That last scene had me screech. I noticed that they were doing several little callbacks to the very first episode of season 1, but fuck if I saw that coming.

"I am waiting for an old friend." ROFL oh my God Bran, you little shit. Well-played.

Delightful that I got to see everything I really wanted to in the first episode of Season 8. Hugs, snark, dragon riding and Sansa is the smartest one in the room.

Now let my fannish heart break asunder over the mayhem that follows.

A friend on FB pointed out that Sansa *also* has her own army in the Knights of the Vale, should she need one.

I completely missed "waiting for an old friend" the first time through. BRAN OMG.

I could tell just by looking at it that the scene in the crypt with Jon and Sam was shot with a Contax Carl Zeiss Planar T* 1,4/85 AEG lens. I have now achieved maximum nerd.

My favorite moment was Arya jumping into Jon's arms like a besotted little sister.

I need to watch it through again, though.

BRAN OMG

I am assuming Bran sat there in the cold for hours and hours after he spoke to Sam, just waiting for this moment, because he's a messy bench who loves drama.

There were parts of this ep that dragged (like, dragons are cool and all, but that dragon ride went on forever and also felt hilariously Disney) but all the reunions made it worth it. Theon and Yara scenes made me surprisingly emotional. LOVED her headbutting him before extending her hand. Theon is pretty much earmarked for a redemptive death in battle (saving one of the Starks -- probably Jon -- in a crucial moment) so this felt like the last scene between them together. Aw, man. Also, I am apparently invested in Theon fucking Greyjoy, like who would have thought?

Other meeting that didn't happen on screen but would have been fun to see: Jorah and Lyanna Mormont; Sansa and the Hound.

I have now achieved maximum nerd.

Indeed.

The thing that kind of ruined the Greyjoy scene for me is that they're not at port, so, like, they've said their goodbyes, but they're still gonna be in each other's immediate vicinity for hours, at least.

This Is Us creator Dan Fogelman posted a Twitter thread on an encounter with George RR Martin. It's pretty heartwarming. [link]

I watched the early seasons of GoT, but after a while I couldn't stomach the violence and sexual brutality, so I stopped. Dh kept watching, and I came back toward the end of last season.

I enjoyed last night's premiere, but somehow felt let down by the reveal of Jon Snow's parentage. Instead of burying the lede, they buried the lode, just to tease Bran and Jaime's reunion.

That really was a lovely heartwarming story, Cindy.

I read the books, but have watched only very little. I wasn't able to talk DH into watching with me. If I talk my sister into watching I'll binge it this summer. Violence and brutality aren't my thing, but easier to deal with in print. I should at least watch last season and this one. Still on the fence. Mostly I feel they did a glorious job with casting and aesthetics and I want to see more of it.