Game of Thrones season 7, episode 6 recap: Beyond the Wall

Want to find out what lies “Beyond the Wall” for Jon Snow and his traveling companions? Then, check out our Game of Thrones recap and review of Sunday’s new episode.

To recap, Jon Snow has decided to go hunt for a White Walker beyond the Wall with Jorah Mormont, Gendry, Tormund, the Hound and the rest of the Brotherhood without Banners.

Beyond the Wall

For the most part, there’s a lot of banter between them. Back in his element, Tormund gets to shine by quips about his old days as a Wildling where he kept moving to keep his balls from falling off, made do with what he had when there were no women around, and even encourages Jon to bend the need to the “dragon queen” to save his people.

With a lot of time on their hands and no PlayStation or WiFi, Jon Snow gets a chance to talk to everybody. He talks to Jorah about their respective fathers and the deaths they met until Jon offers his sword Longclaw back to Jorah, who believes it belongs to Jon regardless.

I have a really hard time listening to anything Jorah says because of Iain Glen’s decision to return to Resident Evil.

However, my favorite exchange happens between Tormund and the Hound. The Hound says he doesn’t like gingers, while Tormund says he has sad eyes. As they walk, Tormund talks about the woman waiting for him at home and how he wants to make “great big monsters” (read: children) with Brienne of Tarth.

Afterward, we go to Dondarrio and Jon, where we learn that Dondarrio has joined the battle, just to fight: “I am the shield that guards the realm of men.”

All the cute conversations come to a screeching halt when night falls and a dead bear attacks the group. Thoros gets bitten, but Dondarrio uses his fire sword to cauterize the wound and he keeps walking.

Eventually, they end up finding a small White Walker camp, where they manage to take a White Walker captive, but not before it cries out for help and alerts the rest of the army. Jon commands Gendry to run back to Eastwatch and send a raven to Daenerys. Then, they start running for their lives.

Naturally, as it is the Arctic of Westeros, the group runs across a bank of thin ice to take shelter on a big rock. As the White Walkers charge after them, the ice breaks and they start to fall through, effectively ending their siege in the nick of time. Gendry makes it back to Eastwatch (barely) and gets word to Dany, but that still leaves the men stranded on a rock for their second night there.

The following morning, Thoros succumbs to his wounds, so they burn his body as the Hound grows impatient. He starts to throw rocks at the hoard, leading the undead army to realize the water has frozen over again.

Then, the real battle begins.

The bros do their best to defend their rock, but they’re overpowered by numbers alone. Tormund almost dies, but the Hound saves him before Jon tells them all to fall back. Just before they’re all about to die, three dragons fly over the wall. I know for a fact that I wasn’t the only one praying at the TV, “Come on, Dany. Come on, Dany. Come on, Dany. Please, come on, Dany. Come on, Dany.”

As expected, the tides of the battle change quickly. When Drogon lands to pick up the crew, Jon (stupidly) continues to fight off White Walkers while the Night King decides he’s about to catch himself a dragon. Of course, Dany’s too worried about Jon to see the oncoming attack or take off. So the Night King launches a giant icicle spear and brings down Viserion easily, to the horror of everyone standing there.

I’m sorry, but that is both Dany and Jon’s fault. Jon lingered and deserved to fall through the ice afterward. Likewise, Dany did exactly what she didn’t want to do (as explained to her other boy toy last season) and let her feelings cloud her judgment. She makes it back to Eastwatch with most of the guys and just two dragons. And obviously, Jon survives, but only because of his Uncle Benjen. For a second, I thought Rhaegal was going to go back for him. But that didn’t happen.

Also, unrelated: Someone cast Uncle Benjen (Joseph Mawle) as a Jedi in another Star Wars film. Because that look is working for him.

Jon makes it back to Eastwatch, but he’s in bad shape. When he wakes up, Dany waits by his side. She’s seen his stab wounds and feels compelled to hold his hand and make gaga eyes at him before saying she doesn’t like to be called Dany. (That’s all well and good, but I’m not typing out Daenerys one hundred times in a recap.) Then, she talks about her babies, the dragons, and Jon laments how sorry he is. (Damn right, you tart!)

