And Sansa? I hear she's alive and well.
Does she miss me, terribly? [Jon scowls at him] A sham marriage... and unconsummated.
Well, it was. Wasn't. Anyway, she's much smarter than she lets on.
She's starting to let on.
Good. At some point, I want to hear how a Night's Watch recruit became King in the North.
As long as you tell me how a Lannister became Hand to Daenerys Targaryen.
A long and bloody tale. To be honest, I was drunk for most of it.
My bannermen think I'm a fool for coming here.
Of course they do. If I was your Hand, I would've advised against it. General rule of thumb: Stark men don't fare well when they travel South.
True... but I'm not a Stark.
[Suddenly Drogon swoops right over their heads, roaring; Jon, Davos and the Northmen drop to the ground, staring up at him]
[helps Jon back to his feet] I'd say you get used to them... but, you never really do. Come. Their mother is waiting for you.
[Cersei has a bound and gagged Ellaria and Tyene Sand captive in the dungeons of the Red Keep]
I want you to know I understand. Even though we're enemies, you and I, I understand the fury that drives you. I was there that day when Ser Gregor crushed your lover's head. I close my eyes, I can hear the sound of Oberyn's skull breaking, the sound of your scream. I never heard a sound like that; I thought "That's true love". Oberyn looked beautiful that day, he really did. No one moved like him, no one had such skill with the spear, even Ser Gregor couldn't stop him. If only he hadn't taunted him: he could have walked away and left poor Ser Gregor to die. But that wasn't your lover's way, was it? Now he's buried somewhere, and here's Ser Gregor, stronger than ever. That must be difficult for you. When my daughter was taken from me, my only daughter...well, you can't imagine how that feels unless you've lost a child. I fed her at my own breast even though they told me to give her to the wet nurse; I couldn't bear to see her in another woman's arms. I never got to have a mother, but Myrcella did. [her voice breaks in anger] She was mine and you took her from me! Why did you do that?!
[Ellaria gives her a defiant, mocking grin in response]
Doesn't matter now. Your daughter's a beauty too. Those brown eyes, those lips, perfect Dornish beauty. I imagine she's your favourite. I know, I know we're not supposed to have favourites, but still, we're only human. We love whom we love. [Ellaria makes muffled pleading sounds through her gag] I'm sorry, I can't understand you. The gag makes it impossible to understand what you're saying. Must be frustrating. We all make our choices. You chose to murder my daughter; you must have felt powerful when you made that choice. Do you feel powerful now? I don't sleep very well, not at all really. I lie in bed and I stare at the canopy and imagine ways of killing my enemies. How to destroy Ellaria Sand, the woman who murdered my only daughter?! I thought about having Ser Gregor crush your skull the way he did Oberyn's. It would be poetic, I suppose, but fast, too fast. [removing Tyene's gag] I thought about having him crush your daughter's skull. She's so beautiful. [caresses Tyene's face] The thought of this lovely face cracking open like a duck egg...no it's just not right!
[Cersei kisses Tyene full on the lips. Ellaria's eyes widen with horror as it dawns on her exactly what Cersei is doing]
Qyburn here is the cleverest man I know. Clever enough to learn what poison you used to murder Myrcella. The Long Goodbye, was that it?
That's the one. How long does the poison take?
Difficult to say. Hours, days, it depends on the subject's constitution.
Oh yes, Your Grace. Quite certain.
[crouching down so she can look Ellaria in the eye] Your daughter will die here, in this cell and you'll be here watching when she does. You'll be here the rest of your days. If you refuse to eat, we'll force food down your throat. You will live to watch your daughter rot, to watch that beautiful face collapse to bone and dust, all the while contemplating the choices you've made. [addressing Qyburn, but without breaking eye contact with Ellaria] Make sure the guards change the torches every few hours. I don't want her to miss a thing.
[Jaime Lannister confronts Olenna Tyrell in the aftermath of Highgarden's conquest]
"And now the rains weep o'er our halls." Did we fight well?
As well as could be expected.
It was never really our forte. Golden roses, indeed! Your brother and his new queen thought you would be defending Casterly Rock.
