Everything You Missed In ‘Game Of Thrones’ Season 8 Episode 1 ‘Winterfell’

The premiere of Game of Thrones Season 8 certainly had a lot to unpack considering that it was the first episode from the HBO series in almost two years. Although fans were thrilled to see several awesome reunions and tense meetings, it was easy to miss some cool details that could reveal how the final season will end.

Most of the Easter Eggs in the Game of Thrones Season 8 premiere had a lot to do with the previous seasons of the show. After all, the entire series started in Winterfell and is most likely to conclude in the same place. Here are some interesting details you probably missed in the episode Winterfell.

#1. The opening credits got an update.

We all get that intense feeling when the episode begins with the iconic theme song and we see the different maps of the Seven Kingdoms while an astrolabe device depicts Westorosi history.

In Winterfell, the map now shows the portion of the Wall that was torn down by Viserion and the Night King. In addition to that, the astrolabe, which used to show Robert’s Rebellion and all those old stories, has new tales to tell.

For instance, one segment of the astrolabe shows the Red Wedding. In the segment, a lion grasps a fish in its jaws (Tywin Lannister taking hold of House Tully’s stronghold), a dead direwolf hangs from the towers of the Twins (the murder of the Starks by House Frey), and a flayed man holds up a wolf’s head (Roose Bolton killing Robb Stark and taking over Winterfell).

#2. The Four Dragons

You probably heard about how the credits now features four dragons instead of just three. Although people are hoping this means Daenerys Targaryen will get another dragon, it actually depicts the birth of her children.

The segment in the astrolabe shows a larger dragon (Daenerys) with three smaller ones (her children). It is clearly the birth of Drogon, Viserion, and Rhaegal because the motif also shows the comet that crossed the sky when Dany stepped into Khal Drogo’s funeral pyre.

#3. The Kiss On The Forehead

Jon Snow was clearly delighted to see Bran Stark and immediately went over to kiss his brother (or cousin) on the forehead. The act mirrors how Jon said goodbye to Bran in the first season before he left for Castle Black.

Interestingly, Jon’s last words to the comatose Bran in Season 1 were that he would take his brother on a walk beyond the Wall. Bran has already done that and we’re not sure if he’s completely back from that trip.

#4. The Very Same Crossbow

Bronn gets a new mission from Cersei Lannister via Qyburn, who informs him that he will be paid in advance for the assassination of her two brothers. However, Cersei also wants Bronn to use a specific weapon to kill Tyrion and Jaime Lannister.

If the crossbow looks familiar, it’s exactly the same one that Tyrion used to do away with their father Tywin in Season 4. As Qyburn puts it, Cersei has a “keen sense of poetic justice.”

#5. Jon And Another Elopement Proposal

After their exciting dragon ride, Jon and Daenerys end up in front of icy waterfalls with a nearby cave. “We could stay a thousand years. No one would find us,” Dany says. But Jon, who has had some experience with this kind of thing, gracefully declines.

You see, Ygritte had previously told Jon that they should abandon the wildlings and elope in the fourth season. Hopefully, Dany won’t have to suffer the same fate as Ygritte in Season 8.

Game of Thrones Season 8 Episode 2 will air on HBO on April 21.

Watch the teaser for the second episode below: