Game of Thrones: Seasons 5-7 Rewrite

 

Here is my long-awaited re-write for Game of Thrones, Seasons 5-7. I've long waited to make a re-write of these seasons, considering I fell in love with Game of Thrones back then where there were four seasons, only for the fifth season to piss me off, and the seasons that followed that only served to irk me more. Granted, I'll be using the show's canon for this, not the books, but there are some elements from the books that I will be bringing in. This re-write covers Seasons 5 and 6, as well as the first half of Season 7 which ends with Dany annihilating the Lannister forces.

After Season 4, the writing for Game of Thrones seemed to be more than a little…...off. Seasons 5 and 6 now have this reputation of not being as good as Season 4 when it came to the logic of the story. Several examples were the Dornish subplot which was considered a waste of time and was highly unpopular with the fans, who expected something great after the success of Season 4. There was the Stannis Baratheon subplot which was thoroughly ruined by the show-writers hating Stannis Baratheon and making him do stupid things during his invasion of the North, like killing his own daughter to calm a snowstorm using the magic of King’s Blood. The famed war veteran, Brynden Tully, retakes Riverrun, only to die like a scrub while fighting the Lannister troops when he becomes outmatched. In the books, the Dornish subplot was a complex web of politics, while Stannis absolutely refuses to burn people for magic, even though he captured two members of a hated royal house: the heirs to House Greyjoy of Pyke, Prince Theon Greyjoy and Princess Asha Greyjoy. Stannis in the show murdered the daughter he loved to calm a storm. Stannis in the books could have murdered the Greyjoy heirs and gotten himself the magic he needs, as well as the love of the Northerners who hate the Greyjoys, but he refused to, even though burning them would have been the pragmatic thing to do. Instead, he shoots down all requests for a blood sacrifice and just tells his men to keep praying instead. And when faced with severe odds, Brynden Tully just chose to flee instead of dying a pointless death. And of course, let’s not even talk about what happened at Dorne.

Petyr Baelish was also a victim of this drop in quality of writing. Instead of making moves that would pragmatically increase his power and play off from the chaos that he created, he makes moves that make no sense whatsoever and just make him easier to hate, giving characters like Sansa a good justification to betray and kill him. His actions began to step away from what makes sense and what would gain him more power, to actions that are predictably dull and instead, serve to get him in danger and eventually, get him killed.

First off, as Season 5 starts, Baelish takes Sansa with him to the North. To Bolton-occupied Winterfell, where he plans to ally with Roose Bolton by offering Sansa as a wife to his recently-legitimized bastard son, Ramsay Snow, who was now Lord Ramsay Bolton. Littlefinger explains it to Sansa by saying that this was her shot at revenge, at avenging Robb Stark: seduce and turn Ramsay against his father, and when Stannis arrives in Winterfell, Stannis will kill the Boltons and make her the new Warden of the North. Stannis has the larger army and was a seasoned battlefield commander, so betting on him was the safe choice at the time.

Of course, this backfires, as Sansa is unable to manipulate Ramsay, and he rapes her on their wedding night, while the failure of the Stannis subplot leads to him losing the battle and barely giving Sansa the chance to escape with a mangled Theon Greyjoy. This then leads to Sansa chewing out Baelish when they meet in Season 6. Baelish tries to make it up to her, by offering the Vale Army and then telling her about her uncle Brynden “Blackfish” Tully raising his own banners in the Riverlands and fighting the Freys. When Jon fights Ramsay’s army, they are outmatched, but Baelish arrives in time to save them with the Knights of the Vale. He then tries to reveal to Sansa his plan of wanting to sit on the Iron Throne with her as his Queen, another moment of weakness, to which Sansa replies by friendzoning him, just as Cat had done years before. Sansa instead smiles as Jon is proclaimed King in the North, with Baelish looking rather peeved in the background.

If this was Baelish’s plan all along, to get Sansa to ally with Stannis and make her the Warden of the North, he could have taken Sansa to Stannis directly. That would have won him Stannis’ trust, and it would have made more sense. Stannis could use all the legitimacy he could get his hands on in the North, since his ethnicity (Andal) and religion (Lord of Light) alienated him from the Northern Stark loyalists who worship the old gods of the North and who bow to no one that isn’t named Stark. By taking Sansa to Stannis, Littlefinger could perhaps establish himself as a man of honor to Stannis, and perhaps Stannis, desperate for all the help he can get, might overlook Petyr’s shady history and at least make an official alliance with him to make ends meet. There was absolutely NOTHING Petyr could gain by making a deal with the Boltons.

