Haus Berlin

"What unites people? (...) Stories." Stories, not the exact truth are Westeros' new glue, if you follow Tyrion's thoughts - who turns out to be the first victim of just that method, see Penrose's history book "A Song of Ice and Fire". The White Book makes up for that loss of recognition, only to introduce Tyrion as Kingslayer of King Joffrey, written in Jaime's own hand. Since King Tommen removed Jaime from the Kingsguard, this would have been the end of Jaime's possible deeds. But under Brienne's touch the White Book becomes a book of white lies: - She obscures the timeline so that Jaime wasn't there to prevent Joffrey's murder when she sets his capture at the Whispering Woods after the begin of Tommen's reign. - She omitts Ser Gregor's succession and by that Tommen's decision to dismiss Jaime from his post as Lord Commander. - There is a cut when she writes about Jaime's loss of his hand, which would be her own introduction to the book. As Maid of Tarth? Her virginity is one of many battlefields in the debate about Jaime's possible redemption. Did he leave his pregnant sister-lover-queen only to get another woman pregnant he leaves? There are good reasons to assume Brienne's preserved virginity in the end. - Her decision to omitt Ser Gregor also brought Brienne side by side with Jaime. One day Podrick is her likely successor, which would turn the White Book into some weird family album. We got Ser Duncan the Tall a few pages ago. It adds a business-like touch to a formerly chaste institution. - Jaime's own hand made it impossible for Brienne to add important bits to the kingslaying of Aerys II. So his later deeds have to serve that purpose. They paint Jaime as a knight who is flexible under different monarchs, who copes with personal losses and who looks for the greater good as well as for smaller opportunities to be of help. Without the actual name of the queen he died saving, the reader gets a feeling of a former kingslayer who not only served many other monarchs right during times of revolution and war, but with the whole consequence of dying in service. Since the Last War was between three queens, the odds that a reader picks the right queen Jaime saved are always worse than 50/50. Which is good, because every one of them pretty much played her own miserable game. There is no glory in serving any of them at the cost of your life. All in all I think Brienne did a good job in maintaining Jaime's legacy. Not so much in empowering him to come full circle as a being. I was always surprised by the amount of people who looked for a redemption arc in Jaime's story. Jaime made it pretty clear that the only thing he ever felt sorry for was Bran's attempted assassination - which even was quite in tune with a Kingsguard's job since the queen and her family were involved in a secret worth protecting. Jaime got the chance to sort that out with Bran, so why would people still feel disappointed? Because it was truly Jaime's resocialisation which failed, especailly with Brienne and Tyrion. Since last season Tyrion built every King's Landing ploy around the premise that Jaime and Cersei would want to start a new life together. Even when Jaime left Cersei and had an obvious crush on Brienne, Tyrion's idea in Winterfell's map room is still to isolate Cersei, so that Daenery's dragon would not burn the population and set off Cersei's wildfire. But Jaime stayed in Winterfell with Brienne. There he had to learn about the allies' losses and that Sansa never intended to join them. So Jaime took action and forced his capture, only to learn that Tyrion's only plan is to still get rid of Cersei. Brienne's judgement of Jaime's character isn't that glorious either. Sure, learning about Deanerys' intention to rip Cersei out "root and stem" surely encouraged Brienne to keep the "guest of the Lady of Winterfell" around as long as possible, but as soon as Tyrion is gone Sansa makes it pretty clear that she doesn't trust Jaime and doesn't like him. Jaime on the other hand was open about his provisional stay in the North from the very beginning. Whatever happened after their kiss it resulted in no pregnancy and it was possibly not enough to convince the Maid of Tarth to leave "the fucking North" and help Jaime "climbing mountains" - by facing Cersei and the Mountain alongside him. There are no words of goodbye because Jaime can hope Brienne would follow him. Only, she doesn't. She thinks he returns to his lover - not to fight her, but to die with her. Those are the two people who are supposed to know and love Jaime for years and they fed our own impatience with the "slow learner" with their reactions at once. We saw how Jaime dealt with other people's mistrust in the past. When he reasons with Edmure, it's only the worst possible assumption that moves Edmure. It's a world full of Littlefingers who won't ever give you the whole hand. Cersei may take truths to tell lies, but the infamous kingslayer has to take lies to tell the truth, e.g. "Saphires!" It's that sad really, that a new life for a supposed criminal needs an environment who gives him the chance to leave his past behind. Tyrion and Brienne were too insecure about their impact on him and he proved them wrong only in the end, when he blocked all the ways for Cersei's escape - a smooth Valonquar, who locked his hands around the queen's throat until she suffocated under the breaking structure that represented an incomplete penalty system.

Given the possibilty that Deanerys is brought to resurrection via dragon, I expect Jon to be the counter wigh(t) to such a restauration of power. The show visibly provided us with a full circle here.

Dear @Cas Stark and @Kyll.Ing., that was exactly my thought when they stated that the dragon was seen flying east. It might carry eggs and bring Deanerys to a Red Priest so that she can be resurrected. Together with Jon as an undead king in the North I don't feel like we got a sweet ending but a very troubling one.

