Every Major Moment From ‘Game of Thrones’ Season 8 Premiere

The final season of Game of Thrones has finally made its way to television, bringing an end to the two-year drought that has been agonizing fans since 2017. The wait is over, and the last six episodes of the beloved series are upon us.

Things got started on Sunday night with “Winterfell,” which saw almost all of the major characters unite in Winterfell to try and make a last stand against the Night King. While it didn’t have much action, this episode did contain a ton of major scenes that required our attention.

From family reunions to secrets being uncovered, there was a lot to unpack in this episode. Let’s take a look at the premiere’s eight biggest moments.

Warning: There are MAJOR spoilers ahead…

Return to Winterfell

The episode began with Jon Snow, Daenerys, and the entire army arriving in Winterfell. This is the first time many of the characters that weren’t born in Winterfell set foot in the northern city. This is where the army of the living will attempt to make their last stand against the Night King.

More importantly, this represented the reunion of the living Stark children. Jon Snow (even though he isn’t Ned’s child), Sansa, Arya, and Bran are all back together for the first time. This was the first Jon had seen of Arya since he left for the Night’s Watch in the first season.

Bronn’s Task

Bronn has never exactly been relevant to the main story on Game of Thrones, mostly just acting as a supporting character to the likes of Tyrion and Jaime. However, in Sunday’s premiere, he finally got a pivotal turn of his own.

Cersei tasked Bronn with the awful task of killing Tyrion and Jaime, her brothers and Bronn’s two closest friends, if they survive the battle against the Night King’s army. 

Sadly, this puts Bronn in a tough spot. If he listens to Cersei, he kills his best friends. If he doesn’t, she’ll have him killed.

Cersei & Euron

There was quite a bit happening down in King’s Landing during this episode, though we only saw it for a few minutes.

The Golden Company showed up to Cersei’s aid, bringing her 20,000 soldiers to bolster her army. They were brought to King’s Landing by Euron Greyjoy, who has his own deal with the sitting queen.

It’s his goal to marry her and produce a child, and he took a step towards that in the premiere. After sleeping together, he went as far as to tell her he was going to put a baby in her belly. Little does he know she’s already pregnant.

Theon Saves Yara

There must be more to the story of House Greyjoy than we anticipated. About halfway through the episode, Theon was seen pulling off a grand heist.

After sneaking onto the Iron Fleet, Theon rescued his sister Yara, undercutting the rule of Euron Greyjoy. While he pledged his allegiance to her, she told him to follow his heart and head back to Winterfell, to fight along Jon Snow and the Starks.

And that’s exactly what he’s going to do.

Jon’s First Ride

To this point, Daenerys Targaryen is the only person we’ve seen fly a dragon on Game of Thrones. That changed on Sunday.

As Jon and Dany went off to spend some time together, she had him fly on the back of Rhaegal, which is fitting considering the dragon is actually named after his real father. This also takes another step in confirming Jon’s true place in history.

Rhaegar and Lyanna

Not only did Jon get to ride his first dragon, but he finally learned the truth about his parents. Jon Snow is not a bastard.

Sam and Bran figured out that Jon’s parents are Rhaegar Targaryen and Lyanna Stark, and that their marriage was legal. That makes Jon the rightful heir to the Iron Throne.

Now, for the first time in his life, he finally knows the truth. There’s no telling what that will do to his relationship with Dany.

Tormund’s Fate

One of the biggest cliffhangers from the Season 7 premiere centered around the fate of Tormund and Beric Dondarrian. They were last seen on the wall when the Night King brought it down.

Fortunately, Tormund made it away from the wall safely, as did Beric. The duo were seen in this episode meeting up with Edd of the Night’s Watch, and beginning the treacherous journey to Winterfell.

Jaime Sees Bran

This moment brings Game of Thrones full circle. If you remember back to the very first episode of the series, Jaime pushed Bran out of a window when the young boy caught him in bed with Cersei. Of course, he thought this would kill the boy.

Instead, Bran was put in a wheelchair for life, making becoming the Three-Eyed Raven a very difficult thing for him to do. 

This could have much bigger implications in Winterfell, as there are multiple families who want Jaime dead.