Game of Thrones finally returned to our screens last weekend after more than a year of waiting. With episode two just around the corner, it seems like now is a good time to look back at the Season 8 premiere and examine some of the details and hints that you may not have noticed on your first viewing. I mean, with a show as intricate and detailed as Game of Thrones, there is always something to miss in all the excitement. Let us know if you spotted anything we didn’t in the comments below.
Arya’s New Weapon Could Allow For More Creative Fighting
During the episode, Arya paid a visit to her former friend Gendry. However, this wasn’t just to catch up with an old pal. She also came with plans for a weapon that she wanted him to build. From the rather simplified drawing, it looks to be some kind of double headed spear with a detachable blade that is made of dragonglass.
Arya has already shown that she is a very capable fighter and able to use oddly shaped or sized weapons in a creative style. Such a device could allow her to tackle White Walkers or wights from a distance, something that has been hinted at in a previous trailer.
A Hint Towards A Future Relationship Between Arya And Gendry
One of the biggest plot points in the pilot episode happens when Robert Baratheon and Ned Stark agree to a marriage between their children. Robert even says, “I have a son, you have a daughter. We’ll join our houses.” At the time it appeared as if that meant Joffrey and Sansa. Some fans have now speculated that this marriage could actually be between Gendry and Arya. After all, we know that Gendry is the bastard son of Robert and Arya is Ned’s daughter. The pair also share a good relationship and have journeyed together in the past, so this wouldn’t be out of the question.
A Brand New Title Sequence
The Game of Thrones title sequence is so good because it not only manages to constantly adapt with the show but it has also managed to remain instantly recognizable to millions of fans around the world. Season 8 has brought the biggest changes to the opening that have yet been seen. It shows the Wall and the recent damage it suffered at the hands of the Night King along with a few new locations that haven’t previously been highlighted before.
However, the most notable change comes in form of the carvings that cover the astrolabe. In past seasons these have not changed and yet in the premiere several new images have been placed into the design. Events such as the Red Wedding and the birth of the three dragons are shown, as is Robert’s Rebellion. Characters are represented by their house sigil and the wolf, stag, lion and dragon all feature prominently.
There Are Plenty Of Allusions To The Very First Episode
Many of the very best TV shows and films like to link back to previous instalments through mirroring events that happened in them. It is a powerful tool to help create drama and a sense of the story all being one big whole. The Game of Thrones writers did just that with the Season 8 premiere, which closely mirrored many events from the pilot episode.
Most noticeable is the way that arriving armies and nobles are greeted when they reach Winterfell. In both instances, Arya is not with the rest of her family and has instead chosen to watch events unfold in the crowd. Bran did a similar thing in the first episode by climbing up various structures to get a better look but this is something that he obviously can’t do now. Another boy takes up the inquisitive role in his place. Meanwhile, Sansa’s cold greeting to Daenerys is almost identical to how Ned Stark spoke to Robert Baratheon when he welcomed him to his home. They even speak the same words, “Your grace, Winterfell is yours.”
That’s not to mention the brothel scenes that both involve Lannisters to some degree, a dramatic encounter between Bran and Jaime, or meetings in the crypt near Lyanna Stark’s resting place. There is one final mirror effect that involves the White Walkers. The very first sequence from “Winter Is Coming” shows a group of Wildlings who have been killed and arranged into a pattern by the White Walkers. In the final parts of “Winterfell”, another macabre display of human flesh is left behind by the Night King, who has made a spiral design out of those killed at Last Hearth.
More Spiral Patterns From The White Walkers
Speaking of those spiral patterns, the White Walkers have had a habit of laying out dead bodies into similar designs in the past. What Beric Dondarrion and Tormund Giantsbane stumbled across at Last Hearth is something that should look familiar to keen-eyed viewers. It matches up with the imagery used by the Children of the Forest and even hinted at a close relationship between them before it was revealed they were a creation of that ancient race. Exactly what the patterns mean has never been explored, but you can expect the Night King to create a few more gruesome spirals before the conclusion of the show.
Jon Rides Rhaegal
Fans have been eagerly awaiting the moment that Jon would ride a dragon for several seasons, despite the fact that it had never been confirmed that he actually would. That long speculated time came when Dany invited him to climb aboard one of her children and go for a ride away from Winterfell. What some viewers may not have realised is that the dragon Jon is flying is Rhaegal. The creature is named after Rhaegar Targaryen, the man we now know is Jon’s father. Could this be a hint at the former Lord Commander accepting his lineage and taking on the Targaryen name? Will he eventually keep Rhaegal as is own? We will likely find out in the next few episodes.
MORE GOT
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