Game of Thrones Review: The Dragon and the Wolf (Season 7 Episode 7)

Game of Thrones Season 7 Episode 7 “The Dragon and the Wolf” marks the end of the penultimate — and, to our utter dismay, every character has not been killed by White Walkers.

Well, there’s always next season!

“The Dragon and the Wolf” finds the most success during the pow-pow in the Dragon Pit. As the series has gone on, some of the most satisfying moments are ones where characters that have either never met before or haven’t shared a scene for years interact. This was no exception.

Almost every surviving main or secondary character is present at King’s Landing. The sequence includes some of the most tense and unnerving scenes of the season, while almost being overwhelming with the amount of interactions happening all at once. It’s punctuated by what the show does better than anything else: small character moments.

If you’re looking for a better-performed scene than Cersei (Lena Headey) and Tyrion’s (Peter Dinklage) private chat, good luck with your eternal search. It is perhaps Dinklage’s best acting since his trial speech in Season 4.

Where the show gets bogged down, as it has all season long, is where logic is concerned.

What makes Daenerys (Emilia Clarke) and Co. think that this isn’t all a trap? No reason, really. Why would Cersei agree to this meeting? It’s difficult to come away with an answer that isn’t a shrug.

Cersei could have had Tyrion executed. Why doesn’t she? Presumably there are reasons — ones that are never revealed or even hinted at.

Alternatively, in Winterfell, we’re to believe that Arya (Maisie Williams) and Sansa (Sophie Turner) are violently, diametrically opposed. We know this because of multiple charged interactions between the two since they reunited this season.

Except it’s not real — it’s all just a ruse to lull Littlefinger (Aiden Gillen) into a false sense security.

The problem with that explanation is that Littlefinger isn’t around for those talks. The only people that witness these exchanges (other than Arya and Sansa themselves) are the audience.

That makes those scenes entirely fabricated, not to trick Littlefinger, but to serve as a “Gotcha” to the audience. It just comes off feeling weak and cheap.

The biggest, and also most cringe inducing, moment of the episode comes from Bran (Isaac Hempstead-Wright), a.k.a. your weird cousin who just discovered pot. With the help of Sam (John Bradley), he discovers that Jon (Kit Harrington) is not only the son of Rhaegar Targaryen and Lyanna Stark, but that he is a trueborn heir to the throne and is, in fact, named Aegon Targaryen.

The ramifications of this are staggering, not the least of which is that Jon and Daenerys — whose ship has sailed so far it can’t see the shore anymore — are related, as aunt and nephew.

How this could change the series going forward can’t even be predicted yet, nor can we guess how catastrophic this knowledge bomb could be.

Some Stray Thoughts:

• Jaime is finally away from Cersei and there was much rejoicing. Yay.
• Sam better cite Gilly for that little discovery.
• Is Tormund dead?
• Wouldn’t you just ask Bran about stuff before you do anything?
• Tyrion, Pod, and Bronn: Back together. Sort of.

What did you think of this episode of Game of Thrones? Share your thoughts with us in the comments below!

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Game of Thrones airs Sundays at 9/8c on HBO.

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