Game of Thrones: ‘Death is the Enemy’ Review

ICE DRAGON! ICE DRAGON! ICE DRAGON! ICE DRAGON! ICE DRAGON! ICE DRAGON! ICE DRAGON! ICE DRAGON! ICE DRAGON! ICE DRAGON! ICE DRAGON!

After many long years of waiting, finally, finally, Game of Thrones has introduced it’s first ice dragon. In Game of Thrones history, there were stories about an ice dragon that existed. Now, thanks to the Night King, we will actually get to see one in the flesh. This of course means that Daenerys has lost one of her precious children (I could not tell which one it was, but I’m going to assume it was Viserion).

What a fantastic penultimate episode. The entire sequence beyond the wall was gripping. The group’s traversal through the snow alone appeared dangerous and dreadful. How awesome was it to see that giant zombified polar bear attack them?

The polar bear attack served a few purposes. One, to show that yes, there are other creatures who are wights, not just dead people. Two, to show how such a creature looks and would work, especially given the new ice dragon in the mix. Three, to give an awesome scene and kill off some cannon fodder. And four, and perhaps the most important aspect of it, to show that the Hound is still terrified of the fire.

The Hound being terrified of the fire was a recurring theme throughout the episode. Not saving Thoros from the bear because he was on fire. Being afraid of Beric and Thoros’ flaming swords. Turning away when Beric lit Thoros’ body on fire. And being mesmerized by the dragons and their fire.

The Hound certainly still has some part to play in this. Everyone is hoping that it will be the Cleganebowl, a fight with his brother the Mountain. The way events seem to be going, it probably is. Also, thankfully, the Hound saved Tormund from being dragged into an icy grave. Hopefully setting up a payoff between Tormund and Brienne. I ship it. (But I ship Jamie and Brienne more for what it’s worth).

I suppose I was a bit off in my numbers last week when I said this group of 8 people were going beyond the wall. Davos did not travel with them, which makes sense. What good is a smuggler in that situation? And there were other people, wildings I take it, who traveled with them. The show needed to make it so that some people died. What better way to do that then by taking nameless characters 1–4 and letting them get destroyed.

The only major deaths were Thoros and one of the dragons. Considering the numbers, and the situation they were in, it is truly a miracle that they survived. That entire scene with them waiting on the rock in the middle of the frozen water, and then finally being attacked on all sides by the wights was brilliant.

You were finally able to grasp how vast and overwhelming this army is. Realizing why it is important that everyone join forces in to order to eliminate them. When the dragons are your strongest weapon, and the Night King can easily take one out with a spear, you need all the help you can get.

Oh and thanks for the Coldhands ex machina. After showing up once since the very beginning of the show, Coldhands, aka Benjen Stark, shows up to save his nephew Jon. And then he just dies? It seems really weird for Coldhands to just show up all of a sudden and then die right away. There’s so much that this character could teach or say that would be useful or interesting. I hope this is not the last we have seen of him, but given that he was swarmed by an army of wights, maybe the 11th hour save is all they had left for the character.

Besides that incredible fighting, there were a couple of major plot developments. We discovered that killing a White Walker means that all of the wights that they created also get destroyed. This is massive. This means that if they are able to take out White Walkers, the army will be massively shrunk. Most importantly, it means that if the Night King is killed, all of the White Walkers will disappear. There’s finally a glimmer of hope for the living.

The second major plot development was Daenerys seeing the wights and the White Walkers for herself, and knowing that Jon is not lying. More importantly, vowing to work with Jon in order to fight this threat. And of course, Jon finally “bending the knee” and swearing fealty to Daenerys. With the North by her side, Daenerys becomes an even stronger and bigger threat to Cersei.

Plus, the romantic angle between Daenerys and Jon is completely evident. Not only are multiple characters mentioning it to them, but they had a very emotional moment together. Will they actually be able to get together? Probably not. Let’s remember, this is Game of Thrones. There’s no such thing as a happy ending (or a happy marriage).

Speaking of, another very important point was brought up by Tyrion. Yes, he challenged her as to what kind of queen she is going to be, something she certainly needed to hear. But more important, this is the first time the idea of succession was brought up.

Daenerys cannot have natural born children, as far as we know. So how will a successor be chosen? Daenerys wants to break the wheel. With Daenerys being unable to have kids, presumably, it is likely that she will implement a democracy type system. This idea has not been mentioned on the show before, and it makes us start to wonder, what will happen after Daenerys dies?

What if she does not make it to the very end? Who will replace her? Will it be a member of her own party, such as Tyrion? Or will they pick another noble lord, such as Jon or Sansa? This is the first time the show has really pushed the idea of Daenerys’ death. It makes me think that she will not make it out of the show alive. Certainly, if she keeps flying into battle foolhardily every time, she will find her demise eventually.

All of the Daenerys, Jon, dragon and White Walker action aside, the one other place the episode focused on was Winterfell. Arya and Sansa are being played by Littlefinger, who is trying to get Arya killed. That much is clear. He goes so far as to mention that Brienne would have to protect one sister from the other.

I don’t think Arya will kill Sansa. The episode served to have each character tell each other that they could not have survived in each other’s shoes. And they are right. The whole show, from the inception, has shown that Arya and Sansa are two very different characters. No, they each could not have survived what the other sister went through and made it out alive, back to Winterfell.

But in their own paths, their own struggles and journey, each was able to put up with the specific tasks and issues they had to deal with. The tenseness between them served more for these characters to allow each other a glimpse of what they have been through, and what they can do now.

Yes, Sansa is a political power. She’s the Lady of Winterfell and she dreams to be queen one day. She has more people at her side than Jon, and she was the reason why the Battle of Bastards was won. Arya, on the other hand, is a trained assassin. She is a Faceless Man, and nobody even knows what that means.

Both of these characters are going to need to use these skills for what is coming next. While the show has put them at odds, it is only a matter of time before Arya and/or Sansa come together to realize the true enemy is right in front of them.

Observations:

• Dany’s winter robes are super dope
• Arya is scary as hell
• Davos is becoming one of my favourites
• Where are the Greyjoys? They are going to show up in some capacity next week.
• I forgot to mention Cersei’s pregnancy last week. Yeah, I think she’s lying. Once Jaime finds out that she is, its rest in peace Cersei.