Game of Thrones recap: season seven, episode three – The Queen's Justice

Spoiler alert: this blog is published after Game of Thrones airs on HBO in the US on Sunday night and on Foxtel in Australia on Monday. Do not read unless you have watched season seven, episode three, which airs in the UK on Sky Atlantic on Monday at 2am and 9pm, and is repeated in Australia on Showcase on Monday at 7.30pm AEST.

‘I spent my life in foreign lands. So many men have tried to kill me I don’t remember all their names. I have been sold like a brood mare, I’ve been shamed and betrayed, raped and defiled. Do you know what kept me standing through all those years in exile? Faith’

How you feel about the way this season is unfolding will come down to whether you’re prepared to cut the creators some slack as they move the pieces into position. Certainly, the truncated season has led to a slightly rushed feeling. In previous years, the sieges of Casterly Rock and Highgarden would have unfolded at a leisurely pace rather than as a twist at the end (good though that twist was) – and the dialogue does lack the subtlety of seasons past.

That makes it sound as though I dislike The Queen’s Justice. In fact, the opposite is true. It was exposition-heavy, but it also delivered a number of tense confrontations, provided Diana Rigg with a magnificent final scene, and gave fans a couple of moments they’ve been waiting for since the Seven Kingdoms first began to fall.

Chief among those was the meeting between Dany and Jon, the titular Fire and Ice (as Melisandre made clear). Naturally, it wasn’t straightforward: Jon desperately tried to convince Dany to put her claim to the Iron Throne on hold and join forces to fight the Night King, while Dany tried to get him to recognise her claim as the true one. Emilia Clarke and Kit Harrington are often criticised for being stilted as actors, yet that awkwardness played well here. Dany is still feeling her way into governance and Jon has had leadership thrust upon him; their fumbling attempts to make their cases rang true.

‘You chose to murder my daughter. You must have felt powerful after you made that choice. Do you feel powerful now?’

The dead were heavy in the air here from Oberyn Martell to Joffrey, Tommen and Myrcella Baratheon. From Dany’s long murdered family and all those dead Starks to the final withering, root and branch, of the once golden House Tyrell. All those deaths begetting more deaths, and so it seems it will continue.

Or will it? The two types of Queen’s Justice explored suggested perhaps not. At Dragonstone Dany, who built her reputation thanks to her unswerving belief in herself, responded to early setbacks by suggesting that she and she alone should save the day by flying out on her dragons (if nothing else, she and Jon could have a chat about the problems of saviour complexes). However, it’s Dany’s next step that will prove the most interesting: the fact she allowed Jon to dig for dragonglass suggests she is open to compromise.

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The show’s other queen, Cersei the Untrammelled, has no such saving graces. She savoured her early victories, flaunted her relationship with Jaime and set about destroying those who had opposed her with open glee and particularly pertinent deaths.

Cersei is, of course, a terrible queen. She cares nothing for the people of Westeros, has no long-term plan for ruling after she’s won, and is driven almost entirely by revenge. And yet she is winning and, actually, it makes sense. She has the bigger army. She has a seasoned battle commander in Jaime, an experienced second-in-command in Randyll Tarly and a keen ally in Euron Greyjoy. Most of all, though, she understands her younger brother Tyrion.

That’s one of the most interesting things about this series. It would have been easy to show the smart, witty Tyrion coming up with the perfect battle plan to defeat his family. Indeed, he so nearly did. But the trouble with families is that those you grow up with know you best. They know your weak spots and your secret desires; they know how to hit you where it hurts. Thus Cersei knew Tyrion has always longed for Casterly Rock, and she used that to outsmart him while simultaneously seizing the money from Highgarden she needs to pay the Iron Bank. She might be mad, bad and very dangerous to know – but she’s getting results.

‘Fight every battle everywhere, always, in your mind. Everyone is your enemy. Everyone is your friend.’

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Cersei and Dany weren’t the only ones demonstrating they knew how to rule. Sansa got off to a good start at Winterfell, ensuring that there would be enough food for a long winter and that her soldiers were properly armed. She even managed to cope with that awkward moment when your long-lost brother returns unexpectedly and starts babbling about being a three-eyed-raven while dredging up your worst memory as proof of his power.

Best of all she continued to treat Littlefinger with a healthy disrespect – “The woman who murdered my mother, father and brother is dangerous … thank you for your wise council” – although I wonder if his whispered theories will seep in eventually. For Sansa, like Dany, has been forged by the cruelties that men do, and has survived because of a belief in herself and her name. Forget Jon: the meeting I’d really like to see is between the Mother of Dragons and the Lady of Winterfell.

The night’s finest moment, however, came at the end as Olenna Tyrell saw Highgarden fall and then sparred one final time, needling Jaime Lannister about his sister before revealing that she was responsible for Joffrey’s death. Diana Rigg’s delivery of “And now the rains weep o’er our halls” was a masterclass. Farewell House Tyrell – your golden roses were meant for happier days and the Queen of Thorns was the best of you.

Additional notes

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I’ll admit it: I screamed when Sansa opened the gate to Bran. I’m a sucker for a Stark reunion.

Tyrion was on fine form this week. I do worry however that Dany might start to question his counsel, the way the battles are playing out.

Oh Jaime. Nikolaj Coster-Waldau continues to do wonders with his material but Jaime’s disillusionment (which is surely coming) would play better if Benioff and Weiss hadn’t screwed up his character development over the past two seasons.

The moment when Cersei poisoned Tyene in front of her mother was the first time I’ve felt anything at all for Ellaria and the Sand Snakes. An infuriatingly missed opportunity.

Cersei is completely right that the Iron Bank’s description of investment is just a fancy way of saying bet.

Hurrah, a sighting of Bronn – and so soon after Tyrion referenced him too. Perhaps next week he’ll have lines.

Amid all the violence, I love this show for its continued use of Sam as a way of demonstrating that everything might just work out if you take the time to read.

I know I keep saying this but everyone should just listen more to Davos. It would make things far easier.

Violence count

A long walk of insults and rotting vegetables for Ellaria, Tyene and Yara, who is now chained by the neck to her uncle. The subsequent poisoning of Tyene as her bound and gagged mother watched. The siege of Casterly Rock, ending in a number of dead Lannisters, and the devastation of House Tyrell by Lannister forces culminating in Olenna Tyrell’s Socratic death.

Nudity count

One display of sisterly affection from Cersei to Jaime and a quick glimpse of the royal bum as Cersei flaunted both her relationship and her wares.

Random Australian of the week

Who was that man glowering down at poor bedraggled Theon? None other than Australian actor Brendan Cowell, so fantastic on the West End recently in Yerma and Life of Galileo.

Finally, because the school holidays are no respecter of dragons, I am away for the next two weeks but this recap will be in the hands of the estimable Tom Huddleston. Play nice and remember all speculation and no spoilers are welcome (as the late great Olenna Tyrell almost certainly wouldn’t say).