Before I begin, I’d like to preface my review with a fair warning. If you have not finished watching Game of Thrones Season 7, stop reading now. There will be many, many, many spoilers ahead.

I would also like to add a second warning. You will almost definitely disagree with what I have to say, so please take the fragility of your ego into consideration before continuing.

So, Season 7 of Game of Thrones was kind of a disappointment, however, I genuinely enjoyed three parts.

1. Jaime Lannister, who succeeds at being a legend and a complex character at the same time
2. Euron Greyjoy, who succeeds at just being a legend.
3. Cersei Lannister, see number 1.

That’s right. You will not find a Stark or Targaryen on my list. Why? Because in my opinion (and I am in the opinions section of the Courier so you have to respect what I have to say) Daenerys has been a let-down since Season 3 and Benioff and Weiss butchered the Stark family (metaphorically this time, not literally) and their storylines.

So I guess I’ll start with the Starks. First, I was expecting Jon Snow, who has been my favorite character for a long time, to be rolling hot off his anointment as “King in the North” with some deft diplomacy and leadership as he slices wights and takes names. However, the Jon I got was kind of a wimpy, Daenerys-adoring, idiot. He didn’t seem at all capable of leadership, and I guess that’s in order to flesh out his character, but I saw what the directors were trying to do. Jon Snow, my Jon, was being molded into a supporting character for the likes of Daenerys and Sansa. So in short, he’s going the way of another forgotten lead, Delbarton’s own Tyrion Lannister. And, frankly, this makes me really sad and is a waste of a character as Jon Snow thrives best when he is the solitary warrior (i.e. north of the Wall). Also, I must discuss that romantic scene with Jon and Daenerys at the end? First of all, she’s your aunt. Second of all, I guess Ygritte never existed, right? “I am yours and you are mine” (Ygritte, Season 3 Episode 7). “I am yours and you are mine and your aunt is also yours, I guess” (Ygritte’s ghost, Season 7 Episode 8, probably).

Next up, my quarrel with the death of Petyr Baelish. I’ll start with a little bit of background on the character. Young Petyr is born as the heir to the smallest of the “Fingers”, which are peninsulas in the Vale of Arryn, hence his nickname “Littlefinger”. The man was born to virtually no money and no right to any royalty. He was essentially raised by the Tully’s of Riverrun, and fell in love with Catelyn Tully, later Catelyn Stark. Yet, as he lacked physical prowess, Catelyn chose the brawny Eddard Stark over Baelish. With no money to his name, Baelish moved to King’s Landing and worked his way up the economic and social ladder through hard work in a highly competitive business, (he owed the town’s premier bordello) until he was eventually admitted to the council of the King. Due to his keen intellectual acumen, he was able to dodge many violent insurrections and always chose the correct side, while still maintaining a love for Catelyn specifically and for the Stark family generally. He eventually went on to protect Sansa Stark, usurps the insane Lysa Arryn from the “Seat of the Vale”, and crush Ramsay Bolton at the Battle of Winterfell before graciously giving the castle back to the Stark family. And what does he get for all his magnanimity? A slit throat. If you are truly a patriotic, capitalist, God-fearing American, you cannot dislike Petyr Baelish.

I know this has been quite a diatribe, so I’ll finish up with something I genuinely enjoyed about this season: the end of the Martells. I think we can all agree that Oberyn Martell was sick, right? Sarcastic, fearless, Lannister-hating, and defiant; all the qualities we want in a lead character. But, then he got killed. So we were then tortured with the Season 5 storyline in Dorne with Doran, Ellaria Sand and the Sand Snakes. And if that wasn’t enough, Ellaria and the Sand Snakes are back, hot off the murder of their whole family, to join up with the other female leads of the show for a big “girl power” push in Westeros. The only problem is that the Sand Snakes are less than admirable, despite their gender. They killed Doran Martell, a man trying to maintain peace in his kingdom, and Myrcella Baratheon, a little girl. So, you can say I was quite happy when the absolute beast that is Euron Greyjoy dispatched two of the assassins pretty quickly then left Cersei to deal with Ellaria and the last of the Snakes. This scene was one of the rawest and straight up malignant of Cersei Lannister ever recorded. And I loved every minute of it. Not that I’m sadistic but villains are extremely interesting and I just like to see the “good guys” lose once in a while. 

(Look for the next installment of Aidan’s Game of Thrones recap soon)