GoT: Season 8, Episode 1: Winterfell – The Final Season Premier
Well, if you’re like me, then you’ve been waiting not so patiently on the return of GoT. Finally – after what seemed like forever – we are finally here. So, let’s get right into the recap of Season 8, Episode 1 of Game of Thrones: Winterfell.
The episode starts off with a kid chasing the view of a marching army, right past where Arya Stark stands – much like how Arya chased the view of the incoming arrival of the King and his family in the first episode of the show. As thousands of unsullied march past, we finally get a glimpse of Jon and Daenerys – followed by the Hound and Gendry. Of course, what procession would be complete without Tyrion and Varys, who are riding in a carriage behind the procession. As the procession marches past, the Northerners look on in distrust, whispering, until the dragons fly overhead. This sight causes the majority of the Northerners to flee, while others who know the importance of the dragons, smile slightly. The procession arrives at Winterfell where they are met by Bran and Sansa. Jon, overjoyed to see his sister and brother, immediately goes to Bran and hugs him. As he is greeting Sansa, Bran and Daenerys share an odd look. Jon then presents Daenerys to Sansa and the others standing around. While Daenerys tries to exchange pleasantries with Sansa, Bran tells them “We don’t have time for this…” and tells them all that the dead are on the march this way.
Inside Winterfell, the lords of the North meet up and Jon is confronted by his people who now have lost trust in him since he brought Daenerys back here. He tries to explain that he brought the allies they needed to save the North, but no one seems to be buying it. Tyrion then tries to come to Jon’s aid, much to the horror of the others, he even tells them that the Lanister army will be marching North to join them.
Outside, Gendry is overseeing the arrival of wagons of dragonglass that are to be made into weapons. Tyrion, looking on, sees Sansa and goes to speak with her. They reminisce about the last royal wedding they attended – with a few jokes about Joffrey thrown in. They then exchange a few words about how Cersei will come to help, but Sansa doesn’t buy it.
In the garden at Winterfell, Jon stands at the red tree where he’s snuck upon by Arya. The two have a wonderfully warm reunion, complete with a huge hug and then Jon noticing she still has Needle. When asked if she’s ever used it, she replies “Once or twice.” Arya tells Jon that Sansa is the smartest person she’s ever met and that she’s just defending her family. Jon tells Arya that he’s family too, and Arya tells him “Don’t forget that.”
Now we go down South to King’s Landing, where Cersei is standing on a large landing, staring out over the ocean below. Her hand comes up to tell her that the dead have broken through the wall, to which she replies “Good.” Out on the water in front of them wait hundreds of ships from the Iron Fleet, led by Euron Greyjoy.-
On the main ship, we see Euron who smiles up at King’s Landing then goes down below deck, where Yara is being held prisoner. Yara asks why he doesn’t kill her and he replies “Then who would I talk to?” She asks if they are at King’s Landing, and he smiles and shrugs, to which she replies “You picked the losing side.” He tells her that he’ll just sail to the other side, after he screws the queen.
And now we go into the Red Keep, where Cersei is sitting on the Iron Throne. Before her are Euron and the leader of the Golden Company of mercenaries. They are talking about troops that are on the ships and she finds out there are no elephants, which really disappoints her. The leader heads off to check on his men, while Euron stays and talks to Cersei. He basically asks when he gets to sleep with her and she tells him that he has to earn a queen. He reminds her that he has brought her so much already. Finally, she gives him a look, allowing him to follow her into her chambers. As he’s moving up the steps to follow her, the Mountain steps forward and stares him down. In true Euron style, he just smiles and walks past.
Somewhere in King’s Landing, in a brothel, Bron is about to enjoy the company of three ladies. However, they won’t shut up about men that they have known who were burned to death or came back horribly disfigured after meeting up with the dragons. He tries to impress them by saying that he shot a dragon and they don’t seem to care. Then the queen’s hand, Qyburn, appears and interrupts them saying that the queen has a proposition for Bron. He tells Bron that the queen wants to pay in advance for his services – with seven chests of gold waiting outside for him. Qyburn then tells Bron that Cersei wants him to kill Jaime with a special crossbow that looks exactly like the large bow he shot the dragon with. Bron is talking about how messed up that family is and Qyburn tells him that Cersei is the one who saved him from a life of poverty after he was kicked out of the Citadel and made him her hand just for his knowledge. He tempts Bron by asking what Cersei would do for the man who rid her of her treasonous brothers.
Cersei, still made about the elephants, is having a glass of wine as we see Euron getting dressed behind her. Euron asks how he compares to the ‘fat’ king, Cersei at first tries to act offended, but Euron doesn’t buy it. Then Cersei tells him that the late king had a different whore every night yet still didn’t know his way around a woman. Then Euron asks about how the Kingslayer compares to him, giving him immediate dagger eyes from Cersei. She comments about how he enjoys risking his neck. He goes to her and asks if he pleases her, to which she tells him he might be the most arrogant man she’s ever met – and says she likes it. He places a hand on her stomach and tells her he’s going to put a prince in there.
Back on Euron’s ship, we begin to see men being shot with arrows, dropping quickly. We follow the bodies down to the captain’s quarters, where Yara is held, and we finally see that it is Theon who is there to save her. She headbutts him and knocks him on his ass, then helps him up and they steal a few ships and sail off. She tells Theon that Euron can’t defend the Iron Islands if Euron and the fleet are at King’s Landing. Yara tells him they can take back their home and give Daenerys a place to go if they can’t hold off the dead at Winterfell or in the North, somewhere the dead can’t go. Theon tells her that he’ll go where she commands. She realizes that he wants to go to Winterfell to fight and tells him to go.
