GAME OF THRONES, 7.2 — ‘Stormborn’

A dragon’s skull, a deadly fleet, and some pie.

Dan Owen
Dan Owen
Jul 25, 2017 · 8 min read

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On Dragonstone

I really like the moment when Dany challenged Varys (Conleth Hill) over his loyalty, as he tends to be in service to the current royal family while secretly plotting their replacement with a better alternative. His assertion that he’s only loyal to “the people” met with his approval, and they reached an understanding. But her warning that Vary will be roasted alive by her dragons if he’s lying to her, is either a reminder that Dany’s a tough person you don’t mess with, or foreshadowing the idea she’s as ruthless as her legendarily crazy father.

Dragonstone’s war meeting generally went very well, with everyone agreeing to Tyrion’s plan of besieging King’s Landing using Westerosi soldiers, while the Unsullied and Dothraki take the Lannister’s ancestral home of Casterly Rock. It’s a plan similar to Robb Stark’s before he was killed at the Red Wedding. But after everyone leaves having agreed their roles in what comes next, Olenna advised Dany to never trust “clever men” like Tyrion, as she’s outlived many of them by ignoring their advice. One wonders if this means Dany will instead begin to favour the insight of Melisandre (Carice Van Houten), who arrived at Dragonstone offering her assistance as a Red Priestess who believes Dany and Jon Snow (Kit Harington) have a great destiny together. Mind you, listening to Melisandre is what got Stannis Baratheon killed, his daughter burned at the stake, and his armies starved and slaughtered, so let’s hope Olenna’s pearl of wisdom is misguided.

Game of Thrones can be relentlessly glum at times, so it was great to have a scene where Missandei (Nathalie Emmanuel) came to Grey Worm’s (Jacob Anderson) bed chamber, before he departs to lead the Unsullied, which turned into one of the show’s better sex scenes. The show isn’t averse to putting female nudity on screen, so Nathalie Emmanuel duly obliged the camera, but for once it didn’t seem like pointless titillation. It was instead a culmination of a sweet relationship that’s been developing awhile, and rather touching when Missandei asked to see eunuch Grey Worm’s mutilation and accepted him into bed. But I fear that Grey Worm’s worries that love has brought him weakness, because he now can’t bear to Missandei, may be foreshadowing a short-lived relationship now it’s been consummated.

In Oldtown

Maybe George R.R Martin’s novels (which haven’t reached this part of the story yet) will do a better job making it seem plausible that Sam’s a cut above the other maesters somehow, but for someone who’s mainly spent his time in Oldtown emptying bedpans it seems a bit fanciful. Still, I’m confident it’ll work and Jorah will re-enter the story to fight alongside his beloved Daenerys soon enough. The sequence where Sam came to Jora’s room after hours, to slice away his top layer of greyscale without anaesthetic, was truly horrifying. The moment was sold brilliantly by Glen’s smothered screams and wide eyes. And kudos for the deceiving cut to the next scene, with Sam’s scalpel about to touch Jorah’s flesh, before suddenly dipping into a gooey pie.

In the Riverlands

In King’s Landing

It’s easy to see why tales of Daenerys Targaryen could be twisted to suit your own agenda, too. Jaime (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau) is perhaps thinking more pragmatically, as he recruits Randyll Tarly (James Faulkner), the bullish father of Sam, to lead an army against the Tyrell’s. I’m glad his character’s suddenly got a bigger role on the show, as he made a good impression as Sam’s ghastly alpha male father last season. Slightly more interesting, Qyburn (Anton Lester) has built a giant ballista, which has the power to penetrate dragon skulls with a large spear, bringing to mind The Hobbit. It would be almost unthinkable all three of Dany’s dragons are going to survive till the end of this series, so I’m predicting the ballista will manage to fell at least one winged opponent.

At Winterfell

Sansa (Sophie Turner) also believes her brother’s rightful place is in Winterfell, but Jon’s first-hand experience with the fearsome White Walkers and their army appears to have made his mind up for him. It’s definitely a risk, but one worth taking. They need allies with armies to defeat the undead hordes. Plus, having also received word from Sam in Oldtown, he now knows that Dragonstone’s situated on a mountain of dragonglass that can defeat the White Walkers. An alliance seems inevitable. I just wonder if things will subvert expectations in some ways, perhaps because Jon won’t be too happy to see Melisandre at Dragonstone? And if Davos (Liam Cunningham) is attending, he’s sworn to kill her. Will Dany be more under her influence by the time her Winterfell visitors arrive? It’ll also be interested to see how Dany reacts to Jon’s situation and request for help, as her focus has been focused on the Iron Throne in the south, not protecting the Wall from zombies.

In the Narrow Sea

Euron’s Iron Fleet attack on Yara’s navy certainly came out of the blue, and was marvellously put together by director Mark Mylod. The Iron Fleet felt like enormous black beasts looming out of the darkness, and the attack was swift, brutal, and disorientating. It also saw the demise of two ‘Sand Snakes’, desperately trying to protect their mother Ellaria, who was later captured along with her only surviving daughter Tyene (Rosabell Laurenti Sellers).

The episode ended on a downer for Theon Greyjoy, who couldn’t handle seeing his insane uncle Euron holding a blade to his sister’s neck, in a moment where the memories of his torture took away his resolve and he chose the coward’s way out by diving overboard. But it’s hard to see what else he could have accomplished when faced with that situation, so I don’t blame him. One presumes Ellaria will be Euron’s promised gift to Cersei (the woman who poisoned her daughter), to prove he’s serious about forming an alliance through marriage against Daenerys and her other allies. Is there a chance Theon could swim to shore, and get back to King’s Landing in time to save his sister from likely public execution?

Whatever happens, Tyrion’s plan is effectively in ruins already, as one presumes Ellaria will spill the beans about what Daenerys hopes to achieve at King’s Landing and Casterly Rock. Maybe this is where Jon Snow comes in, coming up with a better plan in exchange for mining the dragonglass to defeating the White Walkers in the north before converging on the Iron Throne?


Frame Rated

‘Your Entertainment, Our Reviews’. A publication focused on Film & Television reviews, features, essays, retrospectives, and think-pieces.

Dan Owen

Written by

Dan Owen

Freelance writer and film addict, raised by TV • Twitter @danowen79. E-mail: editor@framerated.co.uk for work enquiries.

Frame Rated

‘Your Entertainment, Our Reviews’. A publication focused on Film & Television reviews, features, essays, retrospectives, and think-pieces.

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