Winterfell (episode)

The upcoming first episode of the eighth season of Game of Thrones will air on April 14, 2019. It will be the sixty-eighth episode of the series overall. It was written by Dave Hill and directed by David Nutter.

Plot
The Great War has come, the Wall that has protected the Seven Kingdoms has fallen and the Night King's army of the dead marches towards Westeros.

At Winterfell
Jon Snow, Daenerys Targaryen, and the Targaryen army pass through the winter town as its inhabitants watch the dragons above in awe. Inside the walls of Winterfell, Sansa Stark swears allegiance to Queen Daenerys.

Appearances

 * Main: Season 8, Episode 1/Appearances

First

 * Lannister guard 1
 * Lannister guard 2
 * Wight
 * Bannerman

Deaths

 * Ned Umber

Cast
Starring
 * Peter Dinklage as Lord Tyrion Lannister
 * Nikolaj Coster-Waldau as Ser Jaime Lannister
 * Lena Headey as Queen Cersei Lannister
 * Emilia Clarke as Queen Daenerys Targaryen
 * Kit Harington as Jon Snow
 * Liam Cunningham as Ser Davos Seaworth
 * Sophie Turner as Lady Sansa Stark
 * Maisie Williams as Arya Stark
 * Nathalie Emmanuel as Missandei
 * Alfie Allen as Prince Theon Greyjoy
 * John Bradley as Samwell Tarly
 * Isaac Hempstead-Wright as Bran Stark
 * Conleth Hill as Lord Varys
 * Jerome Flynn as Ser Bronn of the Blackwater
 * Gwendoline Christie as Brienne of Tarth
 * Rory McCann as Sandor Clegane
 * Kristofer Hivju as Tormund
 * Hannah Murray as Gilly
 * Iain Glen as Ser Jorah Mormont
 * Carice van Houten as Lady Melisandre
 * Joe Dempsie as Gendry

Guest Starring
 * Richard Dormer as Lord Beric Dondarrion
 * Jacob Anderson as Commander Grey Worm
 * Anton Lesser as Lord Qyburn
 * Gemma Whelan as Queen Yara Greyjoy
 * Daniel Portman as Podrick Payne
 * Hafþór Júlíus Björnsson as Ser Gregor Clegane
 * Pilou Asbæk as King Euron Greyjoy
 * Rupert Vansittart as Lord Yohn Royce
 * Bella Ramsey as Lady Lyanna Mormont
 * Richard Rycroft as Maester Wolkan
 * Megan Parkinson as Lady Alys Karstark
 * Harry Grasby as Lord Ned Umber
 * Staz Nair as Qhono
 * Ben Crompton as Lord Commander Eddison Tollett
 * Tobias Menzies as Lord Edmure Tully
 * Lino Facioli as Lord Robin Arryn

Uncredited
 * Alee Fauzi as Lannister guard 1
 * Adam Quigley-Nixon as Lannister guard 2
 * Jack Hudson as Wight
 * Mark Quigley as Bannerman

Cast notes

 * 21 of 22 starring cast members appear in this episode.
 * Vladimir Furdik as the Night King is not credited in this episode.

General

 * Due to concerns about spoilers, HBO is only releasing the titles of Season 8 episodes the moment they start airing - meaning that Game of Thrones Wiki can only make up accurate episode titles for each one as they are revealed.
 * The Title sequence has been drastically updated, more than in the past seven seasons. As the production team has explained, in prior seasons, as a rule the camera had to show at least four locations:  King's Landing, Winterfell, The Wall, and then "wherever Daenerys is now" in the eastern continent - even in episodes which Daenerys's storyline does not appear in, in order to illustrate the full scale of their fantasy world.  When Daenerys arrived in Westeros in Season 7, the map thus didn't travel beyond Westeros.  Also due to time constraints, the map sequence has never shown more than six locations in one episode  The new opening sequence plays out like an invasion map for the White Walkers, with the entire map upside down, to show the view of the White Walkers as they advance south.  With so few locations this season due to characters being grouped together again, the only locations shown are the Wall - now breached - Last Hearth, Winterfell, and King's Landing.  The individual animations for Winterfell and King's Landing are also now far more extensive.
 * Even the astrolabe the map is set within has been updated. The idea is that the map sequence is the astrolabe of a maester in the Citadel, with illustrations on the bars which in prior seasons depicted the Doom of Valyria and Robert's Rebellion.  The new astrolabe contains artistic depictions of more recent events from within the TV show itself, such as the Red Wedding.

In King's Landing

 * The storyline of the Golden Company is actually a major subplot introduced in the fifth novel, which fill feature prominently in the sixth novel. Virtually all of this seems to have been cut, beyond the simple fact that the Golden Company are a large sellsword company.  In the books, they are a large sellsword company composed of Westerosi exiles who fought for the traitorous House Blackfyre during the Blackfyre Rebellion.
 * The Season 7 Histories & Lore animated featurettes included one specifically on "The Golden Company" which explains their background from the novels.
 * Contrast the uniformed costumes of the Golden Company with the more hodge-podge look of other sellsword companies seen in the past, such as the Second Sons. The Golden Company is the largest and most refined sellsword company in all of the Free Cities, and at this very high end of the spectrum, they are organized as a formally structured and will-disciplined private army, with their own officers and commanders.  Their more uniform on-screen helps to quickly contrast them with the more rough-and-tumble mercenary companies.
 * The Golden Company actually has 10,000 men in the novels. When they were first briefly mentioned in Season 4, this number was actually given on-screen.  When they were reintroduced again prominently in Season 7, however, Cersei said that they had 20,000 men.  At the time it wasn't clear if this was a mistake or a retcon, but given that this is now the number that has consistently been given through Season 8, the TV-version is now officially retconned to 20,000 men.

In the books
[This section will be updated with comparisons when the sixth and seventh novels are released.]

Memorable quotes
Sansa Stark: "Winterfell is yours, Your Grace."