Game of Thrones, Season 8, Episode 2: I Dub Thee - Ser Brienne of Shattered Glass Ceilings

I have to say – this calm-before-the-storm episode will go down as one of my favorites for its shameless nostalgia and emotional camaraderie among beloved characters. A lot of fans will complain that this was basically a filler episode because we didn’t have any action and we didn’t really learn anything new, but that’s because they are stupid and don’t comprehend what this was: a gift, a chance for us to reflect on the journeys that our protagonists have taken up until this point, because let’s face it: most of these people will be massacred next week at the Battle of Winterfell. Every scene is staged to recall the trials and tribulations endured by these characters, so we can have that fresh in our minds as we watch them die horrifically at the icy mangled hands of the White Walkers. ‘K?

It began on a tense note: just as I expected – episode 2 picks up with Jaime on pseudo-trial in the great hall of Winterfell. Daenerys isn’t too pleased to see the man who her murdered her father, and neither is Sansa – who remembers Jaime best from that time he snatched her father away for treason in King’s Landing. Jaime certainly isn’t helping his cause – Jaime admits that Cersei was full of shit about sending her armies north on top of her purchase of the Golden Company, and he refuses to apologize for his transgressions against the Targaryens and Starks because “war;” which is the perfect opportunity for Bran to parrot back “the things we do for love” at Jaime – I can now die fulfilled (no joke – I squealed when he said it). 

Bran neglects to tell the entire hall it was Jamie who crippled him, which would have been an automatic death sentence, but regardless the two HBIC’s seem in agreement about Jaime’s impending execution, despite Tyrion’s pleas otherwise, until Brienne intervenes on his behalf – repaying the debt she feels she owes him for when he saved her from rape and certain death – and lost his good hand for it. She also shames Sansa by reminding her the whole reason she even has Brienne as a protector is because Jaime swore an oath to Catelyn Stark to return her home. Sansa demurs (have you noticed that Sansa’s first instinct is always wrong? Save for her bailing Jon out at the Battle of the Bastards, she literally has never made a solid first call in her life), so Dany turns to ask Jon his opinion on the matter. If she was hoping for support from her lover-nephew, today was NOT the day because clearly Jon has been up all night, haunted by the “I’m the true heir to the Iron Throne and my whole life has been a lie” bomb he had dropped on him; he quickly agrees with Sansa that Jaime can serve them best as a soldier for the living. Dany is bitter but she concedes that Jaime may stay and fight. The second the hall is dismissed Jon takes off like a shot, which hurts Dany’s feelings, because clearly he’s avoiding her and this is a woman who has had men of all ages falling at her feet since Season 1 so she’s unaccustomed to this sort of behavior from a paramour.

Tyrion is now on Dany’s shit list and she’s reading him the riot act for actually believing Cersei could be trusted. Once alone with Varys and Jorah, he mopes that soon one of them will be the Hand of the Queen, because clearly his judgement is fucked. This seems to trouble Jorah – more on that later.

In the forges, Arya is stalking Gendry, hounding him about the weapon he has yet to make her. This scene is clearly meant to establish that she’s not just bothering him for a weapon – she plans on bothering him in a romantic sense, too: Maisie Williams must have practiced her come-hither-fuck-me eyes for months for this scene. EW EW EW! *shudder* Anyway, she can’t seduce him the traditional way because she’s an assassin, not a beauty queen, so she asks him about fighting the White Walkers. Gendry isn’t a man of many words; the best he can do is emphasize that literal DEATH is coming for them. As No One, Arya became well acquainted with the many faces of Death, so she shows off a bit of her knife throwing skills to prove she’s up to the task. Gendry, impressed, agrees to get on her project right away (heh, that’s what she said – erm, will say).

