This episode starts with a storm, much like the night that Daenerys was born, as Varys and Tyrion point out. Hence, why she’s known as Daenerys Stormborn. Now that Daenerys has finally reached Westeros, there is much to do if she is to take over the Iron Throne. Being in a land where her family was killed off and where she and her brother got driven out of is enough to make anyone suspicious of those closest to them, especially if they spent much of their time there.
Daenerys confronts Varys about where his loyalties truly lie. Her suspicions are valid because we’ve seen him tactically switch sides throughout the series. He sticks to the same answer he gave in the first season: he serves the people of the realm. This scene displays one of the strengths of Game of Thrones: even when there’s no action or nudity, the dialogue can still make a scene tense. Speaking of a person that has pledged loyalty and then switched sides a few times, there is Melisandre, the Red Woman. To be fair, she was exiled by the last person she swore loyalty to and Westeros is a world filled with people that switch sides to survive. Melisandre proposes that Daenerys reach out to Jon Snow for an alliance.
Davos explains how the proposal is worth considering since dragons can kill wights. The idea of Daenerys and Jon working together is something that fans have wanted for years.
We finally get to see Jorah after he left Daenerys’ side. The greyscale has taken up nearly half his body. Sam pleads with the maester that there should be a cure because he saw Shireen live with it only taking up half her face. The maester explains that Jorah is too far gone and will be exiled.
Cersei tries the new weapon that she plans to use against the dragons: a military weapon capable of shooting a spear through the skull of a dragon. Cersei will do whatever it takes to win. If burning a Sept with her enemies inside isn’t proof of it, this is. She’s not going to just fear dragons and do nothing about it.
Daenerys’ alliance decides that in order to win Westeros, the main advances around King’s Landing need to be done by Westerosi armies while the Unsullied attack Casterly Rock. Maybe, under Tyrion’s advisement, she has learned that it’s not enough to conquer lands, she needs the support of the people as well. The best part is the scene following this discussion. Olenna shows how she’s still her regular self and she doesn’t take crap from anyone. “I’ve known many clever men and I’ve out lasted them all. You know why? I ignored them”. These are probably the best lines in this episode.
The Grey Worm and Missandei’s relationship may be a bit strange to some. Grey Worm reveals that Missandei is his weakness when he never had one before. He also proves that he doesn’t need genitals to pleasure a woman.
Even though he was advised not to, Sam attempts a procedure to remove Jorah’s greyscale. I guess it was out of respect for his father. The removal of greyscale looked like the peeling off of a bad sunburn. That’s two episodes in a row where Sam had scenes that are not for the squeamish.
Arya reunites with Hot Pie and learns that she’s not the only Stark left. It appears that she’s abandoning her mission to kill Cersei to head North.
Jon is given another reason to go to Dragonstone: a letter from Sam states that it sits on a deposit of dragon glass. Jon is left with unpopular decision to meet with the daughter of the Mad King and a Lannister. Despite many objections, he leaves for Dragonstone, with Sansa left in charge of the North.
Arya has another possible reunion. While it wasn’t on the show much, it is believed from the books that Nymeria was leading a pack of wolves. For those that don’t remember, Nymeria was Arya’s dire wolf who was forced to run away within the early part of the first season. Arya tells herself that the wolf she met is not hers, but even if she was, would she really return to the person that threw stones at her the last time they were together?
Euron ambushes the Greyjoy/Martell fleet. This is Game of Thrones. Did anyone believe that Daenerys’ alliance was going to have everything go according to plan? Sadly, Theon showed his cowardice once again. As much as he has shown some redeeming qualities since reuniting with his sister, he has let her down. I’m not sure what ability he had to do much else.
This episode had an underlying theme of trust and tough decisions, set in a world where you have an ally that will fight for you one day, and could betray you the next. The three powers left in the game (Daenerys, Jon, and even Cersei) have all faced decisions on who to trust and how far to trust them. Every decision is a move on the chess board and one wrong move could be the end for that power. With Euron striking the first blow, the new war has officially started.
