Game of Thrones is back! After airing the final episode of season seven on August 27th, 2017, the first episode of the final season of GoT hit the airwaves on Sunday night. Simply titled, “Winterfell,” the episode features a multitude of character reunions, as well as some key plot reveals. For fans looking for battles: they’re going to come very, very soon.

Spoilers for “Winterfell” WILL be present in this review, so read at your own risk.

Summary

Jon reenters Winterfell, with Daenerys at his side. The Northerners are skeptical and angry. Cersei and Euron grow closer. Sam is told some difficult news, and he dishes out another bombshell. Theon nears closer to completing his redemption arc. Arya sees some old friends.

Analysis

“Winterfell” is chock-full with reunions between characters that haven’t seen each other in seasons. The Arya-Jon reunion is as heartwarming as one could hope for, and the usually-emotionless Arya actually cracks a smile, closes her eyes, and allows herself to be vulnerable in the arms of the man who was raised as her brother. Then, she sees The Hound for the first time since she left him to die seasons ago. Their reunion, if it can be called that, is short, yet sweet. He reminds her that she left him to die; she says that she robbed him first. “You’re a cold little bitch, aren’t you,” The Hound then says, in his endearingly profane way. He seems to have a profound amount of respect for the young woman, and holds no grudge; he knows he would have done the same. Finally, then, Arya speaks with Gendry for the first time since he left to join the Brotherhood Without Banners after they captured him, Arya, and Hot Pie in the third season, leaving the young Arya heartbroken. In their first meeting since then, Arya again cracks a smile, and even flirts with Gendry, the first time she has shown any romantic attraction for anyone since… well, since Gendry in season three. This reviewer is rooting for Arya to find love.

Outside of the Arya reunions, a lot of talking occurs. The Northerners are skeptical of naming Daenerys their Queen; they had only recently named Jon Snow the King in the North, as the fantastic Lyanna Mormont reminds him (side note: if Bella Ramsey’s feisty Lyanna dies, we riot). It’s clear that there is going to be tension here, either between the Northerners and Jon or, if Jon decides to act after finally learning his parentage (thanks, Sam!), between Jon and Daenerys. Sam asks Jon if Dany would give up the Throne in order to save her people, as Jon was willing to do. Jon doesn’t answer, but the answer, in this reviewer’s mind, is a resounding no.

Speaking of that parentage bombshell… FINALLY. It took long enough for Bran and Sam to decide to tell Jon something that one would think he needed to know ASAP, but at least the cat is finally out of the bag. Fans have known of his true name since the season six finale (and have speculated about it long before then), so it’s nice to finally see the character himself learn the information. What he chooses to do with it is anyone’s guess, but don’t be surprised if he goes to Dany with some sort of “we should rule together” deal. It is unclear, however, if she would even entertain the idea of such a proposal.

It is a bit off-putting to see everyone so worried about who will sit on the Iron Throne when there is a literal army of the undead ascending upon Winterfell. One would think that the Northerners would be worried about that threat first, and then they could go back to worrying about who will rule them, if there is even anyone left to rule. However, it does make sense that the Northerners would have an issue with a foreigner laying claim on the Throne when they had pledged to serve Jon. It just feels unintelligent to worry about all that when a seemingly-undefeatable army of the undead is ascending upon them.

“Winterfell” is surprisingly light-hearted. It opens with Tyrion joking with Lord Varys about his status as a eunuch, as he has done all series long. Then, of course, there are all of the reunions. There’s even a funny-yet-sad moment when the Northerners see Missandei, Dany’s beautiful, smart lieutenant who also happens to be black, for the first time, and react with surprise. One forgets that these Northerners never see non-white people, and their double-takes were somewhat humorous. Dany’s dragons also don’t take too kindly to Jon kissing their mother, and give him the evil eye, scaring the man who has killed a White Walker, and ventured beyond the Wall multiple times. Then, finally, Tormund (he lives!!) is seen sneaking around a castle (near the fallen Wall, likely), looking for any remnant of the Night King. Some of the other men looking for the same thing run into Tormund, and exclaim that they need to be careful because his eyes are blue. “My eyes have always been blue!” Tormund yells in response.

When Tormund and Co. see the young, dead boy left “as a message” by the Night King, it’s pretty ridiculous that they didn’t realize he’d be a zombie. More annoying, however, is the assumption on the showrunners’ part that the Night King would leave a message Zodiac-killer-esque. When has the Night King ever acted as a serial killer tormenting his would-be captors? When has he ever been concerned with leaving messages? And when have fans even been given a motivation for him? It’s been fine to have no motivation defined up until this point, but people with no discernible motivation don’t leave messages. That’s for the ones that wish to torment, and people who wish to torment always have a motivation.

It’s amazing how clueless Euron is. Whether his character was needed in the first place or not is up for debate (this reviewer thinks he’s a bit cheesy and unnecessary), but now that he’s here, the least he can do is be at least a little bit intelligent. Unfortunately, he is not – he’s no Ramsay Bolton or Cersei Lannister. All he wants is to sleep with the Queen, thus entrenching himself as a King (in his mind), and impregnating her. If he thinks that Cersei is going to be outsmarted, or bossed around, by him, he’s the most unintelligent person in the Seven Kingdoms. She always has an ulterior motive, and she will be the most conniving, cunning woman alive until her likely demise. Euron doesn’t stand a chance.

Bronn better not end up killing one of the Lannister brothers. Considering all he’s ever wanted is gold, a wife, and a castle, however, it seems possible that he’ll take Cersei up on her proposal. This reviewer thinks he’ll see the light, though.

Speaking of the Light, where’s Melisandre? One has to assume that the Red Woman will show up again at some point – she was too integral to the plot in the early seasons to simply disappear. Plus, with her witch-like powers, she could prove to be a key contributor in the battle against the undead.

Poor Sam. His father was never kind to him, but he was still family, and his brothers were still his brothers. Not only that, but his best friend is in love with the woman who had them executed, and he must call her “Your Grace.” Not an enviable situation for everyone’s favorite klutz.

Theon saves his sister, nearly completing his long redemption arc. Now, he just needs to save a Stark or two, and he’ll be all the way back. It’s amazing how far he’s come – from betraying everything about the Starks, and killing two innocent farm-boys in the process, to being a character that many fans are rooting for. It’s also incredible how GoT can make the viewer root for a character that has done absolutely abhorrent things.

Finally, the Bran-Jaime reunion is flat-out hilarious. After pushing the cute, innocent Bran out of a window in the pilot episode, Jaime hadn’t seen who is now the Three-Eyed Raven since then. His face is one of pure terror when he sees the boy – who is nearly a man – simply sitting there, “waiting for an old friend.” Once again, however, it’s incredible how GoT can make one root for a character that has done abhorrent things. Jaime has attempted to kill a child, and is an incestuous man who is in love with his twin sister, and has been sleeping with her since both were young children. Yet, he’s one of the more likable characters left. Character development is an incredible thing.

Verdict

“Winterfell” may not feature the battles that some were looking for, but it is a necessary episode that has a lot of great moments. The battles will come, and soon. Judging by the promo for next Sunday’s episode, the White Walkers are closing in on Winterfell.

9.1/10