GAME OF THRONES IS BACK

*SPOILERS FOLLOW*

Game of Thrones premiered with a fantastic episode, which set the stage for a truly spectacular season. In the first few minutes, before the epic intro scene, we see Arya Stark, posing as Walder Frey, killing ALL OF THE FREYS. SHE JUST DID THAT.

This is the tone for this season and the show going forward. Everyone is positioning themselves for war. It’s going to be bloody, brutal, and brilliant. No one, and I mean no one, is safe.

Now since everyone and their mother is going to be writing a review about Game of Thrones, my weekly pieces are going to be part review/part prediction pieces. Half of the fun is trying to figure out what exactly is going to happen next.

Once again, the women of Westeros steal the show. Arya killing the Freys; Lyanna being freaking awesome; Sansa using strategy and being more queenlike; Cersei positioning herself with Euron; And of course, Daenerys finally arriving back home in Dragonstone.

This continues the major theme we saw in season 6, where the show started to focus more on the female characters and the moves they were making. The kings are mostly dead, and it is time for the queens to shine.

This entire episode was about putting all the pieces in place. Everyone is where they are supposed to be, or en route to that location. Let’s take a look at the potential arcs for these characters:

• Arya is riding to King’s Landing to kill Cersei. That can’t possibly happen right? It feels too early for that.
• Cersei is building her army with Euron to fight Dany, or at least trying to.
• Dany is building her army with Yara and Theon in order to take over King’s Landing. There has to be a big battle between these two by the end of the season.
• Jon and Sansa are trying to figure out how to deal with the North and the coming of the White Walkers. These two will continue to butt heads all season. I don’t think Jon will end up as King, but only time will tell.
• Bran has finally made it to the Wall, and I sincerely hope, will be reunited with Jon and Sansa soon. Bran is now the Three-eyed Raven, and is a vital part of the battle against the White Walkers. We don’t know the full extent of his capabilities just yet.
• The Hound and the Brotherhood will certainly join the fight against the White Walkers at some point. The show had to give us the dramatic irony of The Hound joining people who worship fire, and it so delivered. Even though The Hound saw the White Walkers in the flames, he still stuck to the Seven upon burying the dead. The battle between the old gods and new continues.
• Finally, the other main character shown a lot this episode, and probably not a lot for the rest of the season, is Sam. Sam found out the vital information that the Dragonglass is buried under Dragonstone, right where Dany and her people just landed. Does that mean we will actually get to see Jon and Dany meet and join forces? It’s going to be an uphill battle convincing the people fighting for the throne that there are bigger forces at play.
• And let’s not forget that casual mention of the Wall potentially being destroyed. I won’t be at all surprised if we see the Wall collapsing, maybe by the sound of a particular horn… I expect the white walkers to show up, either in the 11th hour of the battle, or right after it is done, for maximum damage. The Night’s King has a lot of tricks up the ol’ ice sleeve.

These are my casual predictions for the rest of the season, let’s see how I score. I’ll check in every week with a brand new review, and to check on my predictions. Winter is here.