Warning: Spoilers ahead for "Game of Thrones" season seven, episode six "Beyond the Wall." 

Sunday night's episode of the hit HBO show "Game of Thrones" featured Jon Snow and his ragtag team — which included Gendry, the bastard son of Robert Baratheon who recently returned from a three-season absence — heading beyond the Wall on a mission to capture a wight to prove the dead and their White Walker creators are real.

But before the group of men faced off against the Night King's army, Jon ordered Gendry to race back towards Eastwatch to try and get word to Daenerys Targaryen that all of the men were as good as dead without some fire-breathing dragons as backup. 

Somehow, neither the distance nor the extreme blizzard conditions impeded his journey, and Gendry made it back to the Wall and was able to send a raven to Dragonstone so that Dany could swoop in and save our heroes just in the nick of time.

It was a little more than unbelievable, and many fans started making the same joke about Gendry being an incredible athlete, especially using comparisons to "Forrest Gump." 

Gendry has made it through the impossible before, having rowed his way to safety despite not knowing how to swim or row a boat back on season three. That rowboat journey and his mysterious whereabouts helped establish the character as a beloved meme.

Some fans couldn't help but compare Gendry's unbelievable ability to run a marathon through a blizzard to his surprise rowboat survival. 

Athleticism jokes aside, props to Gendry for being quick enough to save Jon and his warrior squad. We can only guess that he's going to have some more trials and tribulations to endure alongside Jon and his men in the war to come. 

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Warning: There are major spoilers ahead for Sunday's "Game of Thrones."

While Jon, Tormund, and the rest of his dream team of magnificent seven were off battling wights in the North on Sunday's "Game of Thrones," Sansa and Arya had troubles of their own.

After Arya found an old scroll written by Sansa in season one asking her brother Robb to bend the knee to Joffrey Lannister, she accuses her sister of betraying their father and holds her responsible for his death. Viewers know Sansa was coerced into writing her letter by Cersei, but Arya's not convinced, and now she's fearing her sister could betray Jon as King in the North as well.

While Arya and Sansa bicker, the two sisters fail to realize that Littlefinger planted the letter to drive a wedge between them. It's also awfully convenient the all-seeing Bran wasn't around to break up the nonsensical fight and offer some clarity. (He's already seen through Littlefinger once this season.) 

Instead, things quickly went downhill from there. Toward the episode's end, Arya and Sansa's relationship becomes more strained after Sansa discovers several of her sister's faceless masks while searching for the scroll and inquires about them.

The two then share a bizarre exchange in which Arya tells her sister about her face collection and appears to threaten Sansa's life to take her place as the Lady of Winterfell. 

Here's their full, unsettling conversation:

Arya: Not what you're looking for?
Sansa: I have hundreds of men here at Winterfell, all loyal to me. 
Arya: They're not here now.
Sansa: What are these? 
Arya: My faces. 
Sansa: Where did you get them?
Arya: In Braavos, while i was training to be a Faceless Man.
Sansa: What does that mean?
Arya: Back in Braavos, before I got my first face, there was a game I used to play — The Game of Faces. It's simple. I ask you a question about yourself, and you try to make lies sound like the truth. If you fool me, you win. If I catch a lie, you lose. Let's play.
Sansa: I don't want to play. 
Arya: How do you feel about Jon being king? Is there someone else you think should rule the North instead of him?
Sansa: Those faces, what are they? 
Arya: You want to do the asking? Are you sure? The Game of Faces didn't turn out so well for the last person who asked me questions.
Sansa: Tell me what they are. 
Arya: We both wanted to be other people when we were younger. You wanted to be a Queen to sit next to a handsome young king on the Iron Throne. I wanted to be a knight, to pick up a sword like father and go off to battle. Neither of us got to be the other person, did we? The world doesn't just let girls decide what they're going to be. But I can now. With the faces, I can choose. I can become someone else — speak in their voice, live in their skin. I could even become you. I wonder what it would feel like, to wear those pretty dresses, to be the Lady of Winterfell. All I'd need to find out is your face. 

Arya says all of this before handing her sister a dagger and marching off. It's not clear whether she was being serious or was just trying to scare her sister and get in her head. 

Regardless, it worked. Sansa looked frightened and confused. Her eyes start to fill with tears as Arya described taking over the lives of other men and women.

The unsettling moment left viewers perplexed.

Fans couldn't understand why she wasn't acting more suspicious of Lord Baelish.

Other fans were disappointed in how the scenes between the Stark sisters have played out since they were reunited. 

Co-showrunner D.B. Weiss also said the scene was "creepy."

"Arya has this piece of very incriminating evidence against Sansa so she goes looking for it. She doesn't find it, but she finds a bag full of severed faces instead, which is creepy," said coshowrunner D.B. Weiss on HBO's "Inside the Episode" featurette. "As they get into the discussion about what these faces are, she starts to see Arya as a real, physical danger to her. Going into the final episode, I think Sansa is bringing a real fear about the idea that Arya might really want to murder her. It's a fear that Littlefinger expertly stokes."

Now that Brienne of Tarth is heading off to King's Landing, she's not around to protect Sansa in the event that Arya goes into assassin mode. Hopefully in the season's finale, the two sisters will band together and figure out Petyr Baelish's misdeeds. 

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NOW WATCH: 8 details you might have missed on season 7 episode 4 of 'Game of Thrones'

Warning: There are spoilers ahead for "Game of Thrones."

The Night King acquired a powerful new weapon on "Game of Thrones" season seven when he resurrected one of Daenerys' dragons. So how will our human heroes be able to defeat the Night King and his White Walker lieutenants? We know of two surefire ways to kill the White Walkers (not to be confused with wights, as explained here). 

Jon Snow, Sam Tarly, and Meera reed have all managed to kill a White Walker using one of two methods — dragonglass blades or Valyrian steel. But that's not likely the only way to kill the magical beasts. With a war against the White Walkers on the horizon, here's a look at the three ways characters could take them down. 

Dragonglass

On the second season of "Game of Thrones," Sam Tarly killed a White Walker with a dragonglass dagger. He found a cache of these weapons at the Fist of the First Men, an ancient stronghold north of the Wall. Sam believes that the earliest men who lived in Westeros hid them there to use against White Walkers.

