I thought it was a brilliant re-introduction to the show. Tense in places, still funny, and whilst generally keeping to the book plots feels more than ever like it's trying to do its own thing with the dialogue and characters. Absolutely flew by, and managed to cram in updates for a fair few of the plotlines. The episode 2 teaser on Thronecast looks to complete the majority of those we didn't see this episode.
Also, hearing the theme tune knowing you're about to see brand new stuff is pretty spirit-rousing.
Not sure I can keep up with setting an alarm to watch at 2am every week though. Feel drained this morning.