Winter is Finally Here – Game of Thrones Season 7 Recap

Even though it’s one of the hottest months of the year in San Diego, 6 pm and 9 pm yesterday were exponentially more chilly because Game of Thrones Season 7 finally premiered on HBO. The premiere, titled “Dragonstone,” set the stage for the rest of the season gracefully and kept us on our toes from the epic opening scene to the last moments of the episode.

Spoiler Alert: If you haven’t watched Game of Thrones episode 1 just yet, do not read further. 

The episode started out brutal, yet oh-so satisfying, and brought us back to the location of the “Red Wedding.” This time, the ball (or should I say, blood) was in Arya Stark’s court as she used the abilities learned training with the Faceless Men to disguise herself as Walder Frey to ultimately poison the remaining Freys. Her speech to the Freys left the audience hanging for a moment, cleverly masking the true identity of the person who appeared to be Walder Frey. As Walder’s face peeled off to reveal Arya, fans cheered in excitement as the resident bad-ass of the show got to cross another name off her list.

The show then hopped from one location to the next, revealing what each character’s major role would be for the rest of the season.

Jaime and Cersei Lannister were in King’s Landing, where Cersei believes the Iron Throne is theirs to claim. Jaime knows their position is not as safe as it seems, explaining that they have no family, all of their children are dead, and they have no allies (thanks to Cersei). We discover that Cersei was already planning her next move, inviting the Ironborn to Westeros, where the plan (for the moment) seems to be marrying the new King of the Iron Islands, Euron Grayjoy.

The show flashed to the newly crowned “King of the North,” Jon Snow and Sansa Stark in a usual debate over the next move in their effort to protect their home from their foes from the north and south. We also see Lyanna Mormont steal the show once again, proving that you don’t have to be a man (or an adult) to prove that you’re a boss.

Brienne of Tarth attempts to train Podrick, all the while we get to see Tormund’s seductive glances, teasing the audience about a potential romance between he and Brienne in the future. We can only hope…

Meanwhile, Bran makes a triumphant return to south of the Wall. So far, fans haven’t been able to see the Starks reunite with their long lost brother, but we can all hope this will happen before the season closes.

As the show goes on we catch up with the Hound who finds himself with the Brotherhood Without Banners. We also watch Samwell Tarly in his quest to become a maester (the bedpan cleaning sequence being particularly funny). Sam is also on a quest to learn as much as possible about dragon glass to aid in the battle with the White Walkers. While we catch up with Sam, we also get a glimpse into what has become of Ser Jorah Mormont.

The episode included a noteworthy scene of Ed Sheeran singing with some Lannister soldiers, who Arya runs into on her way to Kingslanding. During this run-in, the soldiers asked what a nice girl was doing going on her way to Kingslanding. She said, “I’m on my way to kill the queen.”

Finally, we see the dramatic homecoming of Daenerys Targaryen, stepping foot on the beaches of Westros to claim her (likely temporary home) at Dragonstone, which was left empty when Stannis Baratheon attempted to lay claim to the Iron Throne. Of course she has her trusted councilors, including Tyrion, in tow. And let’s not forget about the dragons.

With only six more episodes left in the season (the last two being longer than most), we are surly in for a roller coaster ride of emotions. Stay tuned Sundays on HBO for the next installment of Game of Thrones to find out where our favorite characters end up next.