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Game of Thrones fans, it’s time to dig in.
And breathe. After that epic finale to the Battle of Winterfell, there’s so much to digest so let’s jump in at the moment that nobody will ever forget.
Anyway, just like the last episode, it’s time to delve in and take a look at some of the details that may have been missed, forgotten, or overlooked.
As always, spoilers are coming.
1) The decisive blow
Arya’s sleight of hand to switch a dagger between her hands has been seen before.
It’s how she got the drop on Brienne in Season 7 when they were sparring.
When killing the Night King, Arya also stuck the dragonglass dagger into the exact same spot on the Night King’s body from when he was created by the Children of the Forrest.
David Benioff, showrunner on Thrones, has said about that scene: “We knew it had to be Valyrian steel to the exact spot where the Children of the Forrest put the dragonglass blade to create the Night King. He’s uncreated by the Valyrian steel”.
2) The Three-Eyed Raven knows all
In Season 7, Bran handed Arya that famous Valyrian steel dagger in the Winterfell Godswood. This is the exact same location where she killed the Night King.
Also, this was the same dagger that was influential in starting Game of Thrones. In Season 1, it’s the weapon that the assassin used to try and kill Bran with when he was sleeping in his bed.
Ultimately, the knife that was intended to kill Bran actually saved his life.
Aside from this, Arya also used the dagger to kill Littlefinger, and it also appeared in one of Sam’s books that he was reading at the Citadel.
3) What is dead, may never die
Just in case you couldn’t keep count, here’s a list of the newly dead characters:
• The Night King
• Beric Dondarrion
• Lyanna Mormont
• Theon Greyjoy
• Jorah Mormont
• Melisandre
• Eddison Tollett
FYI, Ghost survived because he’s in the trailer for the next episode!
What a good boy – FYI, he was the first member of Team Jon/Dany to face the dead when he charged in with the Dothraki.
https://twitter.com/skyatlantic/status/1122691532564381697
On this rather morbid point, it’s worth noting that everyone who Tyrion said would live in the last episode still stands.
Remember the scene in the last episode when everyone was drinking around the fire? Well, they’re all still standing.
See, he still knows things.
4) Melisandre’s prophecy
When Arya, Gendry, and Hot Pie were abducted by the Brotherhood Without Banners, The Red Woman said the following to Arya: “I see a darkness in you. And in that darkness, eyes staring back at me. Brown eyes. Blue eyes. Green eyes. Eyes you’ll shut forever. We will meet again.”
Fast forward to their most recent conversation in the last episode.
Arya: “You said we’d meet again.”
Melisandre: “And here we are. At the end of the world.”
Arya: “You said I’d shut many eyes forever. You were right about that too.”
Melisandre: “Brown eyes. Green eyes. And blue eyes […] What do we say to the God of Death?”
It’s worth noting that Walder Frey had brown eyes. The Night King had blue eyes. Cersei has green eyes.
Don’t believe us? Here’s a description of her character from the first novel in George R.R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire series.
“A jewelled tiara gleamed amidst her golden hair, its emeralds a perfect match for the green of her eyes.”
Don’t forget that Cersei is still on Arya’s list.
As for the Red Woman, we speculated that she would return and that her arrival would be a game changer. Well, we were sort of right.
5) The Unsullied
One of the many MVPs throughout the episode because they didn’t break formation while holding off the army of the dead during the retreat.
A small thing that may have gone unnoticed.
6) Arya’s lessons
“What do we say to the God of Death? Not today.”
That line is a throwback to something that Arya’s very first sword instructor, Syrio Forel, said to her in Season 1.
Aside from this, we also heard Arya give Sansa an important lesson in how to use a dagger.
“Stick ’em with the pointy end” is exactly what Jon said to her after he gave Arya her first sword, Needle.
https://twitter.com/skyatlantic/status/1122701740397277184
7) The Hound’s PTSD
Just like his mentality during the Battle of Blackwater, the Winterfell trenches on fire triggered the PTSD The Hound has about fire.
He has never been the same again since his face was burned by his brother, The Mountain.
He snapped out of this after seeing Arya in combat though.
There was another tiny throwback to the Battle of Blackwater when an arrow flew past The Hound’s head.
In that episode, The Hound utters an immortal line: “Any of these flaming arrows come near me, I’ll strangle you with your own guts”.
Well, in the recent episode, Arya fires a flaming arrow past his noggin that saves his life.
8) Beric’s fate
This man was resurrected nine times just to save Arya so she could kill The Night King and save humanity.
In Season 7, during the battle beyond The Wall, when Jon and his suicide squad were stranded and thinking about their best tactic to defeat the dead, Beric hinted at his own destiny.