Also, shouldn’t Baelish hate the Boltons and the Freys above all? They killed his girlfriend Catelyn. Why in the hell would he give them the only person that reminds him of Catelyn left on the planet, when they’re responsible for killing her in the first place? Shouldn’t he be teeming with anger at the very mention of their names, let alone the sight of them? And if I were Roose Bolton, I wouldn’t make deals with Petyr, either. This guy is well-known to be slimy as all hell, he’s sabotaging the very same Lannister royal family that helped him in the past, and Roose was part of the plot that killed Petyr’s one true love, Catelyn Stark. She was there, on that hall, screaming as Roose himself killed her pride and joy right before her own eyes, and he was friends with the man whose son slit Cat’s throat. Roose even had a Frey wife. If anything, direct contact with these people would be the last thing Baelish would want, let alone giving them the last person on Earth that even resembles Catelyn, his last remembrance of her.

REWRITE FOR SEASON 5-6
If I were writing the plot, it would be as such: Petyr is taking Sansa to the North, to the Wall, to meet up with her “bastard brother” Jon Snow and King Stannis Baratheon. He’d explain that with Stannis’ help, Sansa would be able to retake Winterfell from the Boltons, and if she gets Northern houses to side with him, he will install her as ruler of the North once the Boltons are gone. They go by land and not by sea, because a storm came upon the Vale’s ports and they needed to get to Stannis now to get the advantage they desire. The Boltons catch wind of it and ambush Petyr’s entourage, kidnapping Sansa Stark and leaving Baelish for dead. Petyr and a few others survive, and Baelish sends a messenger to the North for Jon and Stannis, to convey that he tried to bring Sansa to Stannis, but the Boltons have kidnapped her. Petyr himself rushes back down to the Vale to mass troops against the Boltons. Stannis would use the news to launch a crusade to rescue Ned Stark’s daughter from the vile Boltons, thinking that if he rescues Sansa Stark, the North will acknowledge him as ruler, while Baelish back at the Vale masses the Knights of the Vale to strike at the Boltons and rescue Sansa.

I would portray Ramsay Bolton to be smarter than he is in the show. Ramsay would be playing both sides. He feigns loyalty to his father, weds (and beds) Sansa Stark, but he would use third-party mooks to feed Stannis information on the Winterfell defenses. When the Baratheons march near Winterfell, Ramsay reasons with Roose Bolton that if they just bunker down and let the snowstorm do their dirty work, Stannis will merely leave and come back once the storms recede. Sansa is partially responsible for Ramsay's new ideas, since she told Ramsay that the North won't respect the Boltons unless they score a major victory. Most of the North sees the Boltons as traitors who were at the right place and time, which doesn't qualify them for leadership. Sansa told Ramsay that if they want to rule the North, the first thing they have to do is inspire fear-and what better way to inspire fear than to go out and defeat one of Westeros' finest military commanders? (Sansa was secretly trying to get the Boltons killed by Stannis so she can break free.) Such talk inspired Ramsay to think of a way to attack Stannis instead of letting winter weaken Stannis' resolve. Ramsay convinces his father that to take out Stannis, they have to make Winterfell look vulnerable and get him to attack, so they can ambush and kill him. Then the Baratheon men, mostly made up of sellswords, would start fighting with each other over who is in command, and the Boltons can finish them off. Ramsay forces Stannis to act, by burning his supplies (with 500 men, not 20) and having a few “defectors” who feign sympathy to Sansa telling Stannis about the inner workings of Winterfell and a way in. This way, Stannis is forced to march forward, and he has an incentive to, because a weakness has opened up in the enemy defenses. Stannis sends Ser Davos Seaworth, the Red Priestess Lady Melisandre, and his family back to the Wall before the battle.

Stannis besieges Winterfell, managing to make his way inside. Ramsay refuses to reinforce his father when the time comes for an ambush, which leads to Stannis killing Roose Bolton in combat. This then makes Ramsay the new Warden of the North and head of House Bolton. However, prior to the battle, Brienne of Tarth joined the Baratheon army, burying the hatchet with Stannis to rescue Sansa Stark, and the two manage to do so. Ramsay’s ambush finally materializes after his father dies, with Bolton, Whitehill, and Karstark troops ambushing the Baratheon mercenaries besieging Winterfell with cavalry, and most of the Baratheon army is slain, with Stannis and Brienne barely making it out with a token force along with Sansa Stark after setting Winterfell ablaze.

