May 20, 2019 - GAME OF THRONES season 8, episode 6 will be available to watch on a. Game of Thrones ending: Will one of these THREE take the Iron. “Game of Thrones, the finest HBO series, is heading into its final season,” Seaon 8 will premier 6 episodes. HBO said in a November press release. “In forecast of the final season, HBO is launching #ForTheThrone, a worldwide marketing campaign that will unwind over the months leading to the final season.”.
This post contains spoilers for Game of Thrones Season 8, Episode 1.
1.First up, let's talk about those shiny new credits! Even the astrolabe has changed. We now see it depicting scenes of the Wall coming down...
...The Red Wedding...
...And the birth of Dany's dragons.
2.As for the map, it's now in much more high def, and its journey begins at the Wall – with its giant chunk missing – and heads straight to Last Hearth, the holdfast of House Umber.
The credits then move on to Winterfell, and rather than panning over the top as usual, we get to go inside the castle. The sequence focuses on the godswood, the Great Hall, and the crypts.
We then see the new version of the Red Keep at King's Landing, and get a peek inside to the scorpion weapon facing the dragon skulls (ominous!!!) before gliding into the throne room.
3.Onto the episode itself. It opens with a scene that parallels the moment in Season 1, Episode 1 when Robert Baratheon, Cersei Lannister and their entourage arrive at Winterfell (right down to using the same music). Only this time it's Jon and Daenerys arriving looking REGAL AF.
Like the pilot, Arya is separate from her family, watching amongst the crowd.
She smiles as she sees a little boy excitedly climbing a tree to get a better view of the procession.
And as before, Arya looks rather concerned when she spots the Hound – only this time around it's a whole lot more complicated.
Jon is the first to approach the Starks, just as Robert was.
He's followed by his queen, who like Cersei gets a less-than-warm welcome from the Starks – and who is equally unimpressed.
Jon asks Sansa where Arya is, as Catelyn did in the pilot.
And, of course, Jon is finally reunited with Bran, and greets him with a forehead kiss that parallels the way he said goodbye to him in Season 1, Episode 2.
4.Speaking of reunions, we also get one between Arya and Jon which is VERY emotional, and also parallels Jon and his sibling's farewell.
They even discuss Needle, which Jon gave to Arya before they both left Winterfell.
5.That's not the only big reunion Arya has in this episode, though. She also reunites with Gendry AND the Hound.
By the way, this isn't the first time all three of these characters have been together – Arya and Gendry were actually captured by the Brotherhood at the same time the Hound was back in Season 3.
Arya and the Hound have a conversation that references the last time they saw each other.
Remember, at the end of Season 4, the Hound fights Brienne over who will protect Arya. When the Hound loses, Arya leaves him to die – but not before stealing his money.
But back to Gendry! His and Arya's conversation calls back to their past in the most wonderful way, riffing off the 'my lady' joke Gendry made when he discovered Arya was a Stark.
It's safe to say the 'as you wish' is also a reference to The Princess Bride, which is like the peak of my interests colliding just quietly.
The 'my lady' thing is a theme that has run through Gendry and Arya's relationship – significantly in their farewell scene in Season 3.
The whole class divide is reiterated by Gendry in a joking way after he clocks her Valyrian steel dagger, but Arya dismisses it (and it's flirty as hell!).
HBOIt's quite a warm and lovely scene and surprisingly satisfying, after so much build up. It also seems to be setting up for more of a romance between Gendry and Arya (HERE'S HOPING).
Oh, and if you wanted a better look at the dragonglass weapon Arya asks Gendry to make, here it is:
6.Arya's not the only Stark sister getting all the reunions, of course. We also see Sansa reunite with Tyrion.
7.Moving to King's Landing for a moment, and Bronn's scene with the sex workers has a few Easter eggs. First of all, they talk about the fate of 'ginger Eddie' at the Battle of the Goldroad.
