Game of Thrones S8.01 — Reunions all around
Spoilers below for Game of Thrones S8.01 — Winterfell
And we’re back! After almost 2 years, we’re back in Westeros, but not much time in the show has passed. Luckily, I just rewatched the first half of the season, so not much time has passed for me either.
The main theme of this episode, obviously, was reunions. Jon and Daenerys return to Winterfell. Since he’s been gone, Bran and Arya have come home. As he’s parading in amongst Unsullied, Arya is along the line, but he doesn’t see her. Apparently, she’s invisible because the Hound and Gendry also miss her.
Jon’s reunion with Bran is a little awkward, but so is everything that happens with Bran. Arya disappears for the big reunion, but they meet each other at the weirwood. Their reunion is cryptic, but sweet, which is pretty on brand for Arya. They chat about their swords and Valyrian steel and then get onto bigger themes — Sansa, the family, and honor. Can’t get more Stark than that.
Arya has a couple more reunions in Winterfell from her days as a wandering girl. In the forge, she catches the Hound. They connected over their shared survival. She also chats with Gendry. She asks him to make him some unforeseen weapon and they have some interesting chemistry. Are we going to see a Stark-Baratheon relationship in the future?
Sansa is also reunited with one of her husbands — Tyrion. Their marriage was never consummated so maybe they weren’t actually “married” in Westeros, but if they were, it means she was married to Ramsay while still married to Tyrion. It doesn’t seem to matter, though, because Ramsay is dead and no one in the North really knows about her quick, and basically fake, marriage to Tyrion.
Their reunion was similarly quick, just a few short words and some small nods towards each other’s survival. But, the nice words were cut short because Sansa rips into Tyrion for thinking that Cersei was actually sending troops. Sansa says, “I used to think you were the cleverest man I knew.” We played a drinking game where we drank every time there was a sick burn and let me tell you, we drank then.
Meanwhile, the North remembers sending Jon off as their king and they are not too pleased for him to return under the wing of a queen (and her dragons). Sansa, especially, is displeased with Daenerys, leading her to ask pretty dumb questions, like, “what does a dragon even eat?”
The young lord of the Umbers is sent to gather men and supplies, but other houses are declining to help. Everything he has worked for is crumbling and Sansa is not pleased about it. Jamie also arrives in Winterfell and shares a frightening look with Bran, obviously wheelchair-bound because of Jamie.
Also, who cares what dragons eat (“anything they want,” by the way) because we get a great scene where Jon rides the other dragon! We knew it would happen, especially after the revelation of Jon’s birthright last season, so it was fulfilling to see it, despite the ridiculous CGI. I did think it was a little much to zoom in on the dragon eye contact while Jon and Dany made out, though.
In King’s Landing, Cersei is glad to hear that the Wall has fallen because she’s just that evil now. Euron returns with the Golden Company and she’s pleased about that, too (though she’s upset about the lack of elephants). So happy that she takes Euron to bed with her after only a few sweet words from him.
While that’s going on, Theon breaks onto the ship and rescues his sister, Yara. On the way to the Iron Islands, she gives him permission to go North and help the Starks. Also, in kind of random scene, Bronn is interrupted during his prostitute foursome to hear that Cersei is offering him lots of gold to kill both Tyrion and Jamie. Something tells me he will take the down payment and run.
Beyond Winterfell, Beric, Tormund, and some others from where the Wall broke head to the Umbers’ castle to see if they can help. They meet up with Dolores Edd (where has he been this whole time?) and they find the Umber boy pinned to the wall with arms around him in a spiral symbol. I can’t really remember, but was this similar to the cold open of the pilot episode when the first whitewalkers are seen? I’m thinking it is. The Umber boy wakes up with blue eyes, but he’s burned pretty quickly. Tormund and crew know they need to get to Winterfell fast to beat the Army of the Dead.
The biggest moment of the episode, though, comes after Daenerys tells Sam that she executed his father and brother. He finds Jon in the crypt and explains his actual lineage to him. Now that Jon knows he’s the rightful heir to the Throne, what will happen? Will he tell Dany and try to take her place? I kind of hope not, because basically the whole show has been about her trying to get to the Iron Throne. Jon doesn’t need it as much as she does. But, maybe she will die, sacrificing herself for him (again, I hope not). Also, will he be able to keep up the relationship knowing that she’s his aunt?
Tune in next week and maybe we’ll find out!
Originally published at lizziekreitman.wordpress.com on April 15, 2019.