The war for the Seven Kingdoms truly begins on Game of Thrones
Reviewing the second episode of Game of Thrones Season 7, ‘Stormborn’
For a long time, characters on Game of Thrones have been purposefully kept apart so that the climax could bring together many of the big heavy hitters in Westeros. There are some of those meetings here, and set up for a very big one next week. Dany meets Olenna! Sam meets Jorah! Arya meets Hot Pie, again! Okay, so that last one may not be quite so momentous but the general pattern is there. The show is clearly connecting characters far more than it is dividing them at this point. And the establishing work has been done for a hugely important meeting between Jon Snow and Daenerys Targaryen, so this trend won’t be slowing down anytime soon.
With the table setting achieved effectively in ‘Dragonstone’, this second episode is where things really get started. Now that the show has fewer instalments to work with, there’s no room for wasted time. The war has kicked off, and it would be wise to expect big developments in every episode from now onwards.
Daenerys plans her invasion
As I’ve mentioned before, the cards are massively stacked in Dany’s favour in this war, and the show is beginning to take the appropriate steps to level the playing field. Tyrion rightly acknowledges that the ordinary people of Westeros won’t respond well to being conquered by a foreign force and that Westerosi armies will need to be the ones that take King’s Landing. While Daenerys’ new allies urge a sudden attack (it’s important to remember just how close Dragonstone is to King’s Landing) on the capital, Tyrion’s plan for the invasion is a little more sophisticated.
The armies of Highgarden and Dorne are tasked with attacking King’s Landing, while the Unsullied will take the Lannister home of Casterly Rock. Tyrion has correctly predicted Cersei’s next moves, but his sister is erratic and it’s hard to say exactly what might do next. While Dany is adamant that she doesn’t want to rule over “the ashes”, she might do well to take some of Lady Olenna’s advice and “be a dragon”, because it makes no sense to have come this far only to leave some her best weapons and her strongest advantage out of the fight. And, as we learn by the end of the episode, it’s hard to really plan ahead when you’re dealing with such unpredictable enemies as Euron Greyjoy!
Euron gets his gift
If you know your map of Westeros well, you’ll know that Dragonstone is almost ridiculously nearby to King’s Landing. You can’t really get in and out of Blackwater Bay without going very near to Dragonstone, which is why Euron finding the fleet of Yara and Theron, along with their Greyjoy and Dornish ships is less of a planned move and more of a lucky break. He’s just leaving King’s Landing after having come to visit and propose to the Queen, and he essentially stumbled upon his enemies. He promised Cersei a gift too, and he’s found an ideal one in Ellaria and Tyene Sand, who orchestrated the murder of the queen’s daughter.
The other Sand Snakes don’t make it out alive, as the show decisively ends its least popular plotline. Euron’s attack takes place in the last ten minutes of the episode, and he emerges as the crazy axe-wielding psychopath we’ve always known he is deep down inside. He kills the two other Sand Snakes with their own weapons, completely destroys the fleet (this probably takes Dorne out of the equation entirely, as it no longer really has a leader) and holds an axe to Yara‘s throat to taunt Theon. This causes him to flashback to his time as Reek and dive overboard to save his skin. He may have saved himself today, but will Theon be able to live with that choice… and has he doomed his sister?
Jon reads letters
Jon spends this week catching up on his ravens. He’s wisely hit “ignore” on Cersei’s rather aggressive request for him to bend the knee, and is much more interested by Sam’s informative note about dragonglass and a meeting invite from Daenerys. See, Melisandre’s got herself to Dragonstone and is keen to get Jon and Dany together to chat about their destinies as either or both of them may fulfil a prophecy as Azor Ahai, or the “The Prince That Was Promised”. Missandei handily points out that “prince” could just as easily be translated as “princess”, so there’s no reason this prophecy couldn’t relate to Dany, as many have theorised for a while. Dany sees Jon as a potentially helpful ally, while Jon is eyeing up the mountain of dragonglass beneath Dragonstone. With that considered, it was only a matter of time before they met.
