Recap Roundup

Game of Thrones Season 7, Episode 1 “Dragonstone” Video Recap Roundup

Posted on by Bex

You have been waiting so long. So long to watch. You watch for hours every week. That’s right, the Watchers on the Wall video recap roundup is BACK and I know that the moment the episode ended you could barely contain your excitement for the weekly roundup of YouTubers and others who talk about the show, so here you go:


The What the Flick?!? / Young Turks dream team is back to discuss the most recent episode



History of Westeros: Oh my god, y’all are killing it with that intro. Don’t miss their book-to show review as well.


Ozzy Man: What does the YouTuber from down under have to say about the season premiere?


Happy Cool! Sandrine and Americ and Axechucker, oh my.


Rawrist is really nice in real life so watch her recap video and leave a comment below with your favorite Funko doll in her background because I can’t decide.

Other videos:
Gay of Thrones: Yass queen, werk queen, watch everyone’s favorite hair designer talk about actual queens in the season premiere.
Emergency Awesome: Y’all have been asking me to include his videos for the past few seasons so I’m lifting the embargo.
SmokeScreen: Was this one of the guys who won trivia at Con of Thrones? Asking for a friend.
Afterbuzz
Collider
DemThrones
GoT Academy

Which of these reviews captured the episode for you in a way that defies words? Who are we overlooking, especially from our friends we made at Con of Thrones? Do White Walkers dream of zombie sheep? Thanks for reading and leave your comments below!

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Bex

83 Comments

  2. I am always here for Gay of Thrones.

    I wonder if AV Club will continue doing their video analysis.

  3. I looked forward to seeing the “What the flick” crew again for Season 7. I watched them every week w/GoT. Quickly, it became the Trump show. Especially, Cenk. I watch GoT to escape all things Trump, I don’t want to hear about him during discussions of my favorite show. They lost a follower, which I’m sure they are very upset about. 🙂

  4. Ozzy man
    What The Flick
    Alt X
    Emergency awesome
    That is my after Game if Thrones ritual <3

  5. Here’s Blind Wave. I’ve always loved them. Their enthusiasm is contagious.
    (The reaction is only 10 minutes of the video. The rest is discussion)

    EDIT: Also, if it matters to anyone – Eric (the guy on the left) and Melanie (the woman) have read the books. They don’t really spoil anything though.

  7. Tycho Nestoris,

    I’m embarrassed, I completely forgot about the beautiful death posters.
    Alt shift x is hands down one of my favorite reviewers, you get so much out of one of his reviews.

  8. Im glad the “embargo” on emergency awesome is lifted. Hes a little iffy with some of the finer book points at times but on a whole does add useful context.Alt Shift Ex is hands down king of recaps

  10. I always watch What The Flick right away, and if I’m in the mood, I catch AfterBuzz too. That’s it for me. Sad that there are only 7 episodes this season, and therefore, only 7 What The Flick recaps.

  12. I pretty much watch and read everything on top of reaction videos and watching the episode multiple times between Sundays… I’m obsessed! What will I do when it’s over!?!? 🙁

  13. I would like to apologize for being wrong about an Arya observation in another thread. On midweek rewatch, “Walder Frey” did serve food AND drink before killing all the male Freys. I guess she didn’t think they had any guest right to claim. Oh well, I would have liked it to be true.

  14. BigMac:
    Here’s Blind Wave. I’ve always loved them. Their enthusiasm is contagious.
    (The reaction is only 10 minutes of the video. The rest is discussion)

    EDIT: Also, if it matters to anyone – Eric (the guy on the left) and Melanie (the woman) have read the books. They don’t really spoil anything though.

    Yeah, I think Blind Wave is one of the best of the reaction/review type videos. Surprised they never seem to get included in the main post here. Like you said, Eric and Melanie are the longtime fans, but the others are enthusiastic too. I remember last season Eric cried when Sansa & Jon reunited!

    The Normies do good reaction videos too with some discussion, although I could do without their skits at the beginning.

  15. I add my vote for Alt Shift X as well, he (they?) are fantastic.

    The reaction channels Burlington Bar (Sean Tank top or something along that line) & The Normies are having a crossover this season, it looks to be fun :).

