Wildcard:

Grab your jackets and dress up warm because winter ain’t coming any longer: it’s already here. Luckily we won’t have to experience any more of it ‘til next season because Game of Thrones is all done for 2016.

Remember a year ago when Jon Snow had just been killed? These are simpler times. This season we finished with Jon Snow proclaimed the King of the North, Cersei anointed the actual Queen of Westeros and Daenerys hopped on a boat on her way to conquerorville. No mazy twist, this was back to the usual GoT finale zone where we end on the come down effect of the prior insanity. And, ah, in King’s Landing at least there was plenty of that.

Hey you know all those white ravens that were flying out of Oldtown when Sam and Gilly arrived? They were sent out to every maester in the land to confirm the coming of winter, hence Sansa’s comments about the white raven that arrived at their gates. It looked pretty sunny to me in Oldtown but then they’re the experts, not me.

Let’s start in King’s Landing and pour one out for the Tyrells. Margaery saw it coming but unfortunately she’d chained her bike too closely to the Sparrow pole and there were consequences for that, no kidding. All the sparrows, the Tyrells (including Loras! No!) a whole lotta interested spectators and they’re all dead in an explosion of wildfire. Green as the envy in Cersei’s eyes that Margaery came to know so well. Just like she promised, she burnt them all.

Funny that, because it was the threat of widespread terrorist acts with wildfire that led Jaime to kill the Mad King. Now his true incestuous love has actually carried out that threat and here he is returning to see her claim the crown. First off, he knows immediately that his last son is dead, that much is clear. Then they share that slight look and it’s hard to say that it was a look of beloved joy. Granted, the circumstances aren’t ideal but this could definitely be a wedge between the two.

Lancel, that little prick, almost saved the day when he caught a birdie red handed but the kid stabbed him and obviously the rules of exploding things in action sequences suggests that he’d get as close as possible to stopping it and extinguishing the wick before it blew up in his face. Which happened. You know those stories about mothers finding the strength to lift cars when their children are in trouble? I guess those desperate crisis things don’t apply to warrior-priests (and the heavy chains didn't help). One shank to the gut and he was utterly wasted. Arya copped about six of those and still managed to pull off some badass parkour moves. See, this show used to be so complicated and transgressive. Now, as it digresses from the book, we’re seeing these stupid inconsistencies, clearly overlooked to suit the plot. Most shows have those and we’re cool with it, but this isn’t most shows. It’s starting to get to me, to be honest.

On that note, the time shifts that everyone’s complaining about really aren’t that big of a deal. There are those sorts of things all over the place, even in the book it’s hard to say whether one storyline is perfectly aligned with another or whatever. It doesn’t matter, it’s only when they start converging as they are now that we notice it. Varys sailed off back to Westeros but not to perform the role he did in the book, which was killing Pycelle (and Kevan Lannister, who isn’t much of a character in the book so they ignored him) with the help of the kiddies. All to pave Dany’s road to the Iron Throne, just the same – but he never went to Meereen in the text. Here Qyburn kills Pycelle while Varys travels to Dorne where he combines the forces of the Martells and Lady Olenna (whose family is all dead now but she does have a few off-screen nephews and nieces and all that – plus heaps of money), all in the name of Daenerys Targaryen. Those three words that he uttered? “Fire and Blood”? That is the Targaryen motto there, champ.

Then next thing he was back in Meereen sailing out with Dany and them on the Queenship. Now, obviously that means that was a few months in the future. Settle down, timeline police. They skipped over Arya’s travels as well, same with Theon and Yara. My issue is more in the logistics of sailing back to meet the team when they’re sailing your way anyway. Just wait for them, maybe? Have a few drinks with Lady Olenna and ask her about when she was a Bond girl back in the day.

So long story short, Cersei finally ended up on the throne that she’s coveted all this time and pretty much owned already through proxy via her kids. A great and brutal victory… but terrible timing with everyone else merging their forces against her. I thought either she or Jaime would be dead by now, I’m gonna double or nothing that bet on Jaime killing Cersei in a teary act of Shakespearian justice.

