Recap: Melisandre arrives at Dragonstone and informs Daenerys about the prophecy of the “Prince that was Promised”. On her suggestion, Dany invites Jon Snow to Dragonstone. Tyrion plans the conquest of Westeros in which Dorne would lay siege to King’s Landing while the Unsullied would attack Casterly Rock. In King’s Landing, Cersei invites the Lords of Westeros and asks them to support her against the Targaryen Queen. In Oldtown, Sam uses an experimental and forbidden treatment on Jorah in order to cure his Greyscale. In Winterfell, Jon receives letters from Sam and Daenerys. He decides to accept Dany’s invitation and departs Winterfell, leaving Sansa in charge. In Riverlands, Arya is reunited with Hot Pie at an inn and learns about the current affairs and status of Winterfell. She decides to go to Winterfell instead of King’s Landing. On her way home, she is briefly reunited with Nymeria who refuses to come back. On their way to Sunspear, the Greyjoy Fleet is attacked by Euron’s Iron Fleet. Euron captures Ellaria and Tyene, as well as his niece Yara, while Theon jumps overboard and escapes.
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The Narrow Sea
A bunch of Ironborn find Theon floating and pull him aboard their ship. One of them asks if Yara is dead. Theon replies that she was captured by Euron. He lies that he tried to save her, but the Ironborn says that he wouldn’t be with them if he tried.
King’s Landing
Euron Greyjoy arrives in the capital and parades his captives on the streets as he marches towards the Red Keep. He taunts Yara about Theon’s cowardice while reveling in his victory. The residents of King’s Landing humiliate the captives by throwing rotten fruits at them and calling them “whores” and “murderers”. Eventually, Euron enters Cersei’s court.
Euron presents Ellaria and Tyene as a “gift” to the queen from him and all the loyal subjects from the Iron Islands. He says that this is justice for Myrcella. Ellaria spits at Cersei’s feet. Cersei ignores that and tells Euron that he has proven himself the greatest captain on the fourteen seas and a true friend to the crown. Euron says that she deserves more than a friend. Cersei says that he deserves a proper reward for his heroism, but there is only one reward that he wants. (He wants Cersei.) Cersei agrees to give him what he wants, but only after the war is won. She then proceeds to make him the commander of her naval forces. Euron likes the fact that the people love him and are cheering for him. Jaime says that the same mob spat at Cersei during her Walk of Shame and the same mob will cheer to see Euron’s head mounted on a spike if he turns on the crown. Euron replies that the mob will cheer whether it’s his head or Jaime’s, since they just like severed heads. He then frankly asks Jaime if Cersei has any particular sexual preferences. Jaime tries not to express his anger in public, while Euron bows before Cersei and leaves with Yara.
Cersei visits the cell where Ellaria and Tyene are chained to the wall opposite each other. Cersei recalls the day when Ser Gregor and Oberyn fought each other in a trial by combat. She recalls the sound of Oberyn’s skull cracking and the sound of Ellaria’s scream. She praises Oberyn’s skill with the spear and tells Ellaria that he could’ve walked away unharmed and left Gregor to die. However, Oberyn decided to taunt Gregor, and now he’s dead while the Mountain is stronger than ever. Cersei then remembers how she raised Myrcella on her own since she couldn’t bear seeing her daughter in another woman’s arms. She says that Ellaria cannot understand the pain of losing a daughter. She then starts praising Tyene’s beauty and talking about how she could make Ellaria feel the same pain that she felt when Myrcella was killed. She talks about how she contemplated having Ellaria’s or Tyene’s head crushed by Ser Gregor, but it didn’t feel right. Suddenly, she kisses Tyene on lips and Ellaria realizes that Cersei coated her lips with poison. Cersei reveals that Qyburn found out about the Long Farewell, the poison Ellaria used to kill Myrcella in the same fashion. She also reveals that Tyene will die in front of Ellaria and the guards will make sure that she stays alive even after her daughter is a rotting corpse.
