Daenerys is not the only Targaryen in the world; that’s right. Jon Snow, who for nearly six complete seasons was believed by the world to be a full Stark bastard, is in fact the blood of the dragon, confirming scores of fans’ theories in one fell swoop. As scores of readers and viewers alike have guessed for years, Jon Snow is in fact the son of Lyanna Stark, and therefore also the son of Rhaegar Targaryen, as proved by Lyanna handing a baby with coal-black eyes over to Ned, only for the scene to cut to Jon Snow’s solemn, wintry face.
And, of course, this means more than just making a few diehards happy. Now, as Daenerys sails across the sea to Westeros (yes, that happened too, but we’ll talk about that in a bit), maybe her claim is not as strong as previously thought. After all, there’s more than one dragon in this world.
Down south, however, things are already a little fiery. The episode opened to see Cersei’s revenge unfold in the form of billowing wildfire in the annals of the Sept of Baelor, burning everyone she viewed as an enemy to the ground–Margaery Tyrell, the High Sparrow and his army, as well as most of the Southern aristocrats, frankly. Adding the body count, however, was her son Tommen, who upon seeing the smoke across from the Red Keep and hearing the screams of his people burning threw himself from his own window (which in no way is payback for Cersei having Jaime toss Bran Stark from a window in the first season).
On the opposite end of the world, in Dorne, Olenna Tyrell–the last, now, of her house–made a deal with the new rulers of the sandy kingdom to throw their weight behind the Targaryen claim, if only to take revenge on the Lannisters.
And in the North, Littlefinger offered Sansa the chance to reign over Winterfell–which would have been unusual given her gender, but considering Jon is publicly not a full Stark, the circumstances were in her favor–but she refused, denying Littlefinger’s admitted (and completely unsurprising) desire to sit on the Iron Throne with her at his side.
By giving up her claim to Winterfell, the lords of the North threw up their swords for Jon Snow, his bastard status forgotten. Led by America’s newest favorite miniature queen, Lyanna Mormont, a very familiar “King in the North!” scene played out, harking back to the finale of the first season when mostly the same lords declared for Robb Stark.
In the Riverlands, Jaime sat down with Walder Frey one last time to deny his place in the world before his timely death came. As the creepiest lord of Westeros sat down for dinner, his server revealed that the dish she had served him were his own two sons before slipping her face off.
Arya Stark tells him that the last face he’ll see before his death is a Stark, smiling down at him, before cutting his throat and letting Frey bleed out on the floor.
In Meereen, the moment the Game of Thrones fanbase has been waiting for for six years (over twenty for the book-readers) finally arrived. Aboard an armada bearing the blood-red Targaryen sigil (as well as the Greyjoy’s), Daenerys began her voyage to Westeros–under the shadow of her massive three dragons, of course.
And finally, in the charred ruins of King’s Landing, Cersei was crowned Queen of the Seven Kingdoms, as absolutely no one was left to keep her away from the throne. With two Targaryens coming for her, however, one with the Starks behind him and the other with the Greyjoys, Dornish, Tyrells, and Unsullied behind her, only the next season will tell how long Cersei’s reign lasts.
Is it April 2017 yet?