‘Game of Thrones’ Season 6, Episode 9 Review: Daenerys Targaryen and Tyrion Lannister’s wildfire reminder in highlights (Spoiler Alert)

“Game of Thrones” Season 6, Episode 9 (“Battle of the Bastards”) aired June 19 on HBO, focusing on the separate battles of Daenerys Targaryen (Emilia Clarke) in Meereen and Jon Snow (Kit Harington) in Winterfell. Meanwhile, Tyrion Lannister (Peter Dinklage) tells the Mother of Dragons the wildfire story that compelled Jamie Lannister (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau) to kill Aerys II a.k.a. The Mad King.

Spoiler alert: There are major spoilers in this review and recap of highlights. GOT 6x9 presents a truly epic battle that makes it look like “Blackwater” (GOT 2x9), “The Watchers on the Wall” (GOT4x9) and “Hardhome” (GOT 5x8) were mere rehearsals for showrunners David Benioff and D.B. Weiss.

‘Game of Thrones’ Season 6, Ep. 9: Great wildfire reminders – from Bran’s vision to Cersei’s plan in fan theories

In Meereen, the slavers try to make a point by launching a massive attack. As Tyrion calls it, the slavers could not afford to see the city prove that masters are irrelevant. Khaleesi tells Tyrion she would burn all the masters and the ships then turn their cities to dust. He tells her that is what her mad king father was about; there should be another way.

As Tyrion narrates to Dany the wildfire story, GOT and “A Song of Ice and Fire” (ASOIAF) fans are reminded of Bran Stark’s (Isaac Hempstead Wright) vision of green explosions, a hint of things to come in “Game of Thrones” Season 6 or latter part of the HBO adaptation.

In George R.R. Martin’s ASOIAF, Cersei Lannister (Lena Headey) uses wildfire to burn the Tower of the Hand and watches in delight. Tyrion’s retelling of the story in GOT 6x9 could be a foreshadowing to what Cersei and Qyburn (Anton Lesser) are up to, and what the “rumour” is about from the previous episode (“No One”).

Among the most popular fan theories now is that Cersei would get her hands on caches of wildfire in the city and burn King’s Landing to dust. The theory has become more plausible after King Tommen (Dean-Charles Chapman) banned trial by combat. The Great Sept of Baelor and the High Sparrow (Jonathan Pryce) would see the wrath of Cersei in wildfire, according to the theories.

‘Game of Thrones’ Season 6, Ep. 9: Yara Greyjoy and Daenerys Targaryen form an alliance

Back in Meereen in the penultimate episode of GOT 6, Tyrion and Daenerys ask for the slavers to surrender to avoid the dragon flames. They receive insults in return. Drogon comes in, then Viserion and Rhaegal break free from the dungeon. Dany takes flight with Drogon and they start burning down the slavers’ fleet. The Dothraki army appears next to clear the warzone on the ground. One of the slavers is given the task to tell the people of how the Mother of Dragons and Breaker of Chains respond to violence.

Soon, Dany meet with Theon (Alfie Allen) and Yara Greyjoy (Gemma Whelan). In exchange for a hundred ships, Dany will help them regain control of the Iron Islands. There’s a catch, though: the Greyjoys and their people would put an end to rape and violence to humanity. “No more.” Dany says. Hesitant but desperate, Yara agrees.

Dany’s meeting with Theon and his sister happen in the same episode where the Jon Snow and Sansa Stark (Sophie Turner) regain control of Winterfell. Interestingly, the main characters in this episode are all orphans. Tyrion and Ramsay Bolton (Iwan Rheon) killed their fathers, while the Greyjoys' uncle murdered their father also in GOT 6. In the meeting with Tyrion and the Greyjoys, Dany points out that all their fathers were madmen.

Ramsay Bolton dies in the paws of his killer hounds, right before the vengeful watch of Sansa. Earlier, he was beaten to a pulp by Jon Snow, who would have lost the battle if Petyr Baelish a.k.a. Littlefinger (Aidan Gillen) and his army failed to make it just in time.

“Game of Thrones” Season 6, Episode 9 also shows the death of Rickon Stark (Art Parkinson), who, like his protector Osha (Natalia Tena), was slain by the late Ramsay Bolton.

As things calm down (for a while) in Meereen and Winterfell, things are expected to explode in King’s Landing with Cersei and Qyburn. Both the penultimate and finale episode of GOT 6 were written by David Benioff and D. B. Weiss, and directed by Miguel Sapochnik, who also directed “Hardhome.”

Sapochnik spent 25 days with the cast and crew filming the epic battle to win Winterfell back. His masterful direction kept viewers engaged throughout the action sequences. The dark smirk on Sansa’s face at the end was also done brilliantly. No doubt he would be one of the fans’ most favourite directors by the end of the series.

“Game of Thrones” Season 6, Episode 10 (“Winds of Winter”) will air next Sunday, June 26, on HBO.