With its single location, this week’s “A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms” is the “Game of Thrones” version of a bottle episode. Sure, it takes place all over the castle of Winterfell, rather than in just a single space à la “Pine Barrens” on “The Sopranos” or “Fly” on “Breaking Bad,” but this is as minimalist as this HBO show can get. Directed by David Nutter and written by Brian Cogman, this second episode puts everything in place for next week’s epic Battle of Winterfell, which promises to be the biggest fight sequence ever committed to film. You gotta save money somehow.
“When I was a child, my brother would tell me a bedtime story about the man who murdered our father,” says Daenerys Targaryen (Emilia Clarke) to new arrival Jaime Lannister (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau). “And all the things we would do to that man.”
But Daenerys doesn’t take her family’s revenge against the Kingslayer. Though his solo arrival confirms that Cersei Lannister (Lena Headey, unseen in this episode) and her armies aren’t coming to the aid of the North, those loyal to Daenerys defend Jaime to her. Even as her hand, the word of Tyrion Lannister (Peter Dinklage) means little.
“The things we do for love,” Bran Stark (Isaac Hempstead Wright) says, echoing what Jaime proclaimed in the series premiere as he pushed Bran out the window. However, Bran is as weird as ever, and he doesn’t elaborate.
But while Tyrion’s word doesn’t help Jaime’s case, it’s Brienne (Gwendoline Christie) and Sansa (Sophie Turner) who win Daenerys over in Jaime’s awkward episode of “This Is Your Life.” After Jaime gives her a look, Brienne jumps to his defense. Sansa is swayed by Brienne’s testimony, which helps bring Jon Snow aka Aegon Targaryen (aka Kit Harington) onto #TeamJaime. With Jon’s approval, Daenerys is in, and Grey Worm (Jacob Anderson) hands Jaime back his sword, Widow’s Wail.
We cut to the next scene, where Tyrion is definitely still on Daenerys’s shit list (fair) for believing his sister would come to their aid, rather than what she’s actually doing: gathering an army along with the Golden Company to fight other humans.
“I expect one of you will be wearing this before this is all over,” Tyrion says to Jorah Mormont (Iain Glen) and Lord Varys (Conleth Hill) of his fancy Hand brooch. This might be the first smart thing he’s said in a while.
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We move from Daenerys’ icy cool to the heat of Gendry (Joe Dempsie) and his smelting. Arya (Maisie Williams) arrives to check his progress on her weapon or ogle him. Or both. Arya can wear others’ faces, but her own is unable or unwilling to hide her feelings for Gendry. And why bother? Embarrassment seems like a small thing when you have an army arriving far too soon. When Gendry says that he’s fought them before, Arya asks what they’re like.
“Bad. Really bad,” the ever-effusive Gendry says. When pressed, he says, “Death. That’s what they’re like. Death.”
“Death. It’s got many faces,” Arya says, as she throws three daggers with expert precision. “I look forward to seeing this one.” Now it’s Gendry’s turn to be impressed by her.
We’re back to the cold in the next scene, joining Bran and Jaime at the heart tree. Jaime apologizes, but Bran isn’t angry – and isn’t even Bran, which he tries to explain to Jaime.
“You won’t be able to help us in this fight if I let them murder you first,” Bran/Not Bran says when he’s asked why he didn’t reveal what Jaime did back in the tower.
“What about afterwards?” Jaime says.”
“How do you know there is an afterwards?” Bran replies.
Jaime’s one-on-one reunion with his brother, Tyrion, in the next scene, is less awkward, but no less doom and gloom. There are years of history between the two and they clearly know each other well. Jaime questions if everyone can follow the new queen, but Tyrion comes to her defense. The queen in the south is a different story; now Tyrion doesn’t trust Cersei, even when it comes to her supposed pregnancy, but Jaime believes her.
In the next scene, Jaime watches the training of the men, but it’s not the men he’s looking at. It’s Brienne. Be still, my beating heart. She’s proud of the progress and prowess of Podrick (Daniel Portman), whose fighting skills aren’t quite at the level of his technique in the bedroom, but he can learn. Jaime approaches Brienne, who will be commanding the left flank, and we get some dialogue that feels more like something out of a rom-com, rather than an epic fantasy with dragons and ice zombies. There really is something for everyone here.
