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"Dragonstone" is the first episode of the seventh season of HBO's fantasy television series Game of Thrones, and the 61st overall. It was written by series co-creators David Benioff and D. B. Weiss, and directed by Jeremy Podeswa.

In Dragonstone, Daenerys Targaryen (Emilia Clarke) and Tyrion Lannister (Peter Dinklage), along with her loyalists, arrive and explore the abandoned castle, Dragonstone, the ancient seat of House Targaryen. At the Twins, Arya Stark (Maisie Williams) wears the face of Walder Frey (David Bradley) and poisons numerous Freys for their complicity in the Red Wedding. In King's Landing, Cersei Lannister (Lena Headey) and Jaime Lannister (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau) treat with Euron Greyjoy (Pilou Asbæk) who attempts to create an alliance. In Winterfell, Jon Snow (Kit Harington) pardons the heirs of Karhold and Last Hearth, and Sansa Stark (Sophie Turner) warns Jon of Cersei's impending wrath. At the Citadel, Samwell Tarly (John Bradley) begins his training as a Maester, and sends a message to Jon about the dragon glass beneath Dragonstone. At the Wall, Bran Stark (Isaac Hempstead Wright) arrives and is taken south to Castle Black, and the Brotherhood Without Banners, including Sandor Clegane (Rory McCann) continue their journey north to the Wall.

"Dragonstone" received acclaim from critics, who considered Arya's revenge on House Frey, Sandor Clegane's atonement for his old life, and Daenerys' dramatic homecoming at Dragonstone as highlights of the episode. In the United States, the episode achieved a viewership of 10.11 million in its initial broadcast, making it the highest rated episode in the series' history.

Plot

At the Twins

Disguised as Walder Frey (David Bradley), Arya Stark (Maisie Williams) kills all the House Frey men with poisoned wine, denouncing them for their actions and leaving Kitty Frey alive to bear witness that "the North remembers." Journeying south, Arya makes camp with friendly Lannister soldiers. Her claimed intention to kill the Queen is taken as a joke.

Beyond the Wall

The White Walkers and wights, including giants, march south. Bran Stark (Isaac Hempstead Wright) and Meera Reed (Ellie Kendrick) arrive at the Wall. Eddison Tollett (Ben Crompton), persuaded by Bran's knowledge of the White Walkers and of Edd's experiences with them, lets them in.

At Winterfell

Despite Sansa Stark's (Sophie Turner) objections, Jon Snow (Kit Harington) forgives children Alys Karstark and Ned Umber for their fathers' betrayals. The two heirs swear loyalty. Jon orders Tormund Giantsbane (Kristofer Hivju) and the wildlings to fortify the Wall at Eastwatch-by-the-Sea, and all Northerners, including women and girls, to train for battle. In private, Jon is frustrated that Sansa undermined his authority; Sansa doesn't want Jon to repeat the mistakes for which their father and Robb died. A message from Cersei Lannister orders Jon to bend the knee; Jon believes the Lannister army poses no threat to the North in winter, but Sansa knows Cersei is dangerous.

Littlefinger (Aidan Gillen) attempts to ingratiate himself with Sansa, who remains aloof. She tells Brienne of Tarth (Gwendoline Christie) that she can't dismiss him because they still need the Vale's military support.

In King's Landing

Cersei (Lena Headey) and Jaime Lannister (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau) are surrounded by enemies and have no allies. Euron Greyjoy (Pilou Asbæk) arrives in King's Landing with the Iron Fleet, offering Cersei an alliance and marriage. Cersei rejects Euron because he is untrustworthy. Euron leaves, promising to win her over with a priceless gift.

In Oldtown

Samwell Tarly's (John Bradley) maester training includes menial chores. Archmaester Ebrose (Jim Broadbent) denies Sam's request for access to the library's restricted area; Ebrose believes Sam's warning of the White Walkers' return, but insists that the Wall will repel them. Sam steals the books to study in his and Gilly's (Hannah Murray) quarters. He discovers that Dragonstone stands on a huge dragonglass deposit, and sends the information to Jon via raven.

Jorah Mormont (Iain Glen), his entire arm infected with greyscale, is a patient in isolation. When Sam collects his food dish, Jorah asks if Daenerys has arrived in Westeros. Sam has not heard.

In the Riverlands

The Brotherhood Without Banners and Sandor Clegane (Rory McCann) take shelter in an abandoned farm; the farmer and his daughter are long dead inside. Beric Dondarrion (Richard Dormer) admits he does not know why he has been resurrected. Thoros of Myr (Paul Kaye) shows Sandor a vision in flames: the White Walkers advance. Sandor digs a grave for the bodies. Thoros discovers him and helps.

