Things You Only Notice In Game Of Thrones When You Rewatch The Series

Even though Game of Thrones closed with an uneven and ultimately unpopular final season in the spring of 2019, the show still remains as beloved as ever, with eight total seasons of engaging political intrigue, stunning battle scenes, zombies, dragons, and gorgeous sets in locations like Croatia, Iceland, Spain, and Northern Ireland. Throughout 73 episodes, viewers followed the Starks, Lannisters, Targaryens, Baratheons, and other great houses of Westeros as they prepared to battle for the Iron Throne and control over the realm. From heroes like Jon Snow (Kit Harington) and Arya Stark (Maisie Williams) to villains like Cersei Lannister (Lena Headey) and Joffrey Baratheon (Jack Gleeson), fans couldn't get enough of the show's perfect combination of action, drama, and even romance.

Fans love to rewatch Thrones. That's no surprise, since it's definitely one of the densest and most complex shows on television, with an enormous cast of characters and no shortage of complicated mythology. As you sit down for your next rewatch, you might pick up on tiny details along the way for the first time. From clear foreshadowing of major plot points to subtle clues about the show's mysteries, here are a few things you'll only notice in Game of Thrones when you rewatch the whole series. Spoilers to follow!

Probably the most loyal and devoted servant in all of Thrones, Jorah Mormont (Iain Glen) is usually found by the side of Daenerys Targaryen (Emilia Clarke), the young Dragon Queen whose singular goal is to take the Iron Throne upon which her father once sat. From her wedding to Khal Drogo (Jason Momoa) to her eventual conquest of the Seven Kingdoms, Daenerys is rarely seen without Jorah. In fact, he dies at the Battle of Winterfell defending his Khaleesi... though they did go through a rough patch at one point.

Throughout the first season, the Baratheons and Lannisters, sequestered all the way in King's Landing, seem to have a lot of information about Daenerys' whereabouts and latest news. By the fourth season, Daenerys discovers that it was Jorah who was passing information to Lord Varys (Conleth Hill) in exchange for a pardon that would allow him to return to Westeros, even though he saved Daenerys from an assassination attempt and eventually stopped spying entirely, having fallen in love with his queen. Daenerys ultimately forgives Jorah, but it's still shocking to see her most faithful adviser fall so far. 

Audiences knew about this long before Daenerys, and the first season contained one huge clue. When Jorah finds out that Daenerys is pregnant with Drogo's child, he goes for a very conveniently-timed ride by himself, which gives him a chance to send a letter to Varys and share the big news.

In Thrones' third season, the war between the Starks and Lannisters is officially underway after the latter family beheaded Ned Stark (Sean Bean), the honorable head of the Stark family. As the opposing sides draw closer to each other, each gets more and more ruthless. At one point, two young Lannister squires, Martyn and Willem, are captured by Tully forces (loyal to the Starks) and held captive at Riverrun. Despite being the sons of a high-ranking Lannister, they're not "valuable" enough to exchange for Sansa and Arya, the former of whom is still being held by the Lannisters. Before Robb Stark (Richard Madden) can make a concrete decision as to what to do with the boys, they're killed by Lord Rickard Karstark (John Stahl), whose son was killed by Jaime Lannister.

This might be the end of Martyn Lannister, but it wasn't the end for the actor who played him. Dean-Charles Chapman, who only appeared for two episodes, ended up returning to the show to play the youngest of Cersei's children, Tommen, who is crowned King after his brother's Joffrey death in season four. More casual fans might have forgotten about Chapman's first role, but eagle-eyed viewers will recognize Chapman as the rare actor to play two distinct roles on Thrones... and even die twice.

The imposing and clever matriarch of House Tyrell, Olenna Tyrell (Diana Rigg), known as the "Queen of Thorns," is constantly working to make sure that the Tyrell family remains in power and safe from their enemies. When her beloved and beautiful granddaughter Margaery (Natalie Dormer) becomes engaged to King Joffrey, she tries to discern what kind of husband he might be by asking his former fianceé Sansa Stark (Sophie Turner). When Sansa blurts out that Joffrey is a "monster," it's clear that Olenna decides she has to do something to prevent the marriage.

The two are married in the Sept of Baelor, but during the reception, Joffrey ends up choking to death, clearly having been poisoned. Though Tyrion Lannister is accused of the murder, it turns out that the entire thing was orchestrated by Littlefinger (Aiden Gillan) and Olenna. If you look closely during Joffrey's wedding, you can actually see it happen. While chatting with Sansa, Olenna takes a crystal off of Sansa's necklace under the pretense of fixing the girl's hair, and that crystal is later used to poison Joffrey (naturally, Olenna and Littlefinger were the ones who made sure Sansa wore the necklace in the first place). Lest she not get any credit, Olenna's last act on the show is to tell Jaime she was behind it and to ask him to tell Cersei, going to so far as to say, "I want her to know it was me."

During the show's fifth season, Arya endures difficult and grueling training at the House of Black and White. There, she learns how to become a faceless assassin under the tutelage of Jaqen H'ghar, a killer who can change his face at will. However, her time there proves more difficult than she anticipated, as she seems unable to let go of not only her identity, but her grudges, and this repeatedly holds her back from making any significant progress. Eventually, it seems like she learns to lie about herself and become "no one," which comes into play when a father brings his dying daughter to the House of Black and White, and Arya makes up a story to soothe the girl before giving her a drink that will end her life and her suffering.

Later, Arya breaks the rules by killing a man not marked for death by the gods. This particular man, though, was marked for death by her years earlier — Meryn Trant, the Lannister knight who killed her beloved fighting teacher Syrio Forel. Stealing a face from the House, Arya sneaks into a brothel, poses as a young girl (because, as if he wasn't bad enough, Meryn is a pedophile), and brutally murders him, only to face serious consequences when Jaqen finds out. Pay close attention during these scenes and you'll notice that the face Arya stole isn't just any face — it's that of the young girl she euthanized.

During the show's seventh season, Sam Tarly (John Bradley) fulfills his love of learning and books by studying at the Citadel in Oldtown, where maesters are trained and made. However, in the season premiere, it seems as if he's doing more janitorial duties than anything else, and when he tries to warn the maesters about the oncoming threat of the White Walkers, he's laughed out of the room. To prove his point, he goes into the restricted section of the library to do some more research, and inadvertently stumbles upon something quite helpful.

One of his books features a drawing of a very specific dagger made of Valyrian steel known as the "catspaw dagger," which proves to be one of the most important items on the show. Once owned by Littlefinger, the dagger was used in an attempt to murder a young, injured Bran Stark (Isaac Hempstead-Wright). It's later used to kill Littlefinger himself, and eventually, is the weapon Arya Stark uses to take down the undead Night King. As he studies, Sam has no idea he's looking at a depiction of the weapon that not only started the War of the Five Kings, but would later end the war against the dead.