[rating=8.00] “A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms”
We’re now officially a third of the way through the truncated final season of Game of Thrones. Tensions have never been higher, both in the series and with audience expectations. As of now, things don’t look so great, with literally every character we’ve come to love over the previous seven seasons sitting in a single location that is destined for calamity. With disaster lurking literally on the horizon, what could possibly be in store? What hope might we have for a happy ending?
They certainly gave us a lot to be hopeful for, even if we know that the majority of these hopes are doomed to be dashed. “A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms” played out with almost a knowing wink and nod, as if the show absolutely understood that we understood that they couldn’t give us this much to be grateful for without danger looming. It was just this side of fan service, seeing all the great things happening for all the characters we know and adore. But it was a wry sort of fan service that portends the heartbreak that is coming next week, as we reach the mid-point of the last season.
No, Game of Thrones would never give us so much to happy for if a disaster of Red Wedding proportions wasn’t coming. Bran forgave Jaime (but not before giving him the greatest mic drop of the series in full court: “The things we do for love”); Arya had a heart to heart with the Hound and Dondarrion; Sansa and Daenerys had some quality girl talk (even if it ended the question of the North left unsettled); Theon made a triumphant return to Winterfell, falling into the arms of Sansa who welcomed him back without question.
This was largely fleshing out the threads that we left dangling from last episode, putting the emotional meat on the skeleton outlined there and giving us some emotional closure on a few storylines before whatever disaster happens next week. As moving as this all was, it still paled in comparison to the evening’s two most emotional moments.
Lady Brienne, sitting on the eve what she no doubt rightly expects will be her final battle, is finally given the honor she deserves as Ser Jaime, before Tyrion, Podrick, Ser Davos, and Tormund, officially knighted her, making her a true guardian of the Seven Kingdoms. It was, of all the episode’s culminations, the most moving moment of the episode, perhaps of the entire series. More so because, well, she’s likely to die by the end of episode three. But can you think of a better ending for her than standing, side by side with Jaime Lannister, sword in hand, going down swinging as a Knight of the Seven Kingdoms.
And then there was Arya. Having watched her, and by extension Maisie Williams, grow up before our eyes, it’s easy to think of her as you might a younger sister or little cousin. Even after all the murder, the meat pie incident with the Freys, the violence, and the mayhem caused by her hand, it’s hard not to see her and think of sweet, innocent, fun loving Arya giving a sarcastic curtsey to her brother way back in the pilot episode. It’s equally hard to remember that her character is 18 and the actress playing her is 22. So it was something of a shock when she decided to spend what might be her final evening in the arms and bed of Gendry.
You could almost hear the collective gasp of the world as she stripped herself, and then the collective cheer when she told Gendry “I’m not the Red Woman; take off your own damn pants.” It was the kind of soap opera dramatics that Game of Thrones is known for, but it represented a final ascent into adulthood for the character. It was weird, yes, but only for us not for her. For her it was the culmination of a years long journey that began all the way back in the first season.
It was also, in a roundabout way, the exact wish of King Robert, who told Ned Stark that they should join their houses to forge a stronger Westeros. True, Gendry is a bastard, and the Baratheon line no longer holds a claim to the Iron Throne, but perhaps there’s hope for them, and Westeros, yet. Perhaps their union will be symbolic of a coming strength we hadn’t known. Perhaps not all is as dire as it seems.
Doubtful, given that the horde of White Walkers approached Winterfell by the end of the episode, setting up the first of the season’s near movie length episodes that will close out the series. No matter what happens in the next episode, we can surely expect that we will be going into the last half of the final season with our hearts broken. The best we can hope for is that not everyone will be dead or, worse yet, turned as episode three reaches its conclusion. For now, though, there’s solace in the comforts we’ve been given. Perhaps they’re destined to do a terrible death, but at least they’ll die having gotten an emotional send off, with their dreams at least somewhat fulfilled.
Game of Thrones airs Sundays at 9pm/8pm central on HBO.