The truth is Casterly Rock isn't worth much any more. Well, it is to me, but my fond childhood memories won't keep Cersei on the Iron Throne.
So you just let them take it?
For now. They won't be able to hold it. Euron Greyjoy's navy burnt their ships, we emptied the larders before we left. Eventually, they'll be forced to abandon their position and march all the way across Westeros.
And you took your army, your real army and went where they weren't.
As Robb Stark did to me at Whispering Wood. There are always lessons in failure.
Yes. You must be very wise by now.
My father always said I was a slow learner.
If he was so clever, why didn't he take Highgarden the moment your gold mines ran dry? I suppose I'll be able to ask him myself soon enough. No more learning from my mistakes, eh? How will you do it? With that sword? That was Joffrey's, wasn't it? Not that he ever used it. What did he call it?
He really was a cunt, wasn't he? I did unspeakable things to protect my family, or watched them being done on my orders. I never lost a night's sleep over them; they were necessary and whatever I imagined necessary for the safety of House Tyrell, I did. But your sister has done things I wasn't capable of imagining. That was my prize mistake; a failure of imagination. She's a monster. You do know that?
To you, I'm sure. To others as well. But after we've won, and there's no one left to oppose us, when people are living peacefully in the world she built, do you really think they'll wring their hands over the way she built it?
You love her. You really do love her. You poor fool. She'll be the end of you.
Possibly. Not much to be gained from discussing it with you, is there?
What better person to discuss it with? What better guarantee do you have that the things you say will never leave this room? But perhaps you're right. If she's driven you this far, then it's gone beyond your control.
She's a disease. I regret my role in spreading it. You will too.
Cersei had several ideas. Whipping you through the streets and beheading you in front of the Red Keep. Flaying you alive and hanging you from the walls of King's Landing. I talked her out of those. [Jaime pours a vial of poison into a wine glass]
That's good. [she drinks the poison] I'd hate to die like your son. Clawing at my neck, foam and bile spilling from my mouth, eyes blood-red, skin purple. Must have been horrible for you, as a Kingsguard, as a father. It was horrible enough for me, a shocking scene. Not at all what I intended. You see, I'd never seen the poison work before. Tell Cersei. I want her to know it was me.
[Arya and Sansa meet at their father's tomb]
Do I have to call you "Lady Stark" now?
Yes. You shouldn't have run from the guards.
I didn't run. You need better guards. It suits you: Lady Stark. Jon left you in charge?
He did. I hope he comes back soon. I remember how happy he was to see me. When he sees you, his heart will probably stop.
[They gaze at the statue of Ned Stark]
It doesn't look like him. Should've been carved by someone who knew his face.
Everyone who knew his face is dead.
We're not. They say you killed Joffrey. Did you?
Me, too. I was angry when I heard someone else had done it. However long my list got, he was always first.
Of people I'm going to kill.
[Sansa stares at her for a moment, then they both laugh]
How did you get back to Winterfell?
It's a long story. I imagine yours is, too.
Yes. And not a very pleasant one.
Mine, neither. But our stories aren't over yet.
[Jon and Daenerys explore a cave beneath Dragonstone. By torchlight, he shows her a series of cave paintings]
The Children of the Forest made these.
They were right here, standing right where we're standing, before there were Targaryens or Starks or Lannisters. Maybe even before there were men.
No. They were here together. The Children and the First Men.
Doing what? Fighting each other?
[shows her a cave painting depicting humans and White Walkers] They fought together, against their common enemy, despite their differences, despite their suspicions...together. We need to do the same if we're going to survive, 'cause the enemy is real. It's always been real.
And you say you can't defeat them without my armies and my dragons?
I will fight for you. I will fight for the North...when you bend the knee.
My people won't accept a southern ruler, not after everything they've suffered.
They will if their King does. They chose you to lead them, they chose you to protect them. Isn't their survival more important than your pride?
[Daenerys has learned of the fall of Highgarden and the death of Olenna Tyrell from Tyrion and Varys]
You'll want to discuss this amongst yourselves. Perhaps...
