Early Game Of Thrones Moments That Foreshadowed Events In The Final Season

Game of Thrones is coming to a close with its eighth and final season, and HBO's massively popular fantasy show is nothing if not chock-full of symbolism, foreshadowing, and callbacks. Based on George R.R. Martin's dense A Song of Ice and Fire novels, the series packs mythology, politics, relationships, sex, family, dragons, and ice zombies into one story — and now that the whole story is concluding, plenty of the tracks laid by showrunners David Benioff and D.B. Weiss are paying off as viewers see who will live, who will die, who will end up together, and of course, who will win the all-important Iron Throne and rule all of Westeros.

Since the eighth season's premiere in April of 2019, fans have been tearing apart the final episodes for callbacks to previous seasons — and there's plenty to see, from meaningful lines to unexpectedly helpful sword fighting techniques and mysterious prophecies. Here are all of the early Game of Thrones moments that foreshadowed events we've already seen in the final season.

Bronn (Jerome Flyyn), Westeros' most charming sellsword, has always made his way by looking out for himself first, but he's forged a few bonds along the way. Throughout the show, Bronn has frequently paired up with one of the Lannister brothers, and his friendships with Jaime (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau) and Tyrion (Peter Dinklage) have been two bright spots during a frequently dark series. From representing Tyrion in a trial by combat to re-teaching Jaime how to fight after the former champion loses his hand, Bronn's loyalty might lie in his wallet, but that doesn't diminish either of those genuine relationships.

That explains why, when audiences watched as Cersei offered Bronn pretty much any payment he wanted to kill both of her brothers, they were immediately concerned that Bronn's financial greed might overrule his actual affection for the Lannister men. Cersei's hit hasn't yet come to pass — and it still might not, thanks to a crucial Tyrion quip from way back in season 1. After Bronn wins Tyrion's freedom at the Eyrie by serving as his champion, Tyrion tells him, "if the day ever comes when you're tempted to sell me out, remember this: whatever their price, I'll beat it. I like living." Bronn may be bought easily, but that could work to Tyrion's advantage this season.

Arya begins Game of Thrones as nothing more than a spirited pipsqueak with ambitions of becoming a great fighter — ones that begin to be realized when she starts taking lessons from Syrio Forel, the First Sword of Braavos and an incredibly prescient teacher. During his training, Arya starts chasing cats throughout King's Landing, telling Ned that it's an assignment from Syrio so she can learn to be quick and silent. Though Syrio is slaughtered by Meryn Trant and other Knights of the Seven Kingdoms when Ned is imprisoned, Arya doesn't forget Syrio's lessons, especially when she brings those teachings to the House of Black and White in Braavos, where she learns to be a formidable faceless assassin who can take on anyone — even powerful fighters like Brienne of Tarth (Gwendoline Christie).

When Arya finally fulfills her destiny and enters the Godswood to take down the seemingly unbeatable Night King, it's not just a Valyrian steel dagger that propels her to victory — Syrio Forel's lessons about silence and stealth have clearly paid off, since the only sign of her attack is a gentle breeze that blows through another White Walker's hair. More than that, Syrio teaches Arya to fight with both hands, which proves crucial in her one shot to take down the biggest threat to Westeros, letting her flip her knife from one hand to the other and deliver the final blow to the Night King.

Game of Thrones has introduced plenty of important props, and from Jon Snow's Mormont heirloom Longclaw to Brienne and Jaime's matching swords, most of them are deadly weapons. Arya Stark's dagger is no exception: eagle-eyed viewers will remember that this particular blade has been around since the first season, when it was used to try and murder Bran Stark while he was comatose after being pushed out of a high tower window. The dagger's actual owner, Littlefinger (Aidan Gillen), tries to pass off the dagger as belonging to Tyrion Lannister, but eventually, he ends up with it again and gives it back to Bran — who in turn gives it to Arya in the show's seventh season, seemingly for some sort of huge purpose.

When Arya uses the dagger to execute Littlefinger in a public trial, it seems as if the dagger's story is probably over, but that's definitely not true. Since it's made of Valryian steel, one of the few substances that can destroy the Night King, it's one of the only weapons that can threaten the leader of the Army of the Dead — but more importantly, its use in Bran's assassination attempt helped kick off the War of the Five Kings in the first season, and it's only fitting that it ended up ending the Great War.

