1. Do I really want to sit through all this again? Yes, yes I do.
2. This show has taken over my life and I’m not even mad.
3. Oh, cold open! Literally, it looks so cold.
4. Shiiiit I forgot how hectic this opening scene is. It’s actually so scary.
5. Those White Walkers, making art with dead bodies.
6. “Do the dead frighten you?” They do now, thanks.
7. So I didn't realise this the first time around, but I have since learned that this ranger is the son of Yohn Royce, the guy who fosters Robin Arryn in the Vale.
8. The first official White Walker sighting!
9. AND A WIGHT. That little girl with the blue, blue eyes is so creepy!
10. They really started off with a bang and then kinda put the White Walker thing on the back burner for awhile.
11. Wait, how did this Night’s Watch guy even get away though? The White Walker was right there. Did he let him go so he could spread the word through Westeros that ~winter is coming~?
12. Aaand seven minutes in we finally get the opening credits. Seeing Sean Bean's name in there is like a punch in the gut.
13. Goddammit I’m getting emotional already, why am I doing this to myself.
14. WINTERFELL. YES. They even have title cards so you know where you are. I forgot they did that.
15. THE STARKS. ALL TOGETHER. ALL ALIVE. SO YOUNG. SO HAPPY. OH MY HEART.
16. Excuse me while I rewatch this scene 67 times.
17. Oh that Septa is now dead. And Sideburns Cassel is dead too.
18. Everybody’s dead, Dave.
19. Theon! Back when he was still a dick/had one (sorry Theon).
20. “He won’t be a boy forever. And winter is coming.” Ned is straight-up so ominous. We should have known.
21. Watching Rickon run to Jon with a bunch of arrows hurts so much after Season 6.
22. How dare you, Game of Thrones. How dare you.
23. Catelyn really was such a bitch to Jon. Poor bb Jon.
24. And Cat's never going to know Ned was truly faithful to her the whole time. The real tragedy of Game of Thrones.
25. Well that, and all the deaths.
26. Ice really was a huge, fuck-off sword.
27. Ah, the image that would become a meme.
28. I am living for all this Stark family screentime.
29. Aaand with his first act, Ned beheads a man. This is too real.
30. Watching Ned again just brings home all the more how Ned-like Jon was in Season 6. He certainly had the look down.
31. OMG BABY DIREWOLVES.
32. STARK BOYS HOLDING BABY DIREWOLVES.
33. My heart.
34. The direwolves are all now either dead or absent. Why did they give us something so precious just to take it away again??
35. They did the same with the Starks, really.
36. Although if you think about it, the Starks aren’t doing too badly these days, comparatively speaking.
37. As far as we know, the Martells, Baratheons, and Tyrells are mostly dead/out of true-born heirs; the Lannisters are down to Jaime, Cersei, and Tyrion (with no living heirs); the Boltons are gone… EVERYTHING IS COMING UP STARK.
38. I love how Ned is acting all gruff when what he's actually doing is letting his kids get matching puppies.
39. “I’m not a Stark.” You are to me, Jon.
40. (And also a mother fucking Targaryen yaaass).
41. OK, they do a pretty good job of laying out the relationships in this episode, but I have to admit the first time I watched it I didn't fully get it. It took me a good few eps to figure it all out. And even longer to learn all their names, tbh.
42. Sweet summer child, I was.
43. And we're in King’s Landing! Opening with Jon Arryn’s one and only scene.
44. Why is his body in the throne room? Guess they didn’t have a sept set yet.
45. I kinda miss Jaime’s Prince Charming hair. I was into it.
46. I remember thinking he was such a douche. Oh, how things change.
47. This scene of Catelyn and Ned in the godswood is giving me feels. We didn’t get nearly enough Catelyn and Ned scenes. They were so lovely together.
48. Oh Maester Luwin! I miss him.
49. I appreciate that the first act of gratuitous half-nudity was actually Jon, Robb, and Theon.
50. “He’s never met a girl he likes better than his own hair.” And so begins the spotlight on one of the most important characters on the show: Jon Snow’s hair.
51. He really is so upset about getting a haircut. Maybe that was his problem in Season 6: It wasn’t an existential crisis — he just didn’t like the chop Melisandre gave him.
52. Goddammit Bran stop climbing all the walls. THIS WILL GET YOU IN TROUBLE.
53. Although when you think about it, it wasn’t actually the climbing that screwed things up. It was Bran watching things he shouldn’t be watching.
54. Kinda like what happened with Hodor, hmmmm?
55. BABY SUMMER! This episode is making me so sad and happy all at once.
56. Ugh, fucking Joffrey.
57. I almost missed him after having to deal with Ramsay for so long, but just looking at his face again… it really is so punchable.
