*edit: Holy hell sorry for the massive wall of text. Once I started typing replies to everyone I quickly realized it was getting out of hand. Yikes! So many good thoughts I wanted to respond to though!
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I haven't replied to everyone in a couple of days ... busy week! I am carefully reading everyone's insightful thoughts. I appreciate all the variety of ideas we have because they are all plausible. This second half of the season is going to be really crazy!
Here are my replies to some individual remarks:
Admin : I think you may be right about the Blackfish being a convenient plot device to get Brienne into the Riverlands part of her story from the books since they've changed it so much. I do hope we get to see a decent amount of him before they probably kill him off. They are bringing back characters we haven't seen and doing that a lot now.
atimeforwolves : Oldtown is a good guess for Jorah looking for a cure, and since he's no longer exiled from Westeros (do those sorts of rules only apply while that king is alive?) - he could go back to Westeros, especially knowing Daenerys is on her way there eventually anyways. But if he wants to return to her as she commanded, he should probably stay in Essos.
Sam crossing paths with Jorah would be awesome - I like that idea and a great way for a friend of Daenerys to meet with a friend of Jon's so eventually the two can meet on even terms with someone to speak for them.
archiechvyalthan : Sansa's lie is curious. I've heard a lot of theories on why she did it. I honestly don't believe it was anything bad or against Jon. Having her own ambitions is a GOOD thing - finally!
I've heard others say that about the Faceless Men no liking Daenerys for various reasons - the least of which being she's Valyrian and bringing dragons back which they may not like considering their foundation as slaves of Valyria. But, knowing she's fighting
against Slavery might win their favor too. I don't know if they'd ever meet or cross paths but I hope it's on good terms not bad.
I don't understand the modern day motivations of the White Walkers but as you say, being unnatural and mocking life seems to be a for certain thing now that we know their origins. I would love to find out what went wrong after the CotF made them! Do you think the White Walkers killed them all into extinction there in the cave or there are others still alive elsewhere?
I agree with you that the Three Eyed Raven's story was tragic and clearly he knew his end was coming and tried hard to get Bran prepared in time. I'm a little disappointed we didn't learn any backstory on him. It's implied he's Bloodraven in the book but I was hoping for absolute confirmation on the show. Perhaps we'll find out later?
@witchy : I am so conflicted about Littlefinger's real motivations. If he truly wanted her as wife/lover/Catelyn2.0 he could have done that easily enough without taking her to the Boltons. Yes I see how he might think having her as Wardeness of the North was best first, but how did he intend to get rid of Ramsay and Roose if he wanted her for himself? It's really convoluted that way so I have to suspect Littlefinger doesn't really care that much about Sansa in that way and that his only ultimate goal is to destroy as many noble houses as he can on the way in his chaos theory. If he gets Sansa in the end, great. He didn't even seem to mourn losing Catelyn so I doubt he has deep feelings for Sansa or anyone for that matter.
I too think the Vale Lords will go to Winterfell anyways because Robin said they needed to help his cousin right in front of Lord Royce so they know this is their Lord's command, not Littlefinger's, right? Even though Sansa told him to go away, I'm sure he's not going to and if he's all the way up there ... where are the Vale Lords anyways... marching slowly on their way? He's not going to go tell them to turn around and go home.
I don't really know if Arya is going to get an assassin job for someone she knows or one of our main characters at this point. Maybe in the book she does, but it seems like on the show, she's going to fail and not kill the actress and that's going to be the last of the FM journey for her.
Definitely agree with you and others that the mark on Bran means something bigger than just the Night King gaining entrance to the tree cave. If he now has the power to break that ward, he probably has the power to break the wall's wards.
boojam : As I said to archie, I think maybe the Faceless Men would approve of Daenerys because she's trying to end slavery in Essos and they come from slavery background. But as he said, if she's seen as the symbol of the God of Life, they may take exception to that as representatives of the God of Death. She's also a Valyrian "Dragonlord" who were the ones to make Valyrian slaves who suffered in the mines under the volcanoes that spawned the first Faceless Man so I imagine their history would not have them looking too kindly on her.
As for Jaqen being in the dungeons of King's Landing intentionally, I have always liked that idea - in some form or another. That he was wearing another face and infiltrating (FM would make the best spies with so many disguise faces!) things at King's Landing. I am hoping we find out more but it looks like Arya's time with them is about to come to a rather rapid close soon. Who knows what will happen to her when she returns to Westeros!
kingeomer : I highly doubt Littlefinger gets control of Winterfell. He doesn't have as much pull now with Cersei and she's so preoccupied with her own mess there in KL with the Tyrells and Sparrows that I would bet gold Littlefinger doesn't even factor her in anymore. There's also the chance that someone lets leak how he and Olenna Tyrell killed Joffrey so soon she may be wanting his head too.
Definitely a test for Arya in that play. The opposite thing is to show how skewed the perception of the common people is about what went on in King's Landing. Probably too that this troupe is in Essos where word-of-mouth and gossip is easily distorted. I felt like it was also a propaganda play to help make certain parties look worse than others perhaps. Funded by whom and why is the question there. Maybe nothing more than ignorant people making a spoof for laughs though.
I hope you're right that Theon/Yara do go to Meereen and make it to Daenerys before Euron. Someone needs to warn her about him! Dany will never marry Euron for ships though she might play him like another Kraznys fool.
You may be right about Jorah's grayscale being too far advanced to find a cure. It's moving up his arm ... which seems slower than on the body/face (core area) so maybe he still has time. Others have said it was noted in the books that Shireen was cured because she was a child and easier for it to heal or something. I do believe it's so he can have one last great sacrifice for Daenerys though I have no idea how or where. I don't think they'd have sent him away to find a cure if they just meant him to die soon though so we'll probably see him most of next season too.
Kinvara unnerving Varys was definitely a curious thing. I am quite sure that was entirely intentional on the show's part so we have a future story plot there to look forward to. I love the tension between them so that's great!
"Neutralizing" the magic of the wall is a good way of putting it for the mark on Bran. It may not cause the wall to fall but maybe the White Walkers destroy it anyways with their undead army. I'm willing to bet it's more a matter of just passing through it beyond those wards and Bran's mark may do that. Sucks he has to be the one to cause this all!
King Tommen : Others have agreed that Blackfish is a way to get Brienne south again. Do you think the Freys will hold on to Riverrun? I tend to think their days are numbered soon.
Littlefinger definitely still has a hold on Sansa and ingratiating himself was a good move because she has a kind heart. I hope you're right that Sansa does not 'make up' with him in any way and sees him for the manipulator he really is even if he does help them win back Winterfell.
breakfest : I hope it's not really a wedge that comes between Sansa and Jon, so soon after their reunion they need to be a solidified front. I do agree though it seems Littlefinger is trying to cause that wedge. He probably knows Jon isn't going to take kindly to him at all and is a threat to his power-play over Sansa. That little remark "half brother" had to be a clue to that. Sansa has changed though. If anything good could come from the horrific things she's endured is that she's learned the true meaning of her family and loyalty and home. She's not the same naive girl Littlefinger took to Winterfell at all. I can't wait to see her pull that rug out from under him!