Dragonglass is simply another name for obsidian, or volcanic glass. Jon Snow mined an enormous amount of dragonglass while he was at Dragonstone, and has turned it into weapons. We saw characters like Jorah Mormont and Tormund Giantsbane fighting with them on the seventh season, though they were using it against the wights.

Valyrian Steel

On season five's "Hardhome," Jon learned that Valyrian steel also kills White Walkers. Longclaw, the sword gifted to him by former Lord Commander Mormont, is made from Valyrian steel. This special type of metal is rare in Westeros because it can only be forged using magic.

The name is derived from Valyria — the ancient stronghold for a now-dead civilization in Essos. Valyrian steel was forged in Valyria using dragonfire and spells. After the Doom struck Valyria, decimating the population and culture, and after dragons went temporarily extinct, there was no way for people to craft new Valyrian steel in Westero (though they can reforge existing blades).

Can dragons kill White Walkers? 

We haven't seen this theory tested on the show, but it makes sense to think dragon fire could kill a White Walker. Daenerys rode her dragons into the battle beyond the wall, but we didn't see her specifically roast any White Walkers, only hoardes of wights.

Regular fire doesn't affect White Walkers — they literally walk right through it since they emanate a permanent chill. But since dragon fire is a required ingredient in Valyrian steel, and dragonglass literally has the word "dragon" in it, we believe a blast of flames from a dragon's mouth might do damage to these mysterious other-worldly creatures.

For more on the differences between White Walkers and wights, read our explainer here. 

The "Game of Thrones" season seven finale airs Sunday, August 27 at 9 p.m. EST.

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Warning: Spoilers ahead for "Game of Thrones" season seven, episode six, "Beyond the Wall."

The second-to-last episode of "Game of Thrones" season seven packed a lot of drama into its 70 minutes. From Daenerys and Jon turning up the heat to the Night King resurrecting Viserion, there were a lot of emotional and divisive moments. As usual, we've gathered all the smaller details that might have slipped through the cracks amidst the glorious dragonfire and sword fighting.

Keep reading for a look at the 7 moments you might have missed.

The Hound pointed out a mountain shaped like an arrowhead he'd seen in a fire-vision.

On the premiere of season seven, Beric and Thoros told the Hound to look into the flames. When he did, he saw a vision of a mountain where the dead were marching past.

Turns out we'd already seen that location before, back on the sixth season.

Here's the other side of that same mountain as seen by Bran in season six.

We saw this same location when Bran had a vision of the Children of the Forest creating the Night King, as Redditor Smurph269 pointed out. There was a rock formation in a spiral pattern — the pattern the White Walkers now often repeat. 

It's interesting to think Jon and company might have been heading straight for an area beyond the Wall with immense ritualistic meaning. Perhaps the Night King even led them there on purpose somehow? Then again, it's also possible the "Game of Thrones" showrunners re-used a set in Iceland without realizing it.

When Jorah was trying to bolster Thoros' spirits, he mentioned a historic battle known to book readers.

Jorah and Thoros were both present at the Siege of Pyke — the final battle of Robert's Rebellion all those years ago. As Jorah said, Thoros was the first man through the walls, an act Jorah had taken for bravery but it turns out Thoros was black-out drunk. 

That battle was where Jorah earned his knighthood, and it was also the fight in which Theon Greyjoy's father, Balon, was defeated yet again. At the battle's end, Balon was forced to give Theon to Ned Stark as a ward, setting in motion the eventual betrayal of Theon to the Stark family.

Warning: Spoilers ahead for "Game of Thrones" season seven.

In "Beyond the Wall," fans learned several key new details about the White Walkers and wights. Most importantly, Jon and his dream team realized that killing a White Walker also destroyed the wights following it — which makes ultimately defeating the army of the dead much easier than previously assumed.

White Walkers (the sentient humanoid beings who were first created by the Children of the Forest) have the power to resurrect the dead and turn them into wights — zombies who do the White Walkers bidding. But as Jon figured out, killing a White Walker means any wight that it had "turned" will also fall. 

Then Beric Dondarrion took this one step further, and pointed out that the Night King likely created every White Walker, which means killing the Night King would create a domino-effect of death and destroy the whole army.  This is very much in the same vein as "Lord of the Rings"— once Frodo destroyed the ring and thereby Sauron, the rest of his army was rendered useless.

Also worth noting is that "Game of Thrones" just implied that dragonglass kills wights, too. Previously we only knew that fire killed wights, but Jon and his team were all using dragonglass daggers and axes against the skeletal foes. 

This bolsters the importance of Valyrian steel

We always knew Valyrian steel was one of the rare substances capable of killing White Walkers, and now that killing White Walkers means eliminating possibly dozens (if not hundreds) of wights, then these weapons just got even more valuable.

There are a finite number of Valryian blades in Westeros. Here's the short list of everyone who currently is in possession of one:

• Jon Snow — Longclaw
• Arya Stark — the Catspaw dagger
• Brienne of Tarth — Oathkeeper
• Jaime Lannister — Widow's Wail
• Sam Tarly — Heartsbane

Jon, Brienne, and Jaime will all be in King's Landing for the finale episode, while Arya and Sam are both presumably in the north (we're guessing Sam was heading back to Castle Black after his failed time in Oldtown). Will all five of these heroes get together in the eighth and final season to fight against the White Walkers? We hope so.

What we still don't know about the Night King

Even though this piece of information is great and all, there are still plenty of mysteries surrounding the Night King and the White Walkers. How exactly does their magic work? Why are they marching on the realm of the living now after thousands of years of hibernation? What do they want?

We know George R.R. Martin avoids writing pure black or white characters, which means the White Walkers must have some motivation other than destruction of all humanity ... right? 

It would be quite anti-climatic if all Jon (or even another hero wielding Valryian steel like Arya, Brienne, or Jaime) simply stabbed the Night King and ended the whole war without us ever understanding the underlying conflict.

