A while back I’d realized that because the mini-stories I write to go with my TS2 uploads here are almost all deliberately open-ended (to basically just serve as a jumping-off point for people who download my lots), I have way more practice writing the *beginnings* of stories than I do with writing *endings.* So, as an exercise, I decided “hey, Game of Thrones ended with kind of a mess, I’m gonna rewrite the final season of that show, to get a sense of how to try and bring narrative threads all back together in a satisfying way!”

I wasn’t writing in any particular format, initially having just outlined the major beats of the story I wanted to reimagine, and then gradually expanding on bits that I wanted to flesh out a little more, so now the current version is half outline, half screenplay, half script, and half who-knows-what (yes that’s now four halves). Much like with my TS2 creations, I also eventually realized I wanted to share this with an audience of some sort! Not having accounts on Reddit or AO3 for something like this, I’m still just sharing here on MTS (also because the formatting is such that I’m not sure it’d be “right” for some of those other sites).


The rules I set myself were that I was starting from where the show left off at the end of Season 8, Episode 2 (“A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms”) since the first two episodes of Season 8 were still solid, and moving forward from there. This means I’m not trying to fix every other mistake the show made, so if you’re expecting Lady Stoneheart or Young Griff or properly-realized Sand Snakes to make an appearance, sorry… those mistakes were too long ago, I’d have to rewrite to much to make them work! I also gave the season 8 episodes rather than 7 episodes like the aired version had, since the structure I wound up with kinda demanded it. The only change I think I made to anything prior to my as-aired S8E2 benchmark is that Yara’s portion of the Iron Fleet is in the Narrow Sea rather than the Sunset Sea (you’ll eventually realize why this matters- for now just assume that when Yara left Winterfell she was taking her Ironborn East rather than West)- everything else up through the preparations of Winterfell and Podrick’s singing of “Jenny of Oldstones” after Ser Brienne is knighted takes place as seen on-screen.


If you’ve watched the show recently enough to remember where things stood, great! If not though, I actually would say that the music video for Florence + the Machine’s cover of “Jenny of Oldstones” does a good job kind of reminding where things went in the series up to this moment, and the somber mood that Episode 2 had left off with. (Or of course, there's plenty of summaries and synopses of various lengths out there that you can refresh from too)



I’ll post my “episodes” every few days in this thread, which (fingers crossed) will let people argue and debate my version and complain about the characters I kill off in kind of the same way we all used to enjoy doing between episodes of the actual show (and I’m sure if that happens people will still argue about the things I got wrong lol)!

Episode 3: Winter has Come

The Premise: The Living do not win. They only barely manage to escape, with major sacrifices being needed to even accomplish that much.

• Start with Dolorous Edd Tollet standing on the ramparts of Winterfell (unremarked-upon “Watcher on the Wall reference, even if it’s not The Wall), watching the darkness settle even deeper over the surrounding landscape as clouds block out the moonlight. He looks up high overhead and sees the outlines of Drogon and Rhaegal gradually fade behind the clouds.

o Mutters bitterly “…for this night, and all the nights to come…”

• The Tactical Collapse: In the darkness, a massive blizzard reaches Winterfell, and renders the defenders and even the dragons nearly blind.

o The Dothraki are not sent to charge en masse; they are used as mobile defense in areas not targeted by Winterfell’s siege engines, armed with dragonglass arrowheads, but are slowly whittled down as the blizzard makes it too difficult for them to ride and shoot effectively.
o Scouting parties of Unsullied, Wildlings, and Night’s Watch are outside the walls, but most defenders are within the castle walls or in fortified positions nearby
o We see a few quick-cut shots of scouting parties attacked and destroyed by Wights to establish the Army of the Dead is finally here.
o Daenerys Targaryen on Drogon and Jon Snow on Rhaegal are seen flying above Winterfell, trying to keep track of the battle and find the Night King, but gradually able to see less and less as the blizzard intensifies.
o Many Dothraki are unhorsed by the deep snow, and fight with arakhs and other melee weapons, and we see them mobbed and then even start seeing a few of them rise as wights themselves
o Qhono, the most recognizable Dothraki Khal, will be caught up in a berserker rage and actually defeating a lot of wights and holding his own against superior numbers, before suddenly and unceremoniously being killed by the Night King himself, solidifying his entry into the battle.

• Sansa Stark and Tyrion Lannister are in the catacombs, talking rather stiffly to one another.

o Tyrion makes a joke about their marriage, which Sansa is clearly uncomfortable thinking about, and Tyrion obviously regrets almost instantly
o Sansa starts to talk about having been huddled in the catacombs of the Red Keep during Stannis’s attack on King’s Landing years ago. She looks around and sees similar scenes of people praying, “I can’t imagine how silly I must have looked, trying to lead the ladies of the court in song while Stannis’s army was at the gates outside.” “The view of a dwarf leading a charge against the army can’t have seemed any more reasonable… being on the front lines didn’t go so well for me either.” (he touches his scarred face) “I… I was cruel to you when you left, my lord, saying I prayed for you the same way I prayed for Joffrey… everyone knew I wanted him dead (Tyrion makes a face, half laughter, and half disgust). Please forgive me.” “There’s no need for forgiveness at this point Lady Stark. And under the circumstances… I think prayer is about all we have left.”

• The Dead breach the northern walls and the Godswood early, making Bran’s plan to use himself as bait seem almost suicidally foolish, as undead giants and White Walkers pour into the garden.

o After a number of the Godswood guardsmen are killed, Beric Dondarrion dies in spectacular fashion, using magic of the Lord of Light one final time. Beric’s soul expires, fueling a localized explosion of flame on the edge of the Godswood to save Bran from the Night King’s fast-approaching White Walker generals, creating a more durable wall of flame and allowing Theon Greyjoy and a few surviving Northmen to get Bran to safety into the inner keep.

 Melisandre sees this happen from a view in a high tower deeper into Winterfell, and seems troubled by the implication she draws.
 The Lord of Light leitmotif plays quietly as she watches

• Arya Stark is in the catacombs beneath Winterfell, off by herself, when she sees a cat run past, the cat clearly startled by something no one else has noticed yet… Moments later, the stone crypts start to scrape open, as the bodies interred in the crypts begin to awaken.

o The people sheltering start realizing what’s happening, and the catacombs quickly devolve into screaming and a panicked press of bodies with no clear direction.
o Arya visually calls back to the earlier bits of her life chasing cats through the cellars of King’s Landing and running from the Waif through the back alleys of Braavos as she quickly darts through, taking out wights and creating openings for the refugees to escape the catacombs, up towards the courtyard above.

 The eerie minor-key version of the Faceless Men theme plays as she’s running through the crypts

o Sansa and Tyrion are backed into a corner by wights before being saved by Arya at one point, then Sansa starts to shout directions, essentially taking command of the non-combatants, including a pretty-useless-right-now Tyrion, and doing her best to lead an evacuation.

• The Separation: After making several passes on dragonback and devastating large swaths of the Army of the Dead, Jon and Rhaegal are knocked out of the sky by an undead Viserion.

o Rhaegal, enraged, flies off again before Jon can get back in the saddle, being a loose cannon during the battle with no rider now, only occasionally seen burning random pockets of wights or Viserion and Rhaegal strafing one another before being lost in the clouds, to remind us he’s still alive
o Jon winds up a foot soldier in the ice and mud once again, leading a ragtag band of survivors outside the walls from other Dothraki, Unsullied, and Night’s Watch companies and desperately and brutally trying to fight their way back to the city gates.
o They repeatedly skirmish with a recognizably-the-same White Walker general, with neither side being clearly victorious yet.
o Edd joins him in the press of bodies at one point, joking morbidly about being “the sword in the darkness” is fitting since “I can’t see a fucking thing” as they fight together for a moment

• Death is Common:

o Podrick Payne, Bronze Yohn Royce, Alys Karstark, and others are reintroduced at various points in the battle, just long enough for us to remember they were important, before they are killed.

 Podrick dies fairly early on trying to defend Brienne as her squire, and failing to defend himself. Brienne is clearly distraught but unable to do anything about it at that point, since she’s so hard-pressed herself right then.
 Royce dies overwhelmed by wights, in a depiction of what should have happened logically when we saw characters in a similar situation in the show.
 Alys Karstark dies defending Jon as her sworn leigelord, in payment of the oath of fealty she swore to him as King in the North when he restored both her and the Umbers to their lands and titles.

• Daenerys and Drogon are eventually grounded too, a major blow from Viserion out of nowhere forcing them to the ground near the southern gates of Winterfell.

o Dany is desperately calling out to Viserion, trying to reach any part of her child that might still exist, and this gives a hope spot just before the brutal crash, to make clear that the Viserion that was born from the white egg placed on Khal Drogo’s funeral pyre is dead, and all that remains is the undead wight under the Night King’s thrall.
o The crash separates rider and dragon, and Drogon is stubbornly waiting for Dany to reach him, not taking off even as the Night King slowly approaches out of the storm, drawing a spear like the one that killed Viserion north of the Wall in S7.
o Dany tries to reach Drogon but keeps being forced to dodge wights, and not able to get there in time, shouts for him to fly to safety to save him from the Night King’s ice spear.

 It takes several tries before he actually takes flight, refusing the leave his mother behind at first.
 He finally takes wing, and does so with a pitiable roar, the moment portrayed a parent saving their child. With him forced into leaving her stranded on the ground outside the city near the gates, she starts looking around and realizes even if she’s safe for that instant, she’s nearly surrounded by wights in all directions now.

• Arya and Sansa reach the surface of Winterfell along with a crowd of those who had been in the catacombs, now emerging into the middle of a pitched battle in the courtyard

o They’re left with effectively nowhere else to flee, as the Wights and White Walkers have nearly managed to encircle Winterfell completely now, with hundreds starting to block the Kingsroad to the south, tens of thousands still approaching from the north, and more pouring into the city itself from a breach in the walls near the Godswood, forcing the survivors towards the main gate.
o Sansa is grabbed by a wight and nearly dragged away despite Tyrion trying to hang on to her, before a Valyrian steel sword cuts the wight in half, and Brienne appears, defending the Stark girls as she once pledged to Catelyn Stark that she would do.

• The Death of the Shield:
• Brienne of Tarth dies holding the breach in the courtyard to allow the retreat of the Stark girls and the wounded, wielding Oathkeeper in one hand and a dragonglass blade in the other.

o Staged and framed to make clear she dies as the truest knight in Westeros.
o Sansa sees Brienne fall, as does Arya- Brienne’s final act is, even unknowingly, a fulfillment of her vow to Catelyn so many years previously, to keep the Stark girls safe, even at the cost of her own life.
o Jaime Lannister is also in the press of bodies near the gate, and sees her obviously going to her death but is too far to do anything about it.
o Tormund Giantsbane is fighting near Brienne at first, and when Brienne is momentarily disarmed, he snatches up Oathkeeper to return it to her, but is separated and winds up swept away from her before he can return it.
o Brienne is left with only the Dragonglass blade, which she uses effectively for longer than should seem possible, but even that is eventually shattered, just before she falls.

