Fans and news outlets give their first impressions of the season 7 premiere (beware SPOILERS)

“Dragonstone,” the first episode of Game of Thrones season 7, premiered for a select audience in LA last night, and now, numerous outlets are writing up their impressions. General response was positive, like so:

We’ll get to more detailed impressions later. And be forewarned: some of them involve SPOILERS, or details that are close enough. First, let’s check in with some of the cast members Variety interviewed on the red blue carpet, starting with Sophie Turner talking about Game of Thrones spinoffs.

So Turner is into a Tyrion-and-Bronn spinoff. Jerome Flynn, the man himself, is all for Bronn and Dany getting their own show. “I’m busy writing that right now.” If only.

Back to Turner, she revealed her impossible dream for Sansa.

John Bradley (Sam) agrees with Turner’s pessimism.

Another popular question: how do you feel now that Game of Thrones is ending?

Liam Cunningham (Davos) is a little less optimistic about life after Thrones. “My bank manager’s really scared.”

Jerome Flynn (Bronn), meanwhile, will miss his viewing parties.

Isaac Hempstead Wright (Bran) named Hodor’s death as the biggest shock of the show, as Sophie Turner talks into a record-mad-bob in the background.

Liam Cunningham (Davos) also revealed his pics for most shocking moments. Unsurprisingly, they have more to do with his own arm on the show.

What fan theory does Wright like best? It involves time travel.

Indira Varma (Ellaria Sand) describes season 7 as a season where “the ball that never stops rolling is about to hit the immovable post.” I’m going to have to use that expression more often.

Jacob Anderson (Grey Worm) works through his conflicted feelings about there only being 13 episodes of the show left.

And Richard Dormer (Beric Dondarrion) says what we all could have guessed. Season 7 will have “a lot of death. A lot.”

Okay, now let’s get into some episode impressions, starting after this video of Game of Thrones posing the house down.

Access Hollywood also got in a lot of video interviews. Let’s start with Kit Harington, discussing how Jon would react when and if he finds out about his real parents and teasing a bigger role for Lyanna Mormont.

Next, Sophie Turner discussed her mixed feelings about the coming end of the show and teased how Sansa Stark will deal with her newfound power in season 7.

Nikolaj Coster-Waldau talks about Jaime’s continually complicated relationship with his sister-lover.

What about Brienne of Tarth, the other woman in Jaime’s life? Gwendoline Christie talks about Brienne’s burgeoning independence, and her ongoing connections with Podrick Payne and Tormund Giantsbane.

This is off the red carpet, but the two of them doubled up for a fun joint interview about Jaime and Brienne’s complicated relationship. Jaime only has complicated relationships.

What does the future hold for Grey Worm and Missandei? Ask Jacob Anderson and Nathalie Emmanuel.

Finally, Isaac Hempstead Wright talks about the valuable lessons Bran learned in season 6 (no one unsupervised visions) and how they’ll affect his journey in season 7.

Now, media outlets lucky enough to attend the premiere were forbidden from revealing plot points, but some details can tide us over until Sunday. For example, The Telegraph teased a cold open that got a huge audience reaction — it involved “a notorious plotter addressing his followers.”

"Then, a shift in tone, and a swift massacre – without actual violence – and a dramatic unveiling prompting wild applause and gleeful cheers."

A cold open, for those who aren’t aware, is a scene that plays before the opening credits, which is rare but not unheard of on Game of Thrones. As for what scene is being described above, people who pay attention to SPOILERS probably have a few guesses. (For the love of god, don’t click that link if you don’t want to know more.)

Speaking of the opening credits, The Telegraph also says that, now that most of the main players are concentrated in one region, the opening credits have changed. Translation: we probably won’t be seeing Essos on the map anymore.

As for tone, The Telegraph says that there’s “a palpable crescendo and sense of foreboding running through this penultimate season premiere.” Well, with an undead menace marching on humanity, that’s only to be expected. But there are funny moments, too, including “a whimsical cameo from a British musical star” and “the introduction of some new – and yet wholly familiar – faces.” We’re pretty sure we know who the musical star is, but the bit about the new-old faces is a mystery.

GQ wrote up its impressions, as well, noting that there are almost no new cast members in the mix and that Lyanna Mormont has a crowd-pleasing scene. And although press outlets are forbidden from revealing plot points, GQ unveiled two pretty big ones in its write-up:

• Joe Dempsie, who was at the event, will be back on the show this year as Gendry, although “you’ll have to wait until mid-way through to find out the significance of his role.”
• The final line of “Dragonstone” is “Shall we begin?” GQ will only say that the line is spoken by “a major cast member,” but c’mon — it doesn’t take a genius to figure out who it is.

Next: Red Carpet Rundown: The Game of Thrones season 7 premiere event

“Dragonstone” airs this Sunday, July 16, when we can put all of these mysteries to rest.