The final season of "Game of Thrones" will hopefully reveal more depth to the stories of the White Walkers, and we have our fingers crossed that every Valyrian steel owner of Westeros fights for the side of the living in an epic showdown.

The "Game of Thrones" season seven finale airs Sunday, August 27 on HBO. In the meantime read our roundup of seven details you might have missed in "Beyond the Wall."

SEE ALSO: All the biggest moments from this week's action-packed 'Game of Thrones'

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NOW WATCH: 6 details you might have missed on season 7 episode 6 of 'Game of Thrones'

Warning: Spoilers ahead for "Game of Thrones" season seven, episode six "Beyond the Wall."

Sunday night's episode of "Game of Thrones" featured two characters with some incredible athletic abilities. 

Daenerys arrived to save Jon and his team from the undead army with her three dragons in tow, but the rescue mission didn't go as smoothly as possible. As the men climbed onto Drogon's back, the Night King grabbed an ice spear and walked toward them.

He then lifted the spear and threw it with incredible accuracy, hitting Viserion in midair. The dragon burst into flames and went crashing into the frozen lake as Daenerys and the men gaped in surprise. 

The Night King's aim got him a tweet from the official Twitter account of the United States Olympic team.

"Anyone have the Night King's contact info so we can recruit him to throw javelin?" they asked. 

Show fans were shocked by the Night King's arm and got in on the fun.

But the Night King wasn't the only character to be aplauded for his athleticism.

Gendry became another meme after taking off on a marathon run to Eastwatch through a blizzard to send a raven to Daenerys. 

Fans referenced "Forrest Gump" and joked about his ability to row and run. 

The end of the episode ended with Viserion being pulled from the lake by the wights who somehow were wielding huge chains. The Night King approached the dead dragon, touched him, and his eyes opened and turned an icy White Walker blue. This new weapon could have devastating consequences for everyone in Westeros, but we're not sure exactly what this undead dragon can do. 

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Warning: Spoilers for "Game of Thrones" season seven. If you aren't caught up with the series, read at your own risk. 

Season seven of "Game of Thrones" has already proven to be one of the most brutal yet. Some major battles have brought some major deaths, including one that made dying look really, really cool.

This week, the Night King and the Wights were responsible for the batch of deaths, coming to your TV very soon. 

Here is your guide to who died on "Game of Thrones" so far this season:

SEE ALSO: All the biggest moments from this week's action-packed 'Game of Thrones'

Obara Sand

Time of death: Episode two, "Stormborn."

Cause of death: In his attack on Yara's fleet, Euron Greyjoy stabs the daughter of Oberyn Martell in the gut with a spear. By the end of the battle, her body is hanging from the ship, so she's definitely dead. 

Nymeria Sand

Time of death: Episode two, "Stormborn."

Cause of death: In Euron's attack, he strangles Nymeria, who is a daughter of Oberyn (and not Arya Stark's direwolf, who shares the same name). At the end of the battle, her body is also hanging from the ship.

Tyene Sand

Time of death: Episode three, "The Queen's Justice" (kind of).

Cause of death: Cersei locks Ellaria up in a dungeon with her daughter, Tyene, who she poisons the same way Ellaria poisoned Myrcella: with a kiss and a poison called "The Long Farewell." So Ellaria has to watch her own daughter die a brutal death, and in another sick twist, decompose before her own eyes, and there's nothing she can do about it.

Warning: Minor spoilers if you have not seen "Game of Thrones" season seven, episode six.

Fans are loving the formation of an unlikely friendship on the latest episode of "Game of Thrones." 

Tormund Giantsbane and Sandor "The Hound" Clegane strike up an interesting conversation as they continue on their journey beyond The Wall in search of White Walkers, with Jon Snow and the Brotherhood Without Banners.

Tormund first asks The Hound about the burn scars on his face, ruffling his feathers. The conversation then turns to Tormund's love interest, Brienne of Tarth (who he says he wants to have babies with). While The Hound seems mildly irritated by Tormund, their conversation has enchanted the internet, and fans want to see more of Tormund and The Hound together. 

Here are some of the best reactions to Tormund and The Hound's budding bromance:

SEE ALSO: Every 'Game of Thrones' romantic relationship, ranked from worst to best

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NOW WATCH: Marvel dropped another trailer for 'Thor: Ragnarok' — and it looks incredible

Warning: There are spoilers ahead for "Game of Thrones."

So much happened in Sunday's 71-minute episode of "Game of Thrones."

The majority of season seven, episode six "Beyond the Wall," focused on Jon and our heroes going up against the Night King and his wight army. Though most of Jon's team made it out unscathed, Dany lost her dragon Viserion to the army of the dead. Not only did we learn that the Night King has some incredible range with his throwing arm, but he also has giant chains lying around in the event he needs to drag an enormous dragon out of an ice lake!

We also saw the surprise return of Uncle Benjen (only to have him torn away from us moments later), Arya went hardcore creepster on her sister at Winterfell, and #Jonerys shippers got to see a few sparks fly between Jon and Daenerys. And let's not forget that Viserion is now a wight dragon.  

It was all a lot to take in. But which moments had fans talking the most?

Social-media monitoring platform Brandwatch found more than 162,000 "Thrones"-related mentions on Twitter while Sunday's episode aired on HBO and pinpointed the scenes that got the most people talking.

Here are the five most talked-about moments from the season's penultimate episode of "Game of Thrones":

SEE ALSO: All the biggest moments from this week's action-packed 'Game of Thrones'

5. Fans were distraught after Jon was dragged beneath the frozen lake.

9:57 p.m. ET — around 3,000 mentions

After Daenerys swooped in to save Jon, Tormund, the Hound, and company on the back of Drogon, Jon was moments away from getting on Drogon before he decided to play hero and fight off wights so his comrades could get to safety.

Before Jon could get back to Drogon, he noticed the Night King gearing up to take aim at another one of Dany's beloved dragons and told her to head off without him. In sacrificing himself, Jon got pulled into the frozen ice lake, and fans weren't sure what was going to happen to the lone wolf.

