Game of Thrones – 8.01 – Winterfell
Yaaaaay, the
show has returned! A huge thank you the whopping 49 players who’ve chosen to
compete in the last ever Game of Thrones fantasy league. Brace yourselves for a
dramatic season! The premiere had a really strong showing for points, 1326
gained in total, thanks to all those reunions!
So much
happened in this premiere, there’s a lot to chew on. First and foremost, I’m
most troubled at how Cersei is back on the wine. She had been abstaining during
season 7 as she was pregnant. However she only volunteered that information to
her brothers, was that just a manipulative lie? Or is she actually pregnant and
just pretending to Euron that she’s not in order to pass the parentage of her
new incest-borne child off as someone who’s not her brother? Having new opening
titles makes sense, I like that we now have some scale of how many stairs are
in the Tower of the Hand at the Red Keep. Who knew Theon’s rescue mission would
resolve so quickly? All the quicker to get him to Winterfell but I hope this is
not the last of Yara! Theon going to Winterfell makes it look like he is in for
a redemptive and heroic death. Bit of an underwhelming non-reaction about the
news that Viserion is undead and under dominion of the Night King from Dany.
You could probably chalk it up to having no idea who Bran is but it’s a shame
this isn’t further discussed in the episode. The scene at Last Hearth was
petrifying, especially as I was watching with a crowd on a big screen, I’m
still haunted by the screams. I love the messiness of Samwell’s situation, I
didn’t see that coming. I’m pleased that finally someone other than Sansa is
challenging Jon now. Terrific steps forward in the narrative with Jon learning
to ride a dragon and who his parents are, I’m very hungry for next week’s
episode!
It’s
disappointing to see that Jon is making the same mistakes that got him killed
the first time. He doesn’t seem to have learned that in this war torn world,
when your leadership is not supported, your followers will abandon you, no
fucks given. When he invited the wildlings south of the wall, he expected the
brothers of the Night’s Watch to accept it because the clear alternative is
death at the hands of the Night King and his army. He overestimated the
obedience and future-planning of his followers and they killed him. Here he is
again, now resurrected and presenting his new followers with a parallel
situation and employing the same method. He’s so certain that his people will
abandon their entrenched prejudices and self-interests because that’s the only
way they can survive this war. That’s never the case, as history shows. Unfortunately,
despite being given a strong lesson that disillusioned and prejudiced people
are blind to thinking about the future, he’s heading for another harsh lesson.
He’ll be lucky to survive past the first half of this season. For this reason,
despite all the Chosen One narrative swirling around him, I believe Jon would
be a poor ruler of the Seven Kingdoms. I think the easiest way out of this knot
is if he were to fall in battle if/when the Army of the Dead reach Winterfell.
Possible points of contention
Despite
Jon’s newfound Targaryen lineage, the Stark siblings count as his blood
relatives as they are now his cousins. Daenerys is the Stark siblings’ aunt by
marriage so they do not gain points for interacting with each other.
Sansa and
Arya gain points for encountering the two dragons but they are the only two to
gain points as we do not see anyone else at Winterfell react to them. Everyone
in Daenerys’ retinue does not gain points as it’s clear the dragons have been
travelling with them.
Jon kisses
Bran’s forehead upon seeing him, giving them both kissing points.
I looked
very hard but couldn’t find any shot where Davos was arriving at Winterfell on
a horse, so he misses out on those points.
Although
they do not interact, Ser Jorah and Lyanna Mormont gain points for encountering
each other.
Lyanna’s
criticism of Jon provokes a fritter of murmurs from the other lords, but that’s
not enough to give her points for making an inspiring speech.
Jon goes to
the godswood but as he’s not explicitly praying, he does not gain points for
communing with a deity.
As the
Golden Company are from Essos, we can assume that Euron has crossed the Narrow
Sea to come back with them. As Yara is on the boat with him, we can also assume
that she also accompanied him on his journey.
I can’t tell
for sure, but I believe that is a brothel, not Bronn’s house, giving him and
Qyburn brothel points.
The
prostitute pulls down Bronn’s trousers which is sufficient for nudity points.
Although it is
callously interrupted after a few cursory thrusts, Bronn gains points for
having sex.
Cersei and
Euron gain sex points but not nudity as we can’t tell if they were naked when
doing so.
Euron’s boat
being moored in Blackwater Bay means that Yara and Theon gain points for
visiting Kings Landing.
Yara’s
headbutt is so powerful that Theon is knocked to his feet, docking them both
for injuries.
Although
they’re technically in a courtyard, Tyrion Davos and Varys gain points for
walking around a garden plotting.
Sansa, Jon
and Arya miss out on disagree with relative points, as they don’t technically
refute each other’s statements.
