1) Jon’s Resurrection: Sansa and Brienne arrive at Castle Black in the premiere, while there is still a standoff over Jon’s body in the yard. Thorne does not want to let her in, but Davos loudly suggests that compounding his treason by leaving the famous sister of the man he just murdered to die may not be the best way to inaugurate his administration. The Watch factions stand down and let her in. Davos explains what happened to a shell-shocked Sansa, noting that the assassination was prompted by Jon Snow granting amnesty to a wildling army and granting them lands nearby, in the Gift. A small argument ensues, as Thorne peevishly points out that no Lord Commander had ever let wildlings through the Wall, Davos says beg pardon milord, but I believe the lands of the Gift are the Lord Commander’s to do with as he sees fit, and Thorne counters aye, and the very wildlings that sacked Molestown now squat in its ruin, because Lord Commander Snow saw fit. Davos looks meaningfully at Sansa during Thorne’s say, then apologizes for subjecting her to their political debate at a time like this.
She demands proper funereal rights for her brother, to which Thorne concedes. She says she needs weirwood branches to weave over the corpse. Thorne is suspicious, says he has never heard of such a Northern tradition, Sansa says it is a Stark tradition, and my brother was a Stark, thank you very much. Is there a godswood nearby? There is one outside of Molestown, actually, and Thorne reluctantly agrees to let send her “simpleminded” servants to cut branches from it while she cleans and prepares the body. As she sends him away with Pod, she whispers to Theon “you heard what they said? Those wildlings owe their lives to my brother.” By the end of the episode, they have returned with Wun-Wun and the wildlings in tow to depose Thorne. Then it is Sansa that, in her grief and desperation, first asks Melisandre if there isn’t anything she can do to bring him back. The resurrection can be the end of episode 1, which leaves us free to get the Starks out of Castle Black and in the North a couple episodes earlier.
2) Cersei: Her imprisonment and Walk Of Shame are now in episodes 1-3. They proceed pretty much exactly as before, and the seasons still ends with the Sept explosion. This means we only get 5-6 episodes of moping around the Red Keep and being rebuffed by the Small Council in between, rather than 9.
3) Braavos: Arya never gets stricken blind, or does any of the stuff with the acting troupe. Stealing a face and killing Meryn Trant at the end of S5 had the waif on her ass immediately, but she figures out some other way to turn the tables on her and grabs the first ship out of Braavos by the end of episode 2. This may mean that you probably need to work a little more of her combat training with the Faceless Men into S5, since she is not spending nearly as much time overall with them.
4) Dorne pt. 1 (6.01-6.02): The first couple episodes still have Jaime in Dorne. But Varys has also appeared, to woo Doran to Danaerys’s side. His deal is far better in Ellaria and the Sand Snakes’ eyes, but Doran’s position is compromised by his son being in love with Myrcella. After he and Jaime commiserate about the loss of brothers, being crippled and pushed into war by vengeful women, they strike much the same deal as in the real version of S5, except that the kids are to be wed in Dorne and will head back to King's Landing after (we need wedding prep to buy us a bit of time here). Varys tells a bloodthirsty Ellaria this is unfortunate, but patience is required as Doran’s men are loyal to him. Neither the Sand Snakes nor dragon queen can be seen to be directly responsible for his death, if they are to be the ones taking over and trying to keep Dorne united in the new alliance. Ellaria says don’t pretend you don’t know ways to hide the true hand behind a murder, Master Of Whispers. He says the last time he hired a killer he did not take the time to vet personally, Khal Drogo drug his naked body all the way to Vaes Dothrak behind his horse, and besides he will need his queen to approve it before he commits regicide in her name. Ellaria says write fast then. I was promised fire and blood.
