The big conversations heading into Episode 4

Game of Thrones is ending. But there’s still plenty to talk about — and that’s what we’re going to highlight every Sunday until the final episode airs. 

The battle of Winterfell is now officially in the rearview. The White Walker threat is extinguished, the bodies have been counted, and attention is now turning to the south. Cersei Lannister is still there, safely ensconced in King’s Landing, and she’s still a traitorous snake.

With the White Walkers defeated — or so everyone thinks, for now — we’re in uncharted territory. In the north we have the combined forces of Westeros gathered together but also, presumably, severely weakened after the devastating battle of Winterfell. And in the south, Cersei has her whole, still-fresh army along with Euron Greyjoy’s Iron Fleet.

That’s not even mentioning the dragons of it all. We don’t know if both are still alive, but you’d think even just one would be more than enough to guarantee victory for those who stand against Cersei. But that’s not likely with three entire episodes left in the series.

Now that you’re all caught up, let’s see where the conversation is at.

Defeated or not, the White Walkers are still a major conversation in the Game of Thrones scene. Show creators David Benioff and D.B. Weiss are a big reason why that’s the case; in a post-battle of Winterfell appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live, the duo refused to say if the White Walkers are actually done.

Of course that’s how they’re going to respond with so few episodes left, but the lack of a definitive “yes, they’re finished” does at least suggest there’s more story to be told on the White Walker front. Thankfully, The Hollywood Reporter‘s Josh Wigler dove deep to investigate.

“For the first time this year, it’s hard to predict what’s going to happen, and that’s genuinely exciting.”

Go back to the Night King’s introduction, in the Season 4 episode “Oathkeeper.” For fans of the books and the show both, it was a first-ever look at this distant threat from beyond the wall. We saw the Night King and his cronies gathered around Craster’s baby, and watched as that baby’s eyes turned a familiar shade of blue under the Night King’s touch.

Wigler presents a scenario where that baby and all of the other infant sacrifices Craster offered up are some kind of “fail-safe” for the White Walkers. In this read, the threat from beyond the wall hasn’t been defeated, just delayed. And you can bet that any fail-safe cooked up by the Night King is something that should worry everyone in Westeros.

There’s also still the unresolved issue of Jon Snow’s lineage. As he told Daenerys Targaryen in the moments before the battle of Winterfell began, she’s actually his aunt. And more to the point, Jon is technically the one, true heir to the throne, Aegon Targaryen.

A Saturday article from Perry Carpenter for Cheat Sheet posits that we’re barreling headlong into a showdown between the two Targaryens. The Iron Throne has been Dany’s main pursuit for most of this series, and she’s not likely to let it go just because.

Further, Jon is a child of the north and a known quantity to all the peoples situated between King’s Landing and the Wall. Dany is a dragon-allied outsider who arrived as an invader. She’s not going to be winning any local popularity contests.

Finally, Carpenter points out that one of the most widely derided strategic decisions of the Winterfell throwdown — the Dothraki cavalry serving as a disposable front-line force — might not be the mistake it looked like. What if gambling Dothraki lives up front was part of a larger plan to weaken Dany in a post-White Walker world?

Whatever happens between Dany and Jon, they still have a big problem to deal with down south. Cersei screwed them over and they can’t be thrilled about it. Now that imminent death by an undead army has been averted, all eyes turn to King’s Landing. Will Cersei’s lack of elephants be the difference-maker in the end?

Writing for Thrillist, Esther Zuckerman points out that the hanging question — not about elephants, but rather “who will actually win this thing?” — is so important to our viewing experience at home.  “The first three installments of the final season chugged along to the big fight with a grim inevitability,” Zuckerman wrote. “Now, for the first time this year, it’s hard to predict what’s going to happen, and that’s genuinely exciting.”

She’s right. One of the big complaints about Game of Thrones final season so far is the pace. You can debate the individual merits of the first three episodes all you want, but the fact is that three out of the series’ absolutely final episodes focused almost entirely on one region of Westeros and the conflict that unfolded there.

It was a massive confrontation, obviously, and one that brought together a huge chunk of the main cast. But we’ve still been laser-focused on WINTERFELL VS. ZOMBIES to the point that all else has fallen by the wayside. Now, with the fourth episode, we should hopefully, finally see all of the dangling plot threads start to take shape in a way that leads to the conclusion.

As Zuckerman points out, Cersei’s always been a wild card behind the scenes. We know she’s got this big fleet of warships on her side and we know she’s taken steps to have her two brothers, Jaime and Tyrion, snuffed out. Imagine what we’ll learn with episode four.