Game of Thrones season 7, episode 5: Our favorite feminist moments

Sunday night’s Game of Thrones had a lot going on. The showrunners seem to be cramming a lot into these last few episodes of season seven, but even in the crowded storyline, the women of GoT had time to make a major impact in “Eastwatch.”

Warning: If you have yet to catch up on Sunday night’s episode of Game of Thrones, spoilers ahead. Proceed with caution.

Daenerys

There’s a lot of debate about whether what Dany did to start Sunday night’s episode was a show of strength or cruelty. As the series’ showrunners pointed out in the after the show extras, Dany feels resentful that she seems to be held to a higher moral standard than someone like Cersei. And by making executive decisions like the one she made on Sunday night, i.e. burning the Tarlys alive, she believes she’s doing what she has to do to be the leader she wants to be. That confidence in her own judgment definitely earns Dany some ladyboss points this week, as well as the fact that she was following OG Lady Glenna’s advice by ignoring Tyrion’s.

We’re not advocating for violent ultimatums like the one Dany served up here, but we also can’t help but admire her unstoppable spirit. Dany knows what she wants and trusts her own instincts, sometimes to a fault. If Cersei can blow up a sept full of people and Jaime can lead an army to swarm Highgarden, why can’t Dany use the weapons at her disposal (aka Drogon and friends) to exhibit her power as a queen?

Lena Headey as Cersei Lannister – Photo: Helen Sloan/HBO

Cersei

In terms of showing off her plotting smarts and fearlessness, this wasn’t Cersei’s strongest week. In her scenes with Jaime, Jaime largely had the upper (metal) hand. He made some good points about her flawed wartime strategy and devastated her with the news that it was, in fact, Olenna that killed Joffrey, not Tyrion.

And yet, Cersei remained true to her essential Cersei-ness in that she was able to shoulder the grief she was clearly experiencing and channel it into a way to get what she wants. There is still some question as to whether Cersei is in fact pregnant as she told Jaime she was in the episode (clutching her stomach in a decidedly un-Cersei-like fashion). But whether she’s carrying her brover’s (that’s brother plus lover, think it’ll catch on?) child or not, the way Cersei was able to manipulate Jaime’s emotions in that scene was masterful. And, considering it was Cersei, not surprising. Girl knows how to work a room, and occasionally, a realm.

Sansa

People really need to stop underestimating Sansa Stark. In this episode it was her own sister, Arya, questioning Sansa’s judgment by accusing her of being too soft on the men at Winterfell and of thinking she’s too good for everyone. But Littlefinger isn’t giving Sansa the credit she deserves either. In his grand scheming, Littlefinger seems to think he will have no trouble driving a wedge between the Stark sisters by tricking them each into distrusting the other. But knowing Sansa and what she’s had to endure and overcome, we have little doubt that she not only will put an end to Littlefinger’s antics, but will come out stronger, and hopefully, teamed up with Arya on the other side. In her own quiet way, she even hinted that she has little patience for people questioning her ability to lead independently — and we’re excited to see more of that side of Sansa in the season’s final two episodes.

Arya

We weren’t big fans of Arya doubting her sister this week, but we did like her spy-like maneuvers trying to catch Littlefinger in shady behavior. In comparison to last week’s ninja moves in her sparring against Brienne of Tarth, Arya’s arc this episode was slightly more subdued. But her consistent bravery and willingness to put herself in harm’s way to get whatever job she’s doing done (see: hit list) is what makes her such a feminist hero in her fans’ eyes.

John Bradley as Samwell Tarly and Hannah Murray as Gilly – Photo: Helen Sloan/HBO

Gilly

Gilly was responsible for one of the biggest plot reveals in the show’s history on Sunday night’s episode, but as she was also a woman talking to a man, her voice wasn’t actually heard. (Girl, we can relate.) Gilly has had such an inspiring character arc throughout the show, even if she is one of the more minor characters. The woman went from living in a horrible, abusive environment with her father to venturing out into the world, raising her son, learning to read, and building her confidence.

Next: Game of Thrones meets Star Wars: Watch as Arya and Brienne duke it out with lightsabers

Sam may not have been listening this time around when the annulment she mentioned came up, but we’re pretty sure that won’t be the last we’ll hear about it. And here’s hoping it’ll be Gilly that corrects more than Sam’s trivia stats when that moment comes. If Gilly ends up being the one that solves the mystery of Jon’s parentage and brings peace to the Seven Kingdoms, we would be more than okay with that. She deserves it.