At last, 'Game of Thrones' season 8 is only a matter of days away. Season 7 seems an absolute age ago now though, and let's face it, it kind of was. It aired over the summer of 2017 meaning it's over a year and a half since we last took a visit to Westeros.
Naturally, you may have forgotten just what went down in that final season, so we've gone and rewatched it all so you don't have to.
We're going to do it character by character rather than episode by episode.
Jon Snow
As any 'Game of Thrones' viewer worth their salt will have realised, Jon Snow is very important to proceedings, maybe the most important character.
The beginning of season 7 saw him adjusting to his role as King in the North, coming up against Sansa for a couple of his decisions including pardoning the Karstark and Umber children.
An invitation from the newly arrived Daenerys Targaryen (via Tyrion) in Westeros to visit Dragonstone is also opposed by Sansa, but following Samwell's information about dragonglass on Dragonstone, Jon decides to go.
The third episode of season 7 brought a moment fans had been waiting for - the moment Jon met Daenerys Targaryen. This pair got off to a rocky enough start though, Jon wanted her to ditch her plan to claim the Iron Throne to come help them fight the army of the dead, but naturally enough, Daenerys wasn't easily persuaded. She had spent seven entire seasons waiting to get to Westeros after all. Ser Davos gave a great speech of how awesome Jon Snow is, which helped proceedings, and while there was still no sign of Daenerys joining forces with the North, she does agree to let Jon take the dragonglass.
Episode 4 sees this pair go on a little expedition into one of the caves to see all this dragonglass, as well as Children of the Forest cave drawings which show the Children and the First Men fighting together against the White Walkers. Daenerys says she will fight for the North, BUT only if Jon bends the knee. Jon's having none of it. The pair are at an impasse but they're too busy quietly falling for each other to care.
In episode 5, Jon has a moment with Drogon, one of Daenerys' dragons, which she spots. This is highly unusual dragon behaviour as we have learned but foreshadows that season 7 finale bombshell which we will get to. A raven from Bran commands Jon into action and he insists he must return to Winterfell to fight with his men against the impending arrival of the Night King and all his lot. A decision is made however, to try and get proof of the existence of the army of the dead by going beyond the wall and taking back one of those dead folk as a souvenir to show Cersei. What can go wrong?
Yes, this was a terrible idea but what an episode it made. Jon was joined by Gendry, Ser Jorah, Tormund, The Hound, Beric Dondarrion, Thoros of Myr in what made for a Magnificent Seven expedition beyond the wall. Things got hairy, OBVIOUSLY, but thankfully Daenerys flew in with her dragons to save the day. Not without a cost though, as the Night King took down one of the dragons with frankly an incredible aim. It was hard to tell which Daenerys was more upset about though, the loss of her dragon or what she thought was the loss of Jon Snow, who fell into the ice water before he could jump on board the dragon express. We all knew that couldn't be the end for Jon though, fool me once 'Game of Thrones'. He reemerged from the ice but was in pretty bad shape, and the army of the dead were still nearby. Thankfully, so was his uncle Benji who rode in on horseback and gave his life to save Jon's, putting him on his horse and sending him back to East Watch where Daenerys was staring out hoping for his return.
Return he did and was quickly placed on the boat bound for Kings Landing. It's here that Jon and Daenerys shared their most intimate moment yet. Daenerys swore that she would help Jon no matter what, after seeing for herself just what exactly is coming their way, while Jon also bent the knee at last. Not literally of course, being bedridden. Daenerys cried, they held hands, it was really sweet you guys, if only we didn't know what we now know.
Episode 7 was, of course, the great summit of King's Landing as Daenerys, Jon, Tyrion and the gang presented their souvenir to Cersei. It worked to a degree, with Cersei saying she would help them IF, Jon bent the knee. (They're all mad for Jon bending the knee.) Of course given he has recently sworn allegiance to another queen who was very close by, Jon being Jon stuck to his word and said he couldn't grant Cersei his request. We'll get to what happened with Cersei, but ultimately Jon and Daenerys plan to head back to Winterfell, and decide that they must go together by boat, because it's better if they travel together, because it will make more of an impact... and yes, yes of course they bang.
While all this is happening though, Bran and the newly arrived Sam are busy sharing stories at Winterfell, where Bran reveals that Jon is in fact the son of Rhaegar Targaryen and Lyanna Stark. Rhaegar being Daeny's older bro while Lyanna is Ned Stark's sister. This means that, yes, unfortunately, Daenerys and Jon are auntie and nephew. Awkward.
Not only that, but thanks to some helpful bedtime reading by Gilly, Sam confirms that Rhaegar had his marriage annulled before marrying Lyanna meaning that not only is Jon Snow, not a bastard, he is the legit heir to the Iron Throne, surpassing even Daenerys' claim.
Yeah.
That's going to be one hell of a revelation in season 8.
