Game of Thrones S7E2 – Review

Season 7 of Game of Thrones continues and what a second episode it had in store for us. There’s no signs of the show dipping as the beginning of the end continues to heat up across Westeros. So let’s get stuck in!

We start at Dragonstone on a particularly stormy night, which is signified by Tyrion’s comments about it being a very similar night to when Dany was born. This hectic weather changing is no coincidence either. The White Walkers bring winter, they bring darkness and they are coming, so expect extreme changes in weather to be a theme as the last two seasons commence. Varys cuts in and explains how all the dogs in King’s Landing howled through the night when Dany was born, a new Queen. Queen Dany and her council plot at the war table, discussing who is still loyal to Cercei and what the next steps in battle should be, however Dany has bigger concerns regarding the Spider, the Master of Whispers, Varys.
Varys is a very sneaky but clever character as Dany explains as she tears him to shreds, he’s very much a man of the realm and of the people, as he was once a one of them, reduced to the gutters and used and abused; before he worked his way up to the top of King’s Landing, making himself invaluable to whomever he serves. He’s usefulness is true of Dany as well, as after all it was Varys who brokered the deal to bring the Dornish and the Tyrells onside; the Tyrells who were very much always a house which chose the winning side and even more impressively the Dornish who have never really pledged allegiance to anybody. What Varys has done for Dany is impressive and she should be grateful, but is understandably concerned about his loyalty. She tells him that if he ever betrays her, she will burn him to death, to which Varys is not so shocked by, her being the mother of dragons.
I’ve personally noticed a lot more fire and blood in Dany within the last few seasons and I predict she may need to do some pretty nasty and harsh things if she is to get what she wants, but I guess we’ll have to wait and see what they are!
After her dressing down of Varys, there is a knock at the door for Dany in the form of the red priestess Melisandre. Remember, Mel was sent away by John in Season 6 after Ser Davos found out she had helped and advised Stannis to burn Princess Shireen at the stake; at the request of the Lord of Light. Her intentions for doing this were harsh but she was promised by her God that it would help Stannis in his conquest for the Seven Kingdoms. It of course backfired, Stannis lost half his men’s trust and the majority of the rest were killed in their sleep by Ramsay Bolton and a 20 of his finest men. He fought the losing battle anyway and was defeated. So Shireen’s death was for nothing and as Davos was particularly fond of the little girl, he understandably he wanted Mel’s head; but John saw fit to banish her instead.
Mel explains that she believes Dany to be the prince (or princess) that was promised, a prophesied saviour from the Lord of Light, the person who will “bring the dawn”, which obviously means the person who will end the long night (winter). She explains that her and one-other will play a key role in stopping the big fight North and we can assume she’s referencing John Snow. Melisandre is a very interesting character, she’s one of few that are in it for themselves or for any human Lord, she’s purely in it for her God and will do what it takes to serve him. Her introduction between John and Dany could well play a big part in stopping the Walkers and is another example of a clever character bringing the elites together.

John banishing Melisandre in Season 6

In King’s Landing, Cercei continues to rally houses to her cause in an invitation to the throne. Her dialog in this scene is excellent, as she continuously references Dany as “the Mad King’s daughter” and implies that she is exactly the same. Of course, nobody in Westeros knows Dany like we do, even John and Sansa who predict John’s invitation as a trap. Cercei needs to ensure that everybody knows Dany for what she is, a Targaryen, whom the people say the God’s flip a coin at birth to decide whether they’re to be insane and evil or not. Cercei has invited Randyll Tarly in particular, who is also Sam’s Dad by the way. He’s a cruel and hard man to please, after all he saw Sam as weak when he was young and threatened to kill him unless he joined the Night’s Watch, but he’s a loyal man and particularly loyal to the Tyrells. Tarlys are bannermen of House Tyrell and have an extremely impressive and organised army to back them, so it will be a hard task for Cercei to convince him to join her, however an amazing coup if she does. She makes references to Dany bringing Unsullied slaves and Dothraki hordes to Westeros to aid her, to which Randyll does not look impressed by.
Jaime also tries his hand at convincing Ranyll to join the cause implying he must make a decision… he cleverly words it but essentially says “you’re either with us or against us” and we all know what happens if you go up against the Lannisters. The Rains of Castamere is a particularly gruesome story which I hope to put together in another blog, but the Red Wedding is enough to make you realise that they are not to be trifled with.

