Game of Thrones made its long-awaited return Sunday night—and if you don't want to see spoilers for the first episode of Season 8, do not read on. As the epic returned after almost two years, secrets were revealed and reunions occurred at Winterfell, with the undead army moving closer, the BBC reports. It was heavy on exposition and light on bloodshed, reviewers say, but there was a glimpse of the "carnage to come." More:
- "Constrained and claustrophobic." With "charged reunions, new conflicts, and old grudges" playing out at a fraught Winterfell, the start of the new season strongly resembled Downton Abbey, writes Jeremy Egner at the New York Times. A show long defined "by bigness and a far-flung story structure" now feels "constrained and claustrophobic, as people hash out their differences and drop revelation bombs within tight shadowy shots," he writes.
- "The end is now." With the end of the series in sight, this episode makes it clear that there won't be any "messing around," writes Sarah Hughes at the Guardian. "This was a thrilling episode with its pedal to the floor, in which new alliances were made, old ones tested and long-awaited reunions occurred," she writes. This episode, she writes, was all about the need for family. "As far back as the first series we learned that the pack survives but the lone wolf struggles. Now the Stark family are together and should be stronger for it, as, at least temporarily, are the Greyjoys."