Challenge Accepted: The story that could have been.

Hello Amino! So, I decided to do one of the challenges from Dragons of Valyria and I'm going to tell you how I think stuff could have changed to improve season 7. I have many ideas for this (starting at episode 1and ending at episode 7) so this may get a little long but please bare with me. I promise it will be awesome ;)

Episode 1: Dragonstone

A New Cold Opening Montage

Now, I have no problem with this cold opening. Not at all. But I'm going to move this cold opening with the Frey's forward to after the opening credits. Then I'm going to completely remove the shit montage to make room for a different montage and opening to the season. One that we all kind of wanted and would make a few things make more sense.

The Building of the Iron Fleet Montage - The Iron Islands

- It starts off with the Silence leading a large group of merchant ships to the iron islands.

- It cuts to a scene of Euron standing on the shore watching as wood is unloaded from the merchant ships. A man with a look of a Tyroshi merchant stands beside him. He speaks a short line in regards to the cost but Euron does not seem concerned. In fact he's only response is to call for his men to get off their lazy arses and start building his fleet.

- It cuts to many very short scenes surrounding the building of the fleet. But there is something strange. Instead of the merchant fleet leaving, the iron born start pulling the ships apart and using what they can for their own means.

- The final scene we are met with the sound of screams as Tyroshi merchants and sailors are hung by their ankles from the masts of a thousand ships. They flail, kick, cry and scream for the mercy of their gods and the mercy of the iron born. But Euron has no mercy for them. He orders their throats cut. Their blood rains down upon the ships, staining the wood red.

Euron stands on fazed as the blood magic seeps in to the ships before a cruel smile creeps on to his lips and he shouts "well, what are you all waiting for? I have a lion queen to fuck." Because he always has the most ridiculous lines (Suck at dialogue for this nutcase so ignore it or put your own line in).

Why does this scene need to exist?

It explains many things that don't make sense in the show. The iron born need wood to make ships and they only have one ship to us to retrieve it, the Silence. This is actually the best ship for them to have in with this particular problem because it's commonly believe Euron uses blood magic in the books to give his ship more speed. This is also why I had Euron do the blood magic on the other ships because they wouldn't be able to keep up with him otherwise and we've already seen that the Silence is never to far ahead of the fleet in later episodes.

The Tyroshi merchants and sailors had two purposes. In Westeros the Iron Born have a bad rep. It's not likely anyone would help them but a Tyroshi merchant may have been able to be fooled if Euron promises them enough money. The rest is pretty obvious give what happens to them at the end of the scene.

It was also necessary for this to be a cold opening because it would have happened before the seven season storyline began. It simple makes more sense for the cold opening to be the making of the Iron Fleet.

In Old Town

As I said above we are completely removing the shit and soup montage from this episode. It will just pick up with Sam in the Citadel chilling with Ebrose or looking longingly at the books that are gated off from him as he puts books away.

On Dragonstone

As you might have noticed, I hated this scene. It's so ridiculously stupid that no one took the castle or remained in the castle after Stannis left. Because of this, I'm going to doctor this scene up a bit. I won't even need to cut anything else to do it. Yet.

Arriving at Dragonstone

Men stand along the walls of Dragonstone, Stannis' sigil upon their chests and the flaming heart and stag banner flapping in the wind at every corner of the castle. They look terrified as they watch an enormous fleet head there way. But that is not all. Three dragons fly in the sky above. Some of them men run screaming, others piss themselves but remain steadfast in place. They have women and children and the elderly to protect. They could not stand down.

From inside the walls, trebuchets are loaded and ready to fire, those who can not fight are rushed to safety as multiple long blows from a horn are sound. They are ready for a fight but it is clear there is very little hope. They pray to the Lord of light and the seven to save them but no one is listening.

The scene switches Dany standing on her ship looking in the direction of Dragonstone. A home that was rightfully hers by birth right. Turning to her companions she says, "Shall we begin" as the dragons reach Dragonstone and rain fire down upon them.

