Eastwatch

Meanwhile, Davos Seaworth retrieves Gendry, along with Jon Snow and Jorah Mormont, where they head beyond the Wall along with Tormund, The Hound, and the Brotherhood Without Banners.

Arya Stark spies on Littlefinger and discovers a letter that Sansa wrote to her family, requesting their fealty to King Joffrey.

"Eastwatch" received praise from critics, who listed Jon Snow's interaction with Drogon, Lena Headey's performance as Cersei Lannister, Gendry's return, and the tension between Arya and Littlefinger as highlights of the episode.

Tyrion proposes capturing a wight north of the Wall and bringing it to King's Landing, to show Cersei the danger and gain her support.

Jon, Davos, Gendry, and Jorah meet with Tormund at the Night's Watch fortress Eastwatch-by-the-Sea, where the Brotherhood without Banners and the Hound are imprisoned.

In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Hill commented on the intentions of the characters' decisions, and the writing and storylines that were involved in penning the episode.

Hill's intention in writing the scene of Tyrion's secret meeting with Jaime was to open the interaction with "total antagonism and hatred", and eventually change it to the two "being vaguely on the same side."

They eventually settled on bringing him back in "Eastwatch" in order to place him into the storyline he referred to as "the big mission" with Jon Snow beyond the Wall.

In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Dempsie said about re-joining the cast: "In the intervening three years, I would always welcome the opportunity to come back to the show with open arms.

Dempsie also revealed that co-creators David Benioff and D. B. Weiss were unsure when he would be returning to the show, noting that he was told by them, "Look, your character is going to disappear for a while.

He also stated about the scene, "We created things for him to look at that were evoking Pompeii, the aftermath of the dragon fire and what it does to the humans all around him, as well as the destruction of the actual wagons.

"[6] For Daenerys Targaryen's return to Dragonstone, and the interaction between Drogon and Jon Snow, Shakman spoke about the process that went into creating the scene, saying that "half the time Kit Harington", who portrays Jon Snow, was "acting with a partial dragon snout", and at other times "nothing, or a tennis ball in order to establish a proper eye-line."

I put all of that information off-camera and pushed in on John Bradley as he was dealing with the crisis of the moment, which was his frustration with the maesters and ultimately coming to the conclusion that he doesn't want to be a part of it anymore.

[6] Additionally, "Shakman revealed that the meeting of characters at the Eastwatch ice cells at the end of the episode was shot all in one day, and that he hoped to have had more time to shoot the scene."

He noted the scene was "meant to evoke that image of the Wild Bunch walking into town before the big shoot-'em-up begins.

[9] In the United Kingdom, the episode was viewed by 3.42 million viewers on Sky Atlantic, making it the highest-rated broadcast that week on that channel.

[11] "Eastwatch" received praise from critics, who listed Jon Snow's interaction with Drogon, Lena Headey's performance as Cersei Lannister, and Gendry's return as highlights of the episode.

[14] The site's consensus reads "'Eastwatch' traded the fiery spectacle of Thrones' previous episode for a slow-burn approach, but nonetheless delivered some spectacular revelations and reunions."

Matt Fowler of IGN wrote in his review of the episode, "'Eastwatch' may have represented a breather in the action, so to speak, but it sure didn't lag.

Everyone's past connection to one another is now getting brought up, noted, and utilized to further plot in a meaningful, natural way.‘"He continued by mentioning several of the reunions and call-backs that took place throughout the episode, saying "From Sam having met Bran back at the end of Season 3, to Gendry finally returning to the show and meeting up with both Ser Davos and Beric Dondarrion (in the same episode), to Jorah finding his way back to Daenerys, to Tyrion's tense-but-fruitful reunion with Jaime – 'Eastwatch' was chock-full of the past becoming present, and being used to inform the drastic, dramatic war machine."

[15] Kelly Lawler of USA Today expressed similar thoughts by stating it was the best episode of the season thus far, and noting, "The series has needed to reinvent itself after it brought so many major characters together and narrowed its focus.