Game of Thrones season 8 episode 2 review: Did Jon tell Daenerys?


Game of Thrones

What happened when you are facing the end of the world? How do you spend that last day? For a good percentage of Game of Thrones season 8 episode 2, you were effectively seeing characters having their metaphorical last meal before their execution day.

The White Walkers are coming and in their shadow, some characters got a little wild! Some allowed themselves to fulfill their innermost desires. For Brienne of Tarth, that meant kneeling down so that she could become Ser Brienne — a female knight as powerful and strong as any. The idea was suggested and while she was a tad reluctant at first, you could just SEE the wave of joy in her eyes as it happened.

For Arya, this meant sleeping with Gendry and having her first sexual experience — basically, her doing something she wanted to before she died. Given how she’s spent most of the series either being miserable, training, or not dying, we get it that she’d want a different sort of experience. Of course, isn’t it awkward if the White Walkers arrive in the middle of that?

New video – Check out our thoughts all about tonight’s episode of the series below! On the other side of seeing this, remember to subscribe to CarterMatt on YouTube!

This is a question that you could pretty much ask of EVERY SINGLE PERSON throughout the end of this episode, as we watched some people get hammered and also heard some ridiculous stories — take, for example, how Tormund apparently got his name. There was a lot of subtext through some of these scenes waiting for battle, whether it be Tyrion realizes that he, perhaps, is not as perfectly aware of his surroundings as he thought. Or, Jaime emphasizing on some level that he’s changed.

Jaime Lannister may be the greatest character in all of Game of Thrones at this point — maybe that’s a hot take, or maybe it’s just reality when you think about where he fits within this world. It’s not so much about growth, but rather than this is a guy who acts solely on survival. He’s not political in terms of seeking power, and he’s open to admitting faults and settling in elsewhere. He’s smart in a street-smart sort of way — he sees things as they are and he operates firmly within the now. Seeing Brienne stand up for him upon his arrival proved itself to be a powerful moment, as did his conversation with Bran as the Three-Eyed Raven.

Perhaps the apology from Jaime to Bran was something we needed to forgive Jaime — or, maybe we shouldn’t forgive him at all. He’s still a selfish person, but in this moment he’s a selfish person who realizes that being selfless is the best way for him to get by. He sees what’s coming and realizes that sitting by with Cersei and Euron’s fleet will get him nowhere. The only thing that will is trying to fight for the sake of the greater good, the protection of the Seven Kingdoms.

Jon admits the truth to Daenerys

In another case of questionable timing tonight, Jon Snow decided that apparently, right before the battle was the perfect time to tell Daenerys, a woman who had just poured out her heart (or did she? Was this just politics?) to Sansa, that he is actually Aegon.

We’ve been curious for months on end now to see precisely what Daenerys’ reaction was going to be to this news. Would she be open to hearing what he had to say? Of course for Daenerys at this point, she’s obsessed over the throne to where she doesn’t focus on a whole lot else. Everything is a means to an end. This is the crazy thing about this conversation — she seemed SO much more upset about Jon being the true heir than she was sleeping with her own relative! Seriously.

Anyhow, this is a conversation that will have to wait because of the impeding White Walker attack, which happened in the closing seconds of this episode. We are gearing up now for arguably the biggest battle in television history and we’ve got utterly no clue as to how it will end … other than that people will probably die.

CarterMatt Verdict

Game of Thrones season 8 episode 2 is no doubt going to be controversial, mostly because of a certain legion of people who will scream “get on with it!” over how slow this story was paced overall. Yet, there was still a lot to like from this episode in terms of interesting conversations, whether it be seeing some stand up for Tyrion after realizing that Cersei was not coming, or seeing Bran recognize Jaime’s value and Jaime lamenting some of his own mistakes of the past.

This was an episode that, perhaps, was all about putting its cards on the table and at least allowing you to understand who these people were. It did drag at times closer to the end, but that doesn’t change the excitement at the start or the amount of laughter we had at certain points during the episode.

For more Game of Thrones news…

Be sure to visit the link here! That is where you can see a preview for what’s coming up next and a whole lot more.

What did you think about Game of Thrones season 8 episode 2? Be sure to share right now in the comments. (Photo: HBO.)

Love TV? Be sure to like Matt & Jess on Facebook for more updates!