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Daenerys Targaryen seated on a horse in the HBO show “Game of Thrones.”

Game of Thrones season 8: episode recaps and reviews, spoilers, news, and analysis

Winter is here.

Contributors: Vox Staff

Winter is coming here: After nearly two years on hiatus, Game of Thrones has finally returned to air its six-episode eighth and final season. When the credits rolled on the season seven finale in August 2017, Avengers: Infinity War hadn’t come out. The Mueller report was still in its infant stages. It feels like a literal lifetime ago.

But now the show is back for one last go-round of subplots, double-crosses, and fake-outs as the Night King marches south and the battle for the Iron Throne continues. Who will ultimately come out on top? Will humanity even survive?

If you need a refresher before you dig in, we’ve got both a recap of what happened in season seven and a list of essential episodes to rewatch, whether you’re looking for important plot points or shock value. Once you’ve started watching, you can find all of our episode reviews and analysis below.

104 Total Updates Since
Aug 30, 2017, 10:00am EDT
  • July 20, 2019

    Why the ending of Game of Thrones elevated the worst of fan culture

    By Aja Romano

    Game of Thrones turned Bran Stark into a tired geek power fantasy — at its own expense.

  • July 10, 2019

    HBO’s Game of Thrones prequel series and spinoffs: everything we know so far

    By Allegra Frank

    The network has several projects in development, but only one has reached the pilot stage so far.

  • May 27, 2019

    Game of Thrones and the danger of planned finales

    By Emily St. James

    The series has known where it was heading for many seasons now. So why did it fall apart?

  • May 24, 2019

    Why HBO’s Succession will be the new Game of Thrones

    By Emily St. James

    The darkly funny family drama has plenty in common with Game of Thrones without feeling like an exact copy.

  • May 22, 2019

    Games of Thrones season 8

    By Vox Staff

    The show is finally back. Here’s what you need to know.

  • May 22, 2019

    20 lingering questions about the Game of Thrones series finale

    By Alex Abad-Santos

    So, did Jon Snow being a Targaryen really even matter?

  • May 20, 2019

    What Sansa Stark’s coronation hairstyle says about her character development

    By Gaby Del Valle

    Sansa’s style always mirrored that of other powerful Game of Thrones characters. Her coronation hairstyle was all her own.

  • May 20, 2019

    Game of Thrones fans are giving Brienne the ending she deserved

    By Aja Romano

    One of the most popular memes in the wake of the finale sees Brienne telling better stories than the one she was given on the show.

  • May 20, 2019

    Game of Thrones’ finale had another on-set snafu: plastic water bottles

    By Aja Romano

    These time-traveling water bottles stole the crown in the series finale.

  • May 20, 2019

    Game of Thrones’ finale betrayed the show’s core themes

    By Zack Beauchamp

    Game of Thrones’ political realism fell apart in season eight. Tyrion’s appeal for Bran was the fatal blow.

  • May 20, 2019

    There’s hope for a better Game of Thrones ending in George R.R. Martin’s books

    By Dylan Scott

    Game of Thrones had great ideas for its ending. But it needed Martin’s touch.

  • May 20, 2019

    The Winds of Winter, explained: what we know about the next Game of Thrones book

    By Andrew Prokop

    The book has been in the works for nearly eight years — but George R.R. Martin still isn’t done.

  • May 20, 2019

    Game of Thrones finally acknowledged Ghost as the very good dog he is

    By Aja Romano

    After fan outrage over their recent parting, Jon Snow and Ghost got a touching reunion in Game of Thrones’ series finale.

  • May 20, 2019

    Where the Game of Thrones series finale left every major character

    By Alex Abad-Santos

    The show is over, and many characters ended up in very different places from where they began.

  • May 20, 2019

    5 winners and 9 losers from Game of Thrones’ series finale

    By Emily St. James

    "The Iron Throne" is mostly anticlimactic, in ways that rarely feel intentional.

  • May 19, 2019

    Game of Thrones’ finale revealed Jon and Dany’s story was a tragic one

    By Andrew Prokop

    George R.R. Martin’s book series is called A Song of Ice and Fire. Now we know what that song is about,

  • May 19, 2019

    The Game of Thrones finale had a chance to break the wheel. It upheld the status quo.

    By Aja Romano

    The long-awaited series finale, "The Iron Throne," proves Game of Thrones was never interested in breaking cycles of power.

  • May 19, 2019

    Who won the Game of Thrones — and why it matters — explained

    By Emily St. James

    The choice is unexpected, but it fits in with the series’ larger themes about power on both page and screen.

  • May 17, 2019

    Game of Thrones series finale death watch: Daenerys has to die

    By Alex Abad-Santos

    Daenerys’s story has become a tragedy. Dying while on the Iron Throne fulfills that.

  • May 17, 2019

    “The Bells” was Game of Thrones’ most polarizing episode. Can the series finale still pull out a win?

    By Aja Romano, Dylan Matthews, Gaby Del Valle, Zack Beauchamp, and Matthew Yglesias

    Vox staffers debate this controversial episode — and ask what’s ahead for Westeros.

  • May 17, 2019

    Why everybody’s so mad about Daenerys Targaryen

    By Emily St. James

    Game of Thrones’ Mother of Dragons has fans up in arms heading into the show’s final episode.

  • May 17, 2019

    Vox’s predictions for Game of Thrones’ series finale

    By Alex Abad-Santos, Zack Beauchamp, Aja Romano, Dylan Matthews, Matthew Yglesias, Javier Zarracina, and Andrew Prokop

    With just one episode left, Vox staffers weigh in on what they think will happen — and what they’d like to see.

  • May 16, 2019

    A petition to remake Game of Thrones’ 8th season offers a revealing glimpse of wider fandom backlash

    By Aja Romano

    Over half a million fans are asking HBO to remake Game of Thrones’ final season.

  • May 13, 2019

    Game of Thrones’ King’s Landing horror fittingly reveals what the show has always been about

    By Andrew Prokop

    The Dany twist is classic George R.R. Martin.

  • May 13, 2019

    How Game of Thrones did Daenerys wrong

    By Zack Beauchamp

    The problem isn’t that Daenerys went mad. It’s how the show got there.