HBO
The scene also echoes the moment in Season 1, Episode 1 when Jaime interrupts Tyrion's sexcapades at the behest of Cersei. This time, it's Qyburn interrupting Bronn because Cersei wants something – she wants to him to kill Jaime and Tyrion. With the crossbow Tyrion used to kill Tywin.
8.Speaking of Cersei, the post-coital scene with Euron is hard to read. He touches her belly, claiming he's going to put a prince on it, which suggests that she slept with him to cover up the fact that Jaime already impregnated her.
9.While Euron is occupied, Theon rescues Yara. He splits a guard's head with an axe, just as Yara did when she attempted to rescue him back in Season 4.
Speaking of Theon, he looks the most Theon he has since Ramsay Bolton captured him. And he's off to fight for the Starks at Winterfell.
10.Back in the North, Jon rides a dragon! Which is a hint at his Targaryen heritage.
And it's not just any dragon, but RHAEGAL. You know, the dragon named after his father, Rhaegar Targaryen!
When they land, Dany is awed by a waterfall and expresses her desire to stay there with Jon, in a moment that echoes the cave scene (complete with waterfall!) with Ygritte.
11.Jon returns to Winterfell to discover Lord Glover is being fickle again and refusing to fight with the Starks – or, more specifically, the Targaryens.
HBOJon quotes Lord Glover's pledge to him from Season 6 directly, and Sansa throws it back at him, emphasising that Lord Glover pledged to serve the King in the North. Jon, meanwhile, talks about how titles don't matter – which could indicate how he'll deal with the news Sam breaks to him about his parentage.
12.It's interesting that the big reveal about Jon Snow's identity takes place in the crypts at Winterfell, echoing the moment Ned and Robert stood there in Season 1, Episode 1. Significantly, Jon is first seen standing with Ned's statue looming over his shoulder...
But then, as Jon learns the truth, he moves closer to Lyanna's statue.
13.Over to the scene at Last Hearth. Tormund and Beric, having survived the fall of the Wall, have made their way there, as have Edd and the remainders of the Night's Watch from Castle Black. They discover the White Walkers have already been there – and left a message for them.
It calls back to the body part 'art' they left in Season 1, Episode 1 – a scene which also included an attack from a wight child.
The spiral pattern has been seen repeatedly through the series in connection with the White Walkers...
And it also interestingly resembles the Targaryen sigil.
14.Finally, we have the scene with Bran and Jaime – who, it turns out, is the 'old friend' Bran was waiting for.
Jaime arrives at Winterfell in a moment that parallels his first entrance at the beginning of Season 1 – which makes the difference between who he was then and who he is now all the more stark.
Jaime seems almost nostalgic to be back at Winterfell – until he sees Bran, and is immediately reminded of the horrible things he did 'for love' the last time he was there.
All in all, it was a pretty epic set-up episode for the final season of Game of Thrones. I can't wait to see what happens next.
Need more Game of Thrones before next week's episodes? Check out all our Game of Thrones coverage here.
Which ‘Game of Thrones’ character would you pair with these wines?
HBO teamed up with Vintage Wine Estates (VWE) and winemaker Bob Cabral to create a set of wines for its blockbuster show. The selection of wines includes a Chardonnay, a Cabernet Sauvignon, a Pinot Noir, and a red blend.
The final season of 'Game of Thrones' has arrived, and it was everything fans could have hoped for and more.
[Spoiler Alert: The remainder of this article will discuss Season 8, Episode 1 of “Game of Thrones”]
The premiere was peppered with surprising humor and fulfilling reunions, as all the main characters reunite in the Northern city of Winterfell to join forces against the Night King and his Army of the Dead, which threaten the very existence of the seven kingdoms.
The episode begins with Jon Snow and Daenerys Stormborn entering Winterfell escorted by the Unsullied, and Khaleesi immediately feels the disapproval of the Northerners and Jon's sister Sansa. The tense moment is broken up by Daenerys' two remaining dragons flying over the city, as its residents look on in awe.