• Grey Worm falls protecting the gates with a small company of Unsullied, buying time for other Unsullied to stabilize a corridor out of the city as the undead pour into the courtyard from the north.

o In contrast to the tragic drama of Brienne’s death focusing on her oath to protect two specific people, Grey Worm is a steadfast soldier and dies defending a position that allows other Unsullied to work better. It’s clear he’s fully aware he will die in this act, and except for a single glance as he sees Missandei of Naath safely brought behind the Unsullied lines and out of the overwhelmed courtyard, shows no emotion even as his line of spears is overwhelmed by the wights.

• The Survivors make it out of the city, only to realize the Dead have encircled Winterfell completely, closing in from the South now as well, and multiple characters have clear “this is the end” expressions as we cut between them.

o It seems clear that there is nowhere to run now, and even trying to force through the undead forces to the south would likely fail.

• Blood Magic:
• Melisandre reappears, also near the gate and seeing Daenerys still alone in the distance trying to reach the city as the undead close in on her, realizes something, based on her expression.
• Jon and his ragtag company have been playing cat-and-mouse in the blizzard with the White Walker general, and Jon finally kills him with Longclaw, allowing them to reach the city gates, too late for it to be a safe haven anymore, as they realize that they too are about to be overwhelmed by the surrounding wights.

o They make a last-ditch effort to clear a path, but it’s clearly hopeless, just as Dany’s actions reach their conclusion. Jon sees her and trying to rush forward, shouting for her, but he’s stopped by a huge press of survivors and wights between the two of them.

• The Martyr:
• At the gates of Winterfell, Daenerys Targaryen is about to be overcome by White Walkers (not just wights) but Rhaegal suddenly appears overhead, the initial burst of fire seeming like a brilliant red star in the dark sky overhead. The green dragon crashes to the ground, his wings torn to shreds, one leg obviously broken badly, likely from a fight with Viserion. His landing hits hard enough that he’s obviously grounded permanently and probably dying, and defending the Mother of Dragons one final time.

o Melisandre’s face glows under the fiery “star” of Rhaegal’s descent, and looks somber as it casts her in a reddish glow, before hurrying through the flames towards Daenerys
o Dany sees the survivors- Dothraki, freed slaves, Northerners, Wildlings, all crying, terrified and looking for a miracle, reaching out in a deliberate callback to the slaves of Yunkai reaching for her, but realizing she’s still trapped and seemingly powerless to help them. She begins to weep silently, tears leaving salty tracks on her cheeks as the smoke from Rhaegal’s fire swirls around her
o Melisandre reaches her, and Dany, now in tears, looks at her in desperation. “Help me!”

 Melisandre touches Dany’s cheek, the salt tracks clear on her face. (to herself) “Born amidst salt and smoke… heralded by a bleeding star… (to Dany) I’m so sorry my Queen. I cannot help you. But… we may still be able to help them. (very somber, no delusions of grandeur this time like when she’s said it before) There… there is power in a Queen’s blood… and you are not just a Queen. You are the Blood of the Dragon.”
 The Lord of Light leitmotif plays mournfully in the background as she speaks.
 Melisandre steps forward- but not threateningly, she’s clearly allowing Dany to make the choice herself, unlike Gendry or Shireen.

o Rhaegal erupts into a sustained burst of dragonfire along the Kingsroad. It clears the dead for a moment, but hundreds more keep coming. He does it again, to the same result, and now the dead are closing in on the grounded and dying dragon.

 Daenerys looks one last time at the fleeing survivors (a shot slightly heavier with Dothraki and freed slaves from Essos than Westerosi), seeing their desperation, and nods, her tear-streaked face now set with determination.

o Guided by Melisandre, Dany looks at Rhaegal, clearly almost breathing his last, and then up in the sky where Drogon is clearly desperately trying to come, but Viserion is keeping him too far away to reach them before the wights would. She then turns to face the survivors of Winterfell, as Melisandre starts chanting in the background, her ruby necklace glowing brilliant red.

 Daenery’s Targaryen stands resolute. Her final word is a quiet and determined “Dracarys.”
 Rhaegal breathes in and we see his throat begin to glow brilliant red, before exhaling a brilliant burst of fire that grows brighter and brighter and brighter until the glow from it completely envelops Daenerys, Melisandre, and Rhaegal entirely.
 A powerful and mournful version of the Targaryen leitmotif plays, building in scope as the flames grow brighter
 The stream of fire isn’t just the hundreds of feet we’ve seen before, it seems to stretch for miles, and when it finally stops, all three characters at its source are gone, along with every wight that was within hundreds of feet of them.

o Daenerys’ sacrifice creates a lasting, miles-long "Fire-Road" through the Army of the Dead. The light is brilliant enough that most other characters (Jon, Jorah, and Drogon in particular) are able to see Daenerys and Rhaegal, as well as Melisandre’s, final moments, establishing Daenerys as a martyr and a true breaker-of-chains and Queen who protected her people.

 The fire along the road keeps burning this time, even with Rhaegal no longer there to sustain it, destroying wights that get close, and holding back even the White Walkers.
 We see the Night King from a distance back in the Godswood, establishing he’s not close to that part of the battle, with as much of an expression of frustration on his face as we ever see him emote anything.
 Jon and Jorah in particular see Dany’s sacrifice and clearly are personally devastated that they weren’t able to reach her in time to do something- they both have to be dragged away by others, rather than rushing back to where she died.

• The End: The survivors (Jon, Jaime, Jorah, Theon, Bran, Tyrion, Sansa, Arya, etc.) flee south down this corridor of flames, the walls of fire holding the Dead at bay far longer than any normal fire should be able to burn, until they finally vanish into the blizzard, far south of the reach of any wights or White Walkers.

o A haunting choral version of the Targaryen theme plays as the survivors flee south down the fire road.

• The episode ends with the Dead occupying the ruins of Winterfell as The Long Night truly begins.

Episode 4: The Long Night

The Premise: A grinding survival journey where the political players may become the only hope for the living.

• The Logistics of Grief:

o Start with a raven flying through the twilight (implied to be Bran’s warg form at the moment) before panning down to a long series of lengthy camera shots of the survivors walking south along the Kingsroad in twilight. Most camera shots of the survivors should be in motion, very few still shots, showing the need to constantly keep moving, even in the face of injury and exhaustion.

 Arya is effectively acting as a scout for the vanguard, Needle in her hand, clearly attentive to anything that might threaten the column behind her.
 Should include Northerners, Men of the Vale, Dothraki (though fewer of them, implying they took the heaviest casualties of any group during the battle), Unsullied and other freed slaves, all with similar looks of defeat or “What just happened? What do we do now?” in their expression, and ambient sounds of grief and despair, but no clearly discernable dialogue for an uncomfortably long time.
 Show characters like Missandei and Samwell in the column, just to establish they survived, but they aren’t doing anything except walking at this point either.
 Pan up to show the column of survivors stretches for miles back to the North, and in the far distance behind them is a nearly black cloud/blizzard, with the clear implication that the Dead are still following, now that the fire road has burned out or been passed.

o Sansa and Tyrion are walking together; Tyrion looks east and comments “It should be after dawn now…” There’s still no sign visible even to the audience of the sun rising. Sansa follows his gaze. “My father was right in the end… Winter has come. …I can’t believe I used to think the worst thing the world had in it was Joffrey.” “Sadly my sister seems to be trying to outdo him now for sheer suicidal stupidity and incompetence, if not wanton cruelty.”
o Jaime is a silent shell, seemingly only half-aware of what’s going on around him.

 Tormund approaches with a serious expression, and for a moment Jaime looks worried, then Tormund returns Oathkeeper to him, slowly and wordlessly.
 Jaime looks down at Ser Brienne’s sword that he had given her to defend the Stark girls, and later used to knight her the night before she died, and we see a clear expression of grief on his face.

o Some of the Smallfolk are overheard in passing, talking about the sacrifice of the Dragon Queen, how they’d all be dead without her, and random unnamed characters mourning for her or just marveling at the spectacular event that allowed their miraculous escape as they walk south.
o Jorah Mormont becomes a mechanical automaton in his grief, having lost his reason for living but bound to Dany’s memory. He wordlessly steps into the traces of a wagon when one of the horses pulling it has to be put down. Jorah seems to have no objection to being a mere beast of burden himself at this point, and Lyanna is watching from a nearby horse, concerned at her kinsman’s despair but unable to help.
o Bran is riding in a cart, seemingly unconcerned about the plight he and the other survivors are trapped in. Arya is staying near him and tries to engage him in conversation a few times, but it goes nowhere and he starts spending more time glassy-eyed in a warg state

 Sansa asks what he can see, and Bran goes clear-eyed for a moment and says, matter-of-factly, “The Night King is marching south, following us. Every village he passes, the army grows.”

• The Trauma Bond:

o Jon Snow is seen walking with Ghost along the flanks and rearguard of the column, Longclaw drawn despite there being no enemy in sight to be fought, and Drogon is flying overhead in the distance, still grieving by the ‘tone’ of his roars and screeches.

 Neither really communicates directly, but they both are always on the fringes of the column of survivors, seeming to be almost hoping for a fight that they can die in, and obviously both connected in their grief for Daenerys, if nothing else at this point.
 At one point Ghost starts growling and bristling at the fog, and a White Walker on horseback appears along with a few faster-running wights, quickly approaching the end of the column, prompting lots of screams and running/shoving/panic when the survivors see them.
 Jon tiredly walks forward, Longclaw in hand, but before he can reach them, the wights are incinerated by a burst of dragonfire as Drogon lands nearby, a mournful Targaryen leitmotif playing to remind the audience of Daenerys’ continued impact through her children, even after her death.
 The White Walker is momentarily stunned, but unharmed. He reorients himself, then gets off the burning wreck his undead horse and starts fighting Jon- Jon eventually shatters him with a strike from Longclaw, but the time it takes means he’s falling behind the column, the last stragglers almost lost in the fog, and rather than being able to rest or celebrate, he has to rush through the snow to catch up, as Drogon takes off behind him and likewise continues south.

• Tyrion and Sansa are in a small group walking with Davos and Edd, and Sansa shares what Bran told her about the Army of the Dead growing.

o Davos: “We need to do something- it took a miracle and we still barely escaped the last time!” Edd: “We can’t exactly do much about it from fucking here... just keep marching south until we die, then a nice little nap until those fuckers catch up, and then we’ll all wake up with blue eyes and start marching south again anyways.” Sansa looks at the small farm along the Kingsroad they’re passing, then after a long pause, “We have to burn them.” Tyrion: “Who, the, the White Walkers? We can’t-” Sansa: “Not the White Walkers. The villages. Any survivors will bring all the food they can carry and come with us… the dead, we pile in the barn, or the tavern, or whatever building is largest, and we…” Davos, astonishedly: “I never thought I’d say the Mad King was right about anything, but…” Tyrion: “Burn them all.” (with no trace of humor in his voice) “I spent so many days as Daenerys’ Hand trying to curb that same impulse, telling her she didn’t want to be Queen of the ashes, that she didn’t want to become like her father. And now here we are…” Davos: “Now here we are.”

