The something in question: He wants to get a glimpse of the endless line of Unsullied, marching through town on their way to Winterfell. A young kid is running frantically – we're meant to think he's in danger, running from White Walkers, perhaps – but it turns out he's not running away from something, he's running toward it. We're in a small town just outside of Winterfell's walls. We finish in the throne room, as the Iron Throne itself rises out of the floor and pokes out its pokey swords like it's a frilled lizard in courtship display. We soar down to King's Landing, also looking freshly spiffy, and into the catacombs complete with a few facsimiles of Qyburn's ballista and some dragon skulls. Then it's off to Winterfell, which has gotten a serious makeover – and so has our point-of-view, which takes us through the castle and down into the crypts. There's a neat effect of encroaching ice as we approach a location we've never visited before – Last Hearth. We zoom down over the map, through the gaping breach in the Wall (nice touch). Opening credits! With a considerable upgrade! First off, that spinning sun-mobile thingy that flies over the clockwork map of Westeros has traded its galloping Baratheon stag for a Targaryen dragon immolating the Wall. It's not immersive, no – but it's efficient. Now, instead, they boil over in the very same scene they're introduced. Again and again, we get set-ups for the kind of conflicts that, in seasons past, would simmer over the course of four or five episodes. He's an event horizon of boring, is our leather-panted sea slug.īut everything else? Zipping along at a pace that surprised me, though I knew we've been nearing the exit for the fireworks factory for some time. I mean, sure, the Euron scenes drag on forever, but that's because Euron is so one-note and dull that time slows as you approach him. This first episode back is stuffed to the gills with great big thick chunks of plot – reunions, recriminations, spilled secrets – because the show's sprinting toward the close and there's no time to waste. Because Winter is Here, and it's shaping up to be a long, cruel one, and Sansa didn't pack away enough provisions for everyone. It's been two years since last we gathered around the flickering electronic hearth to feast our eyes on this world, and these characters, many of whom – I'm thinking here of the dragons and the ice-zombies mostly – would happily feast on our eyes. We're recapping the eighth and final season of Game of Thrones look for these recaps first thing on Monday mornings.
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