It would have been difficult to top last week’s episode, so I was ready for a very dry one. But despite being primarily a “setting up” kind of episode, Eastwatch is really, really good, with surprises, reveals and more. And boy did it whet our appetites for the next one!

The highs

The best moment of the episode, is without doubt, when Jon Snow faces Drogon, the dragon, back at Dragonstone. Daenerys is just flying back from the ambush of the Lannister army and Drogon lands right in front of a waiting Jon. Now, Kit Harington has never been able to pull off anything apart from looking handsome too well, but to give credit where it’s due, he acted the hell out of that one scene. As he reaches out to touch Drogon’s snout, his hand shakes just a bit and he looks like he is about to throw up (not surprising given those teeth and the roar). But when Drogon lets him touch, you can see that Jon understands that there is something important happening there even if he doesn’t know what. Like we needed more proof he is a Targaryen.

The chemistry between Jon and Dany is also ramping up, and it seems the Mother of Dragons is quite a bit enamoured by the King in the North. She actually doesn’t want him to leave Dragonstone, and not because she wants him as a prisoner. And the glare Jon gives Jorah Mormont when he and Dany hug reminds everyone that Jon is also interested in Dany, maybe? The Jon-Dany shippers are definitely doing the happy dance.

You can hate Cersei Lannister all you want, but you can’t deny that she is phenomenal. She won’t give up without a fight and she is already busy scheming a way “like their father would have” (remember the Red Wedding?) to deal with her enemies. Including going for the armistice Tyrion has offered. And she is a master manipulator, because all she had to do to bring Jaime back in line is say she is pregnant with his incest baby.

The Tyrion-Jaime reunion, while not exactly a high, is definitely emotional. Peter Dinklage once again stuns in a brief and emotional scene about his father’s hatred and death.

One of the surprises was the return of Gendry, Robert Baratheon’s bastard (he has grown up to be a handsome dude), who it seems has been living in King’s Landing all this while! We need more backstory on that, because the last time we saw him, he was rowing away from being offered as sacrifice by Melisandre. A Jon-Gendry bromance (they literally spout all the reasons they are the next Ned and Robert!) is on the cards. Also, we really appreciate Gendry’s skills with the hammer.

Up in the North, Arya has found another mark — and it is none other than Littlefinger. Can’t wait to see him in a pie. But Littlefinger is, not surprisingly, busy creating the chaos ladder in Winterfell. We are quite sure that the letter from Sansa to Robb that Arya finds in Littlefinger’s room is a plant. But is Arya really that gullible? We think probably not.
And last but not the least, seeing the rag-tag bunch who head out beyond The Wall to get a Wight is a goosebump-inducing sight for bloodthirsty people. Jon, Gendry, Tormund, Jorah, Beric Dondarrion, the Hound, and Thoros of Myr venture into the icy winds and you cannot wait for the battle that’s surely coming next episode!

The lows

Has to be Sam Tarly again, and not because he is in the Citadel doing a bunch of nothing, but because Gilly just came up with a bombshell of a GoT plot point and Sam just ignored it. Why was he not interested in hearing that Rhaegar Targaryen’s marriage was annulled and he was secretly wedded to another? Hello?! Proof that Jon might be a real Targaryen with more of a claim to the Iron Throne than Dany!

We can’t quite understand what is happening with Sansa. Arya accuses her of not defending Jon because she wants to be Queen in the North and Sansa doesn’t deny it. But Jon offered her the chance to be that and she declined. What is going on here?

Oh and Dany’s “summer barbecue” is really getting on our nerves.

WTF moment

Jon wants to go home to protect his people. Tyrion suggests he kidnap a Wight and take it to Cersei as proof that the White Walkers are real. What the hell? Like Wights grow on trees that you can pluck one off, instead of having to face an entire army of undead! Also, why would Cersei even allow anyone to come into King’s Landing, Tyrion talking to Jaime or not?! Why is anyone listening to Tyrion anymore?

Does anyone think about speed-of-light travel that’s happening on the show? I mean Tyrion and Davos just hop into and out of King’s Landing all the way from Dragonstone in a jiffy. And Jon goes from Dragonstone to the Eastwatch even faster.

Death count

Two Tarlys who are barbecued by Dany and two Gold Coats who have their brains bashed out. While no one is particularly sorry to see Randall go, poor Dickon only lasted three episodes.

Sex and nudity

There is a Cersei-Jaime kiss. Does that count?

Best lines

“We can only help them from a position of strength. Sometimes strength is terrible,” Dany tells Jon while talking about how to help the people.

Chandreyee Chatterjee
GoT S7E05 airs tonight
at 11pm on STAR World, and STAR World HD