• The Southern View: (all static camera shots, in contrast with the constant movement of the forced march of the Northern survivors)
• It is now clearly winter even in King’s Landing, the sky only barely above twilight-levels of daylight. There is snow falling heavily, and the sea and the center of the Blackwater Rush are the only unfrozen bodies of water left.

o In King's Landing, Cersei watches the snow fall, surrounded by a few Lannister captains and advisors. She smugly believing the monsters have done her work for her. She tosses a Targaryen map marker into the fire and we see the flames curling around the three-headed dragon sigil.
o Looking at the painted map, we can see she knows Daenerys Targaryen is dead, along with another dragon, and based on her discussion and orders to the captains in the room, she is delusionally confident that she can defeat both the Northerners and the Army of the Dead in the field if it comes to that.
o Qyburn is still an absolute yes-man for Cersei, but we see his eyes are still clever and calculating, and he’s obviously not deluded the way she and the other Lannister captains she issues orders to are.

 Cersei’s final order before leaving the map room is “See to it that you send a servant to build up the fires in my chambers before I return. It’s getting far too cold in there.”

o After Cersei leaves, we see one of Qyburn’s “little birds” appear and whisper something in his ear, and he suddenly seems to have a specific plan taking shape in his eyes.

• The Split north of the Neck:

o The survivors from Winterfell reach the marshlands, stopping at a minor unnamed holdfast north of Moat Cailin.

 Shots looking back up to the north show multiple plumes of smoke, implying deliberately burned-out farms or hamlets.

o The encroaching blizzard that conceals the Army of the Dead is visibly closer, and it’s clear that while the living have had to stop and rest at times, the Dead have been marching nonstop, and are closing the gap.

 The Lord of the holdfast is in a small lord’s chambers speaking with the leaders of the survivors (Jon, Sansa, Missandei, Tyrion) obviously terrified, but doesn’t want to allow his family’s seat of a dozen generations to be burned, and goes from begging for aid to stay and fight, to threatening them as oathbreakers, to stubbornly just refusing to leave or to allow them to burn his holdfast and his family’s crypts within.
 Jon and Sansa try to negotiate, but Jon correctly points out that they don’t have time for this. Sansa looks conflicted, and of all people looks to Tyrion for support. He nods in agreement, but struggles to say anything helpful, his famed silver tongue failing him, and Missandei steps forward after a moment.
 Missandei tries to speak as a diplomatic translator once again, but the northern Lord is having none of it, even when she points out that what they’re doing is mean to keep him and his family alive. He spits at her and curses Daenerys as having been a foreign invader and how he won’t listen to her slaves- clearly not everyone knows or cares that she gave her own life to allow the survivors to escape Winterfell.
 Jon steps forward aggressively, “Daenerys Targaryen gave her life to save these people-” but Missandei stops him before he can really start a fight, looking slightly embarrassed by the Lord’s outburst towards her.
 Sansa echoes Jon saying “We don’t have time for this” again, “My lord, this is not a request.” and nods to Missandei.
 Missandei speaks to the nearby Unsullied, and several spearmen march forward. The Lord is terrified, but they don’t attack him, they just forcibly escort him out of the small Lord’s chamber as he shouts about the desecration of his family seat. The rest of the leaders follow him out, back into the snow that’s now falling even heavier in the courtyard.
 Jon looks up at Drogon sitting on a nearby hilllock, and since he doesn’t know the Valyrian commands Daenerys used, he just makes eye contact for a while to imply communication, and Drogon turns and incinerates the holdfast with dragonfire.
 Rather than the Targaryen theme, the mournful version of the Stark leitmotif plays as this Northern holdfast is burned by the King in The North and a retreating Northern army.
 The Northern Lord is seen walking with them, angry/heartbroken tears on his face, and then he just disappears into the crowd, now just one more refugee without a home.

o As they continue walking, Theon volunteers to take a force of the Ironborn who hadn’t already left with Yara as well as others with seafaring experience toward White Harbor to try to meet up with his sister and commandeer ships for those that can flee by sea (the elderly, children, and infirm for whom the road is clearly no longer a sustainable option) hoping to just maybe be able to get south faster that way.

 The majority of the armed Northmen, Dothraki survivors, and Unsullied will remain with the land force as it navigates the bogs of The Neck.

o Sansa, Jon, and Tyrion acknowledge that this is probably their best chance, though Jon points out that anyone in White Harbor who can’t fit onto a ship will wind up left stranded on the shore with their backs to the sea, and nothing to save them from the Army of the Dead if they follow that way too.

 “I saw that happen once before… it’s not… (clearly remembering Hardhome). Just… make sure everyone gets on board the ships in time.”

o Theon says goodbye to Sansa, Arya, and Bran, as his brothers and sisters.

 A blended Stark/Greyjoy leitmotif (Greyjoy drums, Stark cello) plays during the farewell
 Theon ruefully says “I guess Ned was right in the end… ‘Winter is coming.’” to Sansa more than anyone else, but all the Starks are present to hear it.
 Jon embraces him as a brother at the end too, saying “What is dead may never die.”
 Theon smiles grimly, and then points out that they don’t have any more time for sentiment or teary goodbyes, and turns to join the Ironborn, the somber Greyjoy leitmotif becoming more prominent again.

o The two columns separate, and in the twilight they quickly lose sight of one another.

• In King’s Landing, The Golden Company seems to be growing restless, as snow falls even in the capitol.

o Some are distracting themselves with excessive amounts of drink, or prostitutes from the Street of Silk, others are obsessively sharpening their blades or oiling armor, looking up at the dark snowy sky nervously.
o Several officers in a tent begin mutinously talking about how “we were paid to fight an army of savages and Northmen, not the end of the world,” and that “Lannister gold isn’t worth shit if there’s no one alive to spend it.”
o We see Harry Strickland hearing these discussions as he enters the tent where these officers are speaking, but despite their horrified expressions at being caught in mutinous discussion, he doesn’t order them executed or even flogged, he just looks at them all.

 The other officers hurry out, not making eye contact, but it’s clear that Harry Strickland has been thinking the same thing, as he looks at a map of the mouth of Blackwater Bay left on the table.

• The Cliffhanger:
• Theon and Yara’s refugee fleet sets sail from White Harbor, now dark as it’s fully night, with the city burning behind them (they clearly kept Sansa’s decision in mind even after separating) and then the shot spins and flies far over the Narrow Sea to the south, where we see the silhouettes of Euron’s Iron Fleet waiting in the darkness of the sea north of Dragonstone. A menacing version of the martial Greyjoy leitmotif playing, and Euron himself aboard the Silence with that same manic nihilistic gleam in his eye that we’ve always seen before a fight.

Episode 5: The Tides of Fate

The Premise: The truth of Jon’s identity is revealed as the Ironborn civil war reaches its climax.

• The Golden Desertion:
• In King’s Landing, hearing news of the Northern refugees approaching and the permanent night spreading across the Riverlands, with widespread rumors of the Army of the Dead following, the Golden Company abandons Cersei, taking to the sea amidst a light snowfall, ice beginning to form along the shoreline.

o Harry Strickland is seen, unhappy but resolute on board one of the fleeing ships, clearly having decided Westeros is more trouble than Cersei’s gold can make up for.
o While they’re trying to be quiet about leaving, it’s clear that the sellswords are all just in a hurry to get away as soon as possible. Harry looks up at the Red Keep high above Blackwater Bay as his ship sails past.
o Cersei begins her descent into madness when she sees the ships from a high window in the Red Keep,
o She’s in a fury, shouting for someone to stop them, as the Blackwater fills with Golden Company ships sailing east. She seems oblivious to the fact that she has no meaningful army left that could carry out such a command

 Lannister Captains are nervously seen trying to get out of earshot as she rages

o Qyburn watches with disinterest, seeming to have his own plan in which the Golden Company already played no part.
o The mercenary ships slowly vanish, one-by-one, into the fog that fills the Gullet east of the city, and the snowfall gradually gets a little heavier.

• Greywater Watch

o The Survivors straggle in to the floating crannog castle, surrounded by mists and frozen marshland.
o Howland Reed meets Jon, Sansa, Tyrion, Davos and Bran as the leaders of the surviving Northmen.

 Meera comes out to greet Bran but he just says “hello” and then doesn’t seem interested in speaking further with her, which visibly hurts her.
 Drogon lands heavily on a decaying part of the crannog, splintering some of the frozen and rotting timbers, his eyes tracking Jon and Ghost as they walk into the castle specifically, which Howland Reed notices.
 Seeing Jon’s bond with Drogon, once they’re in a private audience chamber, he confirms the truth of the Tower of Joy, of which he is now the last survivor.
 Jon was born Aegon Targaryen VI, the Blood of the Dragon, now-rightful King of the Seven Kingdoms.
 This is then doubly confirmed again by Samwell Tarly as a Maester of the Citadel- Lyanna Stark and Rhaegar Targaryen were married in the light of the Seven after Rhaegar’s marriage to Elia Martell had been annulled. Jon has never been a bastard; he is the sole surviving heir to the Iron Throne and the House of the Dragon.
 A broken, halting version of the Targaryen leitmotif plays during the reveal and Jon’s reaction.

o Jon essentially brushes that off as unimportant now, disregarding his true name completely at first,

 He angrily avows once again that Daenerys Targaryen was the rightful Queen, and he bent the knee and won’t usurp her claim now, especially after her sacrifice to save all of them, until:
 Davos interjects and tries to convince a reluctant Jon that his heritage is now a necessary beacon of hope, fully aware of the bitter irony as he repeats Melisandre’s frequent prophecy of the Prince who was Promised.
 Davos is unaware of Melisandre herself having chosen Daenerys as the Princess who was Promised in the moments before their sacrifice before the escape from Winterfell.
 It’s still not entirely clear what this information can even be used for right now, since Jon rightly points out, “The Night King doesn’t care what my name is! He just wants us all dead! And the longer we stay here arguing, the closer the Army of the Dead gets. So call me Jon Snow, call me Aegon Targaryen, call me Azor Ahai, whatever, I don’t care- we just need to keep moving!”
 The other members of the conversation recognize the truth of this statement, though it’s clear that the question of what to do about Jon’s parentage won’t be put to rest for good yet.
 Tyrion brings up the need to burn the dead, as they’ve done at every town they passed on their way south from Winterfell, and Howland laughs grimly. “The Night King will find no dead crannogmen to swell his ranks here, halfman. When our people die, they’re given back to the marshes and fens, not buried in stone tombs for the Others to raise again.”

• The survivors begin to march south again, with Howland Reed and the Crannogmen of the Neck having joined them now as well, guiding the vanguard of the column through the swamps, as they pass through the Neck and out of the North into the Riverlands

o Passing an old ruined castle in the northern Riverlands, Tormund asks Jaime: “What is that?” “The castle? That- that’s Oldstones. That’s the place where… what Podrick sang about the night before…” “Ah… the ghosts.” and the two of them stand in silence, clearly remembering Brienne and the other defenders of Winterfell who had fallen in battle for a moment. A somber instrumental reprise of “Jenny of Oldstones” plays quietly before passing the rest of the scene in silence as they walk on.

