Game of Thrones Episode 63: The Queen's Justice

Jon Snow and Davos Seaworth sail to Dragonstone to ask Daenerys Targaryen for help against the White Walkers, but the meeting turns tense when Daenerys demands that Jon bend the knee before she will consider aiding him. Jon refuses to submit, insisting the dead are the greater threat, while Daenerys remains focused on taking the Iron Throne first; Tyrion and Varys both try to steer the conversation, and Varys later brings news of the attack on the Targaryen fleet.

At Dragonstone, Jon is shown the island’s dragonglass and is allowed to begin mining it, but he is not yet given the alliance he wants outright. The episode also establishes that Daenerys will not easily trust Jon’s warning, even though their exchange begins a longer political negotiation.

In King’s Landing, Euron Greyjoy returns in triumph and presents Cersei Lannister with Ellaria Sand and Tyene Sand as captive gifts. Cersei uses the same poison that Ellaria once used on Myrcella to force Ellaria to watch Tyene die, turning the Sand Snakes’ own violence back on them.

At the Citadel, Samwell Tarly helps treat Jorah Mormont’s greyscale, and the illness is successfully removed from his body. Sam’s work earns both praise and trouble, since he used forbidden methods and is later reprimanded for it.

In Winterfell, Sansa Stark is reunited with Bran Stark, who has returned after a long absence. Their reunion is emotionally awkward rather than warm, as Bran now seems distant and changed.

The episode also follows Daenerys’s war plan against the Lannisters: the Unsullied attack Casterly Rock and take it, but the victory is meaningless because Euron’s fleet destroys their ships and strands them there. At the same time, Jaime Lannister leads the main Lannister force to Highgarden, where he defeats the Tyrells and claims the castle.

Before leaving Highgarden, Jaime meets Olenna Tyrell, who is given poison rather than a public execution. After drinking it, she reveals that she was responsible for Joffrey’s death and tells Jaime to pass that confession on to Cersei before she dies.