# Game of Thrones 8.02 "A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms" 4/21/19 \[SHOW ONLY\] **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 21, 2019, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/game-of-thrones-8-02-a-knight-of-the-seven-kingdoms-4-21-19-show-only/832867 "2019-04-21T23:14:44Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 11
**Author:** ![TroutMan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troutman/32/6721_2.png) [@TroutMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TroutMan)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2019, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/game-of-thrones-8-02-a-knight-of-the-seven-kingdoms-4-21-19-show-only/832867/201 "2019-04-23T21:03:11Z")
> [@Acsenray](#): > > The previous deaths have all arisen out of the plot and the characters taken to their logical conclusion. Having Jamie kill Brienne at this point would be a pointless shocker with no reasonable basis in the story. Logically, I agree. However, Robb and Catelyn’s deaths were a shocker, and no one would have argued before it happened that their characters had been taken to their logical conclusion. If the writers wanted to show that Jaime was a double-crosser loyal only to his sister, killing Brienne would be an effective means. I didn’t _really_ expect it because it doesn’t fit Jaime’s redemption arc. But there was that small part of me fearful that the writers would say screw character development, let’s go for the shock. ---
**Author:** ![TroutMan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troutman/32/6721_2.png) [@TroutMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TroutMan)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2019, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/game-of-thrones-8-02-a-knight-of-the-seven-kingdoms-4-21-19-show-only/832867/202 "2019-04-23T21:04:15Z")
> [@Wheelz](#): > > Dany’s insistence that she be recognized as Queen and that everybody bend the knee has clearly been ramped way up of late. But this didn’t come out of nowhere. I think she was sincere about wanting to “break the wheel,” and I think she truly wants to be a benevolent ruler. Thing is, the more power she gets, the more she seems to crave. She can’t help it, and it clouds her judgment. > > One of the things people keep saying over and over is “She’s not her father,” which seems to foreshadow that she may turn out to be more like her father than anyone suspects. Now that she is aware of Jon’s claim to the throne, she may indeed feel threatened by him and become unexpectedly villainous. She may, though, also begin seeing how little Jon cares about being a king, and some of that attitude may rub off on her, tempering her worst impulses. Either way, I’m certain it will be addressed. We’re seeing her flaws for a reason. I can see them drawing a direct parallel to her father and his “[burn them all](https://youtu.be/kj55XNXJztY?t=25)” quote, as the hordes of wights overrun Winterfell and she gives the order to burn everything, living or dead. They are definitely ramping up her power-seeking behavior this season, and that’s going to end poorly for someone. ---
**Author:** ![Biggirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biggirl/32/3294_2.png) [@Biggirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biggirl)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2019, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/game-of-thrones-8-02-a-knight-of-the-seven-kingdoms-4-21-19-show-only/832867/203 "2019-04-23T21:10:10Z")
[https://img.fark.net/images/cache/850/j/jg/fark\_jg6paUbesoY3FENxiqXjp-96q6M.jpg?t=i\_yI3cPSuVGC4MtP0gj7WQ&f=](https://img.fark.net/images/cache/850/j/jg/fark_jg6paUbesoY3FENxiqXjp-96q6M.jpg?t=i_yI3cPSuVGC4MtP0gj7WQ&f=) 1556510400 Broken because NSFW. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2019, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/game-of-thrones-8-02-a-knight-of-the-seven-kingdoms-4-21-19-show-only/832867/204 "2019-04-23T21:12:44Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > The lack of intelligence (all types) has been a constant problem on GoT. Why isn’t there a CAP of dragons over Winterfell? More important - why isn’t Bran feeding them constant position updates on the Army of the Dead? If Bran can see (or access) anything from the past, he can give real-time data to the Good Guys. After all, the past begins now. There is no excuse for being surprised by anything the Night King does. Why can’t Bran warg into a dragon and take out the Night King at a safe distance? A one-minute war. Now there’s a twist. ---
**Author:** ![DrCube](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a3d4f5/32.png) [@DrCube](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrCube)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2019, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/game-of-thrones-8-02-a-knight-of-the-seven-kingdoms-4-21-19-show-only/832867/205 "2019-04-23T21:17:25Z")
> [@Sam\_Stone](#): > > Is it possible that Tyrion is a Targaryan? I see this theory floated from time to time, but I don’t buy it. It undercuts the emotional weight of Tyrion killing his father if it wasn’t actually his father. Also, it’s pretty late in the game now for a surprise Targaryen that wasn’t even hinted at. I mean, R+L=J was hinted at over and over from the very beginning. Also, there’s already a pretty major secret Targaryen, and introducing another, lesser one is just too many cooks spoiling the pot. Mostly though, there’s no reason for it. The only hint we have that Tyrion might be a Targ is that his dad hated him. And there are valid reasons given in the story for Tywin to hate Tyrion. Jon being a Targaryen opens up some real suspense with Daenerys, and allows him to fulfill prophecies. Both are of huge importance to the end game. What does Tyrion being a Targ buy us, from a storytelling perspective? ---
