Game of Thrones: 5 details you missed from the series finale

Amidst all the yelling and reacting strongly to “The Iron Throne,” the final episode of Game of Thrones, you may have missed some shout-outs and callbacks.

Warning: If you don’t remember what happened on last night’s Game of Thrones finale (or just have blocked it out of your memory), we’ll direct you this way.

Never mind the death of Daenerys Targaryen or the ascension of Bran Stark to the rule of Six, not Seven Kingdoms. This is the place for us to discuss the little stuff, explain the callbacks, and dig a little deeper. Is it a place for feelings? Well, yes, feelings are pretty much going to be involved in these things.

But mostly, we’re here for details. Let’s get right into it.

“Love is the death of duty”

Aemon Targaryen, the Maester Aemon that Jon refers to in his scene with Tyrion, was the maester of Castle Black, but now that Jon knows who he is, he realizes he’s actually quoting his great-great uncle.

Yes, that’s how Aemon and Jon are related, and judging by Tyrion’s face when Jon says who he’s quoting, Tyrion gets it, too. Heck, poor Aemon is probably the longest-lived Targaryen we’re going to ever get in the family, now that Jon is back in the Night’s Watch and likely won’t continue the line.

The size of the Iron Throne

“Why is Daenerys talking about how big she used to think the Iron Throne was?” you may have asked yourself.

In the show, after all, it’s big and fancy, but it’s not that big and fancy.

In A Song of Ice and Fire, it is actually the size little Daenerys thought it was, roughly speaking. Of course, this is all academic now, because the Iron Throne doesn’t exist anymore. It was made by a dragon’s fire, and a dragon’s fire unmade it. (Interestingly, Drogon might actually be Balerion the Black Dread come again, and Balerion was the dragon who forged the throne. There are layers to this thing.)

Where the Unsullied are going

You’ll be forgiven if you don’t remember where Missandei is from, but it’s the island of Naath.

Yes, that’s where Grey Worm and the Unsullied (and presumably the Dothraki) are going. He’s getting his time on the beach after all!

The book Brienne writes in

Brienne of Tarth is Lord Commander of the Kingsguard, and Podrick Payne is another member, based on their gold armor that they sport in the second half of the finale. We know Brienne’s commander, though, because she gets to write in the White Book and finish Jaime Lannister’s entry. (We wonder if she put his knighting her in there?)

Also, the White Book is going to need a new name. It’s technically called the Book of the Brothers, and there’s a sister in the Kingsguard.

“A jackass and a honeycomb in a brothel”

Sharp-eared listeners will recognize this reference. As the Huffington Post notes, it’s come up twice before — more memorably in Tyrion’s trial at the Eyrie in the first season.

And this is the note that Game of Thrones ends on.

Yes, really. A callback all the way to the first season.

Well, actually, the visual note it ends on, with a brother of the Night’s Watch going into the woods beyond the Wall, is also a callback to the first scene of the show. Go back and watch if you don’t believe us.

What did you think of the Game of Thrones series finale? Share your thoughts with us in the comments.