GoT S8E2

Well I’m not going to sugarcoat it, this wasn’t my favorite episode.  I appreciate the idea – the calm before the storm that will be The Battle of Winterfell.  But there just wasn’t enough going on to advance the plot, and not enough new interactions and new character developments to really hold my interest (though the reunion of Sansa and Theon really got to me) – the getting characters drunk around the fireplace thing felt very forced, and having certain characters hook up also felt very forced.  This entire episode could easily have been folded into the last one, and we wouldn’t have lost anything.  I think this episode really boils down to who is going to die in the big battle in the next episode i.e. who had a scene in this episode that will guarantee their death in the next episode.  My favorites: Brienne (because she got knighted), Grey Worm (because he wants to live happily ever after with Missandei after the war), Theon (to complete his redemption), either Jorah or Lyanna Mormont (probably Lyanna, because you just know the producers would love to kill off an internet favorite), The Night King (I know Game of Thrones is known for its surprises, but there is no way he wins The Battle of Winterfell), Bran Stark (because his storyline ends when The Night King ends), the ice dragon and one of the non-ice dragons (apparently it’s a big budget battle, which means a big budget dragon fight), Davos/Tormund/Gendry/Podrick/Dolorous Edd/Beric/any remaining direwolves (all of whom are disposable before the final few episodes).  I think Jon and Dany are too important to die, Tyrion and Jamie have to survive to face their sister, The Hound survives because I still hold out hope for the Cleganebowl, Sansa will survive to eventually rule the North, Varys always survives, Sam will survive to tell the story (which I guess means I fear for Gilly – especially with the numerous references to the Crypt being the “safest” place to see out the battle, which means it definitely isn’t safe), and I still think Arya has some sort of role to play in the finale.  I’m looking forward to a LOT of action next week – and I’ll probably have to turn off all my lights to be able to see all the detail because the preview makes it look as dark as hell.