Ultimately, Jon has his eye on a singular goal. He’s doing everything he possibly can to get ready for the biggest conflict Westeros will face. The army of the dead is coming, and he’s not really that interested in squabbling over the Iron Throne. I expect when does finally meet Daenerys, as he decides to here (but not without a great deal of anger from his bannermen), he’ll inform her of what’s coming for them from beyond the wall. Seeing her response should be interesting, because she’s got a singular goal and it’s got nothing to do with White Walkers. For now, Jon’s on his way to Dragonstone, and he’s left Sansa in charge of Winterfell and the north while he’s gone.
Also, when he’s done reading his letters Jon shoves Littlefinger up against a wall in classic Ned Stark fashion because Baelish is being super creepy about Sansa and he totally deserved it. It’s great.
Cersei spreads fear
The Lannisters are in a difficult position right now. They are genuinely surrounded by enemies, and struggling to find key allies in this war. Euron is going to turn out to be useful, but they still need more armies if they hope to hold onto the Iron Throne. It makes sense then that, as Tyrion rightly assumes, Cersei would look to spread fear and doubt about the daughter of the Mad King. She knows she’ll have a hard time winning this war, but she’s not about to let it be easy for Daenerys to become the new Queen of the Seven Kingdoms. Cersei doesn’t even need to lie about what Daenerys has done in Essos (burning slaver cities, crucifying slavers, aligning herself with the Dothraki, etc.) to make her seem frightening for the noble lords that she’s speaking to!
Meanwhile, Jaime is helping his sister in the fight to come by recruiting Randyll Tarly to his side. It’s unclear whether Sam’s dad will take him up on his offer to be the ranking general, betray his oath to the Tyrells and become the Warden of the South. It’s a risky move, and it’s hard to see why he’d respect the authority of the Lannisters in this situation. Cersei isn’t doing anything to make it seem like she’s a rational or sensible leader.
Sam treats Jorah’s greyscale
This storyline is easily the most disgusting one of the episode, and it further hints at how Sam is likely to be kicked out of the citadel for disobeying orders at some point. He’s already stealing books, and now he’s conducting an unauthorised medical treatment for Jorah to help cure him of his greyscale. It might be a little disappointing that the treatment is essentially just cutting the greyscale off (highly unpleasant to watch) and then applying some ointment, but there must be some risk if the procedure is banned entirely.
What’s great to see is how Sam remembers the familial connection and the loyalty he felt to Jorah’s father, the former Lord Commander of the Night’s Watch, and how that drives him to help save the man. Jorah will surely have a further role to play once he recovers from his affliction, and it’ll be interesting to see if his story continues in Oldtown or if he’ll immediately leave and go in search of Daenerys.
“The Long Night is coming. Only the prince who was promised can bring the dawn.” (Melisandre)
Best scene of the episode
While Arya seeing Hot Pie is a scene that shows how she’s changed and how she’s become colder and more emotionless since they last met, it’s her next scene that shows she’s not beyond saving. Arya encountering her direwolf Nymeria in the woods is a scene with hints of suspense that then becomes just a little heartbreaking. Arya recognises her own wildness in the wolf, and while she would love for Nymeria to come with her to Winterfell, she knows that it’s not where she belongs. Her line, “that’s not you” is an effective callback to telling her father “that’s not me” in Season 1 when Ned looked ahead to her life of marrying a prince and not being herself. Arya can see that Nymeria is too feral to be a pet, and that she herself can still go back home to Winterfell. This whole thing is handled really well, and it’s great to see Arya make the decision to go back to her family rather than continuing on her revenge quest.
MVP of the episode
I was thinking of giving this to Varys for his stirring speech about supporting the people rather than any monarch, but I think it’s more appropriate to declare Jon the MVP this week. His best qualities are on display and he’s almost more like Ned than he’s ever been. We get to see a lot of why Jon is liked and respected, but also that he’s practical and pragmatic when he needs to be. He knows he may be headed into a trap or worse, but also is aware that the situation will be far worse without the weapons he needs to fight the White Walkers. This feels like a strong and significant moment in Jon’s personal journey, showing off his intelligence, bravery and tactical skill in a short space of time.
What’s next
The main thing we’re all looking forward to next week is that the show’s two most significant characters are about to meet. Jon Snow and Daenerys Targaryen. In the same room. This is a big and exciting development. Elsewhere, we’ll see Euron bring his “gift” to Cersei, Jaime will organise the Lannister army, and the Unsullied will attack Casterly Rock.
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