Wednesday, April 24, 2019

Discussing Game of Thrones: A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms

* Spoilers ahead if you haven’t seen “A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms”

Woohoo—I'm actually posting this recap before the next episode airs!

I have . . . mixed feelings about "A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms." As much as I LOVED some scenes (*ahem* Brienne and Jaime *ahem*), I wasn't entirely crazy about the way the ep was structured. We all know the epic, battle-to-end-all-battles between the living and the dead is nigh (next week?), and this episode focuses, almost painstakingly so, on the characters gearing up for that battle. I get it's the calm before the storm, but after all the characters' chatter and occasional banter, I'm feeling even more anxious about how this mammoth of a show is going to wrap everything up with now only 3 episodes remaining. "A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms" takes place entirely at Winterfell, which isn't a bad thing at all, but Cersei and Euron are still out there (sans elephants) and players in the game. But enough of my griping, on with the recap!

A Reminder of Why Jaime is Called the Kingslayer

The episode opens with a tense scene in Winterfell's Great Hall: for the first time, Daenerys confronts the man who killed her father. Although she's never tried to sugarcoat how horrible her father was, she's still looking right at Jaime, a knight of the Kingsguard who killed his king. The situation becomes even dicier when Jamie says that Cersei isn't sending her army, as she had promised. Tyrion tries to defend his brother, but Daenerys turns her anger towards Tyrion for making a giant mistake in believing that Cersei would help fight the White Walkers.

Sansa brings up how Jaime attacked Ned in the streets of King's Landing, and a defiant Jaime won't apologize for fighting for his family. It's time for a Bran Stare! Bran interrupts by blurting out a slightly modified version of what Jaime said back in Season 1 before pushing Bran out the window: "The things we do for love."

Thankfully ending the Bran awkwardness, Brienne stands up and vouches for Jaime. I LOVE BRIENNE!!!!!!!! For Sansa, Brienne's word is good enough, and Jon tells Daenerys that they need every man who can fight. So Jaime gets to stay, but Tyrion is most definitely on Daenerys's shit list.

Where's the Weapon?

Last week, Arya gave Gendry a sketch of a weapon she wanted him to make for her. This week, she wants to know why her rush order hasn't been completed yet.

Soooo, I'll just jump ahead to That Arya and Gendry Scene since it caused such a stir on social media and inspired some very bawdy memes, lol. So, it's maybe the end of the world and Arya, under all of that Faceless (Wo)Man training and killing, is still a human being looking to make the most of what might be her last night alive. Personally, I wasn't all that invested in what Arya, Gendry, the Hound, Beric, Winterfell soldier #34, or whomever had planned for the evening. I was much more interested in the pre-battle strategy meeting with all of the major characters and when the hell Jon was planning to tell Daenerys that BTW, he's the true heir to the Iron Throne. More on that later . . . .

More Bran Stares

In the godswood, Jaime apologizes to Bran for pushing him out the window and asks why Bran didn't tell his family what Jaime did. Bran says that he wouldn't have gone down the path he has (to becoming a robot, I mean, becoming the Three-Eyed Raven) if Jaime hadn't pushed him that day. Jaime asks what's going to happen after the battle, and Bran is like, how do you know there's going to be an afterwards? Yikes!

An Insult-Free Conversation

Tyrion and Jaime are together again, in the most unlikely of places. Jaime asks what Daenerys is like but gets distracted while Tyrion is talking by Brienne watching Pod spar. Jaime heads down there, and his civility actually alarms Brienne, lol. The scene gets serious when Jaime says he's not the fighter he once was, but if Brienne will have him, it would be an honor to serve under her command. *FLAILS AND SCREAMS*

Mormont Still Calls Daenerys "Khaleesi"

I thought that was very sweet! Jorah admits that he was bitter when Daenerys named Tyrion as her Hand, but he also admits that Tyrion is a very smart man and advises Daenerys to forgive Tyrion's mistakes.

Daenerys Turns on the Charm

After her conversation with Jorah, Daenerys goes to see Sansa in private. Daenerys really makes an effort to try to thaw the iciness between the two ladies, and it seems like they're finding some common ground when Sansa asks what's going to happen to the North after the battle with the White Walkers. The cold returns as Daenerys is like, duh, I'll be Queen of the Seven Kingdoms, and Sansa is like, um, no, the North will never bow to anyone again. Fortunately, the arrival of Theon prevents further escalation for the moment.

Daenerys asks about Yara, and Theon tells her that his sister has returned to the Iron Islands. He then turns to Sansa and asks if he can fight for Winterfell. Extremely interesting that he asked Sansa, not Daenerys.

Is the Crypt Really That Safe?

Davos is serving food and meets a little girl who reminds him of Shireen. She asks where she should go when the battle starts—she's prepared to fight. Gilly comes over and says that she and Little Sam will be down in the crypt with the other women and children, and she'd feel safer with the girl protecting them.

Later in the episode, Daenerys orders Tyrion down to the crypt during the battle. Does anyone else have a bad feeling about this? There's too much mentioning of the crypt in this episode, so you know shit is gonna go down, er, down there. Isn't it also a bad idea to take shelter in a crypt surrounded by the dead when we've seen plenty of dead turned into wights?

