As the cold weather continues to move in, the strategies amongst the different houses begin to unfold. Daenerys brings new allies to Dragonstone to plot her course for victory, and questions a trusted advisor’s loyalty. Tyrion continues to be the mastermind for her invasion using his knowledge of the realm’s houses. Cersei is courting the Lannister’s allies to reaffirm their allegiance while devising a plan to defeat Daenerys’ dragons. Arya continues her journey through the lands to enact her vengeance upon her list of enemies. In the North, Jon Snow is considering a potentially dangerous proposal he received from Tyrion while trying to build a force to protect against the White Walkers. Stormborn brings us one step closer to discovering which houses will be allies and which houses will be enemies in episode two of season seven. Spoilers follow… you have been warned!
Game of Thrones Episode 2 – Stormborn
In Dragonstone, Daenerys has brought several potential allies to her home to gain their allegiance in her quest for the throne. Ellaria Sand of House Dorne, Yara Greyjoy of the Iron Islands, and Olenna Tyrell of House Tyrell all join her in the map room to discuss her proposal. After some convincing, Tyrion gets Ellaria and Yara to agree to use their own forces to attack King’s Landing. First though, they must sail to Sunspear to gather the Dornish forces to accompany them. While they do, Tyrion will send the Unsullied and the Dothraki to Casterly Rock to take out the Lannister army, cutting off a valuable resource for Cersei.
Ellaria and Yara don’t make it far though as their ship is attacked by Euron while they are at sea. Nearly everyone on board is killed as Ellaria and her daughter are captured. In the midst of the battle, Yara is defeated by her uncle who is holding her with an axe to her throat as Theon stares them down. In what could have been a defining moment to redeem himself, Theon’s cowardice overtakes him and he jumps overboard to escape his Euron’s wrath.
During the time at Dragonstone, Daenerys receives a visit from Melisandre who says that she was mistaken in thinking that Stannis was the prince her lord spoke of. She now believes that it was actually a princess she was meant to help. Daenerys also confronts Varys to confirm his loyalty to her. She knows of his past endeavors where he helped overthrow her father, and of his other betrayals as well. She wants to know why his trust should now be valued when he has deceived others in the past. Varys tells her it is because he is ultimately behind the little people of the kingdom and he believes she is the only one that will truly protect. She believes him and allows him to stay as part of her court. We also learn of Daenerys’ birth during a terrible storm, which is where the episode, Stormborn, gets its name.
Stormborn finds Jon Snow still in Winterfell, but now he is mulling over a tough decision. He has received a raven from Tyrion asking that he travel to Dragonstone to bend the knee to Daenerys. He knows this is a potentially dangerous proposition, but he also needs more men to fight off the White Walkers. Sansa fears that it is a trap and thinks that he would be foolish to go… as do several of his supporters. However, when Jon receives a raven from Samwell Tarly stating that there is an abundance of dragonglass at Dragonstone, he knows that he must go if wants to have any chance of defeating the White Walkers. Sansa still strongly objects, but Jon insists and appoints her ruler of the North while he is away. Sansa agrees and Jon prepares for the journey ahead.
Back in King’s Landing, Cersei is using all of her family’s clout to solidify her alliances with several nobles and ensure their loyalty to the Lannister’s. The Tarly’s in particular take some extra convincing from Jamie. He admits to them that his sister is not the ideal leader, but that she is the lesser of two evils. After all, no one wants the Dothraki roaming the streets of King’s Landing, do they? Some of the nobles had also expressed deep concerns about how to defeat Daenerys’ dragons to Cersei to which she replied, “We’re working on it.” Maester Qyburn it seems, has been working on it for some time as he has a huge crossbow built that will penetrate a dragon’s skull.
Those are the major plot points of this episode, but I would be doing a disservice if I did not mention Arya’s encounter with a pack of wolves in the forest. Arya is camping alone when she hears rustling in the trees around her. She cautiously looks around and before long, she is surrounded by a pack of wolves. The wolves growl and stare at her as she notices a final, larger wolf appear. It is her old wolf Nymeria, and she is growling at her just like the rest. Arya says her name and moves toward her. As she does, Nymeria calms and recognizes her. Arya tries to coax her into joining her, but Nymeria runs away to which Arya says, “That’s not you.” It is touching moment that is a throwback to season one when Ned is telling Arya that she will be a lady who will marry a noble man and have many babies to which she says, “That’s not me.”
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Featured Photo: Kit Harington (Credit: Helen Sloan/HBO)
