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Game of Thrones

Jon Snow and Daenerys Targaryen finally met on last night’s all-new episode of Game of Thrones, “The Queen’s Justice.” Did you hear that? THEY FINALLY MET! Fire and Ice were brought together! A great alliance has been forged! Jon Snow is totally allowed to mine all the precious dragonglass his heart desires!

But I don’t need to tell you! You were there! You watched the episode (as soon as it was able to buffer on your HBO Go or HBO Now account). You’ve probably watched the episode again already and are wondering how wandering around in the cold wilderness has left Bran with literally no chill. (I mean, like, way to bring up the worst night of your sister’s life, Bran.) You are a Game of Thrones pro which means not much escaped you during last night’s big premiere…or did it?

Did you catch how Cersei has officially morphed into the Mad Queen? Did you get why Mycroft Holmes was crashing Westeros? Did you know that Maester Luwin was great at hoarding correspondence — or why that might matter? Don’t worry! We got you covered. Here are five things you may have missed from last night’s episode of Game of Thrones.

Note: you may have missed them, but you also might have totally caught them.

Mad Queen Cersei's Days May Be Numbered

Cersei ended Season Six embracing her inner “Mad King Aerys,” but last night’s episode featured a coda or two that directly linked her to the Targaryen despot.

Yes, Cersei artfully constructed a horrifically brutal way to take the littlest Sand Snake, Tyene, out. In case you missed it, she killed Ellaria Sand’s beloved daughter in the precise same manner that Ellaria killed Myrcella. However, Cersei made it worse by turning Tyene’s slow, drawn out death into a way to torture Ellaria by chaining her up in a cell directly opposite her daughter so she could watch her baby die, but never comfort her. As Vanity Fair’s Joanna Robinson and a slew of other outlets have pointed out, the image of Ellaria and Tyene desperately trying to embrace each other, but being held back by their chains, is a reference to another awful moment in Westerosi history: the murder of Rickard and Brandon Stark.

In case you forgot — and don’t worry, the show made sure to remind you of this in Jon and Dany’s tete-a-tete — the Mad King Aerys infamously murdered Ned Stark’s father, Rickard, and older brother, Brandon, by hanging Rickard, in full battle armor, above a huge fire, letting the guy roast to death in his suit. To add to the horror, he chained Brandon up and forced him to watch his father die. To make things even worse? Brandon had a rope tied around his neck and his sword was out of reach. So as he tried to reach for it, to try to save his dying father, he choked himself to death.

Jaime wasn’t present for Ellaria and Tyene’s death, but he was there for Rickard and Brandon’s. He was also the one who killed Aerys to stop him from blowing up King’s Landing with wildfire. So when Olenna Tyrell spent her last five minutes on earth poking at Jaime’s sense of guilt, she was helping create a clear line between Cersei and Aerys…and offering a path for Jaime to turn on his sister/lover.

What's In Volantis? (Some Pretty Cool Stuff, Actually)

Melisandre may have brought “Fire and Ice” together, but she didn’t stick around for Jon and Dany’s explosive meeting. Instead, she told Varys that she was hightailing it off to Volantis, presumably for a quick vacay before the great war against the White Walkers.

But why Volantis???

The show has only briefly visited Volantis — in Season 5, as Varys shepherded Tyrion to Daenerys — but it’s an important city in Game of Thrones lore. The “Free City” was the very first colony founded by Valyria, the doomed home of the Targaryens, and so it has a connection to that ancient culture. However, there are two things in Valyria that might be important in the great war ahead: The Red Temple and a blacksmith who knows how to forge Valyrian steel.

Kinvara, the High Red Priestess whom Tyrion strikes a deal with in Season Six, is from Volantis. It’s the epicenter of Melisandre’s faith. So there are a lot of people there worshipping the Lord of Light (who are hyped for Daenerys to take the Iron Throne). So maybe there’s something in the Red Temple that will play a role in the war ahead.

Also, it was a passing reference, but one of the blacksmiths who forged Widow’s Wail and Oathkeeper out of the Stark family sword Ice came from Volantis. Just saying, they’re going to need help forging all those blades out of dragonglass.

Of course, she could be paying a visit to that hot prostitute who dressed up like Dany, but eh. Anyway, Melisandre will be back! She (and Varys) are destined to die in Westeros.

They See Me Scrolling...

Samwell Tarly got the most useful punishment in Game of Thrones history last night. The Archmaester is forcing the guy to make copies of a pile of rotting books and scrolls. While you may have laughed at the joke about flesh-eating mites, the real joke is how easily the show has set Sam up to save the day.

Sam went to the Citadel with the express purpose of sifting through the archives to find some clue to defeat the White Walkers. There are only ten episodes of Game of Thrones left. How much do you want to bet that a big secret to defeating the White Walkers is going to be in that pile of paper? (I would bet a lot of money, but I don’t have a lot of money. I just have a little bit of money and I need it.)

Maester Luwin's Inbox

Speaking of research… Back in Winterfell an actual maester might be on the verge of discovering something important in some old records. While Sansa is strutting through the castle, making moves and taking names, she asks the maester how long the longest winter in the last one hundred years was. Instead of rattling off the answer, he says he’ll have to check Maester Luwin’s records and that Luwin kept every raven he ever received.

So what could be in Luwin’s inbox? You know, junk mail, weather reports…maybe a message from a young Ned Stark letting Luwin know his sister died giving birth to a secret Targaryen heir??? I’m just conjecturing here, but it would make sense — especially since in the books, it’s hinted that Luwin knew about Jon’s true parentage. I’m just saying! Sure, Bran knows all about Jon’s heritage, but when push comes to shove, who do you think the Northerners will trust? An actual document or a kid who calls himself the Three-Eyed Raven?

Mycroft of the House Holmes

If Cersei’s visitor from the Iron Bank looked familiar to you it’s probably because (a) he’s been on the show before — but not for a while — and (b) he’s British actor/writer Mark Gatiss.

The character’s name is Tycho Nestoris and, yes, even I had to look that up because sheesh. I just call him by his actor’s name: Mark Gatiss. Gatiss hasn’t been on Game of Thrones for quite some time, but his trip to King’s Landing is a reminder that the realm is in massive amounts of debt to the Iron Bank. It’s also a hint that money might play as big a role as magic in the plot ahead.

Gatiss is best-known for his work on the Emmy-winning show Sherlock. He’s the show’s co-creator and plays Sherlock’s big brother, Mycroft Holmes. Gatiss has also appeared on Doctor Who, Wolf Hall, and The League of Gentlemen.