Game of Thrones 7x06: Beyond the Wall

Opening Credits Map

King's Landing -> Dragonstone -> Winterfell -> The Wall -> Eastwatch -> Old Town

Dragonstone
Daenerys bemoans Jon Snow's decision to go capture a White Walker. She tells Tyrion that she's glad he isn't a hero. Heroes are hot, hunky men who make your loins cry out for satisfaction but, instead of quenching you're deep, desperate thirst, heroes go off on stupid, ill-advised quests that will probably get them killed.

Tyrion is less concerned about Daenerys's carnal desires and more interested in her death. More specifically, he's worried about who will succeed her and how the succession will take place. Daenerys, however, isn't keen on thinking about her own mortality.

Not much is decided here accept some acknowledgement that a benevolent dictatorship is only a good form of government for one generation. Daenerys is focused on simply becoming a benevolent dictator before worrying about anything else. Tyrion is still concerned about the long game.

Game of Thrones 7x05: Eastwatch

Opening Credits Map

King's Landing -> Dragonstone -> Winterfell -> The Wall -> Eastwatch -> Old Town

On The Road
Shockingly, Jaime's alive! Just kidding. We all knew he'd survive.

So, Bronn helps Jaime out of the water and they're apparently far enough away that Daenerys' army as to not get caught. Jaime is in shock. He says they just got their ass kicked by one dragon and she's got three of them! They're screwed!

Bronn corrects Jaime and notes that only Jaime and the Lannisters are screwed. Fighting dragons is where Bronn's service ends.

Game of Thrones 7x04: The Spoils of War

Opening Credits Map

King's Landing -> Dragonstone -> Pyke -> Winterfell -> The Wall -> Old Town

Winterfell
We start with Wun Wun sitting in a wheel chair. Finally! Wun Wun is independently mobile. Littlefinger skulks into the room and hands Wun Wun the knife used to killed Bran because he, of course, thinks Wun Wun is Bran too.

I think this is some kind of power play by Petyr but it doesn't work. Wun Wun is completely disaffected and simply tells Littlefinger that "chaos is a ladder." This unnerves Baelish. My sources say that that's a phrase Littlefinger told Varys in private earlier in the series. I think Littlefinger has no clue how handle someone he can't keep secrets from and can't play mind games with.

Meanwhile, Arya saunters up to the gates of Winterfell and two guards blunder their way through not letting her in (believing the idea that she is Arya Stark is too far fetched). While these two work on their three....er....two stooges routine, Arya up and sneaks by them.

This eventually ends up with reunion between Sansa and Arya. They're happy to see each other. It's sweet. That leads to Sansa, Arya and Wun Wun reuniting. It's...not as sweet. Wun Wun just, totally doesn't care about anyone anymore. He gives Arya that sweet Valyrian steel dagger though.

We go from the Three-Eyed Raven to the Three Legged Man. Podrick the Pornstar is sparring with Brienne. He's losing of course despite Brienne's advice. Arya's advice is not to spar against someone who has defeated the Hound. I would think that, despite everything else, Podrick's third leg is interfering with his footwork.

Anyway, Arya wants a go at Brienne. Brienne goes easy on Arya to start but we know how that works out. Eventually Arya pisses off Brienne and it's on like a 1980's ape based video game. The match ends in a draw and that's cool and all but it feels like if I was shooting hoops in my driveway and some dude walks up saying he's rusty and would like to get some practice in and then throws down a 360-tomahawk jam over me. I mean, that's sweet but I'm starting to think their intent wasn't to brush up on fundamentals.

Game of Thrones 7x03: The Queen’s Justice

Opening Credits Map

King's Landing -> Dragonstone -> Pyke -> Winterfell -> The Wall -> Old Town

Dragonstone
Jon Snow shows up. That was fast! You know, I'm not necessarily upset at the show for speeding up certain things, like travel, but it is a bit jarring compared to the, possibly overly, deliberate pacing earlier in the series. However, despite not needing to spend several episodes with Jon Snow traveling, this show does seem to have difficulty conveying any passage of time between when Jon Snow left and when he arrived.

Anyway, Jon Snow and Tyrion are the first to meet and they do that Han Solo/Lando Calrissian thing where you act like you hate each other only to then show affection for each other. Not sure who they trying to initially fool but this wasn't the most egregious use of this trope. At least their “affection” was just a smile and head nod.

Tyrion and Jon Snow catch up a little bit since Jon Snow last saw Tyrion relieving himself off the Wall. Jon Snow is lead to Daenerys who, of course, immediately demands fealty because she is the rightful ruler of Westeros. She's nice enough to allow Jon Snow be warden of the North, though.

Jon Snow rejects this saying all this talk of ruling Westeros is pointless until the White Walkers are dealt with. He's not wrong but I can't help but feel he's going about this wrongly. Frankly, they both are. Daenerys needs allies but alienates them by demanding complete loyalty when they first meet doesn't seem the best way to garner support. And Jon Snow might want to try to explain the White Walkers better and not just immediately claim everybody is an idiot.

So, things are tense and seem to be going south. Beyond that, Jon Snow is kind of trapped because they took his boat. That's another way not to gain allies.

Game of Thrones 7x02: Stormborn

Opening Credits Map

King's Landing -> Dragonstone -> Pyke -> Winterfell -> The Wall -> Old Town

Dragonstone
We start this episode in Dragonstone where Daenerys and Tyrion are finally talking! Since taking over Westeros with dragons would be too easy and narratively unsatisfying Daenerys wants to defeat Cersei...more cleanly?

