SPOILER ALERT: Warning, this article contains spoilers from Season 7, episode three of Game of Thrones, entitled “The Queen’s Justice”. Proceed at your own risk.
Episode 3 came once again packed with jaw-dropping revelations and goings-on. Like the two episodes preceding it, “The Queen’s Justice” may have been exposition-heavy but was very much focused on advancing the story at breakneck speed. Here are five shocking moments from Episode 3 of Game of Thrones Season 7.
Jon’s Resurrection Secret
When Jon Snow stands before Daenerys in an attempt to persuade her to believe in the threat posed by the White Walkers, he stops Ser Davos Seaworth from revealing his little secret. You remember, the small fact that he was dead and then he wasn’t. But why so hush-hush? We don’t yet know.
As Davos attempts to get Daenerys onside, he tells her that the people of the North believe in Jon Snow and have elected to follow him as King in the North.
“He risked his life for his people, he took a knife in the heart for his people. He gave his own…!” says Davos, stopping suddenly as Jon shoots him a look.
Cut to Dany and Tyrion eyeballing one another, fully aware that there’s something they’re not saying.
Davos changes tack to get to the point – that they need to band together if they’re to survive. But the damage – if damage is what it is – is done.
Could the revelation that Jon Snow has been resurrected have repercussions that affect his relationship with Daenerys? Probably. With the prophesy of the ‘Prince that was Promised’ consisting of the factoid that the chosen one, whomever that may be, will have been resurrected, it’s clearly a plot point of major significance.
Episode 2, incidentally, did a good job of blowing the whole thing open, hinting that the prophesied savior could, in fact, be a woman. While we’ve been led to believe it’s Jon, could it actually be Daenerys?
Aside from all that, of course, if you’re trying to convince someone of the existence of an ‘army of the dead’, would you admit to being undead yourself? It doesn’t feel like it would be a very effective method of gaining someone’s trust. By the way, everyone else notice Tyrion’s “walking dead” reference when he’s chatting to Jon on the clifftop?
Cersei’s Revenge
With Ellaria Sand and daughter Tyene now in the hands of Cersei, having been thoughtfully captured and presented as a gift to the Lannister tyrant by Euron Greyjoy, Cersei sets about enjoying her cold revenge. How? By meting out the same fate to Tyene as befell her own daughter Myrcella at the hands of Ellaria. With a poisoned kiss.
Eagle-eyed viewers will have noticed at the start of the scene that Cersei is wearing a glossy coral lip colour. We know what’s coming.
Cersei relishes the opportunity to make Ellaria suffer. First, she reminds her of her lover Oberyn’s death-by-skullcrushing at the hands of the Mountain. And how Oberyn almost won but for the “taunting” of Ser Gregor, which led to his bloody demise.
Then Cersei tells Ellaria how much she loved her daughter. And makes it clear at how upset she is that Ellaria took Myrcella from her. She taunts the pair of them before planting her own poisoned mouth on Tyene’s lips. They both immediately realise what’s happened.
Qyburn hands Cersei a rag to wipe the poison from her lips, and then the antidote to drink.
Cersei proceeds to tell them both in graphic detail about how the poison will take hold and that Ellaria will be forced to watch her daughter’s decomposing body. Nice.
Jorah is cured!
In Episode 2, we saw a particularly gruesome scene in which Samwell Tarly began his attempt to rid Jorah Mormont of greyscale. It involved painstakingly slicing off the diseased scabs and scales. While some of us thought it might not work – there was some discussion around whether Dragonglass might be the answer to the cure – we discovered in “The Queen’s Justice” that his efforts had paid off.
Jim Broadbent’s Archmaester examines Sam’s handiwork and declares Jorah fighting fit. Having been locked up at the Citadel in order to contain the disease, Jorah is now free to go his own way. He can now take off to be at Daenerys’ side after she told him to come back to her once he’d found a cure.
The way they signed off in this scene, though, we can be sure that the paths of Jorah and Sam will cross again.
Casterly Rock Was a Decoy
We were all led to believe that Casterly Rock was of major importance as a stronghold. The Unsullied set sail, commanded by Daenerys, to take it. But they were walking into a trap. With Euron Greyjoy destroying their boats and the larders empty, Grey Worm and the surviving Unsullied are stranded there without much hope.
It’s proven Jaime to be a master strategist. With Daenerys taking the bait, he was free to invade Highgarden and disable another set of her allies, killing Olenna Tyrell in the process.
Melisandre’s Enigmatic Prophesy
It was almost a throwaway line whose significance it was easy to miss. But when Melisandre says to Varys as the two of them are talking: “Oh I will return, dear Spider, one last time. I have to die in this strange country just like you”, the Red Priestess hints that she has foreseen how things will pan out.
While Varys looks puzzled, and more than a little taken aback at her statement, Melisandre looks pretty smug as she drops the mic and walks off.
So how will the two of them die, and are their destinies tied together? Or is Melisandre wrong? She’s been wrong before, mistakenly believing Stannis Baratheon to be the Prince that was Promised, and then switching her allegiance from Jon Snow to Daenerys. We’ll find out in due course.