What I’m Watching: Game of Thrones

Game of Thrones: Season 7, Episode 2 “Stormborn” (B+)

Who says you need action and violence when you can have great conversation? Seriously, I found this episode, which up until the last ten minutes didn’t include a single battle-oriented visual effect, to be extremely informative, easily to follow, and genuinely interesting. As Cersei plans her next step and unironically talks about how someone else is cruel and inhumane, she has a legion of enemies uniting against her. Seeing Yara, Olenna, and Ellaria in the same room as Daenerys as they discuss reaching out to Jon Snow as “his queen” invites him to come to meet with her was cool, and I appreciated the honesty that Varys and Daenerys expressed towards each other. Jon was brave to decide to go meet Daenerys despite all the risks involved, and leaving Sansa in charge was another smart idea. Things seemed like they were going so well, especially as Yara and Ellaria had time to start enjoying themselves on the boat, and then Euron arrived to score a decisive and brutal victory against the good guys, with Theon unable to do anything but jump off the boat into the water. At least Arya, who was generally unfriendly and short when her old friend recognized her, was able to be reunited with a friendly wolf and Sam once again showed courage no one expected him to have by taking action to save Jorah despite Marwyn’s insistence that it was too late and there was nothing he could do. Maybe this isn’t the last we’ll see of a fully there Jorah after all.