Game of Thrones S7 | Part 1 : The North

 Hello and welcome to the obsessive part of my brain.

As you may or may not know, I'm a huge fan of Game of Thrones. I love the show, I love the books even more, I'm completely obsessed. Today, I'm going to review, ramble and share my crazy interpretations of this season.

Before you go into this review you need to know that :

1. I'm going to divide this review in two parts : The North and the South (take a moment to admire my creativity here).

2. There are LOTS of spoilers ahead, you're warned.

3. All of my theories are my own. I don't really read fan theories

4. If a quote isn't in a blockquote or in italic, it's just me paraphrasing the characters.

5. I tend to talk directly to the characters. Don't worry, they're used to it.

Bran

Bran is one of the most interesting character of the story. When Summer died, I knew Bran Stark was gone and his transformation was shown from the start. He was dressed like the night watchers. Like a crow (crows, ravens...) and the show made it even more obvious through Meera.

Bran Stark died in that cave.

Thank you for that, Meera. He will never be the lord of Winterfell, he will never be Bran Stark again. It's over. He's the Three Eyed Raven now.

His behavior has also completely changed. There's this manga where one girl can see all of the good things happening in the world whereas the other one only sees the bad. 

As a result, the girl who sees the good is always pessimistic and the other – as you may guess – is the opposite. Why ? It's simple. They need a balance. 

But what if you could see both the good and the bad ? Bran sees it all. I think the only way for him to keep his sanity is to be distant (I warned you in the beginning about my crazy interpretations).

Now let's talk about his – very awkward – conversation with Sansa. He describes the day of her marriage with Ramsay and tells her he's sorry for what happened to her. I thought about that scene a lot. Why mention that to her ? Why reminding her of the worst thing that happened to her ? Well, I think this is because it is her worst memory. With that conversation, I think what he tells Sansa is « I know what happened to you. You don't have to pretend or hide anything from me. I see you. »

I think in his own way he tried to comfort her.

You need to work on your comforting skills, Bran. But hey look at the bright side ! It can't get worse than this.

He also had a very – yet short – conversation with Arya where he mentions her list.

Once again, it is a pretty interesting thing to bring up. Everytime Arya talks about her desire to kill Cersei, she's laughed at. The guards she met laughed, even Sansa did. The only one who takes her seriously is Bran. Just like his interactions with Sansa, he lets Arya know that he knows her for what she really is. He doesn't see the little girl dreaming of becoming a knight. He sees an assassin.

Littlefinger talked to him about the dagger. It must be surprising for Baelish to talk to someone he can't predict and manipulate.

He's powerful but even he has limits. He can see the past and the present but not the future. He also doesn't know what's going on in people's heads. I wouldn't want his power (I'm not that crazy) but it's cool to have someone like him in the story.

S8 Theory :

You'll never walk again but you will fly

I think Bran will take control of a dragon and will fight the Night's King with Jon. I don't know if it's a common theory or not, like I said I don't read fan theories.

Arya

I have to admit, I didn't like Arya this season. Everytime she did sometthing I compared her to Arya from the books and they are infuriatingly different.

When Nymeria turned away from Arya, it was clear she wasn't ready to go into a full Stark mode yet.

That's not you.

She knows that the old Arya, the one who dreamed of being a honorable knight and fight for what she believes in, is gone. Maybe she'll come back, who knows ? But now she's driven with vengeance. She wants to kill Cersei not because she's not a good queen but because she helds her responsible for her father's death. If Cersei suddenly became a saint, I think she would kill her anyway.

However, she chooses to go to Winterfell and not to King's Landing. That also says something about her. Even though her list is important, her family is even more. The living before the dead.

I wondered if she would hide her new skills or not. I predicited the fight with Brienne the moment she decided to go to the north so I knew that she wasn't going to hide them. It would've been clever to let everyone underestimate her until the last moment though.

The face Littlefinger made when he saw her fight Brienne was priceless but it was not a smart thing to do because he became wary of her. Good job, Arya. Well, now I guess it doesn't matter since he's dead but it could've gone wrong.

Now let's talk about what annoys me the most with her : She's way too confident. I can't say that enough. Yes, she trained hard and went through tough stuff but let's face it, she doesn't know a thing about politics.

Offend them and Jon loses his army

Not if they lose their heads first.

- Sansa and Arya

When she said that I immediately thought of Joffrey.. He's the one who ordered Ned's beheading after all. And yes, I am saying she's not better than Joffrey at politics. Even Cersei doesn't behead everyone who disagrees with her.

