The Game of Reunions

For those of you who live under a rock, Game of Thrones premiered for the final time last night. The first episode of season 8 titled “Winterfell” kicks of the season with just what we should’ve been expecting after the end of season 7 back in August of 2017. A giant game of family reunion in the North. The first scene is a young boy tearing through crowds of people just to get a look at the massive Unsullied and Dothraki army marching into Winterfell preceding Queen Daenerys Targaryen, Jon Snow, Tyrion Lannister, Lord Varys the Spider, Ser Jorah of the Friendzone, Grey Worm, Missandei, and the Dragons. The Northerners are immediately apprehensive about Dany and her status as Queen considering they just named Jon King in the North prior to his sex-capades with the Mother of Dragons. Jon has an awkward but warm embrace with Bran, and then comes Sansa’s cold, stark introduction with Dany. A council is called with all the Stark’s bannermen which is centered around calling Jon out for being a sell-out. To which, Tyrion calms the crowd with his optimism and encouragement. Shortly thereafter, Tyrion and Sansa finally get to address their long overdue tension dating back to the death of Joffrey. Tyrion again shows his optimism about controversial topics stating that the Lannister armies will be allying with Jon and Dany to help defend Westeros. Sansa basically calls bull-manure on Tyrion considering Cersei is a pathological liar. Then the tone drifts to a more pleasant reunion: Arya and Jon. The two best of pals who haven’t seen each other since episode 2, and still bro out over sharp swords.

Now we move south to King’s Landing and witness the most arrogant Greyjoy to ever walk the Seven Kingdoms. Euron has his niece, Yara, captive and monologues how he is going to impregnate Queen Cersei, then he actually gets the job done. I guess maximum arrogance pays off when you are aggressive enough. But Euron isn’t the only one trying to get laid. Bronn is in the middle of you-know-what when Qyburn, the Creepy Hand of the Queen, delivers a gilded crossbow to him and requests he off Jaime and Tyrion in the name of Queen Cersei. Meanwhile while Euron is “preoccupied” with the Queen, Theon swoops in to save his sister, Yara, on his uncle’s ship. Theon gets a reunion fist to the face courtesy of his salty sister, then they share a “What is dead, may never die” and make up. Don’t you love the strong brother-sister relationships that don’t involve incest?

Unfortunately, we head back to Winterfell, and what do we find when we get there? Some anorexic dragons. If you must know, 11 sheep and 18 goats is not nearly enough to feed 2 hungry dragons for a day. Dany, being the helicopter dragon mom that she is, takes her boyfriend on one of her most favorite activities. Jon hops on Rhaegal and soars through the sky to a lovely waterfall where Jon and Dany are able to have some alone time. Bow-chicka-bow-wow! But let’s get to our next reunion in the toasty blacksmith workshop in Winterfell. Arya pops into see Gendry and she also happens to find a sassy Hound ready to sling his word bombs at her like the good ole times. We can also admire the blushing from Arya and Gendry when they are finally able to reignite the teenage crush sparks from the earlier seasons. Also that was a whole lotta dragon glass in those forges. Let’s hope it’s enough.

Then comes the time for Samwell Tarly to finally meet Queen Daenerys Targaryen face-to-face. Unfortunately, it is not a pleasant encounter considering Dany tells Sam that his father and brother were cremated alive for refusing to bend the knee. Way to make a good first impression on your boyfriend’s best friend, Dany. Sam needs some time and goes to talk with Jon about his loss, and also share some very important information about who Jon is. The viewers have known for a while, but Jon finally learns he is Aegon Targaryen, son of Rhaegar Targaryen and Lyanna Stark. That makes Arya, Bran, and Sansa his cousins and Dany his aunt. Sorry, Jon. Hearing this, Jon tries to deflect this by blaming Ned for lying to him since he was a boy, but he now has to accept his true identity as the rightful King of Westeros.

We are then transported to a deserted castle where we find Tormund and Beric, the fire-sword guy, trying to find any trace of survivors of the Night King’s rampage. They run into a few guys from the Night’s Watch who survived the takeover of Castle Black and fall of Eastwatch. Together they find a message left by the Night King. A shrieking zombified little Lord Umber nailed to a wall surrounded by a star of severed legs and arms. Beric lights the little bugger on fire, leaving the entire symbol ablaze as a warning from the Wight Army.

The episode ends with a simple, wordless scene that still holds a significant amount of impact. We follow a hooded person on horseback ride into Winterfell, and park their horse. The person is none other than Jaime Lannister and the first familiar face he sees is that of a stoic Bran Stark awaiting his arrival from his wheelchair in the courtyard of his beloved home. The look on Jaime’s face is priceless.

Now that we have remembered all the important details of the episode, let’s talk theories, questions, and predictions I have for the final 5 episodes. First off, Sansa and Dany basically hate each other, so I’m confident that they were going to have a hard enough time with Jon Stark-Targaryen being socially higher than Dany and also engaging in incest with his aunt. With the Starks being one of the few wealthy families who don’t engage in incest, it’s going to be a hard pill to swallow for the whole gang and maybe the worst situation for Dany considering she is the “rightful queen” and all that. Although, they should’ve seen something like this coming considering Jon can ride dragons and the only ones able and willing to ride dragons are Targaryens. But if you have been rooting for the Starks to take the Iron Throne, then this adds another trick up their sleeve to help them get to the top of the food chain.

Next, Bronn has become an errand boy for Cersei. I’m not totally confident he will murder Jaime or Tyrion only because he has a loyalty to Jaime and Tyrion’s ability to weasel his way out of every life-threatening situation. Considering Qyburn sent Bronn on this mission and not Cersei herself, is a little suspect that Bronn may not get his reward if he completes the job. Also the North is crawling with Wight’s, so he’s bound to get caught in the crossfire and need to take refuge in Winterfell sooner or later.

There’s tons more predictions I could make based on what episode one has given me, but I will finish with this question. How will the conversation with Bran and Jaime play out? Bran all but

completely abandoning his familial name and loyalties to become the Three-Eyed Raven, may feel indifferent toward Jaime, maybe even grateful considering if he never became crippled, he wouldn’t have ended up north of the Wall, became a warg, or assumed the position of the biggest know-it-all in Westeros. Or Bran could hold some resentment for Jaime throwing him from that tower since he lost a lot of friends on his journey to become the Raven. Maybe Jaime will try to off Bran since Bran knows so much. Knowing the writers of the show, it is most likely going to play out using a combination of all the narrative options because that’s what they do best. Blow our minds.

As of right now, I think that no one will end up on the Iron Throne since no one can seem to get their crap together long enough to make a halfway decent plan on how to take out the Night King and Ice Dragon Viserion. But that is just my prediction. Who do you think will take the kingdom in the end. Let me know down in the comments below. See y’all next week.

-KatTheLadyNerd

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