Jon Snow and Daenerys Targaryen are finally meeting on Game of Thrones, which is a big deal. For six seasons, they’ve been the two characters on the fringes of the story with the biggest potential roles in the wars to come. But as hyped as this meeting is, Tyrion Lannister has set it up for an awkward payoff.
In Season 7’s “Stormborn,” Dany’s Hand of the Queen Tyrion sent Jon Snow the message that prompted him to set off to Dragonstone, cuing their impending meeting.
Daenerys commanded Tyrion to tell to Jon to “bend the knee” to her. But Tyrion didn’t follow that instruction. Although the written version of his message only appears briefly onscreen — as Jon mostly discusses it verbally — the zoomed in version has naturally surfaced on Reddit. Its text reads as follows:
Queen Daenerys Targaryen, First of Her Name, invites you to Dragonstone. My Queen commands the combined forces of Dorne and The Reach, an Ironborn Fleet, legions of Unsullied, a Dothraki Horde, and three dragons. The Seven Kingdoms will bleed as long as Cersei sits on the Iron Throne. Join us. Together we can end her tyranny. I appeal to you, one bastard to another — for all dwarves are bastards in their father’s eyes.
As Jon tells Sansa in “Stormborn” that last line is a nice callback to Tyrion and Jon’s very first meeting in Season 1, proving that Tyrion really did write the letter.
But nowhere in there does it say “bend the knee.” It simply looks like an invitation for a friendly “let’s band together and stop Cersei, we have lots of resources” meeting. Jon will show up to Dragonstone expecting to say, “I agree with banding together but might I suggest against the Army of the Dead instead of Cersei? Also can I mine your dragonglass?” Meanwhile, Daenerys will sit on her throne expecting Jon to bend the knee to her.
They’re on completely different pages with regard to what they think this meeting is and what they expect to get out of it.
Thanks to Tyrion, the most hyped meeting in Game of Thrones is poised to be very awkward.
Game of Thrones Season 7 is currently airing Sunday nights on HBO.
