Small Council: What did we think of “Winterfell”?

The first episode of Game of Thrones season 8 is in the tank. What did we think? What did we like? What didn’t we like? What do you think?

DAN: Game of Thrones is back! For one last time. Such bittersweetness.

You know what? I’m feeling so good I’m gonna break out the bullet points.

• Episode MVP: It’s gotta be Samwell Tarly. John Bradley really had me feeling for Sam when Daenerys told him how she executed his father and brother. Sure, his father was a dick, but you can’t just undo the ties that bind at will. When Sam told Jon about his true heritage, he was on a mission. Just great work all around.
• High point: Honestly, I think the high point is the Sam stuff, but I already talked about that. I loved the Jon-Arya reunion, but I’m gonna go with that opening sequence. I am a total sucker for depictions of children being inspired. I don’t know what it is. My favorite part of The Last Jedi is the very end, when that random kid stands up for the Resistance. So I loved that we started on an anonymous boy who just wanted to see the huge strange army marching to Winterfell. Then were all the callbacks to the series premiere, the little Missandei-Grey Worm moment, Arya Stark giving us face for days as important people from her life passed by, everyone’s reaction to the dragons…all of that was really well done.
• Low point: Well, almost all of the opening was well-done. They’ve gonna start the final season of Game of Thrones with Tyrion telling a joke about how Varys doesn’t have balls? Really, show? That’s seriously played out by now. I could forgive it if the joke was funny, but…
• Divisive point: Can we talk about the dragonflight sequence for a minute? I loved it and I dreaded it. I loved it because the visuals were kapow — I was grinning like an idiot the first time I watched it, as Jon swooped and swerved around snowy crags — and I dreaded it because it’s pretty cheesy; I can’t be the first person to think of the “Whole New World” scene from Aladdin. It’s way more exuberant than this show usually allows. But what saved it for me were the undertones. Right before this sequence, Varys tells us that “nothing lasts.” At the end, Drogon — an objectively terrifying monster — fixes Jon with an ambiguous glare. And Dany and Jon aren’t flying over beautiful mountains and rivers but a white wasteland. The sequence was bouncy fun, but everyone is headed for a fall. The episode remembered that.

That ending was great, too. “Waiting for an old friend,” indeed. I thought this was a strong, measured start to the final season. How about y’all?

Cory T: I wrote a big ol’ article about the problems I had with the season 8 premiere. I try not to be captain negative, so now I’ll just write about the things I liked about the episode. And I’ll use bullet points because Dan did.

• All the parallels with the first episode were awesome and they really highlight just how much Westeros has changed in such a short amount of time.
• John Bradley! Dan touched on all this, but seriously, they gave Sam a lot of screen time to process emotions and it was one of the best parts of the episode. He really nailed it.
• The Arya and Jon reunion was nice.
• Sansa got maybe the best line in the episode with her response to Tyrion saying the Purple Wedding was an ugly affair. “It had it’s moments.” Damn right it did.
• Dragon-riding was super cool even if they totally botched letting us know just how significant it was.
• The memes that came from Bran being a weirdo.
• Bronn getting the crossbow is some classic foreshadowing. Looking forward to him riding north.
• Even though it was kind of rushed, the Arya/Hound and Arya/Gendry reunions were nice. What are we going to call Arya/Gendry shippers? Gendrya?
• Bran waiting for Jaime all night just to stare him down. Makes you wonder just how much Stark is left in Bran.
• Ghost was nowhere to be found which I loved because it really pisses off book nerds like David.

The episode was overall enjoyable, mostly because of the copious amounts of fan service we got. Despite all the problems, we’ll probably look back on episode 1 (and most likely 2 as well) with a smile because about half these folks are going to die real soon. Overall, I’d give the episode a B-. Could have been better, but there was plenty of setup that I have (some) faith will pay off well.

RAZOR: First of all: How dare you, Cory Thone; Ghost is life. Now, let’s get to my bullet points, because of course, Dan started it. And yeah, I’m so over the negativity aimed at this episode so I’m going super-positive, no Ghost notwithstanding.

• MVP: John Bradley killed it this episode. He went from happy and pleased to be in the presence of Queen Daenerys Targaryen to sad and despondent in just a few seconds. And he did it all with his facial expressions. Bravo, John Bradley.
• Best Scene: I know I’ll take flack for this, but it was part of the dragon riding scene when Drogon and Daenerys sharply dove into that canyon, and then Rhaegal and Jon followed. If I were watching that on an IMAX screen, I would have blown chunks because, on my 61″ television, it had my stomach in my throat. Amazing work by the CGI team.
• Best Reunion: Jon and Arya, duh. That hug when she drops her serious Faceless Man mask and turns into that innocent little girl from season 1…it just melted my heart. And when she advises Jon not to forget that he’s part of the Stark family, she lays her face on his shoulder and closes her eyes. That’s pure adoration and familial love at its best, folks.
• Funniest Moment: The dragons acting hungry after 18 goats and eleven sheep, then watching Jon and Dany make out. As an owner of three lovely cats, I could totally relate to those scenes. To a cat, a half-full bowl of food is empty, and no matter how hard you try, one or all them are going to find a way to make it awkward when you’re making out with your significant other.
• Most Questionable Moment: Ned Umber White Walker art. Like, why leave that “message” on the wall in Last Hearth if the Night King knows all the living are at Winterfell? Did he know Beric, Tormund, and Edd would come through for a visit? What’s the purpose of it all, and why was I so hungry for shrimp cocktail afterward? Still, it was a terrifying moment that was pulled off flawlessly, so, I’m staying positive.
• Needs More Improvement: Maester Wolkan. Dude can’t even keep up with a kid in a wheelchair inside a massive castle without a single ramp. Get it together, Wolkan.