Haha, oh yeah. Tommen jumped out the window. Wait… who’s gonna feed Ser Pounce!?

Bronn’s complaints about the serving girl eyeing up Jaime Lannister take on a completely different light when we later find out that she was Arya in disguise. Shout out to the lad Hot Pie, wherever he may be. Arya must have picked up a thing or two from her old buddy because she sure baked the hell out of those Frey kids. And then served it to Walder Frey. Not quite as tastefully as Jaime served up Walder earlier in the episode but considerably more vengeful.

Arya is back, then. Back in Westeros and committed to crossing off that list. Sadly for her, most of those people have been killed by other means already. Cersei is on that list, if I recall. Umm… did she just take a bunch of faces from the hall when she left? I wonder if the faces are reusable or if she has to return them or what. They never really explained that stuff. I hope she doesn’t hurry to meet up with the other Starks though, I can’t see her unique talents being put to the same ruthless effect if she was chilling with the fams in Winterfell, she’d be back to being the little sister again.

Is Littlefinger on her list? Because that would save plenty of dramas, with the Baelish bugger looking to drive a wedge in between Sansa and Jon. A wedge that I figured was nothing to worry about until he was proclaimed king and seemed to say nothing about it. I was sure that Jon would stand and say something along the lines of ‘Cheers but tbh this is my sister’s gig, not mine’. He made the main bedroom up for her and then stole her title. Yeah, the Starks don’t usually acknowledge the female line but then who was Jon’s number one supporter? Lady Mormont. That girl can sure spin a yarn. One shifty look between Sansa and the surly Littlefinger and they’ll string that one along most of next season, no doubt. Ah, and Melisandre was banished for burning Shireen at the stake. Not really much Jon could do other than that, she’ll find some way to stay involved, probably running into the Brotherhood Without Banners who were notably absent here.

This was possibly the best episode of the season, though on the whole it’s been a weaker season than the last couple. The seams are showing in ways that they never used to, as usual I blame the book/show dynamic. They change characters and storylines for the purpose of better television but then those odd things in the book always came back around in rewarding ways. That world is so much bigger than this one, all the great minor characters are being killed off or combining forces and that’s frustrating. This isn’t supposed to be a story that streamlines into a conclusion. The end of Thrones should leave it every bit as encompassing as the start.

Dany is sailing to Winterfell. A few nerves but lots of allies and Tyrion is her Hand. She left her toyboy behind, fair enough. All good stuff there – it’s about time she made a significant move, though when Tyrion and Dany are talking about stuff to focus on now and he says: “How about the fact that this is actually happening?” … that just reminds me how much Dany’s been stalled and messed around by the writers all show. But we’re getting there now.

And that other thing: Bran went back to the Tower of Joy. They almost undeniably confirmed that R+L=J which is amazing and that scene, despite having two irregular actors and one of them a character that we’d barely met, was easily the most moving of the episode. I almost got teary-eyed there, it was beautiful. You think of the tragedy of what happened there, Lyanna dying in childbirth, Lyanna who has been talked about as this almost mythical beauty – think about Robert and Ned talking in the crypts in season one. Then you think about the sacrifices that Ned made to protect that child, from hiding it from Robert, who’d probably have killed it otherwise and ruining so much of his flawless honour to raise it as his own, never admitting that even to his own wife. It’s tough to do a scene like that, so long anticipated, and they nailed the bastard. The baby’s eyes transitioning into Jon’s as the scenes cut… gorgeous.

I’m holding out hope that we get the next book before the next season, I think that’s now almost more likely than not. After seeing the show go off on its own, it’ll be fascinating to read the book playing catch up now. It’s assumed that we’ll get two more seasons and with everything pointing in the same direction now, even that seems like a lot. All of the complexities have been television-ised with Cersei as the main villain and the Night King hovering somewhere in the distance. At least Jon is ready for that, if nobody else is. In fact that’s another reason I thought he’d leave Winterfell to Sansa, since his real battle is up north. Which led me to thinking (I keep doing that, for some reason) that for the White Walkers to win their battle, they’ll have to topple The Wall. Uncle Benjen couldn’t pass through it, neither can the ice zombies. But there are tales about horns that’ll break the magic withheld in The Wall.

