'Game of Thrones' season 7 premiere recap and review: Everyone heading north!

“Game of Thrones” season 7 premiere began with a bang, with multiple deaths expected from the HBO series. There is a major war in the horizon, but the main focus will be on the North, where the threat of White Walkers is real. The following article contains spoilers.

Arya Stark (Maisie Williams) started the season as the wicked old Walder Frey (David Bradley). The Stark girl wants revenge for the Red Wedding, so she invites the Freys to a feast after assuming the identity of the Lord of the Twin Towers. With poisoned wine she kills everyone worth killing. “The north remembers,” she tells a serving girl as a reminder before leaving.

In King’s Landing, Cersei (Lena Headey) puts Jaime (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau) in charge of the army. They are surrounded by enemies, so the new queen plans an alliance with Euron Greyjoy (Pilou Asbæk). The king of the Iron Islands comes with a fleet of a thousand ships but has to work hard to get the alliance. Cersei refuses, even though she is keen on it, tempting her would-be ally to offer something of value. Euron promises to return with a “gift” to win the queen’s heart.

Sandor Clegane (Rory McCann), meanwhile, travels with Beric Dondarrion (Richard Dormer) and the followers of the Lord of the Light. The Hound has little time for religion, but when he sees the army of the dead in the fire, he changes his mind.

Samwell Tarly (John Bradley) is preparing to be a Maester at the Citadel, but he still has a long way to go. No one believes the White Walkers are real, and the few who do don’t see them as a big threat. Sam decides to steal the keys to the restricted section of the library. He discovers the location of a vast Dragonglass deposit and writes to Jon Snow (Kit Harington) about it.

Jon is busy preparing the defence of The Wall. There is tension between him and his sister Sansa (Sophie Turner), as they disagree on how to deal with families that fought alongside the Boltons. The new King in the North wants to keep his focus on the Night’s King, who is on the march with his army.

Lastly, Sandor and Beric are heading north to help face the White Walker threat. Arya, who tells a few Lannister soldiers that she is heading to King’s Landing to kill the queen, may also consider heading north if she hears about the last remaining Starks defending their home from the Others.