Jon finally reunites with the remaining siblings that he grew up with – Arya and Bran – who he long thought to be dead. His rejoining with Arya is a particularly heartwarming moment, as the two were particularly close in their younger years. We see a rare moment of vulnerability from Arya as she's nearly brought to tears as the two embrace and she shows him that she still has the sword he gave her many seasons ago, Needle. Unbeknowst to Jon, she's used it throughout her life to deliver an untimely fate to many who crossed her.
Tyrion Lannister reunites with his ex-wife Sansa, and the two have a conversation that is charming as it is intense. The last time they saw each other was at King Joffrey's wedding, when he was poisoned and killed. Sansa fled and Tyrion was jailed and nearly killed by Cersei, who believed she was responsible for her son’s gruesome death.
Cersei makes her first appearance in the show soon after, as she's confronted with Euron Greyjoy, who was the only member of the main families to pledge his honor to her. His intention is made immediately clear — he wants to be with Cersei, and isn't shy about it. His arrogance pays off, and the two end up in bed together. Euron asks Cersei how his performance stacks up to her brother, something she bristles at but ultimately respects for his brazenness. He tells Cersei he's going to 'give her a prince' — without knowing that she's already pregnant with her brother Jaime's child.
![Season Season](/uploads/1/2/4/6/124692086/794680703.jpg)
We then see Sir Bronn of the Blackwater for the first time, as Cersei's hand approaches him while in his favorite place, the brothel, and tells him that Cersei wants him to kill her brothers Jaime and Tyrion should they survive their trip in the North.
The show then pivots to the only violent scene of the first episode, as Theon Greyjoy rescues his sister Yara from where she's being held captive by their uncle Euron. He triumphantly slashes the other Iron-born guarding her, and unties her. She responds by headbutting him to the ground — likely payback for jumping ship, literally, when she was first taken captive. In typical 'Game of Thrones' fashion, the two quickly make up and Yara tells Theon to go to Winterfell to fight for the Starks — the family who truly raised him.
Things really begin to pick up after that, as we see Jon and Daenerys together once again. Jon is able to ride her dragon, Rhagal, which reinvigorates what we learned last season: that Jon is actually a Targaryan. The two ride dragons together to an icy waterfall and share a passionate kiss.
In an emotional scene that follows, Daenerys meets Sam Tarly for the first time, to thank him for healing her faithful mentor, Jorah Marmot, who was infected with greyscale. Darnerys then comes to the realization that Sam is the son of Randyll Tarly and brother of Dickon, who Daenerys controversially killed for refusing to bend the knee last season.
Sam is heartbroken and finds Jon — and tells him the secret the 'Game of Thrones' fan base have been keeping. Jon is actually the son of Raegar Targaryan and Lyanna Stark, making him Daenerys' nephew, and the true heir to the Iron Throne.
Jon attempts to defend Daenerys' honor and say that it would be treason for him to take it from her.
'It's the truth,' Sam argues.
Regardless of who takes the Iron Throne, the true enemy is still the Night King, who destroyed The Wall at the end of the previous season. We're delighted to find that a number of core characters have survived the attack, including the Wildling Tormund. They discover a shocking message from the Night King - a boy nailed to the wall surrounded by severed limbs. He then awakens – screeching – and the men are forced to set him on fire.
The episode concludes with a reunion that fans have been waiting for since season one. Earlier on, Bran sits in his wheelchair outside in the cold, and tells Sam that he's waiting on an old friend.
As you may remember, Bran is handicapped because in the first-ever episode of 'Game of Thrones,' he climbs to the top of a tower and witnesses Cersei and her twin brother Jaime having sex. Jaime then pushes him from the tower, crippling him and setting him on the bizarre course of his supernatural character's development.
We finish the episode by seeing Jaime riding into Winterfell and being greeted by none other than Bran - the first time the two have seen each other since.
A trailer for the next episode reveals an impending attack from the White Walkers - so stay tuned for another recap with Fox News next week.