The Game of Thrones Awards, Season 7, Episode 1: What is Dead is…Yep, Still Dead, and Coming For Us All

We’ve been told over and over again this season starts at a breakneck pace, and the producers certainly have paid their debts—any complaints about slow-going season openers are gone for good. Cold opens are rare for this show, but winter is finally here, and we begin with a doozy: we open on the face of a man we know without shadow of a doubt is dead. I have to admit, my bitter fangirl heart thought for a split second we were flashing back to the Red Wedding itself and we would see what happened after Walder Frey’s speech and the ensuing bloodshed (aka, the potential return of a beloved/feared book character, whose identity I won’t spoil just in case we are graced with their presence later this season). But no, the moment I saw goblets of wine being passed around to all the gathered Freys, I knew: this was definitely Arya Stark about to kill everyone.
The Freys drink, except the wife, because “I won’t waste a good wine on a damn woman.” Excellent acting, Arya. But she reveals herself quickly, ridding herself of Walder’s face as the countless dying Freys choke and cough up their own blood. “Leave one wolf alive and the sheep are never safe,” she says, before walking out. Maisie Williams brings the fire here, with her dead, victorious eyes; a ghost among ghosts, as she leaves the hall that claimed the lives of her kin, very much alive but dead inside.
We move on to the true North, where the Night King and his army of the dead saunter through the snow as darkness rolls in their wake. (Did anyone catch if that giant accompanying them was Wun-Wun? I have to confirm on second watch, but I would have thought they had burned his body at the Wall.)
Speaking of, can we raise a glass to Meera F-ing Reed, please?! She finally gets Bran to the Wall, and a bewildered Doloros Edd lets them in—this is all we see of Bran this episode, but good to know he’s safe and our ragtag crew at the Wall are still part of the action.
Even though his watch has ended, Jon is still protecting the realm: this time as King of the North, though there’s some serious cold shoulder being given by Sansa—we’ll get to that in a minute. The issue on the table is dragonglass: they need to find it, mine it, and use it to kill the army of the dead. (A lovely double-meaning hidden in the title of course being that Dragonstone is a place, but also a thing, and something they’ll need a lot of very soon.)
The ladies of the North are quite hotheaded: my personal hero Lyanna Mormont returns to combat the patriarchy when men tremble at the idea of women fighting the army of the dead. Nevertheless, she persisted: this is an equal opportunity war, and everyone’s fighting in it. The Wildlings are being sent to Eastwatch by the Sea (and Tormund’s heart will break being separated from his lady love Brienne). Sansa is fighting too, but we aren’t quite sure for what: power, because she feels slighted since she’s the true blood Stark? To be fair, Jon does seem to be a bit of a know-it-all, pulling an “I’m the King and my word is law” to her in front of everyone when she insists that the surviving Umbers and Karstarks be rid of their lands and be punished for their treason
As much as I am on Sansa’s side, it was a telling moment when Jon called up the surviving Lord and Lady of those respective families—and for us to see two young children approach. Had Jon condemned them, he would have been condemning kids the same age Sansa was when she left Winterfell. Her wisdom comes from age and experience—and even she could not be blamed for her innocence all those years ago. Has she become more like Littlefinger than she would like to admit—willing to do what must be done in order to secure her own place? (The tension between Sansa and Baelish has also reached its peak—and she has become more elusive than him, at this point. I have no idea if Sansa intends to use his affections for her to her advantage, or string him along just long enough until she can cut him down. Or maybe, just maybe, she’s into him for real? Time will tell…)
Meanwhile, Cersei sends official notice: Jon must bend the knee or suffer—as if they won’t all suffer enough when the Night King comes, he basically says. But Sansa says Jon is too naïve to the ways of the world—and specifically, the ways of Cersei. She was right before, about Ramsay, and he would do well to listen to her again. “You almost sound as if you admire her,” Jon remarks, and Sansa can’t exactly refute the claim.
The Queen is not exactly in a good place, however; stitched up to the neck in a new costume closer to battle armor than a fashion statement, she is plotting on a newly painted map on one of the floors of the Red Keep. Information is being synthesized, at a very fast rate: she knows Tyrion lives and is with Dany, she knows that “Ellaria Sand and her brood of bitches” are against them as well, and that Greyjoys are divided, with Euron is coming her way. Jamie wants to discuss Tommen, but Cersei says he’s two-thousand and late and they need to move on from the past.
