The wait felt eternal. After months of speculation and that agonizingly long "winter is coming" marketing campaign, Game of Thrones season 7 ep 1 finally landed on HBO on July 16, 2017. It was titled "Dragonstone." Some people called it slow. Honestly? It was a masterclass in tension. It didn’t need a massive battle like Blackwater or the Wall because the board was already set. All the pieces were moving toward a collision that felt inevitable.
Arya Stark. That cold open. Think back to it.
Walder Frey holds a feast. You know he’s dead—Arya cut his throat in the season 6 finale—so seeing him alive feels weirdly wrong immediately. Then the wine starts flowing. The Twin's soldiers start coughing. It’s a massacre. "Leave one wolf alive and the sheep are never safe." It was the most satisfying payoff for the Red Wedding we ever got, and it happened before the opening credits even rolled. It set a tone that this season wasn't playing around.
The Strategy of Dragonstone
Cersei Lannister is standing on a literal map. She’s the Queen of the Seven Kingdoms now, or at least the Three or Four Kingdoms depending on who you ask. Jaime looks worried. He should be. They are surrounded by enemies. To the East, Daenerys. To the South, Dorne. To the West, Olenna Tyrell. To the North, Jon Snow. It’s a claustrophobic way to start a season, even with the sweeping shots of King’s Landing.
While Cersei is planning her defense, Jon Snow is up at Winterfell trying to lead a room full of rowdy Northmen and Wildlings. This is where the political nuance of Game of Thrones season 7 ep 1 really shines. Jon wants to focus on the White Walkers. Sansa wants to focus on Cersei. They’re both right. That’s the tragedy of their relationship in these later seasons. Jon knows the dead are coming, but Sansa knows how the living betray you. You can see the friction starting to heat up, fueled by Littlefinger lurking in the shadows like a creepy vulture.
Why the Small Moments Mattered Most
Everyone remembers the big stuff, but the quiet scenes in this episode are actually what made it work. Take Sandor Clegane. The Hound is traveling with the Brotherhood Without Banners. They find a hut—the same one he robbed back in season 4. He finds the bodies of the farmer and his daughter. They starved because of him.
✨ Don't miss: Temuera Morrison as Boba Fett: Why Fans Are Still Divided Over the Daimyo of Tatooine
It’s a heavy moment. Paul Kaye’s Thoros of Myr and Richard Dormer’s Beric Dondarrion are there to provide the mystical weight, but it's Rory McCann’s performance that carries the scene. When he looks into the flames and sees the Army of the Dead, the Hound’s skepticism finally breaks. He buries the bodies. He tries to say a prayer. He fails, but he tries. That’s character growth that feels earned.
Then there’s Samwell Tarly at the Citadel.
This sequence was divisive. The "poop and soup" montage was gross. It was repetitive. It was also brilliant. It showed the drudgery of Sam’s life compared to the heroics he expected. He’s basically a glorified janitor who wants to be a scholar. But his persistence pays off when he steals the books from the restricted area and discovers the mountain of dragonglass under Dragonstone. Without this specific beat in Game of Thrones season 7 ep 1, the rest of the season literally couldn't happen.
The Arrival at Dragonstone
The episode ends with a silent homecoming. Daenerys Targaryen finally reaches Westeros. There is no dialogue for the last several minutes. Just the sound of the waves and the wind. She walks through the gates of her ancestral home, past the dragon gargoyles, and into the throne room.
Stannis Baratheon's old banners are gone. The place is empty. Dust is everywhere. She touches the sand. She looks at the painted table—the same one where Aegon the Conqueror planned his invasion.
🔗 Read more: Why Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy Actors Still Define the Modern Spy Thriller
"Shall we begin?"
It’s a chilling line. It’s the moment the show stopped being about the scramble for power and started being about the actual war for the world.
What the Critics Missed
At the time, some reviewers at places like The A.V. Club or IndieWire felt the episode was too much "table setting." They weren't entirely wrong, but they missed the emotional resonance. This episode was about the weight of history. Every character was dealing with their past.
- Arya was avenging her family.
- Cersei was trying to hold onto a legacy that was crumbling.
- Jon was trying not to repeat Ned Stark’s mistakes.
- Dany was returning to a home she never knew.
The pacing of Game of Thrones season 7 ep 1 feels different when you rewatch it now. Knowing how the series ends (the controversial season 8), "Dragonstone" feels like a peak moment of competence for the show's writing. The dialogue still felt sharp. The motivations were clear.
The Ed Sheeran Cameo: A Misstep?
We have to talk about it. The scene with the Lannister soldiers in the woods.
💡 You might also like: The Entire History of You: What Most People Get Wrong About the Grain
Ed Sheeran pops up. He’s singing. Arya stumbles upon them. Many fans hated this because it broke the immersion. It felt like a celebrity "wink" to the camera. However, if you look past the red hair and the famous face, the scene itself is quite humanizing. These soldiers aren't monsters. They’re just kids who want to go home. One of them mentions his wife just had a baby. It reminds Arya (and the audience) that the "enemy" is composed of people. It’s a nuance the show often struggled to maintain in its later, more action-heavy episodes.
The Technical Mastery of "Dragonstone"
Jeremy Podeswa directed this one. He’s a veteran of the show, and you can tell. The lighting in the Citadel is dusty and oppressive. The lighting at Dragonstone is cold, blue, and oceanic. The visual language tells you exactly where you are before a single word is spoken.
Ramin Djawadi’s score also does heavy lifting here. The music during Dany's arrival is a haunting, stripped-back version of the Targaryen theme. It’s not triumphant yet. It’s expectant.
Actionable Insights for Your Next Rewatch
If you’re heading back into the world of Westeros, don't just breeze through the first episode of the seventh season. Pay attention to the background details.
- Watch the Map: The map Cersei is painting is full of geographical foreshadowing. Look at the locations she focuses on versus where the threats actually come from.
- Follow Sam’s Books: The pages Sam flips through in the Citadel contain actual lore about the Long Night that isn't always spoken aloud in the dialogue.
- The Hound’s Vision: Try to match what Sandor sees in the flames with the actual events of "Beyond the Wall" later in the season. The showrunners were seeding the Arrowhead Mountain very early.
- The Silence of Dragonstone: Compare Dany’s arrival here to her father’s history. The solitude of the castle reflects the isolation of the Targaryen dynasty.
Game of Thrones season 7 ep 1 wasn't just a premiere; it was a pivot point. It shifted the scale from regional squabbles to a global conflict. It reminded us that while the game of thrones is played in the south, the real threat is always in the north. The episode successfully bridged the gap between the character-driven drama of the early seasons and the spectacle-driven finale.
To fully appreciate the narrative arc, look at the transition from Arya's cold blooded revenge to Dany's quiet reflection. The contrast defines the show's dual nature: the brutality of the world and the hope (however fleeting) of its inhabitants. If you want to understand the endgame, you have to look at the foundations laid in Dragonstone.
For those tracking the lore, the next logical step is to analyze the shifting alliances of the Great Houses during this specific window. The fall of House Tyrell and House Martell shortly after this episode redefined the power balance of the entire series. Keep a close eye on the mentions of "dragonglass" throughout the Citadel scenes—it is the literal silver bullet for the remainder of the series' conflict.