“Stormborn” Review

Euron crashes the party, Theon jumps ship

Justin Buchanan
Jul 25, 2017 · 8 min read

There be Game Of Thrones spoilers ahead so read at your own risk…

We knew war was coming, but we almost forgot about it for a moment.

In Game Of Thrones season 7 episode 2 “Stormborn” writer Bryan Cogman and director Mark Mylod continued to move characters to their season 7 starting blocks while somehow still expanding the world, but they made sure we don’t get too comfortable in our seats.

We open “Stormborn” at Dragonstone with Daenerys and the gang scheming up her conquest to take the Iron Throne, but this time our visit to Dragonstone beginnings with an ominous storm, not a sunny day like last week. The weather was fitting and helped set the mood.

Dany and her team are united for the common goal of getting Cersei off the throne, but not much else. The sequence opens with Dany questioning Varys’s loyalty, which is fair to call into question. Varys wasn’t much of a fan of the most recent kings to sit on the Throne. The two hash out their differences but ends with Dany reminding Varys that she’ll burn him alive if he betrays her, which might not be the best part of the Targaryen history to remind people of, because the whole burning of people helped start Robert’s rebellion in the first place.

The writing and directing shines in this scene. Varys’s and Daenerys’s (hey that rhymed) brief but detailed dialogue refreshes viewers of Varys background and of Daenerys’s end goal. The camera cuts to Greyworm and Missandei as Varys mentions he was a former slave was also a nice touch to refresh viewers on their backgrounds and who Daenerys is fighting for.

“Girls, we run this motha…”

After Varys and Daenerys chuckle about being burned alive we get to the battle plans. Eventually the group settles on Tyrion’s plan to avoid collateral damage. After the team breaks the huddle, Dany chats with Lady Olenna who sassily advises Dany about Tyrion:

“He’s a clever man and I’ve known lots of clever men. I’ve outlived them all. I’ve ignored them.”

I’m curious as to why this scene was included. If Thrones has done one thing consistently it is their strict following of the storytelling rule of Chekhov’s gun — which is to say everything must have a purpose. So why is there this meeting between Dany and Lady Olenna? Is she foreshadowing Tyrion’s death? Is she trying to divide Tyrion and Dany? I’m not sure, and it’s really bothering me. I’d hate to have invested 7 seasons into a character, one so universally loved as well and one who’s fallen time and time again, and not have him see the end of this story. At this point Tyrion should have some pretty thick plot armor. Right? Right!?

That being said, Game Of Thrones took care to remind us no one has impenetrable plot armor and even the best laid plans can be ruined.

Enter in the incredible and disorienting naval battle between the two Greyjoy fleets, a first for Game Of Thrones.

I was beginning to feel comfortable with the end game coming. It almost seemed like all the suffering we had endured for six seasons was going to finally pay off these next seasons. Even Yara Greyjoy and Ellaria Sand were too focused on drinking and making out they forgot they had countless enemies out there looking for them. I can certainly understand this feeling.

The last few episodes didn’t feature any battles or fights. It was a lot of talking and celebrating of moments that had finally arrived without any attention on all the terrible moments still to come.

I’ve watched every Game Of Thrones episode expecting a tragedy and in “Stormborn” they reminded me why.

Euron’s fleet surprises Yara’s and Theon’s, devastating them and capturing Yara, Ellaria Sand, and Tyene Sand. Meanwhile Theon reverted to Reek, but like many Twitter users, I suspect Theon jumped shipped because he weighted his odds and figured he’d live to fight another day. In the short sequence post battle while Theon is adrift in the ocean we see him seeming to wiggle towards Euron’s ship, Silence. I hope this was a subtle indicator that Theon will eventually earn back his bravery badge.

The battle is as gruesome as we’ve come to expect out of Thrones, but lacks graceful swordplay or thoughtful strategy. The men of the Iron Isles and Euron aren’t known for being elegant and it shows. Soldiers wielded non traditional weapons such as iron knuckles covered in barb wire and axes, and by the end of it the fallen, dead or alive, were being ransacked for goods and gold teeth.

Theon has disconnected.

Obara and Nymeria Sand also die losing their fight to Euron so RIP I suppose. (Which by the way, Nymeria why did you choose a whip as your main weapon? This isn’t Castlevania!)

Pilou Asbaek’s performance as Euron’s keeps improving scene after scene he’s in. Euron arrives in this episode with seemingly limitless noise and bluster riding down on his gangplank with his battle axe in hand (I’ll admit I know little about boats) and crushing some poor guy.

