Game of Thrones, Season 6 Episode 7, The Broken Man: five talking points, from Ian McShane’s arrival to Lyanna Mormont’s sassy debut

Two impressive new faces arrived in Westeros – as a familiar one made a welcome return
New arrival: Ian McShane made his Game of Thrones debut as Brother Ray
HELEN SLOAN / HBO
Ben Travis6 June 2016

It’s getting to that time of year again – there are only three remaining episodes in the latest season of Game of Thrones, and we’re torn over wanting to see them all right now, and also not wanting it to end.

Season 6 continued its impressive run with the latest instalment, which saw some excellent new characters turn up, and one fan-favourite return.

Here are five major talking points from Episode 7, The Broken Man.

1) Ian McShane’s septon

There have been some high profile cast additions in Game of Thrones Season 6 – from major players like Max Von Sydow’s Three Eyed Raven to smaller bit-parts like Richard E Grant as the theatre troupe leader.

Now, seven episodes into the season, we finally got to meet Ian McShane’s character, who, if rowdy teen comedies existed in Westeros, would surely receive his own spin-off: Bad Septon.

Instead of preaching the devout piety of the High Sparrow, Brother Ray was more ragged and down to earth, living the simple life in the wilderness, building a chapel in his spare time, and swearing it up with – SPOILER ALERT – The Hound.

Except, just as your new favourite character (‘if-Al-Swearengen-was-a-Septon’) hit his stride and you wondered what his great future in Westeros was going to be he got killed. Oh, Game of Thrones.

Ray's peaceful community was destroyed by the arrival of the Brotherhood Without Banners, and he was left hanging from his half-built chapel.

Not only was it a surprise that the first scene with McShane was a cold-open, pre-credits sequence (very rarely, if ever, seen on Game of Thrones), it was also a rare choice for the show to pursue a self-contained one-episode arc for a character – the former man of violence who had moved away and started anew, only to be found by violence once again.

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2) THE HOUND IS BACK

Great as McShane’s performance was, Brother Ray’s real gift was bringing us the return of good old Sandor Clegane – yes, The Hound is back in action.

Last seen towards the end of Season 4, left bleeding out by Arya after he fought Brienne, The Hound was never confirmed dead – and now the fan-favourite character is out for revenge.

His attempt at leading a non-violent life failed when Brother Ray’s community was slaughtered – so now with him striding back into the wilds of Westeros with an axe in his hand, who from the main cast will he run into first?

It seems likely he’ll meet up with Paul Kaye’s red priest Thoros of Myr, last seen in Season 3 as a member of the Brotherhood, who’s confirmed to return at some point in the season.

3) Margaery’s grand plan

While the King’s Landing plot this year isn’t the most compelling thread, it just got a bit juicier.

Last week saw the High Sparrow seize control of the kingdom, converting Tommen and Margaery to his cause.

But just when you thought the Queen, master manipulator, had become a brainwashed zombie of the Faith of the Seven, this week she slipped a note to Olenna – a drawing of a rose, the Tyrell family symbol.

It seems Margaery has a plan after all – she’s fooled the High Sparrow (and the audience at home) into thinking she’s converted. But to what end? Is this her latest big play in her ongoing campaign against Cersei and House Lannister? How will she spin her misfortune into favour? If anyone can, it’s Margaery.

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4) Lyanna Mormont’s incredibly sharp tongue

The Stark plot is continuing to pick up steam, with this week seeing Jon Snow and Sansa visit the Northern houses to try and gain extra soldiers in order to take on the Boltons.

It’s a neat way of tying in the Winterfell story into the bigger picture – on the one hand, the Starks want the sadistic Ramsay out of their home, but they’ll also need their old family castle as a stronghold in the fight against the Army of the Dead.

While the Stark name holds serious stock in the North, Robb’s failed campaign has left many of the houses unwilling to co-operate – and with Jon’s army consisting of mostly Wildlings, the northern families aren’t convinced he’s worth investing in.

His toughest conversation of all was with Lyanna Mormont, the sassiest 10 year-old girl in Westeros, who took some serious persuading to give up a measly 60 men. Talking back to Jon, roasting Lady Sansa for her marriages – saying she’s formidable is an understatement.

Please can we get Tommen off the Iron Throne and Lyanna on there instead? The High Sparrow would be quaking in his… well, bare feet.

5) Arya’s life-or-death situation

While it was brilliant seeing Arya leave the House of Black and White behind and uncover her sword Needle in the last episode, her choice came at a cost: the Waif is out to get her, with Jaqen H’ghar’s blessing.

As soon as we saw that creepy old lady sneak towards Arya like some kind of Disney villain, we knew she would be in trouble.

While the Waif made a hatchet job of dispatching Arya (you’ve got to confirm the kill, what do they teach you in Faceless Man school?), the young Stark is in a bad way having been slashed open and stabbed in the stomach.

All that, and just as she was about to hop aboard a ship back to Westeros – hopefully she can survive long enough to get back and be reunited with Jon and Sansa. Oh, and Rickon, presuming he’s still got all his skin left.

Sky Atlantic, 9pm

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