“We have never had a conversation this long without you insulting me,” Brienne says in confusion.
“I came to Winterfell because,” Jaime says, and then pauses as he gathers himself. “I’m not the fighter I used to be. But I’ll be honored to serve under your command if you’ll have me.” Then I cried for the first time in this episode. (It will not be the last.)
Meanwhile, Jorah and Daenerys are having a heart-to-heart as well. The former knight admits that he was brokenhearted after he learned that Daenerys had named Tyrion her Hand. But despite the wound, Jorah tells her to forgive him, and then says he has one more thing to ask of her.
Cut to Daenerys and Sansa, who were not getting along for much of the season premiere. There’s an attempt at bonding over their shared experience as women in power, and Daenerys confronts Sansa over her iciness.
“He loves you, you know that,” Sansa says of Jon. “Men do stupid things for women. They’re easily manipulated.”
Daenerys quietly counters with saying that Jon is actually the one who has affected her. She lived her life with the singular goal of retaking her family’s throne, but Jon’s war is now hers. Sansa and Daenerys share a moment and hold hands like they’re at brunch, joking about Jon’s height. But the conversation turns to the future for the second time this episode, and Sansa wonders what happens after the war.
“I take the Iron Throne,” Daenerys says.
“What about the North?” Sansa asks, and the brief truce is broken as they take their hands away. But it isn’t all bad news for Sansa: Theon (Alfie Allen) is back at Winterfell. They hug in what is one of the more tearful reunions in these two episodes, surprising in its potency (raising my cry count to two). Theon wronged the Starks in a variety of ways, but his part in saving Sansa from Ramsay Bolton is ultimately what matters.
In the midst of serving food, Davos Seaworth (Liam Cunningham) gives advice to newly minted soldiers, and Gilly (Hannah Murray, making her first appearance this season) tells the women they will wait out the fighting in the crypt. A young girl says she wants to fight as her brothers did, but Davos talks her into “defending the crypt.”
The horn is blown, and we’ve got good news and bad news. The good news is the arrival of Edd Tollett (Ben Crompton) and Tormund Giantsbane (Kristofer Hivju), who greets Jon with a wild, warm hug. The bad news is that the army of White Walkers isn’t far behind them.
“How long do we have?” Jon asks.
“Before the sun comes up tomorrow,” Tormund replies, but despite the impending doom, he thinks of the important things – like Brienne. But since this is “Game of Thrones” and not a rom-com, we transition inside into a war strategy session (and delay the gratification of the Tormund-Brienne reunion).
“Our enemy doesn’t tire. Doesn’t stop. Doesn’t feel,” Jon says of their foes. “We can’t beat them in a straight fight. So what can we do? The Night King made them all. They follow his command. If he falls, getting to him may be our best chance.”
“He’ll come for me,” says Bran/Not Bran/The Three-Eyed Raven. He’ll be serving as bait in the Godswood, with Theon guarding him with the Ironborn. The Night King will target him because, with his knowledge of all of human history, his death will signal the species’ end.
“That’s what death is,” Samwell Tarly (John Bradley), our resident philosopher, says. “Forgetting and being forgotten.” This knowledge is what sets these people apart from animals – and apart from the White Walkers and wights who are coming their way. The team’s other nerd, Tyrion, offers to fight, but Daenerys turns him down.
“You’re here because of your mind,” she says to her Hand. “If we survive, I’ll need it.”
Outside, Missandei (Nathalie Emmanuel) is ignored by children, and Grey Worm acknowledges the difficult life they’d face in the North as outsiders. She says she’d like to see a beach, and he promises to protect her. It’s clear that at least one of them is going to die (or both), and we’re betting not going to get to see a happy Missandei sipping the Essosi version of a piña colada regardless.
The original BFFs of the Night’s Watch – Jon, Sam, and Edd – are reunited, and Jon tells Sam that he should be in the crypt … to defend Gilly and his son.
“Everyone seems to forget I was the first man to kill a White Walker,” Sam says, and recounts his bad boy history of fighting Thenns and stealing books. It’s a funny moment, but they can’t ignore the memories of their brothers who have preceded them in death. Again, this seems like an indication that at least one of these three won’t make it out alive, making their circle even smaller.