To be fair, burning down everything wouldn't lead to a fun land to rule over. Lady Tyrell isn't buying that, though. Peasants loved Margaery but she still died. So, maybe a few peasant being burnt wouldn't be all that bad? In the end, Daenerys wants to be a responsible leader and keep innocent casualties to a minimum. Despite my sarcasm, I do agree. It is nice not to kill innocents.

Beyond that, Daenerys also grilled Varys on his shifting loyalties. Varys pretty much says that he's loyal to Westeros and will be loyal to her so long as she's a good queen. Daenerys excepts this on the condition that Varys let's her know if she's being a bad queen. They agree. Of course, neither of them think of the scenario of Daenerys being a bad queen in such a way that Varys fears repercussions for speaking up against her and thus plots against her in secrecy. But I did!

Anyway, the war plan is for the Tyrells and Dorne to lay siege to King's Landing because they believe the Lords won't rush to defend Cersei from local Westerosi armies. Meanwhile, the foreign armies of the Unsullied and Dothraki attack Casterly Rock. Everyone is amenable to this plan so Yara takes Ellaria Sand and the Sand Snakes back to Dorne to gather their army. What could possibly go wrong?

Game of Thrones 7x01: Dragonstone

Opening Credits Map

King's Landing -> Dragonstone -> The Twins -> Winterfell -> The Wall -> Old Town

Hey, Game of Thrones is back! I...don't have much to say except that. So, let's get to the review!

The Twins
We start off with Walder Frey addressing his family at a feast. This is a bit odd since Walder died at the end of last season, so I at first I thought this was a flashback. Then he gave a toast with his clan where he obviously poisoned the wine. So, yeah, the Freys die and “Walder” reveals himself\herself to be, of course, Arya.

Later, Arya is wandering towards King's Landing to do some more killing when she comes across some Lannister soldiers. They turn out to be decent folk and even offer Arya some food and wine. I'm not sure what exactly the point of this scene was. Maybe it was to make Arya feel guilty about killing all the Freys when there may have been some good eggs in there or maybe it's to teach Arya to be more careful about indiscriminately Lannisters in the name of revenge or maybe it was an excuse to get Ed Sheeran to sing and appear on screen.

The Walking Dead 7x07: Sing Me A Song

Nobody wants to have a target on their back. There's a reason a lot of people like to be the person behind the person of power. *cough* Steve Bannon *cough*. There's power and safety being the one who influences from within the shadows.

But, there are certain people who just can't stand not being in the limelight. They can't stand not being front and center. They need the attention, the adulation, the credit. And I'll agree Negan is that type of person.

Sure, Negan, if you want to be the one in charge then I get that. But if you're going to paint a target on your back at least be smart of it!

The Walking Dead 7x06: Swear

This season of the Walking Dead has taken the strategy of focusing (for the most part) on one location a week. We had Rick and crew in the woods with Negan, Morgan and Carol at the Kingdom, Daryl at the Savior's, we checked in on Alexandria, visited Maggie and Sasha at Hilltop and now we see Tara at some all women village.

This could be a fine approach. The Walking dead is really trying to expand its universe and splitting up their cast and focusing on one location an episode seems like a good way to do that. The problem is, most of their characters are boring.

The Walking Dead 7x05: Go Getters

I know when I watch a show, especially one that flouts all laws of physics like The Walking Dead does, that I have to turn my brain off. But sometimes there are some things I can't turn my brain off for. (Like, last season when Jesus magically teleports.)

This time it's when the Saviors left a running car in the middle of Hilltop with a radio blasting to attract zombies. I mean, what? Really? I just couldn't buy it.

The Walking Dead 7x04: Service

More isn't always better.

The Walking Dead doesn't seem to realize this. They love their 90 minute episodes. They think this makes the episodes better, grander, more special. It doesn't.

You want to know what happened in this episode? Negan asserted his dominance over Alexandra (and Rick specifically). That's really it. Negan came in, bullied everyone, got what he wanted and Rick just acquiesced and begged everyone in Alexandria to do the same. That's all. You don't need 90 minutes for that.

The Walking Dead 7x03: The Cell

Hey, it's a Daryl episode! Usually that's a good thing. In this case, it's merely not a bad thing. It was an alright episode but it was just as much about Dwight as it was about Daryl. Dwight does not do a whole lot for me.

Even though I'm not a big fan of Dwight's, I will say that this episode answered a lot of questions I had about Dwight in his first appearance. His escape from the Saviors, double-cross of Daryl and subsequent return to the Saviors seemed very odd to me. The fact that the catalyst to Dwight's change of heart was Tina's death is probably something I should've figured out on my own. However, it still doesn't make complete sense to me.

The Walking Dead 7x02: The Well

Sorry, it's been a while. I have my excuses. Not good ones, though.

I got a little busy which delayed this post and then a funny thing happened. The US election. And...that was rough.

It's no secret that we here at Gentlemen of Leisure are no fans of Donald Trump. So after the election I was really bummed. The last thing I felt like watching was a dark, soulless, dystopian view of the future. I get enough of that following the news. So, my DVR kept filling up with episodes of the The Walking Dead; taunting me.

The Walking Dead 7x01: The Day Will Come When You Won’t Be

The Walking Dead is back with a new season! Yay?

All summer long people were waiting for this new season. Were people excited about what new direction Rick’s character may go? Were they excited for cool and new interesting characters to arrive? Were they excited about how Alexandria would progress as a safe haven?

No, they were excited to see what main character was going to die. Frankly, I can’t think of a better descriptor of The Walking Dead than that.