At Dragonstone

Daenerys Targaryen (Emilia Clarke) and her fleet arrive at Dragonstone. She and her advisors enter the castle. Alone with Tyrion Lannister (Peter Dinklage) in the war council room, she asks him, "Shall we begin?"

Production

Writing

"Dragonstone" was written by the series' creators, David Benioff and D. B. Weiss. In an "Inside the Episode" segment published by HBO shortly after the episode aired, Benioff and Weiss said that the episode was not initially written with the Walder Frey scene as the cold open, but the decision was made following their witnessing of David Bradley's performance as Walder, as he slowly transforms into Arya Stark. Weiss stated that it was their belief that the scene was the best way to "open the episode and the season," and that it was necessary for Arya to send the message that "the North remembers."

One of Weiss's favorite scenes in the episode included the Hound's reaction to the death of the father and daughter that he'd left to die, and the "transformation" that the Hound has undergone as a human being since he first met them. Benioff went on to note that although the Hound does not like the religion that is the Lord of Light, he is unable to deny the truth of what he witnesses in the flames, as well as Beric Dondarrion's resurrection.

In regard to the dynamic between Jon Snow and Sansa Stark, Benioff revealed that Sansa still harbors resentment towards Jon who has taken control of Winterfell as King of the North, and that she feels more responsible for their victory in the "Battle of the Bastards". Benioff also notes that Sansa believes Jon is naive to ignore the potential threat of Cersei Lannister, and that Jon believes the White Walkers are a more imminent danger. Weiss then stressed that after having lost all of her children, Cersei is in a much darker place, and that "all she really has left is power for the sake of power." Benioff continued by comparing Cersei to Daenerys Targaryen, in that Cersei is willing to kill hundreds of thousands of innocent lives, but Daenerys is unable to do so, as she is "constrained by her morality and fear of hurting innocents."

Casting

"Dragonstone" saw the introduction of Jim Broadbent as Archmaester Ebrose at the Citadel. His casting in the series was initially announced by HBO to Entertainment Weekly in August 2016, and at the time was only revealed as a "significant" role in the seventh season. In a subsequent interview, Broadbent revealed his role in the series, and that he would be sharing his scenes with John Bradley, who portrays Samwell Tarly.

Prior to the episode airing, it was announced that musician Ed Sheeran would be making a cameo appearance at some point during the season. According to David Benioff, they had been trying for years to get him onto the show as a surprise for Maisie Williams, who portrays Arya Stark in the series and is a fan of Sheeran. Before the episode's official release, Sheeran stated about his appearance that "Nothing exciting happens in this scene, we just have a conversation and that's kind of it." In "Dragonstone", Sheeran portrays a Lannister soldier, who Arya happens upon when she hears him singing a song that is unfamiliar to her. The song originates from George R. R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire book series, which the television show is adapted from, and is titled "Hands of Gold". In the book series, it is sung by a character known as Symon Silver Tongue, a character unrelated to Sheeran's portrayal.

Directing

"Dragonstone" was directed by Jeremy Podeswa. He joined the series as a director in the fifth season, his first episode being "Kill the Boy", which was followed by "Unbowed, Unbent, Unbroken", for which he was nominated for an Emmy Award for Outstanding Directing for a Drama Series. He further directed two more episodes in the series' sixth season, and also directed the seventh season's finale episode. In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter following the airing of "Dragonstone", Podeswa discussed his experience with directing Ed Sheeran's cameo appearance, stating "He was lovely to work with. He was lovely on the show. I think he fit right into that world." He continued by noting that Sheeran requested to change the key of the song that he performs in the scene during the episode's filming.

Podeswa also discussed his direction for the cold open, saying he wanted to "honor the great writing," and praised Maisie Williams and David Bradley's performance as Arya Stark and Walder Frey respectively, stating "As we got more into it, you knew the audience would have questions coming right into the scene, knowing Walder Frey is dead. So, what is this? Is it a flashback? Is there something else going on here? It's about playing that line of audience surprise and curiosity and how they read the scene. David's performance is so fantastic where there's a moment you can almost feel Arya inside of him. It's even before the dialogue betrays who he is." Following the cold open, Podeswa also spoke about directing the opening scene following the title sequence, revealing "We knew it would be one shot. Nothing fancy in terms of camerawork. But it's a shot that very slowly reveals itself over time, and we take that time. Then it was a matter of me conceptualizing it with the storyboard artists and visual effects department." Podeswa also stated that the scene ending on the eye of the giant wight was not originally in the script, but came from working with the art department for the series.

