Welcome to the first ever BSL Game of Thrones recap. Since this is the first article that I have done, I just wanted to explain my intentions and goals of this and future pieces. My goal is to provide a weekly written recap of each Game of Thrones episode. To include those “Unsullied” readers (GoT fans who have not read George RR Martin’s novels), I will seek to avoid all book spoilers in the recaps. Since Season 6 is over halfway complete, I also plan to lay out a few “Looking Forward” articles where I will hash out where I believe the show is heading from a plot perspective.

Onto the recap of Episode 7: The Broken Man.

As a whole, Season 6 has truly been the Season of Returning Characters. We saw the return (and quick demise) of King Balon Greyjoy, the weasel Freys holding Edmure Tully captive, the oft-predicted resurrection of Jon Snow, the reappearance after a season-long hiatus of Bran and Co. and the eagerly-awaited news that Benjen Stark is “alive.” Episode 7 continued this theme as we reacquainted ourselves with Sandor Clegane, Brynden “the Blackfish” Tully and everyone’s favorite up-start knight, Ser Bronn of the Blackwater.

If you would like to discuss the episode, click here.

If you would like to discuss the episode with book spoilers, click here.

The show begins with a rare cold open, with a scene prior to the opening map/credits scroll. As soon as I saw three men struggling to carry one log, I knew one man would be strutting along with one by himself. Enter a healthy and healed Sandor Clegane! He was rescued and cared for by Ian McShane’s character, Brother Ray (Septon Meribald in the books), a well-traveled, brutally honest religious man who seeks to aid the common folk in the war-torn Riverlands of Westeros. It was a shame McShane’s character only appeared in one episode as he is a brilliant actor who could have been a great, recurring player in Thrones.

The show jumps to King’s Landing, where we have Margaery reassuring her grandmother about her safety in King’s Landing and asking the Queen of Thorns to return home to Highgarden. Lady Olenna Tyrell is wary and nervous until Margaery sneaks a little piece of parchment (which we find out is a drawing of House Tyrell’s sigil) which calms her nerves and shows her trust in her granddaughter as she attempts to continue her play of the High Septon. We are also treated to an odd monologue from the High Septon about how Margaery should perform in bed with Tommen. There is nothing like an old celibate trying to persuade a woman to produce an heir for the crown.

Later on, we have a final meeting between Lady Olenna and Cersei as Cersei inquires why she is abandoning her grandchildren. Olenna quickly acknowledges that this whole High Sparrow/Faith Militant issue is Cersei’s fault in the first place and she is to blame for both royal families’ predicaments. I always love a good Olenna diss and she made sure to tell Cersei what an idiot she was.

As we head north up the Kingsroad, we finally see another new face and are also treated to a favorite scene of Book 4, where the Freys are idiotically trying to get the Blackfish to surrender by threatening to kill Edmure. A storied knight with a past that includes heroics in the War of the Ninepenny Kings and Robert’s Rebellion, the Blackfish remains stoic and firm and will not so much as let the Freys’ attempts move him. Only until Jaime and the Lannister army arrive does Tully come out to parlay. As confident as Jaime is during the parlay, the Blackfish is even more so stubborn and unyielding. His mention of Jaime’s promise to Catelyn Stark to bring Arya and Sansa safely to Riverrun is brought up by the Blackfish, which is surely a future plot point in the next few episodes. The Blackfish is a welcomed re-addition to the show and this scene may have been my favorite of the night as it shows two great knights about to square off in a good-old-fashioned siege.

We are also treated to several scenes in the North as Jon, Sansa and Davos meet with Northern families in order to rally troops to their side in order to take back Winterfell from Ramsey Bolton. Like many others, my second favorite scene of the night involved Lady Lyanna Mormont of Bear Island. Bella Ramsey played an excellent Lyanna. Despite her youthful age, she is a shrewd, confident lady who ultimately agrees to take up her banners for Jon and Sansa. She played a perfect Bear Island woman and I am glad we have finally met other members of the Mormonts. It is a shame we were never treated to Dacey or the Bear herself, Lady Maege.