Now we see some of the survivors of the North coming into Winterfell. Tyrion, Davos and Varys are walking around, talking about what all is going on and how the Northmen are loyal to Jon. They cook up a plan of getting Jon to marry Daenerys. They see Jon and Daenerys down below them, talking together very closely.
Jon and Daenerys are walking around the grounds where the army is outside of the castle walls. Daenerys states that Sansa doesn’t like her and tries to put down a hard line about how Sansa needs to respect her. She’s interrupted by a trio of Dothraki riders. They tell her the dragons aren’t eating well. So, Daenerys and Jon go to check on the dragons. Here we see, once again, that the dragons respect Jon just like they do Daenerys. She climbs on the back of one and tells him to do the same. He’s hesitant but gets on the back of the other dragon. She tells him to hold on to whatever he can and they take off into the sky. Jon is barely hanging on as they fly over Winterfell, where people can see Jon is riding a dragon.
Then, they fly around until Jon realizes that he can control the dragon’s movements. As they soar over parts of the North around Winterfell, and over and huge canyon, he lands the dragon in a beautiful spot where he used to hunt as a kid. Daenerys is impressed with the beauty of the place and the fact that Jon can control the dragon. He tells her that she’s completely ruined horses for him now. After a few sweet words about running away where no one would find them, Jon and Daenerys embrace and kiss. Jon notices the dragons staring at him as they do so.
Then we go back to Winterfell, where Gendry is creating weapons from the dragonglass that was brought in. As he is doing so, the Hound comes in to pick up his axe that Gendry made him. Arya comes in and tells the Hound to leave Gendry alone after the Hound is giving him a hard time. He says that Arys left him to die and comes to tower over her. After he leaves, Arya flirts with Gendry a bit and it’s obvious that he likes her too. She gives him a drawing of a weapon that she wants. He starts to ask her what the weapon is for and she just wants to know if he can make it or not.
Now we see Sansa reading a scroll when Jon comes in. She tells him the Glovers are not coming to help them. Sansa accuses him of abandoning the North for Daenerys. Jon asks her if she thinks they can beat the army of the dead without Daenerys and the dragons. Before she can answer, he tells her he’s fought the dead twice and it doesn’t matter what title people hold – the dead don’t care. He says without Daenerys they don’t stand a chance. Then he asks if she has faith in him, and she says yes, to which he builds up Daenerys to Sansa. She asks if he bent the knee to save the North or if it was because he loves her.
At this same time, Daenerys and Jorah are down in the crypt looking for Sam. She asks if Sam is the one who saved Jorah. She keeps reigning praise on him and tells him that she wants to give him something. He asks for a pardon for stealing books from the citadel and a sword from his father. She asks about his father’s name and then tells him that she killed his father and his brother. This truly upsets Sam, who manages to barely keep it together without crying. We watch poor Sam try to deal with the news of their death and then he leaves. Daenerys doesn’t show much emotion at all as Sam stalks out.
Outside, Sam is almost ran over by a wagon and then he sees Bran across the courtyard. He asks why Bran is out there and Bran says he’s waiting for an old friend. He tells Sam that it’s time to tell Jon the truth and Sam says that Bran should tell him because Bran is his brother. Bran says he’s not Jon’s brother and that Sam should tell him since Jon trusts Sam more than anyone and that Jon needs to know now.
We then go into the crypt below Winterfell where Jon is lighting candles for Ned Stark. Sam interrupts him and Jon is thrilled to see him. Sam apologizes for being down there. Sam tells him that Daenerys killed his dad and brother. Jon didn’t know. Then, Sam lays it on Jon that he is the true king, and has always been. Jon tells him he’s not the king and Sam says he’s the king of the seven kingdoms. Jon freezes and then Sam tells him that Bran and he discovered that Jon is the son of Lianna Stark (Ned’s sister) and his real father is Raegar Targaryen. He tells Jon he’s never been a bastard, and that he is actually the true heir to the throne. Jon has a hard time believing that Ned would lie to him all these years. Sam tells him that he would have been killed as a baby if anyone had known. Jon tries to tell him that Daenerys is the queen, but Sam says that she shouldn’t be. He asks if Jon thinks that Daenerys would give up her crown as he gave up his.
Up in the North by the remains of the wall, a small group of wildings and other soldiers are looking for survivors of the battle. They are going through the dark buildings with a flaming sword lighting the way. Blood spots are everywhere on the snow and all around them. Then they hear a noise and are ready to attack – when they find out it’s the remains of the Night’s Watch. They are thrilled to see the survivors. The survivors take them down into the main hall where the kid who helped kill Jon is tacked up to the wall with a bunch of body parts. As they are talking, the kid opens his eyes and tries to attack them. The flaming sword is plunged into the kid and the kid and the body parts create a flaming circle pattern on the wall. Tormund is a bit freaked out.
Then we see a large, hooded figure riding into Winterfell. When he gets off his horse, we see it’s Jaime Lanister. He looks around the place and smiles slightly, until he sees Bran sitting across the courtyard from him. He realizes who Bran is and a look of horror crosses his face. The episode is left there… giving our minds time to run wild with all of the information that we just soaked up.
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Posted by MD Weems
on Sunday, April 21st, 2019. Filed under Dark TV, Headline.
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Tags: army of the dead, cersei, daenerys, dragons, game of thrones, got, iron throne, jon snow, kings landing, winterfell