Bran is back in the Godswood, alone (is anyone else wondering how Bran gets around? Clearly Winterfell isn’t handicap-accessible; are there servants who wheel him places, or does he do it himself?), when Jaime comes to apologize for chucking him out the window. “You weren’t sorry then,” he deadpans, which, respect, but he’s not actually angry about it. Jaime marvels that Bran isn’t actually mad at him, but when you’re a sort of omniscient mystical demi-god – who has time for grudges? Jaime insists that the guy who tried to murder him isn’t the guy he is now, and Bran agrees – Jaime is one of the best redemption stories in all of fiction, after all. He also makes an interesting point, in that if Jaime hadn’t tried to kill Bran, neither of them would be the evolved people they are today. Well, Bran’s not a person, per se, he admits. But perspective, yo – it’s a savior. He asks why Bran didn’t tell everyone the truth about their last encounter – because if they knew, the Three-Eyed Raven says, they wouldn’t have let Jaime live to fight another day. Also – we don’t know if there will be another day, which serves to remind us – the Three-Eyed Raven can only definitively see the past and present – he can’t know the future for certain.

Jaime goes on to find Tyrion in the courtyard, suffering menacing looks from disgruntled Northmen. Jaime confirms to Tyrion that Cersei wasn’t actually lying about the being pregnant part (if she is pregnant, she obviously isn’t going to give birth to a live baby – the prophecy said she’d have three children and they’re all already dead. Also – she clearly doesn’t care about fetal alcohol syndrome because she was undeniably hitting the bottle when last we saw her) – she once again used the truth to manipulate her way into getting what she wanted. The two joke about when last they were both at Winterfell, and Tyrion resignedly states that this is where they’ll be dying. He ponders about what will happen after they’re dead, taking solace in the fact that Cersei won’t get the satisfaction of killing him, wistfully imagining being able to kill Cersei down at King’s Landing when he’s a part of the Night King’s army (a blatant tease about the theory that Tyrion is the valanquar from Cersei’s prophecy – the little brother who will strangle her) – except Jaime isn’t really listening anymore – he’s staring at Brienne, who is overseeing training in the camp.

The camp is bustling with nervous energy – Brienne looks on as Podrick spars with a nameless grunt, and since we last saw him Pod’s sword game has kicked up a notch because he’s effortlessly kicking ass, which Jaime says reflects well on Brienne. The pair wander the camp making awkward conversation until finally Brienne can’t take it anymore: what is Jaime up to? He asks if he can serve under her command, since she’s been put in charge of the left flank come battle time. She’s touched – this was once the most decorated Knight in the realm, and he’s hoping to be her subordinate!? But she can’t show emotion as a soldier, so she simply agrees that yeah, that’s cool.

Dany is visited by Jorah, who stands up for Tyrion and asks her to restore her faith in him. His defense is too kind, by my estimation – he says Tyrion makes mistakes but learns from them. Does he though? Anyway, he surmises that he wouldn’t be alive if it weren’t for Tyrion’s mad brain skills, and that it’s remarkable that the imp has survived this long on only his wits. Clearly, Jorah doesn’t want to be Dany’s Hand – must be too far from her friendzone for his comfort.

Dany moves on to intrude on Sansa, who is discussing important things with Lord Royce. He departs after sharing an “oh god, this bitch again?” look with Sansa, and Dany sits down to have a heart-to-heart with her would-be sister-in-law. Their conversation is more ‘honest’ than I think either of them capable of – Sansa lauds Brienne’s capabilities as an advisor, and they reflect on their relationships with Tyrion – Sansa is nicer to him in absentia than she was to him in person, and Dany laments that while she admired his kinder qualities the one she most appreciated was his former ruthlessness. Sansa jumps on the opportunity to get in a dig about how foolish Dany was to trust Cersei; Dany clarifies that she trusted her Hand, not Cersei. Dany swallows her pride and tries a different tactic – flattery. She remarks that they have much in common: they’re both female rulers in a man’s world, and they’re both damn good at their jobs (remember, flattery is her goal, so let’s laugh ironically) – why should they be at odds with one another? Their acting skills while in character are quite admirable – kudos to Emilia and Sophie. She then flatly tells Dany that Jon is in love with her, and Dany admits that she is also in love with Jon. Sansa expresses skepticism about love, paraphrasing Galadriel: “men do stupid things for women.” Dany confesses she let herself get sidetracked from the Iron Throne to come up to the North to fight a separate war because Jon asked it of her, so really – who manipulated who, here? She also makes a joke about Jon’s height, which, come on – most guys are shorter than Khal Drogo! 

