TV Review: Game of Thrones Season Seven Episode Two - "Stormborn"

"We Must Stand Together, All Of Us, If We Hope To Stop Her..."

If last week's opening episode of Game of Thrones Season Seven was efficiently catalogued as "much filler, little killer", this week's episode, "Stormborn", is the first real sign of the current season that time is not exactly of the essence when it comes to the concluding strands of the show's main interwinding narratives, with the episode cramming in character returns, gory medical examinations, a long-awaited romance scene and an epic sea battle all over the course of a swifty edited sixty minutes. Within the midst of an abundance of action, Daenerys and her merry band of Cersei-hating avengers seemed to take centre stage after their middling appearance in the season opener last week, and with treachery being forgiven, the return of Melisandre and the notion of the Dragon Queen finally meeting up with the King in the North, tasty doesn't exactly cover the ground which was effectively covered within the cold halls of Dragonstone, cold halls which set the battleground alight with Tyrion's masterplan on how to finally overthrow the rule of his much maligned estranged family. 

In the case of John Snow, his out and out reluctance to act in accordance with tradition ultimately benefitted Sansa and the watchful eyes of Littlefinger, whilst Daenerys' belief that Jon will simply bend the knee is an interesting development when surely the two are the leading lights in taking the Seven Kingdoms into a golden dynasty, particularly when remembering the true familial tree in which the King in the North derives from. The B-Movie, exploitation scene of the week belonged wholeheartedly in the hands of Samwell, whose amateur understandings of deep, deep medicine resulted in the slimy, oozy reduction of Jorah's greyscale, a scene juxtaposed rather distastefully and suddenly with the image of food, putting the masses off hot, sloppy stews for the forthcoming weeks or so. Concluding with an action-packed, murderous slew which tips the balance in favour of King's Landing rather too early to comment on its' effectiveness, "Stormborn" does indeed push the plot threads forward more efficiently than its' predecessor but with more battles and bloodshed coming next week, the masterpieces of the season still are awaiting to be admired. 

Overall Score: 8/10