5) Meereen: We need to speed things up here. You can skip the first scene of Dany walking along side the riders as they talk about raping her, and just begin with them bringing her before the Khal and announcing that she is Drogo’s widow, which could then have her arriving at Vaes Dothrak by the end of the premiere. Burn the temple by 6.02 or 6.03, and get her back to Meereen by 6.04, instead of it taking until the end of 6.08 in the real version. In the city, we have skipped over all the stuff with Tyrion trying to negotiate with the masters, visiting with the dragons, or bringing in the Red priestess to quell unrest, and just have the city under siege from the slavers since 6.02. Upon retaking the city, Dany is told there are reports from Varys about the troubled situation in Dorne. There is not a ton for her to do in the next few episodes, except have Yara show up and maybe work back in some of the stuff with the priestess to feed Dany’s messianic complex. She sets sail in 6.08 or 6.09. Her landfall at Dragonstone from 7.01 is now the ending of 6.10.
6) Dorne pt.2 (6.05-6.06): The wedding is in episode 4, and Jaime departs with the kids directly from the reception, with Myrcella receiving the poison kiss just like the real version of 5.10. In 6.05, Jaime gets back to King’s Landing and Trystane is murdered on the ship by Tiene Sand (Knives). Back at home, Doran receives a message in his chambers that Myrcella has died. He orders that Ellaria be brought to him immediately. His bodyguard Areo steps in the hall to order the men out there to double the guard, only men whose loyalty is assured, bar the door until he says otherwise, etc. He is gone for thirty seconds tops, but when he reenters Doran’s chamber he finds the prince dead in his chair, a dagger in his heart and a rose left in his lap. Areo gapes at a curtain flapping in the window in shock. Shortly later, he storms Ellaria’s chambers with a few men, where she is protected by the other Sand Snakes Nymeria (Whip) and Obarra (Spear). He flings the rose on the ground and says did you really think I would not see your hand in this treachery if you dropped a Tyrell flower at the scene? Varys steps out of the shadows, with Selmy, saying that house Martell and Tyrell have bad blood going back centuries, are you really sure they could not have done it? Quiet Spider, Areo spits, I’ll have your head for this as well. Ellaria smugly declares that it doesn’t matter, the rose was not for him, it only needs to provide enough doubt to keep the commoners and minor lords from rising in revolt to the new regime. There is a brief, pitched battle wherein Selmy duels and defeats Areo. The coup is complete.
The following episode, after the Previously On segment reminds us of the time way back in S1 that Arya overheard Varys seeming to plot her father’s death with Illyrio Mopatis, the Spider meets with the assassin to pay the blood toll. We see that it is…the Waif, whose face Arya had been wearing prior to leaving Braavos. While he is complimenting her on pulling off such a difficult job without a hitch and expressing relief that the nasty bit of business is behind them, she is surreptitiously drifting toward her knife, silently taking the measure of the Spider and his keeper Selmy, weighing odds and options. Nymeria Sand barges in before she makes a move, however. In this new version, Nymeria has been characterized as more overtly villainous and vicious than on the real show, and she is being a big asshole here, crowing about Myrcella’s death. Varys is displeased with that move, which Ellaria undertook without consulting him. She was a Lannister, spits Nymeria. She was an innocent, he insists, whose death served no military or tactical end, and only gives Cersei less to lose or reason to surrender when they do gain the upper hand. The Snake brushes it off, and realizes that this is Doran’s killer sitting here, starting in on how she wishes she could have watched the stupid old coward die, did he beg for his life? Varys reprimands her, says that murder is not something to be taken lightly, and Doran was neither stupid nor a coward. She sneers back that if you loved him so much, why hire this one to kill him? Because this is war, and he chose the wrong side, he says. He will not be the last good man to die from this war, nor was he the first. His death may weigh the heaviest on me of all, save perhaps one. Who, Selmy asks, and Varys says Ned Stark. Ned Stark was a fool, Nymeria scoffs. He was an honorable man, says Selmy. He was, says Varys, and it pains me to think that he went to his death on advice I gave him. I meant to avoid the horrors of war, and to keep his family safe. We both did, but appeasing the Lannisters accomplished none of that. It only made things worse, and I could not let Doran repeat our mistake. But I often wonder how different would the world look today if I had spirited he and his daughters out of the Red Keep and back to the North? Take heart, old man, says the Sand Snake, it’s not as though there are any Starks left to curse your name. Not so, he counters, indicating some letters he has been perusing that bring news that Sansa and Jon Snow are alive, and trying to raise northern lords to overthrow the Boltons, as well as the Blackfish retaking Riverrun…
Throughout all this, we’ve seen Arya slowly thawing toward Varys and Selmy, mentally editing her list, and start giving Nymeria some severe side-eye.
