TV Review: Game of Thrones S8E2 - 'A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms'

Game of Thrones' final season continues to deliver the goods. Here's a brief review of episode two, 'A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms'.

Dany becoming more and more like the ultimate villain by the day.

After last week reintroduced all the major players, episode two was all about giving those characters time to interact, argue and copulate before they (presumably) meet a grisly end in next week's battle with the Night King's army.

First up was Jaime Lannister. Having arrived in Winterfell to honour his promise to "fight for the living", Jaime finds himself on trial in front of the whole court. Dany, Sansa and Jon are out for blood, but by the end of the scene it's just Dany on her lonesome – outvoted by her lover and his sister, with Brienne vouching for Jaime and swaying the Starks. Dany, off to sulk in her room, blames Tyrion for misadvising her once again – and to be fair, she has a point. Tyrion hasn't made a lot of good calls since becoming Hand of the Queen.

Jaime makes up for lost time by making amends; first he pays a visit to Bran in the Godswood, and then he has some brotherly bonding time with Tyrion on the Winterfell ramparts. Later, after sharing a fireside chat with Tyrion, Davos, Podrick, Tormund and Brienne, Jaime grants Brienne's greatest wish by making her a knight of the realm.

It's tender character moments like these where Game of Thrones is at its best – everything about this scene was brilliant. Nikolai Coster-Waldau spent a few seasons with nothing to do (like the Dorne and Blackfish subplots?), but these past two seasons he's consistently been one of the best things about Game of Thrones – here's hoping he gets a good send-off.

that was easily the best episode of GAME OF THRONES in years, holy cow.

— lindsey romain (@lindseyromain) April 22, 2019

Meanwhile, Dany is marching around trying to make some friends. Her primary target is Sansa. They share a quick chat about Jon and Dany's reasoning for coming to Winterfell, but things get icy again when Sansa questions Dany about what will happen to the North when the war is over. Dany, increasingly protective of her flimsy grip on power, isn't keen on making any promises. There's tension here that will only grow in the final four episodes.

Speaking of tension, how about Jon and Dany? All warmth has drained from their brief fling now that Jon has pulled the cat out of the bag and told her that he's actually her nephew. I liked Dany's quip about Jon merely taking Bran and Sam's word ("your brother and your best friend?") – but it feels like this union is doomed to end in disaster. I don't think Jon wants total control – but Dany does. There's no way she's going to share power with anyone – not Cersei or Sansa or Jon.

Jon: My name is Aegon Targaryen
Dany: You're the last male heir?
Jon: Did you hear the part where we had the same last name????

#GamefThrones pic.twitter.com/rkvRZMES4d

— Mark Alvarado (@FineHijinx) April 22, 2019

Arya's big scene makes me wonder if she's long for this world. After patching things up with The Hound, she shares a tender moment with hunky blacksmith Gendry (and who can blame her?). Our girl's all grown up!

But something about this scene made me think we won't see Arya last until the end of the season – I mean, where does her character go from here? Sure, she could be the one to knife Cersei, but wouldn't it be more satisfying coming from Sansa? Or Jaime? Or Tyrion? I don't know, but aside from killing lots of wights, I'm not sure where Arya's arc will go next.

What we've seen so far from this season is that it's incredibly satisfying seeing all the characters, previously dotted across the vast map of Westeros and Essos, collide and crossover. Sansa and Theon reuniting; Jon, Sam and Edd sharing a quiet moment on the ramparts; Sam gifting his family sword to Jorah. Not to mention the scene where everyone stood around the map table like they were making a plan to destroy Starkiller Base.

Next week promises to unleash hell on our favourites, and I've no doubt several will bite the dust (my money is on Brienne, Grey Worm, Jorah, Edd and maybe Theon?) What follows and who wins the Battle of Winterfell is anyone's guess...

What did you think of Games of Thrones' second episode? Let me know in the comments below.