Some battles are won with swords and spears, others with quills and ravens. - Tywin Lannister

In other words « be diplomatic ! ». Yes she proved she could kill lots of people at once but that's useless if she can't use her brain.

She blames Sansa for wanting the leadership and for their father's death which is really messed up... And weird. If Sansa is to blame, why isn't she on her list ? Arya didn't make any sense this season. I really hope they'll do a better job in the next one.

Then we have, the huge « reveal ». She plotted with Sansa to get rid of Littlefinger. On one hand, I was pleasantly surprised but on the other I was frustrated. Arya and Sansa were clearly in conflict in previous scenes so what changed ? When did they realize they were being played ? How did they come to an agreement ?

Anyway, Arya is the one who executes the sentence but not in a Stark way. She cuts his throat. It's brutal and meant to be painful. It's different from the traditional beheading which is much quicker. This death sentence is executed like an act of revenge and not an actual sentence.

Sansa

I liked Sansa at the beginning of the season. She challenges Jon and makes him listen to her. She's becoming more like Catelyn and I loved it even though I disagreed with some of her ideas.

She's starting to be more involved in politics. She knows how things work in King's Landing so she's a great addition to the North.

She killed LF ! Well, she sentenced him to death but didn't actually killed him. I can see Ned frowning at this.

I loved your mother since the time I was a boy.

- And yet, you betrayed her.

- I loved you. More than anyone.

- And yet, you betrayed me.

I LOVED this dialogue. Baelish will always puts himself first. That's how he is. I don't think he can really love anyone but I do think he had some kind of affection for Cat and Sansa.

Jon

Jon became the King in the North but now he has to make difficult decisions while keeping everyone around him united. I have to say, I really like his way of ruling. He didn't even want this title, the only reason he became King was to defeat the white walkers.

In the beginning, we see that even though he's now King he won't try to make the wildlings bend the knee. He respects them and their culture and a crown won't change that (See Dany ? That's how you do things). 

The wildlings are still free and he's their ally. He also decides to make the girls train which is at first an unpopular decision quickly supported by Lyanna Mormont.

He and Sansa got into an argument about what do to with families that betrayed them. While Sansa wants to take their casltes and give them to the ones who were loyal, Jon doesn't want to punish those who didn't do anything because of some members of their families. During this argument I was on Jon's side. I understand Sansa's logic but she is a little too black and white.

During the whole season, Jon explains that the real war is between the dead and the living so everyone should fight together.

Yesterday's wars don't matter anymore. The North needs to ban together.

Once again, he unites people. That's what he did for the wildlings and now he's doing it with the North and later in the season with Dany.

I also agreed with Jon when he told her not to disagree with him in public. I like Sansa but it sends a terrible message. However, it is true that she knows how the southerners work and that he should at least listen to what she says.

 How should I smarter ? By listening to you ?

- Would that be so terrible ?

I think one of the biggest even of this season is the meeting between Jon and Dany but I'm going to talk more about this in Dany's section so let's move on.

I think what I love the most about Jon is his honesty.

I'm not going to swear an oath I can't uphold. Talk about my father if you want, tell me that's the attitude that got him killed. But when the North people make false promises, words stop meaning anything.

It's good to have someone with no ulterior motive. His only fight is with the white walkers. Well, for now at least. I just hope he won't end up like Ned.

I don't know how Dany will react to the fact that he's his nephew and rightful King of Westeros. She's the one who should bend the knee otherwise she would be an usurper. Or, he's going to let her have the throne. I don't know but I'm pretty excited to find out. I'm a little sad we didn't get to see Jon's reunion with Arya and Bran, it's one of the scene I anticipated the most.

Notable Side Characters

Lyanna Mormont : I loved this kid from the start when she didn't let Sansa flatter her. She's young, she knows that and surrounds herself with good adivsors which is a smart thing to do.

 I don't need your permission to defend the North .

Littlefinger : Die, snake, Die.

Sandor : He's alive ! I knew it. I can't wait to see his reunion with Sansa et Arya.

Sam : I knew he wasn't going to stay long in the South. I'm glad he's back, I'm sure Jon will need him.

Tormund : He was so cute during this season (don't tell him I called him that) and he showed us how you should absolutely not flirt with someone :

Creepy smiles ? Check.

Weird way of chewing food while looking at you in the eye ? Check.

The scene where he said to Podrick « You're a lucky man » after she pushed him was hilarious.

I'm not with her yet. But I see the way she looks at me.

Oh my gosh.

 I want to make babies with her.

This guy is my hero. 

That's it for the first part of this review (can we even call it a review ?). 

What did you think of those characters ?  

 Hope you enjoyed, see you next time.