In a few hours we'll know for sure whether the Lannister siblings survived or not. Just where rubble blocked the exit there was an explosion so I'm still expecting their survival. If their dialogue indeed was the last we get of them, I guess Jaime's "look at me look at me" is the answer to his final question if there is a baby or not. Here is why: Cersei started her fuss about wanting their baby to survive. Jaime had left her ("I don't believe you."), then fought a battle to ensure a future and came back after Tyrion so much trusted on this aleged knowledge. Jaime now demands that Cersei looks him in the eye. She does reluctantly and only then corrects herself that she is afraid of her own death. They hug. Only one episode before Jaime-parallel Jon took notice of Gilly's pregnancy by hugging her. So Jaime understood she wasn't pregnant.

I feel the horse pronounces Arya's reluctant decision to really let her list be and move on from there, just as the Hound bid her. (...)

Crackpot: Finally Cersei also accepted the other brother as a lover, so Tyrion saves his own baby with her. NO! Just kidding.

Maybe the jewelry is meant as payment to bring the first three letters to their destination while Varys suffers his execution. Are his birds (!) that loyal? There was that line about rewards for greater risks. Dorne, Pyke and Riverrun are my guess, or parts of Essos. I expect that Jon flies deep into the North with Daenerys ' dragon to deprive her of that weapon of mass destruction. Since King's Landing's walls are destroyed now, it's easy to threaten the queen and let the people turn against her. Plus, the unsend letter remained in Dragonstone, the seat of power Daenerys had just abandoned.

It's good to see someone still asking that questions since this is all we really got in that episode: 1. We got one kiss and Jaime awake, while Brienne slept on the other side of her bed. 2. We got Jaime fully dressed in Brienne's bedroom, she sleeping in the middle of her bed and only waking when he gets up. We are surely expected to connect the dots. Some characters already did. Tyrion, who thought Jaime and Cersei would start something new when it was pretty much over. Bronn, who thought they were fucking when Jaime and Brienne did not even kiss. Compare the supposed sex scene with the montage of Jaime's and Cersei's last. There was more than a kiss to indicate they would have sex. Their awaking next morning was a close position in bed. Of course JB-shippers won't tap in that trap and believe JC is more loving and hence Jaime departing. But JB-shippers might wish to get too much all at once and create their own drama that way. What if they are confronted with their (easily dismissed) concept of courtly love? They frame Jon's drunken rejection of sex with a JB kiss and Jaime awake at night. What makes us so sure he did not leave her room and went for his own like Daenerys did? Brienne lies on the other side of the bed and won't wake. Fighting, drinking, kissing is pretty much - all at once. Jaime, similiar to his scene with Cersei, is deep in thought about the consequences to be seen together in bed - even if it's literally only sleeping together. So I think he moved out. Brienne would wake up, think about last night's kiss as something promissing yet debatable given the circumstances. But, well, this is what she got and she can go back to her work, called battle. Then comes the night where Jaime leaves. Now he gets that it is Sansa's scheme to sit Cersei's war out, as Cersei sat hers out. Now he is the only Lannister brother left and Brienne the only general left and Bronn sticks around in Winterfell to give Cersei what she wanted in (the now more likely) case she wins. Note that Jaime sits fully dressed in Brienne's bedroom, but can not even undress himself without help. His slightest move woke Brienne. More likely he just went to her room to say goodbye but could not find the heart or the words to do or say something. As Sansa won't go into battle Brienne is saver here than at his side. But it helps Cersei to win all the same. Likely she dies a maiden. When Brienne finds him she is distroyed by the possibilty that Jaime prefers the safety his sister can offer him over the safety she offered him here. Because that's still her definition of love, to keep each other save. One kiss did not change that for her, but Jaime had more than that with his sister. After their first battle together she is afraid that the Last War brings them on different sides again. One solution: Lure Sansa out of Winterfell's false safety with something that would need no army (the Prince of Dorne), let Brienne join the battle... but this time come with an army (forces of Highgarden and Riverrun).

Does Jaime have a magic horse or why do people think he makes it to King's Landing just in time to die with his sister?

Cersie probably rules over an undead population via Qyburn and only keeps the Golden Company around to see one last thing fulfilled: A Lannister always pays his/her debts. The Golden Company's purpose is then not to participate in the war, but to draw the crown's debt from the person who wins the throne. Maybe she planed to set off to Essos to tell the tale of their mad queen, but it won't happen since Euron dumped her because of her faked pregnancy. After the throne melted, the queen's doctor became his insurance, but his hopes lie with Sansa.

Will she kill him? No, but she will kill plenty of time with him.

I think Missandei did a very smart thing. Remember her joke about seeking for help in 50 languages or something like that? She did not drown alongside others because she offered her knowledge to the queen. She knew very well that Cersei would gain more by killing her and this would be her chance for last words directed at her real queen. Contradicting her advice in the map room to let King's Landing's population speak highly of Daenery's mercy, she now said "Dracarys". Because the population is already undead, thanks to the wight they had left Qyburn.

