‘Game Of Thrones’ Season 7 Finale Recap: Jon Snow’s Identity Revealed, Ice Dragon Tears Down The Wall

The season 7 finale of Game of Thrones was upon us last night, and was the longest episode in the show’s history.

GAME OF THRONES FINALE RECAP

The length, however, seemed unnecessary. And by the name of the episode, “The Dragon and the Wolf,” we knew that big events would happen with Daenerys Targaryen and Jon Snow before the season’s end.

The episode starts at King’s Landing, where a meeting will take place between Cersei and Euron, Jon, Dany, and Tyrion. Also there are Jaime, Missendei, the entire army of Unsullied, the Dothraki, Brienne, the Hound, the Mountain, two dragons, and a wight in a wooden coffin. They all enter the dragon pit where Dany and her team attempt to make a truce with Cersei. She at first is uninterested, until the Hound brings in the wight. He lets it free, and everyone is terrified of the zombie-like creature, before the Hound chops it in two. Jon Snow narrates the dangers of the North and the Army of the Dead, and explains that either fire or dragon glass can defeat them.

Euron immediately leaves, after finding out that the wights can’t swim. He plans to hang out in the Iron Islands until everyone else is dead, and suggests Daenerys do the same. Dany re-offers her truce to Cersei, saying they will all join forces to defeat the Night King, before she will once again attempt to win the Iron Throne. Cersei accepts, under the condition that Jon Snow stay out of everything after they defeat the Army of the Dead. That he will peacefully rule the North, and let she and Dany duke it out for the throne. But Jon can’t promise that, and he admits he has already bent the knee to Daenerys.

Cersei says the deal is off and leaves, and everyone is mad at Jon Snow for keeping his word and refusing to lie. “Have you ever considered learning to lie, just a but?” Tyrion asks him.

Tyrion then storms off to try to woo Cersei to reconsider. He admits he is stupid for entering a room with just his sister, who has wanted to kill him for years. He even goes as far as to say a half-hearted goodbye to his brother Jaime. Cersei yells at Tyrion for all the pain and suffering he has caused her and the Lannister family, and Tyrion takes it and tries to apologize. She admits she doesn’t care about the world at all, only about those close to her, and that is why she wanted to make the deal – to keep her family line alive, which is when Tyrion pieces together that she is pregnant (maybe).

Cersei returns to the dragon pit and accepts Dany’s offer, with Tyrion looking pleased with himself. When we return to the Red Keep with just Cersei and Jaime, though, she admits she has no intention of keeping her promise. She says she will continue advancing her armies and orders Jaime to do so, but he refuses, saying he will uphold her word and his, and help defeat the Night King. Trouble in paradise. Cersei threatens to kill Jaime for treason, and tells him that no one turns away from their Queen. The Mountain stands behind the two and rather noisily unsheathes his sword. Jaime points out that after him, she will have no one left. She motions to the Mountain, but Jaime boldly says, “I don’t believe you,” and he walks away. And of course, Cersei doesn’t have him killed. Jaime rides his horse away from King’s Landing, and then we see that winter has finally come, as snowfall hits his glove.

Back at Winterfell, Littlefinger and Sansa discuss Arya, and Littlefinger does what he can to convinces her that Arya cannot be trusted. Then we enter the Great Hall, where dozens of soldiers line the walls, and Arya is brought front and center. “Are you sure you want to do this?” Arya asks, before Sansa begins reading off a list of charges being brought.

“You stand accused of murder, you stand accused of treason. How do you  answer these charges…Lord Baelish?” Littlefinger looked stunned at hearing his own name. “My sister asked you a question,” Arya says after a bit of silence. Baelish starts by saying he’s confused, and Sansa rattles off the very long list of betrayals and terrible things that LIttlefinger has done since season 1. Sansa has never been stronger, and Arya (and everyone watching) is here for it. When Littlefinger attempts to deny the charges, Bran jumps in and tells what he knows, since he knows all, being the three-eyed raven. He sputters his apologies, he walks to the center of the room and begs for mercy. “Thank you for all your many lessons, Lord Baelish. I will never forget them,” Sansa says before Arya turns and quickly slits his throat.

Elsewhere, Jon and Dany decide to travel north together to give an impression of unity and strength, despite her advisors telling her to fly Drogon. And Theon, guilty for betraying Jon Snow and then leaving his sister behind with Euron, decides he must take her back. Jon forgives him, and then Theon goes to the water and fights another Greyjoy to earn the others’ trust. He’s never been happier to have had his genitals chopped off – when he is unhurt by a knee to the groin, he takes advantage and wins the fight.

Later, Arya and Sansa bond over their murder of Littlefinger, and are happy to have avenged their father. “The lone wolf dies but the pack survives,” Sansa says. Samwell Tarly arrives at Winterfell, which may seem insignificant, but he was the last remaining major character to be alone. Now, since he’s joined the Starks at Winterfell, all the main characters are together in various packs, which hasn’t been the case since season 1. Sam has a chat with Bran, where they together discover Jon Snow’s true identity.

Bran reveals that Jon Snow was really born by Lyanna Stark, fathered by Rhaegar Targaryen. “His last name isn’t really Snow. It’s Sand,” the last name given to bastard children born in Dorne. “It’s not,” Sam corrected, for he knows that Rhaegar and Elia Martell’s marriage was annulled and that Rhaegar had a secret wedding after. Bran uses his three-eyed raven powers to go back and see it all, and finally confirm the fan theory that has been obvious for years – that Rhaegar and Lyanna were married, and that Jon was their legitimate son. “Robert’s Rebellion was built on a lie,” Bran says. “Rhaeger didn’t kidnap my aunt, or rape her. He loved her. And she loved him.” We also discover that his real name is Aegon Targaryen.

While Bran is narrating all of this, we have intercuts of Dany and Jon on the boat, where they get very intimate. So we have just confirmed that Dany is Jon’s cousin, and yet people are excited about their incestuous love affair on screen. Hence the name of the episode, “The Dragon and the Wolf.”

This brings us to the end of the episode, at the Wall. Tormund is hanging with some Night’s Watch friends, when they spot the Night King descend upon the wall with thousands of wights trailing. They stop quietly and stand in line. Then the undead dragon from the previous episode screeches up and flies through the sky. He heads toward the Wall and breathes a blue icy fire that easily cuts through the Wall, which has stood for eight centuries without issue. The season ends with the Army of the Dead marching slowly but surely south.