The penultimate episode from every season of Game of Thrones has featured either a monumental moment, battle, or death — and Sunday night’s totally bonkers (and fan-servicey) “Beyond the Wall” gave us all of those with a single javelin throw. But there was so much more to discuss and what it might all mean for the season finale, and we tried to cover all of it on today’s Nerdist News Talks Back.
Dead dragons, sister squabbles, unlikely suitors, and more were on the menu for our weekly, special post-Thrones edition of the Nerdist News Talks Back, All Kings Considered, which you can see live every Monday during the season at 1pm PST on Nerdist’s YouTube and Alpha channels. Host Jessica Chobot was joined by Nerdist’s own “Snow-icide Squad:” managing editor Alicia Lutes, producer Jason Nguyen, and associate editor Kyle Anderson.
Leading off the Thrones feast was the cornucopia of events from the “Battle of the Frozen Lake,” further proof after the “Loot Train Attack” the show has given up on coming up with cool names for things. But even with Viserion’s death was the whole sequence big enough to justify it’s status next to the Red Wedding and Battle of the Bastards? And was it too “safe” for the main characters (minus kinda-already-dead Benjen)? Or are those minor quibbles compared to the amazing foot speed of Gendry, which paled in comparison to the amazing thickness of Jon’s “plot armor?”
Also, now that we’re in uncharted (frozen) waters with the whole wight dragon thing, what can we expect from the Night King and the newest member of his army?
When the episode wasn’t focused on the events at that conveniently placed lake, it spent a lot of time down at Winterfell exploring the further splintering of the Stark sisters, with Arya and Sansa at each others’ throats (not literally—yet). But did that strife feel sincere, or like they both took stupid pills? The gang was none too pleased about that or Arya’s bag of faces.
But there were also some tense moments down at Dragonstone, where Tyrion and Daenerys had some frank conversations. Hmm, have we been trying to “ship” the wrong man with her this whole time? Probably not, though we wouldn’t blame Tyrion if he did make a move since Daenerys continues to rock the best wardrobe in the Seven Kingdoms, with another piece from her chic Dragonstone collection.
So tune into today’s episode to hear their thoughts on those topics, plus ideas for potential buddy-cop spin-offs and if the leak ruined some of the surprises.
And don’t forget to cread Alicia’s review of the episode, Amy Ratcliffe’s explanation why the Night King was the episode’s MVP, and my histories about ice dragons and the White Walkers and their leader.
What did you think about “Beyond the Wall?” Talk back to us about it in our comments below.
Images: HBO