4. Viewers loved when Jon called Daenerys by her nickname.

10:06 p.m. ET — around 3,200 mentions

When Jon was brought safely aboard Daenery's ship, he woke to find her sitting by his side. He told the Queen he'd bend the knee to her but it was the moment when he referred to the Mother of Dragons as Dany that many fans swooned.  

Daenerys wasn't too crazy about Jon calling her "Dany" though, especially since that's what her brother called her. So Jon came up with one better and referred to her as his Queen.

3. Viewers were excited to see Uncle Benjen Stark pop up again to save Jon.

10:02 p.m. ET— around 3,3000 mentions

After he climbed out of the frozen lake, Jon had no strength left to take on the incoming wights. Just when things were looking bad, his Uncle Benjen came out of nowhere to save the day. 

Benjen only stuck around long enough to put Jon on his horse and send him back to the Wall before sacrificing himself to the wights. Fans were both excited for his return and dismayed to see it so shortlived, especially when they believed both men could have fit on that horse.

Warning: There are spoilers ahead for "Game of Thrones." 

"Game of Thrones" fans were hoping we'd get to see some ice spiders Sunday night, but instead, viewers got a giant undead polar bear that ravaged Thoros of Myr. 

According to the series' showrunners, they've been trying to get that polar bear into the show for years, but were constantly told by the visual effects team that there was no way they could afford to do it.

"What we had to go through to get the zombie polar bear was writing the zombie polar bear into every season of the show for about four seasons," said co-showrunner coshowrunner D.B. Weiss in a behind-the-scenes featurette released by HBO. 

However, Weiss said since Jon was going beyond the Wall, it allowed them to bring the bear into the fold. Plus, it probably helped that the entire season is a few episodes shorter than usual to afford adding in a massive undead bear. 

How they brought the undead polar bear to life on "Game of Thrones" 

An animated pre-visualization is created beforehand to give everyone an idea of what they want the scene to look like. 

While a ton of visual effects were used to make the polar bear's final majestic form, a lot of the initial ground work consisted of a man in a green unitard suit. 

Since the stuntman wouldn't be big enough on his own to fill in for the bear, he maneuvered a stand-in of the bear's head on set that was actually on fire.

If that wasn't enough, Thoros of Myr actor Paul Kaye was really there fending off the "bear" with his sword.

The stuntman didn't just stand there either. He also chased the cast around on set.

Wires were also used to swing men around to make it look like they were being pulled and dragged by the giant mammal.

Stuntmen were tossed around a lot. 

When Jorah went in for the kill, the setup was a little different. The "bear" was nothing more than some sort of makeshift table that was on fire.

As Thoros was being dragged away from the bear, you can see the different stages of what goes into the visual effects process.

Here's how the scene looks before and after visual effects are added:

You can watch the full breakdown of the frozen lake scene from Sunday's episode below:

SEE ALSO: Here's the difference between White Walkers and wights on 'Game of Thrones'

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NOW WATCH: 6 details you might have missed on season 7 episode 5 of 'Game of Thrones'

Warning: Spoilers ahead for "Game of Thrones" season seven, episode six, "Beyond the Wall."

Sunday's "Game of Thrones" featured an intense battle between the living and the undead that left one of Daenerys' dragons dead and in the hands of the White Walkers. 

The scale of the battle was huge on its own, but the inclusion of the three dragons together as well as a zombie bear earlier in the episode took the visual effects to a whole new level. 

HBO released a behind-the-scenes look at how they brought the wight battle to life with practical and visual effects. 

From building a fake frozen lake to using wires to mimic a bear attack, here's how the masters behind the HBO show put the episode together. 

The team battled a small army of wights in blizzard conditions.

They actually filmed on location in Iceland for the incredible landscapes.

But the stunning views added real depth to the scenes. "It adds a sense of reality," actor Kit Harington said.

Warning: Spoilers for "Game of Thrones" season seven episode six, "Beyond the Wall." If you aren't caught up on the series, read at your own risk.

This week's action-packed episode of "Game of Thrones" set up a gloomy future for our heroes (and villains) in Westeros. The Night King has a dragon now, making his army of the dead an even bigger threat than ever. 

In between the battle for the living beyond the wall, the Stark women can't get along in Winterfell, thanks to Littlefinger and his obsession with creating chaos.

Based on developments in the story this week, and the brief peak at the season finale from the trailer, we have some burning questions that will keep us awake at night.

Here are all the biggest questions we have after this week's episode of "Game of Thrones":

SEE ALSO: Here's everyone who has died this season on 'Game of Thrones,' and how they bit the dust

Are Sansa and Arya playing Littlefinger?

The entire point of Arya’s storyline in season six is that she isn't — and can never be — no one. She is loyal to her family and always will be. Her storyline with the actress in Braavos also proves that she still cares about innocent people. This was also the point of her scene with Ed Sheeran and the young Lannister soldiers in the season seven premiere: Not everyone deserves to die for where their loyalties lie, because not everyone has a choice. 

Sansa has spent most of her time on this show in Littlefinger's shadow, minus her time alone with the Boltons. She knows him more than she's letting on. It's also possible that Bran has told his sisters what he knows about Littlefinger off-screen.  

Arya and Sansa probably have something bigger planned and this sister fight is a trap for Littlefinger. It's important to note that while it appears Arya and Sansa were alone during both of their intense conversations this week, one took place outside, and one in a bedroom with the door open. Littlefinger could be lurking anywhere, pleased to see his schemes playing out.

If Sansa and Arya are actually sparring, then why is this even happening? Why can't these sisters accept their differences, the fact they are both somehow alive, and have a long dinner to catch up on their traumatizing experiences? Geeze, ladies.

What does Cersei have planned in King’s Landing? Surely she won’t welcome her enemies without a fight.

Cersei has a "thing" for wildfire, and is about to welcome her enemies with open arms into a dragon pit in King's Landing. There is no way she plans on this meeting beginning and ending in peace. What tricks does she have up her sleeve? It's possible that it's more wildfire, and Jaime could stop her (by killing her) before it's too late.

It's also entirely possible that Tyrion and Daenerys have something bigger planned that even Cersei won't see coming, assuming they're in King's Landing to be nice. 

Why do characters who are obviously not going to die (yet) keep almost drowning?

