Everything That Happened In 'Game Of Thrones' Season 8, Episode 1: 'Winterfell'

The show has had a lot of reunions to pay off between long-separated characters, and Arya and Jon finally being together again in the Season 8 opener was a long-anticipated moment. For Jon, Arya was always the Stark sibling to whom he was the closest, and their reunion in the godswood showed not much had changed since they last saw each other, before Jon headed to the Wall to take the Black back in Season 1. The two marvel at each other's swords – Jon pointing out Arya still has Needle, and Arya inspecting Longclaw.

Spurred by the knowledge that Dany killed the majority of his family, Sam finally meets with Jon and tells him that he's a Targaryen by blood - and the true heir to the Iron Throne. He points out that Jon was willing to give up his crown for the good of the realm, and wonders whether he thinks Dany would do the same. Initially, Jon is angry that Ned lied to him his whole life - until Sam points out he would have been killed by Robert otherwise.

The episode ends with Jaime - after a long ride from King's Landing – finally arriving in Winterfell ready to help face the Night King. Things get awkward very fast when the first person he sees when dismounting his horse is Bran – the kid he pushed out a window and crippled all the way back in the pilot.

Arya had plenty of people to catch up in the Season 8 premiere. After finally reuniting with Jon, she also confronted the Hound and Gendry in the Winterfell forge. The Hound definitely wasn't pleased about the last time the two saw each other – with the whole robbing and leaving him for dead thing – but there is a definite respect between the two. Arya and Gendry also swapped some stories – and seemingly made eyes at each other – before Arya asked if he could make her a weapon with the Dragonglass.

Theon's road to redemption was one of the highlights of the show's later seasons. After the Season 7 finale saw him win back the respect of his fellow ironborn, he vowed to go and rescue Yara – his sister and Queen of the Iron Islands. That proved to be much easier than planned, and he is in and out with his sister without much fuss. Once they've made their escape, Yara plans to take back the Islands in case people need a retreat that the White Walkers can't reach. Meanwhile, Theon has his sights set on Winterfell, intending to fight alongside Jon.

Who didn't see this coming? It was a big deal when Dany first hopped on Drogon and took him for a spin, and when it was finally confirmed that Jon was also a Targaryen, it seemed like only a matter of time before he got a turn on a dragon's back. The two have a nice, flirtatious spin around the North to break up all the doom and gloom surrounding them.