Game of Thrones season 7 premiere: Where did the women leave off?
Game of Thrones returns for season 7 Sunday night, but before we return to Westeros, let’s look back and remember where we last saw the show’s squad of ladies.
It’s a pretty good time to be a woman in Westeros. Okay fine, it’s never really a great time to be a woman in Westeros (or anyone in Westeros, for that matter, the seven kingdoms can get seriously bleak), but looking back at how season 6 wrapped up ahead of Sunday night’s season 7 premiere, a lot of our favorite ladies from the show have found themselves in positions of great power. Spread throughout the Game of Thrones world, these women have overcome blindness, heartbreak, sexual violence, The Mountain, imprisonment, and the death of their friends and family members—and, for the most part, come out stronger on the other side. Let’s revisit where GoT‘s ladies left off:
Daenerys
Season 6 was a big one for the Mother of Dragons. We saw her burn the Khals who tried to enslave her (bad idea, boys), winning over the rest of the dothraki (and looking fierce as hell walking naked out of the flames). She returned to Meereen, reunites with her dragon friends, and fights off the slavers. She also managed to make Tyrion Hand of the Queen (ditching Daario after his whole declaration of love for her), forge a pact with the Greyjoys (including a super thirsty Yara), and single-handedly sent Jorah on a quest to cure his greyscale. All on her way to Westeros (finally).
Brienne of Tarth
Brienne is once again in the service of the Stark women, having pledged her sword to Sansa. We last saw her rowing away from the captured Riverrun with Pod “The Rod” Payne, as she and Jaime shared a knowing glance. She’s presumably headed back north to Winterfell, which seems to be where The Hound is heading as well. And judging by their last encounter, things could get awkward quickly, especially knowing Tormund’s got a little thing for her (a big thing, if you ask him).
Sansa
Sansa went through arguably one of the biggest transformation last season. Having just escaped the horrors of Ramsay Bolton at Winterfell, Sansa joins forces with her “big bro” Jon at Castle Black over a sub-par meal. She does some light scheming with Littlefinger in Mole’s Town, tries to warn Jon about just how awful a human Ramsay actually is, and brings the Knights of the Vale to save the day at the Battle of the Bastards. Oh, and has a bunch of bloodthirsty hounds eat her husband like a real badass. However, the fact that she didn’t feel it was necessary to let Jon in on that little Knights of the Vale strategic move, and her silence during “Da King in Da Norf” rally, makes us wonder what her next move is coming into this season.
Episode 61 (season 7, episode 1), debut 7/16/17: Lena Headey.
photo: Helen Sloan/courtesy of HBO
Cersei
Cersei has lost everything she’s ever loved only to gain everything she’s ever wanted. After the whole walk of shame nightmare, Cersei spent the season plotting ways to get back at The High Sparrow, the Tyrells, and, well, anybody else who crosses her. She manages to achieve that vengeance with the craziest fireworks show Westeros has ever seen—killing pretty much everybody (Margaery, Loras, The High Sparrow, etc.). Only that little trick backfires for Cersei, in that her darling son Tommen, the only child she has left, nosedives out the window when he finds out what happened. We last saw her sitting on the Iron Throne, now queen of Westeros, as Jaime looks on in horror. As one of the showrunners said in a post-show wrap-up video at the end of last season, the idea of Cersei in power without the one thing that kept her human, her children, is a relatively terrifying thought.
Melisandre
The secret-super-old lady may have resurrected Jon Snow at the beginning of last season, but that doesn’t keep Davos from chewing her out for orchestrating the burning alive of an innocent little girl (which, for the record, is pretty morally reprehensible, even in the GoT universe). We last see her leaving Westeros, banished, heading south.
Margaery
Oh, right. She’s dead.
Arya
She’s got a name again. Arya’s quest to become “No One” has taken a lot of twists and turns. She plays herself during the faux on-stage killing of her father, befriends a band of merry mummers, outruns a Terminator-like killer in The Waif, and serves up some delicious Frey pies to Lord Walder himself (right before slitting his throat). The trailers don’t give away much about what’s in store for Arya in season 7, but we’re pretty psyched to see this assassin back in Westeros.
The Sand Snakes
Long story short: Dorne (now run by women) is now firmly #TeamKhaleesi. Olenna Tyrell, too.
Meera
Now the sole guardian of Bran Stark, she encountered a lot of grief on their way back to The Wall. She waited around in a cave most of the season, saw the power of The Others, and unknowingly gave Hodor his name.
Gilly
Gilly is really wishing she had a library card. Or a babysitter. She and Sam, and Baby Sam, make a stop at Horn Hill en route to Oldtown, where his father is not super welcoming (read: he’s awful to her and Sam). Now, the cute little family (maybe the only group of characters on the show that could ever be described as such?) is at the Citadel, so Sam can get cranking on his maester training. No word on how Gilly will be spending her time in season 7… but we anticipate big things will be coming to Oldtown.
Next: Game of Thrones season 7: Taking High Valyrian courses
Now that we’re clear on where our favorite GoT women left off, where do we think they’re headed? Tell us in the comments. Game of Thrones season 7 premieres Sunday night at 9 p.m. ET.