It's a ruse. Either by the last Sand Snake to lure any of those queens under her roof, preferably Cersie. Or by Bran/Varys/Jaime to drive Sansa out of Winterfell.

I think there is a lot of misleading going on regarding that romance. We assume that Jaime took Brienne's virginity, when we truly only saw him lying next to her in bed. We assume he is the guy who gets you pregnant and goes off to fight for a lost cause. Because that's what he did in the past, didn't he? So no progress in character? I would think not. I'm coming back to that. We also assume we know Brienne. When she was knighted many cheered along and thought that this is all she ever wanted, when it was truly Podrick's wish. When she had Jaime in her room many thought no this is all she ever wanted... Becoming pregnant in the middle of two wars. As Sansa's bodyguard. Really? I think what Jaime and Brienne did was exactly what Jaime said it would be: sleeping. Hence the disatisfied glances at her naked, resting form. He knows what they miss, she as a maiden doesn't know it yet. Brienne had to drink two times. The first time to answer the question regarding her state, which wasn't sure at all (1. she saved Sansa, who got raped in her own home so something could have happened to Brienne as well, 2. she dared to dance with her future homosexual king, so she is able to go for her desires, 3. she is surrounded by an admire in her work space and may combine interests), then she had to drink after the realisation of their mutal interest as if to confirm the state nonetheless. This is another pre-battle couple and a very grown-up couple at that, looking for consens. Jaime made clear he would not stay in the North. Brienne gave away a physical knowledge that also describes her emotional skills: Evertime she leaves a room she puts more wood in the fire to keep it burning. It's warm enough, but there is still a battle to win. So both knew they would part again. Only the cause was unclear. Brienne wanted to keep Jaime out of a war against his former lover. Sansa said as much when she said her generals (there is only one) would give her a sign when they are ready to march. Jaime wants to regain some power of his own to make a difference in a war Brienne's chef prefers to sit out the same way his sister did. It hurts him that Bronn is up to inherit the legacy of his former victories. So Jaime would collect his troops and set a honey trap for both Brienne and Sansa. The new Prince of Dorne is just too new to not take notice of him. So no, the Golden Lion days are not gone, Cersei just won't have a part in them.

Here is what I can see happen in the last two episodes: Jon supported by Varys, Daenerys supported by Tyrion - this will cost all their lives. Even though Tyrion suceeded in holding back Daenerys from an attack of King's Landing, all what Jon sets free is it's undead population, which leaves Daenerys the task to burn them. The throne she intended to sit is now molten steel and everywhere Wildfyre explodes, one hurts Daenerys and Drogon seriously. Leaving the capital from above she sees Jon, his army and the people all burning in the fire and whispers "Bring me home." With their last breaths Drogon and Daenerys reach Essos, half dreaming of a cheerful welcome by her people, but truly being slayed by them as a representation of disappointed hopes. Jon survived the fire icy cold and gives the command to draw back home. The undead and living alike take the Kingsroad back north. Winterfell is deserted when they arrive, with exception of Bran, who welcomes Jon as the Night King. As long as he still remembers who he once was, he should help to rebuild the Wall. Cersei made it out of King's Landing before the throne she once sat burned. This is what his brother's big footsteps tell the Hound. But when he and Arya finally catch Cersei on her road, she sets up Wildfyre and everythings goes up in a blaze. Save on his ship Euron calls himself King of the Seven Kingdoms. He has Qyburn with him as a witness that he got Cersei pregnant. Since years of warefare left no single powerful kingdom, there is no choice but to accept him anyhow. No fleet can challenge him. There is a fleet in Dorne, but to Sansa's dismay no new Prince of Dorne to marry. A letter with a proposal led her with Brienne and an army down the utmost south of the realm, where no love is in sight. So they collect forces to retake what once was their's. At the Wall the Free Folk accept Jon's order to repair the border structure. His fellowship now contains undead people, a tired army, Wildlings and Bran. And Ser Bronn of the Blackwater. No Lannisters, no payment. So the second-best thing seemed Castle Black, where his fighting days won't be over so soon. Jaime collected forces in all parts of the realm his family once had conquered to form a power to dare a future king or queen not to part the realm at whim. He offers Euron a kingsmoot, something he should know from home, if he ever wants to set a foot on the land he boasts to rule. Soon a Dornish fleet reaches the shore and with it comes a queen desperate for marriage - doubling Euron's chance. Euron accepts the kingsmoot, but when neither he or Sansa get elected, he takes his way home, where Yara executes him as a traitor. King Jaime declares that power does not belong into one hand or into the Hand of the King... no one is able to bring the realm peace. So he abdicates in favor of a perennial council and a fair maiden. Bran is at a very dark place and overviews Westeros. It's new society shows us Brienne in cohabitation with Jaime before she inherits her isle, the would-be-queens Yara and Sansa settle themselves for Westeros' middle and are married, the same as Edmure/Roslin, Sweet Robin/Hotpie. Then there is Gendry, tired of his lordship, who makes up with a girl - who only later reveals her face. Arya threatens to kill him, should he ever dare to call her a lady again. Down in Oldtown Sam and Gilly don't find time to make a third child, since they run the politics of the new capital.