{"id":92317,"date":"2019-04-16T17:55:54","date_gmt":"2019-04-16T06:55:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.booktopia.com.au\/blog\/?p=92317"},"modified":"2019-04-24T12:50:59","modified_gmt":"2019-04-24T01:50:59","slug":"game-of-thrones-season-8-episode-1-recap","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.booktopia.com.au\/blog\/2019\/04\/16\/game-of-thrones-season-8-episode-1-recap\/","title":{"rendered":"Game of Thrones: Season 8 Episode 1 Recap (spoilers!)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><em>Sarah McDuling, Booktopia&#8217;s resident Game of Thrones lover and spoiler enthusiast, recaps Episode 1 of the brand new season&#8230;<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p>Game of Thrones is back for the last season! <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The first episode is basically 60 minutes of set up for what is obviously going to be some epic storytelling. But be warned&#8230; <strong>HERE BE SPOILERS<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>This whole recap is a giant spoiler so if you don\u2019t want to be spoiled then get out now, while you still can!<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Still here? Okay cool let\u2019s get down to business\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\t<div class=\"wp-block-jetpack-gif\">\n\t\t<figure>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"wp-block-jetpack-gif-wrapper\" style=\"padding-top:56%\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<iframe src=\"https:\/\/giphy.com\/embed\/fxz1lRD3PQ63Yi5rtU\" title=\"game of thrones season 8\"><\/iframe>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n\t<\/div>\n\t\n\n\n<h4><strong>We open in Winterfell (and Bran is still super weird)\u2026<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p>A massive army of Unsullied and Dothraki is marching into town. Our girl Arya is watching from the crowd, and then suddenly dragons are soaring through the sky and terrifying everyone\u2026 except Daenerys who is smirking like a proud dragon mama. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Jon Snow has brought his new girlfriend home to meet the family! Bran \u201cI\u2019m the Three Eyed Raven\u201d Stark delivers one of his trademark vacant stares and remains totally motionless as Jon hugs him. It\u2019s an unsatisfying family reunion, but nice to see all the surviving Stark kids together again (except for Arya, who is infuriatingly absent).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>So! Queen Daenerys makes her debut in Winterfell and Sansa is NOT here for it. And just as things are getting really intense and interesting Bran interjects with \u201cWe don\u2019t have time for this.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Bran, we have waited two years for this show to come back. WE DEFINITELY HAVE TIME FOR THIS! <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Next we find ourselves in the great hall of Winterfell. You know the place. It\u2019s that gloomy, badly lit room in which all the grumpy Northern lords like to gather together to shout \u201cKing of the North!\u201d at least once a season. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Everyone is mad at John for bending the knee to Daenerys. Jon tries to fix things with a heroic speech about how he gave up his crown to save the north. For a moment, it seems like maybe he has the situation under control\u2026 but for some reason Tyrion thinks this would be a great time to make a speech of his own. Tyrion is a Lannister, so literally everyone in the room hates his guts. His speech, predictably, is not well received. Come on Tyrion, read the room! <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In the next scene, Tyrion and Sansa reunite &#8211; which is really awkward because remember how these two are actually married? Sansa is amazed that Tyrion is stupid enough to trust Cersei. Frankly, I have to agree with Sansa. At this point in the game, anyone who trusts Cersei has got to be bonkers. <\/p>\n\n\n\t<div class=\"wp-block-jetpack-gif\">\n\t\t<figure>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"wp-block-jetpack-gif-wrapper\" style=\"padding-top:56%\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<iframe src=\"https:\/\/giphy.com\/embed\/88j2KHkNfCeiVieC7n\" title=\"game of thrones season 8\"><\/iframe>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n\t<\/div>\n\t\n\n\n<h4><strong>More Family Reunions\u2026<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p>At long last we finally get to see Jon and Arya reunited! Brother and sister hug and compare weapons, and Jon is all \u201cOh you still have the little sword I gave you! How cute! Have you ever used it?\u201d to which Arya hilariously replies \u201cOnce or twice.\u201d Lol. John has no idea that his baby sister is a mass-murdering faceless assassin (can\u2019t wait for that penny to drop)!