First Jaime, then Jon. Why jerk us around when we know they're not going to drown? Come on. Will one of our favorite characters actually drown sometime soon?

Warning: Spoilers ahead for the "Game of Thrones" season seven finale.

The first shortened "Game of Thrones" season is about to come to a close with the seventh and final episode airing Sunday, August 27, on HBO. In the teaser video released, we finally get a glimpse of all our favorite heroes congregating in King's Landing. We've broken down the trailer shot-by-shot to see what we can expect on the coming finale (which will be a record-breaking 81 minutes). 

Keep reading for a look at all the major reunions heading our way:

The episode opens with Grey Worm and the Unsullied standing in formation outside of King's Landing.

Jaime and Bronn look out at the Unsullied and the Dothraki armies. Even though Daenerys lost some allies, her forces still look formidable.

They look both impressed and concerned by Daenerys' show of force.

Warning: "Game of Thrones" spoilers ahead.

Leadership skills can really come in handy in Westeros, especially when dealing with fighting siblings, snowy hiking trips, and anti-dragon ice javelins.

A few weeks ago, we ranked the "Game of Thrones" characters based on their leadership abilities. So here's an update, based on all that's happened in this season so far.

A few notes: This list counts only characters who are still alive on the show, not in the books. So keep in mind that a bunch of people have died recently.

Also, this list takes into consideration only people who could be counted as "leaders"— some characters who aren't currently in leadership roles aren't on here, like Arya Stark, Jorah Mormont, or Sandor Clegane. The same goes for anyone who is basically out of commission at this point.

Lastly, this ranking looks into characters' track records but heavily favors things that happened this season. This list examines leadership ability, not overall power, importance, or title.

Here are the leaders of "Game of Thrones" that have survived the season so far, ranked from worst to best:

SEE ALSO: 6 effective leadership styles we can learn from 'Game of Thrones'

9. Petyr Baelish

Successful people aren't necessarily good leaders.

Just look at Littlefinger. He seems to be making some big moves within the dimly-lit halls of Winterfell, passing around knives, planting scrolls, and pitting the Stark girls against one another. So far, things seem to be going his way. Arya appears just about ready to add Sansa to her infamous list.

Lord Baelish doesn't have to demonstrate much in the way of leadership abilities — he prefers to fly solo. He is a chaotic force unto himself.

But, when it comes to the Starks, the lone wolf dies and the pack survives. We can only hope Littlefinger's solitary style will ultimately catch up with him. With winter ravaging the North and the army of the dead on the march, no one has time for his games anymore.

8. Brienne of Tarth

Brienne brought up some excellent points when Sansa chose to send her away this week. Namely, Littlefinger can't be trusted.

You can tell this valiant knight has the best interests of the Stark girls in mind. Plus, she's confident in her abilities to guide and protect Sansa and Arya. Keeping a strong warrior like Brienne around could dissuade some of Baelish's mind games — or potentially break up the seemingly looming fight between Arya and Sansa.

Hopefully Brienne will get more time to demonstrate her leadership smarts in the finale.

7. Cersei Lannister

Cersei's had a good season, so far.

Sure, Jaime's army got burned to a crisp, but it looks like her adversaries are currently more interested in ice zombie-related diplomacy than fighting at the moment. Cersei seems content to play along for now, which is a smart move. She's already eliminated several of herenemies, after all.

Now that Cersei is pregnant, she has even more of a motivation to fight for the future. And you can bet she has some tricks up her sleeves for the finale.

However, as Tyrion aptly pointed out, this Queen only rules through fear. That might be an effective short-term strategy, but her ruthless style is sure to burn her kingdom out in the long term. Her ruthlessness and penchant for torture haven't endeared her to many allies, outside of Qyburn and Jaime.

Warning: major spoilers for season seven of "Game of Thrones" lie ahead, including some speculation from the "A Song of Ice and Fire" books. Read at your own risk. 

One of the biggest threats to Cersei right now is Daenerys Targaryen, who has a large army and dragons. Dragons!

Unfortunately for Cersei, there's not much known about how to kill the magical, violent, and long-dead creatures.

But in the second episode of season seven, Qyburn (who seems to serve every position on the Queen's council now), shows Cersei an invention that might work. 

That weapon is put into action later on in episode four, "The Spoils of War." Bronn, fighting for the Lannisters, shoots Drogon with it. Although the dragon falls, he does not die. 

And now, in an unfortunate turn of events, the Night King has made himself a zombie dragon. He successfully took down Viserion with his spear, and brought him back to "life" at the end of episode six.

Although there's no proven and concrete way to kill a dragon, here are some of the ways that dragons could be killed, based on knowledge from the books and the show. 

SEE ALSO: All the biggest moments from this week's action-packed 'Game of Thrones'

Spears (with a lot of force)

In season seven, episode two ("Stormborn"), Qyburn shows Cersei a secret weapon he's developed that could kill Daenerys Targaryen's dragons. Upon hearing that Dany's dragons were wounded in Meereen by spears, he created a giant ballistae that shoots giant spears. He has Cersei test it out on the skull of Balerion the Black Dread. The spear goes through Balerion's skull, and Cersei has a look of satisfaction that rivals her look as she watched the Sept of Baelor collapse. 

Could it work? Maybe. Possibly. In season seven episode four, "The Spoils of War," Bronn hits Drogon with the weapon. Drogon falls, but he doesn't die, and he's not terribly wounded. In the story ofUrrax and Serwyn of the Mirror Shield from the books, Serwyn kills the dragon Urrax with a spear through the eye. The spear Cersei shot at Balerion's skull was through the eye. Meraxes, one of the great dragons used by Aegon the Conqueror to conquer Westeros (his the second largest dragon), was killed by an iron bolt to the eye from a scorpion, a weapon similar to what Qyburn made. 

Qyburn's device may work on Dany's dragons in the future, but they'll have to be really careful, and aim well. Unlike dragon skulls, living dragons move, fly, and breathe fire. And even the fall of a dragon can kill those near it. 

Other dragons

The Dance of the Dragons was a civil war between two Targaryens fighting for the Iron Throne about 170 years before the events of "Game of Thrones." It was the only major war that had dragons fighting on both sides. Most dragons were killed during the war, killing each other.

