Game of Thrones Recap Season 6 Episode 7: The Broken Man
The Vale
The Hound is alive! Seemingly recovered from his wounds, he’s working with a happy group of people to build a house. The septon leading the group saved Sandor’s life after coming across his body and believes the Gods have something in mind for him.
As the Septon preaches to the group about old lives and new, a mounted trio rides up and asks about horses and food. Food is offered, but the unsavory visitors ride off with an eery warning usually connected with the Lord of Light: “The night is dark and full of terrors”. The Hound thinks they’re members of the Brotherhood Without Banners.
While working in the woods, Sandor hears a woman scream and rushes back to the group. He finds them slaughtered and the Septon hanged, and determinedly sets off with an axe in hand.
King's Landing
The High Sparrow discusses scripture with Margaery before lecturing her on the importance of sexing up Tommen frequently to produce an heir and protect the future of the realm. He avises her to work on her grandmother, the Queen of Thorns, to ensure nothing bad happens. Margaery takes this thinly veiled threat to an obstinate Olenna, who refuses to leave King’s Landing until Loras is safe. Margaery slips her a piece of paper on which she’s drawn the rose of House Tyrell.
Upon hearing of Olenna’s intent to leave King’s Landing, Cersei visits with Ser Robert Strong seeking a renewed pledge of support to oppose the Faith. Olenna reminds Cersei of her role in Loras’s imprisonment and berates her for her evil ways. Olenna will return to Highgarden while Cersei stays in King’s Landing with Tommen.
The North
Jon, Sansa, Tormund, and Davos recruit the army they’ll need to take Winterfell. They convince the Wildlings it is their only chance of survival and gain their loyalty.
Next up is House Mormont on Bear Island, where a very young Lady Mormont rules. She is hesitant to get involved in another war, but Davos uses the threat of the Others to demonstrate how badly the North needs to be united. She pledges 62 fighters of House Mormont to the cause.
The trip to Deepwood Motte is less fortuitous; the Glovers have only recently regained their castle with the help of the Boltons, and they have no desire to ally themselves with the Starks and jump into another war.
Davos, Jon, and Sansa discuss their prospects while camped near Stannis’s old grounds. Jon wants to attack rather than risk worsening weather, but Sansa wants to continue recruiting troops. Seeing a raven, Sansa sits down to write a letter and affixes her seal.
Riverrun
Jaime and Bronn arrive at Riverrun with the Lannister army to find a less-than-impressive gathering of Freys talking to the Blackfish. The Freys threaten to kill Edmure if the Tullys don’t surrender, but the Blackfish calls their bluff. Jaime takes control of the war efforts with Bronn as his right hand man. His first order of business is to arrange a parlay.
The Blackfish refuses Jaime’s offer of surrender, claiming he has enough stores to feed the castle for two years.
Lore: Riverrun
The Blackfish wasn’t just making a show when expressing willingness to wait out a siege. Riverrun is one of the most difficult castles in Westeros to capture. It is not particularly large or constructed in a unique way, but it is located at the meeting of two rivers. This provides some natural defense, which is strengthened by a system of gates that allow the besieged to flood their moats as needed. With such a large moat, is it difficult for attackers to apply much force. This would make it very difficult for the Lannisters to break their way into Riverrun, and if we believe the Blackfish, the army inside won’t be starved out for some time.
With negotiations ended, the two sides settle in for a siege.
Volantis
Theon, Yara, and the ironmen spend some time in a brothel. Yara encourages Theon to drink, and tells him she needs him to be the Theon of old. Their plan is to sail to Meereen before Euron and tie their cause to Daenerys’s.
Braavos
Arya makes arrangements to sail for Westeros, but is attacked by her rival from the House of Black and White. Arya receives some serious wounds before throwing her assailant off and jumping into the river. Bleeding considerably, she makes her way through the streets of Braavos looking for help.
The Hound is alive! There were a few clues in the book that he MIGHT have survived to this point, but having the theory confirmed is pretty exciting. He now has extra beef with the Brotherhood Without Banners, who captured him when he was traveling with Arya back in Season 3. I have no idea why the Brotherhood Without Banners would kill a group of seemingly innocent people with nothing of value, but maybe this trio was acting on their own. The hate that Sandor credits for keeping him alive is only growing. In any case, it’s good to have The Hound back, and I’m excited to see if nearly dying has changed him in any way. We'll also get into the extended theories about the Hound in an upcoming podcast!
The High Sparrow’s religious lecturing isn’t getting any easier to endure, but at least he mixed in a curveball this time by attempting to help Margaery with her and Tommen’s sex life. Weird person to be giving that type of guidance. We know Margaery is still herself from her interaction with Olenna. For her part, the Queen of Thorns REALLY hates Cersei. I think the Tyrells and the Lannisters need to cooperate to remain significant in the larger Dragons-and-White-Walkers picture, but they have a lot to settle first. The best they can hope for might be an uneasy marriage of necessity with Jaime, Bronn, and Loras leading a combined host. Assuming they can break free of the High Sparrow’s grip, of course.
Team Stark won some small victories in the North, but is now in situation eerily similar to Stannis’s before he used his daughter to make a bonfire. Attacking a defended castle with a smaller army isn’t appealing; whoever Sansa is writing to (Littlefinger?) needs to show up with help fast. Luckily, we know he can teleport. It’s sad to see Tormund and Brienne apart, but the totally boss Lady Mormont helped ease that pain.
I don’t think we have the two years necessary for a traditional siege of Riverrun, but the Blackfish is obstinate and working from a strong position. Bronn shows some good strategic sense, especially for a sellsword, and Jaime will want to wrap things up quickly and get back to King’s Landing. We’ll need another player or two to weigh in before the ultimate resolution of this situation.
Volantis gave HBO an opportunity to add gratuitous nudity and annoy my girlfriend, but we also learned Yara plans to beat Euron to Meereen and throw in with the Targaryen cause. I hope they stole a lot of ships at the Kingsmoot, because they need a big bargaining chip to make Dany and her advisors consider the alliance worthwhile.
The episode was altogether too cheery, so we got to see another Stark stabbed. This time it was Arya, but she seems to be in good shape, all things considered. Based on my extensive medical knowledge, she should survive if she finds some medical attention. Of course, she’ll have to continue evading the Faceless Men. Her only contact outside of the House of Black and White has been with Lady Crane and her troupe; it seems logical she’ll seek them out.
Dragonflame Burn of the Week
"Your grandson is still a prisoner. You'll leave him rotting in a cell?"
"Loras rots in a cell because of you. The High Sparrow rules this city because of you. Our two ancient houses face collapse because of you, and your stupidity."
"You're right. I made a terrible mistake. I carry it with me every single day."
"Good."
"I delivered an army of fanatics onto our doorstep. And now we must fight them, together. We need each other."
"I wonder if you're the worst person I've ever met. At a certain age it's hard to recall. But the truly vile do stand out through the years. Do you remember the way you smirked at me when my grandson and granddaughter were dragged off to their cells? I do. I'll never forget it."
