Dragonstone

Just out of this world awesome, has to be the best season premier of any show ever. Every second of this one hour episode was pure gold, everything from the writing, to the amazing acting, directing and effects.

HBO has done it again, this is the reason why Game of Thrones is the greatest show that has ever been. I have to also praise the score by Ramin Djawadi.

All and all, this episode made it official, that Game of Thrones is way way better than the books it's based on. Sorry George, but sometimes adaptations are just better. And this is one of those times.

This episode largely serves to remind viewers where each of the protagonists are and where they hope to go. In the opening scene we see that Arya's revenge against the Freys didn't end with the killing of Walder. Meanwhile her brother Brandon reaches The Wall, warning of the approaching threat while their siblings Jon and Sansa disagree on how to proceed after the defeat on Ramsey Bolton and his forces. Back in King's Landing Cersei, now the Queen, is seeking new allies for the coming fight against Daenerys's forces as well as against the Armies of the North and the Sand Sisters to the south. Elsewhere Sam is trying to find a source of dragon glass and Daenerys finally returns to Westeros.

I really enjoyed this episode; it started well with Arya making it abundantly clear that she has lots of people to kill. It then proceeds to remind us what other characters are up to while setting things up for future episodes. The tension between Sansa and Jon hints at possible problems to come and the meeting between Cersei and Euron Greyjoy suggests the possibility of an interesting alliance. Apart from the opening scene there is little in the way of violence; even that involved poison rather than action; that didn't bother me though as the more talky elements served to remind me of the various characters after some time away from the series. I know some people weren't keen with having singer Ed Sheeran appear as a Lannister soldier but it didn't bother me; if I hadn't heard about his appearance before watching I doubt I'd have thought anything of it. As expected the cast are all on fine form and the effects are impressive. Overall a long season opener that immediately brought me back into the story after a gap of almost two years.

Game of Thrones is finally on its seventh season now. And we finally have the endgame in sight for the story. This episode does admittedly fall short of the previous two OUTSTANDING episodes from season six, but we still want to see where Daenerys, Tyrion, Jon Snow and The Hound end up by the time the story is all wrapped-up come season eight.

This was a good episode to start on, but I'm mighty curious to see where this will all go to. Will Tyrion survive? Will Daenerys actually take back her long-lost home of Kings Landing? And will The Hound confront his brother The Mountain? I hope the latter happens; that will be a fight to remember.

Anyway, Game of Thrones is still on the air and still leaving an impact on us.

This episode delivers a kick-ass start of the season. Then, it slows down a little bit.

In Europe, the world premiere airs at 3am. And GoT is the only reason on this planet I'd set my alarm to wake me up in the middle of the night. Yes, it delivers. Yes it is epic. Yes with a start like this, one can only hold his breath for yet another week. Game of Thrones completely ruined the world of TV shows for me, because it raised the standards so high I'm having troubles finding another show to hook up with.

Please, keep it coming and stay on this awesome course. It is an honor writing a review.