Later, Jaime is drinking wine when Cersei enters the room and starts kissing him. Jaime refuses initially, but lets her go down on him afterwards. Following a night of incestuous sex, Cersei is woken up in the morning by a knock on the door. Jaime asks her not to answer the door, since they’re both naked and whoever sees them in this condition would know that she slept with her brother. Cersei gets up anyway and puts on a robe. She replies that the Queen of the Seven Kingdoms can do as she pleases and proceeds to open the door. Cersei’s maidservant promptly notices Jaime in the bed, but ignores him and informs the queen that the visitor from Braavos has arrived. Cersei acknowledges the message and requests fresh sheets for the bed.
The visitor from Braavos turns out to be Tycho Nestoris of the Iron Bank. He offers his condolences to Cersei for the death of her son. Cersei replies that the Iron Bank didn’t send him to offer condolences. Tycho then congratulates her accomplishment of becoming the queen by crushing the “superstitious” and subversive Faith Militant. Cersei denies her actions and calls the destruction of the Sept of Baelor a “tragic accident”. Tycho replies that sometimes tragedies are necessarily to restore order and rational leadership. Cersei quickly gets to the point: The Iron Bank wants its gold back. Tycho recalls that Tywin didn’t mince words either. The crown is in considerable debt and Cersei is engaged in a conflict on several fronts. Wars can be expensive and the crown has empty vaults. Their wealthiest allies, the Tyrells, are now enemies. Cersei is surrounded by rivals for the Iron Throne and the Iron Bank wants to bet on a winner.
Cersei replies that she has drawn first blood. The Dornish leaders are in her captivity. Euron Greyjoy’s armada owns the Narrow Sea, and Euron is loyal to the crown. Tycho replies that Daenerys, on the other hand, has three full grown dragons. Cersei says that they might have a solution for the dragons. She then starts questioning the Iron Bank’s interest in Daenerys. Dany’s opposition to the slavery has hurt the profits of those who invested in slave trade. Moreover, she considers herself more of a revolutionary than a monarch. Cersei asks how the Iron Bank feels about dealing with revolutionaries. Lannisters have a history of paying their debts, but the same can’t be said about former slaves or the Dothraki or the dragons. She asks Tycho to remain in King’s Landing for a fortnight and promises that when he returns to Braavos, her debt will be paid in full.
Winterfell
Sansa is watching people deliver wheat. Maester Wolkan informs her that they have 4000 bushels. According to Lord Royce, that’s enough food to feed the current occupants of the castle for a year or more. Sansa asks about the longest winter in the past hundred years. Wolkan says that he can check Maester Luwin’s records, since he kept a copy of every raven scroll. Sansa says that they don’t have enough food in case the armies come back to defend the Winterfell. She suggests that they should build up their grain stores and ask every keep in the North to deliver their food to Winterfell. It can be returned if it’s unused by the end, but if the entire North flees to Winterfell, they won’t have time to bring wagonloads of grain with them. She promptly asks Maester Wolkan to see to this.
While they are walking, Sansa notices a smith creating armor. She asks Lord Royce if they are covering the breastplates in leather for protection against the cold. Royce replies that they should be and decides to oversee the process. As Sansa and Baelish continue walking, Baelish comments that command suits her. He starts talking about how their entire attention is directed towards the threat beyond the Wall and none towards Cersei. Sansa says that everybody knows how dangerous Cersei is.
Littlefinger presents her with two possibilities: the dead will win and there won’t be anything to do after, or the living will win and they will have to deal with the next threat that comes for them. He asks her not to fight in the North or the South, but to fight every battle everywhere in her mind. Everyone can be a friend or an enemy, and every possible series of events is happening at once. If she lives that way nothing will surprise her, since everything that happens will be something that she’s seen before. Suddenly, a guard arrives and asks her to come to the gate. Sansa arrives at the gate to find that Bran and Meera have reached Winterfell. Bran greets her and she gives him an emotional hug.
After their reunion, Bran and Sansa are in the Godswood. Sansa wishes Jon were with them, and Bran says that he needs to speak to him. Sansa says that Bran, being Ned Stark’s last living trueborn son, is now the Lord of Winterfell. Bran replies that he can never be Lord of Winterfell, since he’s the Three-Eyed Raven. Sansa doesn’t understand, and Bran cannot explain either. He tells her how he can see everything, past and present, although it’s just fragments. He says that he needs to learn to see better and be ready when the Long Night comes again. Sansa still doesn’t understand what he’s saying. Bran tells her that he is sorry about everything that happened to her. He recalls the exact circumstances of the night when Sansa married Ramsay. Sansa is disturbed by this and leaves, while he stays back.