7) Oldtown: All of Sam’s material from S7, which isn’t terribly much, is spread out among this season. Jorah, having been dismissed by khaleesi to find himself a cure in 6.04, shows up around 6.08. Sam performs surgery, and as the archmaester is confirming that it actually worked in the finale, bells start ringing throughout the city. Sam and Jorah rush to a window high in the Citadel tower and see Silence and the Iron Fleet bearing down on Oldtown.
8) Bran: Bran begins the season fleeing from the cave attack from “The Door”. Rather than Benjen, he is saved by the Brotherhood, who ranged north of the Wall late last season. They spend the bulk of the season working their way back to the Wall, but they have to take a winding path as Bran steers them to pit stops at the few remaining weirwood groves, explaining that the Walkers have been uprooting them to deny him access to his seer powers. They are still pursued by roving zombie hunting parties, so he can’t stay in one place long, which means he/we can only sporadically get additional flashbacks throughout the season, leading to the reveal of Jon’s parentage in the finale. There is also one vision where he sees the Night King and his Walker lieutenants preparing his ice javelins. At some point, when being chased from a grove, Sandor breaks a zombie’s leg and sends it tumbling into a shallow crevasse, where they leave it unable to extricate itself. They end the season arriving at Castle Black, where they are taken in by the Night’s Watch and we cut away on Bran coming face to face with a slack-jawed Theon, who stayed behind when the Starks left, deciding he could be more use as a steward than part of their army in his diminished state.
9) Winterfell: Things go much the same as the real version, except that we keep Roose around until later in the season. It makes more sense that the Karstarks and Umbers might make a deal with the cool, collected Roose rather than mad dog Ramsay, and it's just more interesting when the old man is around to keep him on his toes. There are probably some Ramsay scenes that can be pared down in length, if screentime becomes scarce.
10) Littlefinger: In Sansa’s midseason confrontation with Littlefinger, he still offers her the knights of the Vale. She says how could she possibly trust him after what he did to her? He says I’ll do anything you want, tell me how to prove myself. She says okay, my great-uncle the Blackfish has retaken Riverrun. Go break the siege, if you also bring an army of Rivermen that are more loyal to my family than you to discourage any treachery, you can join your strength to ours. He mentions that it is the Freys laying siege to Riverrun, they will not allow him to march an army across the Twins and back just to help their enemies. Sansa says I will send a message to Lord Mallister of Seagard, he was friend to both my parents and will allow you passage to the Riverlands along the coast.
Late in 6.08, after Jaime has feasted with the Freys and left, we find Littlefinger writing a letter to Sansa from his encampment. He says that he reached Riverrun just a day or so late, to find the castle surrendered, Blackfish dead and garrison disbanded. Moreover, Victarion Greyjoy has now descended upon Seagard with a fearsome new fleet and sacked the castle. With that route and the Twins both shut to him, his forces are now stranded in the Riverlands. I know this is difficult news, he says, but do not despair, I have other ideas to try. As he finishes writing, he has a visitor shown into his tent, their head covered. He greets her and says I was surprised, but pleased to find someone of your pedigree in the Riverlands. Your father was renowned as one of the deadliest men the Seven Kingdoms ever saw. He was not, however, known for his discretion. I hope you understand that the matter at hand is one that calls for more subtlety. We pan over as Nymeria Sand('s face) smiles and says don’t fear, Lord Baelish, you will find that I am not my father.
