Game of Thrones - Season 7 Episode 1 Recap
Spoiler Warning
Over the past few seasons I've noticed Game of Thrones is notorious for having an especially boring first episode. This may be due to the extreme excitment of waiting a year and half or just a lot of recap/setup. Either way, they broke this trend with "Dragonstone". After an exhausting end to season 6, this season has been as highly anticipated as any season premiere to date.
After the victory in the Battle of the Bastards and the impending reunion of the Stark children, this was a pretty obvious place to start. Arya made her triumphant return, all but ending House Frey in an impressive display that would make the Many-Faced God blush.
After a continued display of intimidating numbers from the Night King and his horde of white walkers, we see Bran finally reach the Wall. With a safe distance between him and Winterfell we should hopefully expect him to be reunited with Sansa and Jon sooner, rather than later. This will be a welcomed addition and may help to keep the delicate balance between Sansa and Jon and their differing ideas on how to rule.
Cersei seems as off kilter as ever, while Jamie tries to reign her back in. You can see his internal struggle knowing she's beginning to sound like the Mad King he once had to put down. Personally, I think he'll be the younger brother from her prophecy. Cersei reveals her new potential allies; The Greyjoys. Euron Greyjoy, my new favorite "love to hate" character, makes an offer of marriage to Cersei that she quickly declines. Euron sets off to bring her a "gift" to win her trust. Wonder what that could be, does he have an ace up his sleeve or is he being a tad overconfident with his newly acquired fleet?
We next check in with Samwell in Oldtown. His maester training seems to be going about as well as Theon's stay at Hotel Ramsay (We felt about as sick as Samwell whilst he completed his... duties). Hard at work searching for clues of dragonglass in The Citadel's library, Sam eventually finds a clue of a massive store of the material in what seems like the most obvious place; Dragonstone.
Arya has a nice little scene with some Lannisters, including Ed Shereen. She reveals her intentions to head to Kings Landing to kill Cersei. This means she will NOT be heading to Winterfell to reunite with the rest of the Stark kids. She also won't be reuniting with my favorite "love to hate, turned love to love" character, The Hound. Traveling with the Thoros of Myr and his "Light Lovers", he returns to the site of a previous crime and shows true remorse. His character arc is one of the best from the series.
Last, but certainly not least, the moment we've all been waiting for, Dany's triumphant return to the place of her birth (Dragonstone, last held by Stannis Baratheon). A moment long in the making and the beginning of what promises to be one of the most exciting to date. A huge moment in the series and a culmination of 6 seasons. Sundays are back and they couldn't have gotten here sooner.