SARAH: If everyone else is doing bullet points, I guess I’ll hop on the bandwagon. Things like the Jon/Arya reunion and Jon Bradley’s stellar, believable, touching performance have already been covered in detail, so I’m going to diverge a little.

• I think this episode did an excellent job in setting up the heel turn that I have been positive was coming for Daenerys since season 4. It thrust a power-hungry ruler with a hefty god complex and expectations of blind obedience into a setting where the people were disinterested, distrustful and disinclined to listen to her, and we see from the beginning that she was instantly annoyed by the lack of enthusiastic welcome. Then add Sansa, the first powerful woman Daenerys has ever encountered who isn’t a straightforward enemy but also does not recognize her as a superior, and the North’s respect for her. Finally, throw in Jon’s parental bombshell and superior claim to the Iron Throne, and I can’t help but believe that she’s sitting firmly on the dark side of the coin the gods apparently flip whenever a Targaryen is born. I’m sure this take isn’t going to win me friends, but it’s the only one that presents itself to me when I watch the show, so I can’t lie and pretend that I don’t believe it will happen.
• I got a real sense of Bran’s importance while watching this episode. I know he’s often the subject of memes and this episode has left the general GOT fandom with a lot to work with, but I felt his influence all over the final scenes and I think it’s beyond wild that he never seems to be talked about as a vital player at this late stage. I’ve never held with the belief that he was a heartless robot boy and I still don’t hold with it now. I think he has become something of a manipulator in his own right, because it seems too pointed to me that he would appear before Sam at the precise moment he exited the Winterfell library in an emotional tailspin. Jaime didn’t turn up until daylight, so why was Bran — who can see what’s happening in any location and at any given time — already waiting for him in the night? I think he knows more than he’s letting on and I think he chose his moment — at a time when Sam was vulnerable and angry and clearly open to accepting any ruler but Daenerys — extremely well. If the White Walkers are the only thing that matter, why was it so pressing for Jon to know his parentage at that precise moment? Whatever he’s doing, I don’t believe we’ve seen the extent of his powers or his importance in the great battle to come, and it’s a shame that he’s not taken more seriously.
• The Gendry/Arya reunion was the most exciting thing and I was squealing like the romance loving girl I am throughout. Their chemistry was the best I’ve seen since Jon and Ygritte first met, Arya can definitely add seduction to her list of special skills, and now that they’re both adults, I really need them to fulfill the late king Robert’s wish to unite the houses of Stark and Baratheon. Then they can sail off into the sunset, looking for what’s west of Westeros.
• The dragon riding sequence — while I know that it’s going to be important in episodes to come — was awkward and cheesy. It made me think of the Hippogriff riding scene in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. They ought to have done a freeze-frame on Jon’s face a la Harry when he rides the firebolt at the end, just to top off the unintended comedy.
• I agree with Dan that Tyrion’s joke re: Varys’s nonexistent testicles was flat and unfunny, but it’s also ironic that he’d made jokes about Varys’ private parts when he’s seemed rather emasculated himself for quite some time. Am I the only one who has grown tired of seeing Tyrion slouch around like he’s been defeated somehow? He used to be dynamic and witty and reasonably confident, despite the unhealthy influence of his family. Now it seems as if all of that electricity has been wrung out of him, and while I’ve been aware of that for some time, it took Sansa (who was excellent all episode) pointing out his folly to really drive that realization home. For the sake of his character, who deserves to go out with a bang, not a whimper, I hope he gets his mojo back soon.

RICHARD: It was good.

Oh, okay. I guess I have to say a little more than that. No bullet points.

“Winterfell” was a nicely-crafted season premiere, but it won’t ever make anyone’s “Top Twenty Best Thrones Episodes” list. I think the showrunners did a good job handling so many static character reunions and introductions and I was surprised at how much great humor this installment offered. The stately pace, including the opening march of Daenerys’ army into Winterfell, allowed viewers to reconnect with Westeros and the many story threads now intertwining.

Yet I’m already worried that the decision to end this series with a six-episode season was the wrong one. While some character interactions felt full and rich (Jon/Arya, Tyrion/Sansa) others felt reduced to quick, obligatory glances just to remind us those characters are still there. Arya and the Hound needed more space, and Jon and Samwell barely got in a hug before Sam had to explode major story-twisting-fireworks all over him.

Some characters are relegated to the sidelines and may never recover, including Ser Davos, Jorah.  Missandei and Gendry. Varys has all but disappeared, and Tyrion is wandering around without much purpose (he’s done that for a while now), making lots of miscalculations when he used to be “the cleverest man alive,” as Sansa notes. There are so many characters linked together in one place now; it seems reasonable to give us time to plug into them again before they start being killed off.

I want to spend time with the characters I’ve grown to know and love over the last decade. I’m worried that with the amount of screen time dedicated to battles in the remaining five episodes, despite some longer running times, I’m not going to get it. It’s all about the time. Game of Thrones has always, always been about the wonderful characters, and I fear the swan song will be little more than a quick stab to the heart. Maybe not. I must be trusting.

And that long dragon-flying courtship ritual with Jon and Dany was fun but really CHEESY (I’d have preferred a long, contentious face-off between Sansa and Dany).

What did you all think of “Winterfell”? Vote in our poll below!

Episode 802 airs this Sunday at 8:00 p.m. See you then!

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