And we’re back! The second week of our Game of Game of Thrones Fantasy League resulted in some huge scores and one massive upset that flipped our contest upside down. The writing may be on the wall for who’s going to come out on top for this final season. Read on for the full breakdown of last Sunday’s game.
As always, if you haven’t yet watched “A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms,” then stop reading here. Many spoilers lie in wait below.
The big winner of this week was No Ygrittes, with a massive 230 points, effectively mopping the battlefield with the other three teams. She had two (!) 50-point scorers in her ranks—Brienne of Tarth and Jorah Mormont. Brienne—Ser Brienne, that is—was named this episode’s MVP for earning her much-deserved promotion to knighthood as well as some points for good verbal quips. Jorah Mormont scored his points thanks to Samwell Tarly’s gifting of Heartsbane, the Tarly family Valyrian steel blade. No Ygrittes also got 35 points from Tyrion Lannister—awarded for his many verbal witticisms (as you’d expect) and for drinking wine (also as you’d expect). Theon Greyjoy brought in 35 points as well with a pledge to Bran and the Iron Islands allegiance to Daenerys. For a man with only one hand, Jaime Lannister performed admirably this week. He scored a total of 30 points for joining the alliance against the White Walkers, making a funny disparaging remark about the relationship he shared with his sister, and drinking wine at the pre-battle party. The Hound scored 25 points with this week’s popular wit-and-wine combination, and even Dolorous Ed Tollet brought his A-game and 5 points for a joke at Sam’s expense. Fortunately for the other teams, Jon Snow went scoreless this week.
Taking second place this week was my own Harrenhal Halberdiers with 140 points. My first round pick of Arya Stark paid off big time this week. She scored 75 points, most of it for the kindling of her and Gendry’s budding romance (the ‘ship the fans wanted to see). Sansa continued to be a top performer for me, earning 30 points for being witty and standing up to Daenerys with regard to the sovereignty of the North. Lyanna Mormont scored 10 points for being solidly in charge, and even though she saw no screen-time this week, Yara Greyjoy brought home 15 points for planting her flag with Team Daenerys.
The Night Kings roared into third place with 105 points. As one would expect, Tormund Giantsbane was the team’s top scorer with 35 points—most of it related to leading comments about Brienne. Bran Stark and Gendry each rallied with 30 points, Bran for a number of timely comments and Gendry for his timely visit to Arya’s chambers. Podrick Payne brought in 10 points for his participation in the fireside party. It’s worth noting that the Night Kings are still waiting for both the Night King himself and Hot Pie to run in a point or two.
And that brings us to the Nightshade Ninjas, our last place team with a mere 60 points—quite the upset after the first week’s winning performance. The Ninjas top scorer this week was Daenerys Targaryen with 40 points for numerous one-liners and scathing verbal take-downs issued throughout the game. They also scored 10 points each from Davos Seaworth, who seems to be always ready with a good comment or two, and Grey Worm for pledging to protect Missandei.
Oddly enough, no one picked up Ser Beric Dondarian, the high scoring free agent from week one, and he continued to show he’s got the stuff by scoring 20 points.
After two weeks, here are the current standings:
- No Ygrittes: 280 points
- Harrenhal Halberdiers: 195 points
- Night Kings: 135 points
- Nightshade Ninjas: 125 points
Closing out this week’s coverage, the manager of the Night Kings was overheard to utter “I’m not worried. I mean, how can I lose?” at the close of the game. I suspect his point total will increase dramatically during the upcoming contest at Winterfell. But, remember, points are awarded for memorable deaths as well—and it’s likely we’ll see at least a few of those. See you on the battlefield!
It’s not too late to get into the fun of playing the Game of Game of Thrones! Make your way to Fantasizr before the third episode airs this coming Sunday (April 28). In the meantime, check out Julia Alexander’s episode recap with full points breakdowns over at The Verge.