  19. Carrie:
    I looked forward to seeing the “What the flick” crew again for Season 7. I watched them every week w/GoT. Quickly, it became the Trump show. Especially, Cenk. I watch GoT to escape all things Trump, I don’t want to hear about him during discussions of my favorite show. They lost a follower, which I’m sure they are very upset about. 🙂

    I stopped watching What The Flick halfway through last season when they kept throwing in present day political references and comparisons and I had a feeling it would be much worse this season especially with Cenk. Good to know I was right to avoid them. I read news and political sites when I’m in the mood for that. I don’t go to entertainment sites for politics. Cenk can blather on and on all day every day about Trump if that’s how he wants to spend his life. But I’m not going to subject myself to it.

  21. Carrie,

    I agree with you about their discussion of Trump. I watch GoT to escape to a fantasy world, not to think about the problems of the real one.

  22. I like Charlie, he sometimes is off the mark, but he does do a lot of research into the history of GoT, and he’s the one who pointed out to my thick self that in the map room, Jaime stood on the Fingers while Cersei stood on the Neck. Plus he’s just friggin nice, and with all the shows he reviews it’s amazing how fast he gets reviews up.

  24. Strong group of recap videos! Personally, I tend to prefer panel discussions to solo reviews, so What the Flick, Collider, Afterbuzz, and Blind Wave are usually my go-to choices in the first day or two after the new episode airs (Collider, in particular, has made a big move up the rankings since they added Ken Napzok and Rachel Cushing to their team this year. They’re great.) OzzyMan and Alt Shift X usually follow later in the week, since their videos involve a bit more production work. And, of course, I always like HappyCool, especially when WOTW’s very own Axechucker is able to stop by, as he did this week!

    The Normies and Burlington Bar are my favorites for pure reactions (and as DireWolfHeart already noted, they did a fun little crossover for this episode).

    Finally, Dem Thrones is hilarious – the sheer level of enthusiasm that those guys have for the show is delightful!

  25. Alt-x
    What the Flick
    New Rockstars
    and Afterbuzz TV

    are my go-to’s

    I’d would like to enjoy Ozzy Man
    …but I’m a Kiwi and Aussies Suck!!

    (I’m Kidding) :oP

  26. Tycho Nestoris,

    I absolutely love the Beautiful Death series! Last year, I thought that the posters came out later in the week, say Thursday or Friday. Oddly enough, however, Joanna Robinson shared what she says is this episode’s official poster on Twitter, and, based on the artistic style, it certainly looks legitimate. Assuming that it is the actual poster, I’m not sure why the official Beautiful Death website hasn’t been updated yet.

    https://twitter.com/jowrotethis/status/887515832107978752

  31. Dolorous Methuselah,

    Hm. Yeah. Good point. I dunno then. Aside from an ultra technicality like the fact that by the time they drank the wine the damage was already done and she did not do anything to harm them after they had drank the wine, then maybe she just doesn’t care about guest rights. Or maybe there is an exception when you’re dealing with people who murdered members of your family or something like that?

    Anyway – onto the re-caps.

    I think I’m the only person I’ve ever heard of that is not crazy about Alt-Shift-X. It’s not that I don’t like it. It’s just that to me, the guy’s voice seems very monotone and blah and I have a hard time working up any enthusiasm for it.

    My favorites are usually Smoke Screen, Rawrist, Ozzy Man (of course), and I actually like Emergency Awesome. He just comes across so serious and sincere in a good type of way. He does seem to get tons more views than some that I consider to be better but more power to him.

    Other than that I tend to watch quite a few of the recaps and enjoy most of them to different extents.

  32. Jimmy Macram is a non-book watcher who caught up in the offseason. His reviews are excellent.

  33. There are lots of top notch You tubers out there. I have to give some love to the oft mentioned Alt Shift X and Ozsy Man. I was particularly pleased to see Smoke Screen listed as his channel isn’t as well known, and he’s great. I have to also highly recommend Secrets of the Citadel, especially for her history and lore videos. Do yourself a favor and check her out.

  34. Chreechree,

    Thanks for the secrets of the citadel recommendation. I love history and lore videos and haven’t heard of that one. I will definitely check it out.

    I like Preston Jacobs history and lore stuff but he has sounded awfully whiney with his videos lately and I don’t like that much negativity in my GoT world.

  35. Always watch What the Flick and my homies at History of Westeros. Also enjoy the guys and gal over on The Ringer – can I say that or is it verboten?