You will stay! All my allies are gone. They've been taken from me while I've been sitting here on this island.
You still have the largest army.
Who won't be able to eat because Cersei has taken all the food from the Reach!
Call Grey Worm and the Unsullied back. We still have enough ships to ferry the Dothraki to the mainland. Commit to the blockade of King's Landing. We still have a plan, it's the right plan.
The right plan? Your strategy has lost us Dorne, the Iron Islands and the Reach!
If I have underestimated our enemies...
Our enemies? Your family, you mean. Perhaps you don't want to hurt them after all. [Daenerys sees her dragons flying over the sea] Enough with the clever plans. I have three large dragons. I am going to fly them to the Red Keep.
My enemies are in the Red Keep! What kind of queen am I if I'm not willing to risk my life to fight them?
[Daenerys turns to Jon]
What do you think I should do?
I would never presume to...
I'm at war. I'm losing. What do you think I should do?
I never thought that dragons would exist again. No one did. The people who follow you know that you made something impossible happen. Maybe that helps them believe that you can make other impossible things happen. Build a different world from the shit one they've always known. But if you use them to melt castles and burn cities, you're not different...you're just more of the same.
What do you think of her?
I believe you know of whom I speak.
I think she has a good heart.
A good heart? [teasing] I've noticed you staring at her good heart.
There's no time for that. I saw the Night King, Davos; I stared into his eyes. How many men do we have in the North to fight him? Ten thousand? Less?
Speaking of good hearts, Missandei of Naath! [Missandei turns to greet them]
King Snow, isn't it? No, that doesn't sound right; King Jon?
Forgive me, but may I ask a question?
Your name is Jon Snow, but your father's name was Ned Stark?
I'm a bastard. My mother and father weren't married.
Is the custom different in Naath?
We don't have marriage in Naath, so the concept of a bastard doesn't exist.
That sounds...liberating.
Why did you leave your homeland?
I was stolen away by slavers.
If I may, how did a slave girl come to advise Daenerys Targaryen?
She bought me from my master and set me free.
That was good of her. Of course, you're serving her now, aren't you?
I serve my Queen because I want to serve my Queen, because I believe in her.
So if you wanted to sail home to Naath tomorrow?
Then she would give me a ship and wish me good fortune.
I know it. All of us who came with her from Essos, we believe in her. She's not our Queen because she's the daughter of some King we never knew: she's the Queen we chose.
[to Jon] Will you forgive me if I switch sides?
DTDickon Tarly
Ser Jaime.
DTDickon Tarly
Dickon. [Bronn snickers]
I hear you fought bravely at Highgarden. Your first battle? [Dickon nods] And?
DTDickon Tarly
It was glorious.
Come on. Your father's not here.
DTDickon Tarly
All my life, we've been pledged to House Tyrell. I knew some of those men. I hunted with them.
They didn't deserve to die. But Lady Olenna chose to betray her Queen and support the Targaryen girl, so here we are.
DTDickon Tarly
I didn't expect it to smell like that.
Men shit themselves when they die. Didn't they teach you that at fancy-lad school? Well, I learnt it when I was five.
[Bronn stops and frowns in concentration]
[They all hear the sound of approaching cavalry in the distance]
Spears and shields! Spears and shields!
Spears and shields! Spears and shields!
Form up! Come on, lads! Guard those wagons! Form a line!
[A horde of screaming Dothraki warriors rides over the hill and charges towards them]
Get back to King's Landing.
I'm not abandoning my army!
You're the commander, not a damn infantryman! Those fuckers are about to swamp us!
[At that moment, they hear a roar and look up in shock as Drogon comes flying towards them with Daenerys on his back]
[Bronn drags Jaime out of the river after the Battle of the Goldroad]
The fuck were you doing back there?!
Ending the war. Killing her.
You saw the dragon, between you and her? And? Listen to me, cunt: till I get what I'm owed, a dragon doesn't get to kill you. You don't get to kill you! Only I get to kill you!
That was only one of them. She has two more. If she decides to use them, to really use them...