Why did this need to be changed?

As I said, it makes no sense otherwise. There was no way she would have gotten Dragonstone without a fight whether it be with Stannis' men, Lannister men or Iron Born. The small folk are also essentially in explaining why there are ravens and why it's so clean as well.

Episode 2: Stormborn

On Dragonstone

Welp, since we change the arrival at dragonstone, we have to change this part too because it's impossible. That being said, removing these talks really doesn't hurt our story. I'm sure we all assumed most of the talks that happen here is a no brainier and should have happened on the way. I'd rather focus on the more glaring plot holes that got under all of our skins.

The End of the Siege of Dragonstone

Now, you guys are going to probably hate this, but I can't see this lasting that long. Once the dragon's start breathing fire at them, they would surrender. It is the smart choice here to save their own lives and the lives of those they are supposed to protect. Not to mention their king is dead. I imagine they would fight the fight against the Lannisters and the Iron Born, but dragons? Oh hell nah. This is how is see it going.

The Dragons breathe fire at them and the Stannermen panic as they watch the horrors of their fellow Stannermen burning. Those who aren't burnt in the first run would start tearing down Stannis' banners and throwing them over the wall as a sign of surrender along with their Stannermen tunics. Those who wish to remain loyal to their dead king would be slaughtered by those who are afraid of the dragons and they themselves would open the gates welcoming their new queen in.

Dany would no doubt see this and call off her dragons as she seems to have complete control over all three this season. She would not go into Dragonstone right away though. She would send her in some Dornishmen to see if it's a trap and wait to see the three headed dragon raised above the castle.

Only after this she takes her boat and allies to the shore where she is met by kneeling men as the small folk leave their hiding places and kneel as well. As they go further and further up the long stairway a figure ahead of them comes into view. It is none other then the Red Priestess, Melisandre. She bows but does not kneel and here whole exchange happens with Dany and co with Melisandre.

With the meet and greet over, they enter the castle. Dany does her marveling but it doesn't take up nearly as much run time (let's be real, it was a waste) while Tyrion writes a letter summoning Jon and Mel run off to do whatever Mel does.

After this point I would keep everything else pretty much the same. If I try to fix even the smallest thing in the war meeting I'd literally have to rewrite the whole season and in just not up for that right now. The only thing I feel like I could omit without fucking everything over is perhaps the Messandei and Grey Worm scene which I'm actually going to do for a scene I want to add. Nothing really changes beyond taking out a minute of giggly girl talk which was a complete waste of time. I feel like it would have been more impactful for her love of Grey Worm to be shown. Not told.

Aboard the Silence

So, aboard the Silence we get a short scene of Euron sitting in the captain's courters in front of an impressive looking horn of noticable Valyrian make. He fingers the horn side as his second mate enters the room announcing that they had found his sister's fleet and they are waiting for orders. Euron looks away from the horn and it cuts away to Yara's ship after a short close up of the horn. This scene will play a part later in our changed story.

Episode 3: The Queen's Justice

This episode I would mostly leave alone with the exception of one scene.

Old Town

When we see Jorah again he is a complete mess. His skin has been flayed from his body and a heavy ointment is being Applied by Sam as Ebrose examines the parts he hasn't reach yet. He says something along the lines of wanting Jorah to stay a week to heal and make sure the Greyscale is gone. Change done. This just makes more sense all together. Everything else can stay the same (even though other parts of this episode annoy me a lot) with the exception of Jorah leaving right off.

Episode 4: Spoils of War

No changes here but you can expect a big one next episode.

Episode 5: Eastwatch

Alright, this is where out biggest change will be (mostly because this is already getting to long and I don't think even I can fix the Northern plot after this point) and I'm sure most people will agree with me that this is the best option.

So, instead of Bronn saving him by himself, Tyrion does something stupidly heroic and races into the water without really think about it. They fights to get Jaime free of him armour but their efforts are mostly fruitless. They are being dragged under and they are all drowning even with bronns efforts to pull Jaime up. Luckily, Dany see's what happened and (because she can't let her hand die) Drogon sweeps them out of the with one huge paw.

