Game of Thrones S7 premiere recap (spoilers!)

by Viki

SPOILERS – SPOILERS – SPOILERS

Game of Thrones is back! After losing its grip on my geeky heart due to filler episodes, the promotion for this season has pulled me back in and especially after watching the first episode of season 7, I AM BACK TOO. Winter is here and I am ready.

The internet is crawling with theories, plot anlyses, book references and explanations and I won’t give you any of that (spoiler paranoia). This is a simple recap of the premiere featuring my favorite moments. To start this off, I will quickly summarize what happened in this episode:

Arya killed the remaining Freys and is heading towards King’s Landing to murder Cersei
Sansa and Jon start to develop a substantial conflict, though aiming for the same goals
White Walkers are coming, Cersei wants Jon to bend his knee
Daenerys finally arrives in Westeros, returns to her birthplace Dragonstone
Similar to Sansa and Jon, Cersei and Jamie have different opinions
Euron Greyjoy arrives with his breathtaking fleet, trying to woo Cersei
Sam is in the Citadel, hardworking, finds out where to get dragonglass
Clegane and the fire guys head north

First of all, Arya freakin Stark has gone completely bonkers and I couldn’t be more on board. I have to say, I am thankful for the little montage before the episode that summarized all the important things that were still open to conclude. Walder Frey was obviously someone I wouldn’t forget but definitely try to! Either way, the sweet revenge quest of the faceless Arya is the definition of badass. When she poisoned the entire room of Frey family and supporters and then peeled off Frey’s face, I had major Winterfell shivers. I’m impressed not only by her new power but also her ruthlessness and calmness. She will get what she wants and she knows it. Though the dialogue in this show is 99% amazing, my favorite line here was, “Leave one wolf alive and the sheep are never safe.”

And what are the other Starks up to? Arguing in front of people. I’ve heard a couple of viewers say that fighting in front of everyone was a mistake but I honestly thought it was about time that Sansa spoke up. I might be naive but I don’t believe that Jon will be betrayed by his supposed friends again, at least not as drastically as by the Night’s Watch, so they can listen to a little “siblings” debate. Surprisingly (or not surprising at all if you know me), I am on Sansa’s side. Granted, I NEVER liked Jon and I probably never will (ignoring the bells of shame). But Sansa completely changed my mind about her when she finally started to fight a few seasons back and I love when characters do that. Besides, her dynamic with Littlefinger is so darn awesome, I can’t wait to see her scheming unravel (even if it means betraying Jon). Her sorta admitting that she admires Cersei is one of those amazingly twisted character developments this show delivers so often and which make it so incredible.

Another character who transformed is the Hound and I liked him from the beginning when he was mostly a sack of …. Now, he seems more aware of his actions and his hope for redemption only grows. What I am not interested in seeing is the fire worshippers. Sure, I’m curious about Clegane but for me the fire-god storyline was always boring.

Jamie Lannister seems to re-live a time where a mad person ruled over the 7 (or 3) kingdoms, only this time, it’s his sister. They developed from an incestual sibling couple with Jamie clearly being the more powerful one, to a completely new dynamic where Jamie is almost afraid of Cersei. And he should be. With losing all her children, I am sure there is literally nothing she wouldn’t do to kill anyone she doesn’t like. Excitement is an understatement for what I feel about this storyline. Another thing is Jamie and Brienne: I think they will have to fight each other eventually but I hope they have a moment beforehand because their relationship seems so far away right now, it would lessen the stakes.

Euron Greyjoy is back and he definitely left an impression. With his fleet, Cersei is a serious threat to the north and Jon should probably listen to Sansa on this one. I was totally thrown off by his new look though and I felt his performance was really cheesy. But his iron will and combat abilities will be pretty epic, I’m sure.

Meanwhile, Sam Tarly is the determined worker he has always been, cleaning out bed pans and doing whatever he is asked to do. Thankfully, his stay at the Citadel is not worthless. He finds out that the only thing that kills White Walkers, dragonglass, is hidden under Dragonstone (major surprise!). Which Stannis had already told him but I guess he didn’t believe him? What matters is, now Jon will know which most likely will lead to an encounter between Jon and Dany and THAT IS SOME EXCITING STUFF. Fire and Ice will meet, maybe hit if off without knowing their family history? Or they totally hate each other and maybe kinda sorta cooperate to defeat a common enemy? What ever David Baneoff and D. B. Weiss have thought of, I’m sure it is way more complex and twisted than anything I could come up with.

Something that made waves as big as the ones caused by the Iron Fleet was the Ed Sheeran cameo. I think it really depends on how much exposure one has had to Ed and his face or music. Personally, I know who he is and what he looks like but besides 2 songs I have never heard anything come out of his mouth. However, his appearance still took me out of the show for a few seconds. Arya is riding through the woods, hears a nice singing voice and voilá there’s Ed Sheeran! It felt weird and out of place BUT I think they handled it well with not giving him many lines and focusing on the other characters. Thus, my assessment is: unfortunately it takes you out of it but you will forget about it in 5 minutes.

At the end of the episode, we see Dany arriving AT LAST. Another unpopular opinion: I think Dany’s storyline was mind-numbingly boring for a long time. All she did was pokerface her way through enslaved cities and impress everyone with how smart she was. Really? You guys still don’t know? But now, she finally joins the action and with Tyrion by her side, only brilliant things can happen.

I really love this show and am so excited to see all the major plotlines unravel and resolve but I have always been more interested in the side characters (probably should finally read the books). Thus, here are some honorary mentions which seem to become a thing I like to do now:

Petyr Baelish: I have loved Littlefinger from the first moment I saw him. There is something about the idea of a hidden puppet master who really nobody suspects (or is able to convict) that makes me beyond excited. And he is not almighty or all-powerful but he has so many schemes in his head and suspicious smirks on his face, I simply want to see more of him.
Jorah Mormont: His story just makes me sad but he will have an important role to play in the future. Unfortunately, his greyscale looks really bad but I hope he will use it to his advantage before he succumbs to it.
Lyanna Mormont: Another Mormont who is too cool for school is ice cold Lyanna who gets the toughest man to shut up. Though some may think she has become repetitive and cartoonish, I will watch a little girl destroy old men all day every day.
Eddison Tollett: I am reeeeeeally curious what he is gonna do with Bran and how he’s going to justify just letting them in. But just in general, how’s the wall been?

Honestly, no other show has had me count the hours until the next episode and set the right mood for viewing so anxiously like this one does. What did YOU think? Any crazy theories? What present will Euron bring Cersei? Tell me in the comments below but please don’t spoil anything from the books!