Four early ‘Game of Thrones’ scenes that dropped hints about show’s future, as war for Seven Kingdoms rages

WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD!

So far in Season 7 of “Game of Thrones,” David Benioff and D.B. Weiss have been quick to foreshadow groundbreaking plot points.

We’re talking realm-changing stuff here. Sure, much of it is inevitable, but fans are still anxious and chomping at the bit.

Take for example Episode 3, “The Queen’s Justice,” when Jon Snow states, “I’m not a Stark,” as one of Daenerys’ dragons briefly nosedives right overhead.

Clue: Jon will soon find out he’s a Targaryen heir! (Dear Jon, please find out before any more sparks fly with Dany, though the practice aligns with the Targaryen brand of intimacy.)

Or, as another example, in the same episode, the Red Woman, Melisandre, tells Varys that she will return to this region of Westeros to die in the “strange country,” right as she warns Varys of a similar fate.

So, should fans assume that Varys will not live through this epic contest for the Iron Throne?

In hindsight, there have been a number of occasions where Benioff and Weiss gently pulled back the curtain, to show viewers what was ahead. That dates back to the very first season — when the showrunners still worked with full George R.R. Martin source material.

Robert Baratheon was a usurper. He seized the throne during a rebellion which bears his name. He was in a loveless — and actually childless — marriage to Cersei Lannister, all for strategic reasons. The Lannisters had their funds and Tywin’s tactical brilliance.

But when he wasn’t talking about ale and women, Robert was an intelligent and practical man — more so than he is given credit for. In Season 1, Episode 5, he admonishes Cersei over a looming Targaryen threat — when said Targaryen claimant has a Dothraki horde behind him.

“Only a fool would meet the Dothraki in an open field. They leave us in our castles. They go from town to town, looting and burning, killing every man who can’t hide behind a stone wall…” Robert said.

“How long do the people of the Seven Kingdoms stand behind their absentee king, their cowardly king hiding behind high walls? When do the people decide that Viserys Targaryen is the rightful monarch after all?”

When Cersei tells him that they’d still outnumber Targaryen forces, Robert says that “one” is actually stronger than “five” (armies or kingdoms under their banner) — because that one collective group is unified and poised to accomplish its mission.

“One army, a real army, united behind one leader with one purpose,” he says. “Our purpose died with the Mad King.”

Season 7 happens to find Dany sailing across the Narrow Sea and making a pit stop at Dragonstone — with a Dothraki army. Maybe, just maybe, Robert was spelling out the extinction of House Lannister way back in Season 1.

Lady Olenna predicts the fall of House Tyrell?

In Season 3, when Olenna arrives in King’s Landing, a young Tyrell girl shows her an embroidered rose she’d sewn.

Olenna’s seen enough of that sigil in her day and shows it: “Another golden rose. How original? I eat from plates stamped with roses, I sleep in sheets embroidered with roses, I have a golden rose painted on my chamber pot, as if that makes it smell any better. Roses are boring, dear.

“‘Growing strong.’ Ha! The dullest words of any house. ‘Winter is coming.’ Now that’s memorable. ‘We do not sow.’ Strong, strong; those (are the) houses you watch out for. Direwolves and krakens, fierce beasts. But a golden rose growing strong? That strikes fear in the heart.”

While the Queen of Thorns may not have actually been seeing the Great Sept exploding when she said this, she certainly knew that House Tyrell would have to outsmart its enemies if it wanted to survive. And for a while, it did.

That’s what makes the end of Season 7, Episode 3 so tragic. At least you told it how it was, Olenna.

Daenerys visits the House of the Undying

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l7VuGknEfQY

In Season 2, Daenerys and Jorah make their way to the House of the Undying in Qarth — home of the city’s warlocks. Inside, Dany experiences vivid illusions — of the Great Hall of the Red Keep and in a tent with Drogo and their son. (She is eventually able to kill the warlock Pyat Pree thanks to Drogo’s fire breathing.)

Yet, the most relevant part of this vision comes as she emerges from the base of the Wall in the North. She traipses over a snow pack and moves through Winter. At the time, it was the first tease of Ice and Fire, and now stands to be a huge indicator on what’s next.

How does she respond to Jon’s otherworldly requests at Dragonstone? How do they help each other? Do they fall in love? Do they stop the Night King? Better yet, when does she find out she’s his aunt?

While there are certainly questions remaining, the House of the Undying teased an eventual rendezvous between two great houses and two great characters.

Jon Snow and Tyrion meet in Winterfell