**Author:** ![Telperion](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telperion/32/509_2.png) [@Telperion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telperion)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2019, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/game-of-thrones-8-02-a-knight-of-the-seven-kingdoms-4-21-19-show-only/832867/206 "2019-04-23T21:21:26Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > Why can’t Bran warg into a dragon and take out the Night King at a safe distance? A one-minute war. Now there’s a twist. You do know what happened the last time they sent in dragons, right? ---
**Author:** ![GreysonCarlisle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a87d85/32.png) [@GreysonCarlisle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreysonCarlisle)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2019, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/game-of-thrones-8-02-a-knight-of-the-seven-kingdoms-4-21-19-show-only/832867/207 "2019-04-23T21:25:27Z")
> [@Telperion](#): > > You do know what happened the last time they sent in dragons, right? They didn’t show us Harrenhal earlier in the series for nothing. ---
**Author:** ![Gorsnak](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gorsnak/32/7587_2.png) [@Gorsnak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gorsnak)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2019, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/game-of-thrones-8-02-a-knight-of-the-seven-kingdoms-4-21-19-show-only/832867/208 "2019-04-23T21:33:44Z")
> [@TroutMan](#): > > I can see them drawing a direct parallel to her father and his “[burn them all](https://youtu.be/kj55XNXJztY?t=25)” quote, as the hordes of wights overrun Winterfell and she gives the order to burn everything, living or dead. They are definitely ramping up her power-seeking behavior this season, and that’s going to end poorly for someone. I’m really not seeing how this is any significant ramping up of Dany’s aggressive powermongering. This is the woman who: [ul]Concluded a business deal by using the promised payment for goods received to murder the vendor of said goods. Granted he was slaver scum and granted the ‘goods’ were human beings, but still. Ruthless.[/ul] [ul]Wrapped up negotiations with the Khals over her position in Dothraki society by incinerating them (technically I supposed this doesn’t run afoul of the prohibition of shedding blood in Vaes Dothrak).[/ul] [ul]Returned to Mereen with a plan for responding to the Masters’ uprising - “I will crucify the Masters. I will set their fleets afire, kill every last one of their soldiers, and return their cities to the dirt. That is my plan.”[/ul] [ul]Refused to grant mercy to the Randall and Dickon Tarly. Woudn’t even consider imprisonment instead execution, despite Tyrion’s pleas. [/ul] She’s a hard-assed, my-way-or-a-pile-of-charred-bones autocrat. Well-intentioned, sure, but an autocrat through and through. I don’t see any significant shift in her character here at all. ---
**Author:** ![DigitalC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ebca7d/32.png) [@DigitalC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DigitalC)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2019, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/game-of-thrones-8-02-a-knight-of-the-seven-kingdoms-4-21-19-show-only/832867/209 "2019-04-23T21:44:44Z")
> [@GreysonCarlisle](#): > > They didn’t show us Harrenhal earlier in the series for nothing. He doesn’t mean Harrenhal, he means the Night King killed a dragon with hardly any effort and then raised it as undead. The dragons are basically out of the equation against the dead, whatever weapon NK had one shotted him like nothing. ---
**Author:** ![GreysonCarlisle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a87d85/32.png) [@GreysonCarlisle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreysonCarlisle)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2019, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/game-of-thrones-8-02-a-knight-of-the-seven-kingdoms-4-21-19-show-only/832867/210 "2019-04-23T21:47:38Z")
> [@DigitalC](#): > > He doesn’t mean Harrenhal, he means the Night King killed a dragon with hardly any effort and then raised it as undead. The dragons are basically out of the equation against the dead, whatever weapon NK had one shotted him like nothing. Ah. Yeah, that’s true. ---
**Author:** ![TroutMan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troutman/32/6721_2.png) [@TroutMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TroutMan)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2019, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/game-of-thrones-8-02-a-knight-of-the-seven-kingdoms-4-21-19-show-only/832867/211 "2019-04-23T21:48:58Z")
> [@Gorsnak](#): > > I’m really not seeing how this is any significant ramping up of Dany’s aggressive powermongering… She has always been ruthless, yes. But the first three items in your list could be seen as ruthless approaches to restoring power to the under-trodden, rather than grabbing power for herself. Or maybe those were intended to show that she wasn’t so kind, and I didn’t pick up on it. Executing Randall and Dickon was the first act that seemed obviously designed to show she wasn’t a benevolent ruler concerned with those below her. And some of her actions this season, such as demanding that Sansa “show her respect,” have nothing to do with right and wrong; it’s solely about her power. ---
**Author:** ![Gorsnak](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gorsnak/32/7587_2.png) [@Gorsnak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gorsnak)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2019, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/game-of-thrones-8-02-a-knight-of-the-seven-kingdoms-4-21-19-show-only/832867/212 "2019-04-23T21:54:14Z")
> [@TroutMan](#): > > She has always been ruthless, yes. But the first three items in your list could be seen as ruthless approaches to restoring power to the under-trodden, rather than grabbing power for herself. Or maybe those were intended to show that she wasn’t so kind, and I didn’t pick up on it. > > Executing Randall and Dickon was the first act that seemed obviously designed to show she wasn’t a benevolent ruler concerned with those below her. And some of her actions this season, such as demanding that Sansa “show her respect,” have nothing to do with right and wrong; it’s solely about her power. First and third, maybe, but murdering the Khals? The Dothraki were downtrodden? She was liberating them from tyranny so that they could graciously repay her benevolence by waging war on those who dare oppose her? ---
