The following review contains spoilers about season 8 episode 2 of Game of Thrones.
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Year: 2019
Category: Fantasy, Drama.
Director: David Nutter.
Cast: Emilia Clarke, Kit Harington, Sophie Turner, Maisie Williams, Lena Headey, Peter Dinklage, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, Alfie Allen, Iain Glen, Isaac Hempstead-Wright, Kristofer Hivju, John Bradley-West, Rory McCann, Liam Cunningham, Jerome Flynn, Conleth Hill, Joseph Dempsie, Pilou Asbæk, Anton Lesser, Richard Dormer, Gemma Whelan, Ben Crompton, Hafþór Júlíus Björnsson, Daniel Portman, Rupert Vansittart, Bella Ramsey. Bella Ramsey, Rupert Vansittart, Richard Rycroft, Megan Parkinson, Rosa Frazer
Plot
The entire episode takes place at Winterfell and is dedicated to the buildup before the battle at Winterfell between the living and the dead.
Opinion
Well, after the first introductory episode that culminated with the reunion between Jaime and Bran, this new episode, the second of the season, starts directly showing the trial of Jaime and that is taking place in Winterfell, what are the charges? mmmm ... I guess they are accusing him of all his crimes, mainly killing Aerys II Targaryen, the Mad King, however, all this is solved without big problems when Brienne of Tarth endorses Jaime, something that convinces Sansa, and that with Jon's approval, Bran's silence, and to Daenerys' displeasure, absolves Jaime and allows him to fight alongside them.
Shortly after a private conversation takes place in which Jaime asks Bran why he did not reveal the truth about what happened that day when Jaime threw him out the window, and Bran replies that it does not matter now, that the important thing is to fight against The Night King. However, Jaime is still worried because there is a possibility that if survives the White Walkers, Bran can then reveal the truth, but astutely Bran responds: "How do you know if there is an afterwards?"
Is Bran's response a sign that The Night King will win or that Jaime will not survive the battle? If you ask me, I think Jaime will die soon.
Just before that conversation between Jaime and Bran on the screen showed Daenerys recriminating Tyrion for trusting Cersei's words. The patience of Daenerys with respect to him begins to exhaust, in fact, in another moment of the episode, during the meeting in which the strategy is established with which they will face the White Walkers, Daenerys despises Tyrion again, although this time try to soften it a bit. Apparently the queen maintains a temperamental behavior, which can lead her down a dark road, for that reason Jorah Mormont, who seems to have made peace with his house and to whom Samwell Tarly conferred his family's sword, advised her to improve the relations with Tyrion and Sansa.
Daenerys, listening to Jorah's advice, tries to relate to Sansa, but although the two agree that they must face The Night King and Cersei, they have very different opinions about what will happen next, while Daenerys wants to regain control of The Seven Kingdoms for herself, Sansa wants the north to be independent. I think this is one of the reasons why no one will sit on the Iron Throne at the end of the season, as I mentioned here: 5 Things that I think will happen in Game of Thrones Season 8.
Then we see some conversations that seem to have little importance, as Arya exchanging a few words with the Hound and Beric Dondarrion, and then receive from Gendry the weapon she had asked him to forge, and then see how these two characters finally lead his relationship to a sexual plane, after Gendry confessed to Arya that he is the bastard son of Robert Baratheon. In fact, it is likely that if Gendry survives the battle, he will later be recognized as a legitimate Baratheon and thus recover that famous House of Westeros.
Another interesting moment takes place when several characters gather in front of a fireplace to drink wine and exchange stories, they are: Tyrion Lannister, a character who has lost much prominence in the most recent seasons; Podrick Payne, Davos Seaworth, Tormund Giantsbane, Jaime Lannister and Brienne of Tarth. There, after Tormund said that if he were king he would make Brienne a knight, Jaime responds that a king is not necessary, and that any knight can make a knight, and immediately makes Brienne of Tarth a knight.
"In the name of the Warrior, I charge you to be brave," Jaime tells Brienne, draping his blade against her shoulder. "In the name of the Father, I charge you to be just. In the name of the Mother, I charge you to defend the innocent. Arise, Brienne of Tarth, a Knight of the Seven Kingdoms."
Without a doubt it was one of the most emotional moments of the whole series. A few minutes later the camera returns to the same room, but this time to listen to Podrick Payne singing Jenny of the Oldstones, starting a scene in which all the characters are in a contemplative state, just a little calm before the storm.
Other things that happened in the episode was the conversation between Gray Worm and Missandei, in which they make it clear that once the battle is over, and Daenerys takes the throne, there will be no place for them in this world, so they will leave Westeros together. In this episode it is also shown how Theon Greyjoy arrives unexpectedly fast at Winterfell, informs Daenerys that Yara will take The Iron Islands and in turn confirms that he arrived to fight with the Starks, being accepted by Sansa, with whom he apparently redeems himself. In this way the episode begins to tie up loose ends, leaving all his characters ready for the great battle, but not before showing us one last conversation between Jon and Daenerys, in which he reveals his true identity, something that does not seem to please Daenerys, however, the conversation is interrupted with the arrival of the White Walkers.
Something I forget to mention is that Tyrion has a conversation with Bran, and although later we are shown to these characters again and there is no sign that anything important has been mentioned, something quite strange, as surely Tyrion could get valuable information from the Three-Eyed Raven. While of Cersei nothing is shown and Melisandre continues without appearing.
The direction of the episode is acceptable, David Nutter, the same who directed the episode The Rains of Castamere, with the infamous Red Wedding sequence, does well here, although he is far from his best performance. Bryan Cogman, the scriptwriter of this episode, and probably one of the best of the whole series, did well here, especially placing some details directed to the readers of George R. R. Martin's books. The performances were at the usual level, although I think the actress Gwendoline Christie as Brienne of Tarth gives us the best interpretation of the episode, seeing her face after becoming knight was really great.
I think that if the first episode dealt with reunions, this episode was a farewell for many characters, the end comes, there is no place for everyone and as in the ancient Roman coliseums the public asks for blood.
I think that the fact that the series is coming to an end makes David Benioff and D. B. Weiss not take big risks, which is affecting a lot the surprise and irreverent nature of the series. In this episode Jaime's character could easily die, but he did not, why? I do not know, Daenerys just let it go. The fact that Theon arrives at Winterfell before the White Walkers is also unconvincing, and finally, I have some other criticisms about how they treated the character of Tyrion and Varys. At some point Game of Thrones was about many characters, with different objectives, located in different places, with conspiracy and intrigue, today that does not exist anymore, all the characters are in the same place, they have the same objective, and the conspiracy and intrigue almost does not take place here, all that negatively affects the story, however, I continue to believe that the series will improve in the coming episodes.