Game of Thrones Season 8, Episode 2

Whew. What an episode, eh? I think some people would call this a filler episode but this one filled me with joy (side note: I do think this episode could’ve been combined with episode 1 of the season which would leave some more time for the main battle, but alas…).

First things first, while episode 1 gave us the reunions, episode 2 gave us the real feels. The episode opens with Jaime Lannister standing in front of Brienne, Daenerys, Jon, Bran, and Sansa begging for his life to be spared. Sansa remembers Jaime attacking her father in the square, Daenerys remembers the stories from her brothers of what they would do to the king slayer, given the chance, and Bran remembers “the things we do for love” – though he does not share the meaning of it. Ultimately Sansa trusts Brienne and Brienne trusts Jaime, and so he lives.

Fast forward a bit. The scene with the motley crew huddled around the fire was warming in more ways than one. We get to say goodbye to some of these characters as they also say goodbye to each other. Tormund is as weird and in love as ever (giants milk anyone?), Podric sings us a lullaby, and a lady becomes a sir.

Lady Brienne aka THEE Stallion of Tarth fulfilled her lifelong dream of becoming a knight and is now SIR Brienne of Tarth to you and the rest of us. While this completes her character arch and would make her ripe for the killing, I’m still holding out hope that she will survive the battle of Winterfell.

Meanwhile, Arya is going after what she wants in true Arya Stark fashion, and this time it’s a man. While we know Arya and Gendry have had some heat between them for a while (they are my OTP), I don’t think anyone expected things to get as spicy as they did. Honestly the Stark/Baratheon secks scene is the most human we’ve seen Arya be in a long time. It warmed my heart. One last act of lust love before she rides off into battle.

Lastly, Jon chooses to “hey auntie…” at the worst possible moment. He may not be Ned’s son, but Ned’s knack for revealing damaging information at the worst possible moments most definitely run through his veins.

Favorite small moments

Grey worm and Missandei dream of going off to the white sands of the Caribbean once the battle is won (note: one or both of them will surely die in the next episode).

Theon is back! And ready to fight for house Winterfell (BYE DANY!) in the fight for the living. I almost shed a tear when two of Ramsay’s most tortured embraced.

Jora Mormont gets the sword. Also, little miss Lady Mormont demands to fight and wishes her cousin good fortune.

Up next…

One of my favorite fan theories right now is that the night king isn’t in Winterfell and is actually bringing some of the dead to Kings Landing. Will Cersei finally get her due? One can hope.