What The Reviews Have To Say About Last Night's 'Game Of Thrones' Premiere
With six seasons under its belt, HBO's "Game of Thrones" is well-past the material laid out in George R.R. Martin's completed books. The stage is set for a truly massive and assuredly messy showdown between the various factions that have coalesced in Westeros, but plotty hype-up doesn't guarantee great television. How was last night's season premiere? Here's what the reviews say (with some big-ish spoilers, of course):
Arya's Opening Move Shocked And Amazed
Anyone who revisited the season-six finale (or, for that matter, watched this episode's very strategically edited "Previously on" sequence) knew immediately that the Walder Frey sitting before his assembled family and allies couldn't be the real Walder Frey, who died after Arya slit his throat last season. But even if you caught onto what was happening before the poison-vomit started to gush, the sight of Arya acting out part two of her Red Wedding revenge plan, then sliding off her Frey facade and declaring, with action movie hero pithiness, "Tell them winter came for House Frey," is the kind of jump-to-your-feet-and-applaud moment that elicited deservedly excited tweets from Game of Thrones fans.
[Vulture]
It's a first-rate catchphrase for a ruthless assassin, but it doesn't make me feel any better about her soul. We're reminded that the Stark girls have suffered plenty of trauma, from witnessing their father's execution through multiple rounds of physical and emotional abuse. As they grow into ever more powerful women, will they resist or lean into the dark forces and experiences that have shaped them?
Cersei Is Terrifying, Powerful And Totally Obsessed
A big question going into the season was what a childless Cersei might look like, maternal devotion long being her one tether to whatever remained of her humanity. On Sunday she looked fairly power-obsessed and spiteful, grousing to Jaime about traitors and eying "a dynasty for us," which is an interesting interpretation of the dynasty concept. That said, I thought she was a goner last year and look what happened then. I don't think her tactics will pay off in the end but in the short-term, at least, I'm done underestimating her.
This episode of "Game of Thrones" didn't have an aggressively obvious plot twist or dramatic moment. For my money, though, Cersei and Jaime's conversation about their dead children was as horrifying as some of the bloodier violence the show has employed. Coster-Waldau hasn't always been the series' strongest actor. But the expressions that broke through Jaime's controlled mask as he heard his sister describe her son Tommen's (Dean-Charles Chapman) suicide as a betrayal, rather than a tragedy his mother caused by killing Tommen's wife Margaery Tyrell (Natalie Dormer) were hugely unnerving.
The New Stark Alliance Isn't All Smiles
For those of us loyal to House Stark, what a treat it was to see their conflict was primarily a matter of policy, with Sansa wanting to punish rebellious Northern houses and Jon seeking to maintain continuity. Their subsequent conversation was less Michael Corleone warning Fredo not to take sides against the family and more a loving brother and sister trying to do right by their shared cause.
There is a nobility to Jon, a kindness and a decency that have marked him as one of the few worthy individuals in this sea of snakes and backbiters. But Westeros is a place where decent people get killed and naive people get taken advantage of. Sansa knows that better than anyone.
"Dragonstone" isn't exactly subtle about the parallels between Cersei Lannister (Lena Headey), newly installed as Queen in King's Landing, and Sansa Stark (Sophie Turner), who is not the Stark supreme in Winterfell and has mixed feelings about her new position. The similarities between the two women are alternately harsh and heartbreaking, and they reveal the reach of the misogyny that has deformed both of their lives.
Daenerys Had The Premiere's Pitch-Perfect Moment
Season openers and finales always contain at least one sequence designed to take our breath away, and in "Dragonstone" Benioff and Weiss saved that passage for the final minutes, as Daenerys Targaryen and her cortège of loyalists solemnly land on the beach of her ancestral home[…] Every mute dramatic weight in this scene is conveyed without dialogue, only actions that underscores the sacredness of that moment to Daenerys, her companions and viewers who missed them.
[Salon]
My memories of Dragonstone are of shadows and dimly lit rooms, the dragons carved into the wall barely visible, and so it was almost as though we—like Daenerys—were seeing Dragonstone for the first time when she arrives on its shores with her small council as the sunlight showcases its carved beasts while her real ones fly overhead.
The End Is Coming, But It Seems Like The Show Won't Rush To Get There
This is a slow premiere, as far as premieres go, primarily invested in perspective over plot or character development. After the catharsis of Arya's assault on the Freys, it primarily moves from location to location to show us how fraught this moment of calm is for the characters involved. Everyone knows that they will eventually have to make the first move to survive, but deciding what move is the right one is a different question, and emphasizes that those who have fallen into the dustbin of history have not been fully forgotten.
"Dragonstone" didn't take the audience to any new places. That's fine, I guess, since there are only six episodes remaining in this season. The producers probably have a mandate to milk as much suspense out of the story as possible. Besides, it's not as if we have a new book from George R. R. Martin to turn to, right? Weiss and Benioff have hardcore Throneys by the tenders here.
[Salon]
The show has essentially scripted our anticipation of this grand convergence from day one – a huge difference from basically every single other great show of the era, which kept audiences guessing at the endgame. Game of Thrones is designed to make us the greatest players of all. We're finally beginning to reap the rewards.
TL;DR
Most of Sunday's premiere followed from things set in motion last season, but it's now impossible to deny that Game of Thrones is a show that has made the turn and is entering its homestretch or that the looming finality has changed the show.
Watch A Supercut Of Every Death In Season 6