In discussing the montage of Samwell Tarly at the Citadel, Podeswa noted that his past experience with directing a montage sequence of Arya while she is washing bodies at the House of Black and White may have been the reason for the showrunners to have included it in the episode, saying "In David and Dan's minds, they made a connection between me and montages, even though tonally these two are very different." He also divulged that the original version of the montage was "about seven or eight minutes" due to the amount of material that Podeswa had directed, and that the final version was edited down significantly.

For the closing scene of Daenerys Targaryen arriving at Dragonstone, Podeswa noted that very little of the scene was shot on a sound stage, but rather on location, saying "The only thing shot on stage were the gates at the top of the stairs that leads to the long winding pathway up to the castle. Everything else was shot on location, in a number of different locations: Zumaia Beach in Spain is where she lands and walks up the stairs and gets to where the gates are. Another place — San Juan — is the place where that amazing staircase that doesn't look real and looks like a CG creation, but it's not, that's a spectacular location going up to Dragonstone castle." The interiors of Dragonstone, however, were all shot on a sound stage, with set designer Deb Riley creating the throne room, and redesigning the map room for the episode.

Reception

Ratings

"Dragonstone" was viewed by 16.1 million total viewers, including 10.11 million on its initial viewing on HBO and the remaining coming from DVR and streaming, making it the most watched episode in the series' history. The episode inspired 2.4 million tweets during the time it aired, making it the show's most-tweeted episode yet.

Critical reception

"Dragonstone" has received widespread praise from critics. It has received a 95% rating on the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes from 40 reviews with an average score of 8.5 out of 10. The site's consensus reads "With a blistering opening salvo, Game of Thrones charts an assured path for its anxiously-anticipated final stretch."

Matt Fowler of IGN wrote in his review for the episode "'Dragonstone' sublimely set the stage for Game of Thrones Season 7 with some righteous revenge, a new alliance, a dramatic (and quiet) homecoming, and a surprisingly great sequence from The Hound as he began to atone for his old life." He gave the episode a 8.8 out of 10. Erik Kain of Forbes similarly gave praise to the episode, writing "This was easily one of my favorite season premieres of any season of Game of Thrones. It's a testament to the show's staying power and quality that even this far in, a season's first episode could be so good. So much of it was just setting the stage, and yet I was reeled in, hook, line and sinker, from the opening moment to the closing credits." Jane Mulkerrins of The Daily Telegraph also praised the episode, writing "One might wonder whether the biggest, bloodiest, most Dragon-heavy show on television would still have the ability to shock and surprise. The answer, happily, is yes."

Ed Sheeran received a mix of positive and very critical reviews over his cameo appearance in Game Of Thrones. He deleted his Twitter account shortly after it. Much of the criticism was around the fact that there seemed to have been little attempt to disguise his cameo – while other artists such as Coldplay drummer Will Champion and Gary Lightbody of Snow Patrol were more difficult to spot in their scenes.

References

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9. Seemayer, Zach (June 15, 2017). "EXCLUSIVE: Ed Sheeran Dishes on 'Game of Thrones' Cameo and Songwriters Hall of Fame Honor". Entertainment Tonight. Retrieved July 16, 2017.
10. ^ Walsh, Megan (July 16, 2017). "What Song Does Ed Sheeran Sing On 'Game Of Thrones'? Arya Had The Same Question". Romper. Retrieved July 16, 2017.
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15. ^ Wigler, Josh (July 18, 2017). "'Game of Thrones' Director Recalls Ed Sheeran's One Request on Set". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved July 18, 2017.
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18. ^ "Dragonstone - Game of Thrones: Season 7, Episode 1". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved July 17, 2017.
19. ^ Fowler, Matt (July 17, 2017). "Game of Thrones: "Dragonstone" Review". IGN. Archived from the original on July 17, 2017. Retrieved July 17, 2017. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
20. Kain, Erik (July 16, 2017). "'Game Of Thrones' Season 7, Episode 1 Review: Dragonstone". Forbes. Retrieved July 17, 2017.
21. Mulkerrins, Jane (July 17, 2017). "Game of Thrones, season 7, episode 1: Dragonstone review - bloodiest show on TV can still shock and surprise". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved July 17, 2017.
22. Stutz, Colin (17 July 2017). "Ed Sheeran Deletes Twitter Account". Billboard. Retrieved 17 July 2017.
23. O'Connor, Roisin (July 19, 2017). "Ed Sheeran deletes Twitter account after Game of Thrones backlash". The Independent. Retrieved July 19, 2017.

External links

• "Dragonstone" at HBO.com
• "Dragonstone (Game of Thrones)" at IMDb
• Template:Tv.com episode

• 2017 American television episodes
• Game of Thrones episodes