Statutory Spoiler warning for those who haven’t watched Episode 2 of Game of Thrones yet.

‘It’s me, Arya.’

Ah, the heartbreak. It was obvious from the preview last week that we would see Nymeria and Arya back together (Okay. Maybe the wolf in the preview was not her but, whatever). But I for one, had forgotten how sad it could be. Remember how Arya threw stones at Nymeria to shoo her away? Well, Nymeria still does. That’s not all that happened in this week’s Game of Thrones episode ‘Stormborn.’

Here are some major takeaways from this week’s episode,

THUS BEGINS THE TALE OF AZOR AHAI AND THE BATTLE FOR THE DAWN

It’s official. Jon Snow, King in the North and Daenerys Stormborn of the House Targaryen and unnecessary titles are set to meet next week. Hyped? I am. And I didn’t expect to be.

It’s been evident for a while now that Jon and Dany will meet up soon. But, what this week’s episode does is weave the need to set up this meeting seamlessly into the narrative. So, not only do we have the Red Priestess Lady Melisandre laying the foundation with Dany by stating how important an alliance with Jon would be but, there is also the understandable conflict in the North where Sansa, Yohan Royce and Lady Lyanna Mormont, Bane of the White Walkers are skeptical about Dany’s offer to meet.

Also, it’s always nice to see shows remembering the history of characters, as with Tyrion-Sansa or with Tyrion-Jon.

I’m hyped for next week now. Did I say that already? Sry.

I’m hyped.

HI, SAND SNAKES. BYE, SAND SNAKES. THANK YOU, EURON

Okay, well maybe not all of them.

I have always hated the Sand Snakes and Dorne (Except Oberyn, of course) on Game of Thrones. Like Stannis, I think D&D did an awful job adapting them from the books. That’s primarily why I won’t miss Obara or Nymeria Sand. But still, considering GoT killed off an entire house each for the last two episodes and almost another one this week, is it too early or late to stake a bet on which house might be next? Anyways, Tyene (Now with longer hair and still no skill or charisma) and Ellaria and Yara have been taken hostage by Euron. Now we know what the gift will be next week.

Ah, Euron. There were worries in the dark corners of the ASOIF universe that Euron on Game of Thrones may not be as maniacal as the one in the books. Fellow book bros, what do you think now? Thank you for saving my Fantasy team, Euron. That was one sweet sea battle sequence. Even if it was implausible to begin with.

A DRAGON NEVER FORGETS

As the season ended last year, one of the fundamental queries in my head (Apart from Varys’ shockingly fast transit ability) was why would Dany keep Varys by her side, knowing he did Robert’s bidding while he ruled, half-hearted or otherwise. Sure, she had Tyrion’s word that Varys helped her survive and all that but surely, that should not be enough.

It is great then that the show harks back to that detail. And, it’s even better to see Lord Varys get some lines of dialogue apart from the cryptic one-liners he was recently saddled with.

To be honest, for all Dany’s parallels to the Mad King, she seems to trust people after one quick, effective monologue (Tyrion, Varys). I on the other hand, would need hours of convincing just so that I agree to have cottage cheese instead of chicken for dinner.

QUEEN IN THE NORTH

Sansa is Queen, yayyy. I like Sansa. I think a lot of people have been unfair in their criticism of her and forget that she contended with Joffrey, Cersei and Ramsey and survived.

And, she would probably make a decent Queen, if only she wasn’t so apathetic to the Great War and the Night’s King (Seeing is believing yes but, still). I do however think that she understands the enemies to the South aka Cersei better than Jon ever could. But again, that’s not going to happen any time soon.

Sansa becoming Queen fulfils part of Lord Baelish’s dream. Now, will the sneaky, accent-shifting whisperer of cryptic lines find a place beside her? Difficult to guess. I know the conflict between Jon and Sansa is something HBO has been indicating a lot and yes, there are serious differences between the two. But, I really think it won’t play out and will be a mere red herring. Why? Because when the snow falls and the white wind blows, the lone wolf dies. But, the pack survives.

By the way, what would Bran’s return mean for Sansa’s reign? After all, he would take precedence.

A few not-so-random observations,

  • Whether it was in Season 2 with Cersei and her guards or this week, with Jon in the crypts, love seeing Littlefinger piss his pants. But, now that Jon is away, surely Lord Baelish is still in play?

Also, does he know of Jon’s heritage?

  • It’s great to see Tyrion finally get to do something after a long time. His plan makes sense and seems a possibility (Until the last scene of the episode, of course). Genna Lannister was right when she said Tyrion, not Jaime was Tywin’s son.
  • So, Cersei has a new weapon and a new ally against Dany’s dragons. Ooohh, I look forward to that battle on the field.
  • Nymeria wasn’t the only reunion for Arya. She met Hot-Pie, probably the only person in Westeros with job security and a steadily growing belly.

I know I said that the scene with her and Nymeria was heartbreaking but, so was the moment when she realized that Jon was king and she could go home.

  • So, Missandei and Grey Worm get it on. Good for them. Shame Varys, Theon and Grey Worm didn’t come through on that support group I wanted.
  • Speaking of Theon, that man has no balls. Literally, figuratively or any other kind. Also, I overestimated Yara’s naval prowess.
  • Samwell is trying to cure Jorah. Good for him but, every time I saw him I was reminded of The Thing from Fantastic Four.
  • Hot Pie to Arya: ‘Can’t believe I thought you were a boy. You’re pretty.’
  • Olenna to Dany: ‘You’re a dragon. Be a dragon.’

This week’s episode ‘Stormborn’ was certainly an upgrade over last week’s episode in terms of a lot happening. More importantly however, it reminded me of a better time when characters in Game of Thrones used to sit around, and talk. For all its great effects and sequences, the true greatness of this show lies in letting its characters converse. This week’s episode just proved that.

Here is the preview for next week’s episode. Until next week, Hodor.

Image Sources: Google Images


Read more at,

http://edtimes.in/2017/07/game-thrones-got-s7e1-review/

http://edtimes.in/2017/07/jon-snows-sword-is-made-in-here-in-india-and-its-right-in-our-backyard/

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