After hearing of Sansa's rape from one of his spies, Baelish and the Vale army marches North to retaliate in brutal fashion. Baelish was unable to save his dear Cat, and now his beloved Sansa got raped by a Bolton bastard. So, in this version of the story, he decides to vent his wrath on Bolton supporters in the North, with the Vale army going from castle to castle, setting fire to any castle and slaughtering any house still loyal to the Boltons, while rallying the Stark loyalists with news of Sansa’s rape. Baelish makes grandiose speeches on how the honor of the North demands they slaughter all those who are loyal to the Boltons, and the Stark loyalists eat it all up. The Bolton supporters flee for Winterfell, where Ramsay and his vassals are stationed, setting the stage for a final showdown between the Boltons and their enemies.

Stannis and company get to the Wall, catching up with Davos, Melisandre, Selyse, and Shireen Baratheon, only in time to see that Jon Snow tried to compromise with the Wildlings and he got himself killed by his fellow Night’s Watch members. Stannis and his remaining forces join with the Wildlings and Jon’s loyalists among the Night’s Watch, band together, and predictably, they slaughter the mutineers, with Stannis having them burned alive for treason instead of being hanged. Melisandre still resurrects Jon Snow, foreseeing a great destiny for him in the future. Jon and Sansa work with Stannis to gather Northern Lords to their side and repair Stannis’ army. They have better luck than they did in the show, since Stannis did kill Roose Bolton, avenging Robb Stark’s death, and he rescued Sansa Stark, giving him two badges of honor to flaunt to the Northern lords. Also, news of the Vale army slaughtering Bolton supporters make many Stark bannermen eager for revenge. They eventually link up with Petyr Baelish and the Vale forces. A month passes as the two armies link up while the Boltons have gathered a strong host in Winterfell, joined by those fleeing Petyr’s wrath. Sansa feels a tinge of respect for Baelish because he torched entire castles and slaughtered whole houses just to avenge her honor after she got raped. They march to Winterfell to end the Boltons and their allies once and for all.

They then fight with Ramsay and his Bolton forces, who are joined by Lannister reinforcements sent by Cersei Lannister, since she was delighted to hear that Ramsay raped and tormented Sansa. The battle would go as it did in the show, except the Vale forces are there from the start, and Ramsay has Lannister forces backing up his men. Ramsay tries to lure them into a trap by having them charge into a thin ice sheet, with him preparing catapults to shatter the ice, but Stannis gets wise to this and avoids the thin ice, attacking Ramsay’s forces at the center while Jon and the Stark forces work with Baelish’s Vale Knights to surround the Boltons from the sides. Ramsay notices how Stannis is the lynchpin for the other side, so he has a crossbowman sneak away and orders him to shoot Stannis from behind, and the assassin does just that, killing Stannis instantly. With the center of the allied forces breaking down as Stannis dies, Jon takes the initiative and takes command, marching up to the center of the battle line and rallying the disheartened troops, charging at Ramsay. Baelish, meanwhile, orders Yohn Royce and the Vale Knights to continue to surround the Bolton forces, cutting off Ramsay from Winterfell. The Starks and Arryns surround the Bolton-Lannister host, with the Starks pushing from the front while the Vale Knights continue to harass them from behind.

As the Bolton army gets slaughtered, the Vale Knights surround the Boltons, and Jon manages to corner Ramsay in battle. The two of them duke it out, one on one. First, Ramsay fires arrows from his bow, but Jon blocks it with a shield. Ramsay takes out a pair of swords and fights Jon, injuring him by spitting on his face  in the middle of the duel and then slashing through his torso. But Jon holds out and manages to knock away Ramsay’s blades with his own. He then tackles Ramsay and starts to beat him bloody, but then stops short of killing him as the soldiers pull him away and the battle ends. He then brings Ramsay to Winterfell to stand trial in front of the lords for Sansa’s rape and Ramsay’s other crimes, and Melisandre, knowing that the Boltons were once known as the Red Kings of the Dreadfort, persuades the Starks that he should be burned alive. Sansa agrees, and she lights the pyre that sets Ramsay ablaze. They watch as Ramsay burns to a crisp tied to a stake in the middle of Winterfell. Baelish would try to ensure Sansa’s comfort and well-being as she watches Ramsay burn to death, while the lords of the North, the Vale, and the Wildling leaders gather in Winterfell’s Great Hall.