Sansa, who up until this point was amenable to playing at frank conversation, turns dark. “Since we’re on the topic of the North – if we survive the Night King, what happens to our sovereignty as a nation? Cuz we decided we wouldn’t be under someone else’s boot anymore, and we meant it dammit!” Dany quickly sours at this brazen challenge to her rule.

Thankfully, who should arrive to break the tension but Theon Greyjoy and his men, who are seeking an audience with Queen Daenerys. Theon tells her that Yara is sailing back to the Iron Islands to reclaim them in Dany’s name, which leads her to ask: why are you up here, then? Theon looks longingly at Sansa, who hasn’t seen Theon since they escaped Ramsey Bolton from these very walls together – and their shared trauma, unbeknownst to the rest of the room, gets the better of them, leading to a very public, tender reunion hug – much to Dany’s chagrin. She glares jealously as Theon tells Sansa specifically that he wants to make his last stand with the rest of them at Winterfell. UPSTAGED!

Within the courtyard, Davos and Gilly make themselves useful to the country people arriving from the surrounding areas – Davos by serving them soup and pointing the way to the armory for the men, and Gilly by giving the women instructions about how to get to the crypts, where they will be hiding once the fighting commences. In a shameless attempt to pull our heartstrings, a little girl with a scarred face asks Davos where she should go, because she wants to fight like her brothers, who were once soldiers. Gilly and Davos tag team to respond that she should go to the crypts, because the women and children will need brave people to defend them down there. The girl agrees with a smile – and I swear to god if she winds up crispy like Shireen I’m going to hunt down Benioff and Weiss and throw a Molotov cocktail through their office window.

Tormund, Beric, and Edd arrive, which brings Jon out of the depths of the manor. Noticeably, he isn’t wearing any of his Stark battle gear: which is a visual signal that he’s already no longer comfortable considering himself a Stark, even though he is technically half of that lineage, same as he always was. Jon gets tackled by Tormund on his way to hug Edd (he calls Jon “my little crow” – be-still my heart!), but the comradery quickly fizzles when they explain what happened up at the Last Hearth, and that they have less than a day before the Dead are upon them. Beric introduces a clever new euphemism for death: “fighting for the Night King, now.” Tormund is more concerned about Brienne, asking “is the big woman here?”

AVENGERS: ASSEMBLE!

Now that all of our heroes are finally gathered under the same roof, they meet in the war room to talk strategy. I loved this scene; literally everyone of importance is at the same table (except for the villains that is), working towards the same goal. Jon says that the only way to defeat the Dead, who greatly outnumber them, is to take out the Night King, which hopefully will break the spell that animates them. Jaime says that if this is true, he’ll never expose himself – so how do they accomplish this? Enter Bran – who says that he’ll come for him, as he has come for all the previous Three-Eyed Ravens. “He wants to erase this world, and I am its memory,” he says, making this all seem very Matrix-esque in its rumination on the life/death relationship. Destroying human memory as a concept is a poetic way to secure the apocalypse, just like destroying the hard drive in a computer is a great way to wipe away any evidence of your cybercrimes. Books can be destroyed, after all, and memory fades after a generation (this is exactly why democracies are backsliding IRL) – true death, Sam says – is forgetting. Bran shows them the mark the Night King left on his arm – the mark acts as homing beacon. He proposes to wait for the Night King by the weirwood tree. Sansa is aghast that he should use himself as bait – but Theon offers to guard the Godswood with the Ironborn – an effort to make amends for when he stole Winterfell from Bran so long ago – and Sansa shrugs, even though she knows full well Theon’s track record with chickening out at the worst possible moments. They ponder what could kill the Night King – dragon’s fire? Bran’s turn to shrug: “don’t know – no one has ever tried that.” Tormund very cheerfully informs the collective: “We’re all going to die – at least we’re together.”

As the room clears out (Jon making a beeline for anywhere Dany isn’t), Tyrion pulls up a chair and asks Bran if he needs help. Finally! It took a differently abled person to recognize that maybe Bran, though magical in a meta way, can’t just transport himself with intradimensional portals. Nah, Bran’s okay though. Tyrion asks how his life has been since the last time they met. “It’s a long story,” is an understatement. “If only we were trapped in a castle in the middle of winter with nowhere to go….” 

