Well, well, well. As it seems I’m the only person eager enough to speak on one of the
greatest television shows of recent times without spoiling it for themselves. It’s
no best kept secret that the first episode of the FINAL SEASON of Game of Thrones aired
last night, and if like me you were eagerly perched on your sofa, several hours before
airing began with a giant bowl of chips in your hand and a few beers - you’ll know
that there was a hell of a lot of exposition and explanation to get through. Some things
are easy to miss - but don’t worry guys, because let’s happily digest the many, many
lingering threads of Episode 1 - Winterfell. We got you.
Hello Beyond the Screeners? Is that what you call yourselves? I’m not entirely sure.
Anyway, for one time only, today I’ll happily be your host Jack Finch - as we take a look
at the Things You May Have Missed in Game of Thrones Season 8 - Episode 1.
Ahhh - and it appears that our boy Jon Snow - finally, finally knows something - but before
we get into that whole Ice and Fire fiasco - there’s a lot more to sink our teeth in
to with Episode 1. The most glaringly obvious being the completely awesome title sequence
revamp - and for the first time ever, the animated cogs and wheels took us deep into
the Crypts of Winterfell - as well as the King’s Landing Throne room - Iron Throne
and all, and also - now there’s a freakin’ huge hole in the Wall. I’m not gonna lie.
That brought me great joy.
Now, usually - as the show goes, the first episode of the previous seven seasons have
been regularly tame. It’s breathing room for the chess board that is Westeros to neatly
place the pieces before setting the whole damn thing on fire. After the prologue of
Season 1 Episode 1 way back in 2011 - we had a very similar, long - panning set piece,
of Robert Baratheon taking a trip back up to Winterfell to see his old friend Ned Stark,
denoting the key players that would eventually spell the downfall of both the King of Westeros
and his Warden of the North.
It’s only fitting then, that Season 8 Episode 1, aptly titled Winterfell, perfectly mirrors
that very same beginning, only this time - many things have changed. Much like how a young
Bran Stark clambered his way across the rooftops of Winterfell, this episode begins on the
same note - with an unnamed youngster of the North visually heralding the arrival of Daenerys
Targaryen, alongside her massive Unsullied Army, and - you know, her two giant dragon
children, Drogon and Rhaegal. Sadly, her third dragon - Viserion, named after her sycophantic
brother - is absent, a mortal reminder that The Night King now has a whole Ice Dragon
of his own.
Now, as far as the show goes - this is the first time that the North has ever seen the
mythical Targaryen Dragons of legend, and the loyal commonfolk of Winterfell are rightly
pretty damn terrified at the site of two great hulking fire-lizards flying over their snowy
rooftops. As you would be. Next up, stalwarts of the show are given some subtle fan service
- as the stone-cold Sansa Stark, played by the awesome Sophie Turner - mirrors the same
line that her father Ned Stark spoke way back in Season 1 Episode 1 -- Winterfell is yours,
your grace. But of course - they can’t stop there, because just as our hearts are melting
at the fact that FINALLY - the remaining Stark children are reunited, and look how much they’ve
grown - Jon Snow directly mirrors the next lines of Catelyn Stark - and asks - Where’s
Arya? -- Now, I don’t know about you. But that’s the kind of stuff I live for. But
of course, we know that Arya is slinking around in the shadows, probably swapping her skin
like the ice-cold Faceless Assassin that she is.
One of the main scenes we have to talk about that occurs in the early half of Winterfell,
is that Jon Snow actually flew a damn dragon. For those of you familiar with the books too,
you’ll know that George R. R. Martin went to great lengths to seep in the fact that
the only way you can ever find yourself flying on the back of a dragon is if you’ve got
some kind of Valyrian blood inside you - and of course, the biggest major theory of A Song
of Ice and Fire of all time - was finally given the lip service it deserved. If like
me, you’ve been waiting for Martin to finally release The Winds of Winter to confirm that
R+L does indeed equals J, then this was such an important moment for long-time fans it
was unreal. Although it was foreshadowed by Bran Stark doing some Weirwood Mysticism back
in Season 7 - and our boy Samwell Tarly putting in the man hours with his 3000 IQ at The Citadel
- the fact that Jon was finally directly informed about his parentage is one of the most highly
anticipated moments in the shows long history - as well as nearly 3 decades for fans of
the book.
For those of you that aren’t too clued up, I’ll give you a brief run down. Essentially,
Ned Stark’s sister, Lyanna - fell in love with Daenerys’ older brother, Rhaegar Targaryen
- which kicked off the jilted Robert Baratheon’s rebellion who was painfully in love with Ned’s
sister, and forced Lyanna into hiding - where she gave birth to our boy Jon Snow - AKA Aegon
Targaryen, King of the Andals, the Rhoynar, Lord of the Seven Kingdoms - yadda yadda yadda.
There we have it - R+L=J - and for those of you that are even better at maths, you’ll
also know that this kind of makes Daenerys’ Jon Snow’s Aunt. Awkward. What makes it
even more awkward though, is the fact that later in Episode 1 - Jon and Dany then fly
off together into the snowy peaks of the North for some alone time, and land next to a very
familiar looking waterfall-cave-thing. Yeah, I don’t know about you, but that looks incredibly
familiar - as in, the cave that Jon and the sadly deceased Ygritte did *some* cuddling
in, way back in Season 3. Damn you Ollie, you loyal swine.
