Say what you will about the final season of Game of Thrones – and we’ve said a lot – but one thing creators David Benioff and DB Weiss excel at is giving fans satisfying callbacks to some of the show’s biggest, plot-defining moments. They’ve filled season eight full of rewarding Easter eggs that hark back to story seeds planted years ago, ones that grew to be more important as time went on and characters evolved.
Here’s a rundown of some of the biggest callback in season eight of Game of Thrones, and what they might hint at for the series’ finale.
Melisandre’s Prophecy
Melisandre may have walked to her icy death following the battle of Winterfell, but she’s still influencing from beyond the grave. Back in season three, when Melisandre bought Gendry from the Brotherhood she uttered a warning to a young, then inexperienced, Arya Stark. Melisandre told Arya she saw a darkness in her, with eyes staring back. She also promised she’d shut brown eyes, green eyes, and blue eyes. Once Arya finished her training with the Faceless Men, she doled out vengeance to the Freys who murdered her family and slayed the Night King to protect her brother. All that’s left for Arya is to find someone with green eyes to kill. We thought that’d be Cersei since the Lannister queen was on her list, but it’s interesting to note that Dany also has green eyes – and she’s still very much alive.
The Royal Arrival
In season eight’s premiere, Game of Thrones referred back to a familiar shot from the show’s first-ever episode. Dany and Jon’s arrival at Winterfell felt eerily similar to King Robert Baratheon’s seasons ago. Then it was the king with his entourage of Lannisters and the Hound. This time around, Dany and Jon brought with them an army of Dothraki and Unsullied warriors, plus two dragons. Even Sansa’s greeting to the couple pays homage to her father, who uttered the same words, “Winterfell is yours, your grace” to Baratheon so long ago. We all know how things ended for Ned Stark, and now that another wolf is back in King’s Landing, this might point to death for Arya, Jon, or someone they love.
Jenny’s Song
Game of Thrones has made a habit of accenting emotional moments with haunting ballads that foreshadow terrible things to come so when Podrick broke out into song during “A Knight of Winterfell,” things seemed grim. Jenny’s Song, as it’s known in the books, is the tale of Jenny of Oldstones, the woman who married Duncan Targaryen — Dany’s uncle or great uncle depending on whether you’re watching the show or reading the books. Duncan gave up his place in the line of succession to be with Jenny against his family’s wishes, which put Aerys II (The Mad King) on the throne. The tune is about a man who gives up his right to rule to be with the woman he loves, so there are obvious parallels between Jon and Dany’s relationship here. Perhaps Benioff and Weiss are hinting at their endgame by including a fully fleshed out version of the song in the final season.
Valyrian Steel
Game of Thrones loves to plant seeds that quietly grow in the background until its writers are ready to harvest them for their earned shock value and Arya’s hero moment in episode three’s “The Long Night” is proof. Not only did we see Arya use a sparring trick she tried on Brienne a season earlier — that knife flip is still smooth as hell upon rewatching — she also used a very storied weapon to dispose of her enemy. The dagger that began the war between the Starks, Lannisters, and so many other prominent houses in season one, is the same dagger that ends the Great War, the one for the living, the one that might reunite the Seven Kingdoms once and for all. Petyr Baelish used the knife to implicate Tyrion in an attempt on Bran’s life, seeding ill will between the family and inciting chaos but when he gifts it to Bran, the Three-Eyed-Raven puts it to better use, giving it to Arya who uses it to kill an even bigger enemy of the youngest Stark.
A Joining of Houses
A particularly rewarding callback for fans this season came in episode two as Gendry and Arya finally made good on a pact their fathers initiated in season one. When King Robert Baratheon visits the crypts of Winterfell, lamenting the loss of his one true love, Lyanna Stark, he proposes they attempt to join their houses again. Robert has a son, Joffrey, and Ned Stark has a daughter, Sansa. We know how that plan worked out, but seasons later, this promise is nearly fulfilled. Gendry, Robert’s bastard son, and Arya, Ned’s daughter — who bears a striking resemblance to Lyanna — hook up before the battle of Winterfell and later, in “The Last of the Starks,” he even proposes marriage. Arya rejects this of course, but now that she’s written off her kill list, maybe a happily-ever-after is in order. (We joke.)
Missandei’s Death
Plenty of Game of Thrones fans were disappointed in how the show bid farewell to one of the main characters, Missandei of Naath. A handmaiden and advisor to the Mother of Dragons, Missandei was a crucial ally for Dany, a friend she trusted, a part of her family. When Daenerys met Missandei, she was enslaved to a master in Astapor. Dany freed her, before setting the masters ablaze with her favorite fiery command. It’s no coincidence that Missandei’s final moments mirror her beginnings on the show. She dies in chains but before doing so, she utters her final word, “dracarys.” Perhaps it’s her way of reminding her queen of the hard decisions she’ll have to make to free people from Cersei’s tyranny, or maybe she just wants her to burn these baddies to the ground like she did so many seasons ago.
The Red Keep
Visions are a well-used plot device on Game of Thrones but after Dany’s rampage in King’s Landing, one fortune-telling feels even more foreboding than it did seasons earlier. In season two of the show, Dany is held captive in the House of the Undying where she experiences strange dream-like scenarios. One prophecy sees Dany in the throne room of the Red Keep with what looks like snow falling on the Iron Throne. Now if you revisit that scene, you’ll probably still think it looks like snow covering the ground, but it seems like Weiss and Benioff might be using that moment retroactively to signal this was always Dany’s fate. Instead of the Night King bringing winter to King’s Landing, Dany emerges as the real threat, covering the city in ash.
Tyrion’s Betrayal
Tyrion has had a rough time of it in the show’s final season, but his game-changing decision to expose Varys’ act of treason against Daenerys points back to another moment of betrayal that changed the course of the show forever. After Varys discovers Jon Snow has a better claim to the throne as he’s not a bastard but the trueborn son of Rhaegar Targaryen and Lyanna Stark, he begins writing missives (to who, we don’t know) to drum up support for the rightful heir. This whole subplot feels oddly familiar, especially when we look back on Ned Stark’s demise. The Hand of the King discovered Joffrey’s true parentage and wrote to Stannis who he believed had the true claim to the throne. When Petyr Baelish warned him against this, Ned refused to listen, and Baelish betrayed Ned to Cersei. Likewise, Tyrion tried to warn Varys against supporting Jon’s claim but Varys did so anyway and Tyrion was forced to come clean to his queen about his friend’s treachery. Unfortunately, Tyrion may have chosen the wrong potential ruler as it’s now his head on the chopping block.
A Lannister’s Farewell
Jaime Lannister’s redemption arc ended confusingly sure, but we should’ve seen it coming. As the Red Keep crumbles around him and his sister/lover Cersei, Jaime repeats her words back to her, telling her they’re the only things that matter in this world, a motto Cersei loved to use to justify her actions on the show. And Jaime did tell Bronn seasons ago that his preferred way to go was to die in the arms of the woman he loves, so at the very least, Jaime got what he always wanted.
Poor Ed Sheeran
Speaking of Bronn, the crafty sellsword began season eight rather comfortably, sandwiched between a group of half-naked prostitutes with enough gold to fully enjoy their services. Unfortunately for scheming opportunist, the girls were more interested in chatting about a poor redheaded soldier who had half his face melted off in the loot train attack back in season seven. That soldier? Poor Teddy, aka Ed Sheeran. Hopefully, he’s somewhere crooning a tune about his misfortune to some swooning groupies.
