Game of Thrones season 7 finale review: Reality of 'The Great War' dawns on players!

The longest episode of Game of Thrones series so far follows the typical GoT pattern, yet it is so much more. After the huge battle scenes in the penultimate episode, it was time to settle down and lay down plot points for the upcoming season.

A large part of the action takes place in King's Landing. 

First in Dragonpit, where the Targaryens, when they ruled Westeros, used to keep their dragons. The meeting between Cersei Lannister (Lena Heady), Jon Snow (Kit Harington), and Daenerys Targaryen (Emilia Clarke) will give you goosebumps. The three essential characters are never in the same frame together. Therefore, when the power game of 'intimidate-but-also-convince-Cersei' comes into play, the dialogues burst like fireworks. 

The wight the survivors from 'Beyond the Wall' brought to King's Landing serves as a demonstration for everyone, including Brienne of Tarth and Euron Greyjoy. To be honest, in that scene, Kit Harington looked like a salesman showing the lady of the house that if handled this way the wonder mop will take all her worries away!

This is when Jon Snow tips the scale in Daenerys' favour. A possibility he discussed with her in private (that cheesy bend-the-knee ending pains me still) after the events of Beyond the Wall, was announced to the gathering without any prior notice.

It changes the mood in the pit and Cersei refuses to accept a truce. This leads to one of the most powerful scenes of the season. 

Tyrion (Peter Dinklage) goes alone to see her sister in Red Keep to convince her once again. Dinklage saw the scene and sank his teeth deep. Tyrion's angst for not being the Lannister his father wanted him to be, his struggle to keep alive whatever is left of his family, and his frustration with Cersei's games all spring up to surface. Dinklage downs that with a glass of wine and the fleeting silent moments make that scene all the more potent.

In the meeting, Tyrion figures out that Cersei is pregnant and this gives him an extra reason to keep Daenerys from bringing her hellfire to King's Landing. After that, Cersei agrees to let her army march north.

In Dragonstone, the second emotionally charged scene takes place. Theon Greyjoy talks about always trying to be the good person. He talks about always having to make impossible choices, choosing between being a Stark or being a Greyjoy. Broken Theon never felt so vulnerable. Emmy nomination for Alfie Allen here, please. Camera tightens on Allen's face and his expressions show that he is ready to climb up the ladder to be in the same category as Dinklage and Heady. In this scene, Jon forgives him and tells him he can be a Stark and Greyjoy. Oh, the foreshadowing before the big reveal almost killed me here.

The third emotionally charged scene was between Lannisters again. Cersei talks of double-crossing Dany and Jon. "Let monsters fight among themselves," she tells Jaime (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau). Jaime tries to reason by telling her whichever party wins the war in the North will come after both of them. Cersei explains her backup plan. But by this time, Jaime realises that it is futile to make his sister/lover see the big picture. Her using the Mountain to intimidate him just reaffirms his belief and this is when Cersei takes another step towards the prophecy about her death. Death at the hands of the 'valonqar' (meaning 'younger sibling' in High Valyrian).

Siblings played a big role in 'The Dragon and the Wolf'. In Winterfell, Arya, Sansa, and Bran finally brought an end to the series' long running arc of Lord Petyr 'Littlefinger' Baelish. He left George RR Martin's world the way his beloved 'Cat' did— bleeding to the death from a slashed throat. The Stark pack ending Baelish's life was one of the most satisfying deaths. But it is more important to get rid of the character now since there is no room for political moves and conspiracies. Not when The Night's King and the army of the dead are knocking on the wall.

While marching towards the wall, Jon and Dany finally give in and we get our answer to 'will they ever?' In Winterfell, Sam and Bran finally figure out the truth about Jon's status as the true heir to the Iron Throne. He is The Dragon and the Wolf. He is that song of Ice and Fire. The discovery serves as the narration over the love scene, underlining the tradition of incest in the House Targaryen when Jon is in Dany's chamber. But no point in feeling gross about it or wondering about the well-being of the child from a purely genetical point of view. 'The Dragon and the Wolf' relies heavily on the dialogues and foreshadowing possibilities. This is the showrunners laying the ground for season eight. 

Speaking of which, Viserion proves to be an asset to The Night's King. As Tormund (Kristofer Hivju) and Beric Dondarrion (Richard Dormer) look down from the Eastwatch at the wights, The Night's King burns it down with the dragon's blue fire. The spell is broken. Nobody is safe. Season eight will be nothing but all out war.

Hats off to the set designers for creating the barebone, broken structure of Dragonpit. Hits the reminiscing mark right on the head. A shout out to cinematographer Gregory Middleton for squeezing in the beauty of snow in King's Landing with the dread of impending war.

Look out for this - 

1. Jon Snow calls the war between the living and the dead 'The Great War.' Feel free to imagine an English major student roll their eyes hard over reducing the importance of WWI and the power of trenches representing emptiness of the soldier fighting it.

2. In a private conversation, Daenerys talks about not being able to have children when discussing the legacy of House Targaryen in Dragonpit. She tells Jon that the witch who murdered Khal Drogo told her that. Jon replies, "Has it occurred to you she might not have been a reliable source of information?" People who believe in Azor Ahai theory like Melisandre does, rejoice if you know what I am hinting at. 

3. For the first time, we see Rheagar and Lyanna Targaryen together in the flesh when Sam and Brann discuss Jon's claim to the Iron Throne. 

4. There is a moment between Brianne and The Hound. Could Tormund be jealous if he found out? Can we get a sitcom with these three as one of the GoT spin-offs? 

5. The Hound threatens The Mountain about what and who is coming for him. Those awaiting Cleganebowl will have to wait for season eight now.

Game of Thrones Season 7 airs in India on Star World and Star World HD every Tuesday at 11 PM.