The sixth season of Game of Thrones is over, with much lost and gained. To say that it went out with a bang (pun intended) would be an understatement, with the number of deaths and the many changes that have been laid out before the feet of our favorite heroes and villains in Game of Thrones. As a non-spoiler review (only this first paragraph sadly), you’ll definitely want to sit down and have nothing distracting you during this episode of Game of Thrones. If you thought “The Battle of Bastards” was full of death and surprises, then this episode might push you over your limit of surprises and big game changes for the year, as we learn some crucial facts about the players of the big game and one surprise could change everything. “The Winds of Winter” ended an exciting season beautifully, allowing fans to feel happy and excited for the next season, of course we always want more right now, though, in all reality.

But sadly, for those who have yet to watch the episode, here is where you will want to depart. From here on down, we’ll be going into detail about what happened in this game changer episode so if the episode is ruined for you because you read past this paragraph, then please do no blame us for it. We are giving you plenty of warning not to continue reading.

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But for those of us who did watch the episode, oh my goodness! Talk about some chaos that is going to be happening in season 7 after the way season 6 has ended. But let’s not get ahead of ourselves, let’s talk about this episode in the order that it actually happened. If you thought that “The Battle of Bastards” was going to be the big finish with “The Winds of Winter” neatly tying everything off for next season, like I did, then you were just as surprised as I was when everything started playing out. To start off with, let’s hang out in King’s Landing for a bit and discuss what happened there. In all truth, we’re kind of disappointed that Cersei didn’t die, rather she killed just about everyone else (yes we include Tommen in that statement) when she blew up the Sept of Baelor with just about everyone inside of it.

We had learned earlier in the season that the Mad King had hidden away barrels of the substance wildfire below King’s Landing a while ago, but never did we think those barrels would be used. Well, when you back Cersei into a corner, she’ll go to great measures to get what she wants. Sadly, at the cost of her uncle’s life, Margaery, Loras and Mace Tyrell’s lives and many other nobles. But she killed the High Sparrow, that’s an accomplishment right? Sadly, as a result to her actions young Tommen killed himself by falling out of his window.

If you watch the “Inside the Game of Thrones” after the show, they discuss how Cersei wasn’t there to comfort her son and if she had been, would he have survived? Sadly, Cersei is thinking only of herself and I’m not quite sure she didn’t want Tommen to die anyways. Yes, she’s sad when they show her his body, but there’s some coldness there that is down right scary. She’s finally sitting on the Iron Throne, no one can harm her (or so she thinks) and her brother is back. But after all that she’s done will Jaime stay by her side? Will she be able to keep the Iron Throne out of fear or is she just becoming a mad queen, like the Mad King?

All questions that won’t be answered until next season, but I find it rather interesting that Cersei finally is sitting upon the Iron Throne, just as Daenerys is heading her way.

That seems to be the easiest story line to follow in this episode (or least shocking) as she’s getting ready to take her newly acquired fleet across the Narrow Sea to Westeros, to take back the Iron Throne. She has to sadly say goodbye to her lover Daaroi Naharis, but really is that a tragedy? Not really. Dany is heading to war with her dragons and she definitely doesn’t need to have him following her around like a love sick puppy. But the relationship between her and Tyrion, not romantic, is growing and it’s one we can appreciate. Tyrion has come a long way in the past 6 seasons and he’s finally coming into his own and becoming a man he can be happy with himself about. In a touching scene, he makes it clear that he finally believes in something, and that something is Dany as queen. It will be interesting to see what happens in the coming seasons and will he survive the battles to come?

Now let us journey North, to where Jon and Sansa have taken back Winterfell, where Bran is now at the wall thanks to his undead uncle and everything seems to finally be in place and ready for the long winter (yea right). Let’s start with Bran because it’s the most fun topic to talk about and it leads into Jon’s story. After getting dropped off by his uncle and being told that the dead could not pass The Wall while it stood because of ancient spells sealed into it’s base (yea interesting bit of information that we hadn’t heard yet…but it didn’t go anywhere!), he decides to get in touch with his Three Eyed Raven side. There it is. Finally, we have it. We have the rest of the memory of his father finding lady Lyanna. She’s bleeding out on a bed and the maid has a child, her child and the child of Rhaegar Targaryen.

Let’s just soak in that revelation for a moment. Finally, the fan theory has come to pass. We don’t know if he was a child born out of love, but we know he’s a Targaryen and a Stark. Which leads into Jon’s story arc this episode. He’s been named King of the North, the White Wolf, by the lords of the North. This is huge, since Sansa, who is a true Stark, is sitting next to him and no one is really acknowledging her. So peeved Sansa sits on, having a creepy Littlefinger stare at her (as he wants her as his wife and someday queen) and we’re all supposed to just feel cheery about the fact that the North is once again led by a Notherner.

I think there will be repercussions and some problems will come out of this decision in season 7, but we’ll have to wait and see what happens. But what of the one Stark that was on her way home to Westeros last we saw her? Well she’s getting her revenge on a man who very well deserves it. In an act that shocked us all, Arya kills Walter Frey where he sat watching her brother get murdered. Not only did she do that, but she also killed his sons, and cooked them into a pie (ew!). This was the most satisfying moment in the show, but also a sad scene. We see the once innocent and strong Arya, become a murderer and instead of feeling pain from killing someone, she smiles.

That smile and the roar of dragons lead us into the next season of Game of Thrones, but sadly, we have a very long year to wait for the show to return. Keep an eye out for any news of the coming seasons here!

Photo Credit: HBO Entertainment