• Tyrion and Davos are speaking elsewhere in the column, talking about how long they’ve been walking

o Tyrion muses aloud, wondering why the Dead haven’t caught up to them yet, since they obviously could send enough faster forces (running wights, White Walkers on horseback, even just the Night King alone on dragonback) to overtake them
o Davos looks back behind them to the ever-present snowstorm that’s been following them for weeks. “The way I see it, he’s got no need to rush… only we do.”

• Bran speaks to Howland Reed from the back of his wagon as they march

o He shares how Jojen and Meera saved his life north of the Wall, though it seems like just a recitation of history, still not really seeming to have genuine personal regard for Meera anymore.
o Howland has obviously already been told of Jojen’s death by Meera, but he’s still a parent, still saddened to hear the story of his son’s death.
o Watching Bran speak, we once again see that the identity of “Brandon Stark of Winterfell” is being completely subsumed by the “Three-Eyed Raven,” with little regard for personal connections anymore, before he suddenly goes into a vision.
o Howland asks where he is, and Bran replies while his eyes are still white, saying just “The Narrow Sea is turning red.”

• The Battle of the Narrow Sea:

o We follow an unnamed Northern ship sailing through the gathering dark on a foggy, snowy sea,

 On board we see a couple of young survivors surreptitiously trying to find a cabin to have sex (because GoT unnecessary nudity), following them as they laugh and kiss and look for a hidden-enough space, and they finally seem to have found the privacy they were looking for down deep in the hold, hurriedly starting to strip down.
 Suddenly the ship’s hull beside them is crushed inward, and icy water floods into the compartment, shifting from moans and giggles to screams of terror.
 From the outside, we see that one of Euron’s Ironborn galleys has rammed into their ship directly- the Iron Fleet’s trap is sprung.
 A threatening version of the Ironborn theme plays loudly as the clash begins.

o A chaotic naval battle erupts between the Ironborn refugees sailing south and Euron’s fleet, waiting somewhere off Crackclaw Point, the refugees being caught almost totally unawares.
o Most of the ships from White Harbor are merchant or fishing vessels, and unsuited for a battle, and several are quickly sunk, the sea filling with screams of drowning Northerners, and lit by burning oil and pitch that spreads across the surface of the water.

 Euron clearly loves the chaos and panic he’s inspiring, and doesn’t seem at all concerned when a few Iron Navy ships of his own are sunk by the few warships in Theon and Yara’s ramshackle fleet.
 He’s quickly covered in blood, but is as happy as we ever really see him, relishing the screams and chaos as he fights.
 “What is dead may never die” is said independently as a battle-cry by both Euron and Yara, the framing of their two catchphrase moments clearly leaning into the irony in the pairing of that specific moment.
 Euron eventually spots the Northern flagship with Theon and Yara aboard thanks to a brief gap in the snow, and orders the Silence to sail directly at them.

o Before the Silence can actually reorient to ram the Northern flagship though, the retreating Golden Company ships from King’s Landing sail out of the fog and into the middle of the battle too, initially completely unawares.

 Harry Strickland sees this and initially seems to think the Ironborn under Euron are still his allies, since they ostensibly both had served Cersei, and Euron would have no way of knowing about the desertion
 It quickly becomes clear that a berserker-mad Euron just wants to sink anything else that moves though, forcing the Golden Company to fight to defend themselves against the Ironborn.

• The Redemption of Theon: After recovering from the distraction of the arrival of the Golden Company, Euron’s flagship finally aims true and rams Theon and Yara’s ship, slowly sinking it and forcing the northern survivors to scramble on board the Silence or other nearby ships.

o Yara winds up on a Golden Company cog, fighting briefly to clear a space around her, before noticing and watching her uncle and brother from across a hundred feet of freezing water. She shouts to Theon, but it’s not clear what for, as she’s effectively helpless to intervene.
o Euron obviously expects a repeat of his last encounter with Theon during S7, and laughs to see his little nephew again, expecting him to cower or flee.
o This time though, Theon holds steady. He looks at the Kraken banner waving behind his uncle, and meets his gaze completely calmly this time, drawing his sword.

 They have a brief melee, Euron’s whirling battleaxes quickly knocking Theon’s sword away and into the sea despite Theon doing his best to stand against his uncle this time.
 Euron laughs and glares at his nephew in gleeful triumph, flames dancing in his mad eyes, once again expecting to see fear on Theon’s face.
 Theon still stays terrifyingly level headed, even standing disarmed in front of a psychopath now, meeting Euron’s glare with a degree of acceptance that would do Ned proud, and saying “Winter is coming, Uncle,” embracing his Stark heritage as well as his Greyjoy blood.
 Theon doesn’t go for a weapon, and instead just charges and bodily tackles Euron, who is so surprised that he doesn’t get his guard up in time. The two of them plunge over the side and into the freezing sea, Euron panicked and desperately trying to claw his way back to the surface.
 Theon just maintains a firm and unyielding grip on his uncle, drowning them both as their armor pulls them down into the blackness of the Narrow Sea to the embrace of the Drowned God.
 His last words and deeds imply that Theon finally found a way to live and die as both a Greyjoy and a Stark.

o Yara takes command of the survivors, Harry Strickland ultimately offering no real resistance when she clearly moves to take command of his ship, several others floating aimlessly very close-by.

 She shouts to the sailors of all three fleets as best she can, successfully rallying some of the remaining Golden Company mercenaries and most of the Ironborn that had been following Euron to the Northern cause and directing them south, hoping to reach Dragonstone or Driftmark before the seas freeze solid.
 Yara points out to the Golden Company specifically that they fled Cersei because she was a coward who would have sacrificed nothing for them, and that the Northerners were still alive because Daenerys sacrificed everything for them. “Which queen will you follow now?”
 A blend of the Ironborn and Targaryen leitmotifs plays during her speech.
 “What is dead may never die!” is said again, this time with utter sincerity
 A significant portion of the Golden Company still refuse to join her, but aren’t interested in continuing the fight either. They disappear into the darkness, sailing for Pentos or Myr, hoping to reach it before the seas freeze solid.

• The Ravens of Harrenhal: After several weeks of desperate travel through the freezing countryside, the surviving Northerner land forces reaches the ruins of Harrenhal on the shores of the Gods’ Eye.

o Shortly before arriving, they pass the Inn at the Crossroads, now a frozen and burned-out ruin.

 Inside, Arya finds Hot Pie’s frozen body lying by a cold kitchen hearth, where he had clearly been trying to stay warm.
 She quietly covers him over with a thin blanket, saying a soft and unobserved “Goodbye Hot Pie” before leaving to rejoin the rest of the column of survivors.
 Outside the Inn, Sandor Clegane asks brusquely “Anyone still alive in there?” to which Arya looks back and just quietly says “No.”

o As the Northerners march into the ruined castle, we see Drogon perch on the top of one of the melted towers, deliberately invoking Balerion the Black Dread 300 years prior.

 We once again see a few characters (Missandei, Gendry, Jorah, Lyanna) just to confirm they’re still alive and with the column at its destination.

o In the Lord’s Chamber of Harrenhal where Arya and Tywin once spoke to each other, Sam and Howland Reed speak with Sansa and Tyrion, while Varys is also present in the room.

 At Sansa’s request, they confirm again the details of Jon’s true parentage to her, and we see the political gears sharpened by Cersei’s unwitting tutelage start turning in her mind, as well as Varys’s.
 Disregarding Jon’s previously stated reluctance, Sansa tells them to call every scribe whose fingers aren’t frostbitten, they’ll need to write a lot of messages. Tyrion says to send for the Maester, if there is one anymore, and Varys interjects to just fetch whoever was keeping the castle’s ravens, if there is no Maester anymore.
 They send hundreds of ravens to every southern lord, the message unseen at this point, though obviously implied to be revealing Jon’s true status as Aegon Targaryen.

o As the ravens take flight, at first there are hundreds, but most are flying South, East, or West, almost none northwards, and we follow one that is heading North, eventually implied to be another warged form of Bran.

 After a moment of confusing flight through the blizzard with no recognizable landmarks, the storm finally clears enough to reveal:

• The Cliffhanger: The Army of the Dead reaches the Green Fork of the Trident near the empty castles of The Twins, and without even slowing, begins to walk across the frozen-solid river, no need for the bridge for this army

o The army is now bigger than we’ve ever seen it, clearly swollen from dead and resurrected Northmen despite Sansa’s best efforts
o The camera pans up, showing dozens of undead giants, bears, and even mammoths among its ranks, and the Night King and Viserion flying overhead.
o Smash cut to black.

Episode 6: Faces

The Premise: The board is set for the final clash as the personal and the apocalyptic converge.

• The Queen’s Rage: Qyburn receives the raven with a copy of Sansa’s message about Jon in the Red Keep’s Small Council chambers. The fire is burning low despite all the wood piled on it. It is fully night now, even here, and the snow outside is howling against the windows, no other guards or courtiers anywhere to be seen.

o He moves to burn the scroll, but Cersei demands he read it

 When he does, revealing the announcement of Jon Snow as Aegon Targaryen VI, she flies into a rage about Jon being nothing but the bastard of a dead man, the Targaryens being entirely extinct, the scroll being a pathetic lie by that bitch Sansa Stark, etc. The framing of her tirade shows her ranting and raving in a way that clearly suggests she’s losing her grip on sanity.

o A Lannister soldier arrives, telling her that most of the survivors of the North are encamped at Harrenhal, but that some refugees from the Riverlands and Crownlands have already started to reach Kings’ Landing. He also reports that the Ironborn fleet has begun landing on Dragonstone and Driftmark with the aid of the Golden Company ships that sided with Yara Greyjoy, and the sea itself has started to freeze over.

 Cersei throws a wine glass at him, shattering against the stone behind him, screaming for him to get out.

o Rather than preparing for the Dead, she orders the city gates sealed against refugees and commands her remaining army to mobilize, preparing to march north to crush the "usurper" at Harrenhal.

 In a stunning display of hubris and her increasing madness, she declares that she’ll ride out with her army herself.

• The Wildfire:

o Cersei initially prepares to take The Mountain with her when she rides, but Qyburn stops her for a moment.
o It is implied by Qyburn that he needs The Mountain’s physical strength for moving the wildfire caches beneath the city, after so many had been used beneath the Sept of Baelor to destroy the High Sparrow and the Tyrells.

 He frames this to Cersei as being akin to a "dead man’s switch" to ensure no one else can have the throne, implying it’s to destroy the city if the Northern army gets around Cersei rather than saying it’s if she’s killed, though the implication is still obviously there for the audience.

o Once Cersei leaves, it seems more likely based on his attitude that Qyburn wanted the Mountain around as his own bodyguard or muscle.

 We see him looking at the Iron Throne with a clear gleam of desire in his eyes, as a few piano notes, just barely recognizable as the Light of the Seven music from Cersei’s destruction of the Sept of Baelor, play in the background.

• The Personal Vendetta: Arya and the Hound prepare to slip away from Harrenhal, riding together again, heading for King’s Landing to settle their scores with Cersei and Gregor before the end of the world.

o Sandor is found sitting by a fire in a Harrenhal courtyard, sharpening his sword, when Arya comes and tells him she’s heading for King’s Landing.