Daenerys Targaryen
A lot of Daenerys journey through season 7 ties in with Jon Snow's so we won't repeat ourselves. Another important moment for the Queen of Dragons came in episode 4 when Daenerys attacked Jaime, Bronn and the Lannister army on the Roseroad in what is now known as The battle of the Goldroad or the loot train attack. This marked Daenerys first foray into battle and boy did she leave a trail of destruction behind her.
One of her more sinister moments to date came in the aftermath of this battle in episode 5 when she forced the remaining Lannister army to bend the knee or die. Father and son Randyll and Dickon refused to so Daenerys decided to set an example of them and have her dragon burn them alive, much to Tyrion's disproval.
Season 7 also saw Tyron attempt to discuss who would be a heir to the Iron Throne after she died, which she insists she doesn't want to discuss until she is in power. The subject of an heir to the throne and the fact that Daenerys can't have children comes up multiple times throughout the season. In that boat chat with Jon after they went beyond the wall, she tells him the dragons are like her children - "the only children she will ever have, do you understand?'' In the final episode, Jon also questions whether the witch who told Daenerys she could not have any more children was a reliable source.
Could season 8 bring Daenerys a child? This show loves a good chunk of foreshadowing so the signs are certainly pointing that way.
The Stark sisters
Arya finally manages to make her way to Winterfell in season 7 and after some difficulties with the guards, reunites with Sansa in the crypts. It's not quite the emotional reunion you might expect and while they were certainly happy to see each other, there was definitely a layer of animosity there and this builds throughout the season.
Arya discovers a note handily left out by Littlefinger that Sansa wrote begging Rob to kneel to Joffrey back in her torturous days in King's Landing. While Sansa also stumbles across Arya's big bag of faces. Meanwhile, Littlefinger is at his most Littlefingerest and is constantly in their ears attempting to turn the sisters against each other. This all escalates to a dramatic scene in Winterfell hall where it looks like Sansa is about to have her sister executed, but instead, the sisters turn the charges on Littlefinger, listing off the many, many deaths he was involved in. A t last, Littlefinger finally gets called out for every last thing he has done thanks to Bran's new spidey senses. He is sentenced to death and with one quick slit of the throat, Littlefinger and his meddling are gone for good.
One of the final scenes in the season is given to Arya and Sansa, looking out at the snow from Winterfell. They talk about how they will need to look after each other when the winter comes, and quote their father, Ned, who said "the lone wolf will die but the pack survives".
These two crazy kids are going to be just fine, and no doubt now they are on the same page, will be a formidable force to contend with in this final season.
Who should sit on the Iron Throne?
Cersei Lannister
The beginning of season 7 sees Cersei enjoying her reign as the newly appointed Queen of Everything given that she blew most of her enemies to dust in season 6. Her biggest threat now is Daenerys Targaryen, who she knows is out to take that Iron Throne she loves so much from under her. She recruits her sidekick Qyburn to make a dragon killing device and is determined she will fight to the death for her place on the throne. The season 7 finale saw her finally come face to face with her rival, where she agreed to an armistice to join forces to fight the Night King, however, she later reveals to Jaime that she had no intention of helping them. Oh and she's also pregnant... or so she says anyways.
Jaime Lannister
One of Jaime's biggest moment of season 7 was undoubtedly when he went charging towards Daenerys and her dragon with a spear, only surviving when Bronn swooped in and pushed him to safety. His second biggest was in the final moments of the season as he finally saw through Cersei once and for all when she revealed she had no plans to help in the war against the dead. He packed his bags to head North to do his bit, although what's sort of reception he will get at Winterfell remains to be seen. He was the one that pushed Bran out the window all those years ago after all.
Tyrion Lannister
Season 7 sees Tyrion making the most of his role as Daenery's Hand. He proves a useful advisor even if our Queen of Dragons chooses to ignore him sometimes. He is also instrumental at the parley in King's Landing when he gets Cersei to return after a rather intense conversation with his sister. Of course that was all lies anyways, but sure look it, he tried. He was also doing a lot of lingering outside that bedroom on the boat too, whatever that was about.
Theon Greyjoy
Season 7 sees Theon get his groove back. A heart to heart with Jon in the final episode helps absolve him from his previous wrongdoings, and he decides he will head off to save his sister Yara who has been captured by Euron Greyjoy. He initially comes up some opposition from his men however he soon realises in a fight that his lack of genitalia is actually the source of all his power and they head on their way.
Euron Greyjoy
It initially looked like Euron was getting the hell out of dodge once he caught of glimpse of that zombie in King's Landing. However it turns out he is actually off to get the Golden Company, a sellsword company from Essos, to fight against Daenerys. He also now has Theon on his tail too.
The Night King
He uses zombie dragon to blow the Wall to pieces and is on his way to f*ck sh*t up.
Don't miss 'The Thrones Show', our new weekly 'Game of Thrones' review show where we give our reaction and analysis after each episode of the final season.
