Well, the longest wait in between seasons is finally over. Winter is here and Game of Thrones has returned. Much like most of the season premieres, 'Dragonstone' dealt with a lot of aftermath to last season's events, and a whole lot of set-up for this season. The one thing that separates this season from most is that it seems like the majority of the characters are actually beginning to realize the bigger threat at hand. That is, besides Cersei and Daenerys, they haven't gotten there just yet.
Ironically, that's part of what really excites me about this season, though. The inevitable battle for Westeros and battle of wit between Daenerys and Cersei, and how everyone else deals with the army of the dead. Nearly half of the scenes mentioned the Night King or his army in some way shape or form. Of course, Cersei chooses not to associate herself with any of that, even going as far as mentioning every other threat in Westeros besides the white walkers. However, her scene with Jaime was just as interesting anyway. You can tell how torn and worried Jaime is. You can only hope the best for him, even after everything he's been through. And what might this gift be that Euron is offering to give Cersei? It's hard to think of anything she'd want more than Tyrion's head at this point, but I hardly believe that will be the outcome. Instead, I think it will be something or someone we haven't seen in quite some time. I tend to believe that Gendry Baratheon theory the more and more I think about it.
In the North, we had a few important but predictable things happen. We had heard that there would still be some (unnecessary) tension between Sansa and Jon, well that was definitely the case. Isn't it about time Sansa trusts Jon's way of things? I get it, she's trying to warn Jon about being too honorable, something that got Robb and Ned killed. But there's something to be said for 2 family members on this show not arguing their way to an unpleasant death, am I right? Elsewhere at The Wall, Bran and Meera were let in after convincing Ed that he's the three-eyed raven and he knows everything. How long until Jon meets back up with Bran?
Speaking of Starks, perhaps the person with the most memorable moments of the episode was Arya's 'Red Wedding Redemption' at Riverrun. I can't believe I'm saying this, but if it took spending 2 seasons at The House of Black and White for Arya to produce great scene after great scene, then I think it was all worth it. A reverse Red Wedding was exactly the cold open we needed, once again proving that George RR Martin can be good to the Starks after all. I was a little bit surprised to not see her immediately kill those Lannister soldier's, but I guess it was done to show us that there's still a little bit left of innocent Arya in her.
There was a lot of Sam in this episode, perhaps too much. Check that, there was definitely too much screen time for Sam. It's not that I don't like his character, but I just don't see the reason behind wasting valuable time on something that could be sped by in a minute or two. He may have found the key to defeating the white walkers, and we found out Jorah isn't doing so well and spending time at the Citadel being partially taken care of by Sam himself. Cool to see Jorah, but man those scenes with Sam were crappy (for the most part). But, Seriously though.
The last few bits included The Hound finding his way back to the house him and Arya stayed in a few seasons back, and Daenerys finding her way home. Both very different 'homecomings', but both very emotionally resonant scenes nonetheless. There isn't necessarily a parallel to be drawn between the two, but it's very interesting to think about how far those 2 characters in particular have come since the opening episode of the series. I love seeing The Hound in a different light, one that's less bloody and far more forgiving, and Daenerys is certainly at her most powerful after reaching her home. And that was about it for a first episode. Certainly an impressive opening, albeit not as surprising as last year's Melisandre shocker. It's annoying to think we only have 6 more weeks of this, but it will have to do for now. I'm 100% sure that the rest of the season will be top-quality Thrones.
+Recap & set-up
+Daenerys reaches home
+Jaime is torn
+Arya's redemption
+The Hound's transformation
-Sam cleaning up crap
8.3/10
Ironically, that's part of what really excites me about this season, though. The inevitable battle for Westeros and battle of wit between Daenerys and Cersei, and how everyone else deals with the army of the dead. Nearly half of the scenes mentioned the Night King or his army in some way shape or form. Of course, Cersei chooses not to associate herself with any of that, even going as far as mentioning every other threat in Westeros besides the white walkers. However, her scene with Jaime was just as interesting anyway. You can tell how torn and worried Jaime is. You can only hope the best for him, even after everything he's been through. And what might this gift be that Euron is offering to give Cersei? It's hard to think of anything she'd want more than Tyrion's head at this point, but I hardly believe that will be the outcome. Instead, I think it will be something or someone we haven't seen in quite some time. I tend to believe that Gendry Baratheon theory the more and more I think about it.
In the North, we had a few important but predictable things happen. We had heard that there would still be some (unnecessary) tension between Sansa and Jon, well that was definitely the case. Isn't it about time Sansa trusts Jon's way of things? I get it, she's trying to warn Jon about being too honorable, something that got Robb and Ned killed. But there's something to be said for 2 family members on this show not arguing their way to an unpleasant death, am I right? Elsewhere at The Wall, Bran and Meera were let in after convincing Ed that he's the three-eyed raven and he knows everything. How long until Jon meets back up with Bran?
Speaking of Starks, perhaps the person with the most memorable moments of the episode was Arya's 'Red Wedding Redemption' at Riverrun. I can't believe I'm saying this, but if it took spending 2 seasons at The House of Black and White for Arya to produce great scene after great scene, then I think it was all worth it. A reverse Red Wedding was exactly the cold open we needed, once again proving that George RR Martin can be good to the Starks after all. I was a little bit surprised to not see her immediately kill those Lannister soldier's, but I guess it was done to show us that there's still a little bit left of innocent Arya in her.
There was a lot of Sam in this episode, perhaps too much. Check that, there was definitely too much screen time for Sam. It's not that I don't like his character, but I just don't see the reason behind wasting valuable time on something that could be sped by in a minute or two. He may have found the key to defeating the white walkers, and we found out Jorah isn't doing so well and spending time at the Citadel being partially taken care of by Sam himself. Cool to see Jorah, but man those scenes with Sam were crappy (for the most part). But, Seriously though.
The last few bits included The Hound finding his way back to the house him and Arya stayed in a few seasons back, and Daenerys finding her way home. Both very different 'homecomings', but both very emotionally resonant scenes nonetheless. There isn't necessarily a parallel to be drawn between the two, but it's very interesting to think about how far those 2 characters in particular have come since the opening episode of the series. I love seeing The Hound in a different light, one that's less bloody and far more forgiving, and Daenerys is certainly at her most powerful after reaching her home. And that was about it for a first episode. Certainly an impressive opening, albeit not as surprising as last year's Melisandre shocker. It's annoying to think we only have 6 more weeks of this, but it will have to do for now. I'm 100% sure that the rest of the season will be top-quality Thrones.
+Recap & set-up
+Daenerys reaches home
+Jaime is torn
+Arya's redemption
+The Hound's transformation
-Sam cleaning up crap
8.3/10