'Game Of Thrones' Season 7: First Three Episode Titles And Synopses Revealed

HBO has released the episode titles and official synopses for the first three episodes of Game of Thrones season 7, and it sounds like the first part of the season will put a lot of focus on Daenerys Targaryen (Emilia Clarke).

First, here's the official synopsis for the entire season:

Daenerys Targaryen has finally set sail for Westeros with her armies, dragons and new Hand of the Queen, Tyrion Lannister. Jon Snow has been named King in the North after defeating Ramsay Bolton in the Battle of the Bastards and returning Winterfell to House Stark. In King's Landing, Cersei Lannister has seized the Iron Throne by incinerating the High Sparrow, his followers and her rivals in the Sept of Baelor. But as old alliances fracture and new ones emerge, an army of dead men marches on the Wall, threatening to end the game of thrones forever.

And here are the titles and synopses for the first three episodes.

Ever since Jon Snow's death, HBO has played things very close to the vest when it comes to parceling out information about Game of Thrones, so I'm frankly a little surprised that they'd even send out these titles and synopses at all (even though the season 7 trailers contained a lot of this information). But now that they've given us something to chew on, let's take a bite, shall we?

Debut: Sunday, July 16 (9:00-10:00 p.m. ET/PT)

Jon (Kit Harington) organizes the defense of the North. Cersei (Lena Headey) tries to even the odds. Daenerys (Emilia Clarke) comes home.

Written for television by David Benioff & D. B. Weiss; directed by Jeremy Podeswa.

"Dragonstone" seems fairly straightforward. Jon, the new King in the North, will strategize about how to defend the North from the Night's King and the White Walkers, while Dany returns to her ancestral home of the title and establishes it as her new base of operations in Westeros. Cersei trying to even the odds is a bit more mysterious: what odds, exactly? Against whom? Most of her enemies have been destroyed, so is she just building up her army?

Debut: Sunday, July 23 (9:00-10:00 p.m.)

Daenerys (Emilia Clarke) receives an unexpected visitor. Jon (Kit Harington) faces a revolt. Tyrion (Peter Dinklage) plans the conquest of Westeros.

Written for television by Bryan Cogman; directed by Mark Mylod.

"Stormborn," one of Dany's many titles, seems more complicated. Tyrion scheming sounds normal, but Dany getting an unexpected visitor is intriguing (Ser Davos Seaworth, perhaps?) and it's clear the show isn't planning on wasting any time by staging a revolt against Jon in the North in only the second episode of the season. I have a feeling Littlefinger (Aidan Gillen) will be sowing seeds of doubt in Sansa Stark (Sophie Turner), which could be the source of this rift.

Debut: Sunday, July 30 (9:00-10:00 p.m.)

Daenerys (Emilia Clarke) holds court. Cersei (Lena Headey) returns a gift. Jaime (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau) learns from his mistakes.

Written for television by David Benioff & D. B. Weiss; directed by Mark Mylod.

GOT is fond of having double meanings in their episode titles, so I'm guessing "The Queen's Justice" will include both Dany and Cersei. Jaime learning from his mistakes might be putting him on the path toward ultimate redemption, but Cersei "returning a gift" sets off major alarm bells for me. What could that gift be, and to whom could she be returning it?

I'm kicking myself for not rewatching the whole series in between seasons, because if I had, maybe I'd remember if she was ever given a particular gift and I might be able to theorize about how she'd return it (in her own nefarious way, of course). Maybe she exacts even more revenge on Septa Unella, the woman who chanted "shame!" as she walked Cersei naked through the streets of King's Landing? Anyone else have a guess about what Cersei's returned gift might be?