  37. Here’s the video from Alt Shift X – For me his reviews are the best. Always well made and with plenty of detail. For the more lighthearted reviews, Ozzyman takes some beating. I always crease up laughing seeing his ones 😀

  43. RedTeamReview
    Preston Jacobs
    Emergency Awesome
    Ozzyman

    Are my favourites

    So wish Alex Jones would crash the What the Flick set…does that guy still refer to Littlefinger as “Mayor of Baltimore” or has he finally got his head around the character names after 7 seasons?

    Preston Jacobs and Emergency Awesome two extremes, Preston totally rips apart the loopholes which I get a laugh at, ultimately reflects the challenges of book-TV where themes have to be explored differently but also tbf to D&D they’ve run out of material and GRRM is a world class writer a cut above Television writers so I’m not overly hard on them

  44. Clob,

    I know, I’m worried what is going to replace the void after it’s over 🙁 Can you imagine what the mood will be like here after the very last episode? I’m thinking of that familiar word bittersweet. Will WotW just go “poof” a couple of months later? Or will it hang around for the next book? I’m sad.

  45. I can’t imagine why you wouldn’t be listing Alt Shift X, which are easily some of the best GoT and ASoIaF videos out there.

    Any explanation as to why Emergency Awesome was embargoed? He’s not my favorite, but his videos are generally decent.

  46. Westeros History is great! As usual Radio Westeros is joining them in the book to show review. I also enjoy Alt Shift X and Ozzyman.

  48. What the Flick used to be good until they started to put a political spin on their reviews.

    I would hope WoW admins would not promote any articles that lean either direction when it comes to politics. This is a venue for fun not politics.

  49. Alt Shift X is the only one I find good.

    I can’t take Emergency Awesome , Charlie seems like a naive 15 year old commanding the attention of room full of 8 year olds. Ol’s Charlie knows it all and he’s gonna tell ya wither he is right or not. Next video after he makes a mistake or gets something wrong he looks stunned but relaxed!
    I sometime watch Grace on Beyond the Trailer, she can be irritating but she is smart and funny if too blabby.

    Overall this stuff reminds of the old saying:
    “There are a whole lot more people who want to talk than listen.”

  51. Video recaps! I just made my own for this episode. I still need to edit it before I can post it on Youtube so it will take a couple hours.

  55. Dolorous Methuselah:
    Grayven Reyne,

    Also it wasn’t her house.Not sure if that matters

    Agreed. Quite the contrary–she is there as an enemy interloper/infiltrator. Besides, she didn’t partake of that meal. The sharing of salt and bread with guests is part of it as well. Also, she castigated them for killing guests in “your home”, so maybe they weren’t really guests. Probably, her sense of Guest Right is by now as nuanced as her application of justice, and it does not apply in this unique situation.

  56. Brian:
    no one has mentioned Because Geek yet?Val’s reviews and breakdowns are awesome

    Because Geek posted a great video of clues and possible forshadowing scenes in Dragonstone and

    New Rockstars will have a great Dragonstone review but they are so detailed that it takes them about a week before the review gets posted.

    Alt Shift X is over rated… in his episode reviews he gives a little insight but not much. His other videos about specific characters are probably better than his episode reviews.

  57. Adding my own video review of this episode. English is not my first language, so I hope I didn’t make too many mistakes. Enjoy the video!

  58. Lord of Coffee,

    Even outside of the political commentary (which I agree that GoT is an escape) they seem to aggressively forget and mispronounce and misreference items in an episode THEY JUST WATCHED.

    Cenk, especially, seems to never have people’s names right and its just obnoxious since they seem to want to be taken seriously for their reviews.

  59. firstone,

    Agree that the Alt Shift X episode reviews are just that, a review/recap and less of an evaluation of what it means and whats to come.

    What I do really like is how the videos are structured to pull together the connected scenes.

  60. A salute to all those who pour their passion for GOT into these review/recap videos! I could not do what you are doing and I appreciate your effort, even if I don’t watch all of them, or only parts of some.

    However, my favorite is Alt Shift X because it is insightful, concise, and has great production visuals. He (and his team?) has other “theory” and “background” videos that are fantastic! I assume that most everyone visiting this Watchers site is familiar with Alt Shift X, but if not, you owe it to yourself to check it out.

    On the lighter side of things, I really enjoy Ozzy Man because he is smart, funny and sometimes he is really insightful. I like his recap then review format. Also, Gay of Thrones because it is sassy, funny and I laugh at the pop culture nicknames and other references.