11) Riverrun: So in this case, Jaime doesn’t return to King’s Landing until 6.05. But we just cut out the parts where he ineffectually butts heads with the High Sparrow, and have him promptly sent off to Riverrun, where he spends 6.06-08. Jaime is joined on this endeavor by Randyll and Dickon Tarly, so we get to meet them a bit earlier and know them better before they get flambeed. We also know that Littlefinger is bringing the knights of the Vale to help, so it hurts extra hard when Edmure capitulates a bit too early.
12) The Twins: 6.09 opens with Arya serving Walder his pie, though she is wearing the face of Nymeria rather than a random serving girl. 6.10 does the cold open from 7.01 where she offs the extended Frey family while wearing his face, with his/her “you’re probably wondering why I called you here” remarks including an offhand mention of “and why I let the army of the Vale pass through the Twins” as a bit of explanation for how Littlefinger was able to get the knights to the battle in time.
13) Battle Of The Bastards: When the battle is nigh and they are arguing about the need for more men, Sansa lets Jon in on Littlefinger’s letter, who scolds her for even considering trusting Baelish. She says he has helped her at times, and they need more men desperately. He says aye, but when did he ever helped you in a way that didn’t also raise his position? Do you know of him helping anyone when it didn’t help himself? And there’s no prize for him in the North, except Winterfell. And me, Sansa mutters. Jon says oh hell no, we are not sitting around waiting for hunger or a winter storm to disperse what forces we have, in the hopes that the pimp will ride in to save the day. So they end up with the same basic disagreement as in the real version, except that both their positions actually make some kind of sense.
I will say, I hemmed and hawed the most about whether there was a way to make it so that the finale was just the battle, bookended with the Light Of The Seven sequence/fallout in King’s Landing. While that might have made for the most awesome, eventful, superconcentrated 70 minutes of the show, I ultimately think that they deserve their own episodes, and mashing the battle together too close to the sept explosion would have them stepping on each other’s import. It gets particularly awkward when you think about having to wrap up the battle and serve Ramsay his grisly end with 15 minutes still left to downshift into a different gear to deal with the fallout. Unless you want to leave Jon’s coronation and reveal of his parentage for the 7th season premiere, that is. But that deserves to be the dramatic crescendo of the season, and it allows for a closing sequence that intercuts his acclamation with Cersei taking the throne in King’s Landing, and Dany climbing the steps to the throneroom in Dragonstone. Closing out with the “Let us begin” declaration that ended the real version of 7.01, as the three new monarchs all take their places for the endgame at once, seems like a perfect way to send off the season.
HOW DO YOU MAKE ROOM:
There is a lot of new or expanded material to fit in this season. But recall all the stuff we pulled out of the real S6 already:
- Arya’s entire Braavos plotline. She is a lot more involved with the overall plot in this version, but it requires much less screentime if you don’t need to see her as a blind beggar, infiltrating the acting troupe, getting stabbed and recovering with Lady Crane, etc.
- Several episodes worth of Cersei/Jaime stewing in the Red Keep, attempting to confront the High Sparrow, or being rebuffed by the Small Council can be condensed or dropped.
Half a season worth of Tyrion faffing about in Meereen with Varys, Missandei and Grey Worm.
- Any parts of the existing Hound material that need to be kept were moved up to S5.
- Most of the Bran/Three-Eyed Raven material was also moved up, and the rest overlaps with what he is doing in this version.
- Sam and Gilly’s visit to Horn Hill and arrival at Oldtown are removed or already taken care of.
- All the Greyjoy material, excepting the one scene where Yara shows up in Meereen, was taken care of in S5.
- Any Sansa and Brienne material from 6.01-6.03 is skipped, covered in 5.10, or rolled into Sansa's reunion with Jon.
- Some of the foot-dragging at Castle Black that eats up five episodes before Jon actually leaves can be dispensed in two or three, tops.
- Jon is back and out of Castle Black earlier on.