58. Arya spotting the Hound is giving me more feels than it should.
59. THERE’S HODOR. I’m still not OK.
60. So many people in this one shot are dead now.
61. All of these sweet, normal family interactions are killing me.
62. It’s interesting that Sansa starts out decked out in pale blue, unlike the rest of her family. And now she’s gone full dark/Stark.
63. Here comes Robert. I don’t miss him tbh. The Tower of Joy scene definitely added to my dislike.
64. It IS interesting that the only Starks he touches in this scene are all dead now.
65. Oh there's Myrcella and Tommen. I didn't notice them the first time. RIP.
66. So Ned’s hair and beard totally changed from one scene to the next.
67. Tyrion looks SO different in this episode. So blonde!
68. Oh Ros. I miss her. She deserved better.
69. FIRST MENTION OF LYANNA.
70. “She belonged with me.” Sorry but nah, Robert.
71. Every scene with Ned and Robert, especially when they’re talking about Lyanna/the Targaryens, takes on so much more meaning now that R+L=J has been confirmed.
72. OH HEY DANY.
73. Viserys! I miss him!
74. Oh, wait, no I don’t. I just remembered what a knob he is.
75. Me: Viserys undressing his sister and caressing her nipple is so disturbing and gross.
76. Also me: Dany should bang Jon Snow though.
77. This show has messed me up.
78. “You don’t want to awake the dragon, do you?” Actually that’s exactly what she does, Viserys. Too bad you’re not it.
79. “The Dothraki are not known for their punctuality.” Neither is Dany.
80. Fuck Khal Drogo was so, so hot.
81. I am so curious about Illyrio, it’s weird that the show just kinda dropped his character.
82. “I don’t want to be his queen. I want to go home.” This whole show is just about people wanting to go home. I mean, same.
83. “We go home with an army.” Six seasons later, Dany is finally doing it. She really has come so far, though.
84. This Cat and Sansa scene is so sweet. Cat rolling her eyes at Sansa obsessing over Joffrey is my favourite thing she ever did.
85. Oh baby Sansa. DON’T LEAVE WINTERFELL.
86. Benjen! I really need to see him and Jon reunite at some point. They can bond over being undead.
87. I’m not sure I buy that Benjen’s comment “if you knew what it meant” is foreshadowing that he knows about R+L=J.
88. But it’s interesting that Ned was hesitant to let Jon join the Night’s Watch. I wonder if Ned had a plan for Jon beyond protecting him.
89. This Tyrion and Jon scene (and the ones that follow in later eps) could be really important now that Tyrion is Dany’s hand. Alliance of ice and fire, anyone?
90. Jon was SO MAD about being a bastard back then. Such a contrast to how he he didn't even flinch at Ramsay’s repeated “bastard” jabs in Season 6. He really took Tyrion’s advice to heart: “Wear it like armour and it can never be used to hurt you.”
91. Benjen’s hair just changed from scene to scene. I know some of these scenes are from the original, unaired pilot, but it’s kinda weird that they didn’t reshoot them all for continuity, considering everything else was reshot.
92. Then again, I never noticed the changes before. I was too busy trying to learn everyone’s names.
93. The “winter is coming” count for this episode is now up to three.
94. Run away from Cersei, Sansa! Run!
95. “You must make something for me.” I hope she makes her a shroud.
96. More Stark happy family times. I could watch these forever. I feel like Bran when he didn't want to leave that Winterfell flashback.
97. Littlefinger hasn’t even been introduced as a character yet and he’s already fucking shit up by pitting the Lannisters and the Starks against each other via Lysa's letter.
98. This scene really sets up Ned’s struggle between family/love and duty/honour so well.
99. “Khal Drogo has promised you a crown. You shall have it.” Yeah you will, Viserys.
100. SER JORAH! He called her "Khaleesi." I blame him for everyone thinking that was her name for at least three years.
101. THE DRAGON EGGS. So important.
102. I miss Dany’s horse. I was so upset when it died.
103. This was quite a sweet moment between Drogo and Dany, really.
104. Oh yep, then he rapes her.
105. Ugh, this show. It always makes me feel so conflicted.
106. Like, I actually love Dany and Drogo's relationship later on, but I hate how it started out so rapey.
107. Game of Thrones, my most problematic fave.
108. Poor Emilia had to get naked twice in one episode. No wonder she wanted to limit her nudity down the track.
109. The Hound looks so different! They totally changed his look from this episode.
110. Aaand there's a sneaky shot of a blonde Theon! Another error courtesy of the original pilot.
111. Bran don’t do it. Don’t climb up there.
112. Goddammit.
113. JAIME NOOOOO.
114. If you had told me when I watched this (in complete shock) for the first time, that Jaime would become one of my favourite characters, I would never have believed you. And yet here I am.
115. Gotta love a show that makes you root for a guy who pushes a 10-year-old child out the window because he caught him banging his sister.
116. This fucking show.
117. I can't wait to rewatch the rest.