    Thanks Bex, for this video compilation!

  61. I would certainly recommend Val’s Because Geek. She’s wonderful!

    As for reactions, it’s gotta be the Burlington bar and, perhaps even better, the Normies, who also do a group review after reacting.

  62. I dislike smug book reader reviews like preston and altshiftx. People telling me about book theories I already know about and have no relevance to what I’m watching. DO NOT CARE.

    I enjoy groups of people especially when there are show only people involved. I’m always here for Cenk’s random asides. 🙂

    Was anyone able to get Talk the Thrones to work? I enjoyed After last year.

  64. QueenofThrones,

    Preston Jacobs goes really hot and cold for me. His book series videos have generally been good and I don’t mind the “What You Are Missing” show series. However, his episode reviews can often turn into “what they screwed up… cause books” which can be annoying.

  65. I get that people want their TV to be an escape from politics, but Game of Thrones is essentially a show about politics and power. I don’t mind What the Flick bringing up current political climates as long as they are using them for insight into the show or character motivations. Maybe they reference it too much, but I enjoy a little here and there. I also like Cenk and Ben as people who really dig the show and love talking about it, but who don’t actually know that much about the lore and characters. It can be refreshing after always hanging around people who know everything.

    The only one on the show I can’t stand is John Iadarola. In previous seasons, he would nerd out because he’s read the books, and the other hosts would kind of jokingly make fun of him for knowing too much. Nowadays, he plays dumb and forgets things that no bookreader should forget in order to seem “cool.”

  66. Lord Parramandas,

    It makes a pleasant change to see someone in another part of the world doing a video review. No problem whatsoever with your English. I certainly couldn’t sit in front of a camera and do that. Kudos and well done 🙂

    I reckon you pretty much covered all the scenes and explained what happened well. Also your personal remarks regarding Arya and that cold opening scene. I agree also she went ‘over the top’ killing off most of House Frey and that really wasn’t necessary. However, in doing that it has made the Lannisters a weaker force and as Jaime said to Cersi, they no longer have the Freys as allies in that area of Westeros.

    As an ‘off topic’ question? Its always amused me as to why you chose the ‘Elephant & Castle’ as your avatar 🙂

    I grew up in SE London in the 1950’s very close to the area called ‘The Elephant and Castle” which was named after a pub. Rather than a board with the pub’s name hanging on the wall, there was an elephant with a castle sitting on top of the building. It was very difficult to see. In later years when that area was re-developed and the old pub pulled down, they salvaged the ‘elephant’, restored it, and placed it on the forecourt of a shopping centre. You may find this web page interesting of the history of the area:

    https://blackcablondon.net/2012/10/23/a-history-of-the-elephant-castle-part-one/

  67. Black Raven,

    Thank you. As for my avatar, it’s my custom-made logo which I created on some website. Elephants are my favorite animals, so I combined the animal with my favorite colors and here you get a sigli. As for “lord Parramandas”, it’s actually a character from my envisioned novel (which I only have in my head…. I haven’t written anything yet).

  68. Luka Nieto,

    I agree, Val’s “Because Geek” are always fun to watch. Not only that, she’s a very attractive young lady which makes a change from the usual smart assed and loud mouthed individuals who make some of these video recaps!

    Why not not include ‘Because Geek’ in your video list? She’s one of the best 😉

  71. Dolorous Methuselah:
    Dolorous Methuselah,

    I think I’m the only person I’ve ever heard of that is not crazy about Alt-Shift-X.It’s not that I don’t like it.It’s just that to me, the guy’s voice seems very monotone and blah and I have a hard time working up any enthusiasm for it.

    My favorites are usually Smoke Screen, Rawrist, Ozzy Man (of course), and I actually like Emergency Awesome.He just comes across so serious and sincere in a good type of way. He does seem to get tons more views than some that I consider to be better but more power to him.

    I just watched Alt-Shift-X for the first time because everyone here raves about it and maybe it was an off episode or something because I wasn’t impressed at all. The guy is not engaging. I was surprised he had a Patreon because I don’t know who would pay for that but to each their own I guess. Maybe I’m just a weirdo because I actually like Emergency Awesome as well.

  72. I love What the Flick. My favourite reaction channel is from a guy called Jimmy Makram. He hasn’t read the books or anything, or is his analysis, particularly revealing, he’s just really fun and watchable. He also reacts to Lost. In general, he’s just really cool.