A bit on the nose Tyrion, but never mind that – I wanna know what the hell Bran told him! Wouldn’t Tyrion think to ask specific juicy questions!? Major missed opportunity.

Greyworm and Missandei show visible discomfort being people of color up in the North (and yeah – these Northerners are def coming across too MAGA-sympathetic for my liking), and imagine a life together far away back on Essos as free people. The last remnants of the Night’s Watch have a bickering round of “it’s the end of the world as we know it,” as evidenced by the fact that Samwell Tarly has a woman and Edd doesn’t – according to Edd, anyway, who is giving off a distinct incel vibe. Bitter, much? At last – we get a brief glimpse of Ghost, who was financially feasible in this episode because there was no sign of Drogon and Rhaegal! Next episode will likely feature Ghost ripping some wights apart, I should think. If he dies, though – we riot!

The occupants of Winterfell all look for something to do to pass the time as they await literal death. This is my favorite portion of the episode – it’s character bonding at its best, like when old friends get together to reminisce after someone’s funeral in a dramedy. Tyrion and Jaime begin alone in the Great Hall, warming themselves with wine by the fire. Tyrion says he wished Tywin were alive so that he could see the expression on his face knowing his two sons would die fighting for Winterfell. Brienne and Pod enter, looking for someplace warm to hang out until the fighting starts. Tyrion gleefully pours Pod an overflowing goblet of wine like a drunk uncle for an underage relative at a wedding. Then comes Davos, followed quickly by Tormund, who shares the origins of his nick name, “Giantsbane.” It’s gross, but he’s hilarious in telling it, clearly trying to woo Brienne, who informs him she’s glad he wasn’t killed at Eastwatch, but not so glad that she’s going to knock boots with him. It devolves into a fireside chat of strange bedfellows.

Up on the battlements, the Hound is drinking alone, until Arya comes upon him. They commiserate a bit about how different their dynamic is. She asks him why he’s here – she remembers him as a self-serving loner, why would he be fighting for a cause greater than himself? “I fought for you, didn’t I?” he reminds, which checks her a bit. Beric Dondarrion arrives and makes himself comfortable, leading the Hound to crack that “this might as well be a bloody wedding” – which is hilarious because weddings on this show are synonymous with horrific deaths! The last time Arya saw Beric, he was selling Gendry to Melisandre. “Wasn’t he on your list?” the Hound asks. “For a while,” she admits. It’s unclear who remains on Arya’s kill list – but Beric and the Hound have earned the right to live, for however long they continue living given the circumstance. The Hound threatens to chuck Beric off the wall for his 20^th and final death for getting preachy with his “the Lord of Light has brought us together” comment, which brought a smile to my face. Arya rises and leaves, having made her peace, informing her former travel companions that she “wasn’t going to spend her last night alive with you two miserable shits.” Right on.

Instead, she’s in the basement doing arrow target practice, a callback to one of the first times we see her as a little girl, wanting to do archery with her brothers. Only she’s not a little girl anymore – after Gendry presents her the weapon she asked for and finding out that he’s Robert Baratheon’s bastard, she starts grilling him about all the girls he’s hooked up with – asking if Melisandre was the first woman he’d slept with, and how many girls there had been since or before then. “Psh, it’s not like I kept count.” “Dude – yeah, you did.” (3 girls). She basically tells him that if this truly is their last night on earth, she’s not dying a virgin – so she becomes girl #4. I won’t lie – I couldn’t watch this scene. It was more uncomfortable for me than most of the rapes we’ve witnessed – I know it’s meant to be feminist because Arya initiated the encounter and was the one in charge, but it feels distinctly like the writers are just trying to couple up all of the battle hardened women on this show. Tormund has been lusting after Brienne since last year, there’s been odd tension between Jaime and Brienne since they completed their respective missions 3 seasons ago, and now this!? It was forced AF; Arya has been depicted strictly as a murderous young adult bent on avenging her family, and now she’s hooking up in the basement of her house like a common teenage girl!? When did she cease to be asexual, and why was if off screen up until now? I call bullshit. But, you know, Gendry’s fairly hot, so I can’t be too disgusted. Get some.