The first season of the show found Daenerys married off to Khal Drogo (future Aquaman star Jason Momoa) in a move orchestrated by her brother Viserys (Harry Lloyd) so the Targaryen family could claim the enormous Dothraki army led by Drogo. Though the two get off to a rough start thanks to language barriers and a truly horrifying wedding night, Daenerys and Drogo eventually fall in love, thanks to her bravery and his willingness to compromise. When she finds out she's pregnant with his child, prophesied as the "Stallion Who Will Mount the World," Drogo promises that he will sail "wooden horses" across the sea to Westeros to give his son the Iron Throne (which he calls the "Iron Chair,"), swearing to rape and pillage the Seven Kingdoms as well as "kill the men in the iron suits and tear down their stone houses."

Seasons later, after Drogo has died and Daenerys has taken control of an entirely new Dothraki army, she makes a similar promise atop her largest dragon, Drogon. It certainly comes to pass, with Daenerys laying waste to King's Landing, tearing down its stone houses, and decimating its population, even after she promised she would allow the city to surrender and show its citizens mercy. At least Drogo would have been proud.

Jon Snow is one of the biggest symbols of the North throughout the entire series, from his upbringing at the hand of the Warden of the North to the moment he's literally named, well, King in the North. Despite the fact that he turned out to be half Targaryen and a Southern-born heir to the Iron Throne, Jon never seemed entirely comfortable in the southern parts of Westeros, and at the end of the series, it's possible that he gets his wish after all.

Jon ends up banished to the Night's Watch as punishment for killing the queen, but once he arrives at the Wall, he has a joyful reunion with both Tormund (Kristopher Hivju) and his faithful direwolf, Ghost. It's appropriate that Tormund is the man to greet Jon, considering that Tormund once told Jon he saw the "true North" in him. Between that and Jon's admission back in season 2 that his "father" (well, uncle) Ned Stark told him that he was "of the North," viewers should have known Jon would always end up at the Wall.

At the end of the series, after being a part of several intense battles and saving humanity by slaying the undead Night King, Arya Stark has certainly earned a vacation, and the last shots of Arya show her sailing away from Westeros, ready to explore the edge of the world and find out what's west of Westeros, where the "maps stop." Nobody knows what's out there (except maybe Bran, her all-seeing, all-knowing brother, but he doesn't bother to fill her in), so Arya, armed with a fleet and Stark banners, sets out to discover a new land once and for all.

Some viewers might have been surprised by Arya's sudden desire to flee Westeros, but this curiosity of Arya's was introduced in the show's sixth season, when Arya makes friends with a local Braavosi actress named Lady Crane. Though the Faceless Men have assigned Arya to kill Lady Crane, she can't bring herself to hurt her, and even goes to her for help after an attack by the Waif. As she tends to Arya's wounds, Lady Crane tells Arya she should join the acting troupe and go to Pentos, but Arya refuses, saying, "Essos is east and Westeros is west. What's west of Westeros?" Arya has been looking forward to exploring the end of the world for years, and now that she's prevented an apocalypse in Westeros, she's finally free to do as she desires.

As the series opens, Bran Stark is learning how to shoot an arrow, but by the end of the pilot, it becomes apparent that he won't be studying marksmanship anymore, as he is thrown out of a tall tower after making a disturbing discovery about Queen Cersei and her twin brother's "super close" relationship. Permanently paralyzed, Bran is confined to a wheelchair for the remainder of the series, but right away, he is met with sympathy by one character who proves to be incredibly important in Bran's life.

In an early season one episode, an empathetic Tyrion designs a schematic for a special saddle that would allow Bran to ride a horse again, even without the use of his legs. Tyrion tells Bran's older brother Robb, who is skeptical, that he has a special place in his heart for "cripples, bastards, and broken things," which is why he designed the saddle in the first place. Not only does this foreshadow that Tyrion will eventually help Bran — Tyrion ultimately nominates Bran for the throne and becomes Bran's Hand of the King — his line is also a harbinger of Bran's future royal name, Bran the Broken.