Game of Thrones Episode 705 Recap: Eastwatch

We don’t have to wait long to discover Bronn and Jaime’s fate: they are both alive. Jaime seems unconcerned that he almost got himself killed; he just wants to end the war. He gets nervous when he realizes that this is the damage one dragon can do; what happens when Daenerys brings in the whole brood? “We have to tell Cersei,” Jaime says, fear in his voice.

The few remaining survivors have gathered before Daenerys, who is posed with her dragon, enormous and menacing, behind her. She vows that, despite her attack earlier, she doesn’t want to murder everyone, like Cersei has been saying. So she offers them a choice: bend the knee and join her and leave the world a better place, or die. A few of the Lannister army bend the knee; then several more do so when the dragon roars. Only a handful of men remain standing, Randyll and Dickon Tarly among them. Daenerys singles out Randyll, who says he already has a queen, and he will not support a foreign queen. Tyrion knows where this is going, and suggests Daenerys send him to the Wall, or perhaps a cell. Dickon steps forward and, despite encouragement from his father, refuses to bend the knee. So Daenerys sentences them to die. With a single command, Drogon lets loose his flames, and the Tarlys are dead. Any holdouts immediately drop to their knee.

Meanwhile, Jaime goes to King’s Landing and tells Cersei what happened. She suggests hiring well-payed mercenaries. Frustrated, Jaime tries to convince her that this isn’t a war they can win. So she suggests getting Tyrion to act on their behalf, to make up for murdering Joffrey and their father. Jaime tells her that it was Olenna who killed Joffrey, not Tyrion. Cersei isn’t sure she believes Olenna’s deathbed confession, and she certainly doesn’t like her choices: fight and die or submit and die.

Daenerys and Drogon return to Dragonstone. Drogon roars at Jon, who is scared but doesn’t back away. The dragon comes close, and Jon takes off his glove. With a shaking hand, he reaches forward and pets the creature’s snout. Drogon seems soothed by his touch. Daenerys is fascinated by this exchange and watches carefully. Drogon joins his brothers in the air and Jon asks how it went. “I have fewer enemies today than yesterday,” she says, then asks him about Davos’ statement about Jon surviving a knife to the heart. Jon explains it away as a figure of speech. Luckily, several Dothraki guards approach, with a man who claims to be a friend of Daenerys’. They step aside and reveal Jorah. He kneels before his queen and she welcomes him back into her service with a hug.

Bran “flies” with the ravens. While he is in Three-Eyed Raven mode, he sees the army of the dead, zillions of them. At the center is the Night King, and he looks directly at the flock of ravens. They scatter out of fear and Bran wakes from his reverie, startled. “We need to send ravens!”

While delivering his manuscripts to Maester Ebrose, Sam overhears a group of maesters discussing the message received from Wolkan. They seem doubtful over the message, but Sam speaks up, pointing out that he knows Bran Stark, and points out that a crippled boy who was able to survive beyond the wall was nothing short of a miracle. Sam points out that if the Citadel told Westeros of the existence of the White Walkers, they would believe it is true and they may be able to defeat them. The maesters agree that it could be true – but it also could just be the Dragon Queen trying to trick them. The maesters decide to write for clarification and Sam leaves. Nobody bothers to tell Sam that his brother and father are dead.

Bran’s note made its way to Dragonstone, and Tyrion and Varys hold onto it while they discuss Daenerys’ ruling style. Tyrion defends himself, saying that he can’t change Daenerys’ mind, while Varys points out that, in the past, he has said the same thing: “I wasn’t the one doing it.” He insists that Tyrion find a way to make Daenerys listen. Of the scroll, Varys says it contains “nothing good.”

Jon reads the raven’s note and is surprised – pleased – that Arya and Bran were alive and back home. But he is concerned that Bran saw the Night King marching, and is determined to return home. Daenerys refuses to send any of her troops with Jon, and Jon says they will get along with what they have. Tyrion has an interesting suggestion: prove to Cersei that the White Walkers are real. Show her one. Jorah will go with Jon to collect a White Walker, while Davos will smuggle himself and Tyrion into King’s Landing. Tyrion will have no chance of meeting with Cersei, so he will meet with Jaime.

Up in Winterfell, Sansa leads a meeting with the North’s commanders. They are aggravated that their king isn’t there and are starting to wonder if they should have elected her queen instead. Later, in Sansa’s chambers (which Arya is quick to note was their parents’ room), Arya is mad that Sansa didn’t defend Jon. Sansa points out that she was just trying to keep the peace, because it took all of them to take back Winterfell. Arya points out that if Jon doesn’t come back, Sansa will need her new armies to get what she wants.

Tyrion and Davos arrive on the beach at King’s Landing, a carefully-chosen spot because it is not often patrolled by guards. They split up, with Tyrion meeting Jaime in the dragon catacombs. Bronn misled Jaime into thinking he was taking him someplace private to teach him how to wield a sword in his remaining hand. Jaime is not pleased to see him. Even though he now knows that Tyrion didn’t kill his son, he still killed his father. Tyrion gets to the point: Daenerys has a more important request than for Cersei to bend the knee.