Oldtown
Archmaester Ebrose examines Jorah’s skin by pressing against it with a metal prod. He asks if it hurts. Jorah replies that it hurts less than before. Ebrose remarks that the infection no longer appears to be active, which would be unusual and unlikely. He speculates that the entire upper layer of the skin could have been debrided and the underlying region could have been treated with some sort of unguent, but Jorah strongly denies any knowledge of such treatment and says that it must have been the rest and the climate. Ebrose declares that Jorah is no longer infected and free to go. He asks Sam to meet him in his study in the evening and leaves.
Sam asks where Jorah would go after this. Jorah says that he surrendered himself to the sickness the moment he found out, but Daenerys convinced him otherwise, so he’ll be going back to serve her. He thanks Sam for treating him and hopes to see him again in the future. Sam shakes his hand and leaves him.
In the evening, Sam meets the Archmaester in his study. Ebrose grills Sam about his decision to treat Jorah. Sam acknowledges that nobody asked him to treat Jorah, that Ebrose expressly forbade any attempt to do so, and that he went through with it anyway. Ebrose reminds Sam about why he forbade such a dangerous procedure. Sam could’ve infected himself and others, possibly the entire Citadel, but he didn’t. He succeeded where many Maesters, even those who are experts in healing, failed. Ebrose asks him how he did it. Sam replies that he just read the books and followed instructions. Ebrose tells him that he should be proud since he saved a man’s life. He then asks Sam to follow him to a table full of manuscripts and scrolls and orders him to make copies of everything. Sam is a bit disappointed, since he was expecting a reward, but Ebrose says that his reward is not being immediately expelled from the Citadel.
Dragonstone
Jon Snow and Davos arrive on the shore of Dragonstone with their soldiers. They are received by Tyrion and Missandei. Jon “the Bastard of Winterfell” and Tyrion “the Dwarf of Casterly Rock” greet each other and reminisce about their last meeting at the Wall. Tyrion also greets Davos who fought on the opposite side in the Battle of Blackwater Bay. Tyrion introduces Missandei as the queen’s most trusted advisor. Missandei asks them to hand over their weapons. The Dothraki standing beside them take their weapons as well as their boat. Missandei then leads the way towards the castle.
Jon and Tyrion start talking about the things that happened after their first meeting, such as Tyrion’s marriage to Sansa (which was not consummated, as Tyrion reminds Jon), Jon becoming King in the North, and Tyrion becoming the Hand to the Targaryen Queen. Jon says that his bannermen don’t approve of his decision to meet Daenerys. Tyrion says that he would have advised the same, since Stark men don’t fare well when they travel south in his experience. Jon says that he’s not a Stark. Suddenly, he and Davos duck when Drogon flies over them. Tyrion helps Jon get up and mentions that one never really gets used to the sight of dragons.
Melisandre watches from the cliff as they walk towards the castle. Varys arrives and asks why she didn’t want to meet Jon, since she was the one who asked them to summon the King in the North. Mel tells him that she did not part on good terms with Jon or Davos. She would only be a distraction if she stayed. She reveals that she is going to Volantis. Varys advises her not to return to Westeros, but she says that she will return, since she has to die in this strange country, just like him.
Missandei escorts Jon and Davos into the throne room and introduces her queen (with a long list of titles). Davos introduces Jon as the King in the North. Dany starts by addressing Jon as “my Lord”, but Davos interjects and reiterates that Jon is King in the North. Dany recalls that the last King in the North was Torrhen Stark who bent the knee to Aegon Targaryen and swore fealty to House Targaryen in perpetuity. She assumes that Jon is there to bend the knee. When Jon replies that he won’t bend the knee, she accuses him of breaking faith. He reminds her that her father—Aerys “the Mad King” Targaryen—burned his grandfather and uncle—Rickard and Brandon Stark—alive. Dany accepts that her father was an evil man and asks for forgiveness and to not judge her by her father’s crimes. House Stark and House Targaryen were allies for centuries and those were the best centuries the realm had seen, with a Targaryen on the Iron Throne and a Stark serving as Warden of the North. She asks him to honor the historical pledge his ancestors made to her house.