When
Daenerys meets Sam, she interrupts him as his head is over a book, giving him
“studies book” points
Jon gains
relative points for visiting Eddard’s bones. Lyanna’s tomb is featured too, so
they gain appearance points and points for encountering Jon too.
Tormund, Edd
and Beric gain witnesses magic points for witnessing Beric’s sword light up.
They do not get witnesses magic points for seeing the wight come back to life
as the boy had been reanimated before they arrived.
Jaime’s sigh
as he gets off his horse at the end of the episode is not sufficiently audible
for him to gain last line points. This instead goes to Tormund.
Character Scores
Here is a
full list of the characters and their awarded points. If one of your characters
does not appear in the following lists, this is due to their absence from the
episode, for which you shall be deducted five points per character:
Group A
Bran Stark –
65 points: appears (+5), encounters
previously lost blood relative (+30), has kiss (+15), last on screen (+15)
Daenerys
Targaryen – 55 points: appears (+5),
rides horse (+10), rides dragon (+25), has kiss (+15)
Jon Snow – 240 points: appears (+5), rides horse
(+10), 5x encounters previously lost blood relative (+30), 2x has kiss (+15),
mentions episode title (+10), unsheaves sword (+10), rides dragon (+25)
Group B
Arya Stark –
125 points: appears (+5), first on
screen of premiere (+30), 2x encounters dragon (+20), encounters previously
lost blood relative (+30), unsheaves sword (+10), mentions Valyrian steel (+10)
Cersei
Lannister – 32 points: appears (+5),
has sex (+20), drinks wine (+8)
Jaime
Lannister – 15 points: appears (+5),
rides horse (+10)
Sansa Stark
– 85 points: appears (+5), 2x
encounters dragon (+20), encounters previously lost blood relative (+30),
mentions episode title (+10)
Tyrion
Lannister – 50 points: appears (+5),
first line of premiere (+20), mentions episode title (+10), walks around a
garden plotting (+15)
Group C
Brienne of
Tarth – 5 points: appears (+5)
Samwell
Tarly – 83 points: appears (+5),
studies a book (+13), mentions lyanna (+25), mentions Rhaegar (+25), mentions
Iron Throne (+15)
Ser Davos
Seaworth – 20 points: appears (+5),
walks around a garden plotting (+15)
Ser Jorah
Mormont – 45 points: appears (+5),
rides horse (+10), encounters previously lost blood relative (+30)
Theon
Greyjoy – 50 points: appears (+5),
kills someone (-10), travels by boat (+15), visits Kings Landing (+15),
encounters previously lost blood relative (+30), gets injured (-5)
Varys – 20 points:
appears (+5), walks around a garden plotting (+15)
Group D
Gendry – 35 points: appears (+5), rides horse
(+10), mentions dragonglass (+10), mentions Valyrian steel (+10)
Missandei – 15 points: appears (+5), rides horse
(+10)
Sandor
Clegane – 15 points: appears (+5),
rides horse (+10)
Ser Bronn – 63 points: appears (+5), visits brothel
(+15), gets naked (+15), has sex (+20), drinks wine (+8)
Tormund
Giantsbane – 85 points: appears (+5),
unsheaves sword (+10), witnesses magic (+30), mentions episode title (+10),
encounters wight (+20), last line of episode (+10)
Group E
Beric
Dondarrion – 70 points: appears (+5),
unsheaves sword (+10), witnesses magic (+30), encounters wight (+20), kills
wight (+15)
Dolorus Edd
– 55 points: appears (+5), witnesses
magic (+30), encounters wight (+20)
Euron
Greyjoy – 105 points: appears (+5),
crosses Narrow Sea (+50), travels by boat (+15), visits Kings Landing (+15),
has sex (+20)
Grey Worm – 15 points: appears (+5), rides horse
(+10)
Lyanna
Mormont – 45 points: appears (+5),
encounters previously lost blood relative (+30), mentions episode title (+10)
Podrick
Payne – 5 points: appears (+5)
Qyburn – 20 points: appears (+5), visits brothel
(+15)
Ser Gregor
Clegane – 5 points: appears (+5)
Yara Greyjoy
– 120 points: appears (+5), crosses
Narrow Sea (+50), travels by boat (+15), visits Kings Landing (+15), encounters
previously lost blood relative (+30), inflicts harm (-5), mentions episode
title (+10)
Group F
Drogon – 12 points: appears (+5), eats (+7)
Rhaegal – 12 points: appears (+5), eats (+7)
Group G
Eddard Stark
– 35 points: appears (+5),
encounters previously lost blood relative (+30)
Lyanna Stark
– 35 points: appears (+5),
encounters previously lost blood relative (+30)
The Leaderboard
Congratulations
to SV who hits first place this week with 680 points! She finished season 7 in
second place and it looks like once again she has made some wise choices.
It will be
interesting to see if this lead can hold next week when we start getting into
the Joker episodes. See you back here next week for episode 8.02!
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