**Author:** ![TroutMan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troutman/32/6721_2.png) [@TroutMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TroutMan)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2019, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/game-of-thrones-8-02-a-knight-of-the-seven-kingdoms-4-21-19-show-only/832867/213 "2019-04-23T22:11:51Z")
> [@Gorsnak](#): > > First and third, maybe, but murdering the Khals? The Dothraki were downtrodden? She was liberating them from tyranny so that they could graciously repay her benevolence by waging war on those who dare oppose her? OK, fair point. I still stand by my assertion that this kind of behavior has become more common lately. Or maybe more accurately, the writers have gone from only showing her ruthlessness, to having other characters actively point it out for the audience. You could be right that setting her up as a flawed leader like the rest of them (or even a villain) was intended from the start. Either way, I think it’s clear that her trajectory is now headed in that direction, and the writers are making more of an effort to show it. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2019, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/game-of-thrones-8-02-a-knight-of-the-seven-kingdoms-4-21-19-show-only/832867/214 "2019-04-23T22:40:15Z")
> [@Gorsnak](#): > > She’s a hard-assed, my-way-or-a-pile-of-charred-bones autocrat. Well-intentioned, sure, but an autocrat through and through. I don’t see any significant shift in her character here at all. For my money, her most ruthless act was when, after the assassination of Bariston Selmy by the Sons of the Harpy, she rounded up the heads of the great houses of Mereen, and without knowing if any of them were guilty [picked one of them at random to be burned, torn apart, and eaten by the dragons.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DI-nmNcC1Go) This was more in the interest of inspiring pure terror than of justice. (Then she turns around and offers to marry one of them, Hizdahr, the one who thought he was next). Dany doesn’t see having her dragons burn people up as a regrettable necessity. She enjoys having an excuse to do so. In her own way, she’s as psychopathic as Arya. If Sansa was to resist her rule, she would be toast (literally). ---
**Author:** ![DigitalC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ebca7d/32.png) [@DigitalC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DigitalC)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2019, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/game-of-thrones-8-02-a-knight-of-the-seven-kingdoms-4-21-19-show-only/832867/215 "2019-04-23T22:47:02Z")
> [@Gorsnak](#): > > First and third, maybe, but murdering the Khals? The Dothraki were downtrodden? She was liberating them from tyranny so that they could graciously repay her benevolence by waging war on those who dare oppose her? The Khals kidnapped her and took her to that place were all the widows live against her will. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2019, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/game-of-thrones-8-02-a-knight-of-the-seven-kingdoms-4-21-19-show-only/832867/216 "2019-04-23T22:47:24Z")
> [@Biggirl](#): > > [https://img.fark.net/images/cache/850/j/jg/fark\_jg6paUbesoY3FENxiqXjp-96q6M.jpg?t=i\_yI3cPSuVGC4MtP0gj7WQ&f=](https://img.fark.net/images/cache/850/j/jg/fark_jg6paUbesoY3FENxiqXjp-96q6M.jpg?t=i_yI3cPSuVGC4MtP0gj7WQ&f=) 1556510400 > > Broken because NSFW. All I get is “Forbidden!” ---
**Author:** ![Biggirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biggirl/32/3294_2.png) [@Biggirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biggirl)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2019, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/game-of-thrones-8-02-a-knight-of-the-seven-kingdoms-4-21-19-show-only/832867/217 "2019-04-23T22:53:47Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > All I get is “Forbidden!” Did you take the space away from after the equal sign before the numbers? ---
**Author:** ![Inigo\_Montoya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inigo_montoya/32/124_2.png) [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2019, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/game-of-thrones-8-02-a-knight-of-the-seven-kingdoms-4-21-19-show-only/832867/218 "2019-04-23T22:55:06Z")
> [@Biggirl](#): > > Did you take the space away from after the equal sign before the numbers? Yeah, even removing the blank yields: > [@komputermachine](#): > > Four Oh Three > Forbidden ---
**Author:** ![GreysonCarlisle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a87d85/32.png) [@GreysonCarlisle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreysonCarlisle)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2019, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/game-of-thrones-8-02-a-knight-of-the-seven-kingdoms-4-21-19-show-only/832867/219 "2019-04-23T22:56:37Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > All I get is “Forbidden!” You have to use Copy Link Address or whatever, paste that into your search bar, then copy the number and paste that onto the end of it. Spoiler tags might’ve been easier. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2019, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/game-of-thrones-8-02-a-knight-of-the-seven-kingdoms-4-21-19-show-only/832867/220 "2019-04-23T23:01:53Z")
I did. Still “Forbidden!” [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/game-of-thrones-8-02-a-knight-of-the-seven-kingdoms-4-21-19-show-only/832867.md?page=10) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/game-of-thrones-8-02-a-knight-of-the-seven-kingdoms-4-21-19-show-only/832867.md?page=12)