Don't you mean "we're" fucked?
No, I do not. Dragons are where our partnership ends. I'm not gonna be around when those things start spittin' fire on King's Landing!
Might as well jump back in that river.
[to Lannister and Tarly soldiers] I know what Cersei has told you: that I have come to destroy your cities, burn down your homes, murder you and orphan your children. That's Cersei Lannister, not me. I'm not here to murder, and all I want to destroy is the wheel that has rolled over everyone both rich and poor, to the benefit of no-one but the Cersei Lannisters of the world. I offer you a choice - bend the knee and join me. Together we will leave the world a better place than we found it. Or refuse...and die.
[Some kneel in submission. Drogon roars, and more men follow, leaving only a handful of others still standing.]
[Randyll approaches Daenerys]
My sister. She wasn't your queen until recently though, was she? When she murdered your rightful queen and destroyed House Tyrell for all time. So it appears your allegiances are somewhat flexible.
There are no easy choices in war. Say what you will about your sister, she was born in Westeros. She's lived here all her life. You, on the other hand...you murdered your own father, then chose to support a foreign invader, one with no ties to this land. With an army of savages at her back.
You will not trade your honor for your life. I respect that.
Perhaps he could take the black, Your Grace. Whatever else he is, he is a true soldier; he'll be invaluable at the Wall.
You cannot send me to the Wall. You are not my queen.
DTDickon Tarly
You will have to kill me too.
Step back and shut your mouth!
DTDickon Tarly
I'm Dickon Tarly, son of Randyll Tarly.
You are the future of your house! This war has already wiped one great house from the world. Don't let it happen again, bend the knee!
DTDickon Tarly
I will not.
Your Grace. Nothing scrubs bold notions from a man's head like a few weeks in a dark cell.
I meant what I said. I'm not here to put them in chains. If that becomes an option, many will take it. I gave them a choice, they made it.
Your Grace, you start beheading entire families...
I'm not beheading anyone.
[Tyrion follows her gaze to Drogon]
Lord Randyll Tarly. Dickon Tarly. I, Daenerys Targaryen, first of my name, Breaker of Chains and Mother of Dragons, sentence you to die. Dracarys.
[Drogon incinerates them, leaving behind nothing but two small piles of smoldering armor and flesh. All the remaining prisoners kneel.]
[Tyrion and Varys talk over the battle's aftermath at Dragonstone]
All rulers demand people bend the knee; it's why they're rulers. She gave Tarly a choice. A man who had taken up arms against her. What else could she do?
Not burn him alive alongside his son?
I am her Hand, not her head. I can't make her decisions for her.
That's what I used to tell myself about her father. I found the traitors, but I wasn't the one burning them alive. I was only a purveyor of information. It's what I told myself when I watched them beg for mercy. "I'm not the one doing it". And the pitch of their screams rose higher..."I'm not the one doing it". When their hair caught fire and the smell of their burning flesh filled the throne room, "I'm not the one doing it".
Daenerys is not her father.
And she never will be...with the right counsel. You need to find a way to make her listen.
[Jaime has returned to King's Landing and confronts Cersei]
How many men did we lose?
We haven't done a full accounting.
It's not only armies that win wars. We have the Tyrell gold, we have the Iron Bank behind us; we can buy mercenaries. Not the same as our men, but they'll fight if they're well-paid, which they will be.
I just saw the Dothraki fight. They'll beat any mercenary army. They'll beat any army I've ever seen. Killing our men wasn't war for them, it was sport! Her dragon burnt a thousand wagons! Qyburn's scorpion fired bolts bigger than you, they couldn't stop it and she has three of them! This isn't a war we can win.
So what do we do? Sue for peace? I sit on her father's throne, the father you betrayed and murdered! And in her mind, she's winning! What sort of offer do you think she'd make? Maybe we can count on Tyrion to intercede on our behalf? By way of apology for murdering our father and son...
You saw the crossbow, you saw his body.
I'm not talking about Father. Tyrion didn't kill Joffrey, he had nothing to do with it.
After all this time, it still amazes me that you...