After all that, he calls her his Queen and agrees to bend the knee. Finally.

Now, if think it’s bad that Dany only has two dragons, then perhaps you’ll be even more disturbed to know that a popular Thrones theory came true in tonight’s episode as the Night King successfully reanimated Viserion.

Episode 66 (season 7, episode 6), debut 8/20/17: Gwendoline Christie, Sophie Turner.

photo: Helen Sloan/courtesy of HBO

In the North

Meanwhile, in what Tormund considers “the south” but it is really the North, Arya shares a memory of her father. When she was a child, he applauded her for learning how to use a bow and arrow, even though it was against the rules. She speaks fondly of him before reminding Sansa that her family died because of Sansa’s letter.

When Sansa tries to defend herself, Arya strikes back quickly. She explains that she would’ve died to protect the Starks and that Sansa was too stupid to do anything. Once she says that she witnessed Ned’s death, Sansa speaks of the horrors she faced with the Lannisters and the Boltons.

Then, Arya correctly guesses that Sansa’s afraid to lose power. She also adds that “little Lyanna Mormont” is a prime example of what Sansa could’ve been.

Later, Sansa seeks counsel on what to do next with, of course, Littlefinger. Unlike many of the other characters, I do believe that Sansa wants to control the North with good intentions. Whether she believes Jon deserves to be King or not, I don’t think she’ll betray him. However, I don’t understand why she’s being so difficult with Arya. Like, sure, they’re sisters. It happens. But why can’t Sansa be more honest? Why does she need to save face?

(Wow, that was a weird choice of words there considering the subject matter.)

More importantly, why is she doing anything Littlefinger says?

She receives a letter from the Lannisters to go to King’s Landing (what a suspicious letter and suspicious timing!). Sansa tells Brienne to go and represent her interests, which is about the dumbest thing she could be doing. Brienne’s the only one really protecting her. Me thinks this is a ploy to get Brienne out of her hair, so she can, in fact, try to corral Arya. Which would be another dumb thing.

Remember when Sansa was smart and made smart moves? Let’s get back to that.

I don’t like sneaky Sansa. But when she goes into Arya’s room to snoop around, I like how Arya is using the tactic of fear to demonstrate that it’s a cheap trick and loyalty is really what matters. Arya had the opportunity (and maybe the right) to kill her sister, but didn’t. She made a choice and turned over her dagger perhaps as a warning to Sansa to rethink her strategy moving forward.

Episode 66 (season 7, episode 6), debut 8/20/17: Gwendoline Christie, Sophie Turner.

photo: Helen Sloan/courtesy of HBO

At Dragonstone

Tyrion and Daenerys sit in the war room and talk about all the brave men who have fought for Dany and how they all loved her. When Dany questions whether Jon loves her, Tyrion assures her that Jon’s not staring at her just because she has a powerful army.

He also reminds her that she wants to break the wheel and won’t be able to do so if she is impulsive. She argues that burning the Tarlys was impulsive, but Tyrion’s ensuing monologue doesn’t really make her feel any better. Truthfully, I don’t really believe him either. Everything he says is logical, but I don’t like how close he is with Jaime.

When the conversation turns to Dany’s line of succession, I agree with her decision to hold off discussions until she’s queen. It makes sense because if she dies, like, tomorrow, it won’t really matter. She’ll be just another player knocked off the board. But if she breaks the wheel and becomes queen, there would be a reason to talk about it.

From Tyrion’s perspective, it sounds like he wants to hear that he would become King after her. And if she agrees to that, it would give him the motivation to kill her, right?

At this point, he may be afraid of her power. But if she continues to be reckless with her dragons, by agreeing to do things like fly ALL THREE OF THEM beyond the Wall, then maybe she won’t have that much power for much longer.

Food for thought: Is Dany’s admission to Jon that she can’t have babies foreshadowing that she and Jon are going to pull a Cersei/Jaime without making the mistake of bringing children into the world or what?

For more Game of Thrones coverage, check out our hub page.

Home/Game of Thrones