Jon agrees that she is not guilty of her father’s crimes. He is also not beholden to his ancestors’ vows. He’s only there because they need each other’s help. Dany thinks that with three dragons and a Dothraki army, she doesn’t need his help. Davos agrees that she doesn’t need help to defeat Cersei, since she could storm King’s Landing whenever she wants. Since she hasn’t done that, Jon thinks that she’s better than Cersei. However, in reality, they are all children playing at a game screaming that the rules aren’t fair. Dany expresses her displeasure to Tyrion at Jon refusing to call her queen, refusing to bend the knee, and calling her a child. Tyrion tries to explain that Jon is calling all of them children, a figure of speech.
Jon says that everyone will die if they don’t defeat the enemy to the north. Dany calls him the enemy to the north, but Jon replies that he is not the enemy, the dead are. He tries to convince Tyrion that the Army of the Death, the White Walkers, and the Night King are all real. If they get past the Wall, everyone is finished.
Dany starts talking about how Robert Baratheon sent assassins to kill her after she was born on Dragonstone. She wonders if Ned Stark knew about the assassins. She spent her life in foreign lands. So many men tried to kill her. She was chained, betrayed, raped, and defiled. The only thing that kept her standing was faith in herself. The world hadn’t seen dragons in a long time until her children were born. The Dothraki crossed the sea for her. She was born to rule the Seven Kingdoms, and she will. Jon tells her that she’ll be ruling over a graveyard if they don’t defeat the Night King.
Tyrion says that the war against Cersei has already begun. They can’t be expected to help Jon fight whatever is coming from beyond the Wall. Davos realizes that Tyrion doesn’t believe them, but just like how destiny brought Dany back to Westeros, destiny also made Jon a King in the North. Jon brought the wildlings and the Northmen together. He was named Lord Commander of the Night’s Watch and later King in the North. And this wasn’t due to any birthright, since Jon is a bastard. People chose him as their king because they believed in him. He faced all those things that Tyrion and Dany don’t believe in. Davos goes on to mention that Jon took a knife in the heart and gave his life, but Jon stops him before he can reveal Jon’s resurrection. Davos composes himself and reiterates that it doesn’t matter whose skeleton sits on the Iron Throne if they’re all dead.
Tyrion steps in and says that if it doesn’t matter then Jon might as well kneel. If Jon kneels and helps Daenerys defeat Cersei, Dany will help Jon protect the North. Jon says that they don’t have that kind of time. Tyrion replies that it takes no time to swear allegiance. Jon refuses to do so, since he doesn’t know Dany. Her claim rests entirely on the fact that her father was a king, and Jon’s father fought to overthrow that king. Jon would not go against the people who elected him as their king. Dany points out that since she’s the rightful queen of the Seven Kingdoms, the King in the North will be in open rebellion against her if he refuses to bend the knee. Suddenly, Varys enters the throne room in a hurry and whispers in Dany’s ear that he has some grave room. Dany dismisses her guests and asks for them to be sent to their room. Before leaving, Jon asks if he is her prisoner. Dany replies that he isn’t… yet. Jon and Davos follow the Dothraki out of the room.
Varys informs Dany that their Ironborn and Dornish were ambushed on their way to Dorne. The ships, barring two or three that escaped, were sunk or captured. Their allies are either dead or captured.
Later, Tyrion finds Jon brooding while standing on a cliff. He tells Jon that he came to brood over his failure to predict the Greyjoy attack, but Jon is making that difficult by looking a lot better brooding and making him feel like he is failing at brooding over failing. Jon says that he is a prison on the island. Tyrion replies that this is not the case, since Jon is free to roam anywhere on the island. Jon says that he can’t go back to his ship. Tyrion tries to explain, but Jon flatly says that he’s not interested in playing word games. Jon reiterates that the dead are coming for them. Tyrion says that he would help with the walking dead men if Jon helps with Dany’s missing fleet and murdered allies. Jon says that Tyrion probably doesn’t believe him, but Tyrion replies that he does. Jon recalls that Tyrion dismissed the stories of the dead when they first met. Tyrion says that he did dismiss the Army of the Dead as stories, and then Jeor Mormont and Jon saw them. He trusts the eyes of an honest man more than he trusts what everybody knows.
