Game Of Thrones S07E02 Stormborn Review

Beware spoilers for this episode ahead

With just a couple of hours until this story’s conclusion, Stormborn showed viewers some classic Game of Thrones: political conspiracy, nudity, and a lot of gore.

A brief recap of everything that happened in this episode:

In Dragonstone

• Daenerys and Tyrion Lannister explained to Yara Greyjoy, Olenna Tyrell and Ellaria Sand their plan to take King’s Landing. They would siege King’s Landing and Casterly Rock.
• Also, Daenerys put Lord Varys on the hot seat. She interrogated him about past allegiances, betrayals and ultimately put his loyalty in question. The answer he received was that he’s loyal to the people, not to royalty.
• Melissandre arrived in Dragonstone and reveals to Daenerys that she believes the dragon queen could be the one promised by the Lord of Light. The Red Priestess discloses the possibility that Jon Snow could be the chosen one. This piques Daenerys’ interest and after Tyrion Lannister recounts his experiences with Snow, she demands that he’s summoned to bend the knee.
• Grey Worm has to leave to lay siege to Casterly Rock. He and Missandei have an emotional goodbye and ultimately sleep together.

Somewhere in Westeros

• Arya’s mission to kill Cersei Lannister has been put on pause. On her journey to King’s Landing, Arya found Hot Pie. He is a character we haven’t seen for many seasons. He informed her about the current state of the North and that her brother Jon Snow is declared King in the North.
• On her way to Winterfell, Arya is found by a pack of wolves lead by who she believes is Nymeria her direwolf that she was forced to set free in season one. To avoid being killed, she talks to the direwolf and asks her to come home but Nymeria along with her pack leave.

In the Citadel

• Sam tries to save Sir Jorah Mormont from grayscale with some procedures that are forbidden in the Citadel.

In King’s Landing

• Cersei summons her Lords to demand they help her face Daenerys’ troops. They seem frightened by the notion of Daenerys’ dragons. After this Qyburn, the Hand of the Queen shows Cersei a giant crossbow he’s been working on to bring down the Dragons.

In Winterfell

• Jon receives Tyrion’s letter, as well as Sam’s. He tells Jon about the existence of dragonglass in a cave in Dragonstone. This information makes Jon decide to go to Dragonstone and ask for help to fight the White Walkers. Not everyone in the North is happy and he leaves Sansa in charge of Winterfell.

Somewhere in the sea

• Yara Greyjoy’s troops and ships are joined by the Sandsnakes and Ellaria Sand on their way to Dorne to gather soldiers. Their journey is cut short by Euron Greyjoy’s ships and his troops. The attack proves to be too much, two of the Sandsnakes are killed, Ellaria and her daughter Tyene are taken hostage by Euron, perhaps as a “gift” for Cersei. Theon jumped ship, quite literally and Yara’s fate remains unknown.

This episode was much better than the premiere.  Emotions were all over the place and the plot continues to thicken. It honestly felt too short, too many things happening in a single episode. Seeing Arya with Nymeria was heartbreaking and one can’t help but think that Arya’s words weren’t directed to the direwolf, but to herself. It’s exciting to finally see Daenerys’ (actually Tyrion’s) plans to take King’s Landing and one can’t help but want that they come to fruition.

It’s exhilarating to think about the dragons’ role in the war against the white walkers, something that viewers have been waiting for perhaps since season 1. Knowing this, that Jon and Daenerys’ meeting is closer than ever and that Arya is on her way home feels completely rewarding.

As thrilling as this episode was, it wasn’t flawless. One the biggest flaws this episode and the show in general had is the Sand Snakes. They were misused throughout the whole series and their return to the show just to have all but one killed felt like bad taste.

Nevertheless, this show remains thrilling and this episode proves that there’s still much to come.

Cecilia López Closs