Baelish would then propose to Sansa that with Stannis dead, the time was ripe for a Stark to claim the throne of the North, and he offers the Vale’s support. He tries to prod her to become Queen in the North, and offers his hand in marriage so that their kingdoms would be united in marriage and might, and he’d become a king. However, Sansa advises against this, as they both look over Stannis Baratheon’s corpse and the Red Priestess setting his body on a funeral  pyre, in front of his daughter and wife. (Apparently, being a very old person in reality, Melisandre can only raise one person from the dead, and she used it up on Jon Snow.) Sansa talks about all the kings she’s met, and how they all died because they became the targets of rivals and enemies. From Robert, to Joffrey, to Renly, her brother Robb, and now Stannis-all dead, because they wore the crown. She reasons that the lives of kings are dangerous, and they need a strong man for that job. She also spoke of how neither of them are warriors, and with the threat of the White Walkers from the North and the Lannisters and Freys from the South, they need a warrior king to rally behind. She then proposes that they prop up her “brother” Jon, who already gained fame for leading the army to victory after Stannis’ death, who defeated Ramsay Bolton in single combat.

Meanwhile, in the Great Hall, Selyse Baratheon pushes forward the claim of her child Shireen as the new Queen, even though the kid is shy and has no desire to rule. The Northerners want to go home now that the war is over, and the Vale Knights become disagreeable in front of the Wildlings. Jon tries to rally them and encourage them to unite against the White Walkers, and Sansa brings up news from the South, that Brynden Tully’s rebellion against the Lannisters and the Freys is still going on. The Northerners and Vale Knights turn to Petyr and Sansa, with Sansa as the Warden of the North and Baelish as the acting lord of the Vale. Baelish then talks about how they have enemies in the North and in the South, and that they need a warrior with courage and strength to lead them in battle against both. They need a warrior-king. Sansa then stands up and proclaims that Jon should be that king, as he led the battle against Ramsay an avenged both her honor and Stannis’ death. Jon saved the Wildlings, he won the war for the North, and avenged the death of Stannis Baratheon, the king that Ned Stark chose for the Iron Throne. Jon is the warrior whose courage and skill will lead them in the wars to come, both against the Lannisters, and against the dead. Sansa calls Jon the most worthy candidate to be the rightful King in the North. The nobles follow suit, and one by one, from Lyanna Mormont, to Wyman Manderly, to Yohn Royce and Davos Seaworth, as well as the Vale Lords, the Wildlings, and even Shireen Baratheon, they all begin to repeat Sansa’s chant of “the King in the North!”, as Sansa holds up Jon’s hand and proclaims him the new king.

However, a couple hours after the lords celebrated their new monarch, a knock on the door followed by a servant comes in, saying that they have important visitors. A figure walks in, draped in a black hood with a white mask, accompanied by Brynden Tully, the Blackfish, and a young girl with a hood. The figure speaks in a ghastly, but clearly feminine voice, asking to see her eldest daughter. The figure unmasks herself to be none other than Catelyn Stark, brought back from the dead by the Red Priest Thoros, just as Melisandre brought Jon Snow back to life. Sansa and Petyr both bolt up from their seats, surprised at Catelyn’s survival, and the child with the hood reveals herself to be none other than Arya Stark. The sisters hug together, while Baelish looks at his old love, face to face, with a look of fear and sadness on Petyr’s eyes, while Catelyn’s face is a look of somber dignity behind white eyes and supernatural voice, courtesy of the fire that sustains her life.

While the war in the North was waged by Baelish, Stannis, and Jon, Brynden retook his ancestral home of Riverrun, only for him and his army to sneak away as Lord Edmure, a captive of the Freys, persuaded most of the Tully forces to stand down and they surrendered the castle to Lannister forces led by Jaime Lannister. But it was all a trick. After Jaime and his forces feasted with the Freys and left back for the capital, a second rebellion, worse than the first, broke out, with the Brotherhood Without Banners rallying more of the commoners to their side, while Houses Mallister and Blackwood struck at Frey troops all across the countryside.

Arya Stark appeared in the Twin Towers of Frey after a feast, disguised as a servant girl, and she slit the throat of Walder Frey when he was alone, in a similar manner as to how her mother got killed. Stealing his face, she then invited the Frey males to gather in the halls and drink poisoned Arbor Gold wine, and they all choked to death right in front of her. She then freed Lord Edmure and he took control of both Riverrun and the Twins, since his wife was a Frey girl, who bore him a son, and he had the best claim to it now that most of the Freys were dead. Arya’s deeds were masterminded by her mother, Catelyn, and she planned out Brynden’s movements as well, using him to distract the Lannisters and Freys while she gathered the forces of the Brotherhood and masterminded the downfall of House Frey with her daughter, now trained by the Faceless Men assassins in the art of killing. Once the Freys were all gone, Edmure rallied the forces of the Riverlands to his side, expelling the Lannister garrison at Riverrun and taking control of the Riverlands once again. After that, Catelyn, Brynden, and Arya left for the North to join Sansa.

