Gendry is no longer rowing about in the waters of Westeros like a lost soul. 

After years away, Joe Dempsie made his grand return on Game of Thrones Season 7 Episode 5, and that was just one thing in a long list of remarkable developments. 

Having a character just disappear is not good, and many fans thought he was forgotten. It was a welcome delight to witness him with the hammer. 

It was a good way to reaffirm to viewers that he is his father's son, and it was an exciting development to have him literally under Cersei's nose creating weapons for the Lannister army. 

While everyone else would have expected him to be forever and a day away from King's Landing, he was just sitting there, waiting for his time to come. 

He's done lying about who he is and that was illustrated perfectly when he confirmed to Jon who he is after Davos told him to keep it all to himself.

Living a lie for so long is something that eats away at you, and Gendry is ready to live up to his full potential, and that appears to be helping out in the battle against the walkers.

I was shocked to the core when it was revealed that The Hound and Thoros of Myr were joining forces with Jon's squad of badasses. Jon obviously knows that he needs as many people as possible if he has any hope of making the battle worthwhile. 

With next week being the penultimate episode of Game of Thrones Season 7, it's probably fair to assume Jon, and his squad will take center stage as the war goes into overdrive. 

It was a good idea for the episode to pick up exactly where Game of Thrones Season 7 Episode 4 ended. It would have been cumbersome if we had to wait until nearer the end to learn of Jaime's fate. 

As much as I am glad he's alive, wouldn't it have been more fitting to have him burnt to a crisp and then Cersei finding out she's pregnant? The self-proclaimed Queen would have gone from deranged to something much worse. 

Something is telling me this pregnancy won't last the full term. Didn't Game of Thrones Season 5 Episode 1 state that Cersei was going to have three children? 

There were subtle references to the only child she had in which Robert Baratheon was the father earlier in the series. That child apparently died of a fever. It seems like Maggy The Frog is only counting the children who actually get to grow up. 

With everything else Maggy said essentially becoming true, Cersei would be wise to prepare for the worst. There's also the possibility that she's lying about the pregnancy. 

She knew fine well that Bronn was leading Jaime to meet the brother, so what if she cooked this whole thing up in the event that Jaime decides to side with Tyrion?

The look on Jaime's face said it all when Cersei said she was going to tell the world that he is the father of the baby. He does not want to hide his private life from the world any longer. 

It would be a calculating move and one that would make sense when you consider just how wicked Cersei is. Lying is second nature to her, and I still think Jaime will ultimately be the one to end her reign. 

Hearing the truth about Joffrey's death was probably music to Cersei's ears because it could have helped her rationalize lying to Jaime if that's the direction she was going in. 

In the aftermath of the big battle, Daenerys was right to offer everyone the opportunity to join her. But, it was surprising Dickon and Randyll refused to bend the knee. 

They already proved their loyalty would go wherever the power was when they betrayed Olenna. I thought for sure they would be happy to defect if it meant getting to breathe. 

The two deaths proved their word meant something, but it would have made more sense for them just to lie until they were in a position to escape the mother of dragons. 

This episode highlighted the complete breakdown in communication between Daenerys and Tyrion. She is not going to be too amused with the way Tyrion undermined her when it came to killing Randyll and Dickon. 

Tyrion's loyalty is wavering, and it took watching the Lannister army fall for him to think about it. His family name could be wiped out in one fell swoop, and although he's been open about his hatred for the family, he's having second thoughts about his place in the war. 

It's hard to imagine Cersei ever allowing him to enter the family again while she's in power. She'd sooner put him to death or think of another way to cause some trouble. 

Drogon allowing Jon to touch his face was a welcome surprise. That helped prove to Daenerys that he was someone she could trust, but I'm not convinced by the plan to take a walker to Cersei. 

Ser Jorah has more lives than a cat at this stage, but I fear his luck is going to run out this time around. There's only so many times he can cheat death before the Grim Reaper comes knocking for real. 

The show seems intent on keeping Jorah apart from Daenerys, and it's becoming a little tiring. Every single time there's a period of calm, they wind up back apart. 

That said, I can't wait to witness the reaction on Cersei's face when she's in the presence of a walker. She is not going to be impressed, and she may even burst into floods of tears. 

It was all shade in Winterfell with Arya and Sansa at odds. I've said it many times, and I'll say it again: Sansa is power hungry. Her time with Cersei has had a lasting effect on her, and she won't settle until she becomes someone with a lot of power. 

She can tell herself that's not the case all she wants, but it's so glaringly obvious that she's loving everyone wanting her to take over from Jon.

Arya has always been a good judge of character, and that's why I loved when she told Sansa exactly what most viewers were probably thinking. 

I liked Arya breaking into Littlefinger's room to retrieve the note, but I suspected the villain would be one step ahead of her. Littlefinger does not want the Starks together. 

If they all compare notes, they would probably come to the conclusion that he's no good and he would be sent on his merry way into the cold towards the walkers. 

Now, he's going to manipulate Sansa to turn her against Arya, and given the way, the sisters went at it, Sansa will be easily swayed about Arya. 

The scene with Bran witnessing the army of walkers was a phenomenal way to show off just how high the stakes are nowadays. There's no time for the different factions to fight each other when the actual enemy is ready to fight. 

"Eastwatch" was a thrilling episode of this HBO drama series. Every single episode this season has been so satisfying because it has been piecing everything together to get us ready for the end. 

Other tidbits from the episode:

• Poor Samwell. Gilly told him valuable information, but he struggled to see the validity of it all because he was so pissed at how he was being wasted at The Citadel. Someone could have at least told him about his father and brother. Geez. 

• Varys scolding Tyrion about what was being said in the scrolls before revealing that he had been reading them made me laugh. They really are like two peas in a pod. 

• Davos trying to find a way to get rid of the guards before Tyrion returned was rather tense. At least he did not need to part with any more gold for them. 

Over to you, Game of Thrones Fanatics. What did you think of all the developments? Sound off below. 

Note: Game of Thrones Season 7 Episode 6 airs August 20 on HBO. 

Paul Dailly was an Associate Editor for TV Fanatic.Follow him on X.