I began watching Game of Thrones back in 2012. The first season had already finished airing at the time and a new friend I had made at University recommended I give it a go. Being a cynic, I went in with very low hopes but decided to give it a go anyway. So, I sat and watched Winter is Coming and as that first episode finished, I was hooked. I went on to binge the first season and, starving for more content, I turned my gaze to the books. Now here I am seven years later as one of those pesky book readers that has been left out in the cold, but thankfully, the warmth of the show has kept me going.
It has been a bit of a tumultuous ride since the source material ran out for showrunners David Benioff and D. B. Weiss. Season seven had many criticisms levelled at it, some deserved, some not so much, and after that rocky season came to a close we were left with an almost two-year break and the promise of 6 longer episodes to wrap everything up. Cue one of my favourite TV moments in recent history, the day of release for Season 8 episode 1 – Winterfell. I could feel the excitement in the air wherever I went. Here in Australia, Game of Thrones airs at 10am during work hours on Mondays, so most of us have to avoid the internet for the entire day lest we meet the face of a spoiler. This almost always leaves me on edge, knowing I could just look down at the GOT subreddit and have all my questions answered. I survived the day unscathed, made it home and sat down to watch the episode straight away. As the first note of the spectacular theme music chimed, I was back in Westeros.
Originally, I had planned to review each episode, but after the first, I just couldn’t find the right words. Instead, I set my sights on a big wrap up at the end of the season containing my overall thoughts. However, after the third episode, those plans have again flown out of the window. Here’s my compromise: a two-part review beginning here. A note: I’m including spoilers. STOP READING HERE if you haven’t watched the episodes yet.
Episode one and two of season eight can be summarised simply as reunions and resolutions. Winterfell opens with everyone finally arriving at, well, Winterfell. The opening is a brilliant homage to the opening sequence at Winterfell in the very first episode back in season one, managing to hit all the same beats throughout. From here, the episode provides many long-awaited reunions, most notably an emotional reunion between Jon Snow and Arya, someone that he has not seen since leaving for the Wall all those years ago. Capping off the final seconds of the episode Bran and Jamie come face to face with a beautiful 10-second silent performance from Nikolaj Coster-Waldau portraying ultimate guilt with just a single look. The multitude of reunions are well-paced throughout the entire episode; there isn’t just one big party for everyone to pat each other on the back, leaving more time for each of them to feel intimate and deserved. Mixed in, we do see some main plot progressions: Bran expresses his worries over the imminent threat of the Night King, while in the south Theon Greyjoy frees his sister and both flee north. Most importantly, Jon rides Rhaegal and learns of his true heritage. I feel like Jon dragon-riding was too often overlooked during conversations after this episode, and due to the downplay of magic in the series, more casual viewers probably wouldn’t see the significance of this moment. In this world, only Targaryens ride dragons, making the moment squee-worthy for any book fan. The true moment of brilliance in this episode comes from none-other than Samwell Tarly (John Bradley) providing a powerhouse performance in a moment of gut-wrenching emotion for his character.
Episode two, A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms is the Game of Thrones semi-bottle episode that everyone didn’t know they needed. Written and paced beautifully, the entire episode takes place within Winterfell while our characters await the coming storm. I was glad to see Jamie’s trial covered quickly and not dragged out to an insufferable pace. From here, plans are formulated for defence against the coming fight and the Night King’s intent to kill Bran above all else is revealed, leading Bran to suggest himself as bait. Most of the episode is spent closing character arcs, the highlight of which being the knighting of (now) Ser Brienne of Tarth by Jamie Lannister, bringing a tear to so many eyes (including my own). The knighting takes part during an extended conversation with a wide group of characters, and the entire scene was a marvel to watch with terrific performances. I don’t comment on this aspect very much, but excellent blocking gave a sense of homeliness within the walls of Winterfell, a place so foreign to all the characters that took part in this scene, showing just how far some of them have come to reunite and fight for the living.
These first two episodes wrapping up so many character arcs, and providing so many reunions, only helped to fuel the building tension that most of our favourites were on the line, leading into episode three The Long Night. Finally, the Night King’s army has arrived at the walls of Winterfell, with our heroes organising their troops and setting their plan into motion before the battle begins. The episode is spent almost entirely on spectacle, with sparse dialogue throughout. Visually… it’s dark, sparking complaints and memes alike, and, honestly, it can be at times difficult to see what is going on during all that action. However, for the most part, the darkness felt fitting throughout. This is the long night after all, and the cinematography does well to place us in the world alongside its characters and to feel the same helplessness they are experiencing. A flowing horde of White Walkers emerging out of pitch black and smashing into the front lines was one of the most terrifying things I have seen on screen in a long time. The battle rages on the ground while, in the sky, we are treated to an amazing sequence of dragon riding and fighting, the peak of which is a beautiful shot high above the clouds before the dragons plummet back down to continue the fight. The story comes to a head with the Night King gaining entry to the Godswood, where Bran awaits his arrival. When building to this, Jon’s scramble through the last-hope fighting from all our heroes is beautifully scored and only helped to bring me to peak tension.
This episode is the tensest I have been during a piece of media for a very long time. A Song of Ice and Fire and, by extension, Game of Thrones has always subverted the traditional ‘good guys always win’ narrative arc, beginning with Ned Stark’s execution and further reinforcing this throughout the story (Red Wedding, anyone?). This subversion feels now like it was built-in just for this moment. I was terrified for every character and was left feeling like anyone could die at any moment. This, all for a double bluff of subversion to be left with most of our characters alive at the end of the battle. However, to not have in the back of my mind ‘it’s okay… the good guys will win’ and be able to feel real tension made the build-up all worth it. There are, of course, still deaths. Jorah goes out in the most fitting fashion, Lyanna Mormont perishes while continuing her badassery… but the one that hit me the hardest was Theon Greyjoy. Surviving one of the most horrific character arcs the show gave us, Theon gets to go out feeling like he is at home and at peace.
My only genuine criticism of the battle as a whole is that many characters were so frequently left in impossible situations, seemingly without hope, the camera would cut. Then, miraculously, they had survived. This made me believe Brienne had fallen multiple times in the episode, not to mention Sam rolling on the floor for the majority of the battle and Greyworm out-surviving what seemed like his entire army. I would have liked to see how they got out of those situations because, as it stands, it felt like a few too many heroes were wearing some polished plot-armour. However, helping to foreshadow the final confrontation is the excellent pseudo-horror sequence ala Raptors in the kitchen; a stealth scene involving Arya being the direct example of paying off these hopeless situations in a magnificent manner.
This is a spoiler review, so you probably already know the big bad Night King was defeated. I felt it was both poetic and triumphant, with Arya showing her true mettle. With that one swoop, a multitude of theories went out the window and prophecies were reinterpreted or dismissed entirely. Prophecies aside, this was an epic moment that felt fitting. This world, especially the TV series, has never clung heavily to the standard fantasy prophecies, and while they are present in the storytelling, they don’t always work out in a straight forward manner if at all.
While many complaints surrounded the Night King’s quick defeat, I can see why he met his fate the way he did. The Night King served as an antithesis within the story: how would a villain hell-bent on destroying humanity be met when humanity is already divided? He served to bring our heroes together and see how humans can set aside their own motivations to fight for life. Now that the threat has been abated, the game of thrones can resume, and I’m sure there are still twists and losses to come within Season 8: Part Two. Season 8: Part One was an example of the golden age of television at its finest, and I cannot wait to see the conclusion of this monumental series; we are back to the political games, and it seems our final villain is remarkably human.
Read Part two of the Game of Thrones Season 8 review Here
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