SEASON 7
Season 7 of the show has Baelish finally falling down to being a scrub. While some of his scenes were great, and indeed, stunning, the logic of his actions as was dictated by the show-writers made no sense. As it starts, he tries to make nice with Jon Snow, a man who knows that he sold Sansa to the Boltons two seasons ago, so obviously, Jon reintroduces Petyr to the patented Stark chokehold that Ned unleashed upon him when he told Ned that Cat was hiding in his brothel. Make a whore out of a Stark girl, and the men strangle you like you owe them money. Then, after Jon leaves to speak with Daenerys Targaryen, Petyr continues to give advice to Sansa, some of which is good, but then in comes Bran Stark, whose powers of visions and memory can tap into practically any moment in the past, which means that every dirty deed Littlefinger has done, which was shown when Baelish tried to sweet-talk Bran and Bran spits back Littlefinger’s trademark line, “Chaos is a Ladder”-something that he only said to Varys in private. As I said, at that point, the only logical thing he could have done is get on board a ship and sail for Braavos, since if he tries to go to the Vale, Bran can inform the Vale Lords in Winterfell that Baelish killed Lysa Arryn, their leader.

If Baelish runs to Cersei’s territory, the Vale having declared itself for Winterfell will indicate to Cersei that he’s a traitor, which means that she will kill him, and Cersei’s rival Daenerys has no reason to trust him. But still, he remains at Winterfell, as Arya Stark also shows up and shows that she has combat skills that rival Brienne of Tarth, who was no slouch herself. So, he’s with a woman whose father he betrayed, and she now has a brother who sees everything and a sister who can kill almost anyone, and he still tried to play them against each other, by planting Sansa’s letter to Robb from Cersei, thinking that will turn Sansa and Arya against each other. Instead of realizing the obvious: that he’s outmatched and he needs to leave. He still thinks he can play against a woman who hates him because he sold her to their worst enemy, an all-seeing boy, and a girl who kills people.

As I said in a previous post, Baelish’s death scene was well-acted, to be true, but it wasn’t logical given how smart the guy was. Well, the obvious happens. Just as Littlefinger thinks that he managed to turn Sansa against Arya and keep Sansa on his side, Arya and Sansa turn on him, laying down charge after charge and even having Bran confirm what happened by repeating lines Baelish told Ned. They even manage to get him to confess to killing Lysa, but he tries to spin it as saving Sansa’s life. With him losing the audience of lords, Petyr turns to the Vale Knights and tries to have them escort him back to the Vale, but to no avail, as Yohn Royce and the Vale Knights admired Sansa’s leadership in the North, and Baelish just confessed to killing their liege lady, Lysa Arryn. Baelish is reduced to a sobbing wreck before Arya puts him out of his misery, with Sansa thanking him for all the lessons he taught her on politics.

SEASON 7 REWRITE
Obviously, that’s not how I would have proceeded with Baelish in Season 7. Going off from my version of Season 6, Season 7 starts with Bran Stark making it back with Rickon Stark to Winterfell, reuniting with the rest of the family. They’re both shocked to see Catelyn still alive, but Cat now rarely speaks, using her daughter Arya as the person speaking on her behalf. When news of Bran’s powers as the Three-Eyed Raven comes to them, Cat decides to test out Bran’s powers, and on a whim, asks him about what Petyr was up to this whole time. Bran tells Cat about all of what Petyr did in the past few seasons, sabotaging the Lannisters by placing the Tyrells in the capital, killing Joffrey, the man who killed Ned, trying to get Sansa and Stannis together to wipe out the Boltons, and finally, how he betrayed Ned and killed Lysa and Jon Arryn. She also learned of the good he did by trying to advise Ned to make realistic decisions to survive as well as getting Sansa out of the capital. Catelyn has Petyr brought in, and threatens to reveal all this information to the world and have Petyr killed unless he does everything that she wants. With both the Northern and Vale Lords under Catelyn’s thumb, Petyr obeys, saying that he loved Catelyn in the first place, and that he will do anything she asks of him. Catelyn tells Petyr that she expects the best from him, and if he should ever fail her or betray them again, there would be nowhere for him to run. Catelyn spares Petyr based on their former friendship as children and because Petyr has plenty of agents that can be used to assassinate or pass on messages. Catelyn finally marries Petyr in the Godswood, and he swears to be loyal to her for the rest of his days.

