History Recap / GameOfThronesS7E6BeyondTheWall

At '''Winterfell''', Sansa approaches Arya on the walkway, with Arya noting that Ned used to watch them in the courtyard from a similar vantage point, but that Sansa probably doesn't remember since she stayed inside. Sansa protests that she does remember, but Arya ignores her and recounts the memory of finding Bran's discarded bow once; with no one around, she took the opportunity to practice archery, though she laments both that she wasn't good and after every shot, had to retrieve the single arrow that had been left behind. After dozens of tries, she finally hit the bulls-eye, and then heard someone clapping; looking up, she saw Ned smiling down at her, seemingly unconcerned that she was behaving in an unladylike way. Arya decided it wasn't wrong that she'd broken the rules; the rules themselves were wrong, and Ned was tacitly letting her know this. But now, she says, Ned is dead at the Lannister's hands...with Sansa's help. This jolts Sansa out of her comfortable silence, and she pales when Arya pulls out the raven scroll Cersei forced her to send. Arya recites the message over Sansa's objection. Sansa tells Arya she was forced to write it, and Arya coldly asks if they tortured her until she did. Sansa protests that she was only a child, but Arya retorts that even as a child, she would have died before betraying anyone in her family, and when Sansa says they told her writing the letter would save Ned's life, Arya accuses her of being stupid. She then recounts seeing Sansa at Ned's execution, her detailed rememberance taking Sansa aback, as she hadn't known Arya saw it.

* SurroundedByIdiots: Sansa expresses frustration with this. Jon hasn't sent a message in weeks, leaving her to HoldTheLine at Winterfell to maintain a large army that is provably untrustworthy in the outset of the worst winter in recent memory. She has defused one moronic coup attempt which, far from providing her validation, merely confirms her suspicions about their disloyalty. Finally, she has to deal with an inane UsefulNotes/ConspiracyTheory hoisted on her by her paranoid sister, who is convinced Sansa is seeking power for herself.

* HistoryRepeats: Like Meraxes, Viserion is killed supporting a Targaryen queen laying waste to an enemy redoubt. Both dragons were killed by an incredibly precise shot (Meraxes by a scorpion bolt [[EyeScream to the eye]], Viserion by an ensorcelled spear to the throat) and the enemy fortress they were attacking was located in an inhospitable region (Meraxes was killed besieging Hellholt, House Uller's castle in the Dornish desert, while Viserion dies assaulting a frozen lake in territory controlled by the White Walkers beyond the Wall). The main difference is that Meraxes was attacking Hellholt to force Dornish capitulation to Aegon's conquest, while Viserion was helping Danerys rescue Jon Snow and his party from enemy territory, and Queen Rhaenys Targaryen was riding Meraxes at the time and presumably fell to her death when Meraxes was shot down, while Daenerys survives Viserion's death due to riding another dragon instead.

* HasAType: Inverted. When Daenerys criticises the type of men who do stupid things out of desire to be heroic and often end up dying or humiliating themselves (listing Khal Drogo, Ser Jorah, Daario and Jon Snow), Tyrion points out that four out of four men of that same type have consistently fallen in love with her. Notably, ''at least'' two of these men are [[WomenPreferStrongMen people Dany herself has loved back]] (three if her look of genuine concern and fear at Jon volunteering for this mission is any indication, along with all the blatant ShipTease this season). Dany also points out that Jon is "too little" before taking that back after realizing who exactly she is talking to (Tyrion!), but then [[HugeGuyTinyGirl her other beaus, Khal Drogo and Michael Huisman were both at six feet and above]], while Jon is shorter than them and -- as Gendry noted in the previous episode -- is not as tall as Eddard Stark.

* AdultFear: Dany considers her dragons the closest things she has to children, and in this episode she loses Viserion. Twisting the knife in further, he is resurrected as a wight.

Jon and Jorah reminisce about Jorah's father Lord Commander Jeor Mormont, with Jorah saying that he should have been a better son. Jon admits when asked that he wasn't with Jeor at the end and tells Jorah that he and the other Watchmen avenged Jeor, executing the mutineers for killing their lord commander. This brings Jorah little comfort, saddened how his father was betrayed and murdered by the men he led. Jon responds, "I hate that [Jeor] died that way." He speaks of his own father Ned, "He was the most honorable man I ever met. He was good all the way through and he died on the executioner's block." Jorah admits Ned would have been right to execute him, but he still hated Ned, and Jon and Jorah agree they're glad Jorah escaped. Jon takes hands Longclaw to Jorah, saying that Jeor thought Jorah would never return, but he did, and the sword rightfully belongs to House Mormont and tries to give it to Jorah. Jorah notes that Jeor gave it to Jon, and that he broke Jeor's heart with his dishonorable actions, then gives it back to Jon, saying that it will serve him and his future children well.

