Game of Thrones the Small Council

Have a Theory? Share It Now!

The Lone Wolf Dies But The Pack Survives.

The words of Ned Stark ring so true for this entire episode and I believe that it is the point that every scene was making. If you think about the different groups and individuals, how do they actually all fit together? It would be nice and neat for everyone to say “Come on! Let’s fight for what is right!” but when has this show ever done this? Sure, Jon Snow every time, but literally no one else.

The first glimpse we have of this is Arya. She is the original Lone Wolf (Lenny from Laverne and Shirley is obviously the O.G. Lone Wolf but I digress) in this series. Arya wants to shout at Jon, wants to be part of his pack until she sees that he has chosen a new pack with Danerys. Even when she gets a chance to talk to him she holds back. It’s going to take some time for her to work it out with all of her different loyalties but as Bran reminds us, there is no time for all of this. She claims that she and Sansa are fine now but the only real connection is Gendry. Her question of what Pack she belongs to or where her loyalties really lie is going to drive her character.

The Northerners are a Pack and they don’t want a new pack coming in and taking over. Lyanna Mormount made everyone’s feelings clear but here is Jon “Oh I’m back and it doesn’t matter, we just need to all pull together.” even though Tony Robbins couldn’t get them on board with Dany and Co. at this point. These two packs are not happy about working together and it shows. Not a good start if you have to trust people to fight along side of you.

Sansa and Tyrion meet for the first time since the Purple Wedding and Sansa isn’t here for this. She was on her own in King’s Landing and didn’t have anyone. Tyrion tried to look out for her but he wasn’t really her pack. The Tyrells could have been but that went up in smoke. Littlefinger tricked her into believing that he wanted her in his pack but that didn’t work out well either. After Jon left to go south against her advice, Sansa came in to her own as the leader of the North and the Knights of the Vale and she isn’t happy about how things are going to work with Dany and Co. She doesn’t trust anyone not in her pack and for good reason. Tyrion isn’t doing so well trying to get these packs on the same page.

Cersei doesn’t care about new pack, old pack, whatever pack you want to be in. You win or you die. Right now she has a pack of Golden Company mercenaries that have never broken a contract. But no elephants. We’ll see how this works out.

Theon’s pack is Yara but he wants to come back to his old pack in the North. Theon I have one thing to say: The North Remembers.

Jon and Dany have a pack, the two of them and the dragons. The Dothraki and the Unsullied are hers but how do they feel about Jon? Especially when he is going to be a challenge to her claim to the throne. I thought the scene with them flying was going to be a Disney moment but with what we actually know, it felt more like the show setting the two of them up for a harder fall. “We can stay here forever” sounds very rom-com but that’s probably their last real moment together and they don’t know it. He isn’t Joe Foxx and she isn’t Shopgirl. Sorry shippers, it’s not going to be pretty.

Tyrion, Varys and Davos might be on board with combining the pack. They certainly talk about it but that’s not how a pack works, you’ve got to earn it. While this answer of a wedding makes sense, does it still make sense when they find out about Jon’s claim to the throne? I didn’t think that’s the easy answer they think it is.

Bronn is in trouble and not just for the fact that he may or may not have gotten with a poxy whore. In an episode full of calculated shade, that throw-away line by Qyburn and Bronn’s reaction to it was my favorite. Bronn is still working for the gold that is in front of him right now, but he was all in with Tyrion (until the Mountain showed up, can you blame him?) and then he and Jaime took their show to Dorne. He could very easy be in their pack and now he has to ask himself if he still wants to follow Cersei’s gold. The beginning of that scene with the three prostitutes is all Bronn every said he really wanted in life, and it is actually shown to be a pretty shallow existence. I think that the statement “That fucking family” is his way of telling us that he’s had enough. Now it’s just up to him to figure that out.

Sam was good and ready to be part of the Dany and Co. pack and the Bran pack and the Jon pack and the Notherners pack and the Nights Watch pack, pretty much any pack that will have him and Gilly and Little Sam. That all changed in this episode. Sam as a character just took another one of his existential leaps, similar to leaving Horn Hill with Gilly and leaving The Citadel. He has every reason for doing this and while the scene with the execution of his father and brother was hard to watch before, seeing the effect on a character that we are so invested in was exponentially worse. He’s never going to be on team Danerys and for good reason. I know his father sucked. He was still his father and Sam probably held his brother as a baby. Him giving a pass on that is a tough ask for Jon and I don’t see it happening.

Jamie Fucking Lannister. This guy shows up ready! “I’m going to finally be able to keep my word and redeem my honor!” He’s all in, going to join up with the good guys, all of it. Then the first person he sees is Bran. Gutpunch. His pack now is Tyrion. Everyone else isn’t going to trust him. Maybe Brienne but we will have to wait and see on that one if Bran says “Um, Actually I wasn’t going to end up a cripple after all but …”

Last but not least, our new best buddy, Mr. Aegon Targareon VI of his name, Jon Snow. Where does he fit in to all of this now. What is his pack? Where do his loyalties lie? His honor isn’t going to let him not do the right thing, as soon as he figures out what that is. He might want to wait until after the battle but if he does you know that word is going to get out. Is he going to get in front of that message is the real question and he’s focused on the battle right now. And his aunt.

You guys rock, thanks for all the hard work!

Paul Everson

Subscribe Now

• Android: https://shatontv.com/game-of-thrones-android
• Apple/iTunes: https://shatontv.com/game-of-thrones-itunes

Help Support the Podcast

• Support with Paypal – https://shatontv.com/paypal
• Support With Venmo – https://venmo.com/ShatPodcasts
• Shop / Merchandise: https://shatontv.com/shop
• Shop Amazon With Our Affiliate Link – https://www.amazon.com/?tag=shatmovies-20
• Sponsor’s Listener Survey – https://shatontv.com/survey
• Leave an iTunes Review – https://shatontv.com/game-of-thrones-review
• Leave a Voicemail – (914) 719-SHAT – (914) 719-7428
• Feeds & Social Media – https://shatontv.com/subscribe-and-follow/
• Checkout our Movie Podcast – http://shatthemovies.com
• Theme Song – “Seven Nation Army (Epic Orchestral Cover)” – Ciaran Burch