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>We then cross to King\u2019s Landing where Cersei is wearing some pretty fancy metal shoulder pads and staring out to sea as a fleet of ships approaches. Euron is back and he has brought a fancy new army called The Golden Company with him. More importantly, Yara is with him. Against all the odds, Yara Greyjoy is still alive!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Euron and Cersei then go off together for some private funtimes. Fortunately this happens off screen. Then a bunch of stuff happens that doesn\u2019t seem super crucial but I\u2019ll quickly glaze over it\u2026 Bronn is offered a lot of money to kill Jaime and Tyrion, Cersei and Euron discuss the lack of elephants in The Golden Company and then it is strongly implied that Cersei is going to pretend that Euron is her baby daddy (as opposed to Jaime.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4><strong>Theon to the Rescue\u2026<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p>After killing a bunch of people with ruthless efficiency, Theon bursts into the room where Yara is held captive and frees his sister, fulfilling his vow from the end of last season and nicely progressing his redemption arc! In thanks for his efforts, Yara head butts Theon so savagely that he falls flat on his back. (He totally deserved it). Afterwards, Yara offers Theon her hand and the two stride out of the room in a very purposeful manner. The Greyjoys are back, yo! But this reunion is short lived. Sensing that her baby bro reeeeeally wants to go to Winterfell and fight ice zombies with his foster family, Yara sends Theon off with her blessing. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4><strong>Meanwhile, back in Winterfell\u2026<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p>It\u2019s time for Jon and Daenerys to go flying together! The two of them are having fun and falling in love while also riding dragons. It\u2019s all very \u201cDisney\u201d and the only thing that could possibly improve this scene would be if Daenerys were to break into a rendition of \u201cA Whole New World\u201d. She is definitely giving off some Aladdin vibes, which I guess makes Jon Princess Jasmine? I\u2019m into it. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>After their magical dragon ride, Jon and Daenerys hang out at a waterfall and start making out. It\u2019s very romantic but also bittersweet on account of the whole aunt\/nephew conundrum. No matter how much you ship this couple, there\u2019s no escaping the icky incest factor. But let\u2019s not think about that right now. Let\u2019s just bask in the (doomed) romance of it all! <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>And now for the weirdest moment of this entire episode. Literally mid kiss, Jon makes awkward eye contact with Drogon. That\u2019s right, Jon Snow and Drogon the Dragon engage in a very odd staring contest for no apparent reason. It was a super weird moment and I have no idea what it was all about.<\/p>\n\n\n\t<div class=\"wp-block-jetpack-gif\">\n\t\t<figure>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"wp-block-jetpack-gif-wrapper\" style=\"padding-top:56%\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<iframe src=\"https:\/\/giphy.com\/embed\/39yFzWEcidBLFM5iFf\" title=\"game of thrones season 8\"><\/iframe>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n\t<\/div>\n\t\n\n\n<p>Next up, the warm and fuzzy reunions continue as Arya meets up with both The Hound and Gendry. The Hound calls Arya a \u201ccold little bitch\u201d and then walks off. It was so heart-warming, I nearly cried! Then a new ship is launched as Arya and Gendry start hardcore flirting. After seasons apart, suddenly these two have bucketloads of chemistry and I\u2019m totally on board. Frankly, it\u2019s nice to have a new couple to ship. And the best part is they\u2019re not even related! <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>And then we come to a rather heartbreaking scene between Sam, Daenerys and Jorah. Daenerys thanks Sam for saving Jorah\u2019s life (remember that super disgusting time when Sam cured Jorah\u2019s greyscale by literally scraping the scabs and pus off his skin? If you had managed to forget about that, please accept my apologies for reminding you). <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Things are going great until Daenerys lets slip that she murdered Sam\u2019s father and brother by burning them to death with dragon fire last season. Sam is (quite reasonably) very upset to hear this.  Struggling not to cry, he runs away and promptly bumps into Bran \u201cI\u2019m the Three-Eyed Raven\u201d Stark, who announces it\u2019s time to tell Jon the truth about his real parents. Really Bran? Does this really seem like the best time to drop that truth bomb??<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4><strong>Jon Finally Learns the Truth\u2026<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p>Sam goes down to the crypts of Winterfell where Jon is hanging out, chilling with the statue of Ned Stark. He brings Jon up to speed on his whole \u201cSecret Targaryen\u201d backstory. This seems like a VERY bad idea to me. Jon is now in an extremely difficult position. What is he supposed to do with this information? Whatever happens next, this is clearly the end of the budding romance between Auntie Daenerys and her beloved nephew. