SPOILER WARNING

Well, it looks like winter is well and truly here.

Five seasons of ardent foreshadowing have finally ended in a freezing snowstorm – both literally and figuratively.

• Game of Thrones haters: why are you outraged?
• Game of Thrones recap: Unbowed, Unbent, Unbroken

Westeros is a mess. With winter comes the impending meltdown of the class system that has for so long dominated the kingdom.

Game of Thrones has typically featured an ongoing power struggle between the big, wealthy families – the Lannisters, Targaryens, Tyrells, Boltons, Baratheons and Starks to name a few.

But, as the High Sparrow proclaims in episode seven, “justice comes to all … high and low alike”.

And, boy, does it ever in this episode (*cough* Cersei *cough*)!

Cersei Lannister can dish the justice, but she can’t take it.

Meereen

“The Gift” referred to in the episode’s title is none other than Tyrion Lannister.

He’s had a rough road to Daenerys Targaryen – one that is completely uncharted territory for readers of the books.

Loyal readers may feel as though this power pair are meeting a little prematurely, and they’re right – Dany and Tyrion haven’t yet crossed paths in the books.

For the show, however, this encounter is a welcome reprieve.

So often we’re used to near misses and this is essentially a gift from the show-runners to reward us for our patience.

Speaking to Entertainment Weekly, writer David Benioff explained his decision to pair Dany and Tyrion up so early.

“We’re really excited to see these two characters we love so much finally set eyes on each other,” he said.

“They’re two of the best characters of the show. To have them come so close together this season then have them not meet felt incredibly frustrating … this just felt right.”

It sure did. Seeing the two of them lock eyes (thus hopefully skipping what we feared would be a bloodbath for poor Jorah) was quite simply magical.

Going forward, we’re hoping Dany recognises the imp’s potential and puts him to good use as a strategic advisor, something she is substantially lacking in at the moment.

While her lover Daario Naharis can give her combat tips like “murder everyone” (great), Tyrion can talk himself out of any situation, as he’s so often proven. That’s a quality Dany desperately needs.

After all, “all rulers are either butchers or meat”. Dany doesn’t have the bloodlust to be the former, so she has to use her brains to avoid becoming the latter.

Oh, and if she could just forgive Jorah already and get him back on side that would be just peachy.

Jorah Mormont has returned to his queen and he comes bearing gifts.

King’s Landing

Cersei’s golden run had to come to an end at some point. Entrusting most of her power to a devout religious sect may have aided her in getting Margaery and Loras Tyrell thrown in jail, but it’s come back to bite her.

“What will we find when we strip away your finery?” the High Sparrow asks his queen.

A whole lot of incense, that’s what.

It’s somewhat less satisfying to see Cersei being thrown in a jail cell after she showed off her softer side earlier in the episode.

Talking to Tommen, she tells him a mother’s love is all-conquering, thus reminding viewers exactly what it is that drives her to be such a b***h sometimes: her kids.

It’s a feeling Olenna Tyrell can relate to. She’s on the warpath to get her grandkids out of jail and her endeavours have lead her straight to Petyr Baelish (in his seedy brothel nonetheless).

Littlefinger’s allegiance to Olenna appears to trump his loyalty to Cersei and he offers to help her out. Is he on Team Tyrell or does he have a bigger scheme underway? Time will tell.

Don’t mess with the Queen of Thorns.

Castle Black

It’s surprisingly hard to farewell Maester Aemon at the Wall. He was one of the few moral compasses the show had. He was also one of the few remaining Targaryens.

Aemon’s dying words are interesting and telling. He calls to his baby brother “Aeg”, aka Aegon Targaryen, father of the “Mad King”.

As we know by now, the writers never do anything lightly. The inclusion of Aeg will prove significant later in the show for sure, but how?

We’re not suggesting anything, but as Bustle.com pointed out, another notable “Aeg” is Prince Aegon Targaryen, the son of Rhaegar Targareyn and Ellia Martell.

Ellia has featured a fair amount in recent episodes, now her son’s name is being bandied about seemingly at random. Keep your eyes peeled.

Meanwhile, we nearly had another horrific rape scene this episode when the long-suffering Gilly was cornered by two men of the Night’s Watch.

The crisis was averted thanks to Samwell Tarly and Jon Snow’s direwolf Ghost, but it was a close one.

The intimate scene that follows, in which Gilly and Sam consummate their obvious love for each other, is a nice antidote to the typical sexual violence of the show.

It was also adorable.

Gilly watches Maester Aemon burn.

Winterfell

We all held out hope last week’s horrendous wedding night scene would ignite a fire of Stark loyalty long absent in Theon.

Alas, he’s still at the mercy of Ramsay Bolton’s mind games and spills Sansa’s secret: she has “friends in the North” who want to help her.

Leave it to Ramsay to track down said friends and literally skin them alive.

It’s official: Sansa’s life sucks. Now her one shot at freedom – lighting a candle in the broken tower to summon Brienne – has been taken from her.

She also had to see a dead lady’s skinned corpse hanging in her family home.

She’s also married to the worst person on earth.

Did we mention half her family got murdered?

We can only hope revenge will be sweet for poor Sansa. She’s become a stoic force in the show and a symbol of endurance and hope. If there’s a shred of justice left in Westeros, she will get her just desserts and it will involve Ramsay Bolton being ripped to shreds by his beloved dogs very slowly while everyone he’s ever wronged cheers them on and throws rocks at him.

Sorry, we’re daydreaming out loud again.

As for everyone else…

• We learnt two things in Dorne this week: Bronn has a lovely singing voice and the Sand Snakes are fairly ruthless masterminds. Turns out Tyene Sand’s seemingly harmless cut to Bronn’s arm was actually injected with lethal poison (devious). It’s ok though, he survives but only after Tyene (played by 19-year-old actress Rosabell Laurenti Sellers) strips down and gets his heart racing with her naked body, hastening the effect of the poison.

What does this mean? We’re not sure. It could signal an alliance between Bron and Tyene (otherwise why show mercy?) or it could be the show’s way of allowing a female character to regain some of the power lost in last week’s rape scene.

• Jaime Lannister is trying to convince Myrcella, his “niece”, to come back to King’s Landing. Hell no, Myrcella says. She has a boyfriend and she’s not exactly keen to move back home with the ‘rents after years of freedom. Teenagers.

• Melisandre – queen of weird and wonderful ideas – has had her worst one yet. She tells Stannis he should sacrifice his own daughter to guarantee victory. Not cool, Mel. Not cool.

Either we’re heading for some more touching father/daughter moments or the show-runners are setting us up to watch possibly the worst betrayal ever. Pray for the first but put your money on the second.

Melisandre has taken her grand plan a step too far.