After seven seasons — for a total of 67 episodes, or over two days’ worth of episodes — the eighth and final season of HBO’s blockbuster show Game of Thrones finally arrived on Sunday.

This finale has been a long time coming for fans of the books, which have been ongoing since 1996 and have yet to finish.

Picking up right where season seven ended, the premiere was more for set-up than driving the plot forward. Many characters were reunited after years of separation and the season’s conflicts were introduced.

One of the most shocking and long-awaited reunions was between Jaime Lannister and Bran Stark. The last time these two saw each other was in the show’s first episode, when Jaime pushed Bran out of a tower, leaving him paralyzed below the waist. The two only exchanged a glance, but their reaction to seeing each other was all that fans needed.

The episode had many callbacks to the series’ first episode, with many mirrored shots, soundtrack choices, and story beats.

The episode’s opening was an almost exact re-creation of King Robert’s arrival at Winterfell in one of the show’s first scenes. Everything from the music to the camera angles and movements was an homage to one of the show’s most iconic scenes.

With all the pieces set in place, this season is sure to be an explosive conclusion to this amazing show.