“Game of Thrones “season eight is returning this Sunday night and oh man, we have a lot to look forward to. If you’ve been keeping up with Thrones, then you should know that this season is going to be a big deal. It’s the final season, it’s returning to TV after over two years and there are plenty of storylines to wrap up.
“I absolutely cannot wait for the premiere, I’m a big Game of Thrones fan and I’ve been waiting for this for so long now,” said junior Pat Bayne. “I just can’t wait to see what happens, it’s going to be huge.”
When we last saw our beloved Thrones characters, we had some major revelations thrown our way. Season seven, episode seven “The Dragon and the Wolf,” opens with Grey Worm and the Unsullied standing outside of King’s Landing’s gates. We then get to see Jaime, Bronn and the Lannister army preparing their forces on the walls of the gates for battle. While Jaime and Bronn exchange words about the peculiarities of the Unsullied, we see the Dothraki come into picture.
The scene then cuts to Tyrion, Varys and Theon standing on the bow of a Targaryen ship, sailing into the bay of King’s Landing, with Jon Snow and Sir Davos on board. The Hound is walking down into the cellar, holding up his lantern to guide him through the room’s darkness. When he finds what he appears to be looking for, he moves close to a chained crate and knocks lightly. Blood-curdling screams are then heard from the Wight trapped inside, and the force of his screams violently shake the crate.
Next, Cersei asks her hand, Qyburn, why Daenerys isn’t traveling with the rest of her usual company. Qyburn tells the Queen that no one has seen her, to which she tells The Mountain to kill Daenerys, Tyrion, Jon and the rest of them if anything were to go awry at their meeting.
After some bittersweet reunions, the anticipated meeting finally begins. Tensions are high and it’s clear that anything could go wrong. Daenerys is still nowhere to be found. Just as Cersei is about to say something, Daenerys’s dragons are heard in the distance. Drogon is seen landing on the broken-down walls of the dragonpit, with Daenerys exiting gracefully.
As a majority of the main characters discuss their desires for traveling to King’s Landing, tempers flare and words are exchanged. The Hound unleashes the Wight and we slowly see the horror spread across everyone’s faces.
Upon realizing the threat at hand, Cersei accepts Jon’s peace offering, but on one condition: he must renounce his claim to the North and recognize her as his queen after the battle is won. But, Jon Snow can simply not make a promise he cannot keep, which he tells Cersei. It didn’t end there. Jon pledges his allegiance and honor to Daenerys telling Cersei that she is the rightful heir to the Iron Throne and he will stand by her regardless. Cersei didn’t like the sound of that, and backed out of her offer.
“I just want to see Daenerys end up on the throne,” said freshman Becky Lewis. “She deserves it the most, no one can change my mind about that and if she has a lame character death I’m going to be so upset.”
Tyrion devises a plan to do damage control on the mess Jon has just created for them and leaves to go talk to his sister, in private. During their meeting she reveals to him that she is pregnant with Jaime’s baby and that she will do whatever she needs to do to protect only herself and her family.
Back at Winterfell we see the trial of Lord Petyr Baelish. Finally convicted for his crimes of deceit and lies, he is sentenced to death by Sansa.
Where Jaime is seen telling his men to ride north to prepare for battle, Cersei later calls them off their duty, explaining that she has no intentions of helping the northers. Jaime is disgusted by her cruelty and finally sees her as the bitter, evil woman she is. He leaves her after having this revelation and rides north by himself, telling her that he intends to keep the promise he made.
Cersei is clearly rattled by Jaime’s depart, but lets him leave, as she does not have the heart to kill him. Snowfall is then shown to be settling over King’s Landing, a sign that the war is really coming.
Then, Jon’s true lineage is finally revealed. Sam and Bran discuss information they have found on Jon’s background, and are able to piece together his parentage. Turns out he’s the son of Rhaegar Targaryen and Lyanna Stark, who were married at the time of his birth, making him the true heir of the Iron Throne.
“If I don’t see Bran warg into the Night King this season, HBO has done something horribly wrong,” said sophomore Bobby Tront.
Tormund and some of the Night’s Watch are guarding the wall when they appear to see the Night King riding in the sky on a dragon. The Night King uses his new Walker turned dragon to burn down the ice of the Wall. The final moments of the episode show a portion of the Wall being burnt down entirely, with the White Walker army marching through the Wall and advancing further North.
So, obviously a lot happened in that last episode. It’s going to be interesting to see how these problems are going to play out in the new season. Who’s going to tell Jon about his parents? How will Daenerys react when she finds out she’s banging her nephew? There are so many questions we need answers to.
“It’s hard to predict what’s going to happen because with Thrones you really do never know,” junior Alexis Lawrence said. “If I had to predict anything it’s that a lot of people are going to die, but that’s a given.”