Awwwwwww yeah!
That was fine.
The first episode of the eighth season was mostly a chance, after two years
away, to get reacquainted with the main characters of Game of Thrones and set up some conflicts. There were reunions
aplenty: Jon and Arya, Jon and Bran, Arya and the Hound, and Bran and the “old
friend” who threw him out a window in the pilot, Jaime Lannister.
Have we ever
seen this many Game of Thrones characters
in one episode? Just about everybody who is still a part of the central story
was there (except, oddly, Brienne). As the cast largely moves toward the same
goal of defeating the White Walkers, it makes sense that episodes will be less
siloed. In the last few seasons, it’s been interesting to see even the costumes
flattening so everyone is wearing black and white, or very muted colors. It
would be a shock at this point to see some Lannister red.
Daenerys and
Jon ride into Winterfell like Jesus riding into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday, but
not everybody is waving palms and celebrating. Lady Mormont points out that the
North had rallied behind Jon Snow and asks why they should unite behind this
southerner dragon queen. She has a point: the North is quasi-independent with
its own culture and traditions and it’s fantasy to think everyone will just
“bend the knee.”
Maybe the way the
new credits swooped through the halls and kingdoms, which was startling after
seven seasons, is a way of trying to tell us we’re going to start looking at
Westeros from ground level, with the perspective of the soldiers fighting the
wars. Or maybe they just wanted to do something cool for the last season.
In another
location on the map, Cersei sleeps with Euron after making a show in public
that she wouldn’t. I assume she’s going to pass off Jaime’s baby as Euron’s. Cersei
also gives a cruel assignment to Bronn: He is to kill Jaime and Tyrion, the two
men he has served and become friends with.
It’s not all
gloom and doom, as this episode had a surprising amount of humor. However, the
humor was less the show’s usual gallows humor but had more of a rom-com feel,
in the way Jon and Daenerys took a dragon joyride around the North and Arya
flirted with Gendry. There was also this Abbott and Costello exchange between
Sansa and Daenerys: “What do dragons eat, anyway?” “Whatever they want.”
This throwaway
joke illustrates the conflicting positions of the two women as Westeros
prepares for war. Sansa is practical and knows she has to prepare the army to
fight, and she knows the great houses of the North and how they interact.
Daenerys is used to yelling “Dracarys” and destroying her enemies from far
above. I’m kind of with Sansa on this one, and I’m impressed by her character
arc, as she’s come a long way from the girl with the unrealistic fantasies of
marrying Joffrey. She’s a confident woman who has more than paid her dues and
is ready to lead.
Daenerys is
again seeing the destruction she has wrought from above, meeting Samwell, whose
father and brother she executed. I’m glad the show followed up on this because
I didn’t agree with the execution at the time. I felt for Samwell losing his family,
even those who were abusive to him.
Samwell’s
revelation sets up a meaty conflict between Jon and Daenerys. As Jon is a
Targaryen and descends directly from the Mad King, he has more of a claim to
the throne than Daenerys. As Sam says, Jon gave up his throne for Dany; would
she do the same for him? I’m not so sure. Jon has no ego, while Dany is all
ego. Nobody would assume that many royal titles otherwise. I love Daenerys but
I don’t always agree with her decisions, so we’ll see how this plays out.
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