 “The world is ending, why fucking bother?” “She’s the last name on my list.” “Fair enough. I’m going too.” (he stands up) “Why?” “I’m going to kill my brother.” “Why fucking bother?” (ironically echoing him) “Heh… because I’m not going to give some undead fucker the pleasure, I’m going to kill him myself.” “…Fair enough.” (ironically echoing again)

o They steal two fast horses from the stables and ride out into the night.

• The Council of the Living: Jon, Sansa, Tyrion, Varys, and the surviving lords (including Lyanna, Gendry, Edmure, and Robyn Arryn) decide on a final stand at the Gods’ Eye.

o Most of the captains who’ve only ever dealt with ‘normal’ combat insist that they should fortify within the walls of Harrenhal, that a million men couldn’t breach those walls

 Edmure postures for a moment about Harrenhal being the strongest castle in the Riverlands, and his own role as Lord of the Riverlands meaning they should give more credence to his position
 Tyrion points out that Harren the Black was killed when he assumed that the castle could stand against an army from the land, but made no allowances for dragonfire when defying Aegon the Conqueror and his sisters, and they are once again facing an army with a king on dragonback.
 Edmure opens his mouth but clearly has not response, then closes it and sits down.

o Bran interjects that the real fight will happen on the Isle of Faces, because that’s where he’ll be, so once more that’s where the Night King will go too. He tells them to prepare to fight everywhere, but that the only battle that truly matters will be on the island.

 Sansa looks at her little brother with an unreadable expression, but doesn’t gainsay his command, and eventually just gives an unspoken nod of assent
 She follows up by only saying that they still have an obligation to those who cannot fight, the elderly and children from the Riverlands, or those who’ve been injured during the long march south, to try to get them out of harm’s way. Lyanna nods firmly in agreement with Sansa. Bran nods, clearly not giving that much thought to that side of things.
 The other lords mostly seem confused, but at this point are pessimistic enough that they kind of just accept that as the best of a list of equally-bad options.
 Several of them (Edmure, Robyn, etc) seem almost relieved at the implication that the weirdest supernatural events will be happening somewhere else, even if they’re still dealing with the looming specter of millions of wights.
 Several of the more military-minded leaders start plotting out what places can be made more strategically defensible, and what areas are likely to be lost as soon as the enemy arrives.
 Jon starts beginning to wearily plan for his role in the defense of Harrenhal, assuming he’ll be on the walls or the front lines as usual, but Bran cuts him off, saying that he and Drogon will be needed on the Isle of Faces as well.

o Tyrion, Varys, and Missandei prepare to lead the non-combatant refugees toward the coast.
 Varys points out that maybe they’ll survive long enough to reach Casterly Rock and Tyrion can finally claim it as his birthright. Tyrion smirks, saying “What a glorious coronation I’ll have, as the last of my subjects freeze to death alongside me,” and it’s clear they both know that the chances of actually reaching it are effectively zero.

• A series of shots of background characters and extras show some preparing for the coming battle, while others are wearily preparing for yet another march towards Casterly Rock through the cold night.

• Bronn of the Blackwater shows up just as Tyrion is in his chambers preparing to leave, shooting a crossbow bolt from Joffrey’s crossbow into the doorframe inches from Tyrion’s hand, and Jaime walks in on them completely unprepared, allowing Bronn to have the upper hand

o Tyrion instantly seems to figure out that Cersei sent Bronn after him.

 “What took you so long?” “What took you fuckers so long? I’ve been waiting here freezing my arse off for weeks!” “Why didn’t you keep going north?” “Because it’s fucking cold up north, and I knew you two would have to come this way if you were still alive. So I got meself set up nice and cozy here where there’s still a few women to warm my bed, and waited for you. Your lovely sister promised me lordship of Riverrun if I bring her both of your pretty golden heads.” “You do realize Riverrun is a frozen crypt now, you’re smart enough to-” “Oh shut up, I’ve heard enough talking from you for seven lifetimes. And what about you, Kingslayer- haven’t you got anything to say?”

o Jaime has been in the depths of despair since leaving Winterfell, and now seems perfectly content to let Bronn shoot him

 “No.”

o Despite Bronn’s warning, Tyrion keeps talking

 “Do you really think Cersei is going to be in any position to give you anything? Even if you kill us, the Army of the Dead is less than a three days’ march to the north of us-” “That so? Well then you’re doubly fucked, because your sister’s army is less than two days’ march to the south. “-what?” “Oh yeah! I cut the throat of a Lannister scout not four hours before you fine frozen fellows showed up, and before he died, he told me Queen Cersei was coming up her herself to see you all killed. Bringing her whole army too, what’s left of it anyways after your dragon queen got through with them…” Jaime “You can’t be serious.” “Oh, he remembers how to talk? Yes I’m serious big man, so you’d best make your minds up quick- I expect they’ll be here soon.”

o Tyrion is astonished by the sheer stupidity Cersei displays, but can’t just admit defeat, even rhetorically

 “You remember what I once told you, that whatever someone offered you to betray me, I’d beat it?” “’course I fucking remember, you won’t shut up about it… so you’d better start thinking, what’s double Riverrun? Run away if you want, obviously I can find you, but your sweet sister is on her way, and I don’t plan to be standing here emptyhanded when one of you golden-haired cunts finally kills the other.”

• The Lannister Army:

o We see the city gates being closed against begging and pleading refugees, many clearly not dressed well enough for the cold this far south.
o A small force, not more than 2000 strong, musters outside Kings’ Landing in an increasingly heavy snowstorm.

 The Lannister captains are obviously not convinced this makes any sense, and most of the foot soldiers seem like they’d rather march south themselves too, rather than north, but a few fanatically loyal captains are riding along the edges of the column, shouting and threatening horrific executions for any man who deserts.
 A few bloody Lannister soldier corpses are already hanging from the city gates behind them, making it clear this isn’t an idle threat

o Cersei arrives herself, in ornate golden lion armor that looks absurd rather than martial, and tells them they will win a great victory that will secure House Lannister’s rule over all Seven Kingdoms for a thousand years.

 Her voice sounds shrill and small in the face of the snowstorm, far from the grand inspiring speech she clearly thinks she’s giving them.
 She orders them to move out, obviously trying to sound like Tywin did years ago, but lacking any of the skills or resources of her father.

o The army begins to march north, but clearly without any real enthusiasm or hope of success displayed by any but the most fanatically loyal.

 Wagons are being dragged along too, not specifically remarked upon, but a sharp-eyed viewer could recognize them as the same wagons used to transport the scorpion used in the Battle of the Gold Road in season 7.
 Wide camera shots are used, but in contrast to similar shots of the Army of the Dead revealing how massive it is, these shots just emphasize how small and pathetic Cersei’s army is as they march out into the snow.
 A martial but minimalist version of the Lannister leitmotif plays as they march out.

• The Final Visual: The Hound and Arya crest a hill to see King's Landing— scarcely any candles left burning in the windows, a dark, silent tomb as Cersei’s army departs without their realizing Cersei is actually riding out and they’ve missed her already, or understanding what they’re seeing—and the screech of the Night King’s dragon echoes across the Riverlands behind them as the screen cuts to black.

Episode 7: Protector of the Realm

The Premise: The Battle for the Dawn reaches its end.

• Start with Jon and Drogon alone together on the shore of the Gods’ Eye, looking towards the Isle of Faces, not speaking, just a long, unmoving shot from behind as the water begins to freeze.

• Show a few quick shots of Sansa and Missandei in the frosted-over chambers of Harrenhal with other noncombatants who are still there, Tyrion and Varys on the snowy road west with the refugees, and Yara in the throne room of Dragonstone (converted into a refugee camp, no one is actually seated on the throne as it’s being used to stack supplies), looking at the swirling snow and frozen bodies of water, but no dialogue from any of them, just establishing that winter is coming everywhere.

• In Kings’ Landing, Sandor and Arya sneak into the city through the same catacombs beneath the Red Keep that Arya explored in S1 while chasing cats, with a lingering shot passing the skull of Balerion the Black Dread. It’s still left with Cersei’s scorpion bolt from S7 shot clean through the bone, reminding us Dragons can be killed by mundane means as well as magical ones...

o They see strange people hurriedly working, saying “Maester Qyburn called us to the Great Hall…” and Sandor identifies them as several of the Pyromancers, which the audience knows means the meeting is about Wildfire.
o The two of them split up, and we follow Arya through the Red Keep’s secret passageways as she reaches a room adjoining the Queen’s chambers and eavesdrops on Cersei’s handmaiden Bernadette talking to another servant about Qyburn’s ambition, and Arya realizes that Cersei is gone.
o She seems about to give up and leave, before hearing the handmaiden say something about wildfire beneath the city, and we see Arya pause before the shot cuts away.

• Back in Harrenhal, we see the leaders of the Living drawing up battle plans

o Bran insists again that the fight must take place on the frozen Gods’ Eye, rather than on land or in the fortress, and since there’s no version of a “good” plan possible at this point, they go with that
o Some of the more rational-minded front-line commanders (Davos, Edd, etc.) question this, and insist that they still form a line of battle

 Bran tells them they can if they like, but it won’t matter, the Night King will come for him and him alone, once again.
 He tells them to take him to the Isle of Faces, and we see Ghost following him as he’s wheeled out of the room, implying Jon will be involved as well.

• Cersei's small army reaches the southern shore of the Gods' Eye

o The survivors in Harrenhal find out as sentries raise the alarm, and shock spreads through the leadership as they’re forced into realizing she actually is that insane, and that they now have a fight looming on two fronts
o Jaime leaves to see her (because honestly he would at this point, even though he'd also fully hate himself for it)

 He leaves Oathkeeper behind, telling a confused Tormund that, if any of them survives long enough, to make sure it is delivered to Lady Sansa, and that it rightly belongs to House Stark, taking Widow’s Wail with him as his sword instead.

• A Dothraki scouting party is caught in an intense blizzard along the north shore, and then killed, and we see a White Walker and wights emerging from the snow.

o The Dead are here.

• In Kings’ Landing, Qyburn is sitting on the Iron Throne as regent Hand of the Queen while Cersei is gone, and engaged in a meeting with the Pyromancers, who seem happy taking orders from a man who’s as much a mad scientist as them. Cersei’s handmaiden Bernadette is present, pouring wine.

o Qyburn indicates to the Pyromancers that despite his earlier statements, he does not expect Cersei to return, nor does he expect King’s Landing to be held against the Army of the Dead, or the armies of the living
o One of the Pyromancers asks Bernadette who she is as she fills his glass, and she replies “no one, milord,” passing unremarked by the others in the room
o Qyburn talks of the foolishness of the Mad King’s plan to destroy all of King’s Landing, when all he needed to do was create a ‘moat’ of Wildfire surrounding the Red Keep
o He orders them to begin moving Wildfire into the catacombs beneath the Keep’s outer walls, and the surrounding districts of the city.
o The Pyromancers depart, clearly eager to see that much Wildfire in action, crazy as they are.
o Bernadette hesitantly approaches Qyburn.

