Game Of Thrones Episode 2 Review
NOTE: it’s highly recommended (if you haven’t already) to go and check out our Episode 1 review so you can fully catch up for this one. If you already have or played it for yourself, go ahead and enjoy reading our Game of Thrones Episode 2 review.
Telltale released the second episode on February 3. I had high expectations after the first one, but I have to admit that this wasn’t as interesting as Episode 1.
Episode 2 features the appearance of new members of House Forrester: Asher Forrester, the second-born son of the House who has been exiled to Essos due to falling in love with a Whitehill girl, and the return of Rodrik whom we all thought was already dead.
Let’s begin with introducing Asher. He’s a handy and skillful sellsword in the land of Yunkai, also a new place to the story; he has that special charisma about him, but Telltale couldn’t find a proper way to get players attached to him since all of his cutscenes are quick-time events where he has to fight a couple of Lost Legion soldiers. The only real decision he has to make during the whole episode is whether to kill or just bust the knee of a guy laying on the ground. I definitely hope to see more of him in the next episode or the one after that, since he is supposed to return with his uncle Malcolm (he is the next in line to lordship of House Forrester after Rodrik).
Rodrik is back, after we all thought he was dead, but he has serious injuries and half of his face is now deformed. Rodrik is declared the lord of House Forrester and his first act is to seek allies to get rid of the Whitehill soldiers that were left behind by Ramsay Snow to make sure of the Forrester’s allegiance to them. In a particular scene you’ll have to find the right words to say in order to befriend the Glenmores and marry their daughter (a friend of Rodrik’s since childhood who was supposed to marry him before the Twins incident). I was a bit disappointed to see that the previous episode’s decision of whom to choose as a Sentinel didn’t affect the outcome of the story in any way, regardless of your choice being Ser Royland or Duncan.
As for Mira, she is the only Forrester in this episode that truly has an intriguing story thanks to multiple scenes which I believe will heavily influence the next ones. A decision that stood out for me was the one where I had to choose whether to forge a letter to Margaery’s friend in order to help your family or have a conscience and obey Lady Margaery. This one questions the player’s morals for the character so much that Telltale decided to leave it without a timer, which doesn’t happen quite often in their episodic games; you’ll have all the time to think about it carefully and consider all the pros and cons of each one. Also, Mira will be faced with a murder case in which she also has to make a decision to kill or flee. Anyway, I won’t spoil anything, so just play it and witness the outcome!
Lastly, we move on to Garred Tuttle who has been sent off to The Wall. Garred doesn’t appear a lot this time since all of his story in Game of Thrones Episode 2 is limited to some archery training, sword sparring and a strength test. These are the tests for the new recruits which you’ll have to do in order to impress Frostfinger. You will also get to choose who to make friends with and who to be enemies with; if you wish to be enemies with everyone, then just go for it.
We do get the honor of seeing Jon Snow in this episode, but that alone won’t make up for the lack of actual story progression for most of the characters.