‘Game of Thrones 7×01 – Dragonstone’ Review

There is one thing to take away from this episode of Game of Thrones, and that is that winter is finally here. That isn’t a spoiler, it is something to finally give fans some relief. Winter is the end game, and the chess pieces are being placed. Who will win the war, and most importantly which war is more important?

Game of Thrones

In season 7 of Game of Thrones the scene is being set for a great war. At King’s Landing we have Cersei Lannister (Lena Headey) and her brother Jaime (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau) coming to terms with the events of last season, and planning war. Jon Snow (Kit Harington) is working out how to defend the north from the White Walkers, and Daenerys Targaryen (Emilia Clarke) and her dragons have finally arrived at Dragonstone.

While there are many parts to the first episode of season 7, the most important thing to take away from it is that the war is finally here. It is fairly obvious that Cersei is fighting a losing battle on all sides, but refuses to give in. This means even considering marriage to Euron Greyjoy (Pilou Asbæk) to gain access to his fleet of ships.

After the hell the Starks have gone through in past season, it looks like they are finally growing strong in this season. Not only do we see Arya (Maisie Williams) getting revenge for the Red Wedding, but we also see a stronger Sansa (Sophie Turner) trying to gain influence.

It is the relationship between Sansa and Jon which teases a lot this season. Sansa is looking to gain influence, but in this episode at least Jon decides to work against it. It is telling that other female characters like Brienne (Gwendoline Christie) and Lyanna Mormont (Bella Ramsey) take note of this. Jon should maybe respect the influence of Sansa more.

Fans of The Hound (Rory McCann) will be happy to see that he is still travelling with the Brotherhood without Banners, and it is interesting that he gets a vision from the fire. It may tease that he has a part to play in future events as does Beric (Richard Dormer) who takes great interest in what The Hound sees. The fact that his history also comes back to haunt him shows how much The Hound has changed, he now sees the consequences of his actions.

One of the interesting encounters Arya has is with a group of Lannister soldiers, which includes a singing Ed Sheeran (as well as Thomas Turgoose). While I’m not a fan of Sheeran, this cameo did not feel shoehorned in, and Sheeran gave a natural performance that felt like it fit into the story. There is nothing worse than a forced cameo for the sake of fitting a star into the show.

The job of the first episode of the season is to build up the hype for what is to come. Dragonstone does this well, and gives reasons for future encounters for characters. While Twin Peaks will be the best of 2017 for me, it is good to have Game of Thrones back, though it is a shame the return has affected when Sky Atlantic choose to move around their shows.

Game of Thrones airs in the UK on Sky Atlantic at 9PM on Mondays.

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