Daenerys Targaryen wasn't just born during a storm; she was the storm. If you were watching HBO back in 2017, specifically on July 23, you remember the hype. Season 7, Episode 2, titled Game of Thrones Stormborn, changed the temperature of the entire show. It wasn't about the Night King yet. It wasn't about the Wall falling. It was about the messy, violent, and deeply political reality of a Queen finally coming home to Dragonstone.
Think about it. We spent six seasons waiting for Dany to cross the Narrow Sea. Six years of her wandering through deserts and liberating cities that honestly felt like side quests. Then "Stormborn" happens. This is the episode where the board is finally set. But it’s also the episode where we start to see the cracks in the plan. Bryan Cogman wrote this one, and Mark Mylod directed it. They didn't go for cheap thrills. Well, until that brutal naval battle at the end, but we’ll get to that.
The Strategy Room at Dragonstone
The Painted Table is legendary. Watching Daenerys, Tyrion, Ellaria Sand, and Olenna Tyrell stand around that carved map of Westeros is peak Game of Thrones Stormborn energy. It represents the height of her power and the beginning of her tactical frustration.
Dany wanted to be a different kind of ruler. "I am not here to be Queen of the Ashes," she says. It’s a great line. It’s also the line that arguably leads to her downfall much later. Tyrion convinces her to siege King’s Landing using Westerosi forces—the Tyrells and the Martells—rather than Unleashing the Dothraki and Unsullied. He wanted to avoid the "foreign invader" label.
Looking back, was he right?
Lady Olenna Tyrell, played by the incomparable Diana Rigg, didn't think so. Her advice to Daenerys is arguably the most famous part of this episode. She tells her that the lords of Westeros are sheep. "Are you a sheep? No. You’re a dragon. Be a dragon." It’s chilling. It’s a direct challenge to Tyrion’s cautious, "humane" approach to warfare. In the world of George R.R. Martin, being "good" usually gets you killed. Olenna knew that better than anyone after what Cersei did to her family in the Sept of Baelor.
Varys and the Meaning of Loyalty
There’s a specific scene in Game of Thrones Stormborn that often gets overlooked because it’s just two people talking in a dark room. Daenerys finally confronts Varys about his past. She remembers him serving her father, then Robert Baratheon, then trying to have her assassinated.
It’s a tense interrogation.
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Varys doesn't cower. He doesn't beg. He gives what might be the most honest speech in the entire series. He explains that his loyalty isn't to kings or queens, but to the people—the "incompetent" who suffer under bad rulers. He basically tells her that if she fails the people, he will betray her too.
- He stayed true to that word.
- It eventually cost him his life.
- But in this moment, it established a moral compass for a show that was rapidly losing its north.
The Nymeria Reunion Nobody Talked About Enough
While the Dragonstone politics are heavy, Arya Stark is out there in the Riverlands. She’s heading to King’s Landing to kill Cersei, but she finds out Jon Snow is King in the North. She turns around. She chooses family over vengeance, at least for a second.
Then she meets Nymeria.
Remember the direwolf she chased away in Season 1 to save its life? Nymeria is now the leader of a massive wolf pack. For a moment, you think they’re going to reunite and go on a killing spree. But Nymeria turns away. Arya whispers, "That’s not you."
It’s a callback to Season 1 when Ned Stark told Arya she would be a lady of a castle, and she said, "That’s not me." It’s a bittersweet acknowledgment that both the girl and the wolf have become wild. They can’t go back to being pets or "proper" ladies. It’s a short scene, but it carries the emotional weight of seven years of character development.
The Night the Fleet Burned
The final ten minutes of Game of Thrones Stormborn are pure chaos. We finally see Euron Greyjoy’s "Silence" fleet in action. It’s a nightmare at sea. The lighting is dark, the fire is orange, and the violence is intimate. This isn't a battle of grand strategies; it’s a boarding action that turns into a slaughter.
Euron is a divisive character. In the books, he’s a mystical, terrifying sorcerer-king. In the show, he’s more like a goth pirate on way too many stimulants. But in this episode? He’s terrifying. He kills two of the Sand Snakes—Obara and Nymeria (the human one)—with their own weapons. He captures Ellaria and Yara.
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Then there’s Theon.
Theon Greyjoy’s PTSD is triggered by the sounds of the battle and the sight of Euron holding a knife to Yara’s throat. He sees the "Reek" coming back out. He jumps overboard. A lot of fans hated him for this. They called him a coward. But if you look at the psychological damage inflicted by Ramsay Bolton, it’s one of the most realistic moments in the show. He wasn't being a hero. He was a broken man surviving.
Why This Episode Matters for the Series Finale
If you want to understand why the ending of the show felt so jarring to some and inevitable to others, you have to look back at Game of Thrones Stormborn.
The episode sets up the conflict between being a "liberator" and being a "conqueror." Daenerys is surrounded by advisors who all want different things.
- Tyrion wants a peaceful transition.
- Olenna wants revenge.
- Ellaria wants blood.
- Varys wants stability.
Dany tries to please everyone and ends up losing her fleet and her allies in the Reach and Dorne almost immediately. This failure is what starts her slide into desperation. When her "civilized" plan fails, the "Dragon" starts to take over.
Actionable Insights for Re-watching or Studying the Lore
If you are a fan of the lore or just someone who likes analyzing media, there are a few things to keep an eye on when you go back to this specific episode:
1. Watch the Costumes. Michele Clapton’s costume design in this episode is incredible. Daenerys is wearing heavy, structured charcoal silks with dragon-scale textures. She looks less like a "Khaleesi" and more like a military commander. She’s shedding her Essos identity and putting on the armor of a Targaryen.
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2. Listen to the Score. Ramin Djawadi uses the "Dragonstone" theme here, which is haunting and lonely. It’s not the triumphant music of a conqueror; it’s the sound of a woman returning to a home she never knew.
3. Pay attention to Samwell Tarly. While everyone else is fighting wars, Sam is at the Citadel performing a disgusting, unauthorized surgery on Jorah Mormont to cure his greyscale. It’s a gross-out scene for sure, but it highlights a major theme of the show: the maesters and the "learned" men are often too stuck in their ways to actually help people. Sam’s rebellion is just as important as Arya’s.
4. The Citadel's Bureaucracy. The way Archmaester Ebrose (Jim Broadbent) dismisses the threat of the White Walkers is a perfect mirror for real-world institutional apathy. It provides a necessary grounding for the high-fantasy elements happening elsewhere.
The episode doesn't just move the plot; it closes the door on the "hopeful" version of the Targaryen restoration. By the time the credits roll, Dany’s allies are captured or dead, and the "easy" path to the Iron Throne is gone. From here on out, it’s all fire and blood.
To truly grasp the transition from the political maneuvering of the early seasons to the high-octane spectacle of the end, you have to sit with the choices made in this hour of television. It’s the last time the show felt like it was balancing both perfectly.
To better understand the logistical nightmare of the Greyjoy fleet, research the historical inspiration for the Ironborn—the Viking Longships—and how their shallow drafts allowed for the kind of surprise river and coastal raids seen in the episode. This adds a layer of realism to Euron's seemingly "impossible" naval movements. Additionally, compare the script's version of the Daenerys/Varys confrontation to the final aired scene to see how much the actors brought to those specific character beats.