(Spoiler Alert: Do not read unless you’ve seen this week’s episode of “Game of Thrones”)
In the first three seasons of “Game of Thrones,” House Tully was a major player in the War of the Thrones. They were the main allies of Robb Stark, as his mother, Catelyn, came from their house. Among the main warriors in House Tully was Catelyn’s brother, Edmure, a stubborn fellow who was called upon by Robb to marry Roslin Frey in an attempt to solidify the alliance between the two houses in the war.
That marriage turned out to be the Red Wedding.
Since that wedding and the deaths of Robb and Catelyn that resulted from it, House Tully has largely remained out of the picture in the series. But in this week’s episode, Catelyn’s family has returned in the form of two members: Edmure and his uncle, the Blackfish. As these two men will likely become key players in the upcoming battle between the Starks and Ramsay Bolton for control of Winterfell, it’s time we got reacquainted with them.
The Blackfish’s proper name is Ser Brynden Tully, and he is a man who is rebellious in matters of peace but disciplined in matters of war. His older brother and Catelyn’s father, Lord Hoster Tully, constantly attempted to arrange marriages for Brynden. When Brynden kept refusing them, Hoster called him the black sheep of the family, to which Brynden said that since their house sigil is a trout, they should call him the “Blackfish,” hence his nickname.
During his appearances in season 3, the Blackfish quickly proved himself to be a foil for his headstrong and emotional nephew, Edmure. During the funeral for Lord Hoster, Edmure failed repeatedly to set Hoster’s funeral boat alight with flaming arrows.
Irritated with Edmure’s nerves, Brynden pushed him aside and set the boat on fire himself. While Edmure impulsively attacked Lannister sites and costs Robb hundreds of men, Brynden provided Robb with valuable advice on how to act in the war…advice that the young Stark sometimes did not heed.
Ironically, it was Brynden, the man who refused the married life, who convinced Edmure to take part in the wedding that led to the near-destruction of their house at the hands of the Freys. As fate would have it, it was Brynden’s bladder that saved his life, as he went outside to take a whiz right when Walder Frey ordered his men to slaughter everyone. Edmure, meanwhile, was taken up to his chambers supposedly for the bedding ceremony with Roslin, only to be taken hostage by the Freys.
Later, the Blackfish rallied what’s left of his house and waited for the right time to strike back. Walder Frey, arrogant cretin that he is, smugly dismissed the fact that Brynden got away and gloated about how Edmure spent his wedding night in a dungeon thanks to his treachery.
Now Frey has paid the price for his hubris, as Brynden has taken back the Tullys’ home, Riverrun. What’s more, Sansa Stark knows about this thanks to Littlefinger, and she has sent Brienne of Tarth to find Brynden and ask him to help Jon Snow eliminate the Boltons and Freys from the North once and for all.
Walder Frey, of course, will never admit fault. In this week’s episode, he threw a tantrum over his men losing Riverrun and blamed them for letting the Blackfish escape the Red Wedding to begin with. But he still has Edmure as his hostage, and he plans to use him to counter the resurgent House Tully.
The Starks and Tullys have been fighting the Boltons and Freys for control of the North since the start of season 2, and now that fight is getting ready to come to a head. But at long last, there’s a chance for Robb and Catelyn’s deaths to be avenged.
Who's Winning 'Game of Thrones': Top 20 Power Rankings After Episode 6 (Photos)
With no deaths and major characters like Jon, Sansa, and Tyrion absent on this week's episode, it was a bit difficult to form our "Game of Thrones" power rankings. Still, the lower half of the rankings saw several characters get swapped out for others who made their return to the spotlight this week, while those involved with the affairs at King's Landing either shot up our list or took a big drop, depending on whether they're keen on the Faith Militant working with the Crown.
20.) Walder Frey (Last week's ranking: not ranked) Lack of Ramsay leaving you with surplus bile? Don't worry, the creep who planned the Red Wedding is back, and he's planning to use Edmure Tully to retake Riverrun from the Blackfish. Until a sword finally goes through Walder's cold black heart, he gets a spot on our rankings.
19.) Samwell Tarly (NR) -- Sorry, Daddy Tarly. Your son has more guts than you'd care to admit. Like Ferris Bueller and Cameron Frye stealing the Ferrari, Samwell and Gilly have swiped House Tarly's Valyrian great sword Heartsbane for use against the White Walkers. Hope Sam knows how to swing that thing.
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18.) Benjen Stark (NR) -- Bran's without his heavyweight buddy and his direwolf. He's a dead boy walking, right? Nope! In comes his dear uncle Benjen with a flaming mace to save the day. The man also known as Coldhands will have plenty of time to catch up with his nephew, as it now falls to him to get Bran ready to fight the White Walkers.
17.) Cersei Lannister (10) -- "Our two ancient houses face collapse because of your stupidity," says Olenna Tyrell to Cersei in the preview for next week's episode. Indeed, Cersei's failed attempt to regain power sends her tumbling down our rankings, and now she has to rely on Jaime to find someone who can bail them out.