Some Welcome Faces

After their disturbing discovery at Last Hearth, Tormund, Edd, and Beric make it back to Winterfell. Tormund grimly informs Jon that the White Walkers will be there before the sun comes up the next day. In some much needed comic relief, Tormund asks if "The Big Woman" (Brienne) is still at Winterfell, hahahaha.

It's War

Just about every major character who's made it this far is present for the battle strategy meeting. Jon proposes trying to take out the Night King, hoping that everyone else under his command will fall. Bran says that the Night King might leave himself vulnerable if he goes after Bran to destroy him and all that he knows. Bran says he'll wait for the Night King in the godswood, and Theon volunteers to stay with him, along with the Ironborn. Tormund observes that they're all going to die, but at least they'll die together.

And Now Our Watch Begins

Up on a rampart, Sam asks Jon if he's dropped the parentage bomb on Daenerys yet. And who's that hanging out in the corner of the screen? IT'S GHOST!!!!!!! YASSSSSSSSSS!!!!!!!!! Dolorous Edd joins them, and I got chills thinking of them preparing to defend the Wall against the Wildlings in Season 4's "The Watchers on the Wall." Sam even mentions their fallen brothers Pyp and Grenn.

Rise, SER Brienne of Tarth!

Tyrion jokes to Jaime that he wishes their father were alive to see both brothers die defending Winterfell. They're joined by Brienne and Pod, then Davos, and then Tormund, who's brought his own tasty beverage. And now it's officially a party! Tormund then regales everyone with the story of how he earned the name "Giantsbane." It was both ewwwww and funny at the same time.

Later, Tormund is surprised to learn that Brienne isn't a knight. Jaime jumps on that, and says that a knight can make another knight. In a scene that I could rewatch a million times, Jaime knights Brienne!!!!!!!!!! Pod looks proud, and the sheer joy on Brienne's face when she rises as the titular Knight of the Seven Kingdoms almost made me bawl. So of course now I'm EXTREMELY worried that Brienne won't survive the battle because the moment you find happiness on GoT, you die. It is known.

This Is Right

Outside, Sam walks in on Jorah trying to convince his cousin Lyanna not to fight. Ever the firecracker, Lyanna insists she's going to, and wishes him good fortune before walking away. Sam gives Heartsbane to Jorah, telling him that Jorah's father taught Sam how to be a man and to do what's right, and giving Jorah the sword is right. Obviously touched by the gesture, Jorah says he'll wield Heartsbane in The Old Bear's memory. Now I'm super scared for Sam's fate in the next episode and moderately scared for Jorah's.

My Name Is Really Aegon

Down in the crypt where he first learned the truth about his parents, Jon finally gets around to telling all to Daenerys. She doesn't believe him, pointing out quite rightly that Jon himself only has it on the word of his brother (well, cousin really, I suppose?) and best friend. They don't have much time to get into it because outside, there's a commotion and the horn is sounding, which means . . . THE WHITE WALKERS ARE HERRRRRRRREEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!

In the Next Episode

Beloved characters are gonna die. The question is: who?

4 comments:

  1. I’m also nervous about how they’re going to wrap everything up. It’s taking so long to get to the battle! I’m pretty sure the crypt is not going to be safe. I’m scared for everybody, especially Brienne. I love her.

    Aj @ Read All The Things!

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    1. I love her, too, and I'm very, very scared for her tonight! :( This ep is going to be a tough one, and no matter how much I try to brace myself for it, it's not going to be enough.

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  2. Great recap! I'm kinda wondering why Dany didn't have some kind of guarantee from Cersei about sending her forces north- did they really just trust her WORD? If they did, seems like that's on Dany too, not just Tyrion. Kinda weird. I did think the Jaime scenes were well done, and Brienne vouching ... that was nice. :)

    I thought the pre battle strategizing was weak, though. Seriously, their plan is to LET the Night King reach the godswood? I guess this is where the show diverges from books and I just need to deal, b/c I'm pretty sure in the book the godswood is deep within Winterfell, whereas here they almost (conveniently) have it as an outside garden? Not outside the walls, but definitely on the outer parts of the grounds?

    Dany and Sansa were awesome, I love them together, at least until like you said the cold returned haha. I really do kinda hope the North stays independents. I love the idea of Jaime and Brienne fighting together.

    I wouldn't go near that crypt unless there's another way out! They are foreshadowing the crypts so hard! No, if I was a civilian I'd be like bye, I'm going to Highgarden or Naath or somewhere.

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    1. I also didn't think the godswood was so easily accessible, but this season it seems to be everyone's favorite meetup spot, lol. It was so cool to have so many of the main players at the pre-battle meeting, but like you said, the strategy was weak. All those minds, and this is the plan they've come up with lol?

      I'd love to see the North stay independent, too. They've certainly fought hard enough to earn it!

      It'll be interesting to watch what happens down in the crypts in tonight's episode. The foreshadowing has definitely been super heavy! I'd take my chances making a run for somewhere else for sure. If the White Walkers get down there, is there even another way out?!

      I'm both excited for tonight's episode and really dreading it, lol, because it's obvious we're going to lose some characters. :(

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