 He beckons her closer, reaching for the wine and she approaches slowly, head bowed.
 He opens his mouth to say something, but before he can, she says “My father was once Hand of the King as well. But he cared for the people of this city… he didn’t burn them,” and Qyburn looks confused, before suddenly Bernadette stabs him with a very familiar long thin blade… Needle.
 Arya removes her Faceless Man disguise and watches Qyburn bleed out on the throne. She quietly intones “Valar Morghulis,” then turns to leave.

o The Great Hall of the Red Keep is left completely empty, Qyburn’s body set upon the Iron Throne with his blood slowly pooling on the floor at its side, the Faceless Man theme playing slowly in the background.

• Jaime infiltrates the Lannister camp.

o Vanguard groups of wights have started attacking the outer palisades, and many of the Lannister soldiers are clearly ready to flee, or convinced they’re about to die, seeing the soldiers in the Army of the Dead for the first time.
o When Jaime reaches Cersei, she's in full mad-queen mode even towards him, ranting about how she'll crush the armies of the North and the Dead both, and then we’ll rule together and start a new dynasty, blah blah blah... and then lets slip that she's brought scorpions specifically because planning to kill Jon and Drogon, which we see being prepared along the shoreline, ready to fire on her order.
o In a speak-of-the-devil moment, in the background we see the soldiers manning the scorpions screaming as they see a dragon appear in the sky in the distance…

 For a moment, Cersei looks triumphant, but it’s not the black dragon they were told to watch for, it’s white… it’s Viserion.
 Cersei: “That’s not… that dragon was dead!” Jaime “It is dead.”
 Hard cut to the Night King’s POV from dragonback, seeing the tiny Lannister encampment as wights approach it, with thousands and thousands more likewise approaching Harrenhal, but the Night King’s focus is clearly on the Isle of Faces below him.

• Back in King’s Landing, we follow a figure from behind, walking through the crypts and catacombs with very little light, until it spins to reveal

o Sandor walking through the tunnels, sword in one hand and holding a lantern in the other. He finds the Mountain in a larger chamber, near a cache of Wildfire below Maegor’s Holdfast, leaking green ichor very much like the one that destroyed the Sept of Baelor, and without even a word from either brother as preamble, they start brutally fighting.

 A reprise of the creepy out-of-place piano music from Cersei’s destruction of the Sept of Baelor in the S6 finale plays during the fight.

o Despite his fury and skill, he’s clearly starting to lose, and we get a moment of horror where even should-be fatal blows don’t kill the Mountain, though it doesn’t cause Sandor to back down at all.
o The Mountain eventually grabs and breaks Sandor’s sword off at the hilt, barehanded, genuinely shocking Sandor for a moment, and in that brief opening, the Mountain reaches down to grab and crush his brother’s head as we’ve seen him do to Oberyn Martell so many years ago
o Sandor scrabbles, reaching towards the leaking barrels of Wildfire to try to pull himself free but to no avail, and laughs bitterly, before using the pommel of his sword hilt to smash the lantern, spilling burning oil and triggering the cache of wildfire, immolating them both in a green inferno
o The explosion is so large that it also destroys much of the Red Keep and part of the city, and in the throne room, we see green flames erupt from the flagstones next to the throne, blasting Qyburn’s dead body away from the Iron Throne, and leaving it entirely empty- no one is around (or cares) to claim it now.
o The explosion tears away a sizable part of the roof too, so snow begins to fall into the Great Hall, with a long, lingering shot clearly mirroring Daenerys’s vision in the House of the Undying in Qarth back in Season 2 as a mournful reprise of the Targaryen leitmotif plays very quietly in the background.

• The Army of the Dead pours onto the frozen Gods’ Eye seemingly endlessly, thousands, maybe millions strong at this point.

o We see living soldiers from Cersei’s army turn and run, many being wiped out by the wights that have started to surround the Lannister camp now too.

 A very small number of scattered and captainless Lannister soldiers actually do wind up standing alongside Northerners or Unsullied, genuinely fighting together against the army of the dead, but it seems too little, too late at this point.

o We see a few of the Northern army fighting against White Walkers in Harrenhal and the surrounding country

 Including side characters like Bronn, fighting dirty, Gendry laying about with his warhammer, or Edmure, hiding in a cellar.
 Lyanna Mormont dies in much the same way as in the show- picked up and crushed by an undead giant, but before she dies, managing to stab it in the eye with a dragonglass dagger, saving a cornered group of unarmed survivors that the giant had been advancing on by doing so.
 In the grounds outside the castle, Unsullied formations and Dothraki warriors, fighting on foot now rather than horseback, are facing massive numbers, because the sheer scale of the Army of the Dead allows them to attack everywhere all at once, but;

o Bran seems to have been correct, the focus is towards him.
o Dozens of wights come sprinting across the frozen lake towards the Isle of Faces, but shatter or fall dead as they step on shore- some magic prevents them setting foot there, just as the Wall once held them back in the North, and the next wights just come to a stop while still standing on the frozen lake, gradually encircling the island completely.
o The largest number of White Walkers we’ve ever seen at one time slowly step forward through the ranks of wights standing motionless on the lake, and step foot on the island themselves. They do NOT fall dead, but do not advance very far either, instead forming a line along the shoreline but only JUST the shoreline, not into the trees

 After a moment of silence, a battle cry is heard, and the island’s living defenders charge towards them

o A smaller scale battle erupts on the island’s shore, as stronger units wielding Valyrian Steel and Dragonglass begin to fight the White Walkers

 (This includes Jorah with the Tarly sword Heartsbane, Tormund with Oathkeeper after having received it from Jaime, etc.)

• Back in the Lannister Camp, we see it now dissolving increasingly into chaos as the numbers of the Army of the Dead grow steadily larger even on the south shore of the lake. Additionally, the presence of a dragon she thought was dead and gone has frayed Cersei’s sanity even further, and she seems to believe that just by saying things, she can will them into being despite the hopeless reality of her position now.

o Jaime is aghast at Cersei’s plans, and her obliviousness to the reality of the situation, knowing Jon and Drogon are the strongest weapon they have left against the Night King. He desperately tries to talk her out of it, but he can't.
o We see a hugely conflicted expression on his face when she turns away from him for a moment, as he realizes she really would kill the only hope the Living have left, out of her own personal spite.
o He walks up to her and embraces her tightly as his lover, very tightly… so tightly… too tightly… and we realize he’s choking her, fulfilling the Valonqar prophecy in a way she never saw coming until this very moment, when it’s now too late. She tries to fight him off, but can’t, and we slowly see her eyes bulge with rage, then fear, and then ultimately go still, and Jaime slowly releases her body.
o Jaime is left in tears, holding the corpse of his sister and lover, obviously emotionally destroyed by what he’s had to do.

 Outside the tent we see the Lannister soldiers now just deserting en masse as a mob of wights pours into the Lannister encampment, their fear of Cersei no longer enough to overcome their fear of the Dead.

o Jaime doesn’t retreat along with them, or prepare to fight, he just weeps for a moment, looking utterly devastated, then gently lowers Cersei’s body to the ground. He stands and draws Widow’s Wail, looking out at the collapsing world outside the tent, and then turns back towards Cersei. He carefully places the sword’s point securely against his own chest, and without hesitation, he drives the blade into his own heart, falling dead next to Cersei.

 A few bars of The Rains of Castamere play as the camera slowly pulls back from their bodies lying next to each other.

• Returning to the Isle of Faces:

o On the ground we still see the living fighting against the White Walkers on the shoreline.
o Viserion breathes a massive blast of undead blue dragonfire towards the island, but it somehow fails to reach it, and the dragon he refuses to fly over the island either, veering away unnaturally sharply when he’s steered towards it. He lands on the ice near the island’s shore, and the Night King steps off, and calmly starts walking straight towards the weirwood grove, casually killing an unnamed Night’s Watch brother who tries to sing a dragonglass blade at him.

 Viserion flies off again, and heads for the nearby Living survivors in Harrenhal, blue undead dragonfire flaring in the distance as he flies.
 From inside the castle, we see Sansa watching out the window, and then abruptly turning to run, to try to find shelter as Viserion approaches.
 On the island as the Night King approaches the grove of weirwood trees at its center, we see Bran has become part of the weirwoods themselves, the same way that Brynden Rivers had been enrooted in them in the Cave north of the wall.
 Cutting back to Viserion approaching Harrenhal as the castle’s inhabitants run for what little cover they can find, we see him begin to inhale before breathing undead fire, but before it can happen we hear another deafening roar, and suddenly a massive, brilliant gout of orange dragonfire illuminates the battle from the top of the camera shot, seeming to physically force Viserion away and back out over the lake.
 Jon and Drogon have finally entered the fray, with Drogon’s momentum quickly carrying them towards the island, Viserion now pursuing them, the castle forgotten. Drogon’s fire carves a path through the undead ranks and even melts the ice beneath a lot of the wights and White Walkers that have been forced back off the shoreline, as they fly past overhead. Jon is riding Daenerys Targaryen’s dragon for the first time, and the impact of their entry into the battle is enough to distract even the Night King for a moment
 Drogon lands with a deafening crash and roar on the shore, still-massive flames scything through the ranks of undead, and Jon slides off his back, charging forward with Longclaw drawn, its blade at first seeming to be reflecting the dragonfire. Almost unnoticeably though, the sword begins to glow even when not casting a reflection of Drogon’s fire.
 Viserion reappears close enough to pose a threat, and Drogon roars, rising into the sky to fight his undead brother (major dragon vs. undead dragon spectacle, orange flame vs. blue flame, ooh, ahh)
 The Night King turns away and back to Bran, his focus still on the boy in the trees.

o Suddenly, hard cut to a vision like that Bran once saw of the Night King being “born.” The Gods’ Eye is unfrozen, the trees are green and alive, the sky clear and sunny, and no army of the Dead or the Living are visible anywhere.

 Bran is standing amidst the weirwood trees in the center of the island, and seemingly able to walk, but just watches as the Night King approaches.
 The Night King is confused for a moment, but continues towards Bran, drawing an ice blade from thin air as he does.
 A dull roar as of a crowd, or immense flames, begins to build as he approaches, the sunlight begins to turn red as if filtered through smoke (“a bleeding star”), and embers fly through the air, with no clear source visible, the roar eventually becoming deafening as the Night King draws closer, though Bran still does not flee.
 The weirwood trees in the vision burst into flames, and a white wolf wreathed in the same kind of bright magical flame that Dany/Rhaegal had generated in their sacrifice in Ep3 (it looks like Ghost, for all appearances) springs at the Night King, savagely attacking him as the smoke swirls around them all.

o Hard match cut (swirling smoke to swirling snow) back to the frozen reality, and the Night King and Jon (seemingly replacing the wolf in the vision) are fighting a duel against one another, a now-flaming Longclaw (Lightbringer(?)) vs. magic ice blade, back and forth, back and forth, as Drogon and Viserion fight overhead.

