally knocking on Westeros’ front door.
It’s not very surprising that Cersei remains unconvinced that the threat of the Long Night is enough to put aside her differences with Daenerys. And, it’s also no surprise that she ultimately reneges on the offer of military support that she pledges to Jon at the end of the dragon pit meeting. For the most part, that’s really the best possible way to describe this episode- no real surprises, just everything going…about as expected. Of course, the expected isn’t necessarily a bad thing. I think a lot of fans would be disappointed if Game of Thrones ends with the Night King sitting on a throne made of the corpses of our beloved main characters. But, the predictable events of the finale do feel a little out of sync with where we should be story-wise, at this point in the series.
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Regardless of what Game of Thrones fan forum or podcast you frequent, going into this season, the general consensus seemed to be that Cersei would serve as the main antagonist for season seven, before giving way to the White Walkers in season eight. Now, fan speculation will always be just that, speculation, but Cersei’s tyrannical rule is trivial compared to the genocidal threat the White Walkers represent, and it would make sense narratively for Cersei’s storyline to wrap up completely, before the focus shifts to the war against the White Walkers- the literal crux of the entire series. But, now that Cersei’s sticking around for what remains of the foreseeable future (if she’s made it this far, I highly doubt she’d be written off early into next season, if at all), the show will have to split its screen time, as well as our focus, between the deadly onslaught of the army of the undead, and the small pinpricks of whatever political havoc Cersei thinks she can still wreak.
But, you know what I wasn’t expecting during this episode? The long-awaited final act in Theon Greyjoy’s series-long redemption tour. The Artist Formerly Known as Reek has quietly carried some of Game of Thrones most memorable moments. From his sadistic imprisonment at the hands of Ramsey Bolton, to his daring rescue of Sansa in the season five finale (arguably the first win in a loooong time for the Starks, at that point). We’ve been waiting years for Theon to finally redeem himself, but after his inability to help Yara, after she was taken prisoner by Euron back in episode two, it seemed like that day would never come. But this week, Theon finds redemption in the most simple, yet powerful way possible. He proves himself worthy in the eyes of his fellow Iron born, after besting Harrag in combat, but more importantly, Theon is forgiven by Jon, who bestows upon him the highest level of forgiveness possible- that Theon was, is, and always will be, a Stark.
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The concept of family is quite prevalent throughout the finale, though not in the typical Thrones fashion of Houses and secession. Family is what motivates Cersei to circle the wagons around King’s Landing, abandoning Daenerys and Jon to their fates against the undead. Several times during her meeting with Tyrion, Cersei mentions that the death of their father, Tywin Lannister, is what allowed her enemies to slowly kill off her family. Since Tywin’s death, and especially after climbing the Iron Throne, Cersei has tried to fashion herself after her father, formulating intricate political plans with precision, callous, and above all else, with the preservation of the Lannister House in mind. And, Tywin isn’t the only dad offering his children guidance from beyond the grave. Ned Stark’s wise words, “When the snows fall, and the white winds blow, the lone wolf dies, but the pack survives,” end up pushing Sansa and Arya to work together, in order to best Littlefinger’s attempt to divide the Stark sisters against one another.
But, I believe it’s Jon’s words to Theon that best capture the true importance of family, an importance that will ultimately shape the final season of Game of Thrones. Family’s not about birthright- just ask Viserys or Stannis Baratheon about that. It’s not about maintaining a one-way sense of loyalty to a House that would never return the favor (as Sam and Theon eventually figured out). It’s about the values passed down from generation to generation, like the North’s belief that a man’s word should mean something, or a Lannister always paying his debts. These values transcend blood and status, shaping the Great Houses from the inside out, rather than by which son was born first, or who married whose daughter. Which is why, it doesn’t matter whether he’s Aegon Targaryen, or Jon Sand. Jon Snow is the future king of Westeros because of the lessons he learned from the father who raised him, not because of the name passed down by the father he never knew.
