Quiz

Jon's decision to spare Ned Umber and Alys Karstark and allow them to keep their lands continues a theme started last season with Daenerys, namely the belief that children should not pay the price, nor bear the stain, of their parents' sins. However, Sansa's counter-argument that there is no punishment for treason, and no reward for loyalty brings up the discussion between being honorable versus pragmatic that recurs several times in both the novels and the series; Sansa has a point that doing the decent thing (i.e. showing mercy to enemies, breaking off a politically important alliance for love) was what got both Ned and Robb Stark killed. On the other hand, Joffrey's opportunistic execution of Ned also backfired, since it drew the ire of the entire North against the Lannisters.

When Jaime approaches Cersei in the map room, the mapmaker working on the floor is portrayed by Jim Stanes, the graphic artist who designed the massive map for the production.

When Sam is looking through the books he stole from the restricted section, before he flips to the page about the dragonglass mines in Dragonstone, there is a page with a picture of a Valyrian steel dagger. This sketch is actually the dagger that was used by the catspaw assassin who was sent to kill the unconscious Bran in The Kingsroad (2011). Valyrian weapons are so rare (less than 200 remain in existence) that a prominent mention in a restricted book is not uncommon. The dagger is still in possession of Littlefinger, as he took it back from Ned during the massacre at the Red Keep in You Win or You Die (2011). John Bradley was asked to linger over this page for a while, as to foreshadow the dagger's resurfacing in The Spoils of War (2017). In the prequel series House of the Dragon (2022), the dagger is shown to have belonged to the Targaryen kings, and was passed from ruler to ruler, further emphasizing the weapon's reputation.

On the page of Sam's book with the picture of a dagger, the text next to it reads "The Valyrians were familiar with dragonglass long before they came to Westeros. They called it "Zirtys perzys" which translates to 'frozen fire' in Valyrian." Author George R.R. Martin mentioned this translation in his novels, but the show's linguist David J. Peterson actually came up with the High Valyrian word for Dragonglass. Furthermore, on the next page, opposite the page with the map of Dragonstone, it states that Dragonglass is said to be able to cure several diseases, including greyscale, but that the author doubts the veracity of this claim.

Although Smalljon Umber was killed by Tormund in Battle of the Bastards (2016), the fate of Harald Karstark was not shown on-screen. This episode confirms that Karstark indeed died during the Battle of the Bastards. His death scene may have been scripted for that episode (which contained an unidentified Karstark cavalry man charging at Jon, only to be killed by Wun Wun), but time constraints may have forced production to abandon these plans. The last time Karstark was seen, he was leading the Boltons' cavalry, so it can be assumed that he died during the initial cavalry charge, or from one of Ramsey's subsequent arrow volleys.

Ed Sheeran: the popular singer plays the singing Lannister soldier whom Arya (Maisie Williams) meets in the Riverlands. Sheeran was finally able to make an appearance after he had been sought for a cameo for several years, since Williams is a big fan of his. His character is retroactively identified as "Eddie" in Winterfell (2019). In Red Notice (2021), Sheeran has another cameo where he yells at one point "I was in Game of Thrones!"