Davos heads into the bazaar and finds Gendry, who is Robert Baratheon’s bastard son, now working as a blacksmith. The words have barely left Davos’ lips when Gendry says he is ready to go with him, no matter where or what the danger. He doesn’t know how to use a sword, so he grabs an enormous hammer on his way out.

Davos and Gendry are down by the boat, waiting for Tyrion, when a couple guards come by. Davos pays them off easily, but then the guards get curious and ask about what is in the boat. Davos reveals it is fermented crab, and promises it is a sexual aide. He offers some to the men to taste, then suggests they scurry off to the brothel before their erections put holes in their armor. Unfortunately, they are still there by the time Tyrion returns, and try as he might, a dwarf with a distinctive scar is not easy to disguise. The guards figure it out, but by then, Gendry has already bludgeoned them to death with his giant hammer. Having proven his worth, Gendry sails off with Tyrion and Davos.

Cersei is finishing up a meeting with Qyburn when Jaime shows up. He admits he met with Tyrion and explains that Daenerys wants to meet to discuss an armistice so they could join together and defeat the army of the dead together. Tyrion claims he will have proof the White Walkers exist. Cersei knows that Bronn set this meeting up, and Jaime is surprised at how calm she is. She points out that she knows everything that is happening around her, all the time. Teaming up with the Dragon Queen might be to their benefit. Besides, Cersei has her own news to share. She is pregnant, and she assures Jaime that she doesn’t care if people know it is his baby. Jaime is overwhelmed with joy and they kiss passionately. As he holds her, Cersei takes the opportunity to warn him never to betray her again.

Returning to Dragonstone with Gendry, Davos reminds him to take on a different identity. But Gendry doesn’t want to hide, and he introduces himself to Jon as Robert Baratheon’s bastard son. The two bastards get on well, and Jon is pleased to have another able fighter on their side. As Jon and his group prepare to sail north, Tyrion tells Jorah how much he missed him: “No one glowers quite like you.” Tyrion gives him the coin that their slaver paid him and tells him he must bring it back. Jorah doesn’t know how to say goodbye to Daenerys, though they have done it enough. He just kisses her hand. Daenerys admits she has gotten used to having Jon around, but Jon won’t be swayed by a pretty face. He has a mission to complete, and wishes her luck in the upcoming wars.

Late at night, Sam is working on his transcription duties, trying to ignore the frustrations he feels with the maesters. Gilly has been reading a High Septon’s diary, sharing inane facts with Sam, but Sam is too annoyed to listen. Too bad, because Gilly drops some major, major information (I had to go back and watch the scene again to make sure I caught it all). According to the High Septon’s records, he issued an annulment to Prince Rhaegar and at the same time performed a secret marriage in Dorne. What does this mean? Short answer: it means that Jon Snow is not a bastard. He was born during the legal union of Rhaegar Targaryen and Lyanna Stark. Even though that makes Jon the Mad King’s grandson while Daenerys is still his daughter, he is the last remaining male heir in the Targaryen line and therefore it is Jon who has the right to the Iron Throne. Mic drop.

Oh wait, there is still more in this episode! Anyway, shortly after Gilly’s discovery of the annulment is made, Sam charges out and goes to the lock-down section of the citadel’s library. He gathers a bunch of books and scrolls into a bag, then takes a last look at his beloved library. He tosses the books into the back of a cart, and drives off with Gilly and their son. He is tired of reading about the achievements of better men.

In Winterfell, Arya has been following Littlefinger, keeping a suspicious eye on him. She sees him give something to a young woman and send her on her way, then goes down to his room. Another man comes up to him and gives him a scrap of paper, promising Littlefinger this is the only copy. “Lady Stark thanks you for your service,” Littlefinger says, taking the paper and going into his room. He comes out a minute later, locks the door, and leaves. Arya wastes no time picking the lock and searching through his room. She finally finds what she is looking for, tucked into a hole in the mattress. It is a letter from Sansa, one she wrote while Cersei was holding her captive. In the letter, written to Robb, Sansa promises she is being treated well and urges her brother to come to King’s Landing and swear fealty to her “beloved” King Joffrey. Arya is not happy with this, and waters the seeds of mistrust that Arya already has to her older sister. Arya leaves Littlefinger’s room, locking the door behind her. It turns out Littlefinger was watching Arya the whole time; it was all a setup. He is clearly trying to turn the Stark sisters against each other.

Jon returns to the wall and meets with Tormund. Tormund reveals the prisoners he has in a holding cell. Jon recognizes the Hound; Gendry recognizes Beric Dondarrion, a man who one sold him to a witch; and Jorah is recognized as a Mormont and outed by Thoros. Jorah’s father tried to kill Tormund, so there is a lot of animosity here. Nevertheless, they all agree that they are on the same side and will work together.

Jon leads his team out of the Eastwatch tunnel, into the snow, beyond the wall…

You can watch a preview for the sixth episode of Season 7 by clicking here!