[8.6/10] Enjoyed this one a lot. There was a great deal of poetry and call in response to it. You have Cersei delivering poetic justice to her daughter's killer, but then inadvertently offering the same to her son's killer when Jaime poisons Olenna Tyrell. (I'll really miss Dianna Rigg and her character's delightful bon mots.) Cersei is on top for now, preening after getting the better of her most bitter rivals in Westeros.
But she's also winning the titular game of thrones at the moment. After the opening of the season where it looked like she was overmatched and stretched too thin, she's managed to effectively eliminate the Tyrells and the Dornish; she controls the sea via Euron's fleet, and she seems to have the burgeoning support of The Iron Bank by pointing out that Dany's unlikely to pay debts like the Lannisters will, and that her new coffers courtesy of Highgarden ought to provide some nice collateral.
We also get the long-awaited meeting between Dany and Jon. It's a cool scene, where the contrasts and commonalities between the two are shared. Dany wants the Iron Throne and is focused on the South, while Jon is worried about the White Walkers and focused on the North. But they're both people who rose to power from semi-humble, and undoubtedly difficult circumstances, and they're both, little do they realize, the last two Targaryens alive. They seem to find some common ground via Dragonglass, but these two monarchs start to find their connections regardless of that. (And it's great to see Jon and Tyrion together again too, with Ser Davos offering an impassioned, persuasive speech about his leader once more.)
Overall, it's an eventful episode with enough interesting character moments to make it feel like more than just the pieces on the board shifting around. Exciting stuff!
Review by Andrew BloomVIP 9BlockedParentSpoilers2017-07-31T06:09:51Z
[8.6/10] Enjoyed this one a lot. There was a great deal of poetry and call in response to it. You have Cersei delivering poetic justice to her daughter's killer, but then inadvertently offering the same to her son's killer when Jaime poisons Olenna Tyrell. (I'll really miss Dianna Rigg and her character's delightful bon mots.) Cersei is on top for now, preening after getting the better of her most bitter rivals in Westeros.
But she's also winning the titular game of thrones at the moment. After the opening of the season where it looked like she was overmatched and stretched too thin, she's managed to effectively eliminate the Tyrells and the Dornish; she controls the sea via Euron's fleet, and she seems to have the burgeoning support of The Iron Bank by pointing out that Dany's unlikely to pay debts like the Lannisters will, and that her new coffers courtesy of Highgarden ought to provide some nice collateral.
We also get the long-awaited meeting between Dany and Jon. It's a cool scene, where the contrasts and commonalities between the two are shared. Dany wants the Iron Throne and is focused on the South, while Jon is worried about the White Walkers and focused on the North. But they're both people who rose to power from semi-humble, and undoubtedly difficult circumstances, and they're both, little do they realize, the last two Targaryens alive. They seem to find some common ground via Dragonglass, but these two monarchs start to find their connections regardless of that. (And it's great to see Jon and Tyrion together again too, with Ser Davos offering an impassioned, persuasive speech about his leader once more.)
Overall, it's an eventful episode with enough interesting character moments to make it feel like more than just the pieces on the board shifting around. Exciting stuff!