It was Olenna. She confessed before she died.
And was this before or after she drank the poison you so kindly provided for her?!
If you were Olenna, would you rather have seen your granddaughter married to Joffrey or Tommen? Which one would Margaery have been better able to control? Which one would have made Olenna the true ruler of the Seven Kingdoms? She was telling the truth. [Cersei's smug expression twists into one of fury as she realises Jaime is right]
I shouldn't have listened to you. She should have died screaming.
She's dead, like her son, like her grandchildren, her whole House. And if we don't find a way out of this war, we'll follow them.
So we fight and die or we submit and die; I know my choice. A soldier should know his.
I thought Arya was dead. I thought Bran was dead.
I'm happy for you. You don't look happy.
Bran saw the Night King and his army marching towards Eastwatch. If they make it past the Wall...
The Wall has kept them out for thousands of years, presumably.
You said you don't have enough men.
We'll fight with the men we have, unless you'll join us.
And give the country to Cersei? As soon as I march away, she marches in.
Perhaps not. Cersei thinks the army of the dead is nothing but a story, made up by wet nurses to frighten children. What if we prove her wrong?
I don't think she'll come see the dead at my invitation!
So bring the dead to her.
I thought that was what we were trying to avoid.
We don't have to bring the whole army; only one soldier.
The first wight I ever saw was brought back into Castle Black from beyond the Wall.
Bring one of these things down to King's Landing and show her the truth.
Anything you bring back will be useless unless Cersei grants us an audience and is somehow convinced not to murder us the moment we set foot in the capital!
The only person she listens to is Jaime. He might listen to me.
And how would you get into King's Landing? [everyone looks at Davos]
I can smuggle you in, but if the Gold Cloaks were to recognise you, I'm warning you, I'm not a fighter.
Well, it'll all be for nothing if we don't have one of these dead men.
Fair point. How do you propose to find one?
With the Queen's permission, I'll go north and take one. [Daenerys looks round at him] You asked me to find a cure so I could serve you. Allow me to serve you.
The Free Folk'll help us. They know the real north better than anyone.
They won't follow Ser Jorah.
You can't lead a raid beyond the Wall! You're not in the Night's Watch anymore; you're King in the North!
I'm the only one here who's fought them. I'm the only one here who knows them.
I haven't given you permission to leave.
With respect, Your Grace, I don't need your permission: I am a King! Now I came here, knowing that you could have your men behead me or your dragons burn me alive. I put my trust in you, a stranger, because I knew it was the best chance for my people—for all our people. Now I'm asking you to trust in a stranger, because it's our best chance.
Beautiful, eh? I can breathe again. Down south, the air smells like pig shit.
You've never been down south.
[Tormund scoffs]
How d'you live up here? How d'you keep your balls from freezing off?
Got to keep moving, that's the secret. Walking's good, fighting's better, fucking's best.
There's not a living woman within a hundred miles of here.
[smirks] We have to make do with what we've got. [Gendry walks away] This one's maybe not so smart.
Davos says he's a strong fighter.
Good. That's more important than being smart. Smart people don't come up here, looking for the dead. So, you met this Dragon Queen, huh? And?
And she'll only fight beside us if I bend the knee.
You spent too much time with the Free Folk; now, you don't like kneeling. Mance Rayder was a great man, a proud man. The King-Beyond-the-Wall, who never bent the knee. How many of his people died for his pride?
Did you trip into the fire when you were a baby?
I didn't trip, I was pushed.
And ever since, you've been mean.
I don't think you're truly mean. You have sad eyes.
You want to suck my dick, is that it?
Nope, it's pussy for me. I have a beauty waiting for me back in Winterfell. If I ever get back there. Yellow hair, blue eyes, the tallest woman you've ever seen. Almost as tall as you.
You're with Brienne of fucking Tarth?
Well, not with her yet. But I see the way she looks at me.
How does she look at you? Like she wants to carve you up and eat your liver?
I want to make babies with her. Think of them - great big monsters. They'd conquer the world.
How did a mad fucker like you live this long?
I'm good at killing people.
