A much-needed Game of Thrones refresher ahead of season 8

Samwell Tarly and Gilly

Samwell Tarly, the wildling Gilly, and their toddler son Little Sam spent much of season 7 at the Citadel, where Sam was studying to become a maester. During the course of his studies, Sam discovered that there was a wealth of dragonglass under the island of Dragonstone, which information inspired Jon Snow to travel to Dragonstone and meet Daenerys Targaryen. He and his team mined the stuff and sent it back to Winterfell. Since Dragonglass is one of the few things that can kill White Walkers, Sam’s tip could prove incredibly important to the battles ahead.

Eventually, Sam left the Citadel along with Gilly and Little Sam when it became clear that the archmaesters in charge had no real interest defending humanity from its enemies, but before they left, Gilly, trying to improve her reading comprehension, came across Septon Maynard’s old journal, where he wrote a secret marriage between Prince Rhaegar Targaryen and Lyanna Stark. Later, Sam relays this information to Bran, who earlier discovered that Jon was actually Lyanna Stark’s child. This means that Jon is actually the heir to the Iron Throne, something else that could prove incredibly consequential in the battles ahead.

Neither Sam nor Gilly are great fighters, so while they’re at Winterfell, we don’t expect them to mix it up on the battlefield. Still, they’ve proven that their sleuthing has a lot of value, and since they have one of the most normal, functional relationships on the show, we’re really rooting for them to make it out alive.