 Crucially, we realize that the Night King is not just instantly defeated by a Valyrian steel blade like other White Walkers- at one point Jon makes an attack under the Night King’s guard, but instead of turning to ice and shattering like a White Walker would have, he parries the blade it barehanded and continues the fight, Jon momentarily stunned.
 The Night King finally strikes a heavy blow, and knocks Jon to the ground. Jon falls away, and rather than killing him, the Night King turns back to where Bran was rooted in the weirwoods, only to have another hard match cut and find Bran standing, inches away in the sunlit vision version of the isle. This Bran, the Three-Eyed Raven, plunges a dragonglass blade into the Night King’s chest, exactly where the Children of the Forest once stabbed him when he was first created.
 (the shot is framed as a thematic inversion of the vision in S6 where the Night King touched Bran during a vision and broke the protections of the Three-Eyed Raven’s cave)
 The Night King looks down just long enough for shock to register, mist spreading outward from the dragonglass blade, as we see the white wolf in the vision once again, springing towards him from behind. Then in a final moment, he turns to ice and shatters in reality as, with the last match cut from vision to reality, Jon sweeps through him with the flaming Valyrian steel blade. As he falls, so do the other White Walkers on the shoreline.

o The wights slump, crumble, collapse dead (or collapse into bones, if they were long-dead already), and Viserion crashes down on the ice just as in his first death, shattering through the surface of the lake. Drogon roars in what seems triumph, shooting out an enormous fireball as a massive swirling cloud of fog and mist slowly spreads out over the Army of the Dead, concealing them from view.

 Multiple characters (named and extras) are seen in the middle of fights against wights or White Walkers as the fog spreads, some winning, some losing, and all at once they suddenly lose track of their undead foes, looking around in confusion at the sudden silence and dense mist.
 When it clears, mist condensing back towards the weirwood grove, the wights all lie dead, every one of them, the White Walkers are nowhere to be seen, and Bran is still part of the trees, his “standing” seemingly having been a vision too… or something else.
 Jon too is still standing where he was, though now a subtle glow plays around him, once again mirroring that of the Lord of Light…
 The camera slowly pulls back from the island, revealing the surviving warriors on the island and then eventually Harrenhal as well, standing up and looking around in confusion and wonder.

• A distant overhead shot shows as the cold sun slowly rises above the horizon in the east, spilling light over a frozen Westeros for the first time in weeks.
• Credits play without any background music, leaving open the question for the next and final episode: “what now?”

Episode 8: A Dream of Spring

The Premise: The survivors of the Battle for the Dawn contend with what remains of the world.

• Tyrion and Varys are looking up at a cold but bright morning from somewhere near the Stony Sept

o “You know, after so long in Meereen and that gods-damned heat, I never thought I would be so glad to see the sun again.”
o The refugee column splits, some continuing on to Lannisport and Casterly Rock or other ports along the western coast of the Riverlands and Westerlands, others, including Tyrion and Varys, hopeful but still apprehensive, turning back towards Harrenhal, wondering aloud about what might have happened.

• At Harrenhal, the survivors are in a state of shock, most of them having honestly expected to lose, since most foot soldiers weren’t privy to the actual plan around the Gods’ Eye. Even leaders who did know the plan still considered it such a long-shot that their hope for survival was minimal at best.

o A few small groups of Lannister soldiers are seen amongst the living, looking nervously at the surrounding Northerners and Essosi troops, but mostly just being ignored now, after having ultimately fought alongside the living in the battle.
o Several small boats with Northern soldiers row out onto the thawing Gods’ Eye, rowing past chunks of ice still crowding the surface of the lake, towards the now-mist-shrouded Isle of Faces to bring back Jon and Bran, and disappear into the fog
o The boats reappear out of the mist again, and the soldiers step off, and it takes them a moment to realize they’re back on the same shore they started from- while other captains mock and berate them for being halfwits who got lost on the lake, the implication is clear that the mist somehow turned them back on themselves.
The same thing is done again, this time with more clearly capable Captains like Jorah and Edmure, rather than just nameless soldiers, and they too wind up mysteriously turned around and returning to the shore they set out from, rather than the Isle they meant to reach
o Sansa looks out over the water, Oathkeeper laying on the parapet in front of her, and for a brief time the fog breaks just enough, and she sees Ghost on the shore of the island, seemingly staring at her specifically for a long moment.
o Sansa and Samwell get into another boat, rowed across the lake into the fog by Dolorous Edd and another Brother of the Night’s Watch. The boat disappears into the fog and doesn’t instantly reappear, leaving the survivors on shore to wonder what’s going on.

• In King’s Landing we see Arya walking through the streets of the city, unknowingly passing Gendry’s old blacksmith shop.

o Townsfolk are looking up at the half-destroyed Red Keep and talking about whether there’s even any Goldcloaks or Queensguard left to guard it, with the clear implication that it’s going to be heavily looted in the days to come.
o Arya doesn’t care, she reaches the Gate of the Gods and buys a horse for an outrageous price, from a stablemaster who mistakes her for a boy, some unimportant squire most like, because of her armor and openly-worn sword. Rather than correcting him, she smiles as she hands over the gold, giving her name as Arry just as she did the last time she took this road north, way back in Season 2. We watch her leaving King’s Landing for the last time and riding north along the Kingsroad.
o As she leaves, she turns back and we see a fleet of mismatched ships entering the Blackwater Rush.

• Yara Greyjoy sails the Ironborn fleet into Blackwater Bay

o The Ironborn and the Golden Company turncloaks enter the city essentially unopposed, and quickly drive out the looters from the Red Keep before anyone really has a chance to lay claim to it
o For a moment we see Yara in the Great Hall, looking at the throne as if she’s going to sit on it, but then she gets distracted by a mundane question about provisions raised by one of the Golden Company captains, and turns away to deal with that instead, leaving the Iron Throne completely empty, essentially completely unimportant background decoration in its last appearance on-screen.

 A lighter and less militaristic version of the Ironborn theme plays as she chooses not to focus on the throne.

o There’s a strong sense of “what do we do now?” among everyone in King’s Landing at this point, as the ice and frost gradually melt away in the sunlight.

• On the Isle of Faces we see Sansa and Sam’s boat finally reach the shore, The Night’s Watchman stays with the boat and Sansa, Sam, and Edd walk inland.

o After walking through the fog for about a minute in eerie silence, a huge shape shifts in the fog ahead of them
o It’s Drogon- Edd gives a characteristic “oh, fuck me…” but Sansa and Sam ignore him and the dragon both, and the two of them walk towards the weirwood grove in the middle of the island, Edd eventually following while keeping an eye on the dragon.
o Jon emerges from the fog along with Ghost and embraces both Sansa and Sam tightly.

 Sansa “We won?” Jon “I guess so… come on.” and leads them through the fog-shrouded trees, where we see Bran still rooted into the weirwoods as the Three-Eyed Raven.

o The Three-Eyed Raven looks at Jon, Sansa, and Sam, and tells them the Night King was destroyed in this world and the Greensight world as well, and that after eight thousand years, the threat of the Night King and the Others is ended.
o Sam looks at Jon and says, half-cheerful and half-awkward, “So you’re King now? Aegon Targaryen, the what, sixth(?) of his name?”

 Three-Eyed Raven: “No.”
 Jon: “No… I won’t. I can’t be. I still don’t know if this was all I was brought back for, but I know it wasn’t so I could become King. I’m staying here.”
 Sansa: “But then who?”
 Three-Eyed Raven, almost disinterestedly: “That will be for you to decide.” (looking at the top of the melted towers of Harrenhal peeking above the fog)

• A Kingsmoot is called in the ruins of Harrenhal, mirroring the Great Council of 101 AC that decided the Targaryen succession (House of the Dragon reference).

o Over what’s implied to be several months based on the melting snow and ice and increasing greenery of the surrounding Riverlands, we see various Great Houses and other characters arriving (Yara and Arya arrive separately from King’s Landing, Tyrion and Varys arrive from the West, Robyn Arryn from the Vale, a Martell from Dorne, etc.) until there are hundreds of Houses, great and small, represented there.

 The fields surrounding Harrenhal almost look like a tourney, so many pavilions are staked out and banners flying.

o Some houses are represented just by virtue of being present, but clearly not involved in arguing about kingship- e.g. the Mormonts by Jorah, the Reeds by Howland, etc.
o The Wildlings and Night’s Watch brothers are clearly preparing to depart, neither having a role in the Kingsmoot and eager to get away from the southlands.

 Tormund and Edd are complaining about how hot it’s getting, and how long the walk back north will be.

o Tyrion finds Gendry working in a makeshift smithy and monologues to him about “legitimacy” and “bastardy” for a moment, talking about how his own father considered him a bastard for being a dwarf, but now he seems to be Lord of Casterly Rock nonetheless.

 Gendry doesn’t understand what he’s talking about, and then Tyrion gives him a scroll with Daenerys’s seal on it, legitimizing him as Gendry Baratheon, Lord of Storm’s End.

 Very faintly, the Targaryen leitmotif plays when Daenerys’s seal is revealed, then the Baratheon leitmotif as Gendry looks up

 “The last decree ever to be sealed with the sigil of House Targaryen. I suppose with Daenerys dead, some might claim that a decree like this transferred by the man who is clearly no longer her Hand is void… but a friend once told me ‘Power resides where men believe it resides,’” “Milord? I’m sorry, I’m not sure I understand…” “The Stormlands have believed in the rule of a Baratheon since before Aegon’s conquest. (smirks) And you certainly look more like Robert Baratheon than Joffrey or Tommen ever did.” Gendry stands open-mouthed in shock
 Arya arrives at the scene just in time to see this take place, and after Tyrion leaves, very sarcastically they greet each other as “My Lord,” “My Lady,” before laughing and hugging one another, with a vaguely cheerful, jovial version of the Baratheon leitmotif starts up again in the background.
 “‘My Lord…’ It suits you, actually.” “Ladyship still doesn’t suit you.” “No. I don’t suppose it ever will.” “So what are you going to do then?” (Arya doesn’t answer, but looks across the outskirts of Harrenhal and the camera lingers on Varys for a moment longer than would happen just by coincidence.

o Varys enters a makeshift brothel that has been set up in part of Harrenhal (because of course it has, GoT must include unnecessary nudity in the finale). He conspicuously ignores the appeals and solicitations of several prostitutes, walking through the brothel with a very out-of-place disinterest, until we hear a familiar voice

 Bronn of the Blackwater is sitting there with two naked women, spinning epic tales of his own role in the battle, and then sees Varys.

 “Oh fuck.” “Why does everyone assume I must come bearing some sort of horrific tidings?” “Because in my experience you always do.” “Well, I hope I can improve on my image with time.” “Fuck off, I’m busy-” “Oh I can see that, but I believe this may interest you.” “What? (annoyed)” “I believe my friend had once promised you double what anyone offered to betray him.” “Yeah, he did, then his sister offered me a castle- Riverrun. And now Cersei’s dead, with all her famous Lannister debts still unpaid, and I don’t think Edmure is gonna give up Riverrun now, pompous cunt. So I’ll ask you what I asked Tyrion; what’s double a castle?” “Two castles.” “What? (confused)” “It seems the late lord Walder Frey has no surviving heirs… at least, none that have dared come forward now that their house has seemingly been mysteriously wiped out… this leaves two castles on the Green Fork somewhat wanting for Lordship, as well as the bridge between them. And I do believe two is twice as many as one…” “The Twins? Everyone says those castles are cursed.” “Well, that wouldn’t bother a man like you, would it?” “…Fuckkkkk me.” “I sadly must decline. Though it appears you already aren’t wanting for company.” (Varys leaves, Bronn reads the scroll, exasperated but also not about to turn down a lordship when it’s offered, and turns back to the two naked prostitutes with him) “Well ladies, you heard him, you have the pleasure of being the first to lay with the new Lord of the Crossing.”

o The Dothraki have started to ride further afield in the intervening few weeks, and local farms, already suffering from the wars and onset of winter, are ill-equipped to stop them.

