When we last checked in on Westeros, the fates of our favourite Game of Thrones characters were on a knife edge.
It was nearly two years ago, but it’s hard to wipe the image of a giant undead dragon blowing a massive hole in The Wall, paving the way for the Night King to begin his reign of terror on the living.
Around the same time, Daenarys Targaryen and Jon Snow were finally acting on their lust — right as Samwell Tarley discovered they are, in fact, aunty and nephew.
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With so many pieces on the board, there’ll be a lot to watch out for when the eighth and final season finally gets underway on April 15 (including these incredibly convincing theories about what will happen).
The way we see it, there are four main groups and one little Greyjoy cluster at the moment.
Cersei and the Lannister army are in King’s Landing, Jon Snow and Daenarys Targaryen are at sea, bound for White Harbor, the Stark sisters are at Winterfell, and Eastwatch-by-the-Sea has just been breached by the Undead army.
And then, of course, there’s Theon and his small team of sailors en route to save his sister Yara from their Uncle Euron who’s heading to Essos as per instruction from his new ally, Cersei.
The final season will stream in Australia express from the US on Monday, April 15 at 11am AEDT on Foxtel.
(You can catch up on the full recap of The Dragon and the Wolf season seven finale episode here).
While we wait here’s a handy refresher guide to where we left everyone in the jaw-dropping episode:
KING’S LANDING, TEAM CERSEI
Despite being confronted with a wight at the very tense dragon pit meeting, Queen Cersei is still not overly fussed about the Night King’s impending icy takeover.
Sure, after a bit of a stoush and a secret meeting, she finally tells rivals Daenarys Targaryen and Jon Snow that she’ll make good on a truce so they can destroy the Undead Army together before resuming their battle for the throne, but we quickly learn she did not mean it.
Oh, and she’s pregnant.
Which leads us to …
HEADING NORTH, JAIME LANNISTER
Cersei’s brother and lover, Jaime, was still in the dark after Cersei (falsely) pledged to join the fight against the Night King, so he was putting his military might to use in the map room and talking to his men about strategies when she stormed in and asked him: “Expedition north? Are you a traitor or an idiot?”
Jaime is flabbergasted, and when he discovers she’s been plotting with Euron Greyjoy and has no intention of helping Dany and Jon, he snaps.
Finally, after years of being locked in a highly toxic incestuous relationship, Jaime bails on Cersei and heads North to join the fight to save the world.
ON A BOAT HEADING BACK TO WINTERFELL, TYRION LANNISTER
Let’s check in with the third Lannister sibling now — Tyrion.
After defecting from King’s Landing and his family, Tyrion has been lined up behind Daenarys for some time, but it seems like he played a very dangerous game towards the end of season seven.
After Cersei stormed off from the dragonpit meeting, Tyrion appeared to save the day after risking his life to have a private meeting with his sister (and her zombie bodyguard, The Mountain) and beg her to reconsider.
She agrees to his face, but as we now know — later tells Jaime she has no intention of honouring it.
Good times.
Here’s the thing: a lot of fans believe Tyrion struck some sort of deal with Cersei during their one-on-one chat and may be planning to betray Queen Dany.
Why? Because as soon as Tyrion discovered his sister’s pregnancy, the scene cut away, leaving us to guess what happened next — which, it’s assumed, was his eventual success in making her honour the truce with Dany and Jon.
Even though Cersei was secretly lying, something happened during her meeting with Tyrion that made her change her public stance — as if someone convinced her it was a good idea to lie her way out of the situation.
The last we saw of Tyrion in the finale was him lurking in the shadows on the boat en route to Winterfell looking extremely worried as he listened to Jon and Dany getting down and dirty.
It’s also possible he simply — and accurately — deduced the couple’s unfolding romance spells trouble.
JON SNOW AND DAENARYS TARGARYEN
Which brings us to Jon and Daenarys, the new poster couple of incest.
These two are headed back to White Harbor as well, and they’ve just taken their attraction to a very physical level.
Before we get into that, a quick recap of Jon and Dany’s travel squad: Tyrion’s there, as well as Lord Varys, Brienne of Tarth, Podrick Payne, Gregor “The Hound” Clegane, Missandei, Ser Davos Seaworth, Ser Jorah Mormont, Drogon, Rhaegal, and the Dothraki hoard.
Obviously, they could have flown back to Winterfell via dragons but Jon — in a rare moment of sensibility — suggested the Northerners may be a little alarmed by such an arrival.
Instead, the King in the North and the Mother of Dragons took the extended path, allowing time for their hook-up on the high seas.
Most importantly, while Jon and Daenarys’ relationship is now at its closest point yet — it’s also just come to light they’re related, and Jon is actually Aegon Targaryen, aka the heir to the Iron Throne.
But they don’t know that yet, so it should be a fun Maury Povich-type moment when that bombshell is delivered.
THE GREYJOYS
Euron Greyjoy pulled off the “coward” act well at the dragon pit summit, declaring he was ditching them all and heading back home overseas (as White Walkers can’t cross water).
However, we then found out he was actually plotting with Cersei behind everyone’s backs, and he’s now on his way to Essos with his fleet to pick up a mercenary army called the Golden Company.
Elsewhere in the Greyjoy family, Theon finally found his courage and told Jon Snow he was going to save his sister, Yara, who is in the very nasty and murderous clutches of their uncle, Euron.
So at this point in time, all of the key Greyjoys are somewhere in the Narrow Sea.
WINTERFELL, THE STARK SISTERS
It briefly looked like the relationship between once long-lost, now reunited Starks Arya and Sansa was fractured beyond repair at the end of season seven.
However, in an incredible switcheroo, the pair staged the perfect trial and execution of troublemaker Lord “Littlefinger” Baelish, ending his seasons-long reign of hidden betrayals and manipulation.
When we left Winterfell, Sansa and Arya were joined by their brother Bran, Samwell Tarly, Gilly, Little Sam, Ser Waymar Royce, and Lyanna Mormont.
Getting rid of the threat of Littlefinger was their number one priority, but Winterfell is also preparing for the impending attack from the Night King and the White Walkers.
Plus, as mentioned earlier, Bran has just figured out — with the help of Sam and Gilly — our hero Jon Snow is not a bastard. It’ll now presumably be up to them to let him/someone/anyone know about this rather striking revelation.
EASTWATCH-BY-THE-SEA, OH DEAR GOD THE WHITE WALKERS ARE HERE
Our last shocking glimpse at the world of Game of Thrones was the image of the Night King and his new zombie dragon, Viserion, smashing through The Wall at Eastwatch-by-the-Sea.
It was horrifying and mesmerising — and means the battle between the Dead and the Living is finally upon Westeros.
Plus, the fate of Tormund and Beric, who were guarding The Wall, is now up in the air (literally): the last time we saw them, they looked to be caught up in the massive avalanche of debris as it came down.
