【Peter Baumgartner】

This post is Peter Baumgartnerdark and full of spoilers for Game of Thrones Season 7, episode 3, "The Queen's Justice."

Lady Olenna Tyrell's death was brutal -- but not for her. The Queen of Thorns certainly lived up to her name in episode 3, and Jaime Lannister will be feeling the sting of her barbs long after her body is cold.

While it's painful to say goodbye to one of the show's most consistently entertaining characters, at least Olenna went out the way she came in -- as a total badass, who made sure to secure herself a painless and dignified death before she dropped a delicious bombshell on her murderer: that she was the one responsible for killing his son, with a death far more painful and humiliating than the one Jaime gave her.

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It's probably cold comfort for Olenna after losing her entire family at Cersei's hands, but she definitely managed to twist the knife on her way out -- and if she also succeeded in sowing some seeds of doubt in Jaime's heart about his sister, those fears will be "Growing Strong" even now that the Tyrells are gone.

SEE ALSO: This 1 line of 'Game of Thrones' dialogue could have a huge fallout for this character

Jaime definitely holds the title for Westeros' #1 burn victim this week -- he also had to endure the fact that another man (and by man we mean the biggest douchebro on the planet, obvs) was able to avenge his daughter's death and win Cersei's hand in marriage, and that was beforeEuron started asking him for tips on how to seduce his sister.

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This season is going to give us so many delicious Jaime reaction gifs -- I almostfeel sorry for the guy.

Cersei, meanwhile, was on a roll -- she managed to squash the Tyrells, Greyjoys and Sands in the space of one episode, as well as decimating the remainder of Daenerys' fleet after the crushing sea battle in episode 2. And, as predicted, "The Queen's Justice" of the title was meted out with a poisoned kiss that doomed Tyene Sand to the same painful death Myrcella suffered, with Ellaria chained up just out of reach, unable to save her daughter.

It's a fittingly cruel punishment, but you can't help but wonder if someone will succeed in breaking Ellaria out ofthose chainsbefore the season is over, since Cersei helpfully left her alive. Our Lady Lannister's main weakness has always been the way she underestimates her opponents, from Tyrion to Dany, and by letting Ellaria live just to torture her, she's only making the viper more venomous. (Or, according to Indira Varma, apparently not.)

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Olenna's death was the twist we didn't see coming (and it's pretty chilling that Jaime and Cersei actually managed to outwit Tyrion, isn't it?), but one thing the showrunners didwant us to know about was the long-awaited meeting between Jon Snow and Daenerys Targaryen, and it didn't disappoint.

SEE ALSO: Kit Harington confirms Jon is definitely crushing on Dany in 'Game of Thrones' episode 3

While it wasn't quite the family reunion we might've hoped for -- mostly since they still don't know they're related -- this union of "Ice and Fire" (LOL SO META, GUYS) played out the only way it could've played out, given the reliable stubbornness of both Jon and Dany.

Much like what happens when two superheroes meet for the first time, they fought, then they found common ground (thanks to the help of a very "wise man"), and then they started working together. It's not quite an invitation for Jon to ride Dany's dragon (figuratively, you perverts), but it'll do for now.

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We were actually more satisfied by Jon and Tyrion's snark-filled reunion than Jon meeting Dany, because these two self-proclaimed bastards have had some of the most honest conversations in the history of the show. Much like Brienne and Jaime, they're an odd couple who approach a problem from completely different angles, but their strengths and weaknesses complement each other in unexpected but effective ways. Dany could certainly do worse than having them both at her side when she comes to claim the Iron Throne.

On a related note: Since there's no such thing as coincidence in the world of Game of Thrones, I can't be the only one who noticed the uncanny timing of Jon declaring that he's not a Stark immediatelybefore one of Daenerys' dragons swooped uncharacteristically close to him, right?

The episode's other big reunion, between Sansa and Bran, was kind of anticlimactic (and more than a little creepy). As Isaac Hempstead-Wright has been telling us for a while, Bran is a very different character now that he's become the Three-Eyed Raven, and that apparently means making icky, omnipotent observations about the wonderful memory of Sansa being raped on her wedding night. Thanks, little bro, good to see you too! Luckily, it looks like Arya will be back at Winterfell next week to knock some sense into her siblings.

SEE ALSO: Sorry, Jon: 'Game of Thrones' star Sophie Turner thinks Sansa 'trusts no one... family member or not'

Much like the first two episodes, "The Queen's Justice" was a measured hour, punctuated by a burst of action in the final act. Despite the cast and producers' pre-season insistence that Season 7 would be wall-to-wall action, the first three installments have been a much slower burn than I expected, similar to the pacing of previous years.

This isn't a bad thing -- we're certainly wasting less time on frivolous plot detours or extraneous conversations in brothels than we used to -- and there's a confidence to the storytelling this season that gives every episode momentum, even when we're seeing people discussing their battle plans instead of fighting those battles.

But with only four episodes left in this season, it feels like shit's about to get real -- and Daenerys is going to have to make some drastic moves to follow in her ancestor Aegon's footsteps and unite the realm without turning into a monster (both Tyrion and Olenna used that word to describe Cersei, so you know it's no accident). Whether she's worthy of the trust that Tyrion and her other advisors have placed in her remains to be seen, but Cersei might not be the only Mad Queen in town.

Game of Thrones airs Sundays at 9 p.m. on HBO.

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Topics Game Of Thrones