(Insert joke about our Watch soon coming to an end here)

It is finally here. The last season of GOT premiered last night. And a lot happened. Awkward reunions, awkward first meetings, awkward scenes where Dragons watch as their mom makes out with someone. It was a great start to the final season.

Also, we got a really cool new opening that actually goes inside of the different locations. Plus it shows the movement of the Night Kings Army, foreshadowing the attack on Last Hearth and House Umber before the episode even started.

Let’s take a look at all the plotlines this season has set up.

  1. There is a ton of unrest between Dany and the Northerners.
    1. No one trusts her. Sansa hates her. Arya doesn’t seem to trust her. Sam has found out that Dany killed his dad and brother in a very awkward scene.  Personally, I think Sansa is being unreasonable. There is a freaking zombie army on the way, continuing to quibble about politics is insane. Glover proved himself to be an ass again. Swears Fealty to the Starks when it is easy, but dips on them at the first sign of trouble. Will probably get him killed this time with the undead army taking a detour to attack Deepwwod Motte before getting to Winterfell. So where will all this go? Will they drop the petty squabbling once they learn the undead army is a couple days away? Will the unreasonably Sansa try to do anything?
  2. Jon now knows who his parents are, and that is is actually the rightful King.
    1. After learning that Dany killed his dad and brother, Sam went to talk to Jon and dropped the bomb that Jon just slept with his Aunt. Well, that actually never came up, but I am sure Jon is thinking about that. More importantly, he learned that his dad was Rhaegar and that he had legally married Lyanna, making Jon his true heir, and the rightful King of “The bloody seven kingdoms.” That is going to be yet another awkward conversation when Jon tells Dany the truth. Which he will definitely do because the guy is incapable of lying or not being truthful. How will that go? Will that break up the alliance? Will Dany be capable of sacrificing some of her goals for the greater good like Jon has? We also say Varys, Tyrion, and Davos discussing a possible marriage between Jon and Dany to quell tensions. Dany may need to do that now if she wants to keep her title of “The rightful Queen of the Seven Kingdoms.”
  3. Bronn has been hired to kill Jaime and Tyrion.
    1. I was worried Bronn would not have much to do in this season, but Cersei fixed that. She has commissioned Bronn’s services to kill her brothers. The surprising part of that is the plural. We knew she wanted Tyrion dead, she wanted him dead since the first episode. But now after hiring out a hitman to kill her twin brother and former lover, and then sleeping with Euron, it appears she may be over Jaime. It is a storyline that makes sense, and one that was set up a while ago. Bronn did tell Tyrion upfront that he would kill Tyrion for the right price, and Tyrion simply asked for the chance to beat that price. I don’t think Bronn is actually going to carry out the contract. I think he has grown enough that he won’t kill his two closest friends for some gold. it will make for an interesting journey though, and I liked the touch of giving Bronn the same crossbow Tyrion killed Tywin with.
  4. Cersei has a new army
    1. Euron hilariously dipped after seeing the wight last season, saying he was going to his island where they can’t get to him. But it was all a lie, and he was really sailing across the sea to pick up the Golden Company. An army of mercenaries with a commander who looks like Pete Holmes. Sadly they did not bring their elephants though, to the disappointment of book readers, and to Cersei. This is a storyline that may not pay off for a couple of episodes, but it is important. She also has a new boy toy, as stated earlier, as she finally succumbed to Euron’s “charm.” Both her and Euron seem to be using each other for their own goals, but its a relationship that works, for now. They are both selfish egomaniacs, and both have something to offer the other. Cersei clearly has plans for when either an army of the dead or Dany’s army gets to her door. What are those plans exactly? We don’t know
  5. Bran has something to say to Jamie
    1. The last time Bran and Jaime were on screen together, Jaime pushed Bran out a window, crippling Bran, and setting off the Stark Lannister conflict. Both characters have changed a lot since then, with Jaime growing and becoming a much more likable person and character, and Bran no longer really being Bran, and instead the 3 Eyed Raven. But all episode Bran sat outside, randomly starring down characters for some reason, and saying he was waiting for someone. That person turned out to be Jaime. who showed up in Winterfell at the end of the episode. So what is so important that Bran has to talk to Jaime about that he stayed outside for a full day waiting for? Clearly Jaime has a major role to play in the fight against the White Walkers. He may even be Azor Ahai.
  6. Arya wants a new weapon
    1. One of my favorite scenes was Arya in the forge. She gets a fun interaction with the Hound, where they continue their weird relationship where they kind of hate each other, but also kind of love each other. It is clear the Hound really respects her, and I think she is happy to see him alive. But then she also reunited with Gendry, and they got to show off their great chemistry together. And while all of that was fun, the real important part of this scene is the dragon glass weapons being made. The Hound got a nex Aze he can use to kill walkers, but Arya also submitted a design for some kind of weapon. I spent 5 minutes trying to get it to pause right one the short glimpse we get of the design, and I cannot quite tell what it is. It is some type of arrow or spear tip made out of dragon glass. My guess is it is a type of ranged weapon that can shoot dragon glass at a distance, but it could also be a spear that can detach into two daggers. Whatever it is, the fact they spent time on this, tells me it is something to keep an eye on.
  7. Theon heading to Winterfell
    1. We didnt see a lot of Theon in this episode. He showed up, saved his sister Yara on his uncle’s boat, they sailed away, and then he decided to leave his sisters side and go to Winterfell, while she took back the Iron Islands to give Dany and company a place to flee to should the battle with the White Walkers go poorly. There is not much use for their navy in the battle that will take place at Winterfell, and the Greyjoys make piss poor foot soldiers, so it makes sense for only Theon to go. But what is important is the growth of Theon here. We can rule Reek officially dead as Theon both had the courage to lead a rescue mission of his sister, much like she once tried to do for him, and also to then take the risk of going to Winterfell to fight in a battle that he very well could die in. Theon has had more ups and downs than almost any character, and it is good to see him finally back at a point of complete strength.
  8. The White Walkers are close
    1. Last we saw, the White Walkers were using a Dragon to break down the wall as Tormund and Beric watched. This season, the next time we saw Tormund and Beric, they were walking into Last Hearth, to see a lot of dead Umbers, and a still Alive Night Commander Dolorous Ed. They then discovered a message left by the Night King, in the form of one of his famous works of art, specifically a spiral of dead body parts, this time with a dead little Umber Lord in the middle. So House Umber is officially dead after one was killed at the Red Wedding, another at the Battle of the Bastards, and the rest now either in the undead army or pinned up as creepy wall art. Ed, Tormund, and Beric realized that they need to get to Winterfell fast because that is the White Walkers next destination. We are approaching a large scale battle, much like Helms Deep, and what is teased to be the biggest and best battle so far in the series.

There was not much to complain about here. It was a dialogue-heavy episode, which I like. It set up the table for everything we can expect going forward and gave us a lot of great scenes of characters reuniting. My only complaint might be is I am not sure where Tyrion fits into all this. He has kind of been a side character the last couple seasons, with no real arc of his own. Hopefully, that changes, but we did not really see much sign of that in this episode.

But other than that I liked the episode. It had great dialogue. It had funny moments, sincere moments, sad moments, and even one scary moment with a very effective jump scare. It had everything that made me fall in love with the show, and was a promising sign for the rest of the season.