Callbacks and Easter Eggs in “A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms”

It’s time once again to obsessively pore over another episode of Game of Thrones season 8, looking for every callback and Easter Egg we can find. What treasures are hidden in “A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms”? Let’s find out.

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First up, the title of the episode is a reference to author George R.R. Martin’s series of novellas about the adventures of Ser Duncan the Tall and his secret Targaryen squire Egg (Aegon V) around a hundred years before the start of the main series. The first three novellas are collected in a volume called, you guess it, A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms.

Digging a bit further, Brienne of Tarth — whom Jaime knighted in the episode — is a descendent of Ser Duncan the Tall, according to George R.R. Martin himself.

Here’s the fun part: Ser Duncan eventually escorted Egg back to King’s Landing and Egg was made king. Then, as Aegon V, Egg named Ser Duncan the Lord Commander of his Kingsgaurd. Years later, Aegon’s firstborn son, Duncan Targaryen, married the commoner Jenny of Oldstones, setting aside his arranged marriage to the daughter of Lord Lyonel Baratheon, the lord of Storm’s End. Egg threatened his son, telling him he would lose his crown if he remained married to Jenny, but Duncan refused to set her aside and the crown passed to his younger brother, Jaehaerys II. Jenny is the person Podrick sings about towards the end of the episode.

Jenny came to court with her friend, a little woman she claimed was a woods witch and one of the Children of the Forest. While in King’s Landing, the woods witch told the prophecy of the Prince that was Promised. Upon hearing this, Jaehaerys II made sure his son and daughter — Aerys (eventually the Mad King) and Rhaella — would marry so they could bring the prophecy to fruition.

Aerys and Rhaella eventually became parents to Rhaegar, Viserys and Daenerys. Then, Rhaegar — who was said to be obsessed with the prophecy just like his grandfather — fell in love with and married Lyanna Stark. They had a son named Aegon Targaryen, sixth of his name, aka Jon Snow. In other words: without Jenny of Oldstones, there would be no Jon Snow. So that song has lots of connections to characters currently holed up in Winterfell.

Speaking of Podrick’s song, I can’t be the only one who thought of Pippin’s song from Return of the King, right?

Moving on, did you catch the subtle differences in the intros of Episodes 801 and 802? This cool side-by-side video shows what you may have missed:

"[Spoilers] The subtle differences between the intros of episode 1 and 2, giving us a hint about the progress of the AOTD from gameofthrones"

The army of the dead is on the move.

Jaime’s trial had lots of callbacks, including this one, about the word “we”:

"[SPOILERS] Nothing f**ks you harder than time from gameofthrones"

And of course, Bran saying “The things we do for love” during the trial was a reference to when Jaime said it when he pushed Bran out the window in the very first episode of the series.

Remember when Brienne told Jaime his intentions were misplaced in season 7? “F**k loyalty,” she said.

During his trial, Jaime showed that he was listening. “This goes beyond loyalty,” he says.

Things really have come full circle for the golden line and the whoremonger:

In “Winterfell,” Arya had Gendry build her a staff with dragonglass blades on either end. Having trained with a quarterstaff in the House of Black and White, she’ll have no trouble wielding it:

Speaking of Arya, the moment Gendry saw her stab wounds recalled the scene where Daenerys saw Jon’s in “Beyond the Wall”:

Did this scene hit you right in the feels?

That little girl with facial scarring reminded both Davos and Gilly of Shireen Baratheon, who taught them both to read.

Who gives the best hugs? Sansa gives the best hugs:

"[SPOILERS] Anyone else thinks Sansa gives the most emotional hugs ever? from gameofthrones"

FINALLY, Ghost made another appearance. But did he look changed? Here he is in season 6…

…and here he is is in “A Knight of the Seven Kingdsom”:

Is Ghost shrinking?

At the moment, Daenerys is having trouble earning the trust of the Northerners. I can’t believe I’m saying this, but maybe she should have taken advice from Cersei:

"[SPOILERS] Advice from S1 Cersei to S7&S8 Daenerys from gameofthrones"

Finally, WiC reader James had a question about the framed square on the right side of this screenshot, the one that kind of looks like a painting:

So what is that thing? The way I see it, it’s a square of dragonglass paste the defenders of Winterfell are using to coat the caltrops and stakes, the better to keep the dead away from the castle.

Is there something we missed in my hunt for clues and callbacks? Let us know in the comments.

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