Winter is here...
It's been a long and vast journey in the land of Westeros, but now it is time for that journey to reach its end. The penultimate season of Game of Thrones had a lot to tackle in such a short amount of time, with only seven episodes to spare. Now that it has concluded, did it succeed in accomplishing what it set out to do? Well, the stage is set for the endgame...but at what cost? There are many problems with this season, and as a result it stands as one of the show's weaker seasons. That said, there are still things to enjoy about it, and it is by no means terrible in the slightest, so let's pick it apart and see what made Season 7 stand out and what made it fall short:
UPS
- There is a huge amount of progression that comes this season, and all the pieces are set for the grand endgame. Jon and Dany are united (and in more ways than one ;), the (biological) Starks are finally reunited, R+L=J receives full and lasting confirmation, the Wall comes crashing down, Theon is finally free of Reek, the Hound reunites with his brother, Tyrion reunites with his family (and Bronn,) Gendry and Nymeria return, and Littlefinger is dead. Yep, that's right; the grand schemer who has been responsible for half the shit that's pushed the plot forward has finally been unable to weasel his way out of a situation, and it is pretty glorious despite the route that lead up to it (more on that in the downs section.) There are many more things that happen throughout the season, but as you can see, there is a lot of grand things to see, even when I haven't even touched upon the grandest moment.
- Three words: LENA FUCKING HEADY! All the actors on this show are spectacular, but if I'm going to be honest, I feel that Heady is the absolute best, especially as of late. She is just spellbinding and everytime she's on screen, she commands it with fierce strength. She really brings a lot to Cersei and although I fear as to how the story is affected because of it, I'm still pleased to have her stick around to the very end. Now as fantastic as she was, a different lion really came out on top this season...
- Jaime has finally redeemed himself. Ever since his grand confession way back in Season Three, Jaime's arc for the past few seasons has been...staggering, to say the least. It mostly consisted of will he, won't he, and it got very tiresome after a while. Season 7 finally puts that fatigue to rest and has Jaime reject Cersei after seeing what a vindictive, spiteful harpy she could be, and the result is incredibly cathartic, if somewhat bittersweet. If there is one thing I absolutely cannot wait to see in the final season, it's to see what direction they direct Jaime towards now that he has reached a different path.
DOWNS
- The Winterfell Storyline. I don't even know how to describe it because there really is no words to describe it. While it has a very satisfying resolution in the form of Sansa and Arya duping Littlefinger to his death, the road to that conclusion was very rocky and did a major disservice to all the characters featured, especially Arya, who has now been strapped to three lackluster plots for three consecutive seasons, and Littlefinger, one of the biggest (if not the biggest) villains of the entire series. All in all, this storyline was the season's low point.
- The idea of having seven episodes. I knew from when I first heard about this fact that something just doesn't sit right, but I did have hope that they would focus on at least one of the major storylines, wrap it up, and set up the next one. Instead, we just get setup, setup, setup...and no resolution. The endgame is set, but how successful can it be when there is so much to resolve in only six episodes?
- It felt very rushed at times, and again, this is most definitely due to the fact of setting up the endgame in only seven episodes. We have characters coming back, characters disappearing, characters jumping from place to place at the snap of a finger, some plot developments happening too fast while others are pushed to the side, and all in all it can defy logic at times and even take you out of the experience. Hopefully Season 8 doesn't follow a similar route...
OVERALL
Game of Thrones Season 7 is a heavily mixed bag. It has a lot of great things to love about it, but for a penultimate season that sets up the end of the series, it was very lackluster. Like I said, I do not think it is bad at all, but compared to the most of the other seasons, this is a step down from what we are used to when it comes to this show. I'm still looking forward to Season 8 and I also want to congratulate Kit Harington for being engaged to Rose Leslie. In the end they never left the cave after all :)