  73. Alt Shift X and GoT Academy for the analysis; they actually have very informed and well researched perspectives.

    Dem Thrones (love these guys) and Ozzyman for the humor!

  74. Gendrys Compass:
    Lord of Coffee,

    Even outside of the political commentary (which I agree that GoT is an escape) they seem to aggressively forget and mispronounce and misreference items in an episode THEY JUST WATCHED.

    Cenk, especially, seems to never have people’s names right and its just obnoxious since they seem to want to be taken seriously for their reviews.

    Oh, yeah, definitely! That was another reason I stopped watching them last season. But I remember Ben being a bigger offender than Cenk. Ben was always calling Littlefinger ‘the mayor of Baltimore’ I guess because he thought it was cool that he had watched The Wire and wanted people to know?

    But more annoying to me was that he always referred to Drogon as ‘Dragon the dragon’ with a smirk on his face like he thought that was hysterical for some reason. I’d be talking back to the video saying ‘dude, the dragon’s name is Drogon, Dro-gon, not dragon’! It was irritating.

  75. I got tired of Emergency Awesome when he would continually overlook things that had already been addressed on the show or state things that were just outright wrong.

    I just went looking for an example and clicked on his latest video about dragonglass which contains a good example.

    He addresses Bran’s vision of the Night King’s army and says:

    “And now Bran’s had this vision of the Night King bringing the winter with him south. We actually, rewatching this scene, it seems like he’s walking on green grass. So he is south of the Wall. So that means as of this moment right here, he’s south of Winterfell, because it’s snowing at the cottage where the Hound is. And that’s way further south of Winterfell. Meaning that Bran might wind up seeing a version of Daenerys’ vision with King’s Landing covered in snow in ruins”.

    I mean, that’s just all kinds of wrong, isn’t it?

    His logic is all over the place.

    I thought narratively throughout that episode it was pretty clear that Bran’s vision was of the Night King marching on the Wall.

    Narratively, why would they have Bran see a vision of the future, with the Night King already marching on King’s Landing when throughout the rest of the episode they are at pains to set up the prospect of an upcoming assault on and collapse of the Wall?

    And I don’t see any green grass in that scene. Just the ground covered in ice and snow, like what we’ve seen north of the Wall for 6 seasons.

    But it’s quite a leap in logic to go from the possibility of them walking on grass to insisting that they must be south of the Wall during this vision. And further south than the Hound, just because it happens to be snowing where the Hound currently is, in this current episode.

    And how does any of that mean that Bran is going to have a vision of King’s Landing in ruins?

    That’s why I stopped watching the Emergency Awesome videos. They’re just all over the place and not logically consistent.

  76. Great list. Some of my favorite are Ozzyman,AltShift, Val, Tony Teflon and Phil The Issues Guy,
    Especially love Phil.

    I just found him this year but he does really fun recaps and reviews right after the episodes. Also does weekly podcasts and random videos. It’s not for kids ears, but they are funny and real EASTCOASTAS.

    Here is funny video that made me a fan of his. https://youtu.be/1gKcWSy-dpE

    My husband and I must of watched that 100 times!

  77. Lord Parramandas,

    Nicely done, my friend! I really enjoyed that. It was every bit as insightful and thorough as your written reviews typically are, and rest assured, I had absolutely no issues with your English! You speak it every bit as well as many native speakers, I daresay. I’ll keep an eye out for your videos going forward!

  78. Is there any guide to which you-tubers avoid spoilers, and which ones use any and all info on the net? I don’t mind book spoilers as I’ve read them, but want to avoid spoilers from filming/casting, detailed inspection of the trailers and episode previews, and of course leaked info.
    As another commenter here has complained, my Roku you tube feed has popped up a few recommendations with blatant spoilers in the title pic 😡 I turn away so fast I haven’t caught the names, but I don’t ever want to feed their viewing numbers.

  79. Alt Shift X is the best, applying scientific method to make sense of the storytelling. Hands down.

  83. snuh,

    There’s a new Burlington Bar video today. It’s a recap/review with the three women who are usually sitting up front on the reaction videos. Sometimes it seems like they’re playing to the cameras during the reactions so I wasn’t sure about a video featuring them, but I actually found them pretty funny.

    https://m.youtube.com/#/watch?v=GkxhPPlF-Ho

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