Game Of Thrones Season 8 Premiere: 8 Ups And 3 Downs From 'Winterfell'

5. All The Reunions

Season 7 ended with Arya, Sansa, and Bran Stark back at Winterfell, and a large swathe of characters on the way there as well. That held the promise of a LOT of reunions between various characters, and the show delivers.

It nicely teases us a bit at first, as Arya stands in the crowd and watches Jon, the Hound, and Gendry all ride past without seeing her, but that's just delaying the gratification of these reunions. Arya and the Hound's brief moment is fitting of their relationship, while Arya and Gendry's is as sweet and funny as their relationship was so many years ago, while still reflecting their growth.

Just as good - perhaps even better - was the reunion of Tyrion and Sansa. Again, it does a great job of remembering the complex relationship they had, while acknowledging their respective journeys. Tyrion's line about all the dead people is great, but more prescient is Sansa calling out the many bad decisions Tyrion has been making.

And then, of course, there's the one people had been waiting for most of all: Jon and Arya. It's crazy to think that they haven't seen each other since the SECOND episode of the series, and that's a huge credit to how well the showrunners (and George R.R. Martin) established their bond so swiftly.

It makes for a hugely touching reunion, but also not a completely easy one, with a nice balance between the sweetness we want and the realities of where they've been and are now. Still, the fact Jon basically admits to Arya that he died - something he has avoided with everyone else - is a perfect representation of their love for and trust in one another.