A Guide to Game of Thrones Season 7's Biggest Moments

Another season of Game of Thrones has come and gone. Season seven was only a scant seven episodes, but they were chock-full of exciting moments with no filler to be had this season. Before the eighth and final season of the HBO fantasy drama finally arrives, here are the biggest moments of this last season to help keep you in the know for the Seven Kingdoms and the fight for the Iron Throne.

Arya Poisons House Frey
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Arya Poisons House Frey

After slitting Walder Frey's throat in the season six finale, Arya takes his face and then poisons the whole house — all the men, at least. She's not a total monster. Red Wedding avenged!

Jorah Is at the Citadel
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Jorah Is at the Citadel

When Daenerys dispatches Jorah to find a cure for greyscale, he ends up at the Citadel in Oldtown, which is quite lucky for him, because when Samwell Tarly shows up, Sam is determined to find a cure for Jorah.

And Sam does cure him by peeling off the crusty scabs and treating the pus-covered flesh underneath with a curing concoction in what might be the grossest sequence Game of Thrones has ever done.

Euron Greyjoy Attacks Daenerys's Dornish-Greyjoy Fleet
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Euron Greyjoy Attacks Daenerys's Dornish-Greyjoy Fleet

Daenerys sends her fleet, made up of Dornishmen and Yara's army from the Iron Islands, to Dorne to ferry the Dornish army to King's Landing. Unfortunately, Yara's Uncle Euron intercepts them and lays waste to the fleet, killing countless men plus two of Ellaria's Sand Snake daughters. Yara, Ellaria, and her daughter Tyene are captured.

Jon Goes to Dragonstone
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Jon Goes to Dragonstone

In a decision that many of his northern countrymen are leery of, Jon Snow decides to meet with Daenerys Targaryen at Dragonstone. He knows he needs her help to defeat the White Walkers' army, plus her castle happens to be sitting upon a huge deposit of dragonglass, one of only a few substances that can kill the army of the dead.

It turns out to be a good decision on his part, though it very well could have been a trap, as his sister Sansa had feared.

Bran Comes Home
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Bran Comes Home

Bran and Meera finally make it home from beyond the wall (though Meera is then summarily dismissed without so much as a hug goodbye). But it's one more Stark family reunion, this time involving a sibling who left the castle a boy and returns an omniscient, emotionless, kind-of-magical wizard thing. So that's a little weird for Sansa to digest.

Cersei Avenges Myrcella
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Cersei Avenges Myrcella

As payback for her daughter Myrcella's death, Cersei kisses Tyene Sand with the same poison Ellaria used to kill Myrcella and then leaves her chained up just out of reach of her mother so that her mother can watch her succumb to poison and then rot to bones. That is way harsh, Cersei.

Lady Olenna With the Mic Drop
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Lady Olenna With the Mic Drop

It's a shame Jaime Lannister and his army sack Highgarden, take all the Tyrell gold, and then poison Lady Olenna, but at least the old woman goes out with some gusto, telling Jaime what an awful family he has and that she was the one who poisoned his son Joffrey. Boom! Roasted!

Arya Returns to Winterfell
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Arya Returns to Winterfell

It wasn't quite the Arya reunion we were all hoping for — Jon is gone, after all. But seeing her come together with Bran and Sansa is still pretty great.

Daenerys Raises the Stakes
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Daenerys Raises the Stakes

After her war plans are thwarted at both Dorne and Casterly Rock, Daenerys is done messing around. She takes her Dothraki and one of her dragons and absolutely annihilates the Lannister army on its way back from Highgarden. It's one of several incredible battle sequences Game of Thrones pulls off in season seven — no wonder the season only has seven episodes. The CGI battle sequences and stunt work must have cost a fortune. They clearly spared no expense.

Jorah Reunites With Dany
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Jorah Reunites With Dany

In the most touching reunion since Sansa hugged Jon, Jorah Mormont returns to Daenerys's service. She is clearly so grateful and happy to have him back that it kind of makes you wish she isn't destined to marry her nephew.

Tyrion Meets With Jaime
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Tyrion Meets With Jaime

In an interesting move, Daenerys agrees to try to reach a truce with Cersei so that they may defeat the Night King and his army before turning on each other. Enter Tyrion, who meets with his brother because he knows Jaime is the only one Cersei will listen to. It's a cathartic scene, since these two haven't been in the same room together since Tyrion killed their father.

Cersei Is Pregnant
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Cersei Is Pregnant

After having lost her first three children, Cersei is pregnant again, which means she's going to behave in an even more unhinged manner than before. Mama bears are not to be trifled with, which Cersei demonstrates time and again on Game of Thrones.