After Aegon III (who hated dragons) defeated his half-sister, Rhaenyra, he put the remaining dragons in chains. They went extinct within a few years. 

Could it work?It's possible, but only if someone can find a way to pit Dany's dragons against each other . . .

Dragonbinder

Dragonbinder, also known as the hellhorn, is a large dragon horn that is supposed to control dragons. In the books, Euron Greyjoy has Dragonbinder.  It is said that anyone who blows the horn will die but any dragons that hear it will obey the horn's master. Valyrian glyphs on the horn read, "I am Dragonbinder ... No mortal man should sound me and live ... Blood for fire, fire for blood." 

Could it work?If the writers introduce Dragonbinder to the series, it could help someone make Dany's dragons turn on each other. But since it hasn't been introduced yet in the show, Dragonbinder probably won't make it into the series. 

Warning: Minor "Game of Thrones" spoilers if you have not seen the episode "Beyond the Wall" yet.

Beric Dondarrion, the eye-patch-sporting leader of the Brotherhood Without Banners, made use of his flaming sword on the most recent episode of "Game of Thrones"— fighting off wights, White Walkers, and even a horrifying wight polar bear. 

Beric first utilizes a flaming sword in season three, episode five, when he fights Sandor "The Hound" Clegane for his wrongful killing of Mycah the butcher boy. Thoros, co-leader of the Brotherhood and a red priest who serves the Lord of Light, says a prayer to the Lord of Light before cutting Beric's hand with a sword. Beric then touches his sword with his bloody hand causing it to burst into flames. 

The same prayer and cutting ritual isn't employed in the latest episode of "Game of Thrones;" Beric merely waves his hand over the sword to get it to light this time.

The inconsistencies in getting these swords to flame poses the question: How do these flaming swords actually work? 

The explanation for how Beric's sword is ignited into flames remains unclear.

There's no solid explanation for how or why Beric and Thoros are able make swords flame in the series, but in George R.R. Martin's third book in the "Game of Thrones" series, "A Storm of Swords," Gendry insinuates that the flaming swords are just a trick.

“'It’s only a trick, I told you. The wildfire ruins the steel. My master sold Thoros a new sword after every tourney. Every time they would have a fight about the price.' Gendry hung the tongs back up and took down the heavy hammer."

The flaming sword has a strong connection to the Azor Ahai prophecy.

According to the Azor Ahai, or The Prince Who Was Promised prophecy, a prince destined to chase away "darkness" is said to wield a flaming sword called the Lightbringer. 

In season two, episode one, when Melissandre is still convinced that Stannis Baratheon is the Azor Ahai, she has him pull a flaming sword off of a burning idol during the burning of the seven on the beach of Dragonstone. In Martin's second book, "A Clash of Kings," Melissandre talks about Azor Ahai, and the significance of the Lightbringer sword.

Melissandre said:

"In ancient books of Asshai it is written that there will come a day after a long summer when the stars bleed and the cold breath of darkness falls heavy on the world. In this dread hour a warrior shall draw from the fire a burning sword. And that sword shall be Lightbringer, the Red Sword of Heroes, and he who clasps it shall be Azor Ahai come again, and darkness shall flee before him."

While none of this really offers up a deeper understanding of how the flaming swords work, it does reveal how significant flaming swords are in "Game of Thrones" lore.

SEE ALSO: All the biggest moments from this week's action-packed 'Game of Thrones'

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NOW WATCH: 6 details you might have missed on season 7 episode 6 of 'Game of Thrones'

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Warning: Spoilers ahead for "Game of Thrones" season seven, episode six, "Beyond the Wall."

As "Game of Thrones" wound down its penultimate season, veteran director Alan Taylor was back behind the camera for the epic dragon vs. Night King battle in "Beyond the Wall."

Taylor last worked on the series for the notable final two episodes of season one — "Baelor" and "Fire and Blood"— in which Ned Stark was beheaded and Daenerys lost Khal Drogo and her unborn son, only to birth three dragons from a magical pyre. 

INSIDER spoke with Taylor about returning to the series for another huge chapter and what George R.R. Martin told him all those years ago about Jon and Daenerys. 

Kim Renfro: Thank you for taking the time to talk, I'm sure it's been a busy day for you post-episode airing and all.

Alan Taylor: Yeah, that's one thing that's changed since I was last involved with the show — it's gotten bigger in so many ways. The last time I was doing it no one was dying to talk to me directly the day after. But it's become a phenomenon in the meantime so it's cool that people have so much appetite for it.

Renfro: Your work season one seems to neatly thread into "Beyond the Wall." Daenerys was looking after Drogo and she lost her human child in episode nine, and now she's lost her dragon-child. Can you walk me through how you wove those themes into this new episode?

Taylor: It's nice that you caught all that. Personally it was really satisfying because I've been away for such a long time. So it was nice to come back and speak to my previous storytelling with some things you're mentioning — Dany is falling in love again and Dany loses a child again. 

Also I love that I got a scene with Arya and Sansa talking to each other and both reliving that day when their father died in front of them. I was there that day with them when they were little kids, it was a delight to come back now that they've grown so much as actors and characters and things have darkened.

We've all been through hell and now we're back and picking up the story, so it was a real pleasure to share the history that they were drawing on when they were having these scenes. And also I was there when we gave birth to the dragons in the first season, and now here to have one of them die, it felt like a nice circle being closed.

Renfro: I read in a Deadline interview that George R.R. Martin was on set with you back in that first season, when these ideas that were just small seeds. Now that they've grown into massive storylines, what is it like thinking back to that?

Taylor: Well, every once in awhile you get a glimpse of the scale he was working at. One of the big satisfying moments was when we discovered Hodor's name and how he got it. I was thinking, "Oh my God this character has been around for six seasons and this is just paying off now with the set up back then."

So it's true — all of the characters have such big arcs and he's got them so mapped out in his head that the story is functioning moment to moment but also in these grand story gestures over several seasons, and that's what makes it so rich.

