Another year, another season of Game of Thrones passes us by. Even though there are only 7 episodes in season 7 (I wonder if that's ironically coincidental), there is a lot that happens in this season. Of course several prominent characters are killed off, so do not read any further if you wish to remain happily aloof if you aren't caught up with all the goings on in the show. So in this season Daenerys Targaryen returns to Dragonstone and Westeros, Queen Cersei begins to cement her control over the 7 kingdoms, Jon Snow begins to confront the approach of winter and the Night King, and everyone else decides who they're going to fight for. Rather than go episode by episode, I'm going to simply evaluate the characters. Obviously Emilia Clarke as Daenerys has been building up to this moment ever since the end of season 1, and boy has she come a long way. Her dragons are huge and brimming with fire and strength, she has two powerful armies of Unsullied and Dothraki, and many allies within Westeros (Dorne, Highgarden, Winterfell). She grows more in this season as she struggles to balance "Fire and Blood" with wisdom and justice, and then there is the attraction to Jon Snow which at first surprises both. Some of her finest moments are in scenes with Olenna Tyrell, Tyrion, and Jon Snow, but perhaps her finest was in the dragon pit with Queen Cersei. This is perhaps Jon Snow's finest season yet with this character; he shows strength, sympathy, and of course remains the show's moral compass despite pressure all around to be other than that. His relationship with Daenerys grows and the two finish the season becoming lovers, and aside for a rather huge detail, it kind of works very well. Cersei is as clever as ever, perhaps even so than her father Tywin, but her refusal to see the bigger picture will end up costing her dearly. Between her and her brother Jaime, both seem rather unstoppable at the beginning of the season, and rather carefree if the true nature of their relationship is discovered. Lena Headey is brilliant as Cersei, and pulls off a remarkable feat of being just as unlikable as Joffrey, and Jaime is right there with her, although he is more conflicted than she, and actually has a sense of honor, and a kind of rickety moral compass; played wonderfully by Nickolaj Coster-Waldau. My personal favorite, Tyrion, really came off as rather weak in this season unfortunately where I expected him to really shine. Peter Dinklage was fantastic, especially when he was on scene with his fictional sister, but there is something that his character has been missing since season 2, and it has kind of really bummed me. Sansa and Arya Stark have both grown to the point where they are no longer mere girls, but powerful grown women with such skills that could withstand their older counterparts. Arya is as lethal as ever, and Sansa is becoming more and more like Littlefinger; so when the two of them reunite at Winterfell, there's joy, but also that suspicion of what the other has been up to for the past six seasons. The two of them have some of the best scenes together in the season; very well done by Sophie Turner and Maisie Williams. Then we have individuals like Littlefinger (Aidan Gillen), Lord Varys (Conleth Hill), Davos Seaworth (Liam Cunningham), Bran Stark (Isaac Wright), Bronn (Jerome Flynn), The Hound (Rory McCann), Samwell Tarly (John Bradley), Jorah Mormont (Iain Glen), and Olenna Tyrell (Diana Rigg).
Now, all of those individuals I mentioned had smaller roles, but nonetheless helped make the season what it was. I was actually happily surprised with how The Hound's role took shape in this season after wondering why the writers kept him around, and now I know. Varys is ever the spider, although his role felt quite diminished in this season unfortunately, but he was still amazing. Ser Davos was a lot of fun in this season, and I have to say that I've really ended up enjoying his character when I thought I never would. Littlefinger is of course up to his old tricks and skillful as ever with his intrigues, but this season he finally met his match in Sansa, a woman he created with all of his plotting. It was a very satisfying moment. Bronn is still as awesome and humorous as ever; he brings that down to earth no nonsense realism to everything, which is great. And Olenna Tyrell, I love that woman and that character so much. There were several other characters that appeared which I didn't mention, but I didn't really feel like their presence in this season was really felt. Obviously, the big surprises of the season were when Casterly Rock was taken by the Unsullied, and then equally surprising was Jaime Lannister taking Highgarden and the death of Olenna Tyrell along with the Tyrell family name to a degree I'm assuming. That was a great bummer for me; I am a huge Tyrell House fan, and to see it all taken away by the Lannisters was very irritating. The death of one of Daenerys' dragons was quite shocking, although what the Night King did afterwards was just as troubling when he raised it from the dead and then used it to bring down the great wall. The death of Littlefinger by Arya's own hand at the command of Sansa was definitely something I was not anticipating, but it was a lovely touch for a man that caused so much chaos. Jaime leaving Cersei and King's Landing, that was definitely a surprise. Then of course the bombshell everyone anticipated was Jon Snow is the son of Rhaegar Targaryen and Lyanna Stark, but the part not everyone expected was that he was actually their legitimate son as Rhaegar had his previous marriage annulled and then married Lyanna. His name isn't really even Jon Snow, it's Aegon Targaryen. So yeah, Jon Snow son of Rhaegar and Lyanna Targaryen ended up becoming the lover of his aunt Daenerys Targaryen, the sister of his father. Should be interesting to see where all of this goes, but honestly it can't be anywhere good.
The technical elements of season 7 were very good. The cinematography was breathtaking especially one of the final scenes as Jaime Lannister is leaving King's Landing and it begins to snow signifying that winter has indeed come, it was eerily beautiful. And when Daenerys lands on Dragonstone, that was really well shot, but that goes then entire season. The action was pretty great, especially when it involved the dragons and their first engagement with the Lannister armies. There were a lot of great scenes/sequences in this season, but none so good as the Dragon Pit scene in the season finale; that was par excellence. This was a great season, and it definitely leaves a lot of possibilities for season 8 and how the writers will approach it, because there's no lack of material for sure, and hopefully Geroge R.R. Martin will actually publish The Winds of Winter considering his last book was released in 2011. One complaint I had in this season was that everything felt a little rushed, whereas before in earlier seasons they seemed to drag everything on and on to the point where it was beginning to feel like a soap opera with how slowly everything was moving. Now it seems everything is moving so fast; I'm not certain why the writers want it all to move at a breakneck pace, but I do know that everyone would have like three more episodes rather than just seven. Oh well. My favorite moment of the season would probably be when Daenerys leads her dragon Drogon into battle to toast the Lannister armies after they sacked Highgarden; that was awesome. Biggest bummer moment has to be when Highgarden fell and Olenna Tyrell died, that really bummed me out. Well, looking forward to season 8, that is if the world is still around.
Game of Thrones Season 7 "The Wall Comes Down"
Behind the Scenes Clip "The Dragon Pit"
Game of Thrones Season 7 "Daenerys Arrives at the Dragon Pit"
Star Wars Rebels Season 4 trailer