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16.) Davos Seaworth (13) -- Davos takes a slide as he remains idle this week, but he'll be back next week to continue helping Sansa prepare for war.
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15.) Brienne of Tarth (18) -- Brienne is currently en route to Riverrun to find Ser Brynden Tully, right as the Freys are planning to finish the job they started at the Red Wedding. Brienne potentially holds the fate of the Starks in her hands, and she may have to use both her sword and her words to bring the Blackfish up North to help Sansa reclaim Winterfell. Because of her newfound responsibility, she jumps in our rankings.
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14.) Jorah Mormont (9) -- Jorah is off to parts unknown to find a way to cure his greyscale. Perhaps he will return to Meereen and find some help from Kinvara? He should act fast.
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13.) Tyrion Lannister (12) -- Tyrion did not appear this week, so we have yet to see how exactly he's going to move forward now that Kinvara's around and the freed slaves in Meereen are becoming more resentful of him. Tyrion is walking a tightrope right now… but then again… when is he not?
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12.) Petyr Baelish (14) -- Despite not appearing in this episode, Littlefinger jumps up a couple of spots for revealing last week that House Tully is making a comeback. Turns out he wasn't just trying to schmooze the furious Sansa. He was indeed giving her intel that could mean the difference between victory and defeat.
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11.) The Waif (11) -- The Waif has looked down at Arya with disdain and swatted her silly with a staff. Now her belief that Arya's not fit for her assassin's order has been proved correct, she's going to make Arya pay for her failure with her life.
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10.) Arya Stark (16) -- A girl DOES have a name! Arya realized that she's not about that Faceless Men life, refusing to kill her assigned target and realizing that even monsters like Cersei deserve some amount of sympathy. (And she's a flat-out fan of the actress playing Cersei in the stage-play-within-the- show.) Now she's got Needle back, and she's going to need it in her upcoming fight against the Waif.
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9.) Yara Greyjoy (5) -- Yara's still on the run from the Iron Islands and was absent this week. On the next episode, we will see what her next move is and how she plans to include Theon and his desire for revenge against Ramsay in her grand schemes.
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8.) Jon Snow (8) -- Another idle character. Jon stays where he was ranked last week, but next time, we'll see Jon finally get up and try to rally the wildlings for battle with Tormund's help. After Olly's betrayal, maybe some trust from the people he was once told were his enemies will help Jon reclaim his fighting spirit.
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7.) Margaery Tyrell (NR) -- Doesn't it seem rather odd that Margaery is suddenly so faithful to the High Sparrow and the Seven after seeing her urge Loras to keep fighting? No, she knows exactly what she's doing. Marge is pretending to follow the High Sparrow to protect Loras, all while manipulating the Faith Militant, the Lannisters -- and even her own grandmother.
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6.) Euron Greyjoy (3) -- Euron got high marks last week for taking control of the Salt Throne, but he will slowly slide down the rankings until he strikes back at Yara for taking his fleet. It may take time for him to build up the resources to do so.
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5.) Ramsay Bolton (4) -- He's missing again for the second straight week, but only drops a spot because of all the power and evil he has accumulated up to this point. We may not see Ramsay again until he and Jon do battle.
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4.) Bran Stark (6) -- Yes, it does seem that a connection is being made between Bran's powers and King Aerys' madness. Now that his long-lost uncle has taken over as his mentor and guardian, maybe Bran will actually listen to his elders for once and use his powers to help fight the White Walkers instead of aiding them and allowing them to kill fan-favorite characters.
3.) Sansa Stark (1) -- Sansa remained idle this week, but only drops a couple of spots because her decision to send Brienne to Riverrun is proving to be a crucial one. In next week's episode, she'll be back to plotting against Ramsay.
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2.) High Sparrow (7) -- It seemed almost certain that Marge's penance walk was going to end in bloodshed. Instead, the High Sparrow shuts down the Lannister coup with an easy smirk. Now he has Tommen completely on his side, but someone might want to inform him of the dangers of failing to separate church and state.
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1.) Daenerys Targaryen (2) -- Some may be sick of Daenerys' constant locker-room speeches, but just look at Drogon! He's healed up and even bigger now, and if Tyrion's info about dragons is true, Drogon won't stop growing. The time may finally be near for Dany to actually start doing something.
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The High Sparrow, Margaery, and Arya move up in our ”Game of Thrones“ rankings as Cersei Lannister takes a tumble
With no deaths and major characters like Jon, Sansa, and Tyrion absent on this week's episode, it was a bit difficult to form our "Game of Thrones" power rankings. Still, the lower half of the rankings saw several characters get swapped out for others who made their return to the spotlight this week, while those involved with the affairs at King's Landing either shot up our list or took a big drop, depending on whether they're keen on the Faith Militant working with the Crown.
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