 Missandei speaks to Davos and Yara in a tent with several Unsullied guards, and they act as though she is in charge of all the Essosi nearby, which surprises her
 She talks about how the Dothraki and the Unsullied had followed Daenerys and then grudgingly followed Jon, but now they are in a foreign land with no purpose.
 Davos points out that the good will they earned among the local farmers and merchants by fighting against the Dead is already almost gone, and suggests she could lead them back to Essos, perhaps returning to Meereen and the Bay of Dragons (Slaver’s Bay) to maintain Daenerys’s changes to the social hierarchy there.

 Missandei points out that they may not follow her
 Davos points out that the Unsullied commanders all already look to her for leadership, and many of the Dothraki do as well, as the former voice of the Dragon Queen, and that if she were to lead, most would follow. And the Dothraki respect the Unsullied, surprisingly… most will follow the Unsullied captains, even if some might prefer to remain highwaymen in the Riverlands.
 He also points out that from what he’s heard, despite the efforts of the Second Sons since Daenerys departed Meereen, the former Masters in the Bay of Dragons would be eager to put chains back on the necks of everyone they can if there’s no one to stop them, once they hear that Daenerys is dead. Missandei and several Unsullied visibly stiffen upon hearing this, appalled by the notion of Daenerys’s work being undone in such manner.
 Yara offers the Iron Fleet one last time, since they already have to sail from King’s Landing, they could ferry them back to Essos as they round the southern tip of Westeros on their return to the Iron Islands

 Missandei is speechless, but the Unsullied guards tamp their spears on the ground in clear agreement, as they once did with Daenerys back in Astapor.
 Yara, smirking: “I’d take that as a ‘yes.’” and most of the tent’s occupants begin to leave

o Davos seems ready to leave as well, but Tyrion appears and asks him to stay a moment, talking forcedly about mundane matters for a moment, before eventually asking him where he plans to go now.

 “I don’t rightly know… back to the sea, I suppose.” “I expected as much. …We have a complicated history, you and I, don’t we?” “I’d say we all have complicated histories now.” “Hmm, true. I must say, when we first met in person on Dragonstone, I admit to being surprised that a man who once served Stannis Baratheon so loyally was now the Hand of the new King in the North.” “It surprised me too. I suppose maybe I’m bad luck! That’s two kings I’ve served now who died… though I suppose one of them came back.” “Perhaps you should find a more reputable calling than serving as Hand.” “Like what? Smuggling?” (both laugh) “No, actually Ser Davos, I find there is a seat left without a Lord, now that the Stannis and Daenerys are both… well... (pause) And House Velaryon no longer has the strength it once did, so it seems to me we need a new Lord of Dragonstone as well as Lord of the Tides.” (distractedly) “I suppose we do- wait, what?” (smash cut away from Davos’s astonished expression)

• The Kingsmoot

• The initial demand is for Aegon Targaryen VI (Jon) to step forward and claim the throne, with many lords seeming to think they were called to Harrenhal to pledge fealty to him.

o Sansa and Tyrion declare that Daenerys Targaryen and Jon Snow both gave their lives in battle against the Night King, and that the House of the Dragon is now extinct. There is no longer any Targaryen claimant to the throne present to step forward.

• After a brief moment of astonishment, the surviving lords immediately start to bicker over who has a claim to the Iron Throne, since the reasonable answer is now “no one.”

o Many claimants step forward and give speeches on their own behalf, almost invariably ending in shouting and derision from the rest of the hall as no claims are seen as credible.

 Edmure Tully tries to put forward his own claim and Sansa tells him to sit down and shut up much like in the show
 A distant cousin of the Tyrells argues for his own claim due to wealth and a surviving army
 An elderly Hightower starts arguing for the long-term stability of their own house as an obvious choice
 A Blackwood puts forward an absurd argument that they have the most blood of the First Men and should be king on that basis, which virtually all other houses find laughable for various reasons and several Brackens seem ready to spill blood over the mere suggestion of a Blackwood sovereign.
 The idea of democratic governance suggested by Samwell Tarly is still considered laughable, again like in the show.
 Tyrion eventually points out that whoever takes the Iron Throne also would be taking on the Throne’s debt to the Iron Bank, which is enough to make most smaller houses suddenly seem to lose interest altogether.
 Sansa Stark gives her speech, initially seeming as if she might make a claim on the throne, but it quickly shifts into actually being a declaration for Northern independence. She makes it clear that she has no intentions of claiming Queenship over the other Kingdoms and pointing out her own Tully blood as evidence of cross-kingdom connections, but neither will she ask the North to ever again submit to a southern King.

 A triumphal version of the Stark leitmotif plays as she speaks, and no one is able or willing to raise an argument against her
 Several smaller Northern houses begin chanting “The Queen in the North!” and Sansa smiles faintly as they cheer her.

 Yara follows this up with a similar declaration for the Iron Islands, and points out that the Iron Islands had already been granted their sovereignty by Queen Daenerys Targaryen, and they intend to keep it.
 The new Dornish Prince declares that Dorne had only entered into the Seven Kingdoms willingly under Daeron II Targaryen, and that they do not intend to remain if there is to be no continuity of the Iron Throne.

o After the North, the Iron Islands, and Dorne all independently declare their intents to secede, and no claimant would be remotely strong enough to maintain the unity of the kingdoms by force even if they did have the political will to do so, it becomes clear that The Seven Kingdoms is inevitably going to become just seven separate kingdoms again, as they were in the years before Aegon’s conquest.

• Since no one wants to take responsibility for the city or especially the debts to the Iron Bank, King’s Landing almost by default becomes a Westerosi Free City like Braavos or Lys, ruled by an evolutionary form of the Small Council and various wealthy merchants who think they can renegotiate trade agreements in lieu of sovereign debt, now that the sovereign no longer exists.

o Tyrion, upon seeing momentum inevitably shifting in this direction, comments in an aside that this might actually be the most honest version of Daenerys’ vision of “breaking the wheel” that could ever be realized, wondering if she might not be pleased with how things ended up, which Varys quietly concedes as well.

• Arya has just been watching in the background, usually physically located behind Sansa and the other Northern lords in her shots, listening but not speaking. As the debate shifts to the minutiae of these new kingdoms, she leaves, and walks out to a balcony that looks onto the Gods’ Eye. In the distant mists still surrounding the Isle of Faces, we see Drogon circling and hear a very muted faraway roar, but his flight is never seen moving away from the island.

• Montage of where Everybody ended up:

o Sansa Stark becomes Lady of Winterfell and Queen in the North, ruling from a being-rebuilt Winterfell
o Arya Stark becomes a Northern version of Varys, nominally the leader of Sansa’s Queensguard (which also contains two Unsullied soldiers), but also a Stark Master of Whispers. She spends much of her time travelling the North and sometimes beyond, defending House Stark.
o Jorah Mormont returns to Bear Island as its Lord, and basically never recovers from his grief at losing Daenerys, but Bear Island remains ruled by House Mormont.
o Tyrion Lannister is Lord of Casterly Rock and King of the Westerlands, getting the prize he’d wanted for years, but after so much, he struggles to celebrate. His role becomes largely coordinating the rebuilding of the shattered seven kingdoms, using his repeatedly-called-out administrative acumen on a continental scale. We see Widow’s Wail hung on the wall in his chambers at Casterly Rock, calling back to Jaime and Cersei.
o Varys remains Master of Whispers in the South, though he is seldom seen, and he doesn’t seem interested in promoting the interests of any one particular Kingdom, still seeming to serve The Realm above anything else, though he does frequently appear at Casterly Rock to speak with Tyrion.
o Samwell Tarly is named Archmaester of Lore by the Citadel. He and Gilly and Little Sam return to Horn Hill, not as Lord, but just as a residence away from the Citadel. The Tarly seat with Sam as its leader now in turn becomes a place of learning in its own right.
o Yara Greyjoy becomes Queen of the Iron Islands, and establishes much more friendly relations with the North than had previously existed, though it’s clear that the Ironborn struggle to give up all of their old ways, still maintaining a strong military mindset.
o Missandei and most of the Unsullied are granted ships to return to the Bay of Dragons to ensure Daenerys’s legacy as the Breaker of Chains endures, or to the islands in the Summer Sea where they came from or choose to settle.
o Most of the surviving Dothraki are shipped back across the Narrow Sea to Essos along with the Unsullied, eager to return to Vaes Dothrak or join the warriors still serving Daenerys in the Bay of Dragons… almost no one in Westeros is sorry to see them go. The few that remain become particularly feared bandits and raiders in the Reach, Westerlands, and Riverlands.
o Davos Seaworth is named Lord of the Tides and given Dragonstone. He smiles at the sight of his onion sigil on a banner flying above the one-time Targaryen and later Baratheon stronghold.
o Edmure Tully becomes Lord of Riverrun and King of the Riverlands.
o Bronn of the Blackwater is named Lord of the Crossing and given The Twins- any ‘proper’ lord wouldn’t want to have anything to do with the place where the Red Wedding happened, but an up-jumped cutthroat doesn’t care; gold is gold, after all.
o Robyn Arryn becomes King of the Vale
o Daenerys Targaryen eventually becomes regarded in death as a hero throughout most of Westeros, the last Targaryen queen who gave her own life to defend the people of the Seven Kingdoms, and her dragons having been crucial in saving the world of the Living. Many smaller noble houses quarter their banners with the Targaryen dragon once again out of respect (or a show of respect, at least).
o Brandon Stark remains integrated into the weirwood grove on the Isle of Faces, watching over the realm through every Godswood and Heart Tree still standing as the new Three-Eyed Raven.
o Jon Snow and Drogon become figures of legend, the Last Dragonrider, the White Wolf and the Black Dragon who guard the Realms of Men, living(?) shrouded in the mists surrounding the Isle of Faces, with legends of a great white wolf (Ghost) serving as their eyes throughout the realm. (Deliberately paralleling Arthurian legend)

• The final scene is back at the Wall, with signs of Spring visible even here, small bits of greenery poking through the frozen ground surrounding Castle Black

o Tormund Giantsbane returns to the “real North” beyond the Wall, along with most of the surviving Free Folk, leading them through the gate at Castle Black, being the de facto King Beyond the Wall.
o Dolorous Edd Tollet is still being called Lord Commander of the Night’s Watch, much to his own dismay, getting more and more annoyed as other brothers of the order keep asking him what he wants done next regarding various issues. His final act as Lord Commander is to declare “And now our watch is ended” as the final spoken line of the series. The purpose for which the Night’s Watch was established has been completed, and the sworn brothers can now finally go home, leaving the gates in the tunnel open even after the Free Folk march through.
o The camera pulls back, further and further, looking from a still-snowy hill high enough to see over the Wall slightly, and with a majestic statement of the Stark leitmotif playing in the background, we see Ghost, standing and keeping watch over the realms of men.