Sansa and Jon do not have the same luck with the Glovers. Lord Robett’s harsh but true words unsettle Sansa, as he claims that Robb killed many of the North’s greatest fighters as well as claiming that House Stark is dead. Sansa and Jon begin to share disagreement which will surely persist as Jon wants to head to Winterfell to fight and save Rickon while Sansa knows that they will need more men. She writes a letter (which is either to Littlefinger and the Vale knights or Brienne or the Blackfish in the Riverlands) in order to seek additional aid since Jon no longer wants to recruit. If Jon discovers this, it would continue to be a driving spike between the two as more and more disagreements build up. What I found very interesting in the final outdoor scene was that this was the location of Shireen’s burning in Season 5. Will Davos discover the true end to the child? How will he react with Lady Melisandre? Is the fact that Jon’s forces camping at the exact place where Stannis’ forces were surprised by Ramsey’s “20 good men™” a mere coincidence or a foreshadowing what will happen next?

The show then sends us east to Volantis where we see that the Greyjoy faithful, especially Yara, are enjoying a whorehouse. Yara shares her plans that the fleet will travel to Meereen to “rescue” Dany in order to take her to Westeros and re-take the Iron Islands. This scene was particularly interesting to me because we see Theon act more like Reek again as he is surrounded by all of his past’s passions. His almost-direct obedience of Yara forces us to consider if there is still a little bit of Reek still inside. While he appears to be on Yara’s side completely, will Reek return later at the most inopportune time?

In Bravos, Arya seems as confident as ever for a girl who knows she is on someone’s hit list. The old woman being the Waif was no surprise but what was a surprise was her absolute butchering of Arya’s stomach. Either: A. That wasn’t Arya B. Arya has Valryian Steel plot armor or C. the show made those stabbings much worse than they were because that was an absolute brutal attack (and in no way, an unpainful death as Jaqen asked the Waif to kill Arya). As we have discussed on the forums, I believe we will soon learn there is much more going on in the Braavosi/Arya plotline when it comes to the Faceless Men. I would be mildly disappointed if Arya just recovers (and it is not some larger plot) as that looked like a brutal injury to the abdomen that should not be easily healed.

We then head back to the Riverlands with the smallfolk and Sandor Clegane. A trio of horsemen (with possibly old Lem Lemoncloak at the helm?) appear amongst the smallfolk just after Brother Ray talks about violence and peace. I must say I am disappointed the show writers did not take “the Broken Man” speech which you can find from A Feast For Crows which is a beautiful monologue about the true struggles of war for the common man. Even a condensed version would have fit perfectly here, as the common man loses everything, just as in this scene where Clegane discovers the group murdered as he was chopping wood for the fire. It is also a bit unbelievable that Clegane would not have heard any commotion during the event, but that is neither here nor there.

Overall, the Broken Man fits into what is usually the path for mid-season Game of Thrones episodes. There is more set-up of future plot points, battles and events with character building and relationship-grooming. The highlight of the episode for me was the return of the Hound and the Blackfish. As we continue through the season, it appears we will get a convergence of major characters at Riverrun (Jaime, Blackfish, Brienne, possibly Sandor) as well as later at Winterfell. We will soon see where all of this leads us as I am sure the last three episodes will be jam-packed with battles, face-offs, twists and turns.

Chris Bacon
Chris Bacon

A graduate of Xavier University, Chris began his writing career as a Xavier Musketeers Athletic Communications Intern where he wrote previews and post-game recaps for men’s basketball, women’s basketball and other Olympic sports. He has worked in the sports industry in various capacities for over 5 years. Chris is a fan of the Xavier Musketeers, the Baltimore Ravens and the Baltimore Orioles. Other hobbies and passions includes Game of Thrones and, as an Eagle Scout, volunteering as a Boy Scout Troop Assistant Scoutmaster. Chris was born in Baltimore, raised in Baltimore County and currently resides in Canton.

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