Will These Two 'Game of Thrones' Enemies Team Up to Save Westeros?
by EG
The premiere episode of the final season of Game of Thrones delivered quite a few surprises, including the unexpected reunion of two nemeses who haven't seen each other since the series' very first episode. Could that be a sign that old grudges could be forgotten in the face of the threat from the North? Read on for details.
[This story contains spoilers for the final-season premiere of HBO's Game of Thrones, "Winterfell."]
There are only six episodes in the final season of Game of Thrones. One has aired. Five remain. As it stands, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau has his work cut out for him in order to enjoy as much screen time as some of his colleagues, considering that his role as Jaime Lannister was relegated to precisely one scene in the premiere: the final one. The good news, as he puts it: "Well, it's a great scene."
"Winterfell," an episode filled with callbacks to the series premiere, "Winter Is Coming," ends in a way that calls the series' first installment to mind: Jaime encountering Bran Stark (Isaac Hempstead Wright) in incredible, unexpected fashion. Back then, Jaime pushed Bran out of a window in order to preserve his secret relationship with Cersei Lannister (Lena Headey). Now, he does not quite know how to handle the first familiar face he sees in the North.
"I'm sure he went through all kinds of scenarios about what would happen when he went back to Winterfell," Coster-Waldau tells The Hollywood Reporter, "and I'm sure that's the last thing he expected to see. Once again, it's kind of the same conundrum as in episode one of the whole show. If this kid, this young man, tells anybody what he knows? Well, Jaime is in trouble."
It's already tense enough, Jaime returning to Winterfell after seven full seasons away. His family waged all-out war against House Stark, killing its patriarch, matriarch and eldest son. Jaime's own children are dead, cold and gone before he could ever publicly acknowledge them as his sons and daughter. The only person he truly loves, Cersei, has gone far off the deep end, so dead set on her grudges that she plans to sabotage the Stark-Targaryen alliance, even in the face of overwhelming supernatural death. In the face of all that, Jaime still feels it's his duty to ride North and fight for the living — a testament to the quiet honor at his core, a code he keeps buried using his cynicism and wit, lest anyone know the true reason why he "kingslayed" Aerys Targaryen so many years ago.
Get the rest of the story at The Hollywood Reporter.
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