Death is the enemy. The first enemy, and the last. The enemy always wins, but we still need to fight him." A groundbreaking episode that continues to show why Game of Thrones is one of the best shows to ever be created. This could all be down to pure spectacle, but there's greater importance in the writing as we make final preparations for the final battle against the Long Night. Whilst most of Season 7 has been fast-paced, the opening half-hour of Beyond the Wall gives us a chance to breathe a sigh as we await the oncoming storm and what could possibly be the most dangerous mission any character has attempted before.
The opening shot of the map and fireplace at Dragonstone is beautiful, giving us symbolism for the events ahead. Having just left the Wall, Jon and his group are now in the barren lands of the far North, with one mission: to capture a wight and take it to King's Landing to prove that the threat in the North is real. It's almost a suicide mission, considering they're entering the lands of the Night King and his army. But, it still must be done. We have a number of conversations between the key characters in the group. Jon and Jorah's contemplation of Jeor Mormont has the most significance, as Jorah completely relinquishes his birthright to Longclaw, as he believes his father made the right choice. Gendry may not completely understand Beric's perspective on selling him to the Red Woman, but he's content enough to know that they're both on the same side when it comes to the great battle. Tormund gets another chance to point out his pining for Brienne of Tarth and the Hound's priceless reaction gives us something to laugh about. However, the Hound causes a lot of problems as the episode unfolds. The first is related to a wight bear. As an audience, we've never seen many beasts controlled by the White Walkers, apart from horses, and this is a surprising new addition. In the mirky, blizzard-filled landscape, Jon and his men attempt to kill the creature with fire, but this of course doesn't sit well with the Hound. Inadvertently, this leads to Thoros' lethal injury as he tries to stop the bear from attacking the Hound, leaving his stomach and chest completely charred. It's amazing that he still manages to go on. It's important to note that despite the fact that they haven't encountered the army of the dead yet, they've already suffered casualties. Indeed, the true test comes when they ambush a group of wights with a White Walker. After Jon succeeds in killing the Walker, the dead it converted at destroyed with it - conveniently leaving one left for them to capture, but he turns out to be a noisy bugger. Unfortunately, the main army hears the creature's cries, and the group are soon to be ambushed. Jon sends Gendry back to the Wall to send a message to Daenerys. Meanwhile, there's a meaningful conversation between Tyrion and Daenerys at Dragonstone. Tyrion is still worried about the decisions that Daenerys has made concerning the Tarlys and what other terrible things she might try to accomplish. Nevertheless, he convinces her that when they execute this plan at King's Landing, with their dominant army and three dragons, they will be safe. That is to say, from Cersei. On receiving the message from Eastwatch, however, Daenerys decides to be impulsive again, as she realises that Jon could be the greatest asset she had, and he's now in complete danger in the North. This time, she takes all three dragons with her, and Tyrion is left to contemplate his own worst fears, alone at Dragonstone. At Winterfell, the Stark sisters are at each other's throats, as Littlefinger's letter has struck a dark cord in Arya's mind. Whilst I believe she's knows Littlefinger's cunning side, she's still trying to test Sansa, with a few threats of her own. The exchange on the battlements where their father used to stand was very well written, and hits hard with nostalgia as we recall the first episode of the series. Since then, the sisters have been in entirely different scenarios, but both in mortal danger. You do question whether Arya is going too far with her accusations, as we know Sansa has been through a lot of trauma, some she will never forget. But, the final scene as Arya reveals the horde of faces she's been keeping and informing Sansa of her assassin-like skill does beg the question of whether Sansa will see this as support or a threat. She's going to need all the support she can get, now that Brienne is heading to King's Landing, presumably for the wight demonstration. The significant moments of the episode come thick and fast towards the end, however, as Jon and his men are briefly trapped in the centre of a lake, awaiting support from their allies. Sadly, Thoros suffers badly from his wounds and dies overnight, prompting Beric to burn him at the hands of the Lord of Light, the God he so honourably served for his life. But time is short, and as the lake freezes over in an embarrassing realisation by the Hound, who makes the second mistake he's made in one episode, the wight army attack, and the group of remaining six mortals seem hopelessly lost. There's a nail-biting moment when it seems Tormund is about to be mercilessly killed, but he is desperately returned to the centre. There's a wonderful shot of Jon standing helplessly on the top of the crag, as the wights surround their small band, and all seems lost. But, in a very un-Game of Thrones manner, Daenerys arrives to save them in another fire-infested display, and pretty much burns the entire army - if only she'd stayed a little longer, she might have dispatched the Night King and his fellow Walkers too, but we realise why that's not a good idea. Questions are asked during the episode as to why the Night King waits, and doesn't attack the group of men and be done with it, and the answer is plain and simple. He uses these brave men to capture a dragon. Whether the Night King has greensight like Bran or not is questionable, but he's definitely an intelligent being, with a calculating mind, and it seems this entire plot may have been turned on its head so that the Night King could capture a dragon, the final piece of the puzzle in which to take down the Wall. With dragonfire, perhaps the Wall is completely vulnerable. Anyhow, in typical emotional fashion for this show, Daenerys loses a dragon, and we sadly see its hopeless corpse slip below the surface of the lake, and its siblings whining hopelessly above. Before the Night King can cause more damage, Jon demands Daenerys to leave immediately and leave him behind. As this is so far the longest episode of the show, of course, the drama doesn't end there. Now alone, amongst the lands of the dead, Jon could be in dire trouble. It all seems useless when the wights spot him again, but we as the viewers are in for another surprise. Benjen, the last senior Stark remaining in the world, arrives to give his nephew one last chance to escape. And escape he does, back to Eastwatch and safe and sound in the warmth - well as warm as it can get. Whilst we know that Jon's story is not over yet, it still pains us to see him weak and battered on his bed as Davos pulls away the clothes that have frozen onto his body in the time he spent north. But, there's a warming effect as Daenerys arrives to console him. Now, their relationship has been brewing for quite some time, and despite the fact that we know that they are family, these two very important characters have no idea. Thus, the handholding, and their emotional agreement to help each other seems innocent enough, but you can tell that their are some affectionate hints underneath the words. The consequences of the mad adventure are clear as daylight in the final scene, as the Night King revives the fallen dragon (Vyserion) with his own power - this creature is now the greatest weapon that White Walkers have ever wielded and could be the final nail in the coffin of every character in Westeros and beyond. After all, there's nothing stopping the Night King from reaching Essos now. Indeed, Littlefinger's convoluted plot at Winterfell may seem pitiful compared to the danger coming from beyond the Wall, but there's a semblance of animosity that thrives between the Stark sisters that needs to be erased. No Jaime and Cersei this week, but we are already aware of the problems that they share now that Daenerys has pretty much eradicated her foot-soldiers. I'm not sure whether we'll get a conclusion to the Night King's plans next week, but we'll certainly be seeing a big confrontation nonetheless as it all kicks off in King's Landing. Breathtaking is the only word to describe it. Beyond the Wall may not outdo the series greatest episodes: I'm looking at The Rains of Castamere, Battle of the Bastards and The Children, but it's testament to the scale and impact of the series that it still has the capacity to shock and scare in the most imaginative ways. A lot of people may be criticising the pacing of this series, but if you take into account the time passages for each scene, it can all be justified. Daenerys' arrival may be deemed convenient on a story level, but it is far from impossible. I certainly can't wait to see how this elaborate scheme pans out, and how quickly it will take for the Night King to strike the wall. 10/10
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