A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms (Game of Thrones)

"A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms"
Game of Thrones episode
File:Game-of-Thrones-S08-E02-A-Knight-of-the-Seven-Kingdoms.jpg Jaime Lannister knighting Brienne of Tarth
Episode no.	Season 8 Episode 2
Directed by	David Nutter
Written by	Bryan Cogman
Featured music	Ramin Djawadi
Original air date	April 21, 2019 (2019-04-21)
Running time	58 minutes
Guest appearances
Richard Dormer as Beric Dondarrion Ben Crompton as Eddison Tollett Daniel Portman as Podrick Payne Bella Ramsey as Lyanna Mormont Rupert Vansittart as Yohn Royce Richard Rycroft as Maester Wolkan Megan Parkinson as Alys Karstark Seamus O'Hara Staz Nair as Qhono Bea Glancy Lucy McConnell Conor Maguire Thomas Finnegan Logan Watson as Sam Finn Watson as Sam Fionnuala Murphy Rosa Frazer as Girl with Scarred Face

"A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms" is the second episode of the eighth season of HBO's fantasy television series Game of Thrones, and the 69th overall. It was written by Bryan Cogman, and directed by David Nutter. It aired on April 21, 2019.

The entire episode takes place at Winterfell and is dedicated to the buildup before the battle at Winterfell between the living and the dead. The title is a reference to the title bestowed on Brienne of Tarth after Jaime Lannister knights her and to the collection of stories of the same name by George R. R. Martin, the author of the A Song of Ice and Fire novels on which Game of Thrones is based.

Plot

Jaime is brought before Northern court. Daenerys and Sansa both contemplate the fate of Jaime, who defends his actions as being in service to House Lannister and reveals that Cersei was lying about sending her army. Brienne vouches for Jaime and this allows Jaime to fight for them. Jaime speaks with Bran in the Godswood and apologises for trying to kill him but Bran holds no anger towards Jaime. Meanwhile, Daenerys is furious at Tyrion for not seeing through Cersei's lies. Jorah speaks with Daenerys in private, admitting that he was heartbroken when she chose Tyrion as her Hand but believes that she made the right choice.

Arya speaks to Gendry in the forge and asks him about the White Walkers. Sansa and Daenerys clear the air between them on their mutual affection of Jon but Daenerys has no answer when Sansa asks what will happen to the North once Daenerys takes the Iron Throne. They are interrupted by the return of Theon, who declares that he wishes to fight for the Starks. Tormund, Beric, and Edd arrive at Winterfell and tell Jon that the army of the dead will arrive before tomorrow morning.

At the war council, Bran persuades everyone to let him be the bait in the Godswood to lure the Night King, who had marked Bran, and Theon who agrees to defend him with the Ironborn. Missandei, uncomfortable among the Northerners, suggests to Grey Worm that they go to her homeland of Naath after the war, with the Unsullied to defend the peaceful people of Naath. Jon, Sam, and Edd reminisce about their time together in the Night's Watch. Arya asks Gendry why Melisandre wanted him, and Gendry recounts how she pretended to seduce him in order to leech his royal blood, revealing to her that he is Robert Baratheon's bastard son. Arya decides to lose her virginity to Gendry before the impending battle.

Tyrion, Jaime, Brienne, Podrick, Davos, and Tormund gather in the meeting hall to drink before the battle. The conversation turns to why women like Brienne cannot be knighted, and Jaime knights an emotional Brienne. Sam gives his Valyrian sword Heartsbane to Jorah, out of gratitude for the influence Jorah's father Jeor had on him.

Daenerys visits Jon in the crypts, where Jon is standing in front of Lyanna Stark's statue. Jon reveals what Sam and Bran told him of his parentage and Daenerys realizes that this makes Jon the true heir to House Targaryen and the Iron Throne. She angrily tells him that it's convenient that Bran is his brother and Sam is his best friend, so she has reason to disbelieve the claim. They are interrupted by horn blasts signaling the approach of the White Walkers and the Army of the Dead.

Production

Writing

The episode was written by 'series veteran' Bryan Cogman. This was his final script of the series overall.

Filming

The episode was directed by David Nutter.

Music

The episode features a song called "Jenny's Song", sung by Podrick while many of the characters are drinking by the fire before the upcoming battle. The first line of the song appeared in the book A Storm of Swords; the writers wrote the rest of the lyrics while series composer Ramin Djawadi set it to music. Another version of the song, titled "Jenny of Oldstones", was sung by the band Florence and the Machine and played over the ending credits.

Reception

Critical reception

The episode received largely positive reviews from critics It has a 96% rating on the review aggregator site Rotten Tomatoes based on 24 reviews, with an average rating of 8/10. The site's critics' consensus states: "What 'A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms' lacks in forward narrative momentum it makes up for in cryptic callbacks, intimate moments, and the promise of imminent battle – though some fans may find their patience tested. The things we do for love."

Jeremy Egner of The New York Times believed that the episode did a good job with building up the story before the eventual climax at Winterfell and wrote, "In this last week before the big White Walker clash and the presumable carnage and loss of beloved characters it will entail, it was a reminder that the things we do for love can be heroic, too." David Sims of The Atlantic suggested that "audiences didn't need most of last week's dire episode," adding that smooshing the episodes together would result in "a good hour of fan service," before the potential death of some of the characters in the next episode. Alyssa Rosenberg of The Washington Post believed that the episode did a good job of distinguishing between the two sides of the upcoming battle by showing "the warm bodies and warmer conversations between our tragically, beautifully human characters."

Among the negative reviews, Liz Shannon Miller of IndieWire criticized the pace of the episode and unnecessary confrontations between the characters and added, "The issues surrounding "A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms" would be lesser if a) Episode 1 hadn't also been so devoted to moving pieces into place and b) Season 8 wasn't going to be only six episodes."