Yahoo News Game of Thrones episode 2 review: The show at its best
The first episode of this shorter seventh season was a sedate – if very welcome – return to Westeros, and for much of it, this second episode (titled 'Stormborn'), is much of a piece with that. It's dominated in the early going by several dialogue-heavy scenes, with much of the talk concerning people and events that transpired long before the series began.
And much of it is fascinating: full of the wit, character, charm and intrigue that have always typified Game of Thrones. But in the final battle between the Greyjoys, the series gets to show off that other famous string to its bow, and it does so in spectacular style.
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'Stormborn' begins mere moments after the previous episode ended, with Daenerys plotting her campaign to oust Cersei from the coveted Iron Throne. First things first, though – she must deal with Varys, the suspected traitor in her midst. Had Dany approached anyone else with her back up like that, we might have feared the worst, but Varys is one of the more elusive characters in the series. For a man who works so often behind the scenes, when placed front and centre, he can talk his way around almost anyone. That his frank justifications see him and Dany forging an accord – however tenuous – speaks volumes for how much the dragon queen has grown. Where once she exiled people blindly, now she can forgive, and has learnt the need for objectivity in her counsel.
Jorah Mormont – a man Dany once exiled, and who would doubtless be bitter about the kinder treatment Varys receives – finds himself under the knife of Samwell Tarly. The series seems to have decided that Sam's little corner of the show is the comic relief, especially given Jim Broadbent's amusing bedside manner (or lack thereof). And while the surgery scene is undoubtedly disgusting, it's damned funny, too. And after last week's melding of bedpans and bowls of stew, here we cut seamlessly from Jorah's pus-seeping wounds to someone prodding at a questionable plate of food. Who knew that, seven seasons in, Game of Thrones would develop such an openly comedic sensibility?
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Less funny by design is Randyll Tarly, Sam's flinty father, whom Jaime recruits as his general in the war to come. The meagre court of Lords that Cersei is able to summon is in stark contrast to Daenerys' own war council, which boasts a host of characters we know, and strong ones to boot. It's striking to see so many disparate characters in one room together in what always used to be such a wide-spread series, with most figures existing only in their own far-flung corners of the world. Now, as the end game has begun, we don't need to skip over the map to visit people – the plot has contracted, and we're at a point where they will effectively come to us.
As such, Dany has a formidable group around her, including Yara Greyjoy, Ellaria Sand, and the always welcome Olenna Tyrell. It's also notable that, while these fearsome women are joined by several men, none of them are what the world would call complete. Tyrion is a dwarf, while Varys, Theon and Greyjoy are all various kinds of eunuch. Compared to the paragons of masculinity that once dominated this world – and series – it's a marked contrast.
Speaking of eunuchs, the episode's major triumph could well be in finally giving Grey Worm and Missandei a scene to justify their screen time. The series has long wanted us to be invested in their hesitant romance, but it's not until tonight that it felt like anything other than the series shoe-horning in a token relationship now that all other romantic pairings have been dissolved. As Grey Worm finally opens up about his feelings, it's the first scene between them to truly sing, and the love scene that follows is unexpectedly tender. Great work from Jacob Anderson, in particular.
Up in the North, Jon Snow consolidates his alliance with Sansa by leaving her as the Stark in Winterfell as he sets off to Dragonstone, while potentially cementing a dangerous new enemy in Petyr Baelish. Littlefinger's obsession with the Stark women has always been creepy, but he's taking it to extremes now. The worrying thing is that he's smart enough to engineer a scenario where he'll get what he wants. Still, Sansa's no fool herself, and the moment Jon stops her in her tracks and leaves her in charge is deeply satisfying, and wonderfully played by Sophie Turner.
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There's another long-awaited moment with a Stark girl, as Arya meets not one, but two old friends. Firstly, Hot Pie, whom we could reasonably have expected to never see again, and later, her long-lost Direwolf, Nymeria. It's not often a character gets a happy ending in Game of Thrones, but Hot Pie seems happy and content, and it's nice to see someone prosper in this world. Nymeria, too, has flourished, growing to a fearsome size, and with a pack of other wolves following in her wake.
It was so long ago that Arya was forced to leave her wolf behind – both in show time, and in the real world – that seeing them reunited really brings home the journey she's been on. And while it's disappointing that they part ways almost immediately (seriously, not even a friendly lick or a hug?) it also makes sense: neither of them are who they were back then. Having said that, if we don't see Nymeria again – likely leaping in to save Arya from trouble at the last second – it'll be a miracle.
If Hot Pie and Nymieria were welcome sights, the reintroduction of Ellaria and the Sand Snakes likely had more than a few rolling their eyes. And it would seem that perhaps the series agrees, as two of them are killed off mere moments later, with the others captured and not likely to last much longer themselves. Dorne and the Sand Snakes were one of the show's rare misfires, and this cleaning of the board felt like something of an acknowledgement of that.
He may have been the butt of many Game of Thrones jokes last week, but nobody's laughing at Euron Greyjoy now. His attack on Yara's fleet is devastating, and from the moment his fanged plank descends onto her ship, with him riding on top of it, you have to hold your hands up: Euron is awesome.
This may be the closest Game of Thrones comes to depicting a true naval battle, and it doesn't disappoint. From the bloodshed on deck to the fire-wreathed projectiles flying overhead, it's a superb sequence, brilliantly executed by director Mark Mylod. And in Euron's crazy-eyed rampage, it not only provided spectacle, but transformed a character that had become something of a laughing stock into a genuinely thrilling antagonist in the way that the Sand Snakes never were. And in Theon's moment of cowardice (or was it pragmatism?) the episode ends on a brilliant character beat. Whether in groups of people plotting in rooms, or in the high-seas action, this was Game of Thrones at its riveting best.
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