Free of the water they gasp for breath and on the ground as Dany and Drogon look down at them. Dany is clearly unpleased with her hand's actions and she questions him. Still trying to catch his breath he gasps out that Jaime would be a better prisoner and weapon against his sister then a dead man.

She sees the wisdom in this and he is taken prisoner. Bronn, on the other hand, is put with the others and when he is order to bend the knee or die he does so without any hesitation because a dead man doesn't get paid.

Everything else stays pretty much the same in this scene. That being said I will have to remove some things and change somethings up to make things make sense later on.

The Cells in Dragonstone

So, because my version of the season has deviated so much already, we are going to axe Jaime's return from war scene with Cersei and we are going to give Jaime and Tyrion a scene together here. They have a talk that's a bit heated at first. Jaime blames Tyrion for their father's murder and betraying their family and Tyrion explains himself. Things cool down fast because Jaime is a lot smarter then people give him credit for.

They have a heart warming brotherly moment before they are interrupted by a request for Tyrion to the Queen's council. Jon tells them what Bran saw and the meeting goes pretty much the same with only one minor change. They said Jaime with Davos with the news instead of Tyrion. Winning him his freedom and making him really start to wonder if he is on the right side.

King's Landing

Because we changed that we need to change this too. Everything stays the same with the exception of a clear lack of Tyrion and much smashing of heads by Gendry. That being said, he need to change up Jaime's arrival in kings landing a bit. He walks through the doors and Cersei seems relieved until he tells her why he was set free. As untrusting as she is she thinks it's a trap but not one set with Jaime's help. He also thinks it's hard to believe but why would they give him up otherwise?

After this he tells her what he learned from Olenna and it's pretty much the same thing as his original arrival with some obvious key differences. He learns about the baby and his concerns are pushed to the sidelines.

Back in Dragonstone

Pretty much the same but there is still a heavy concern that neither Jaime or Cersei truly understand the threat. Because of this the stupidest plot ever still goes through and when Davos and Gendry return the three man party heads out to meet up with the rest of the Fellowship in Eastwatch. They head out.

Episode 6: Beyond the Wall

There is a lot I would change in this episode. But I'm going to focus on the things that bothered me the most. Or rather the thing that won't make me have to change a million other things to make it make sense. There is no way to make all of this stupid plot logical but we can improve on things a little.

The Wight Bear

It was an alright scene but I have something better. The fellowship of the wight see something in the distance but they can't make out what it is. It's large. As big as a bear. But as it gets closer it takes on a different shape. One that Jon knows well. A giant white Direwolf with red eyes. Ghost,. There is a new member of the party.

The Frozen Lake

Alright, there isn't much I can change here with out making a million changes but we are going to change one thing in particular. Some of our main players need to die. I don't want it to happen but it needs to happen for us to care about anything that happens in this scene.

Thoros of Myr dies in the night (freezing to death in this case instead of bear damage) when everyone else is sleeping. But does he stay dead? No. He wakes up, his eyes as blue as any wights and without any hesitation he pulls out his sword and starts stabbing Beric to death. The other companions hear Beric's screams and wake up. It is Ghost that attacks first though. The bear sized direwolf tears off thoros' sword arm and it goes skittering across the ice, sword still clutch in it's hands.

Jorah rushes forward and stabs the wight with his Dragonglass daggers while the others surround Beric. It is already too late though. Beric is dead and his blood stains the icey rock red. With nothing else they can do Tormund waits for him to come back before cutting off his head with his Dragonglass axe head.

Later we see Tormund over ran by wights and sadly he must die too. Torn apart by wights. (My poor ginger will never get his giant monster babies... -sobs-)

Now we have an official reason to be invested. Our hearts are broken, we don't know who's going to die next and our bros are surrounded on all sides. It makes Dany's arrival so much more impactful and a greater relief even if our hearts are still broken.