Jon asks for Tyrion’s help to convince people about the existence and threat of an enemy that they don’t believe in. Tyrion says that people’s minds aren’t made for problems that large. They feel relief in confronting comfortable, familiar monsters like Cersei instead of things like White Walkers and Night King. Jon says that he needs to help his people and he can’t do that from the island, so he’d like to leave. Tyrion thinks that it is unlikely that Jon became the King in the North by giving up that easily. Jon remembers how everybody advised him not to answer the summons of the Mad King’s daughter, and he came anyway like a northern fool. Tyrion explains how Dany could’ve sailed for Westeros much earlier, but she didn’t. She stayed back and saved people from horrible fates, some of whom are on that island. Tyrion asks Jon to explore the opinion of those people. Dany protects people from monsters, just like Jon. She won’t abandon her goals to fight an unknown enemy after a single meeting and the word of a stranger. It’s unreasonable thing to ask of her.
Jon realizes that he cannot convince Daenerys to come North with him. He’s about to leave when Tyrion stops him and asks if he has a reasonable request, so he suggests something that Tyrion can give him: Dragonglass.
Tyrion meets Dany in the Chamber of the Painted Table and informs her about Jon’s request. Dany is annoyed that they are talking about dragonglass instead of their allies. Tyrion says that Jon is a potential ally. He explains that dragonglass can be used against White Walkers and their army. Dany wants to know what Tyrion thinks about White Walkers. Tyrion says that he’d like to believe that Jon Snow is wrong, but a wise man once said, “You should never believe in something simply because you want to believe it.” Dany accuses Tyrion of presenting his own statements as ancient wisdom, but he says that he would never do that… to her. He believes Jon because Jon decided to come despite everybody advising against it. He asks Dany to let Jon mine dragonglass as a gesture of goodwill that might lead to an alliance, while they focus on Casterly Rock. Dany recalls Davos’s words about Jon taking a knife in heart and wonders what it meant, but Tyrion dismisses them as just words.
Dany is standing on the steps and watching Viserion and Rhaegal fly when she is joined by Jon. She tells him that she named the after her brothers, Viserys and Rhaegar. She says that dragons were considered extinct, but there they are. Jon realizes that Tyrion has been talking to her. Dany is determined to take the Iron Throne from Cersei, and she hasn’t changed her mind about which kingdoms belong to the throne. Jon replies that he hasn’t changed his mind either. Dany concedes and gives him permission to mine dragonglass, even providing men and resources to do so. Before leaving, Jon asks whether she actually believes him. She tells him to get to work.
In the Chamber of the Painted Table, Dany discusses her next possible course of action. She suggests that they should find Euron’s fleet and sink it. Varys explains that Euron destroyed a good portion of the Targaryen fleet. They cannot risk their remaining ships. However, Dany proposes attacking Euron with her dragons. Tyrion and Missandei advise against it, since Dany is too important and it only takes one well-aimed arrow to take her down.
Dany asks about the plan to take over Casterly Rock. Varys informs that the Unsullied will reach there soon, and they would be facing a difficult situation, since the enemy knows they are coming. Tyrion knows that the Lannisters will not let Casterly Rock be taken easily. The gates of Casterly Rock are impregnable, so it would be hard to go past the wall. However, even though Tywin Lannister was responsible for building Casterly Rock from ruins, the sewers were built under Tyrion’s supervision. While building the sewers, Tyrion decided to add a secret passage that he used to bring random women in or out of the castle undetected. He explains that the small band of Unsullied would infiltrate the castle using the secret passage. They would open the gates from the inside and let the rest of the army in. They will be outnumbered and at a disadvantage, but while the Lannisters fight out of fear, the Unsullied would be fighting for their queen and for freedom, so they will triumph.
