‘Game Of Thrones’ Season 6, Episode 7: What Did Margaery’s Note To Her Grandmother Mean?

Recently, in Game of Thrones, when King Tommen announced the unity between church and state, it made many fans — and the other characters — uneasy at the prospect of Westeros being ruled by the Faith of the Seven. It also seemed Margaery had been converted to the High Sparrow’s religious beliefs even though she had told her brother to fight them a week earlier. But is Margaery just playing the game?

SPOILER ALERT: This article contains information about Episode 7 (titled “The Broken Man”) of HBO’s Game of Thrones sixth season. Please proceed with caution if you wish to avoid spoilers.

Episode 7 of HBO’s Game of Thrones saw Margaery (Natalie Dormer) talking the talk as well as walking the walk when it came to her meeting with the High Sparrow (Jonathan Pryce). For all intents and purposes, Margaery seemed like the truly converted. But, then the High Sparrow started talking about converting her grandmother, Olenna Tyrell, and Margaery started to get a little uneasy. After all, conversion to the Faith of the Seven usually involves atonement of some sort.

So, in an effort to avoid her grandmother’s conversion, Margaery tried to get Olenna to leave King’s Landing in Episode 7 of Game of Thronesand return home to Highgarden. When this conversation, watched over by a disproving septa, didn’t go as planned, Margaery grabbed her grandmother’s hands in an effort to implore she leave immediately. A small crinkle of paper was all it took to convince both Olenna and the audience that Margaery was not truly converted and was merely playing an exceptional game of thrones.

Olenna couldn’t wait to get outside and away from the prying eyes of the septa to check out the note Margaery had secretly given her. When Olenna opened it, all became clear to her and she readied to leave King’s Landing right away. The note though, wasn’t words, but an image.

So what exactly did this image mean? Well, Margaery is from House Tyrell, and their sigil is a golden rose on a green field, this is why Margaery’s brother, Loras (Finn Jones) is known as the King of Flowers. As Yahoo! pointed out, Margaery’s grandmother, Olenna Tyrell is also known as the Queen of Thorns, another reference to the rose sigil. House Tyrell is a longstanding gardening family and its castle, Highgarden, is situated in a southwestern region of Westeros.

So, for this family in Game of Thrones, the rose is a symbol of their identity. By showing her grandmother a drawing of a rose, Margaery is telling Olenna that she hasn’t forgotten her true roots. Her allegiance still remained with her house, no matter what her outward appearance to the rest of the world was. As Vanity Fair also pointed out, this image of a rose along with what Margaery had said about returning to Highgarden was a message telling Olenna, “Go, get help, come back for me.”

So how will this plan play out for the Tyrells? Can Margaery defeat the High Sparrow and the Faith of the Seven from within? Or will her plan be discovered and her life — and her House’s life — be put at risk? Considering the look the septa was giving Margaery and Olenna at the end of the conversation, there could be a real risk they suspect something. But it is possible Margaery could pull this off. If there is any woman in Westeros strong enough to do it, it is Margaery. But only by tuning into future episodes of Game of Throneswill all be revealed.

Did you think Margaery was truly converted or playing the game in recent episodes of Game of Thrones? Let us know by commenting below!

Season 6 of Game of Thrones returns to HBO with Episode 8, entitled “No One” on Sunday, June 12, at 9 p.m. ET.