Game of Thrones season 7: 5 predictions for episode 2, Stormborn

Season 7 (2017): John Bradley.

photo: Helen Sloan/courtesy of HBO

Since the first episode of Game of Thrones season 7 set up a lot of different story lines, we expect some payoffs to start happening in episode 2.

Warning: this contains spoilers from last night’s Game of Thrones season 7 premiere, “Dragonstone“.

Well, what an episode, Game of Thrones fans. “Dragonstone” started with a bang — or, if you want to be more specific, a mass poisoning, because Arya Stark does not play when it comes to her getting her revenge. But beyond that, it didn’t have any really massive, “what the heck” kind of moments. From the photos, we knew that Daenerys made it to Dragonstone, so that doesn’t count as a “what the heck” moment so much as a very powerful moment.

But that doesn’t mean that we can’t make some predictions about where the season is going … on a relatively small scale. We want to turn to episode 2, “Stormborn,” first. As a reminder, here’s the synopsis:

"“Daenerys (Emilia Clarke) receives an unexpected visitor. Jon (Kit Harington) faces a revolt. Tyrion (Peter Dinklage) plans the conquest of Westeros.” We’ll be drawing on this, and on the promo as well, to make our cases for how “Stormborn” will play out. Next: 5. It's the cover-up, Sam Season 7 (2017): John Bradley.photo: Helen Sloan/courtesy of HBO 5. The archmaester will catch Sam with the restricted books Sam didn’t really feature so much in the preview or in the promo, but he did take up quite a bit of actual screen time in “Dragonstone.” (Side note: did we really need all those shots of Sam cleaning out the bedpans and emptying them? No, we did not.) The saying goes “It’s not the crime, it’s the cover-up.” It even comes from an attempted burglary in the form of Watergate. Sam gets away with the initial crime, minor as it may seem to us as viewers. But we didn’t see him actually get away with returning the books to the section of the library. And that is where yours truly thinks our maester-in-training will run into trouble. The archmaester knows that Sam want to get in there. He may even notice or hear that the books are missing. Perhaps he’ll reward Sam for his cleverness in getting in there, or at least respect him a little more, but that doesn’t mean he didn’t break a rule (or at least a long-standing tradition) by going in there. We really don’t think that there’s a link available for maesters for stealing, is what we’re saying. He’s likely not the first student to get in there, nor will he be the last. But it could further complicate Sam’s already-stressful situation in Oldtown. Next: 4. Jon and the lords of the North Season 7 (2017): Kit Harington. photo: Helen Sloan/courtesy of HBO 4. Jon’s “revolt” is from the lords of the North In the synopsis, the word is that there is a “revolt” for Jon Snow to deal with. At the time, we guessed that the issue would be between Jon and Sansa. But even then, we weren’t sure that it was exactly right based on the terminology. Now, thanks to the promo and a Sam scene, we have a better idea of what’s going on. Jon emphasizes dragonglass in his speech to the northern lords. Sam learns that Dragonstone, strangely enough (that’s an understatement for those playing at home), has all kinds of dragonglass available. It doesn’t take Tyrion Lannister to put two and two together. But the promo then shows a northern lord saying that working with Daenerys is a bad idea. That fits the bill a little more than just Sansa continuing to butt heads with Jon. However, Jon’s already shown that he’s strong-willed enough to overrule Sansa. She’s a little different than an actual lord of a separate house, but we don’t think that’s going to really matter much to Jon. He has to establish command here — but expect him to explain why he’s doing what he’s doing to his lords as well. He does that in episode 1 when talking about training women as well. Next: 3. Daenerys' visitor ... Episode 61 (season 7, episode 1), debut 7/16/17: Emilia Clarke.photo: Helen Sloan/courtesy of HBO 3. Daenerys’ visitor is Ellaria Sand There are a couple of different data points to support this interpretation of the episode 2 synopsis. About 18 or 19 seconds into the promo, we can see Yara Greyjoy kissing Ellaria Sand. Now, it’s possible that Ellaria will have a visitor in the form of Yara, but check the lighting to the kiss again. It’s a little too dim to really be in Dorne, not when previous depictions of the location usually go for something a little more sunny and bright. Besides, Varys is also on Dragonstone. How much do you want to bet that he’s already sent Olenna Tyrell and Ellaria missives of their impending arrival? Betting against the Spider is really not the wisest idea, by the way. But Olenna’s a little older and also probably about to deal with a Lannister invasion, if the Jaime and Cersei map scene is any indication. She does listen to her brother (sometimes). If one of the two of them goes to Dragonstone right away to greet their queen, it’s probably going to be Ellaria. Now, will she agree with Yara’s shown proposal to strike at King’s Landing first? That’s something else entirely, but we think that it’s not an unwise idea anyway. If she takes King’s Landing down, she has only the Iron Islands and the North to contend with. Next: 2. Sansa and Petyr Sophie Turner.photo: Helen Sloan/courtesy of HBO 2. Petyr Baelish is going to bring Sansa a gift “Dragonstone” takes a little bit of time to parallel Sansa with Cersei. Both of them have brothers (or at least believed brothers in Sansa’s case), and even though Cersei’s more obviously in power than Sansa, Sansa also took a second to mention that she had gotten something of an education from the current Queen of the Seven Kingdoms. So why wouldn’t Sansa’s own admirer who wants to be her husband (and make no mistake: that’s almost certainly what he’s aiming for, which she also alluded to) do what Euron is doing for Cersei and bring her a present? In “Dragonstone,” he asks specifically if she’s happy, and she doesn’t answer the question (which he also picks up on, because Littlefinger is no fool). So what do you think he’ll do? Something that makes her happy, right? As much as he likes to pretend that he’s only in it for the power, as he’s the one who made the speech about ladders and power and climbing up, he has a soft spot for the eldest living Stark girl. It might be information. It might be someone’s head. In fact, it could be both of those things. But Petyr Baelish walks away from his conversation with Sansa with purpose, and when Littlefinger has purpose, things are probably going to start happening. Next: 1. Littlefinger, part deux Season 7 (2017): Aiden Gillen, Sophie Turner.photo: Helen Sloan/courtesy of HBO 1. Littlefinger is going to survive a strangling attempt Speaking of Littlefinger and purpose, Game of Thrones’ promo for episode 2 left off on someone pretty clearly having their hands around Petyr’s throat. Even if our previous prediction isn’t true and Petyr sticks around Winterfell for another episode creeping on Sansa, there are plenty of little corners where someone could confront him and try and kill him. The question is … well, who? There are probably quite a few people who want Littlefinger dead, and this isn’t a “question” slideshow. This is a prediction list. And our prediction is that Littlefinger isn’t going to get summarily killed off in episode 2 of season 7. It’s just a touch too easy  to kill him off then. He’s still a problem, for sure, and we don’t necessarily expect that he’ll live through the entire series, thanks to that aforementioned list of people who probably want him dead. However, there’s still a story to be told between him and Sansa in particular, and he still serves a purpose. As Sansa tells Brienne, he’s the reason the Vale hasn’t tried to encroach on Winterfell and the North, and there are a lot of soldiers involved. Next: The online response to GoT's S7 premiere That’s what we think “Stormborn” has in store. But Game of Thrones still likes to surprise, doesn’t it? Stay tuned for more coverage of the show right here at Culturess.“Daenerys (Emilia Clarke) receives an unexpected visitor. Jon (Kit Harington) faces a revolt. Tyrion (Peter Dinklage) plans the conquest of Westeros.”"