Game of Thrones Season 7 Premiere Review: Headed for “Dragonstone”

“Shall we begin?”

I’m so excited to be reviewing one of my all-time favorite shows, Game of Thrones. I’m not new to the show, or to reviews, but combining the two will give me great pleasure. I have been so excited for the show to return that I posted on all of my social media accounts at once (something I never do, so you know it’s good).

Anyway, the Season 7 premiere of Game of Thrones had its interesting little quirks before the whole thing even started. It’s not eligible for the Emmys this year, for instance, because it premiered late. It premiered late because…well…winter IS coming, and they needed snow, which started a chain reaction that ended with an ironic July premiere date. It should also make for an interesting Comic-Con, because we’ll have seen exactly one episode of Thrones Season 7 before the Comic-Con panel, and in previous years it has just been a post-season victory lap. At the same time, no copies were released to critics because of leaks in previous seasons. But, the most interesting part of all is that leaks were protected more fiercely this time around because Season 7 officially leaves George R. R. Martin’s novels in the dust.

ALL of that said, this Game of Thrones premiere felt familiar in many ways because there is now a standard model for Game of Thrones premieres, and it follows that to the letter. We as viewers are treated to an update on most of the characters we care about (save Theon, but I’m informed that I’m the only one who cares about him), and a few moments of sweet, sweet vindication. There is so much to touch on. Usually, the reviews I write have two or three main plots and I touch one or two of them, so this new project will be an interesting challenge. I will do my best to touch on everything, if some are only brief.

The previews and pre-interviews for this show made things seem like Jon and Sansa were going to be at each other’s throats, but I didn’t really get that vibe from them in their opening scene. It’s pretty simple, really. All Jon’s leadership skills and knowledge came from Ned and Uncle Benjen, and an extremely dated organization like the Night’s Watch. So Jon is noble and can earn the respect of people. Meanwhile, Sansa’s leadership knowledge came from the likes of Cersei, Joffrey, and Littlefinger. So rather than a clash of “true born” versus “bastard”, this was simply a clash of leadership philosophies. I gleaned from the scenes at Winterfell that Jon and Sansa need each other desperately.

The rest of the episode revolved around setting things up. Daenerys returned home, Sam discovered an important truth in the Citadel, Euron Greyjoy began to court Cersei to create a formidable army, and the rest of our faves are gearing up for winter in all of its meanings. We spent a decent amount of time with Cersei, Jon Snow, and Arya, while we were updated on other remaining characters (Bran, Jorah) with haste. The structure didn’t feel imbalanced, though, as the stories that got the most screen time certainly felt the most important.

Though I certainly enjoyed reuniting with all of the characters I love (here’s looking at you, Tormund Giantsbane), the best two moments of the episode came at the beginning and the end. Arya taking out Walder Frey was a marvelously satisfying moment toward the end of the previous season, and that satisfaction grew stronger when she successfully poisoned every single person responsible for the death of her mother and brother. Of course, I recognized Walder Frey right away as “Faceless Arya” when the 7th season opened, but not being surprised didn’t take away one second of enjoyment.

The other best moment, of course, was watching Daenerys return to her home at Dragonstone. Perhaps the best part of that was simply that she didn’t speak until the last line (read: the first line of my article). So much was accomplished through silence and music that speech wasn’t necessary, and the expressive facial strokes from both Emilia Clarke and Peter Dinklage were more than enough dialogue for the scene.

Since I didn’t touch on every character, here are a few more brief thoughts on the episode:

• Euron Greyjoy is a sleazeball at best, but his not-so-subtle jabs at Jamie were hilarious.
• Having seen both Arya and The Hound in this episode, I think it’s incredible the lasting impact they’ve had on each other. I hope they will reunite this season.
• The Hound’s religious experience was *insert fire emojis here*. Get it? Fire?
• I want to go on record in my first review of this show to say how much I adore Samwell Tarly.
• The cameo by Ed Sheeran was a nice touch.
• This week’s best appearance of a character who had thirty seconds of screen time or less: Jorah. You didn’t even see his face!! Bonus points for that! (Runner up: Podrick. Love that guy).

I’m thrilled to be back in Westeros, ladies and gentlemen, and thrilled to be bringing you my thoughts on Game of Thrones each week for the next few months.

What did you guys think? Did you enjoy the episode? Let us know in the comments!

Game of Thrones airs Sundays at 9/8c on HBO