Your patience has finally paid off. Game of Thrones season 8 reunited your faves, with an additional reunion you didn’t know you needed.
After nine years and eight seasons, Game of Thrones‘ universe has expanded so far that it’s forced to shrink back in. Characters who have long been separated by distance and time are finally back together again. It’s a feeling of fulfillment we never thought we’d have. Let’s take a look at some of the best Game of Thrones season 8 reunions.
Theon and Yara – Cool
Everyone always likes to talk about the Stark siblings, but the Greyjoy siblings also have their own story going on. Yara and Theon’s relationship is much more layered than Arya and Jon’s unwavering love, and Tyrion and Cersei’s unending animosity. The Greyjoy brother and sister certainly care about each other, but they also have a tendency to deeply irritate each other. It’s probably the most realistic sibling relationship on Game of Thrones.
It hasn’t been too long since Theon and Yara were together. In season 7, Euron lay siege on Yara and Theon’s fleet, capturing Yara, while Theon abandoned ship. Theon later gathered Greyjoy forces to join him in rescuing his sister, and fortunately this storyline didn’t take long to pay off. In one of the earlier scenes of “Winterfell,” we’re treated to Theon’s successful, and surprisingly easy, rescue mission. Theon and Yara’s reunion may not have been terribly sentimental, but they wouldn’t be Greyjoys if it’d been any other way.
Jon and Sam – Cute
These two ‘brothers’ have only been apart for a couple of seasons, but a lot has happened in that time. Most importantly, Jon died very soon after Sam left him, and there’s no way that’s a coincidence. Sam and Jon are far better off in each other’s company, to balance the other out. Luckily for these two, Game of Thrones season 8 didn’t waste time to bring these two back together.
Jon and Sam reunite in the Stark crypt. Though it starts out with hugs and smiles, it quickly changes into a meeting of urgency, as Sam delivers some sad, and game-changing news. Sam wastes no time telling Jon that Daenerys has killed his father and brother, and that Jon is actually the heir to the Iron Throne. Their reunion is mostly business and a Game of Thrones history lesson, but all the same, we’re just glad they’re back together.
Sansa and Tyrion – Sighs in relief
For those who haven’t been keeping track of Sansa’s love life, she was once married to Tyrion Lannister. It was an arrangement neither were happy about, and despite Tyrion’s efforts to treat her well, Sansa didn’t much return the kindness. Their marriage quickly fell apart in season 4, during Joffrey’s wedding. Upon Joffrey’s murder, Sansa fled, leaving her husband behind, which created false suspicion of his involvement in the King’s death.
Four seasons later, Sansa has been through hell and back, and through her experiences, developed perspective on her and Tyrion’s short-lived marriage. When reunited at Winterfell, the two reminisce on the fateful wedding day that resulted in their separation. Sansa comments that the ‘miserable affair’ “had its moments,” and though it’s a small exchange, it’s enough to show that neither party holds the other responsible for anything that happened. It’s a light moment that establishes an amiability between the two.
Arya and the Hound – Bring on the snark
Sandor Clegane and Arya Stark made a very peculiar but well-suited dynamic duo back in seasons 3 and 4 of Game of Thrones. Although Arya left him to die, after robbing him first of course, somehow we knew it wouldn’t be the last time they saw each other.
When this duo finally reconnected, the moment didn’t quite deliver the hype that was anticipated, but at least it happened. In all honesty, even if the Hound and Arya simply grunted at each other as a form of acknowledgement we’d be happy.
Jon and Bran – One-sided
It’s always exciting when Starks reunite, even if one of those Starks is Bran Stark. Jon hasn’t seen Bran since season 1, while Bran was still unconscious after his fall from the tower. Since then, Bran has actually seen Jon twice, unbeknownst to Jon. In season 3 of Game of Thrones, Bran warged into Summer to help Jon fight off the Wildlings, and in season 4, he warged into Hodor to kill Locke during the fight at Craster’s Keep.
Season 8, however, is the first time Jon and Bran are both knowingly together since season 1, and their reunion is much like the way they initially departed: cold and lifeless. Bran may not reciprocate Jon’s sentiment, but at the very least, Jon’s happy to see his ‘brother’ is alive and well, and we’ll take any Stark reunion we can get.
Arya and Gendry – *heart eyes*
Arya and Gendry had a cute little flirtation throughout seasons 2 and 3, before Gendry was whisked away to be a blood donor to the Red God. For a while we didn’t actually know if we’d ever seen Gendry again. Perhaps he’d died in his rowboat. Our fears were unwarranted though, for in season 7 we found out Gendry did in fact make it to King’s Landing, and had been working as a smith.
Together again, so many seasons later, Arya and Gendry pick up right where they left off. It’s a much-needed moment for Arya to actually feel like her age again, to be amongst her peers, and to remember what it’s like to be happy.
Jon and Arya – Cries ugly tears
The Stark reunion we’ve been waiting for since season 1 finally happened. The Stark ‘siblings’ who had the strongest relationship, also had the cutest reunion, and it was well worth the wait.
Though the mantle has been taken up by Bran lately, Jon was the OG brooder, and Arya hasn’t truly smiled since season 1. But when these two characters finally come face to face again after so many years, neither can resist cracking a heartfelt smile. It also doesn’t hurt that the scene mirrors the season 1 scene when they last saw each other. Who doesn’t love a throwback?
Bran and Jaime – FINALLY
The only reunion that could top Jon and Arya is the reunion we didn’t even know we needed. It’s easy to forget that these characters ever had anything to do with each other, but their singular interaction all the way back in season 1, episode 1 is one of the catalysts that set off this game of thrones into motion.
The very first episode of Game of Thrones set the tone for the series by ending with sibling incest, and a man pushing a little boy out of a window. That man was Jaime Lannister, and that boy was Bran Stark. Poor Jaime has grown so much as a character since then, and he probably forgot he attempted to kill a child. Now, all the way in season 8, Jaime is confronted with his past transgressions, and honestly? It’s kind of hilarious.