To bring it back though, the fact that Jon Snow is indeed the rightful heir to the Iron
Throne is going to be one of the main underlying conflicts of the final season - but hopefully,
they’ll all realise that political games and thrones mean nothing when you’re being
faced down by the literal army of the dead. Right? Right.
Next we fly over to King’s Landing, where Cersei is looking more mythologically evil
than anyone ever expected, but still manages to pull off that stone-cold-fox vibe that
we’re so fond of, thanks to the incredible performance by Lena Heady. The main thing
that we have to point out here, is the fact that the meddling Maester Qyburn has been
damn busy resurrecting the dead - and now Cersei has got an entire Queensguard of Gregor
Clegane Abominations willing to give their undead lives for her cause all over again.
The visual image of Cersei flanked by her entourage of the dead was so fitting for her
character arc it’s unreal - and is it just me, or does King’s Landing seem really,
really quiet these days?
Not that much happens in King’s Landing really, other than the beginnings of a few
very key plot threads. Mainly being Bronn’s plot setup, with him being tasked by Cersei
via Qyburn to kill Jamie and Tyrion with the same crossbow that killed their old man. Wait,
what?! Yeah. You’ve gotta keep in mind that our boy Bronn is a sellsword, and has built
his long, fruitful career on always betting his side on the right price - but, and this
is a very big but - is this where Bronn’s character arc is finally peeling ahead? Tyrion
and Bronn were such cute friends it hurt - and Jamie and Bronn cultivated the most beautiful
bromance during that summer in Dorne - so I’m sticking my oar in here, and I’m saying
that Bronn’s going to turn the trigger on Cersei himself.
For those of you that know, outside of the show - both Lena Headey and Jerome Flynn,
who play Cersei and Bronn respectively, used to date - and they had a pretty scathing breakup.
So much so, that it’s rumoured their contracts both have a clause that states they both won’t
appear in scenes together. But. A crossbow is a pretty long distance weapon - so it’s
anyone's guess how that whole situation will play out. Also, it’s important to note that
Cersei seems to be surrounding herself with mercenaries - after patching things up with
the Iron Bank of Braavos and securing a contract from The Golden Company. But hold on a minute,
because if you’re a dedicated fan, you’ll know that Cersei has forever been cursed by
a prophecy that she received as a girl from a witch named Maggie the Frog, who has correctly
predicted the death of all three of her children, Joffrey, Myrcella and Tommen. Gold will be
their Crowns and Gold will be their Shrouds. I don’t know about you - but there’s a
lot of gold being prophetically bounded around for Cersei’s own good… We’ll have to
see with that one.
In the show’s last few scenes, we had perhaps one of the most horror fueled moments we’ve
had in a while, after our fateful heroes Beric Dondarrion and the one and only Tormund Giantsbane
- alongside the incredible Dolores Edd - are scouting out the seat of Last Hearth, home
of the Umber’s - a house now in ruin after being ravaged by war. Earlier in the show,
we see a young boy - Ned Umber, who has now stepped up as the only surviving young lord
of his house - who remarks to Sansa and Jon that he needs more horses to get his people
safely back to Winterfell. He’s given the horses - but as it’s revealed, they didn’t
exactly get him very far - because he’s been impaled on a wall surrounded by an intricate
pattern of disembodied limbs. The Night King really has a thirst for theatrics, doesn’t
he?
It’s interesting though, because that pattern is starkly familiar - the same one that we
see way back when in Season 1 Episode 1, after a band of Night’s Watch rangers are ambushed
by the White Walkers themselves. There are *so* many connections between the opening
episodes of both Season 1 and Season 8 - and it seems for the most part, things truly are
coming full circle for Game of Thrones. It’s only fitting then, that in the show’s closing
moments - we see a hooded stranger venturing into the keep of Winterfell on horseback - who
is revealed to be none other than Jaime Lannister, albeit less blonde than he’s ever looked.
And who’s the first person to greet him? None other than the cold, ethereal stare-machine
- Bran Stark - the boy that was flung from the window after finding Jaime and Cersei
fornocating all those years ago, kicking off the entire chain of events that have led us
to this final resolution that we’ve all been waiting for.
Like I said guys - the first episode usually has a habit of setting up the chess board
before the whole thing turns to bone and ash - but some of the threads that were addressed
in this opening episode were so cathartic for fans it’s unreal. I have so many questions,
I need so many answers - and I can’t wait for Episode 2. Well, what about you guys?
Are you as hyped as me - or are you despairing at the fact that we only have FIVE more episodes
*ever* of Game of Thrones? Let us know your thoughts down in the comment section below.
I know it’s only been a flying visit - but if you were a fan of this video, or just Beyond
the Screen in general - make sure to hit that thumbs up button - as well as that subscribe
bell, and make sure to catch me over at Top 5 Scary Videos if you feel like saying hello,
or telling me how much you love Game of Thrones. Unfortunately, that’s all we’ve got time
for in today’s video - cheers for sticking around all the way until the end. And on that
note, I’ve been your host Jack Finch - you’ve been watching Top 10 Beyond the Screen - and
until next time, you take it easy.