Casterly Rock
A small band of Unsullied soldiers uses a boat to get to the cove where the entrance to the secret passage lies. They follow the passage to one of the main guard towers and kill the guards. They open the gates from the inside and let the rest of the army in, exactly like Tyrion planned.
The Unsullied fight the Lannister forces and slaughter them until none are left. Grey Worm senses that something is wrong, since their victory was too easy. He realizes that they only defeated a small number of Lannister soldiers who were guarding Casterly Rock. He stands on the wall and looks towards to sea, where he sees Euron’s Iron Fleet wrecking their ships. He grabs a wounded Lannister soldier and asks him about the whereabouts of the rest of their army.
Highgarden
The rest of the Lannister forces, led by Jaime Lannister, are shown to be marching towards Highgarden. Also marching with them are the armies of other lords of the Reach who have revolted against House Tyrell, such as Randyll Tarly. Olenna watches from the balcony as the combined forces approach her castle.
After the Tyrell forces have been defeated, their vaults and stores are raided for gold and other stuff. Jaime finds Olenna sitting alone in her study. Jaime confirms for her that the battle is over, while Olenna accepts that the Tyrell army wasn’t known for their fighting. She tells him that Tyrion and Daenerys expected to defend Casterly Rock. Jaime confesses that Casterly Rock holds little more than sentimental value for him. Besides, Euron burned the Targaryen fleet and Lannister army emptied the cellars before leaving, so the Unsullied won’t be able to hold Casterly Rock for long. Eventually, they will have to march across the Westeros to King’s Landing. The main Lannister army will be far away from them. Jaime recalls that Robb Stark did the same thing to him.
Olenna asks Jaime why Tywin didn’t just attack Highgarden when the goldmines ran out, though she remarks that she would be able to ask that question in person soon. She then asks if Jaime is going to execute her with the Valyrian steel sword that originally belonged to Joffrey. Remembering Joffrey, Olenna admits that she did unspeakable things, or allowed them to happen, in order to protect her family. She never regretted any of it, since they were necessary for the safety of House Tyrell. However, Cersei has done things that Olenna couldn’t even imagine. Olenna calls Cersei a monster and asks Jaime if he’s aware of it. Jaime says that Cersei may have been a monster to Olenna and others, but nobody will care what she has done when the war is over. Olenna realizes that Jaime really loves his sister and warns him that she will be the end of him. Jaime thinks that there is no point discussing any of that with her. Olenna says that she’s in a perfect position to discuss this, since whatever he says to her will not get out of that room, but she also understands that Jaime is too far gone to understand what a disease Cersei is.
Jaime is done with the chitchat and decides to end this. Olenna asks her how he’s planning to kill her. Jaime tells her about Cersei’s various ideas, such as whipping her through the streets and beheading her in front of the red keep, flaying her alive and hanging her from the walls of King’s Landing, and adds that he talked his sister out of those ideas. He takes out a small vial and empties it into Olenna’s glass of vine. Olenna asks if there will be pain. When Jaime confirms that it will be a painless death, Olenna promptly downs the entire glass. She recalls the circumstances of Joffrey’s death, listing the gruesome details of how the poison affected his body as he succumbed to his death. She reveals that she had never actually seen how the poison worked before, so she didn’t intend for Joffrey to die in such a horrible way. She asks Jaime to tell Cersei that it was her who really killed their son.
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The episode title “The Queen’s Justice” refers to how Queen Cersei gets “justice” for her daughter Myrcella’s murder. In this episode, Euron Greyjoy delivers the “gift” that he had promised to bring Cersei in order to secure an alliance. This gift fulfills two purposes: The Dornish are Targaryen allies and capturing their leaders (and sinking their ships) weakens Daenerys, and Cersei gets the woman who murdered her daughter. Cersei takes delight in torturing Ellaria by killing Tyene in front of her using the same method that was used to kill Myrcella. In a true “Mad Queen” fashion, Cersei also gets aroused by the idea of inflicting revenge on her enemies, something that we saw before when she quietly enjoyed watching the Sept of Baelor explode. This is quickly followed by Cersei engaging Jaime afterwards and no even bothering with the fact that everybody knows about their relationship.