Here are 14 wishes for Season 7:

Flashbacks to the tourney at Harrenhal
Lady Olenna and Cersei meet face to face
The kids turn their knives on Qyburn
We finally meet Howland Reed
Gendry
Arya sticks with her solo mission
Sandor killing White Walkers
Jaime is forced to reconcile with Cersei’s evil
At least one person survives the Sept bombing… say, Loras
Jon finds out about his parentage
The Sand Snakes are allowed to do something interesting
Young Griff
Varys gets to be the giggling plotmeister again
Lady Mormont on the Iron Throne

Diggity Doc:

Before I make my way through the maze of stories and loose ends that were perfectly poised in that season finale, I've gotta provide some more wider context thoughts. I mean, the world seems to be descending further and further into a forest of stupidity which has me thinking more about GoT in our current situation.

There's no telly show that's bigger than GoT, maybe even few movies that hold such a grip on our world's population and this is why it's so interesting that ideas like 'leaving the world better than we found it' being portrayed so clearly last week are important. This week we saw a reinforcement of this idea and the reason I'm optimistic about our world's future as the young characters stepped further up the power ladder. There wasn't anything quite as striking as last week's examples, but take what you want from that kid luring Lancel to his doom and acting out a nightmare of mine by a bunch of those kids stabbing Grand Maester Pycelle.

Lady Mormont preached to a room full of seasoned battlers, naughty Northlanders who are generally a heartier breed than those further south, that Jon Snow should be the King Of The North. A little-wee girl, making a power play in convincing the North that Jon Snow is their guy, he's their LeBron James and it's time to ride or die.

You can even read into Littlefinger's approach to Sansa out in a beautiful snow-white forest. Littlefinger is older, apparently wiser and apparently more powerful, yet Sansa is comfortable in her position of power and she brushed that dirt off her shoulder.

It really isn't that difficult to connect the dots and that's all I encourage y'all to do. Last week we were told to leave the world better than we found it and this season finale was the culmination of the last few seasons in which younger characters have taken over. You do the math folks.

Do the math, while I do some research in the Citadel's library. As fatty-boombastic Sam entered the library, his eyes widened in awe of the vast nature of that library ... look at all that information! While the 'leave the world better than you found it' idea was made blatantly obvious, along with the rise of the young folk, my idea of that hugely extensive library as a metaphor for the internet isn't quite as obvious ... even though I think it is.

What does the internet offer you? Endless information.

What does the Citadel's library offer Sam, other wannabe Maesters and certified Maesters? Endless information.

Keep an open mind.

There were a few specific things from The Winds of Winter that really sparked my mind into gear and I've gotta roll through those before I get into some crystal ball gazing. After the epic Battle of the Bastards wiped the floor with any rival in the television realm in terms of viewing experience, this was backed up by a season finale in which there was a wildfire explosion.

Not just fire, wildfire - that shit is lime green. And yeah, wildfire tends to cause a heck of a lot of damage and everything in the opening stanza of this episode was nothing less than epic telly, bordering on just all-round epic viewing. Maybe we knew that wildfire would make an appearance, just as we knew that Littlefinger would pop up and save the day last week, but I was still clutching my blankey in suspense.

There was a constant wave of suspense, some excitement but mainly anticipation. From the preparations with the likes of Cersei, Tommen and the High Sparrow getting ready which got you primed for the trial. At that point and even up to when I got all Harry Potter and felt a sharp pain on my forehead, I wondered what would happen when Cersei arrived. Cersei never arrived though, did she? Lancel was then led on a tense journey and after he was stabbed, we all knew what was coming but it didn't take away from the moment.

I hadn't seen wildfire explode, had you? The mix of certainty and uncertainty was intoxicating.

We finally got some confirmation of R+L=J theory, in the same episode in which Lady Mormont laid down her cards as the 'Low Key Character of the Season'.

