GOT8 : E02 – Calm Before the Storm

Turns out, the makers aren’t in a hurry to bring us the action we’ve been all waiting for. Instead, we witnessed a different kind of action, the one we never really asked for.

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Yet another episode is spent building the characters and their relationships. It might have felt a bit underwhelming after watching the episode since nothing really happens throughout the runtime – not even one death! But the overarching theme and intent behind the existence of this episode is noble. Everyone have their own ways of dealing with the impending war. Some choose silence (Sansa, Theon), some truly live like these are the final moments (Arya), some have way too many personal issues to deal with (Jon and Dany) and some are just drinking and talking their hearts out while sitting in a warm, cosy place (everyone else).

And yet, the tone and structure of the episode felt a lot more familiar than it should. Even with its flaws, Game Of Thrones always stood out in providing an entirely different kind of storytelling which is still hard to find in any TV shows today. As plots have reduced to just 2 and characters have stopped evolving, the uniqueness has reached its stagnancy. So, like many other shows, this one too had to make a filler episode. Where nothing really happens. And if you choose to skip the entire episode, you would hardly miss anything.

But I am confident, it will more than make up for this in the next one. Since Season 6, the writers have been basically playing the tie-up game to reach to the grand, “bittersweet” conclusion that George RR Martin has planned. The character deaths, chain of events and the underlying moral that comes out of the ending will match that of the books.

Expect a whole lot of surprises, specially in the upcoming one which is touted to be the longest episode of the entire series, clocking in at 82 minutes. Even with all the strategies and defense plans, things aren’t going to turn out as we and the people of Westeros have expected. Lots of action, emotion and shocks to follow. We are in the Endgame, after all!