(Daenerys Targaryen's arc from Seasons 5-6 would be the same as the show's, except for Ser Barristan Selmy surviving the attack by the Sons of the Harpy and helping Tyrion secure and defend Meereen before the Targaryen forces invade Westeros. Dany also trains with and tries to master Drogon in the wild before getting captured by the Dothraki, which explains how she can control him. She then uses Drogon later on to cow the Dothraki into serving her and naming her the Khal of Khals, instead of having her burn and kill the Khals, which made no sense as to why the Dothraki would follow her after that.)

When King Jon gets an invitation from Tyrion Lannister to meet Daenerys Targaryen in Dragonstone, Catelyn recommends that Baelish and some of the Vale knights go with him. Daenerys wants an alliance to finish off the Lannisters, and the Starks want in on it. Dragonstone also has plenty of dragon glass, which can be used against the undead and their White Walker masters, which will be useful against the army of the dead once they breach the Wall. Catelyn wants Petyr to serve as Jon’s top diplomat to the dragon Queen, and she tells him that this is one way for him to redeem himself after his betrayal of Ned Stark. The Vale Knights and Davos go with Jon to show the Targaryen Queen that Jon has political power and allies outside of the North, while Baelish’s job is to get Daenerys to become Jon’s ally.

When they do arrive in Dragonstone, Davos, Baelish, Jon, and Yohn Royce are surprised to see Tyrion, alive and well, and they get shocked at the sight of dragons flying about. Varys and Petyr meet once again, musing that they now serve different monarchs, but both of them have the goal of deposing the Lannisters on the Iron Throne. Varys boasts of how Daenerys has the right to rule because she has the Targaryen name, she has dragons under her thumb, as well as the Unsullied and the Dothraki, while Baelish boasts that his king earned his crown in the battlefield and is the most fit to rule, because he was chosen not due to his name, but due to his valor and courage, as well as his humility and selflessness. Petyr talks about the one thing Jon has that makes him a great leader, the one thing that Daenerys doesn’t have: humility. Those who tend to avoid leadership end up having a great gift for it, while Petyr sees Daenerys as an egotist coasting on her powers and titles, whose pride will eventually lead to her fall, despite her good intentions. After all, Petyr reasoned, the road to hell is paved with good intentions, and without wisdom or humility, Daenerys can unwittingly lead her followers to ruin.

When the two monarchs finally meet, Dany is backed up by Varys, Tyrion, Ser Jorah Mormont (who was already healed of his greyscale by a certain Maester-in-Training) Ser Barristan Selmy (who survived the attack by the Sons of the Harpy in this version) Lady Olenna Tyrell, and her majordomo, Lord Randyll Tarly, who now serves as the Master of War for Daenerys. Daenerys is seated on the throne of Dragonstone, wearing a crown similar to that of Aegon Targaryen's, a Valyrian steel circlet with rubies studded onto it. She also wore an imposing suit of black Valyrian steel armor designed be similar to the Kingsguard armors, but with rubies at the chest in the shape of the Targaryen sigil of the red three-headed dragon. On her belt is a Valyrian steel sword, Dark Sister, which her Pentoshi friend Illyrio Mopatis recovered in his past dealings. She demands that Jon bend the knee, while Jon refuses, saying that the lords who elected him king won’t approve of such a subjugation. Petyr is quick to step in and recommend that neither ruler needs to bend the knee: they have room for both a king and a queen; they can arrange for a marriage alliance where both parties will be allies and both will be satisfied, leaving them with a strong alliance that will be more than enough to hammer the forces of Cersei Lannister back in the capital. Randyll disagrees, saying that such a marriage will leave Jon Snow, the male, as the natural superior to Dany, and Randyll talks of how he’d rather swallow Milk of the Poppy rather than have a bastard as king. Dany agrees, saying that no man will ever control her, and she demands that Jon kneel. Jon refuses, because he reasons that the moment he kneels is the moment he loses his crown. Both monarchs refuse to compromise based on their pride.