Although Euron doesn’t get what he wants, which is a marriage to the Queen of Seven Kingdoms, Cersei does make him the commander of the royal fleet. Euron’s intentions are clearly visible in his remarks to Jaime, which also shows that Euron is somewhat aware of Jaime’s incestuous relationship with his sister. Euron is also aware of what the smallfolk think about their leaders. When he marches through King’s Landing, he observes how the crowd takes joy in humiliating the “whores” and “murderers” of Dorne. He states it as a fact when Jaime tells him about Cersei’s Walk of Shame: they just like seeing severed heads of the enemies.
Mark Gatiss returns to reprise his role as Tycho Nestoris of the Iron Bank of Braavos. The Iron Bank previously appeared when Stannis Baratheon sought a loan from the bank for his war efforts, and when Mace Tyrell visited Braavos to renegotiate the terms of the loan the bank granted to the crown. As explained by Tycho, the Iron Bank is a powerful financial institution that makes strategic investments in ventures all across the world. Iron Bank is also famous for employing all sorts of tactics to recover their debts. Sometimes kings and princes borrow from the Iron Bank to run their kingdoms, but fail to repay their debts. In such cases, the Iron Bank diverts their support to new kings and princes who would overthrow the old regime and pay both the old debts and the new. An example of this can be seen when the Iron Bank decides to back Stannis in his campaign to take Iron Throne from the Lannisters and their puppet king, since the crown owes a tremendous amount of money to the bank and the Lannisters are unable to pay it back.
Since Stannis Baratheon was defeated in his attempt to conquer the North, the Iron Bank lost their investment. They need to find another way to recover their money, therefore they intend to bet on the strongest faction in the upcoming war for the Iron Throne. Cersei successfully convinces Tycho that the Iron Bank will never get its due from Daenerys. Daenerys is responsible for disrupting the slave trade in Essos. Although the Free City of Braavos—which was founded by former slaves of Old Valyria—has a vehement anti-slavery stance, the Iron Bank may not be completely immune from participating in the slave trade. Moreover, Daenerys is a Targaryen dragonrider supported by a Dothraki horde. Both dragonriders and the Dothraki have a history of taking what they want through conquest without being concerned about what they owe others. The Lannisters are more likely to repay their debts.
While Euron Greyjoy is responsible for “decapitating the Dornish snake”, Jaime Lannister takes care of the other dissident faction: the Tyrells. Tyrion’s plan to infiltrate Casterly Rock was ingenious, but not unpredictable. Jaime predicts that Daenerys will try to take Casterly Rock in order to weaken the Lannisters. He decides to take a page from Robb Stark’s diary and baits the Unsullied into taking the castle with ease, while the bulk of his forces march to Highgarden and defeat the Tyrells, eliminating the domestic Targaryen ally forces. Without the Martells, the Tyrells, and the Greyjoys, Daenerys will have to fall back on fighting Cersei with “foreign invaders”. Elimination of the Dornish leadership also ends the Dorne storyline (which was heavily butchered in book-to-show transition).
This episode features the first meeting of Jon Snow and Daenerys Targaryen, two protagonists who have never interacted with each other before. (An interesting situation, since Jon happens to be Dany’s nephew.) Jon’s reunion with Tyrion results in obvious callbacks to their previous meeting in Season 1, which turns out to be a good thing since Jon and Dany are at odds with each other from the beginning. To Dany, Jon is some bastard who refuses to bow down to her and believes in zombies and shit. To Jon, Dany is a spoilt princess who wants to invade a country because she thinks it belongs to her. Tyrion can see that both arguments from both sides have their merits, which leads to Jon getting what he actually came for (i.e. dragonglass) without immediately bending the knee.
Finally, we get a glimpse of the situation in Winterfell. Sansa is establishing herself as a capable ruler by paying attention to what’s happening around her. Littlefinger, as always, continues to spin his web of intrigue. Fortunately for Sansa, she’s no longer alone. Bran returns to Winterfell after being away from home for so long. He has also begun to settle into his role as the omniscient Three-Eyed Raven, which is going to be crucial in the upcoming war against the winter.
In the next episode, Jon continues his stay at Dragonstone, while Daenerys takes action against the Lannisters.
Valar Morghulis.
Images from HBO
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