Over at the citadel, Sam has brought Jorah to the Archmaester and is trying to convince him that there’s myths and tests been produced in the past which may cure Greyscale, but the Archmaester is not convinced at all. Later on in the episode Sam even tries to show him proof of a cure in the form of a book written by a Archmaester Pylos, however again the Archmaester shoots him down, explaining that Archmaester Pylos actually died himself of Greyscale… so not a great example really.
Sam’s endeavour to treat Jorah is out of respect for his father, Jeor Mormont, ex Lord Commander of the Night’s Watch who Sam grew a very special bond with towards the end. It was in Sam’s arms that Jeor actually died and therefore it’s only natural that Sam would want to help Jorah. In light of this, Sam quietly sneaks into Jorah’s chamber, as Jorah writes a letter to Dany. We can assume this is a final letter, as during Jorah’s scenes he repeatedly looks at his sword, indicating that he’s considering killing himself before the Greyscale takes over his mind.
Sam has Archmaester Pylos’ book and whole load of remedies and ingredients on a cart. There’s no sign of dragon glass, which is highly theorised by fans to cure Greyscale, but there’s a lot of sharp utensils and a bottle of rum, which Sam entices Jorah to drink down. We see a horrifying scene where Sam attempts to remove the Greyscale and that’s the last we see of the duo this episode, however before we leave Sam, let’s not detract from how bad this could be for him. What Sam is doing is strictly forbidden by the Citadel and they don’t take these treasons lightly. Maester Qyburn (who is now Cercei’s Hand) was banned from the Citadel for performing tests on live subjects (something we’ve see him do to The Mountain). Working on live subjects is strictly forbidden and he was stripped of everything before being booted out. It’s only that he by chance bumped into Jaime and fixed his infected stump that he’s made his way to the top of King’s Landing and gained the trust of Cercei. So Sam is playing a very dangerous game here if he wants to become a maester or stick around long enough to be able to help John with forgotten knowledge.

Sam and Jeor Mormont (Jorah’s Father) North of the Wall.

Speaking of Qyburn, we see him lead Cercei down below the Red Keep where the skulls of the Targaryen dragons are kept. King Robert had them removed and placed down here as trophies, some small, some large and one particular one, very large. The skull of Balerion, known as Balerion the Dread, was the dragon ridden by Aegon the Conqueror during the War of Conquest when Targaryens took over Westeros. This was the dragon responsible for burning down half of Harrenhal, which is the place Arya is taken to in Season 2 and spends a lot of her time as cup bearer to Tywin Lannister. This dragon is probably the most famous dragon of all time, it’s flames being the ones that forged the iron throne itself and at first we almost see an element of respect from Cercei and Qyburn as they overlook this impressive beast. But that’s short-lived when Qyburn reveals a device which has been worked on behind the scenes. A giant crossbow, which at the pull of a lever can pierce a dragon skull if aimed correctly. Perhaps this is some foreshadowing, perhaps not, but for me this is hint that we may need to brace ourselves… we may lose one if not all of Dany’s dragons in the war to come.

Back at Dragonstone, Dany takes council from her trusted advisers and new recruits, Yara Greyjoy of the Ironislands, Ellaria Sand of Dorne and Lady Ollena of House Tyrell. They challenge Dany for not wanting to strike war immediately, with Dany worrying that thousands may die, but Tyrion has a different idea. His plan is to use the Tyrell and Dornish Houses to surround King’s Landing, almost as a distraction, whilst the Unsullied assault the Lannister home, Casterly Rock. There’s two things here which are important. One is how far from a Lannister Tyrion has become. He grew up at the Rock, he was even given control over the sewer systems, a job he was proud of when he was younger and when Tywin was alive, all he wanted was a bit of a respect and with Jaime in the Kingsguard, to be named as the heir to Casterly Rock. To now conspire against it is such a turn in his character and it clearly shows that he’s lost love for literally everything he once was. Secondly, it can’t be underestimated how important it is if the Lannisters lose Casterly Rock. Losing your ancestral home is a big statement in how weak you are as a house and can cause other loyal houses to leave your post. For example the Targaryen’s losing Dragonstone and losing the seat of power indefinitely and an even better example, Winterfell. It didn’t take long for some of the most loyal Stark houses to move over to the Bolton’s side once they’d taken Winterfell for themselves. Tyrion knows this and knows how crippling it could be to Cercei, however I’m not so convinced. Something Cercei said in episode 1 was “Do you think I’ve learned nothing from Father”. Tywin does mention often how important Casterly Rock is and how there must always be a Lannister at the Rock. I do wonder if Cercei does expect an attack here and whether it will go as well for Tyrion and Dany as they think… there’s also the erotic scene with Greyworm and Missandei, which almost felt like it could have been a dramatic goodbye scene for Greyworm, as he’s leading the attack on the Rock. What if he’s walking into a trap set by Cercei? I guess we’ll find out.