Euron is becoming a delightfully refreshing villain for the series. All the big bad villains such as: Ceresi, Ramsey, and Joffrey are conniving and sinister, while Jamie and Tywin have been too cocky for their own good, but in Euron we have a villain who doesn’t have time for pointless politics like Tywin or time to mentally torture someone like Joffery. Euron is just bad because he can be, and he’s going to take what he wants.

Normally a villain as shallow at Euron is boring, but in Game Of Thrones his lack of mindgames is refreshing.

I’m curious if the show is going to continue ignoring Euron’s main book plot. In the books Euron’s story is quite extensive. The most interesting detail that’s been omitted from the show is the horn Dragonbinder which has the power to bind a dragon’s will to the blower. I can imagine that will certainly come in handy when battling Dany’s dragons.

For a family who’s played second fiddle all series long, the Greyjoys have gotten incredibly interesting in just a few episodes.

Game Of Thrones has mastered balancing what feels like two shows. One part fantasy epic with lots of story still to tell and world to continue building and one part fantasy epic with only a few episodes remaining.

It’s outstanding I’ve barely just touched on a fraction of what this episode covered. I haven’t written about the happenings in the North, Sam in Oldtown, Bran at the Wall, The Hound, Kings Landing and this list goes on. There are even whole parts of Westeros we haven’t seen. Castlery Rock, the Lannister’s kingdom, hasn’t even appeared in the show yet, and it’s home to some of the most important characters in the series.

That is bonkers. This world is incredibly massive with a rich history and Game Of Thrones continues to leave me in awe.

Next week the previews hinted at Dany and Jon finally meeting for the first time. Arguably the two main characters in the series haven’t even meet each other, and we’re entering the midpoint of season 7.

Bonkers.

“Stormborn” won’t be remembered as a top tier Thrones episode, but it effectively continues to move it’s characters into place for the big showdown between Cersei and rest of the realm while giving viewers a wake up call to remind us that this is Game Of Thrones, anyone can die and anything can still happen.

Is it Sunday yet?

What waiting for new episodes feels like.

Other observations and notes:

  • Yara, this is why you always build detectors. How does a ship as massive as Silence sneak up on you. gg no re
Yara would be terrible at RTS games.
  • Jon and Sansa still haven’t learned how to fight behind closed doors.
  • Jon’s contrast from Dany continues to be one of the most fascinating subplots of the series. Jon is the pragmatist who reluctantly becomes King whereas Dany is the optimist who wants to rule. I can’t wait to see these two ideologies clash. Pragmatism and optimism can often share different goals, and if humankind is going to survive the long night they’re going to need to work together.
  • Ayra’s reunion with Nymeria, her direwolf, has already been covered thoroughly in the post credits behind the scenes. Its incredible lines said in seeming passing in the first season still hold significant value after all this time. It’s also a relief to see Arya have hope and purpose again. Her mission to kill all who wronged her is badass, but her lack of humanity robbed it of value. Ayra has purpose once more, and I’m excited to see if she makes it back to Winterfell.
  • Speaking of, how is Arya and Sansa going to react if they reunite in Winterfell? Jon and Sansa can barely get along and they were apathetic to each other before leaving for The Wall and King’s Landing. Arya and Sansa never got along, and I can’t imagine that would change too much.
  • No Bran update!? Bran knows all and sees all. He’s far too interesting to continue to ignore.
  • Biology jokes aside, Greyworm’s and Missandei’s love scene was heartwarming. In a world as awful as Westeros and Essos, it’s lovely to have a reminder more is at stake here than just a throne. Often nudity on Game Of Thrones has been used to titillate, but here nudity is used as a visual metaphor allowing both characters to be truly vulnerable with each other — to see and share themselves as who they are.
  • Hotpie calling Arya pretty was adorable. Hotpie is too pure for this world.
  • Am I alone in thinking Sam treating Jorah’s greyscale was kind of funny? Obviously it was painful and gross, but John Bradley-West’s performance as Sam was great this scene. From his casual discussion of the procedure, to him nabbing a quick sip of rum before Jorah needed to down it, to him quickly speeding up his cutting to a sawing motion as soon as he realized Jorah was in pain. Was this scene gross and painful looking enough to make me consider slathering myself in lotion? Yes. But it was also kind of funny, and the transition from pus filled crusty skin to a hot gooey potpie was brilliant.
  • Don’t forget Khal Drogo refused to clean his wound and died, whereas Jorah is literally having his skin cut off just so he can get back to Daenerys. If that isn’t love I don’t know what is.
  • Cersei spreading xenophobic fears about foreigners is too easy of a Trump comparison, but I will leave this here.

Shout out to Karissa for editing this!

Justin Buchanan

Written by

Writer, photographer, designer, and host of My Scrubs Podcast. https://soundcloud.com/myscrubspodcast

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