Game of Thrones’ final season premiered on HBO last night and it was not nearly long enough. But there’s a lot that we need to unpack. So, if you aren’t ready for spoilers, bookmark this page and turn away now.

Nevermind the fact that many, most of the GoT fans are impatiently waiting for George R. R. Martin to finish The Winds of Winter from the addictive A Song of Ice and Fire series. But there seems to be nothing to suggest that TWoW is anywhere near completion. The show has surpassed the books, which readers take as cannon over the show, being that the show has taken quite a few drastic turns away from the details of the books. But that doesn’t stop us from loving the show. And last nights premiere of season 8—the final season—was a juicy one.

5. Euron “The Queenslayer” Greyjoy and Cersei “I’ll Kill Errbody in Here” Lannister

As Cersei said, Euron is “the most arrogant man” she’s ever met. Euron is definitely an attempt at being the comedic relief, but he’s also a bit sad, desperately seeking Cersei’s approval. At first, it just seemed as if he just wanted to bang a queen. But after Cersei finally gives into his whining, he’s desperate to know how he measures up to Robert Baratheon and Cersei’s partner in twincest, Jaime Lannister. When he asked Cersei how he measured up to her “fat” husband, she simply says that Robert didn’t know his way around a woman’s body. But when Euron asks, “And Jaime” Cersei not only looks annoyed that he was bold enough to ask, but bold enough to think he could even compare to Jaime. Sure, Cersei likes that Euron is arrogant, but he’s not ready for that answer. Ouch.

Sansa Stark and Tyrion Lannister

In the beginning of the series, Sansa was a bratty little girl who had never left Winterfell. She was inexperienced in the ways of the world. She suffered the most horrific ordeals of the Stark family, being held prisoner by the Lannister family and forced to marry Tyrion, the black sheep of the family. And though Tyrion was attracted to her, he never forced himself onto her (that should NOT be a standard of measure, but in the world of Westeros, it kind of is, sadly. Especially with that family). The two people Joffrey Lannister loathed the most, Sansa and his uncle Tyrion, ended up surviving Joffrey, living to see his painfully satisfying death. Both disappeared from King’s Landing and here they are together again, in Winterfell. Their reunion was more than cordial. It was friendly, a long cry from how Sansa treated him whilst still in King’s Landing. But she’s grown quite a bit. Her quiet observance is combined with Littlefinger’s tutelage is what makes her, perhaps, the wisest of them all.

Everyone notices Sansa’s dislike for Queen Daenarys Targaryen. And Sansa’s not exactly wrong for her dislike and distrust of Danny. How is Danny different than Cersei? Sansa has had enough experience with tyrannical queens in the form of one where she recognizes it in Danny. She’s also disappointed that her brother, Jon Snow bent the knee to Danny after he was crowned King of the North by his people. And that he and Tyrion trusted the word of Cersei to fight the Dead Army with them.

Jon Snow aka Aegon “The Dragonrider” Targaryen and Samwell Tarley

Yup. The most obvious fan theory turned out to be true. Jon Snow is the son of Lyanna Stark and Rhaegar Targaryen’s love affair. As Samwell Tarley told Jon, “You’ve never been a bastard.”

When Danny is introduced to Sam, she reveals to him that his father and brother refused to bend the knee to her and so she executed them. It’s a pretty difficult pill to swallow in the face of a new queen who, so far, does not seem merciful. Sam does not believe Danny is right to lead the Seven Kingdoms. Luckily, Bran Stark convinces Sam that now is the time to tell Jon about who he really is—the rightful king of the Seven Kingdoms. Jon insists that Danny is the queen and this topic is treason. But Sam makes a point that will likely come to play in Jon’s decision, “You gave up your crown to save your people. Would she do the same?” Danny went through a hell of a lot to get her army of Unsullied and Dothraki. Do you really think she’s going to give up all of that power to her nephew? I don’t think so. In season seven episode 3, Danny tells Jon, “I was born to rule the Seven Kingdoms. And I will.”

Jon and Rhagal, Danny’s green dragon, have taken a liking to each other. Rhaegal, being named after her brother, Jon’s father, Rhaegar. In season 7, Jon became the first (with the exception of Danny of course) to look a dragon, Drogon, in the eyes and live to tell the tale. And in this season 8 premiere, he became the first, aside from Danny, to ride a dragon. In addition to obvious reasons, this is important because the first dragonriders were the ones to unite the Seven Kingdoms. Also, in the books, Danny’s brother, Rhaegar, said to Danny, “The Dragon has three heads.” That means there will be three dragonriders. We have Danny, Jon Snow and possibly The Night King.

A Message From the Night King

In season 7, the Night King took control of Viserion, the cream and black dragon named for her late brother, Viserys. Now, remember before that encounter, when Jon Snow was on Dragonstone and Danny showed him the caves where the dragonstone were? Remember the markings on the caves? The show has been showing us symbols since the very beginning, but not until last season did those symbols become more profound. The White Walkers are recreating the symbols from the cave. When Danaerys set fire to Khal Drogo’s funeral pyre, she, perhaps subconsciously, created a circular symbol that is found on the caves of Dragonstone. All of the stymbols that the White Walkers have created are Targaryen symbols. Which begs the question, is the Night King a Targaryen come to finish what he started—uniting the whole of Westeros, no separation of the people beyond the wall?

What do we know about the Night King? We know that he was a First Man who invaded Westeros. When he was captured by the Children of the Forest they put a dragonglass dagger into his chest, turning him into the first White Walker.

Reek is Dead. Theon Lives

After Theon Greyjoy betrayed Rob Stark, he suffered a great deal at the hands of the sadistic Ramsey Bolton. He was physically, mentally and emotionally tortured to the point where his identity ceased to exist and he became Reek, a name given to him by Ramsey Bolton. When last we saw Theon, his uncle Euron, had sieged his sister’s ( Yara, Queen of the Iron Isles) fleet and, instead of fighting back with the rest of the crew, Reek reappeared and he fled, jumping overboard, leaving his sister to be taken hostage. During this premiere, however, Theon returned to the fleet with his Seal Team Six squad, sneaking on to rescue Yara and regain control of their ship. Theon was almost recognizable, still fighting off the trauma he suffered at the hands of Ramsey, but his rescue, seeing he and his sister returning to the Iron Isles, was one reunion I truly hoped for. But as they sailed home, Theon made it clear he wanted to help the Starks fight off the dead army. So we’ll be seeing him return to Winterfell soon.

The season 8 episodes are being cut down to only 8 episodes, but allegedly one-hour and 15 minutes per episode. It really did not seem like it. It seemed as if it was the same 45 minute long episodes we wished were longer. Still, the first of the 8 episodes was decent. What are your predictions for the rest of the season?