Five Best and Worst Moments from “Stormborn”

“Stormborn” started out so quiet. The first half was much like “Dragonstone,” dominated by strategic and diplomatic maneuverings. But the episode grew tighter — dramatically and emotionally — before sending us off with a fiery bang. Here are my highly subjective, personal thoughts and feelings, delivered lightning-quick, after viewing tonight’s episode. For the most part, it was superbly crafted, as worlds started to collide.

Let’s start with the five Valyrian Steel (Best) moments of the episode before getting to the Flea Bottom Brown (Worst) ones.

VALYRIAN STEEL BEST MOMENTS

VALYRIAN STEEL FIVE: Grey Worm and Missandei finally get it on

Call me a romantic, but I’ve been hoping for a Grey Worm-Missandei nooky scene since, like, forever. It was beautifully written and acted — an awkward moment between two people deeply in love who suddenly find they can’t help but hurl themselves at one another. There are a few obstacles between them and domestic bliss, but it looks like they’re gonna figure it out.

VALYRIAN STEEL FOUR: Jon throttles Littlefinger

Pure emotional satisfaction, here. Did Littlefinger really think that telling Jon about how he loved Lady Catelyn and now loves Sansa was going to get him brownie points? Jon would have probably crushed the pipsqueak’s windpipe right there and then if he didn’t need the Knights of the Vale so badly.

VALYRIAN STEEL THREE: Arya gets some Hot Pie

This bit scored high on the cuteness meter. It was so nice to see bumbling old Hot Pie again. He’s such a sweet kid. The scene reminded us of how different Arya is now from when they last saw each other back in season 3 — in contrast, he seems barely to have changed at all. It also provided Arya with an excuse to make a goofy joke about cooking of two of Walder Frey’s sons into a pie in the season 6 finale.

VALYRIAN STEEL TWO: Arya and Nymeria cannot reunite

This scene could have come off as hokey, but it really worked. After Nymeria leaves, Arya’s disappointment is displaced by wistful realization and the superbly enigmatic line, “That’s not you.”

VALYRIAN STEEL ONE: Theon jumps off the boat and into Reek

Theon jumps? I didn’t see this one coming. I figured Theon would survive, but he’d be knocked off the ship while fighting alongside Yara. But his failure to respond to Euron was perfect. His fragile identity collapsed in the face of the maniacal Euron threatening Yara. It was like seeing the sadistic Ramsay Bolton get his claws into Sansa all over again, and it stuffed him back down into Reek. The jump wasn’t cowardice, because Theon had been subsumed — it was a tortured animal’s escape from horror.