Review: Game of Thrones — “A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms”

Pre-flight checks initiated.

I’ve rewritten this review three times in the last 24 hours and have re-watched this episode 5 times in the last 24 hours. I may have gotten ahead of myself originally because I’d claimed that this might be one of the best episodes Game of Thrones has produced. I don’t think that’s the right wording, though, so I’ll say that “A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms” is a very strong episode of Game of Thrones.

It’s like a salad of our characters in Winterfell performing their last rites, accepting their inevitable fate at the hands of the White Walkers. Death is a concept that clouds everyone over the course of 54 minutes and it’s a concept lingers over the episode in a relatively drawn out fashion. Characters are reminding one another that they’re going to die, die together, die alone die die die. It does feel like something that we need not be reminded of constantly. Why? Because we know the majority of the crew is going to suffer in one week.

Whether or not you think it’s just fan service, this episode reminded us that we’ve got a whole swathe of characters that exist on the kinda-sorta periphery that we care about. So there might be those of you who roll your eyes at some of the scenes that play out here — and you’ve got a right to — but a lot of these, again, are incredibly important. I absolutely agree with the sentiments that this episode is a big fan service one, but I’d also argue last week’s was too. However, this episode was powerful for a two reasons: the completion of its character arcs and Game of Thrones showing us that action is not required to make this show something incredibly special.

So, sure, I’m in the camp of going “omg they kissed” when Arya and Gendry kissed, but I’m also sitting in the camp of “hang on, hang on, Gendry’s only been back for a few eps.” I know their history runs deep on the show, but Gendry’s return has been minimal at best and someone, to my knowledge, who hasn’t been mentioned much by Arya in her years over here and there.

BUT, I feel the need to defend Arya and her choice to have kiss and have sex with Gendry here. It’s consensual, for one, which is something that’s rare on Game of Thrones, but Arya’s approach to bedding Gendry is to the point and that suits her character perfectly. Arya has been driving to prove herself since the beginning, and her exploration of things outside of combat and killing has been something that’s missing. She wants to feel that before she sprints into battle and I can’t help but feel that it’s well within her character to want to explore that before she (might) dies.

Throughout this episode, we watch Dany try to manage her forces with no luck. Her lack of control during Jaime’s tiny trial gave us a glimpse at her world falling apart, and while it’s not exactly something that needs to be signposted to us all it’s becoming a little more realistic that she’ll be turning into the mad queen at some point this season.

Another interesting approach Benioff and Weiss took with her this week is watching her have her head to head moments with Sansa and Jon interrupted. Let’s start with Sansa.

I found myself constantly thinking about this idea of love vs. loyalty when it comes to these two. Dany, a queen who wants to be loved by all, has followers who love her (Daario, Tyrion, Greyworm etc.), she has her moments in Mereen when she’s held above those she’s rescued, Jorah’s obsession with her — all of these are catalysts that help feed the idea that she can be a queen without the extreme violence (rofl), her independence is absolutely possible.

Then there’s Sansa. The Lady of Winterfell has people wanting to fight for her, for Winterfell. These are people that could perhaps love her, but we all have that deep feeling that they’re here to fight FOR her. Granted, the people wanting to fight here are deeply connected to the locale, but Sansa’s new rule has not swayed their motivation in fighting for their homes — an idea that’s further emphasised by Theon’s return. He gives Dany the news that the Iron Islands are being taken back in her name, before turning to Sansa and pledging his allegiance to her and the fight. All this is sold incredibly well by a split second cut on Dany’s expression when Sansa rushes to hug Theon. That’s something she’s never received.

This leads me to Dany and Jon’s moment in the crypts. It’s a key moment, but one that is, again, cut short. Remember, this is a HUGE moment in the grand scheme of the show. It shakes the very foundations upon which Dany’s march toward the Iron Throne, it completely destroys any notion or idea that she’ll be sitting upon it and, instead, gives Jon (Aegon) all rights to claim.

Dany’s reaction is one of complete distrust in Jon’s words — and I see her point — given the information is from a wheelchair-bound staring sloth and his best friend who’s motivated by the fact that she torched his family last season. It’s a scary moment for her character because we see and feel a sense of rage. Why this moment? Why pick this moment to tell me that you’re actually my brother/uncle/dad/grandad I don’t fucking know.

I’d love to see this sequence played out without the interruption of the White Walker arrival — EVEN if it was delayed by a moment. I got a sense of relief that Jon has finally revealed his lineage, but I just would have loved for the scene to have a little bit more room to breathe. It’s one of the most important scenes in the show’s history, after all.

If you’ve made it this far, I applaud you because I deliberately left this til’ last because I’m absolutely of the opinion that it’s one of the greatest scenes this show has ever done and, perhaps, one of my favourite scenes in all of television.

Jaime’s arrival at Winterfell has been hotly anticipated for some time. It was teased last week, but it finally came to a head from the beginning until the end in this episode. He’s a changed man and wants to prove it, not to everyone, but to Brienne. (omg so sweet)

So their initial interactions are a little frosty (fuck, it’s so easy making cold puns during these episodes) but also filled with such respect for one another that I felt so happy having them both together again. Brienne’s look of surprise and (almost) honour when Jaime says he’s not the fighter he once was and would be honoured serving under her command is an underrated moment for both of these characters and, yes, I’d argue it doesn’t really change Brienne much, but it’s a significant admission from Jaime.

While their moment on the battlefield watching Pod swing is willy all over the place was great, it’s their final non-battle moment that is so touching and so powerful it elicited a reaction I’ve not had in this show for a long time, and it was the knighting of Brienne of Tarth.

Jaime knighting Brienne is one of the purest forms of character arcs finding their way to completion — for both of these characters. It’s Jaime remembering that knights can make knights, him recognising that Brienne, deep down, always wanted to be a knight; it’s Brienne subtly saying that tradition prevents her from being knighted while shirking off any possibility of it occurring, it’s Pod’s reaction to his boss’ knighting.

The interplay between everyone in the fireplace is just so incredibly put together that I cannot fault it and I’ll defend anyone who finds themselves arguing against it. Gwendoline Christie’s performance here might be one of the greatest the show’s given us, but Nikolaj Coster-Waldau also delivers just as staggering a performance.

Even then, the moment that Brienne is knighted isn’t just nailed by her pure joy of being accepted and acknowledged as one of the greatest fighters the world has seen, but it’s Tormund’s immediate reaction and his total joy coupled with support she has surrounding her that really knock this sequence for a home run. What an absolutely stunning scene.

There’s a dangerous line of thinking here given the show’s history of lulling us to sleep feeling snugly before torching us and it’s the fact that Jaime and Brienne’s stories have both come full circle. Sure, there’s theories that Jaime is destined to kill Cersei, destined to kill Dany, but if none of that eventuates, I wouldn’t care. If he and Brienne die fighting side by side defending Winterfell next week I’d be feeling so immensely satisfied that we’ve been along for the ride and were witnesses to them really seeing their journeys through.

KEY POINTS!

• I nearly teared up watching Dolorous Edd and the gang arrive home. Ramin Djawadi’s score is so gorgeous here.
• Beric has the best voice.
• Poor Greyworm and Missandei.
• Davos and Gilly’s moment with the little girl felt a little on the nose when it came to Davos’ history with Shireen all those years ago, but I appreciate it nonetheless. It served as a reminder as to how deep his relationship was with Shireen before she perished.
• Jon’s dialogue before the War Council was totally ADR’d which was a little jarring, and by ADR I mean it’s pretty clear it’s been dubbed or the audio mix, at least, wasn’t leveled out properly.
• Rest in peace everyone.