Game of Thrones airs at 9 p.m. ET on HBO Go and HBO Now, Hulu, Amazon Prime Video, and more streaming services. Here’s what happened to Jon, Dany, Arya, Tyrion, Bran, Jamie in the season 8 premiere, episode 1,
The eighth and final season of Game of Thrones kicked off on Sunday at 9 p.m. ET with a new title sequence, new alliances, and new theories as to who, if anyone, will sit on the Iron Throne when the dust (and snow) settles.
Leading up to each episode of Season 8, we’ll be going deep on what happened last week with watchthroughs and recaps. We’ll also lay out what to expect in Sunday’s episode, plus how to watch Game of Thrones on your streaming service of choice.
Spoiler warning: These next two sections contain spoilers for the first episode of Game of Thrones season 8, “Winterfell.” If you still need to catch up, scroll down to the last section, or check out our post on how to watch the season premiere.
Season 8 begins very similarly to season 1, with a royal visit to Winterfell, the seat of the North that gives this episode its title. “Winterfell” does a lot of stage setting, getting our heroes into position for the coming faceoff(s) and clarifying where they stand.
White Walkers breach the wall and move further south, bringing their mysterious magic with them. Theon Greyjoy continues his redemptive arc by rescuing his sister from the sadistic Ramsay Bolton. Tensions arise between Sansa Stark, now the Lady of Winterfell, and Queen Daenerys, who wastes no time in flexing her power. Jamie Lannister arrives at Winterfell and the first thing he sees is the piercing stare of Brandon Stark, now the Three-Eyed Raven, who he recognizes as the boy he tried to murder by defenestration. And a long awaited reunion between Jon and Arya feels bittersweet, as we’re confronted with how much these two, who grew up as siblings, have changed since they last saw each other…
But about that siblings thing. The biggest revelation from last week’s episode came when Sam revealed to Jon, who lived his whole life as the bastard of Winterfell, that he’s in fact the trueborn son of Rhaegar Targaryen and Lyanna Stark and therefore has the strongest claim to the Iron Throne.
