So after many years of wanting to throw a GoT theme party, we are finally going to have one – complete with costumes. The occasion is, of course, the premiere of Season 7 on the 16th of this month. I am going to be preparing a dinner of some sort based on A Feast of Ice and Fire and maybe a few other recipes from the Inn at the Crossroads site. Hopefully this will be the first of many.
So anyway… I have had Game of Thrones on the brain lately and have been thinking about what we might expect in Season 7 (and maybe Season 8).
First off, remember way back when we were talking about Valyrian steel swords and who had them? And how important they would be in the future? Well, I am guessing that future is just about upon us, and we will be seeing some pretty epic fights with the wights and White Walkers sometime in the 13 episodes (total) of the next two seasons. And as we now know, Valyrian steel (or dragonsteel, as it is sometimes called) can kill White Walkers just as dragonglass (obsidian) can.
So one way to think of it is this: who is even capable of defending themselves against the army of the dead and their White Walker masters?
Jon Snow: the new King in the North has Longclaw, formerly of House Mormont. It makes me a little sad to see that Lady Lyanna (and her cousin Jorah, who may see her again soon) now have no family Valyrian steel. After all, the Starks lost their family sword to the Lannisters. We know where one of those swords is (see below) but I can’t help but wonder what happened to the other Valyrian steel sword they made from Ice. I mean the one Joffrey named Widow’s Wail or something equally stupid before he chopped up the book at his wedding. What happened to that blade? Who has it now?
Samwell Tarly: he has Heartsbane, his ancestral family sword, although I can’t say I am totally confident in his ability to use it. And he also knows about dragonglass. And since he is at the Citadel, working on his maester’s chain, he will probably learn more about the White Walkers. I anticipate that at some point he will learn something valuable and need to pass it on to the Night’s Watch and/or Jon Snow (once he learns that the two are no longer connected).
Brienne of Tarth: she has Oathkeeper, one of the swords made from Ice. And she will undoubtedly use it to protect herself and Sansa Stark. I just hope that she does not end up using it against anyone else in the North now that all the Boltons are gone. But with building tension between Jon and Sansa, who knows?
Arya Stark: in what may be a spoiler of sorts, recent photos showing the four remaining Stark children showed that at some point Arya would come to possess the Valyrian steel dagger that injured her mother – the so-called Catspaw Blade – the dragonbone and Valyrian steel knife that was used in an attempt on Bran and Catlyn’s lives and thus precipitated the conflict between the Lannisters and the Starks. The last time we saw the dagger, it was in King’s Landing, being shown to Varys and Littlefinger in an attempt to identify it. Littlefinger tried to pretend that it belonged to Tyrion Lannister, but in reality it had belonged to King Robert Baratheon, who was the one who won it in a bet with Littlefinger. And it was Joffrey who took it and gave it to the assassin who then tried to kill Bran. Does everyone know that? I doubt it. So it could be interesting to see how this item comes to be in Arya’s hands.
There are supposedly several hundred Valyrian steel swords left in the Seven Kingdoms, but we don’t know the location or names of most of them. We are still waiting to find out what happened to the other known Valyrian steel blades.
Second, we know that as already mentioned, obsidian is going to become a hell of a lot more important, especially to those who don’t have Valyrian steel. The only place that we know for sure has lots of dragonglass is the island of Dragonstone, where the Targaryens had first established themselves before taking all of Westeros. Dragonstone has lots and lots of obsidian all over the place, and guess where Dany is supposed to be landing when she arrives in Westeros? That’s right – Dragonstone. So someone needs to make a LOT of obsidian arrow heads, spear points, and other weapons. Hopefully we will see that happen soon.
Third, the only other thing that will be valuable against the army of the dead will be fire. Thus, Dany’s dragons will obviously have an important role to play. But something occurred to me recently that has made me re-evaluate the possible fate of some supporting characters. I was thinking about fire and its importance against wights, and I thought to myself “man, it would be handy to have that flaming sword that Thoros and Beric had cooked up” and then it hit me. Duh – why else would GRRM have put all the stuff about the flaming sword in the story in the first place? Of course we will see it again! But with whom, and how often? Is this another trick that Thoros will “teach” to Melisandre, so she can pass it along like she did the resurrection trick? I sure hope so. I expect to see some more flaming swords, and if we don’t, I will be a bit disappointed. Flaming Valyrian steel swords, now THAT would be a sight!
~Geoff
The Books are Taking Over... 