Davos Seaworth steps up and talks about how Jon Snow is a king who took a blade to his heart for his people, and how he’s preparing to fight the dead, a move that Petyr disagreed with because Baelish didn’t want the Targaryens to think of Jon’s side as a lunatic, but Jon himself backs up the story and talks of how he fought an undead army at Hardhome, to which everyone on Dany’s side save for Randyll and Tyrion erupt in gut-busting laughter, with Randyll saying that the Northerners must have gone mad to elect a lunatic to be their king. Tyrion, however, intercedes, saying that dragons were once thought to be extinct, and yet Dany now has three of them. Perhaps the undead aren’t that different from the dragons, Tyrion reasoned. They were both lost to the pages of histories and legends until the legends came back to life.

This is when an unexpected member of Dany’s group appears: Kinvara, the head priestess of the Temple of Volantis, who talks of how she saw the undead in her flames. Kinvara was brought along as a fortune-teller after she proved to Lord Varys that she has special powers by seeing into his past. She talks of how the undead, the Others, are the one true enemy of Azor Ahai, the prince (or princess) that was promised. The Lannisters are just a minor threat when compared to the threat posed by undead marching from the north, a force of undead led by cold masters, demons of ice and snow, the true enemy of the living, the only enemy that matters.

Petyr realizes that he can manipulate the Priestess to their side, and he steps up, asking the Priestess to confirm that Jon Snow fought the White Walkers and took a blade to his heart for his people, and as the Priestess creates a fire, and she looks into the fire. She does see a vision of Jon fighting the undead, of being killed by a Night’s Watch mutiny and being raised from the dead by another priestess, Melisandre. Her confirmation of Davos’ words gets Daenerys to tell Jon Snow to disrobe his upper body clothing and show his wounds, to which Jon does, showing a stab wound to the heart. Randyll and Olenna spit out the fine wine they were drinking, staring at Jon’s gash, and asks how can Jon be living? Randyll sees him as an undead abomination and recommends his immediate termination, but Olenna gets him to calm down and let Jon speak, and Jon confirms Davos and Kinvara’s tale. Daenerys looks at Jon’s gash, touching it, and realizing that Jon did rise from the dead, Dany realizes that Jon was speaking the truth. She decides that there is truth to Jon’s words, and they must deal with the undead-after the Lannisters are deposed. Daenerys agrees to make an alliance right then and there, an alliance of equals between two monarchs. Yohn Royce and Littlefinger arrange for more Vale Knights so they can ride out with the Targaryens against the Lannister forces.

The Lannister forces made an alliance with the Greyjoys and their massive, 1000-ship Iron Fleet under King Euron Greyjoy, who then smash the pro-Targaryen Ironborn Fleet under Yara Greyjoy sailing for Dorne. In this re-write, the events in King’s Landing follow what happen in the show, minus the Dorne subplot. The Dornish under Prince Doran Martell have come out in open rebellion against the Lannisters, citing their untrustworthiness after the deaths of Kevan Lannister, Mace Tyrell, along with most of the Tyrell clan and the High Sparrow. Even though they recently wed Prince Trystane Martell to Myrcella Baratheon, the Dornish realize Cersei has become unhinged and sought to take her down. The Targaryen fleet was heading to Dorne to reinforce them, but was destroyed.

While Olenna and Randyll were away, Jaime took the Lannister army away from Casterly Rock, allowing it to fall to the Unsullied forces invading the place, and attacked Highgarden, taking some gold and food for the army. However, while wondering as to why Highgarden was a haunted, empty castle that had no actual Tyrell presence, Jaime Lannister and his mercenary ally Bronn spend their time sacking the place for food. Then they hear a large amount of horses headed their way……...and realize that the majority of the Tyrell Army, led by Randyll, now have backup from the Dothraki, who are now charging their position. Jaime and Bronn order the Lannister army to set up a formation of shields and spears, and while Bronn tries to send Jaime to the capital, Jaime refuses, saying that he’s not abandoning his army. Then a roar erupts from the sky: Daenerys Targaryen and her three dragons descend and open fire, while the Tarly forces smash into the Lannister army with lances, and the Dothraki loot the caravan and take back the food that was stolen.