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4><strong>And Here Comes the Violence\u2026<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p>And now we switch locations to discover that Tormund Giantsbane, the red haired Viking God of the Wildlings, has indeed survived the ice dragon attack from the end of last season! Tormund, Beric Dondarrion, and a crew of Night\u2019s Watchmen stumble across the world\u2019s most macabre piece of wall art &#8211; a collage of dismembered arms arranged in a spiral pattern, at the centre of which is pinned the corpse of a small child.  Shrieking like a demonic pterodactyl, Zombie Kid lunges at Tormund, but luckily Beric uses his flaming light saber sword to stab the kid in the chest. It\u2019s only then that I realise the Zombie Kid is little Lord Umber (RIP Ned Umber)!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4><strong>This Week\u2019s Final Reunion\u2026<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p>And so we arrive at the final scene of the episode. A mysterious figure rides into Winterfell and pulls back his hood to reveal\u2026 the Kingslayer, Jaime Lannister! Jaime casts his eyes across the courtyard and sees Bran \u201cI\u2019m the Three Eyed Raven\u201d Stark, lurking in the distance like a total weirdo creeper.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Jaime looks appropriately horrified as he comes face to face with the boy he callously pushed out of a window way back in season one (awkward!)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Meanwhile Bran looks completely devoid of all human emotion, as per usual. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>AND THAT\u2019S A WRAP ON EPISODE 1 OF SEASON 8!<\/p>\n\n\n\t<div class=\"wp-block-jetpack-gif\">\n\t\t<figure>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"wp-block-jetpack-gif-wrapper\" style=\"padding-top:56%\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<iframe src=\"https:\/\/giphy.com\/embed\/hofmoZEuIGC0CdLlc1\" title=\"cersei\"><\/iframe>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n\t<\/div>\n\t\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Best Dressed:<\/strong> I hate to say it but Cersei wins on account of her fierce metal shoulder pads. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Golden Moment:<\/strong> When Sansa asked \u201cWhat do dragons eat anyway?\u201d and Daenerys replied \u201cWhatever they want.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Best death:<\/strong> Poor little Lord Umber! <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Predictions:<\/strong> Winterfell is going to fall to The Night King and everyone who survives will head to Yara\u2019s place for a sleepover! This is clearly foreshadowed in Yara\u2019s speech about how Daenerys might need a safe place to hide if she fails to hold the north. Winterfell is going down, you guys!! <\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p>Stay tuned for more next week! <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Sarah McDuling, Booktopia&#8217;s resident Game of Thrones lover and spoiler enthusiast, recaps Episode 1 of the brand new season&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":16,"featured_media":92321,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"spay_email":""},"categories":[53],"tags":[6799,2126,9810,9809],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.booktopia.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/GOTRecap1-social.png","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.booktopia.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/92317"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.booktopia.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.booktopia.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.booktopia.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/16"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.booktopia.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=92317"}],"version-history":[{"count":40,"href":"https:\/\/www.booktopia.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/92317\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":93542,"href":"https:\/\/www.booktopia.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/92317\/revisions\/93542"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.booktopia.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/92321"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.booktopia.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=92317"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.booktopia.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=92317"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.booktopia.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=92317"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}