- Sansa and Theon are more involved and active in the early episodes focusing on the resurrection The idea to bring him back also makes a little more sense coming as a desperate question from her than Davos, who has lost many people he was closer to than Jon Snow, suddenly thinking to ask the witch “yo can you undo death tho?” this time around.
- We shed a lot of the most redundant material in Braavos and Meereen, to make room for a significantly expanded, complex and exciting version of the coup in Dorne that involves Arya, Varys, and Selmy putting their very particular sets of skills to work. It also implicates Dany in a fairly ruthless assassination, showing some chinks in the moral armor that will shatter down the line.
- Bran is a bit more humanized in his Three-Eyed Raven incarnation, so he is a bit more of a character and we have a better idea of what it might mean for him to rule the kingdoms in the end.
- We don’t have quite as much downtime of Cersei just cooling her heels awaiting trial.
- Rather than have Euron lurch back into the story after multiple seasons that the Greyjoys sat out and call a new Iron Fleet into being with a snap of his fingers, he was introduced earlier and has a more justified time out from this season as the fleet is built up on a more vaguely plausible timeline.
- We get a little more time in Oldtown, and a more dramatic end to Sam’s tenure there.
- Randyll gets a bit more screentime with Jaime, building up a touch of rapport and respect for how effectively the Kingslayer ends the siege of Riverrun, which gives some more color to why he might be swayed to turn on the Tyrells in S7.
- Tyrion holding out against the siege for multiple episodes means his tenure as regent is defined by a somewhat successful defense instead of total failures of domestic policy that contributed to “Tyrion is a relentless, stupid failure” becoming a meme among disgruntled fans in the latter two seasons.
- The abject stupidity of Sansa hiding the Vale army from Jon while they argue specifically about the impossibility of finding more troops is removed, and having Arya’s massacre of the Freys being the thing that paves the way for the last minute save, rather than an afterthought matter of clean up, makes retaking Winterfell more of a group effort and triumph of the entire Stark family than a series of unnecessary blunders that Littlefinger bails them out of.
- Dany gets to Westeros a bit earlier, which sets up S7 to move at a slightly more natural and less breakneck pace.
WHAT DO WE LOSE:
- The worst of it is losing the reunion of Jaime and Brienne in Riverrun, which you could maybe contort to include by having her go with Littlefinger but ride ahead of the army to arrive there first.
- There is some character building stuff with Tyrion, Dany and her entourage in Meereen getting cut, which is not nothing but still gives about as little bang for your narrative buck as any material in the series, by my estimation.
- Arya's character stuff in Braavos is also discarded, and her assassin training is less extensive. The trade off is that she is doing stuff that is much more exciting and ties the various plots together more tightly, which I think is worth it despite her spending most of her time maneuvering off screen or in disguise. You hate to waste Maisie Williams for an entire season, but if that sacrifice is what it takes to rehabilitate the Dorne plotline and purge the Battle Of The Bastards of Sansa's flagrant, pointless stupidity, I say okay.
- The cost of removing the stupidity is that intervention of the knights of the Vale in the BOTB is a bit more telegraphed. But like I said before, having Arya pitch in to the overall effort is a nice compensation. You can still play fast and loose enough with the timelines and pacing of the episodes to make it seem like the battle is starting immediately after Frey is killed and there is no time for the army to actually get there.
- Bran and the Brotherhood have very little material to stretch out over an entire season, unless you want to whip up a bunch more flashbacks for him to sift through in one grove after another. There is absolutely no shortage of juicy lore to dig into for such material, but it becomes a question of economy of screentime. Still, on balance, I think that having Bran and the Brotherhood have a heavier presence in S5 and lighter one in S6 flows better than the real version, where they both sit out S5 and lurch back into play after an extended absence right when people are starting to complain about teleporting armies and wonky pacing all over the place. If it starts to feel like there really isn’t enough going on in that storyline, you can goose it by having them fight the undead bear from the zombie-kidnapping expedition during this stretch instead.
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