Tyrion reminds them that at some point all of them had fought against the Starks, and now they were going to die defending them. Life’s funny, no? He goes on to say he actually thinks they might live (which gets a good laugh from the collective), going around recounting all the battles they’ve survived, and slips up when he gets to Brienne, calling her “Ser” instead of “Lady.” Tormund asks why she isn’t a knight, and she explains by tradition, women can’t be. “Fuck tradition,” he rightly replies, and Jaime raises to anoint her Ser Brienne of Tarth, because as a knight himself, he is entitled to sire other knights. It’s a deserved title, and Tyrion and company applaud her without question, because these are Westeros’ woke men. At long last – a good thing happening to a good person on Game of Thrones – GLASS CEILING BROKEN, HUZZAH! However this does not bode well for Brienne’s survival odds. Tyrion suggests a song to celebrate; everyone but Pod declines to sing. He croons a somber tune about dancing with ghosts – which again, is a bit on the nose. Seriously though– Pod is the most eligible bachelor in Westeros, what with his prostitute-praise worthy sex game and squire gallantry and dreamy singing voice.

Sam finds Jorah getting bitched out by Lyanna Mormont in the courtyard. She has taken offense at her elder’s expressed preference that she remain below in the crypts to secure the future of their house. All due respect, old man – Lyanna isn’t going to sit by the fire while other people fight for her, so suck on that. She wishes big cousin Jorah good fortune in the smarmiest pre-teen way possible, and leaves, Jorah unable to suppress the smirk on his chastened face. Sam swoops in to lift Jorah’s spirits by offering him the Tarly family sword to use during the fight, since Jorah insisted that Jon keep the Mormont family sword last season, and Jorah’s dad was the first noble father figure Sam ever had. It would honor him to see it put to good use, since Sam admits – he can’t actually lift it upright (Valyrian steel is dense, you know). Jorah accepts – again, this doesn’t bode well for Jorah’s survival odds, especially when Sam departs on: “I hope we win.”

Theon and Sansa share a meal in silence – because even though they’ve shared a life-time’s worth of horrible shit at the hands of the same evil person, they don’t actually have that much in common. I sincerely hope they aren’t being set up to be a couple – two eunuch/hot girl relationships on this show would be overkill.

Finally, Dany manages to corner Jon down in the crypt in front of Lyanna Stark’s grave. Instead of a “babe, why so distant?” conversation, she is given a narrative in which the dead woman she stands before is not the woman her older brother raped, thus resulting in the overthrow of their family dynasty – but the woman he loved and spawned a secret legitimate heir with – the spawn being Jon aka Aegon Targaryen VI. “Impossible,” she dismisses – who confirmed this? Your best friend and your weird brother? Suspicious much? But you can tell she knows it’s true – why else would his affections reverse so quickly? How else could he have ridden her dragon, were he not a Targaryen? Rather than cringe in disgust that she’s been screwing her nephew, she immediately jumps on the fact that Jon – not she- has the best claim to the Iron Throne. Incest seems a non-issue to these people, so I guess we just go with it? Jon seems hurt that the first thing she brought up was the line of succession, but he doesn’t immediately refute his claim – which surprised me honestly. They are interrupted by the horns of war, and we close on a view of Winterfell from afar, side by side with a line of White Walkers.

Next episode will be the most epic of epic things ever committed to film, so I won’t be maudlin and conject about who winds up surviving. I will, however, reflect on how important this episode was in showing how the world of Westeros has evolved, from a place where women were treated much like cattle, to a place where they literally rule the dominions of men. It’s come down to Cersei and Dany as the two options for living monarchs (until Jon throws his hat in the ring, that is), Sansa is effectively the Warden of the North, Yara is reclaiming the Iron Islands since her uncle is busy banging Cersei, Arya and Brienne are the foremost warriors in the realm, and Lyanna Mormont is poised to take up their mantle should she survive beyond next week’s bloodbath. In the world that must rise from the ashes following the war between the Living and the Dead, women may have a shot at a more egalitarian role in society. Perhaps Dany (or whoever succeeds her, if she dies) will indeed break the wheel, and establish a more equitable government where women have agency and the same legal clout as men. We shall see.