We were in Malta shooting episode ten of the first season, and the show wasn't a big deal yet and we weren't being very secretive because nobody cared yet, and [Martin] just sort of mentioned in passing, "Oh well it's all about Dany and Jon Snow" and at the time I thought, "Really? I thought it was about Sean Bean and Robb Stark?"

But he knew from the very beginning where he was driving and now we're starting to see that come to fruition. We know that it's circling tighter and tighter on Dany and Jon and their partnership is starting to form, you know, "fire and ice."

Renfro: Do you know if he was specific back then about them becoming romantically involved, since that's really only just become "official" in this latest season seven episode?

Taylor: I think it's become more official but it's been coming for awhile, so much so that it's not only starting to happen but Tyrion sees it coming enough that he's making fun of her for it. He can see what's brewing.

I can't say much more about what [Martin] said about where we're going with Dany and Jon because that leaps ahead into the next season, but to me the revelation was that, at the time, we had a hundred characters and yet he knew it's about these two.

So in my episode we get to take a big step forward in that Jon is no longer competing with her — he was willing to bow down and recognize her as queen. That's a huge step. And also they're holding hands, and the look that she gives him in that scene where she almost swoons and draws back ... it's pretty clear where this is headed, but it's not there yet.

Renfro: Another thing I was wondering if you could give us clarity on was the terminology of what just happened to Viserion. Some people are calling him an "ice dragon" now, others say "wight dragon." Was there a word for his new state you used on set?

Taylor: [Laughter] No, it's funny, we just had to take him up to the moment where he reanimates and opens his eye. It's the next episode's problem to decide what to call him. 

I do know how he behaves later on, and I know some things about what happens with him. Some pretty big things are approaching. They now have this weapon and the game changes very fast, as you'll see.

Renfro: Right — director Matt Shakman, who did "Spoils of War," told me the dragons were like an atomic bomb.

Taylor: Yeah that's the shorthand we used, too. The Night King now has nuclear capabilities — so all the battle plans all the chronologies and expectations are shifted now. But I don't actually have a name for [Viserion], I'll have to defer to the internet.

Renfro: Another thing people are obsessing over is this weird moment with Jon Snow's sword, Longclaw, where people thought the eyes of the wolf "opened" right before Jon came out of the water.

Taylor: That is so funny, somebody else mentioned that to me and I haven't got a clue what they're talking about. So either this sword is magic and it's doing stuff on its own or something happened. I'm going to have to go back and watch that moment close up and in slow motion to see what's going on there. I can say that there was no intention for that to be the case.

Renfro: I'll tell you my theory — I'm assuming that it was cold on set or in the simulated ice lake, and I thought that the pommel of Longclaw is just slightly frosted over and then Jon comes out of the water and splashes the sword which washes away any sort of frosty residue.

Taylor: That sounds very likely because there was a lot of conversation about frost because he climbs out of the water and collapses on the ice and there's a slight time cut, so when we see him staggering to shore he's frosted up and not wet anymore because everything freezes that fast.

So I know there was discussion about starting to show that process, and so they probably amped it up and used whatever they could to show the shift. So I think that's a very good theory and I'm gonna go with that one until I look at it more closely and see if I can figure out what's going on. But I spoke to somebody earlier and he was convinced it was a really loaded symbolic moment of Longclaw.

[Editor's note: We believe Taylor is referring to The Hollywood Reporter's Josh Wigler. You can read Wigler's interview with Taylor and thoughts on Longclaw here.]

Renfro: I'm on the opposite end of the spectrum with this one.

Taylor: I'm with you. But what's great is that people are analyzing everything with such detail. It's good people are pouring so much attention into it — sometimes it blows up in our face. Like there's a heated conversation about how fast ravens can fly now because of the story in my episode. Sometimes it's not comfortable to have people analyzing things too closely, but it's cool that they want to.

Renfro: Does that surprise you that people are taking the realism of this fantasy story this seriously?

Taylor: I think it's great. We have lizards as big as 747s who can blow fire but the fact that [fans] still want it to be believable and real is great. That means they're expecting that, which means they've had a diet of that and it means the show is basically achieving that. And so if they want to get out their maps of Westeros and a protractor and measure the speed of a raven and fight about it, then that's good.

Rundown

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Warning: Spoilers ahead for "Game of Thrones" season seven, episode six, "Beyond the Wall."

Any "Game of Thrones" fans knows Daenerys Targaryen is the Mother of Dragons, but what the series hasn't made clear is exactly why she believes they are the only children she will have in her lifetime. For that, we turn to George R.R. Martin's "A Song of Ice and Fire" and an ominous warning given to Daenerys.

In season seven's penultimate episode, "Beyond the Wall," there were multiple references to Daenerys' supposed infertility and the prospect of both Daenerys and Jon having children in the future.

"The dragons are my children," Daenerys told Jon during their romantic boat scene. "They're the only children I'll ever have — do you understand?"

Tyrion also discussed the problem of Daenerys' lineage with her. "How do we ensure your vision endures? After you break the wheel how do we make sure it stays broken?" he asked. "You say you can't have children, but there are other ways of choosing a successor."

And lastly, Jorah Mormont brought up the idea of Jon Snow having kids when Jon tried to return Longclaw to Jorah. "May it serve you well, and your children after you," Jorah told Jon, refusing the Valyrian steel blade.

All the chatter about children and lineage in an episode when Jon and Daenerys finally seemed to open up to each other about their growing affections does not seem coincidental. What if Jon and Daenerys have a child together (yes, even though they are aunt and nephew)? Is that even possible? 

Daenerys believes she's infertile because of Mirri Maz Duur

Everything goes horribly wrong for Daenerys in the first book and season when her first husband, Khal Drogo, is dying from an infected wound. She asks a maegi (a woman of Essos who practices blood magic) name Mirri Maz Duur to save him at whatever cost.

"Only death can pay for life," Duur tells Daenerys. 

Daenerys agrees, thinking Duur only meant to kill Drogo's horse as a sacrifice. But after Daeneys leaves the tent and hears Duur chanting, her unborn child Rhaego begins kicking in her womb and she starts feeling sharp pains. Daenerys eventually collapsed from the pain as Jorah brought her back into the tent, and when she wakes up she's told Rhaego was dead when she gave birth to him. 