When he learns the news, Jaime is overcome with emotion at the thought of having a child where he doesn't have to hide that he is the child's father. It's a huge testament to the acting prowess of Nikolaj Coster-Waldau that we're actually moved by this.

Gendry Gets Off the Boat
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Gendry Gets Off the Boat

While Tyrion meets with Jaime in the bowels of the Red Keep, Ser Davos goes on his own little expedition — to retrieve Gendry, Robert Baratheon's surviving bastard who was friends with little Arya Stark once upon a time when they were both on the run.

Gendry befriends Jon Snow and sets about forging dragonglass into weapons. But here's hoping he reunites with Arya and they end up making fierce warrior babies together.

Littlefinger Tricks Arya
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Littlefinger Tricks Arya

In a bit of a surprise, Littlefinger gets the drop on Arya as she plays right into his hands, finding the letter Sansa wrote to her brother Robb all those years ago when the Lannisters had her under their thumbs at King's Landing. It's the start of Littlefinger's plan to turn the sisters against one another.

Sansa Finds Arya's Bag of Faces
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Sansa Finds Arya's Bag of Faces

Your sister carries around a bag of dead people's faces! Surprise!

Sansa and Arya are a bit at odds with each other, no thanks to Littlefinger, but also because they were never that close as children and are now very, very different people. So as they try to get to know each other again, they see some behavior in each other they don't particularly like — like being a stone-cold killer who can change her face at will.

The White Walker Battle
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The White Walker Battle

So, there is a lot of absurdity in episode six, like travel times that don't just stretch the bounds of believability, but split those suckers at the seams, or the fact that the Night King's army just somehow magically has some giant chains with which to haul a massive dragon carcass up from the bottom of a frozen lake. Stuff like that.

But amid all the complete ridiculousness are some pretty great battle sequences, like the raiding party facing down an undead bear or being trapped on a rock, surrounded by walkers who are just waiting for the lake to freeze to rush in and kill the humans. Then a dragon swoops in and makes toast out of many of the wights. It's a very satisfying fight.

Viserion Goes Down
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Viserion Goes Down

Unfortunately, after laying waste to a bunch of wights, Viserion is taken down by the Night King's frozen spear, plunging into the icy waters. It's super sad, because Dany has now lost one of her babies, but also it's completely terrifying because now the Night King has an undead dragon.

Cersei's Double Cross
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Cersei's Double Cross

For one hot minute, it looks like Cersei is going to demonstrate some common sense and even some kindness as she aligns with Jon Snow and Daenerys to take down the Night King.

But no, it's all a double cross to weaken her enemies while she stays safe and sound in King's Landing, awaiting the arrival of Euron Greyjoy and the Golden Company (an army of mercenaries).

Oh, Cersei. You're never going to change. And we probably don't want you to, but still. This was your big moment and you blew it.

Jaime Has Had Enough
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Jaime Has Had Enough

When Cersei reveals her double cross, Jaime can't believe she'd be so narrow-minded and selfish, so he finally parts ways with his sister-lover. As he rides north to help out Tyrion and Jon Snow, it begins snowing in King's Landing. That . . . can't be good.

J + D = <3
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J + D = <3

While sailing home from King's Landing, Jon and Daenerys finally hook up, something some fans have been shipping for nearly the entire run of the show. Unfortunately, it happens just as the show finally, officially, 100 percent confirms that they are aunt and nephew. Eww.

Littlefinger Gets His
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Littlefinger Gets His

In an epic takedown scene, Sansa lays bare all of Littlefinger's crimes and shady dealings against her family while he sputters and casts about for an ally. It's immensely satisfying to watch him squirm, even more so when Arya slits his throat right there in the great hall of Winterfell.

Jon's True Parentage Is Finally Revealed
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Jon's True Parentage Is Finally Revealed

We fans have known forever that Jon Snow is the son of Rhaegar Targaryen and Lyanna Stark. We only recently discovered that he's not even a bastard, as his parents were married in a secret ceremony before Rhaegar's death.

But some show characters finally come to know the truth as well when Samwell and Bran put their collective knowledge together and figure out that Jon is actually Aegon Targaryen, heir to the Iron Throne. 'Bout time.

The Wall Comes A-Tumblin' Down
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The Wall Comes A-Tumblin' Down

In a spectacular sequence, the Night King rides to the Wall on Viserion and takes that sucker down as 100,000 wights and White Walkers emerge from the forest and begin pouring into Westeros. It doesn't spell anything good for the citizens of the Seven Kingdoms, but it is a hell of a way to end the season.