As the Targaryen army smashes the Lannister forces, a second force under King Jon, Ser Jorah, and Ser Barristan, comprising of Vale Knights, charged the rear flank of the Lannister forces, annihilating what was left of the Lannister army that was retreating back from the Dothraki and Tarly forces hammering them at the front. Just as Stannis used a pincer maneuver to crush the 100,000-man Wildling army, so too did Randyll and Jon use a pincer maneuver to crush the Lannister forces while dragons flew above and spat fire on Lannister formations. Those who weren’t run over were set ablaze. Seeing the dragons as the main problem in the battle, Jaime orders Bronn to take out Qyburn’s Scorpion Ballista from its protective case and orders him to fire. Bronn manages to get to the Scorpion after fighting his way through Tarly, Dothraki, and Vale forces, and he spears a Tyrell knight with the Scorpion as he prepares to fire it at Daenerys. Other Lannister forces go for other Scorpions as well, and prepare to fire them at the sky while their army can still hold back the Vale, Dothraki, and Tyrell forces. They start firing at the dragons, but their first bolts miss, however, as Dany prepares to fire on Bronn’s Scorpion, Bronn manages to line up a shot and hit Drogon, the dragon that Daenerys was flying on. As it plummets to the ground, the other dragons rush to its aid, but bolts from the other Scorpions drive them away. However, Drogon recovers, and opens fire on Bronn’s Scorpion, while the other Scorpions are dealt with by Jon and Randyll’s forces killing the operators and their escorts. However, Drogon had to land because of the pain, and Dany dismounts and tries to dislodge the Scorpion bolt, while Jon rides in and tries to help.

As the battle turns against the Lannister forces, Tyrion watches as his brother Jaime is at the center of it all. Tyrion whispers “Flee, you idiot!” while Jaime stays at the center. Jaime decides instead to charge at Drogon and Daenerys with a spear, charging like a knight against Dany and Jon. As Tyrion mutters about his brother’s idiocy, Jaime gets close and throws his spear at Dany, only for Jon to dive her out of the way. Drogon opens fire, and Bronn comes in time for the save, also riding a horse and diving himself and Jaime out of the way, with both of them sinking into a lake. However, they weren’t allowed to die just yet, as Randyll orders the both of them to be rescued from the water-they’ll have use for the Lannister Queen’s lover and brother, after all.

Bronn and Jaime wake up in front of Petyr Baelish, Olenna Tyrell, Tyrion Lannister, Daenerys Targaryen, Randyll Tarly, Barristan Selmy, Jorah Mormont, Yohn Royce and Jon Snow, along with the rest of the Lannister army survivors. Daenerys explains that the Iron Throne shall soon be hers, and all who join her will be accepted without punishment. As the three dragons began roaring at the crowd, they bowed down in fear. Randyll wanted to flog them and make serfs out of them, while Jon, Barristan, Jorah, and Yohn Royce wanted to do the honorable thing and have them be sent home as a sign of clemency. Jon didn't see these soldiers as the real enemy, and considered that they might be useful recruits later against the army of the dead. Ser Barristan noted that most of these soldiers are farm boys who have no real loyalty to the Lannisters, that their deaths would do nothing to further the Targaryen cause. Ser Jorah told Daenerys that she should practice her patented brand of mercy towards the smallfolk that she mastered in Essos, so that the people of Westeros would come to accept her as a proper replacement for Cersei. Yohn Royce told Daenerys that the Targaryens have a reputation for being ruthless thanks to the Mad King, so she needs to distance herself from that legacy as much as possible. Baelish agreed with them, if only so that they can go back to King’s Landing or whatever place they came from and spread tales of the dragons and the fear it inspired, which would help spread discontent in the Lannister ranks and destroy Lannister morale. Dany agrees to send them back, but keeps Jaime and Bronn for herself.

As for Bronn and Jaime, Randyll wants Bronn to be executed because he almost killed Daenerys, but Tyrion responds that the incident with Drogon and the Scorpion shows that Bronn is a skilled man, and he can be bribed to go to their side, to which Randyll agrees and Bronn eagerly accepts, although Randyll and Yohn show some disappointment in accepting a sellsword who changes sides on a dime. Jaime also shows disappointment in Bronn switching sides, but Bronn responds that sellswords don’t make money dying for a losing cause. As for Jaime, Randyll reminds Daenerys that it was Jaime who killed her father, despite his oath as a Kingsguard, and he advises Dany to take Jaime’s head as revenge for his past treason. Jaime answers by saying that Aerys Targaryen was preparing to destroy the capital city with wildfire and would have done so had he not stepped in and killed the mad king. Randyll doubts the veracity of Jaime’s words, however, Daenerys decided to use Jaime to send a message to Cersei: to go back home, and tell his sister that their cause is lost. Daenerys states that once Drogon is healed up, she’ll take her army to the capital. She tells Jaime to tell Cersei: “Keep my throne warm and ready for me. I will be coming for it soon.”