GAME OF THRONES (S8E02): "A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms"

Summary
The second episode of the final season of  Game of Thrones is "A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms." This is either a reference to Jaime Lannister or Brienne of Tarth. This is a "quiet before the storm" episode where the "storm" is the Army of the Dead led by the Night King and the White Walkers. The Seven Kingdoms are the North (home to Winterfell), the Vale (home to The Eyrie), Dorne (home to Highgarden), the Stormlands, the Reach, the Westerlands, and the Iron Islands.

In this episode we see how people will deal with the end of the world as they know it. They know the Night King is on his way to Winterfell kill everyone in the North and the writers use this episode to show us almost every imaginable pairing of characters. A brief list is: Sansa and Theon, Grey Worm and Missandei, Jaime and Brienne, Arya and Gendry, The Hound and Arya, Podrick and Brienne, Sansa and Daenerys, Sam and Gilly, Tyrion and Jaime, Tormund and Brienne, Bran and Jaime, etc.

The information that Jon received in the previous episode that he is Aegon Targaryen VI, the heir to the Iron Throne was relayed to Daenerys in this episode, but not at a moment where there's enough time for them to have  a meaningful conversation about it. The horn blows, indicating that the Army of the Dead is approaching Winterfell and we immediately cut to an exterior shot with White Walkers (although no appearance by the Night King himself) looking at Winterfell in the distance.

The most surprising (and controversial) scene . Only 4 episodes left!

Highlights
The highlights of this episode were:

• The best line of the episode is probably Bran's "The things we do for love" which he said when Jaime was being interrogated by Dany, Sansa and Jon for his crimes, to let the Kingslayer know that he was the kid who he had pushed out the window in S01E01 so many years before.
• The second best line of course belonged to Tormund Giantsbane when he said "Why the f*** not?" to the notion that a woman can't become a Knight.
• The best scene was almost certainly the meeting between Dany and Sansa, as Dany tries to convince Sansa to not be her enemy as she points out that they have a lot in common (primarily that they both love Jon Snow). Interestingly, there is some progress made, but still tension, as Sansa wants to know how the independence/autonomy of the North will be maintained in any new Targaryen administration.
• Second best scene was when Brienne became Ser Brienne, at the hands of Ser Jaime Lannister. The two have had a tumultuous relationship, but Brienne had stuck her neck out to save Jaime from Dany's wrath and revenge by convincing Sansa that Jaime is "honorable" and it was interesting to see how Jaime was able to "pay his debt" later in the same episode.
• Most valuable player of the episode is Podrick, who (again!) surprises us with his hidden talents. his time whipping out a surprisingly supple... voice as he sang the new song "Jenny of Oldstones." The look on his face when Brienne says "Oh I don't really want to be  a Knight."
• All the pairing (or couplings) were great but my two favorite were Grey Worm-Missandei and Arya-Gendry. However, as George R.R. Martin says, "If you think this story has a happy ending, you haven't been paying attention."

An amazing highlight was the original song called "Jenny of Oldstone" which was sung by Podrick in the show a cappella but the version in the credit was done  by the amazing Florence and the Machine. Listen to it below:

Lowlights
The only lowlight of the episode was the languid pacing and the lack of action, but I have no doubt that episode 3 will make up for that, with epic battle between the living and the dead.

Grade: 8/10.