Heading South to kill the Queen, Arya stops at an Inn, the same Inn that her old accomplice Hotpie works in. Hotpie is a coward but a lonely lowborn kid who just wants to find his way in life and he seems to have found it. Baking was something he was always good at and if it wasn’t for Arya, he may have ending up wasting the rest of his days in the Night’s Watch, a place he’d have hated. During conversation with Arya, he explains that John is now King in the North, which really surprises Arya who still thinks it’s still the Boltons. There’s a change of heart in Arya and she decides to head North as opposed to continuing South, to meet up with her brother.
Arya’s relationship with John was always stronger than any of her biological brothers and sister and seeing her meet up with John again will be an amazing scene, one I personally can’t wait for. My fellow Bearded Robot writer Danny, however seems to think this may not happen and there’s a strong case for it too. For example what will Arya do when she gets to Winterfell? I can’t see her personally fighting Walkers, plus does she just simply drop to hateful revenge story ark she’s been on since Season 2? After leaving the Inn and deciding to head North, she encounters a pack of wolves in the forest, headed by one BIG wolf which we learn to be Nymeria. Head over to the blog I wrote earlier in the week explaining this scene. It was truly amazing and for me deserved it’s own review. Arya is reunited with her Direwolf, who rejects following her deciding to take her own path with her wolf pack. It’s a very emotional scene and for me, probably the last we’ll see of Nymeria in Game of Thrones.

John and Arya’s farewell in Season 1, just after John gives her Needle as a gift.

At Winterfell, John contemplates an invite from Dany to visit her at Dragonstone and bend the knee. In court nobody is in favour of this and it’s understandable why. Dany is a foreign invader and for all they know exactly like the Mad King. She also has a Lannister as her Hand, in particular Tyrion Lannister, who has a very bad reputation across the Seven Kingdoms, rightly or wrongly. John makes the decision to go anyway, as he now knows about the Dragonglass at Dragonstone and believes only a King can convince the dragon Queen to come fight the Walkers when winter arrives. Sansa is disappointed but quickly changes her tune when John announces that the North is hers whilst he’s gone. Sansa’s change in attitude is a little worrying; she’s worried for John’s well-being but once she’s given the power of the North, seems to calm and allow it. It’s quite strange and a bit of a gamble from John considering Sansa has disagreed with a lot of his decisions so far. This and not to mention Littlefinger who seems very happy with the situation.
Littlefinger is a master manipulator and is shown down in the crypts where John bids farewell to his fallen Father’s ashes. Petyr explains that he’s not John’s enemy and he loves Sansa like he loved Cat, which spurns John into a fit of rage as he grabs Petyr by the throat and threatens to kill him if he so much as touches his sister. Quite why Littlefinger is still hanging around and not been forced out by John and Sansa is a little confusing, but none-the-less he’s here and clearly has plans. It’s interesting to see John grab Littlefinger by the throat and threaten him, as this is something Ned does in Season 1… right before Littlefinger betrays him. Is this is a hint that the same thing is about to happen to John?

We’ve seen this scene before?

The final scene is set in the leading ship of the Greyjoy fleet, where Yara and Ellaria flirt, much to the annoyance of Theon. We see something interesting when Ellaria asks Theon to get her more wine, to which he almost instinctively obeys, very Reek like. It serves as a hint of what’s to come as the ship is suddenly attacked. Yara leaves Ellaria below deck and heads up to see her Uncle Euron and his fleet attacking them. This scene is spectacular and really steps up as Euron crashes down on the boarding ramp with his axe. Euron’s character is so much more menacing this series and I can’t wait to see more of him. He cuts down iron born after iron born, killing Obara and Nymeria in the process. The sandsnakes for me never really got enough air time, but it was still shocking to see them killed by Euron and the horrifying shots of them hanging at the end of the boat was a disgusting but good touch. Below deck Oberyn’s lover Ellaria and her daughter Tyene are taken hostage. Could this have been Euron’s gift to Cercei all along? After all Ellaria was the one who killed Cercei’s only daughter Myrcella using poison. It’s scary to think what Cercei will do to Ellaria and Tyene, when she gets hold of them. They could be important allies in the war to come, but we could also see a scene mirroring that of Cercei’s condemnation of Septa Unella in Season 6, strapping her to a table and letting The Mountain do… whatever it was he did to her. Shame, shame, shame!
Euron tangles with Yara and eventually wins the struggle putting a knife to her throat and it’s up to “little Theon” (great line delivered from Euron) to save his sister. He looks around and sees men being slaughtered and mutilated and we see a glimpse of Reek overcome him as he can’t handle being taken alive again and jumps ship. What this means for Theon’s story ark I’m not sure. He’s clearly never going to get over what happened to him and I’m not sure what’s left for him to do to help. I don’t see him lasting much longer personally.

Cercei and Jaime’s only daughter Myrcella, killed by Ellaria Sand using poison.

So there you have it, Dany is planning to attack Casterly Rock, Cercei continues to rally houses and work out how to take down 3 dragons, Arya is heading home, whilst John heads to Dragonstone. Sam tries to cure Jorah at risk of being banished by the Citadel and Euron has Ellaria, Tyene and Yara in his custody, presumably on his way back to King’s Landing if the trailer for episode 3 is anything to go by. I personally can’t wait for next Monday!