Winter is here and every week throughout the final season of the HBO classic, The George-Anne will provide a quick recap and reaction piece for fans and those who missed it. Spoilers are in these articles. Enjoy!

Sunday’s episode made it clear that the end is looming. The show now has just four episodes left to tie up all of the plotlines and this episode set many of them up.

Three big things:

Brienne of Tarth gets knighted

This was a moment in a rather slow episode that fans who have been watching since the beginning got emotional over. Brienne is sitting with Jaime Lannister, Tyrion, Tormund and Podrick around a fire, waiting for the horn to sound for battle. They’re discussing the likelihood of walking away from the war and their slim survival chances.

The subject of being a knighted arises from Jaime and Brienne’s general belief is that women can’t be knights. The notion that a king must be the one to knight is also brought up and extinguishes the hope for Brienne.

After Tormund shoots down “tradition”, Jaime goes to knight Brienne. She tears up and is now called Knight of the Seven Kingdoms, to which the episode is so rightfully named.

Sansa and Daenerys get chippy

Since the first scene of the series, these two have been noticeably unpleasant to each other. Both women want the Iron Throne and don’t care what they have to do to get it.

The two sit down in Winterfell and have an awkward, smalltalk filled conversation. Daenerys puts her hand on Sansa’s and lets her know that she will be taken care of when Daenerys gains control.

When Sansa announced her plans of staying in charge after the war instead, Daenerys leaned back and had a look to kill the Stark. Had they not been interrupted, the death of Sansa may have happened.

Arya loses her virginity

The love connection between Arya and Gendry has been heightening since the season premiere and it reached its climax just before a war is about to happen.

Arya has the blacksmith make her a special weapon to use and he brings it to her outside the crypt. She proceeds to ask him how many women he’s been with, and he responds with three.

Then the girl who we’ve been following since she was very young, moves in on Gendry and they have sex.

It blatantly exhibits that Arya has grown up and is ready for war. Podrick singing a song later covered by Florence + the Machine adds to the beauty of the scene.

Three quotes

“Cersei still sits on the throne. If you can’t help me take it back, I’ll find another hand who can,” Daenarys to Tyrion

“I’m not the red woman take your own bloody pants off,” Arya to Gendry

“I’m no king, but if I were. I’d knight you ten times over,” Tormund to Brienne

The Cliffhanger

Sunday’s cliffhanger may have been the biggest tease of a cliffhanger ever. The horn for war sounds and everyone in Winterfell scrambles into position. The camera cuts to the white walkers and we get a glimpse of them again, looking at the kingdom, before it fades to black.

HBO has leaked that episode three will have the longest battle in TV and film history.

McClain Baxley, The George-Anne Daily Managing Editor, gadaily@georgiasouthern.edu