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The eighth season of Game of Thrones has begun, and that means it's the beginning of the end for fans and their favorite Westerosi citizens. The first episode of the final season of Game of Thrones was full of reunions as characters spread all over the world came back together at Winterfell to prepare for the White Walkers and their undead army. While even the most casual GoT viewer knows how much the news Samwell shared with Jon will shake up the power balance in the fight for the Iron Throne, there are plenty of details that flew over fans' heads while they were busy tweeting the best Bran Stark memes.
From characters who hardly got any screen time to the nuances of the new-look opening credits, here are the biggest things you probably missed when watching the first episode of Game of Thrones Season 8.
The Credits Spoil The Episode If You Pay Attention
The opening credits show that the show's creators are putting even more intent and care into the final season, and the credits also hide some details that could have slipped by on first viewing. The first thing we see is the hole that the resurrected Viserion made in the Wall at the end of last season, followed by a new castle, Last Hearth. A formation of ice-blue tiles flows from the Wall around Last Hearth as a symbol of the White Walkers' progress, and gives attentive viewers a spoiler about the young Ned Umber's eventual fate.
In addition to the White Walkers' path, the credits add several new pieces to the rings of the gilded astrolabe. In an interview with The Ringer, the creative and art directors behind the credits, Angus Wall and Kirk Shintani, confirmed that they added images of the Red Wedding, the birth of Daenerys's dragons, and the destruction of the Wall to the bands, which include significant moments in Westerosi history.
Harry Strickland Is A Fourth-Generation Member Of The Golden Company
Like he promised at the end of Season 7, Euron Greyjoy returns to King's Landing with the secret force that may allow Cersei to wipe out her rivals once they've faced the White Walker threat in the North: the Golden Company. Euron and the Golden Company's commander, Harry Strickland, update Cersei on how their trip across the Narrow Sea fared and explain the lack of elephants in their ranks.
At first glance, Strickland comes across as a fairly interchangeable figure who could be confused with any other lantern-jawed knight, so it's understandable if viewers dismissed him as just another guy. As a fourth-generation member of the Golden Company, he wields a significant amount of influence over a potentially massive piece of the Game of Thrones endgame.
Aeron Damphair Met His End Offscreen
When Euron jokes with the captive Yara about why he wouldn't just put her out of her misery, he breezes past the death of another Greyjoy essential to his coronation as king of the Iron Islands. Aeron Damphair was Euron's other brother, but he chose a religious path in service of the Drowned God as opposed to the raiding career of Balon and Euron. Aeron hosted the kingsmoot in Season 6 where Euron was selected to rule the Ironborn, and he was last seen riding off at Euron's side after Yara fled the Iron Islands.
If Euron is keeping Yara alive solely so he has another Greyjoy to speak with, that means Aeron Damphair must have passed offscreen in the interim.
Bran Doesn't Have To Leave The Courtyard To Know What's Going On
A throughline in the episode is how Bran chooses to wait (some might say lurk) in the Winterfell courtyard sharing prophetic proclamations with different characters as they walk by. As the Three-Eyed Raven, he's seen the past, and he may be using those skills to keep tabs on the rest of his family while waiting in the courtyard. A crow lurks in the background behind Sansa in an early scene, and it isn't a stretch to assume Bran's warging into the bird to keep tabs on the building conflict between the Northerners and Daenerys's contingent.
The Talk Of Valyrian Steel May Be Foreshadowing A Lot
Whether it's Jon showing off for Arya, Sam asking for a pardon, or Arya asking Gendry for a favor, there's a lot of talk about Valyrian steel in the episode. It could just be simple foreshadowing to let viewers know who's packing a blade capable of killing a White Walker once the inevitable Battle of Winterfell arrives, but it could also point to a more tragic outcome in the future. Arya and Jon are far from the same people they were at the beginning of the series, and the tension between the two at the end of their conversation could be pointing to a face-off between the two down the line.
Ed Sheeran Lives On
Ed Sheeran's GoT cameo is a divisive point for fans of the series. The Season 8 premiere reveals the fate of his crooning Lannister soldier, and it could be seen as a happy ending for both Sheeran fans and detractors. In a throwback "sexposition" scene, a trio of courtesans discuss what happened to some of the Lannister ranks while they get intimate with Bronn. According to one of the women, a ginger boy named Eddie survived the loot train attack from Season 7, but his eyelids were burnt off in the attack, leaving him in a grotesque state.
There could be a number of red-haired members of the Lannister army, but Sheeran himself confirmed his character's fate on Instagram after the premiere.
Brienne And Podrick Are Fine For Now
Brienne of Tarth swore to protect Catelyn Stark in Season 2 and, after Catelyn died in Season 3, Brienne turned her attention to making sure Catelyn's daughters were safe. Though she doesn't feature prominently in this episode, Brienne stands quietly behind Sansa as Jon and Daenerys arrive in Winterfell. Her squire, Podrick, is by her side. Five seasons after Catelyn's death, Brienne is still upholding her oath
The White Walkers Have Used The Spiral Symbol Before
In an episode heavy on people hugging and reminiscing on happier times, it's good to get a jolt of suspense as Tormund, Beric Dondarrion, and the Night's Watch discover the ghastly scene in Last Hearth. The White Walkers leave the castle in ruins with a gruesome spiral shape made out of dismembered body parts nailed to the wall. The body of Lord Ned Umber hangs in the center before coming back to life. Dondarrion sets the reanimated Umber and the spiral of limbs on fire, calling the symbol a message from the Walkers.
The nature of that message may not be clear yet, but it's something the White Walkers have been trying to say for a while. That spiral showed up in Season 3 when Jon and Mance Rayder came across the aftermath of a Walker attack at the Fist of the First Men. The symbol also appeared in the caves beneath Dragonstone alongside other symbols made by the Children of the Forest thousands of years earlier.
Bran Isn't Being Modest When Jon Calls Him A Man
Jon seems particularly moved when he sees Bran for the first time, one of many heartfelt reunions in the episode. He embraces Bran and comments on how he's nearly a man. In typical Bran fashion, the young Stark replies, "Almost." While most people would interpret that response as modesty, it's also another example of Bran's transformation into the Three-Eyed Raven. After his tutelage with the original Raven, Bran has become less of a man than Jon even realizes.
Arya Commissioned A Spear From Gendry
After reconnecting with the Hound in Winterfell's armory, Arya speaks with another one of her former traveling companions: Gendry. The two flirt a little for the shippers in the audience before she asks him if he can customize a piece for her. The design she shows isn't super clear, but trailers for the season show her wielding a staff as a weapon, meaning she may be commissioning a spear outfitted with her Valyrian steel dagger to take out White Walkers in style.
Jaime's New Hair May Be A Sign Of A Deeper Change
The episode ends with Jaime Lannister arriving in Winterfell and seeing Bran for the first time since pushing him out of a window. The moment echoes all the way back to the first episode of the series, but a small detail also reinforces a fan theory regarding the Lannisters.
Some fans believe that the color of a Lannister's hair correlates with their loyalty to the family. The blonder they are, the more loyal they are; as they drift further away from their House's best interests, their hair grows darker. Tyrion's hair has gotten steadily darker over the course of the series, and when Lancel pledged himself to the High Sparrow's cause, he shaved his hair down to it's darker roots. Jaime shows up in Winterfell with a darker coif, which could be tied to how he's turning his back on Cersei and his Lannister lineage once and for all.
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