“There’s another (chance). Kill him (The Night King), he turned them all. The Lord brought you back and he brought me back, no one else. Just us. Did he do it just to watch us freeze to death?”
9) Giant killer
Prior to Lyanna Moromont’s fateful showdown with the giant, we got a brief blink-and-you’ll-miss-it look at the formidable foe.
The Dothraki never stood a chance.
10) Here We Stand
House Mormont is no more but if your leader is going to go out, killing a giant is a pretty good way to go.
It turns out that Lyanna Mormont was only supposed to be in one scene.
“Lyanna Mormont was just supposed to be in one scene, but Bella is such an incredible actress that we kept bringing her back because we wanted more Bella,” said David Benioff.
Well, in the very first scene that we meet Lyanna Mormont, she said: “My mother wasn’t a great beauty or any other kind of beauty. She was a great warrior though”.
“We’re not a large house, but we’re a proud one” is what she said. Never a truer word spoken.
11) The crypts
We’re fairly certain that the first reanimated corpse that we see in the crypts is Maester Luwin, the man that delivered nearly all of the Stark children into the world.
Oddly poetic that he’d be the first wight to attack them.
12) Theon’s arc
The Starks raised him as their own, yet he betrayed them.
He tried fighting for his true family, but was cast aside.
However, Theon completed his road to redemption and laid down his life for Bran. He has previous doing this, you know?
In the fifth episode of Season 1, Theon tells Bran how the Greyjoys are famed for their skills as archers and he even goes on to save his life from a Wildling with a bow in the next episode.
The fight in the Godswood was foreshadowed.
Yes Maester Luwin, there will be #GameofThrones https://t.co/8PszwxOob9
— Thrones Facts | HOTD 🐉 (@Thrones_Facts) April 26, 2019
13) Cersei’s plan worked
She may not have featured in the episode but the Queen’s speech at the end of Season 7 worked itself out perfectly.
“The monsters are real. Dragons, White Walkers, Dothraki screamers. Let the monsters kill each other. We will deal with whatever is left,” said Cersei.
Well…
Night King gone – ✓
Dothraki gone – ✓
Half or most of Northern army gone – ✓
Cersei’s troops are alive and well – ✓
14) Stealth mode: Arya
The scene with Arya in the library showed us how silently she can move.
Of course, we’ve seen this before in the House of Black and White when she was training to be a Faceless Man but it’s worth remembering that in the last episode, she also sneaks up on Jon in the Godswood.
15) The North Remembers
Winter Fell.
As in, here’s the place where the war ended and the Night King was defeated.
It’s not a coincidence that the home of House Stark has that name.
16) Jon’s questionable tactics
Prior to Melisandre coming to the rescue with the help of the Unsullied, it’s worth noting that Jon was sitting on a dragon next to the the trenches. Granted, the scene with Melisandre lighting them via magic was cool but come on.
Also, what a waste of a Dothraki horde.
17) Dany’s reaction was just like Jon
During the Battle of the Bastards, Jon Snow put his army at risk when he broke ranks and charged into no man’s land to save his brother Rickon. Jon made an emotional choice after being baited by Ramsay Bolton.
Speaking about this episode and the demise of the Dothraki, Benioff and Weiss said: “What they see is just the end of the Dothraki, essentially. They (Jon and Dany) have a plan and it’s important to wait for the Night King to reveal himself and then have two dragons against one dragon. That would give them a really good chance of defeating him (Night King).
“One thing they couldn’t have foreseen is Dany’s reaction when she saw the Dothraki being decimated. Jon is the person that wants to stick to the plan but the Dothraki aren’t Jon’s. They’re not loyal to Jon, they’re loyal to Dany and I think Dany can’t bring herself to watch them die, so the plan starts to fall apart, the second she gets on her dragon, so he does too and we take it from there.”
18) The credits
You can see the dragonglass defences are already up around Winterfell. A small detail but cool.
19) An old flame
Tyrion: Maybe we should have stayed married.
Sansa: You were the best of them.
Tyrion: What a terrifying thought.
Sansa: It wouldn’t have worked between us.
Tyrion: Why not?
Sansa: The dragon queen.
Later in the episode as death seems imminent, Tyrion kisses Sansa’s hand.
Hmmm, it appear that the seeds of romance, and further doubt about Tyrion’s loyalty to Dany have been planted.
20) Melisandre’s look at Arya
When Melisandre arrives in Winterfell, right after Ser Davos comes out to greet her on the battlements, the Red Woman exchanges a very telling look with Arya.
Arya stares right back at her.
A tiny moment that’s loaded with so much significance in terms of what’s to come.
21) Tyrion’s wine
Tyrion drinks and knows things but prior to the battle kicking off, there’s a small moment when he steals a sack of wine to bring down into the crypts with him.
Priorities, eh?
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