Euron (looking kind of hot for a big bad; it’s fine, I hate myself enough for all of us for thinking so) shows up with his proposal: his ships in exchange for his…you know what. Lots of great one liners from this guy, I can tell he’s going to be fun this season. “Here I am with a thousand ships and two good hands.” What a proposal! Any woman would swoon, but Cersei declines. Euron refuses to be friendzoned, and like he has all the time in the world, insists he’s going to come back with a gift—and I have a feeling he’s not running to the drugstore for a stale box of chocolates and a stuffed puppy.
Over in the Citadel, Sam is in his natural element—surrounded by books. But soon we see he’s surrounded by lots of other elements: namely, other people’s bodily fluids and various slop-like food. He’s not living his best life and certainly not learning what he needs to in order to defeat the Night King. There may be answers behind a locked door, but of course, he can’t get in. He tries to weasel his way in by cozying up to the Archmaester (Professor Slughorn!) but it doesn’t really work. “The wall has stood through it all, and every winter that ever came has ended.”
So when the music changed and my first thought was “why do I think Sam is about to break a rule?” it was because…he was! He steals a key from a Maester and books from the restricted section—to discover that at Dragonstone is, you guessed it, a mountain of Dragonglass! That will be useful for you know, saving the world.
We see Arya again riding through the Riverlands, beckoned by none other than the sweet sound of Ed Sheeran’s voice! (This cameo only felt slightly out of place because, well, it’s obviously Ed Sheeran, but he does sound pretty.) These Lannister soldiers happen to be very nice people with babies on the way and hobbies including making blackberry wine, so for some reason, Arya decides not to kill them. These guys are so jaded by King’s Landing they think her “I’m going to kill the Queen” line was a joke—but hey, I think we got our first real Arya smile since like season 1, so, thanks, Lannister soldiers!
Further North, the Hound and the Brotherhood Without Banners are riding…somewhere, I’m not sure where. But they come upon the keep where Arya and Sandor stopped for a meal before he robbed the man of his last bit of gold, knowing he and his daughter wouldn’t survive the winter. They didn’t, of course; their skeletons are rotting in the corner of the house, dead for who knows how long. Rory did some brilliant work here, showing the guilt the Hound feels for his previous treatment of people, but also not knowing how exactly to atone for it: certainly not religion, which he thinks is bogus…unless the Red God is on to something. At first when Thoros asked him to stare into the flames I thought the Hound was faking what he saw; but when it became clear his vision of a wall of ice and the dead marching past it was real, perhaps he became a believer. (Anyone else think there’s a double meaning behind his specific use of the word “mountain,” too?)
One of the best surprises of the episode: Jorah Mormont’s Greyscale-infected hand jutting out from within one of the sick rooms at the Citadel, asking Sam whether the Dragon Queen had come yet. Things aren’t looking so good for him.
But yes, the Dragon Queen has come—home, at least, to the place her ancestors founded thousands of years ago. This silent sequence of scenes was so impactful as Dany and her regalia, all cloaked in blue so dark it looks black, surrounded by sky as they ascend her birthright. The symbolism of the great height of Dragonstone when the doors open was apparent—she’s finally here, so close to what she wants, and yet it still eludes her, high in the sky. There’s still so far to climb. But Dany is finally ready—she takes it in, all of it, before saying the words that will lead us into the wars to come: “Shall we begin?”
Quotable Quotes:
“”When people ask you what happened here, tell them the North remembers. Tell them winter came for house Frey.” —Arya
“I don’t plan on knitting by the fire while men fight for me.” —Lyanna Mormont
“Murdering them would make me feel a lot better.” —Euron Greyjoy
“No need to seize the last word, Lord Baelish. I’ll assume it was something clever.” —Sansa Stark
“I’ll tell you what doesn’t scare me. Bald c********rs like you. You think you’re fooling anyone with that topknot? Bald c***.” —The Hound
Awards!
This week’s “We Missed You And Wish You Weren’t Murdered in Horrifying Fashion” award goes to Catelyn Stark. (Still holding out hope, guys!)
The latest “Weak Sauce of the Week” award goes to Jamie Lannister. Seriously, dude? You’re just going to let her get away with not discussing your kid’s suicide? Man up.
My first (and possibly only) “Best Hispter” award goes to Thoros of Myr. Love that topknot.
And, following tradition, a haiku from Petyr Baelish:
I screwed up real bad
I made Lady Sansa sad
I’m screwed.