Game of Thrones season 7: 5 predictions for episode 3, “The Queen’s Justice”

Episode 61 (season 7, episode 1), debut 7/16/17: Lena Headey.

photo: Helen Sloan/courtesy of HBO

5. Cersei’s going to try and execute Ellaria Sand and Yara Greyjoy

The trailer for episode 3 indicates that Euron Greyjoy will return to King’s Landing with the present that he promised her, and it’s Ellaria Sand and Yara Greyjoy, two of Daenerys’ biggest allies.

Now, the synopsis says that Cersei “returns a gift.” There’s room for interpretation that it’s referring to Qyburn’s ballista, but how exactly does one return that? Besides, she really does need those kinds of weapons if she wants to have a chance at defeating the dragons. (They probably won’t be as effective as Qyburn seems to think, though, unless he finds a way to mass-produce them such that the dragons can’t dodge the bolts.)

That leaves Ellaria and Yara. One line in particular strikes home as for why we think she’ll actually prepare the execution. In the trailer, Cersei mentions “first blood.” It’s a metaphorical turn of phrase, but Cersei might take things to a disturbingly literal level. Besides, killing Yara helps cement her alliance with Euron. She also has a personal reason for wanting Ellaria dead: the death of her daughter, Myrcella.

“Stormborn” primed us for this by having Tyrion also bring Myrcella up to Ellaria. Whether or not Cersei succeeds is up for debate. She’s been successful when she has time to plan (see “The Winds of Winter”), but the longer she holds Yara and Ellaria, the worse it may become for her. We’ll talk on that more in a bit.