Now, let me do some research here on that thing that gives us all endless information and ... hmm ... what'd'we have here ... Lady ... Lyanna Mormont. Ah, yes, Lyanna Mormont was named after Lyanna Stark, mother of Jon Snow. I certainly don't think it's a coinkidink that Lady Mormont enjoyed her finest moment in GoT so far at the same time as Lyanna Stark enjoying some screen time and that Lyanna Mormont played a crucial role in sealing the deal for Jon, who's mother she is named after.

I don't believe that Jamie was looking at Cersei as she sat on the Iron Throne with the same love, lust and weird incestual appreciation for her that he usually does. Remember that Jamie was returning from a mission that involved him telling that Edmure joker just how much he loved Cersei and there Jamie was, returning home to see the woman he loves (/loved lol) sitting in the Iron Throne, generally resembling the bloke that Tyrion was telling Dany about in the previous episode.

Jamie's lover/sister has become the epitome of evil to Jamie, while Jamie has turned into a lovely chap in my eyes. Weird.

This certainly isn't a positive image below. Cersei's been painted with a doomsday brush.

Is it weird though that I don't see Cersei as being evil? I remember the Wildcard telling me about how fantasy novels/movies usually follow a simple good vs evil narrative and that GoT doesn't make those lines so clear. I don't mind Cersei, I found great pleasure in her blowing up the High Sparrow and his minions, while Margaery was collateral damage.

Is Cersei evil, or is the lady with dragons coming to invade their land evil?

There's no answer to that because, as the Wildcard told me, the beauty of GoT is that those lines between good and evil are blurred.

Surely everything won't be as simply as Dany arriving to Westeros, hooking up with the Sand Snakes and the remaining Tyrells to bring the ruckus to King's Landing, right? Even if Jamie kills Cersei (for 'going crazy') and Jamie takes over King's Landing, Dany won't care so I'm struggling to see the resistance. In fact, I'm struggling to see the resistance that anyone in Westeros can provide to dragons. That idea has been there since we first saw Dany show a connection with the dragons: how can anyone stop dragons?

When I think through GoT, I wonder who has the tools in their tool belt to stop three fucking dragons and a leader who is effectively the 'chosen one'. All those thoughts point me to Jon Snow and this opens up a very broad discussion about the end game of Got, possibly even sparking up that good vs evil conundrum again as we've gotta ponder that maybe the White Walkers and 'Winter' could be Dany's nemesis and Jon Snow's ally (or they just team up and beat Winter, which would be lame).

For example, Sam has discovered the internet where he can learn everything he needs to learn about defeating White Walkers ... and/or dragons. Then you have Arya who can pretty much kill anyone she wants to and she can bypass dragons, pretending to be Dany's homie, then slice and dice her.

Let's not forget that Dany and her dragons are about pull up on Westeros soil, just as all those white ravens were sent out to warn folk of the arrival of Winter. Winter can last for decades and all of Dany's forces (dragons, Dothraki, Sand Snakes from Dorne) are coming from the complete opposite climate. I can't help but feel like that 'Winter' will offer the resistance to Dany that I've been searching for.

There are two forces descending on the mainland of Westeros; fire from Dany and ice from beyond The Wall.

Where does Jon Snow fit into all of this?

GOT S06E10 Character Rankings:

Daenerys Targaryen – Anchors away, we’re sailing to Westeros.
Arya Stark – She can cook, she can kill, her make-up game is immaculate… is there anything she can’t do?
Tyrion Lannister – The notorious cynic finally found something to believe in.
Jon Snow – King of the North, King of the North! Wait, we’ve heard that chant before and it didn’t go so well.
Samwell Tarly – OMG, look at all those booooooks! Hey Gilly, you wait outside.
Lady Olenna – Revenge is on the mind. The Queen of Thorns is one who won’t die quietly. Now let the grown women talk.
Lady Mormont - Except for this young one, putting the old fellas in their place.
Cersei Lannister – Big wins and big losses… what exactly is her claim to the Throne, though?
Ellaria Sand – Hey look, you’re relevant again!
Daario Naharis – The bloke’s got a big promotion… but he’ll have to move to Tulsa.