Ghost Saves Jon

So, instead of the bullshit of him getting out of the water on his own we are going to have Ghost save him. Ghost sees Jon go under and dives in after him. Being a Direwolf​ he has more insolation against the cold so he wouldn't have the same problems Jon would. He catches ahold of Jon's arm and drags him back to the surface of the lake. Jon pulls himself up on to the ice and Ghost does his best to follow with a little help from Jon.

Benjen still shows up in this scene but they don't really interact other then Benjen telling him to run. Jon jumps on to Ghost's back and kings to him the best he can and they race off towards Eastwatch. We don't know if Benjen dies or lives.

Viserion Revival

I actually mentioned this one in my review of the episode and I'm going to say it again here. The way it happened in the show was dumb and pointless so we are going to do it right here.

The Night King stares silently at the frozen lake in front of him. The wights and Walkers back away from the lake as he raises his arms into the air. For a moment nothing happens. Then the sound of ice shattering can be heard and the dragon bursts out of the lake with a deathly horrifying cry of a dead dragon.

Once out it examines it's new master with bright blue eyes. Slowly, not hesitate​, the Night King reaches out and touches Viserion muzzle. The end.

Episode 7: The Dragon and the Wolf

There are quite a few things I would change but we are going to focus on only two of them. The most important and mind blowing will be the Dragon pit scene. Because let's be real. That wasn't what we wanted or expected. At least it wasn't what I wanted or expected.

The Dragonpit

So, my changes don't start right away other then a few meet and greets because Bronn would be hanging with Dany and co. at this point. There is just one minor different in this particular instance. In stead of both Cersei's hands being on her chair we see her caressing the same horn that Euron was caressing episodes back. That's strange how did she get that? Is it important?

Yes, yes it is. Cersei stands up holding the horn in one of her hands. Euron remains where he is sitting but it's obvious that something he has been waiting for is about to go down. "You're late," Cersei chides Dany's as she steps down from her dragon. It's at about this time everyone realizes something is wrong. Cersei raises the horn to her lips on both hands and sounds it as Drogon takes off into the air.

Euron let's out a gleefully malicious laugh as Cersei clutches her throat and falls to her knees. Jaime runs to her and pulls her into his arms. But it's already too late as she take one last gasp for breath and dies. The inside of her mouth was black and charred. Euron stands Victorious, still laughing. This was his plan all along.

Jaime let's out a howl of fury and pain as both the mountain and him charge Euron as he attempts to make a retreat. Rhaegal, under the control of Euron and the horn spites fire at the mountain and he is roasted alive. There is chaos everywhere. As they escape behind the stone to hide from the flames. Only Jaime continues his charge. But no, there is another. Coming around the building, Theon appears in the doorway he is attempting to escape through.

Theon pulls out his sword and charges his uncle. To get Yara back, Euron needed to die. Euron is cornered. Jaime behind him and Theon in front of him. The dragon can do nothing to save him now without roasting himself in the process. Besides, Rhaegal is preoccupied fighting Drogon now. There is dragonblood flying everywhere and Dany can do nothing to stop it.

Being aroggant he decides to fight. But he is quickly cut down. The dragon snaps out of the Horns control. The fellowship of the wight was pointless. No cleganebowl. No Golden Company shenanigans. Just violence and the horrors of war and the Game.

This does multiple things. It takes care of the political shenanigans which shouldn't be the focus anymore in next season (in my opinion) and it teaches us what the story is really about. War is pointless, the game is pointless and you don't always get what you want no matter how much you want it.

Aegon

I may be the only one on this train but I'm not alright with this name. I would one hundred percent change it. In my season his name is Aemon and not Aegon.

Anyways! That's all of the changes I have. Sorry it's so long. I would have split it into two parts but Dragons of Valyria said no. I think I failed at the summerizing thing guys... But I had fun doing it ;)

#ChangeSeason7

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