Spoilers Ahead.

DRAGONSTONE
The episode opens with Jon’s arrival at Dragonstone where Jon and Tyrion greet each other, before the Northerners hand over their weapons. Melisandre stays away from the meeting telling Varys that she has brought Ice and Fire together. She intends to travel for Volantis, Varys doesn’t want her to return, but she insists that she will return to die in Westeros, as will Varys. Jon and Daenerys meet one another, where there is antagonism over Jon’s title as King in the North. Jon refuses to bend the knee and insists that Daenerys need his help to defeat the army of the dead. She declares that Jon is in open rebellion before ending their meeting. Varys arrives with news of the attack on the Greyjoy and Martell fleet.

Jon and Tyrion talk on the cliffs. Tyrion tells Jon that he does believe Jon has seen the White Walkers, and that he shouldn’t give up easily. Jon admits to Tyrion that what he really wants at Dragonstone is Obsidian. Tyrion advises Daenerys that it’s a good idea to give it to him, as it would help foster a good relationship and keep Jon occupied. Daenerys questions what Ser Davos meant by ‘a knife through the heart’ whilst arguing Jon’s case earlier, although she does agree to allow Jon to mine the obsidian.

Daenerys wants to find and attack Euron’s ships with her dragons, but her council won’t allow her because she would be alone and, even if the dragons won’t be harmed, she could easily be killed.

THE NARROW SEA
The Greyjoy men loyal to Yara rescue Theon from wreckage of the battle. He tells them that he tried to save his sister, but the know he would be dead if he had, and turn away from him for his cowardice.

KING’S LANDING
In the capital Euron parades the captured Tyene Sand, Ellaria, and Yara through the streets, reviving an ovation. He offers Cersei the gift of justice for her murdered daughter, Myrcella. Cersei promises Euron that she will marry him once the war is won. Cersei tells Ellaria that she understands what drives her, that desire for vengeance for a loved one, as it is what drives Cersei as well. She enacts that vengance by killing Ellaria’s daughter Tyene in the same way that Ellaria killed Myrcella, with the poisoned kiss, and leaves them in the cell so Ellaria can watch her daughter die as Jaime had to.

Cersei welcomes Tycho Nestoris, a visitor from the Iron Bank of Braavos, who seeks to reclaim their loans. Cersei tries to win him over, and offers to house him at King’s Landing to prove she can pay her debts. Nestoris grants her a fortnight to do so.

THE NORTH
At Winterfell Ser Yohn Royce tells Sansa about the lack of food at Winterfell, but Sansa makes arrangements to provide enough by bringing in store from all over The North, especially if people will need to take refuge in Winterfell. Littlefinger advises Sansa that they cannot ignore Cersei to the south, and that they need to consider everything that is happening not just the White Walkers. Right then Bran arrives back at Winterfell for a moving reunion with Sansa. Bran tells Sansa he cannot be Lord of Winterfell as he’s the Three Eyed Raven, but that he’s still learning. He shows off his power by proving that he has seen how Ramsey treated her, referencing her wedding night.

OLD TOWN
At the Citadel the Archmaester looks over Ser Jorah’s cured condition. Jorah plays innocent over Sam curing him, instead jokingly proclaiming it to be the rest he had. Jorah tells Sam that he will return to Daenerys, and that he is indebted to Sam. In the evening the Archmaester commends Sam’s work on curing Jorah and tells him he should be proud. The Archmaester rewards Sam saving a life by not expelling him, and sets him back to work copying some old scrolls.

CASTERLY ROCK
Grey Worm’s attack begins on the well-prepared Casterly Rock. Tyrion’s plan is to smuggle men in through the sewers, which he used to use to sneak people in under the nose of his father, and open the gates from the inside. This proves to be successful, but Grey Worm finds far fewer men than there should have been. This is when he finds Euron’s fleet attacking their ships.

HIGHGARDEN
In fact the rest of the Lannister army is attacking Olenna Tyrell at Highgarden, lead by Jaime, Bronn, and Randyll Tarly. They sack the city, and Jaime has a confrontation with Olenna. Jaime tells her that this was a trick he’d learned from Robb Stark. It was worth sacrificing Casterly Rock for the Lannisters as its only real value was sentimental, and Grey Worm would never be able to hold it with the ships destroyed and a limited food supply. Olenna warns Jaime that Cersei will ruin him, something that he accepts is probably true. Rather than have her face a cruel death Jaime offers Olenna some poisoned wine, which she accepts, but not before revealing herself as the one responsible for Joffrey’s death.

Review
The Queen’s Justice was really an episode of two halves, the first of which focused more on Jon and Daenerys finally meeting, and the second where major moves were made in their war. This was truly the episode where Cersei came to play, and completely outmaneuvered Tyrion’s plan. As I predicted last time out Jon and Daenerys’ meeting certainly didn’t go as smoothly as many would have hoped. The antagonism between them is certainly still present, although Tyrion appears to be the one who is bringing the two together. It will be interesting to see if Daenerys will now act on Olenna’s advice from last episode to not rest so heavily on Tyrion’s council after his plan to attack Casterly Rock backfired so spectacularly. This could easily be something that sparks Daenerys to pull away from Tyrion, and closer to become the mad Queen. Alternatively it may force her to ally with Jon as she’s has lost the rest of her supporters in Westeros. And speaking of Tyrion’s failure what an episode this was for Cersei. Not only has she got revenge on the two people who murdered her children, but she also took Highgarden allowing her to replenish her gold reserves, and repay the Iron Bank of Braavos. However her hubris does appear to growing, she is growing far more open about her relationship with Jaime, and has currently left Ellaria Sand and Yara Greyjoy alive in their cells, which could well come back to bite her. Just look what Cersei achieved after not being killed by the High Sparrow. In the North Sansa is proving just what an adept leader she is, whereas Jon has been fixated on one thing, the White Walkers. Bran’s return wasn’t as joyous as many would have hoped, and he rather cruelly brought up Sansa being sexually assaulted by Ramsey to prove his abilities as a seer. This was also the episode where Littlefinger made an impression on her with his talk about ‘what happens if the living survive?’ showing that the Starks cannot afford to just ignore Cersei. And it may just be another little chink in his attempts to win her over. Overall this was a brilliant episode. The Queen’s Justice had some huge moves being made, particularly by Cersei, who has firmly put herself back in the fight for Westeros when it all seemed fairly hopeless for her an episode and a half ago. I do think that the seeds of doubt are starting to grow for Jaime, and will probably lead to the popular theory about Jaime killing Cersei. The short footage we got of the Unsullied attacking Casterly was pretty epic, and the switch to reveal that Jaime was leading the Lannister attack on Highgarden was spectacular. This was back-to-back incredible episodes for Game of Thrones.

9/10