A pair of biological brothers – Tyrion and Jaime – are inside, laughing over what their father would think of them. Brienne and Pod join them in front of the fire, and the wine begins to flow. Brienne initially protests, but she allows Pod half a cup. Tyrion gives him an airport pour, overflowing the glass. Ser Davos arrives to join them but won’t partake, followed by Tormund, who doesn’t need their wine: he brought his own like a boss.
Tormund senses the love triangle we’ve been waiting for, and he compares nicknames with Jaime: “King Killer” vs. “Giantsbane.” He relays how he got his name, a story that book readers have had to live with for years now that involves him suckling at a giant’s teat for three months, which is how he got his strength. Brienne is not impressed, and neither is Ser Davos, who now definitely needs a drink.
Outside, Sandor ‘The Hound’ Clegane (Rory McCann) sits alone on the wall, and Arya joins him. She questions his motives for being there as one of the realm’s most selfish a-holes, but The Hound reminds her that he fought for her before. Beric Dondarrion (Richard Dormer) shows up, and Arya acknowledges that both Beric and The Hound were on her list, but no more. That doesn’t mean she has to hang out with the “old shits” though.
Instead, she goes back inside for target practice. Gendry brings her the double-bladed weapon she requested, but he also tells her of his parentage. Arya asks him about his sexual history, which seems like a fair question for a dude who lived in a place called Flea Bottom. She tells him she’s like to know what sex is like before she dies, and she kisses him. I did not think this was the sex scene we were going to get in tonight’s episode, but here we are.
Without any of “Game of Thrones” customary nudity (which is much appreciated here), we cut back to the group around the fire. Tyrion sees the common bond between them: that they’ve fought the Starks at one time. He’s oddly optimistic about their chances. Fans are probably still high over the Arya-Gendry hookup when something far more joyous happens: Brienne finally becomes an actual knight. When she says that tradition is why women can’t be knights, Tormund gives her some Wildling wisdom.
“Fuck tradition,” he says. “I’m not a king, But if I were, I’d knight you 10 times over.”
But it’s Jaime who knights her, and I legit sobbed (that makes three). He previously gave her a suit of armor and her sword, and now he’s giving her the knighthood she’s earned. He really gets her, and no one’s happier about it than Brienne. Tormund does look really excited for his big woman though.
Outside Ser Jorah and Lady Lyanna Mormont (Bella Ramsey) are facing off, having a conversation we’ve seen three times this episode over whether she’ll fight. Jorah wants her to stay safe as the lady of their house, but she tells him she’ll fight for the North. This cub continues to prove she’s got teeth.
Samwell arrives on the scene with his family’s sword, Heartsbane, which he can’t hold upright. He tells Ser Jorah that Jeor Mormont taught Samwell how to be a man, and he offers Joran his Valyrian steel sword.
Meanwhile, Tyrion wants to continue drinking, but they’re out of wine. Apparently, Westerosi karaoke is a thing once you’ve had a lot to drink the night before a battle, but at first no one volunteers. Soon, Podrick offers his sweet tenor, in a moment reminiscent of Pippin’s “Edge of Night” solo in “The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers” as we get a montage of the various people in Winterfell and how they’re spending their last night. (High five, Arya.)
Continuing the series’ tradition of revealing truths in the crypts, Jon tells Daenerys who his real parents are in front of Lyanna’s statue. She’s heard of Lyanna Stark, as the rape victim of her brother Rhaegar. Jon corrects her, sharing the story of their secret marriage and secret son. There’s realization on Daenerys’s face, even before he says his name. But she questions the news and its sources, and she says that if it’s true, he’d be the rightful heir. Shit’s about to get real, but then it gets really real as the horn blasts again, this time announcing the arrival of the army of the dead. Cut to the pale army as they stare at the lights of Winterfell, which are far too close.
After last week’s hour of reunions, “A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms” is mostly place-setting – all in one place. Little really happens here, but a lot was said, and said multiple times. This is the rare episode without any blood, but next week’s battle should more than make up for it.
