Callbacks and Easter Eggs in “Battle of the Bastards”
“Battle of the Bastards” contained plenty of fun and interesting callbacks to previous seasons. Join us as we sift through the battlefields of Meereen and the North to find them.
We start with Redditor overthemountain, who put together a little montage showing off how much Daenerys Targaryen’s favorite child, Drogon, has grown over the seasons. Last year, when he came to her rescue in “The Dance of Dragons,” he was quite large, but this year, he could be called gargantuan.
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Speaking of the Mother of Dragons, Redditor GoldVortex noticed that she’s been guilty of a little double-talk recently. Ain’t that just like a politician?
Staying in Meereen, remember when Tyrion verbally berated Theon for making short jokes the last time they met? If you actually watch their last meeting, in “Cripples, Bastards, and Broken Things” in Season 1, it was Tyrion who spends most of his time needling Theon, not the other way around.
Over at Vanity Fair, Joanna Robinson pointed out a connection between the stories in Meereen and in the North. Will your men fight for you, if you won’t fight for them?
Continuing in the North, ShmedStark notes that this episode showed that many of the predictions Melisandre made in past seasons came true, even if they didn’t happen when she thought they would.
Remember what she said over Jon Snow’s dead body in “The Red Woman”:
"I saw him in the flames, fighting at Winterfell."
Called it. And then there’s what she said to Stannis in “The Gift”:
"I have seen myself walk along the battlements of Winterfell. I have seen the flayed man banners lowered to the ground."
Again, nailed it.
From Imgur-user Epiphronic, we have a fantastic parallel between Daenerys in “Mhysa,” the Season 3 finale, and Jon Snow in “Battle of the Bastards.” Even Kit Harington made this connection in one of the Inside the Episode videos.
Redditor system47 noticed that the burning Bolton crosses may actually have been distance markers for the Bolton archers. I mean, how else do you think Ramsay was able to hit Rickon from so far away?
Also, did you catch that one of Stannis’ soldiers from Season 5 turned up in the Battle of the Bastards? Redditor whimmywhamwhamwazzle did.
According to the thread, this is a prominent extra and Game of Thrones tour guide. If he survived the battle, we may see even more of him.
Also, although he probably didn’t realize he was doing it, Tormund kind of gave a tribute to Brienne when he bit a chunk out of Smalljon Umber’s neck. Remember when she bit off some of the Hound’s ear during their battle in “The Children?” These two were made for each other. MADE FOR EACH OTHER.
Finally, as Redditor senjeny points out, Varys has always known about Littlefinger’s ambitions. He even tried to warn us way back in Season 3.
First land, then wealth, and now an army. Next the world?
That’s it for this week. Is there a callback or Easter Egg we missed? Let us know in the comments section below, and we’ll see you next week for the finale, “The Winds of Winter.”