A quick establishing shot of the conqueror's table at '''Dragonstone''' cuts to '''beyond the Wall''', where Jon's group is marching North. Tormund asks if Gendry's ever been North of the Wall before, only for Gendry to say he's never even seen ''snow'' in his life, prompting Tormund to appreciate the land's savage beauty and his comfort on being back in his homeland, "I can breathe again. Down south, the air smells like pig shit." Jon remarks, "You’ve never been down south." Tormund responds he's been to ''Winterfell'' and Jon counters, "That’s the North." Gendry asks them how men keep their balls from freezing off, and Tormund advises walking, fighting, and fucking -- in that order. Jon points out there aren't any women in a hundred miles, and Tormund agrees, saying they'll have to make do. He and Jon grin as they walk ahead of Gendry, who seems to deliberately fall back. Tormund says he doesn't think Gendry's very smart, but when Jon explains how Davos spoke of Gendry being a strong fighter, Tormund is pleased -- because that will end up being of more use, since a smart person wouldn't have accompanied them beyond the Wall searching for the dead. Tormund asks Jon about Daenaerys, and Jon says she won't join them unless he submits to her, causing Tormund to joke that Jon spent so much time with the Wildlings that he's finding it difficult to kneel. Jon says nothing, and Tormund observes that Mance Rayder refused to submit as well, and all that led to was disaster for those who followed him: "How many of his people died for his pride?"

* RealityEnsues:
** After the bear is set on fire by Beric, it starts to advance towards Sandor. Given Sandor's pyrophobia, all he can do is freeze up in fear without fighting back.
** Though Thoros's bite wound is quickly cauterized and he's on his feet again within minutes, it still leaves him too weak to survive the freezing night.
** Subverted in that despite being out in sub-zero temperatures for unspecified amounts of time without covering their heads or faces, not a one of the main characters seem to suffer signs of frostbite or the effects of lengthy exposure to extreme cold.
** To the extent that dragons can be analogized to anything real, Dany's constant use of Drogon in combat has made him her biggest and most experienced dragon. Viserion and Rhaegal were cooped up beneath Meereen until Tyrion unchained them, and their only battle was the Siege of Meereen (which was more an exhibition and diplomatic statement than a battle). Drogon, meanwhile, roamed free for that entire period and was the centerpiece of the Battle of the Blackwater Rush. Having been previously speared by Qyburn's ballista, Drogon knows to dodge the Night King's spear, whereas Viserion gets hit because he just flies further away instead of performing a proper evasive move like Drogon does.
** Jorah admits he has IrrationalHatred of Ned Stark, as the man was completely in the right to punish Jorah for the crime he committed, but Jorah still resents having to live in exile and abandon his home because of it.
** Being a blacksmith from Flea Bottom, Gendry is not on everyone else's level and Jon has him run for back-up instead.
** The Hound realizes that a concussive weapon, like Gendry's hammer, can only do so much to the wights. He opts to ditch it and goes for the dragonglass dagger instead.
** Arya thinks she's working to uncover some kind of insidious conspiracy of Sansa and others working against Jon. The reality is that she's just disturbed, [[FlawExploitation and Littlefinger manipulates her paranoia rather easily.]]

* NotSoDifferent: Tyrion spells out to Daenerys that using the exact same tactics as her enemies makes her "break the wheel" rhetoric complete nonsense, especially since her whole claim is that she's descended from Aegon, who built the wheel.

-->--'''Jon''' : No, not Dany, how about, ''My Queen''?

* {{Foil}}: In a way, the circumstances by which the King in the North (Jon) "bends the knee" to the Targaryen contender (Daenerys) is one compared to the first time it happened. Torrhen Stark knelt to Aegon the Conqueror under fear and concern for his subjects--who run the risk of ''burning by dragon-fire'' in battle. Jon, on the other hand, was ''saved'' by Dany from the army of the dead ''with dragon-fire''.

* WinterRoyalLady: When Daenerys flies to the Wall, she wears a fur-lined, silver gray outfit specially suited for flying in cold weather.
* WomanInWhite: Daenerys in her aforementioned WinterRoyalLady outfit. [[WidowsWeeds She's dressed in black after her dragon is killed.]]

* JustAKid: Arya points out that Jon Snow would accept this excuse for Sansa's actions, but not Lyanna Mormont who's younger than Sansa was then. This completely ignores the fact that while Sansa and Lyanna are both the daughters of noble houses, the women of House Mormont have traditionally been trained as warriors, while the Southron influence of Catelyn ensured a more 'ladylike' upbringing for Sansa.

* LoweredMonsterDifficulty: Contrary to previous appearances, the wights go down when hit by normal weapons and stay that way longer than they should. The captured wight does behave properly, as does the decayed one that gets it jawbone knocked off by a rock. It's possible they're wielding dragonglass daggers (note how the bear wight drops the second Jorah stabs it with his dagger), which Jon could have armed them with prior to their departure, but no one mentions it and all of their weapons appear metallic (other than one of Jorah's daggers).
** It is quite clear that most of them are wielding dragonglass weapons. The Redshirts have spears with jagged obsidian tips, Tormund ditches his metal axe for one with obvious non-metallic "blades" and the rest seem to have hatchets or knives made from the stuff. Jon of course have dragonsteel which works just as well.
** In any case, the idea that dragonglass or Valyrian steel kills wights rather than just White Walkers is also new this season, and is still this trope (see NewPowersAsThePlotDemands).

* FireForgedFriends: Daenerys and Jon Snow now fully trust each other after the Pyrrhic rescue beyond the Wall. Jon recognizes Daenerys as a trustworthy ally and is now willing to bend the knee. Dany witnessed the White Walkers' army by herself, saw how ready Jon is to sacrifice himself to save others and she also saw the scar on his chest.

* WomanInWhite: Daenerys in her aforementioned WinterRoyalLady outfit.

* BackForTheDead: Benjen reappears once again to die against a wight horde to save his nephew's life.

** Just as Jon has no allies and no way out, his CoolUncle Benjen comes and saves him, giving Jon his horse while fighting the wights off.