We’ve all waited patiently for the newest season of Game of Thrones and, finally, we were rewarded with 54 riveting minutes this Monday.
Warning: Spoilers ahead! I’ll be discussing the most important things that happened and people’s predictions of what will happen. Also, what else was I going to discuss in an article about the latest episode?
Annerine Snyman (22) reads an article about Game of Thrones in anticipation of the new season. PHOTO: Lia Snijman.
Firstly, the new intro looks great with the wall being broken and everything. Then there was the magnificent entrance by Dany and Jon. What a power couple/family. I loved the contrast of her impressive army to the very unimpressed Northerners (except when they saw the dragons, of course).
It broke my heart to see Arya trying to make eye contact with all the people she hasn’t seen in ages. I was really excited that we got to see her reunite with everyone. BA Humanities student, Lazelle Croucamp (20), agrees that this was her favourite part of the episode.
I’m not sure if my favourite reunion was the touching one with Jon, the menacing yet also funny one with the Hound, or the awkward one with Gendry. It’s good to know that boys are useless at compliments in Westeros too.
There’s also the great tension between Dany and Sansa. So much side-eye happening! I know that most of you will say that Dany obviously has more power and she literally rides dragons but Sansa was engaged to Joffrey, married to Ramsay Bolton and she’s Lady of the North, so I’d say they’re equally matched with regards to toughness.
Good ol’ Cersei does not seem at her happiest, what with her not getting any elephants and Euron Greyjoy taunting her about her incestuous ways right after they slept together. Luckily, Theon has rescued Yara and the Iron Islands will thus hopefully soon be back in the right hands.
Some great dragon foreplay by Jon and Dany. Although, shame. Let’s let them have it seeing as Jon shortly thereafter finds out that he is actually a Targaryen. Jessica Josephs (22), a Journalism Honours student, says that her favourite part of the episode was “when Jon said: ‘Isn’t it a bit cold for a Southern girl?’ And then she said: ‘Then warm your queen,’ and they made out!” She adds that she hopes they will have “many silver-haired, dragon-riding babies”.
An Aandklas Game of Thrones poster of a Stellenbosch student who wished to remain unnamed. PHOTO: Supplied.
Bran couldn’t break the family tree-news to Jon because he was too busy waiting to intensely stare at Jaime as he arrives in Winterfell. Poor Sam also found out that Daenerys killed his family very abruptly. Personally, I feel that this will create even more tension in the new Jon-Daenerys dynamic.
Good news – Tormund (“my spirit animal” according to Croucamp), Beric and the lot are all alive and well. Bad news – they find an incredibly messed up arm mandala with young Lord Umber pinned to the middle. We could all see the jump scare of him as a White Walker coming but it was still truly terrifying.
Engineering student, Matthew Buys (21), mentioned that his favourite bit of the episode was “probably the creepy child”. When asked about what else he wants from the season, he says: “More creepy children.”
Robin Bosman (22), a BSc Honours student in Wine Biotechnology, had many questions about the same scene: “What was that weird symbol the Night King left? Man just outchea acting like Westeros Banksy. Why is the Night King trying to kill everyone?”
Bosman goes on to mention that she will see the season as a failure if Cersei doesn’t die. When speaking of Cersei and whether or not she will actually help the armies at Winterfell, BA Humanities student, Reza Bezuidenhout (20), says: “I am very scared of her, she’s got nothing to lose!”
Translation and Interpretation Honours student, Andrea Els (22), believes that this episode set the precedent for all the relationships and struggles for the rest of the season. Els says that despite “incest yada yada yada”, she would like to see Jon and Dany together because it makes sense for them as allies.
Economics Masters student and lecturer at the university, Willem Wilken (23), says: “They went for a couple of cheap laughs by characters saying things we know to be massive understatements.” He says that he is excited to see where it all ends up.
That’s it for the first episode and I am very excited to see what the rest of the season has in store! I mean, not waking up at three o’clock in the morning excited but excited nonetheless.