Daenerys then asks to see Drogo, to see what she "bought with her son's life." Jorah reveals to Daenerys that Drogo is now effectively in a vegetative state — alive but unable to see, speak, or move on his own.

"This is not life," Daenerys tells Duur. "When will he be as he was?"

"When the sun rises in the west and sets in the east," Duur said on the show. "When the seas go dry and the mountains blow in the wind, like leaves."

However, "Game of Thrones" omitted a significant portion of Duur's warning. Here's what she said in the books:

When the sun rises in the west and sets in the east
When the seas go dry and mountains blow in the wind like leaves
When your womb quickens again and you bear a living child
Then he will return, and not before.

In the books, Daenerys frequently thinks back to this "prophecy" from Duur, and believes the maegi was telling the truth about her never bearing a living child again, just as Khal Drogo would never return to her.

Though the show omitted that line from Duur, Daenerys still repeated the idea in later seasons. On the second season, when the warlocks of Qarth stole her dragons, Daenerys and Jorah spoke about leaving them behind.

"They have my dragons — a mother does not flee without her children," Daenerys said.

"They're not your children," Jorah told her. "I know they call you the Mother of Dragons and I know you love them but you didn't grow them in your womb and they didn't suckle at your breast."

(Oddly enough, Martin did write that the dragons nursed from Daenerys when they were first born and she emerged naked from the fire of Drogo's pyre: "The cream-and-gold dragon was suckling at her left breast, the green-and-bronze at her right.")

"They are my children," Daenerys told Jorah. "And they are the only children I will ever have."

Emilia Clarke, who plays Daenerys, also spoke toward this point in a season two behind-the-scenes interview. "In her eyes they really are her children," Clarke said. "Dany knows this is it — this is the only family she has."

Book readers believe Daenerys has a miscarriage in the fifth book

As several discussions on the "A Song of Ice and Fire" subreddit have explored, it's possible that Daenerys got pregnant again in the fifth book, "A Dance With Dragons," but then had a miscarriage. In her final chapter of the last published book, Daenerys experiences severe cramps and bleeding while she's wandering in the Dothraki sea.

"She was bleeding, but it was only woman's blood," Martin wrote. "The moon is still a crescent, though. How can that be? She tried to remember the last time she had bled. The last full moon? The one before? The one before that? No, it cannot have been so long as that."

If we assume this was meant to be showing Daenerys miscarrying, it means she can still get pregnant — but we don't know if she can carry a living child to term. 

The show omitted this small detail entirely, but they did include a scene with Daenerys and Khal Moro on the sixth season where this "prophecy" comes up again.

"I will not lie with you, and I will bear no children for you, or anyone else," Daenerys told Moro. "Not until the sun rises in the west, and sets in the east."

What does all this talk of infertility mean for her future?

As Tyrion pointed out, there's little point in Daenerys conquering Westeros only to have her legacy die with her. She needs an heir, and even though there are more democratic methods of choosing a successor it would be more in line with the Targaryen history if she bore a legitimate child. 

Which brings us to Jon Snow — or should we say Jon Targaryen? If the episode five truth bomb dropped by Gilly bears out, that means Rhaegar Targaryen, Daenerys' older brother, annulled his marriage to Elia Martell and married Lyanna Stark before she gave birth to Jon. For a explanation of who Prince Rhaegar was and what motivated his choices, read our breakdown here.

Incestuous marriages have been a part of Targaryen culture for centuries, a practice meant to keep their bloodline and connection with dragons strong. If Jon and Daenerys marry and conceive a child, that would be the best possible way for the Targaryen dynasty to carry on — even if the idea skeeves out modern viewers of the show (or maybe Jon and Daenerys themselves).

Of course, "Game of Thrones" fans need to wait and see if Jon and Daenerys take their hand-holding affections to the next level, and even then we might come to realize Daenerys has been right all along about her barren status.

Plus none of this will matter if the Night King's army decimates the realm and destroys the world of men to the point where those left standing barely have the human race to rule over, let alone a kingdom. But that's a discussion for another time.

The "Game of Thrones" season seven finale airs Sunday, August 27.

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NOW WATCH: 6 details you might have missed on season 7 episode 6 of 'Game of Thrones'

In a world full of spoilers, it's unwise to deprive "Game of Thrones" fans of their favourite show for long.

But that's what happened on Monday night, when fans who use Sky's Now TV streaming service to catch up with the show were forced to install an update before watching the latest episode.

The update left them unable to see anything on-screen, but able to hear the audio. The player simply showed a blank screen. According to complaints on Twitter and Now TV's forums, it's affected people who watch Now TV through its standalone player on laptops or PCs.

When Business Insider checked at 11pm on Monday night, the issue still hadn't been fixed, with more than a hundred users complaining about it online. According to users posting this morning, the issue still hasn't been fixed, meaning there are lots of outraged fans who haven't caught up with the latest episode.

To rub salt into the wound, those who checked Now TV's official Twitter page for help found that the account was posting spoilers.

Sky has not responded to a request for comment, but a customer representative told Business Insider on Twitter that the company was aware of the issue.

And posting on Now TV's forum, a staffer wrote: "We're aware of an issue that is causing frustration for a lot of customers. We have been looking into this as a matter of urgency and hope to have a fix ready soon.

"To clarify, this mostly affects users with a certain graphics card: Intel HD Graphics 3000."

The update seems to have been causing issues for several days, but has led to more complaints in the last day as people log into Now TV to get their weekly "Game of Thrones" fix. Judging by forum posts, the issue has mostly affected Mac owners.

A number of angry users threatened to cancel their Now TV subscriptions if Sky didn't fix the problem.

This isn't the first time the Now TV player has had technical hiccups. It stopped working on Chrome in 2015 when Google halted support for Microsoft's Silverlight streaming software.

Sky doesn't break out how many subscribers watch "Game of Thrones" on the Now TV player. According to a press release in July, around 4.7 million people watched the first episode across Sky Atlantic and Now TV, and there were 11.3 million downloads of previous episodes via Now TV alone.

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