Let's just go ahead and say it, the third episode of Game of Thrones season seven was an out and out hoot! Okay okay, it wasn't exactly rolling in the aisles hilarious - watching Cersei's cruel revenge on Ellaria Sand wasn't easy, as was knowing that we've seen the last of the whip-smart Olenna Tyrell, but man, there was some cracking one-liners in this episode.
There was Ser Davos' pitiful introduction of Jon Snow following Missandei's grand and never-ending announcement of Daenerys, that look of "eh, don't mention the whole resurrection thing" from Jon - yeah because an army of the dead is easier to believe? There was Daenerys' wonderful take down of Tyrion by questioning if he was presenting his own statements as ancient wisdom and of course, the audacious Euron Greyjoy who was once again the pantomime villain of the piece.
The self-referential comedy was perhaps the influence of the episode's director Mark Mylod, who also worked on the likes of The Royle Family, Shameless and Cold Feet, but then maybe writers David Benioff and D.B. Weiss were just feeling a bit frivolous... or they want to lull us into a false sense of security before they inevitably rip our hearts out once again.
Despite the chuckles, however, there was still plenty of drama; we were provided with yet another, if swift, battle scene at Casterly Rock, we had two major characters meeting for the first time, we had a Stark reunion, and we got to see a healed Jorah the Explorer setting off on the road again to place himself firmly in the friend zone with Daenerys forever more.
Let's take a more detailed look at events though to see how things have moved along in this weekly Westeros update. First off, Jon and Daeny - these two hardly hit it off but there was most certainly a mutual respect between them, and thankfully, it didn't look like any sparks were flying. (They're auntie and nephew you guys). There was some notable dialogue between them, as Daenerys asked Jon to forgive her for 'the sins of her father', and as we know from the last couple of episodes, Jon is more than happy to do that. We also had her tell Jon that she was the last surviving Targaryen, little could she know that she was actually speaking to a fellow Targaryen, but with the arrival of Bran at Winterfell, it's only a matter of time until Jon finds out this little mind-bending titbit.
Despite a rocky start however, the pair have made themselves allies now, which as it turns out was a smart move by Daenerys given that she has now lost a huge chunk of her army, as in a strategic move, Jaimie took most of the Lannister soldiers to Highgarden while leaving Euron Greyjoy's fleet to trap the Unsullied at Casterly Rock. It was a move he openly admitted was emulating Robb Stark's tactic back in season one at the Battle of the Whispering Wood which resulted in Jaime's capture.
However now our strongest contender to take the Iron Throne has lost a great deal of her foot soldiers, most of her fleet and has a Hand who, as it turns out, isn't quite as wise as he thought. At the beginning of this season the Lannisters defeat by Daenerys seemed almost inevitable, but as we should have all learned by now, Cersei is not to be underestimated. Watching these last few episodes, one can't help but feel that she could actually be the only true match for The Night King. We certainly wouldn't want to go up against her.
Over in Winterfell, Sansa was busy proving that she actually could easily lead the North while trying to hush Littlefinger from preaching more of his bizarre riddles at her (seriously, what's his game this season - besides being his most Littlefingery yet?) when we heard there was someone at the gates. Arya? Arya??! Oh wait, it's only Bran. Naturally though, Sansa was delighted to see her little bro but their reunion took a strange turn when Bran decided to go all Children of the Corn with his 'I'm the Three-Eyed Raven and I know about your horrific wedding night'. What's with those Stark fellas just nose-diving straight into the cray cray when meeting new folk this season? No people skills.
The final moments deservedly went to Olenna Tyrell and let's pour one out for the Queen of Thorns because as minor characters go, she was one of the best. She didn't leave this mortal coil without one final twist of the knife either, as she told Jaime that it was her who had Joffrey killed all those seasons ago. Will this information change Cersei and Jaime's feelings towards Tyrion? Probably not, he did still kill their father after all, but perhaps it will help them understand their brother's motives. Most importantly though, even in death, Olenna managed to get the last word.
Next week's episode is entitled 'The Spoils of War' and if the trailer is anything to go by, there could be another reunion in sight while Daenerys may just decide to take matters into her own hands. It will be the halfway mark of this season too - yep - these seven episodes sure are trucking along fast. So far we have yet to see any of the typical jaw-dropping Game of Thrones moments but that's par for the course with the earlier episodes of the season. As a wise woman once said, you should never just nosedive straight into the cray-cray. What?
