(Photo by Helen Sloan/HBO)
After a record-breaking episode 4, Game of Thrones returned Sunday with “Eastwatch,” which, for one, answered the question of whether or not Jaime Lannister (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau) drowned.
Spoiler warning: Stop here if you haven’t watched season 7, episode 5 of Game of Thrones.
Here are five of the top moments from the fifth episode of HBO’s hit fantasy series.
“The f— were you doing back there?” are the first words out of Bronn’s (Jerome Flynn) mouth after he pulls Jaime from the Blackwater River. Jaime said he was trying to end the war, but wasn’t that one of the same excuses he used for stabbing Mad King Aerys Targaryen in the back? (Other than the ranting and the raving and the murder, that is.) How’d that work out for everybody, Jaime?
House Lannister employee of the month: Ser Bronn!! #GameOfThones #GOT pic.twitter.com/3gEBEbUhAD
— 🄺🄰🅃🄴 ㋛ (@Kate9675) August 14, 2017
Bronn: the fuck did u think u were doing
Jaime: idk ending the war
Bronn: pic.twitter.com/8B8nP5mUNV
— Eric Haywood (@EricHaywood) August 14, 2017
At least they’ve both lived to squabble hilariously another day.
https://twitter.com/TheRedWoman/status/896900488733401088
After a Lannister family reunion —Tyrion ambushes Jaime in the King’s Landing subterranean dragon cells with an assist from Bronn — Cersei claims to have known about the meeting before Jaime told her.
Is it a best or a worst moment that soulless Cersei is pregnant with another demon spawn? Forgive – the baby could be another sweet Myrcella or Tommen, but odds suggest that Jaime and Cersei are due for another psychopath.
https://twitter.com/dan_mck96/status/896910382505373696
https://twitter.com/ericrosby1/status/896912956755034112
https://twitter.com/simplyskyy/status/896910767676510208
Apparently there are also hair issues.
https://twitter.com/helloross/status/896910951621861376
https://twitter.com/rgay/status/896943350925762565
(Photo by )
In one of the most highly anticipated meetings, Jon Snow comes face to snout (fangs, breath) with a dragon. Luckily, Drogon smelled the Targaryen coming off of him, and no one was eaten.
https://twitter.com/Lesdoggg/status/896912158994309120
https://twitter.com/davila_zomwani/status/896939946556239872
“Beautiful” = not the word he was thinking of when Daenerys hops down from Drogon’s back and threatens to bust out baby photos of her children.
https://twitter.com/beccalholden/status/896928943344803840
When Jon later announces his plan to leave Dragonstone to protect the North, a twitch of a smile emerges at the corner of Dany’s mouth when he asserts his royal rights.
https://twitter.com/DaniDelRosso/status/896908221444575234
And even later, Gilly, reading trivia to Sam in Oldtown, reveals that a High Septon from way back secretly granted an annulment to Prince Rhaegar in Dorne and married him to another – that would be Lyanna Stark, Jon’s mom and Ned Stark’s sister, for those struggling to keep those off-screen characters straight, making Jon — drumroll please — the legitimate heir to the Iron Throne!
https://twitter.com/kelchamp3/status/896935306632540162
Sam was too busy pitching a fit about the maesters mistreating him to notice any significance in Gilly’s discovery.
The maesters every time Sam tries to speak: pic.twitter.com/XW7NfbMFbN
— Eric Haywood (@EricHaywood) August 14, 2017
https://twitter.com/_abigailbrooks/status/896915708877131778
Can’t wait for that promise of that revelation to play out. Hopefully, we won’t have to wait until next season to see Gilly drop that intelligence in a game-changing way. Also hope the writers will hand that moment to Gilly and not make it a lightning bolt–moment for Sam.
The rumor swirled and then when the “Eastwatch” opening credits rolled, we saw actor Joe Dempsie’s name and knew Gendry, King Robert Baratheon’s bastard son, would return this episode.
Ser Davos’ (Liam Cunningham) paternal care and concern for Gendry warms the heart: “Wasn’t sure I’d find you here. Thought you might still be rowing.”
https://twitter.com/holi_daddi/status/896938912186155008
Ser Davos: Here. Try my fermented crab. pic.twitter.com/aUgtfE3wvO
— Eric Haywood (@EricHaywood) August 14, 2017
(Eric Haywood wins gif recaps tonight, by the way.)
“This is Gendry,” Ser Davos says after Gendry whacks two Gold Cloak guards who recognize Tyrion (Peter Dinklage) and recall the large bounty.
Tyrion: “He’ll do.”
https://twitter.com/BCoops92/status/896947225741336577
https://twitter.com/D_mvrt/status/896948415501922304
https://twitter.com/dr_sojo/status/896909296444858369
https://twitter.com/GoTthings_/status/896922267820716036
https://twitter.com/MelEcheverria/status/896950306994442240
https://twitter.com/revolutionarvie/status/896932264629551105
Flashback to a more shirtless time — just ’cause:
https://twitter.com/rreganhart/status/896908945163395073
(Photo by Macall B. Polay/HBO)
Bonus reunion feels: Ser Jorah returns to his queen.
https://twitter.com/Alexvrosales/status/896940824872624129
Could it be coincidence that seven warriors traveled beyond the wall? Whether a nod to Seven Samurai or its Western adaptation The Magnificent Seven, the connection was surely no accident.
It’s also not the first time the series has paid tribute to legendary filmmaker Akira Kurosawa; “Battle of the Bastards” director Miguel Sapochnik told Entertainment Weekly he was influenced by Kurosawa’s Ran (itself an adaptation of Shakespeare’s King Lear).
The players: Jon, Tormund Giantsbane (Kristofer Hivju), Ser Jorah, Gendry, and, representing the Brotherhood Without Banners, Beric Dondarrion (Richard Dormer), Thoros of Myr (Paul Kaye), and the Hound (Rory McCann), who managed to get themselves spotted by scouts, captured, and thrown in the Eastwatch prison.
It’s worth mentioning that even Tormund knows the value of scouts: His scouts spotted a trio of men in that vast white waste who simply wanted to cross under the Wall to certain death. Jaime’s people, on the other hand, couldn’t spot an invading horde of screaming Dothraki.
https://twitter.com/Epic_Smite/status/896920651868413953
https://twitter.com/ardian_abazi/status/896945468969799683
https://twitter.com/Lesdoggg/status/896928177490153476
https://twitter.com/TheRagingShadow/status/896953663603834880
https://twitter.com/ms_em317/status/896906151945621505
https://twitter.com/Uptomyknees/status/896955619701215232
In other news, a plague of shakes strikes the nation.
https://twitter.com/thatfangirljody/status/896922378294382593
https://twitter.com/itsgreybear/status/896910886857789440
❤️ the Ghost reference: Sansa (Sophie Turner) explains to Arya (Maisie Williams) that Jon told Ghost to stay put in Winterfell. We’re still making excuses for Ghost being absent from the Battle of the Bastards, though.
https://twitter.com/_hopepeacelove/status/896943418844348416
Lots of Littlefinger (Aidan Gillen) consternation.
https://twitter.com/RealSimbalism/status/896920117279416321
https://twitter.com/sumit1sangtani/status/896931603246530564
https://twitter.com/TaureanJack/status/896928330775052288
https://twitter.com/peden_benjamin/status/896947459280195584
https://twitter.com/anujblink/status/896933197560168448
(Photo by Macall B. Polay/HBO)
R.I.P., Dickon (Tom Hopper). We hardly knew ye.
Two episodes left. Want to talk about what you’ve seen? Visit our Debate of Thrones Facebook group to start an in-depth discussion with fellow fans.
Game of Thrones airs Sundays at 9 p.m. on HBO.
In “Eastwatch,” Littlefinger led Arya into a trap. Is she playing along or will he succeed in dividing the Stark children?
