'Game of Thrones': Five Things You Missed in 'Battle of the Bastards'

The "Battle of the Bastards" was hard fought and won by Jon Snow in Sunday's penultimate episode of Game of Thrones season six. In perhaps one of the finest hours the television series has ever produced, Thrones gave viewers a cinematic experience in the comfort of their own living rooms.

This tweet from actor Robbie Amell pretty much sums it up:

The season-in-the-making battle between Jon Snow and Ramsay Bolton did not disappoint. The fight scenes, which took 25 days and 500 extras to film, culminated in one of Thrones' bloodiest episodes since the Red Wedding. By the end of the hour-long episode, three favorites joined the show's extensive kill list: poor, sweet Rickon Stark, loveable giant Wun-Wun and, no surprises here, Ramsay himself.

It was a cathartic end to Ramsay's reign of terror on Thrones as his estranged wife Sansa Stark—who suffered so viciously at his abusive hands—was the one to kill him, in a manner befitting his own barbarity, no less: setting his ferocious dogs, that he starved and set upon his enemies, on him. (We hope you weren't eating while watching.)

Speaking about his character's demise, Ramsay actor Iwan Rheon said it's "just and it's right" that Thrones' equivalent to Dennis the Menace finally got his comeuppance. "I'm glad it happens as a fan of the show. Jon Snow needs to win because otherwise there's no hope left in the world," he told Entertainment Weekly.

With so much going on in the action-packed hour—including all three of Daenerys's dragons being unleashed for the first time this season and the Khaleesi's first ever meeting with Theon and Yara Greyjoy—there may be some moments you missed.

Allow Newsweek to present some of the best easter eggs in "Battle of the Bastards":

Robert's Curse

In Rickon's death in Sunday's episode there is a strange parallel to the very first episode of Game of Thrones back in 2011. As Reddit user NANAs_Mic pointed out, all of the Starks the then-king Robert Baratheon greets physically are now dead: Ned, Catelyn, Robb and Rickon Stark.

Eerie.

A Stark contrast

Speaking of recalls to previous episodes, Reddit also threw up this visual parallel between Daenerys Targaryen being embraced as the savior of Slaver's Bay in season three and Jon Snow mid-battle in Sunday's episode.

As some Reddit theorists have suggested, this visual cue really connotes the title of George R.R. Martin's book series— A Song of Ice and Fire —that the show is based on.

Given the level of intricacy in Thrones , the visual similarity between these two scenes is likely not unrelated. There are the "R + L = J" theories you'll remember, which posit that Jon may be a Targaryen too. Prophetic of things to come, maybe?

Shaggy dog story

Our minds are blown by this one. Rickon Stark's death in "Battle of the Bastards" may have been a surprise to viewers—especially as it seemed he would finally be reunited with Jon and Sansa, but was speared down on the battlefield.

But George R.R. Martin essentially told us this would happen from day one. The spoiler has been dangling like a carrot before our very eyes for years, Redditor dannyb21892 suggested.

The name of Rickon's direwolf, Shaggy Dog—who died earlier this season (RIP)—appears to take inspiration from the phrase "shaggy dog story," which is a "long-winded anecdote" that ends with an "anticlimax or a pointless punchline."

How does that relate to Thrones ? With Bran Stark believed dead, Sansa pointed out to Jon that Rickon is valuable because he is essentially the rightful heir to Winterfell. She said that as Jon is a bastard and she is a girl, Rickon is the one that poses the biggest threat to Ramsay. The audience might expect this to lead to Rickon being saved and holding pride of place in Winterfell, once reclaimed—but then he dies. His character becomes irrelevant and in many ways, always has been.

Brienne and Tormund may not be so far-fetched

Game of Thrones fans went wild after Brienne of Tarth and Tormund Giantsbane met earlier in season six and appeared to have a spark of chemistry. That brief scene led to all sorts of internet memes and social media pleas for the characters to get together.

Well, you know what they say: lovers who fight together, stay together. In Sunday's episode Tormund ripped out Smalljon Umber's throat using his teeth after nearly being defeated by the warrior.

Back in season four, Tormund's potential paramour used a similarly gruesome technique in her battle with the Hound: ripping his ear off with her bare teeth.

They are meant to be.

Did someone say wildfire?

Did you catch that fleeting mention of wildfire during Daenerys and Tyrion Lannister's conversation? Tyrion confirmed the existence of wildfire stores—created and secretly kept for a rainy day by the Mad King Aerys—under King's Landing.

That brief mention may not be without some influence on the final episode of season six, "The Winds of Winter," airing Sunday.

In episode eight Cersei Lannister asked her maester, Qyburn, if the "rumors were true." Many have suspected that the rumors she wanted verified are that Aerys did indeed keep large stores of deadly wildfire around King's Landing.

With her trial coming up in the season finale, there was some foreshadowing in last week's episode as to Cersei's ruthlessness in Jaime Lannister's conversation with Edmure Tully. Cersei would "do anything to protect [her] babies—start a war, burn cities to ash, free their worst enemies," said her brother/lover.

With the odds stacked against her—remember, her son King Tommen has sided with the Faith Militant and trial by combat has been outlawed—could Cersei burn down King's Landing rather than face a near-certain guilty verdict by the High Sparrow? Watch this space.

Game of Thrones airs Sunday at 9 p.m. on HBO in the U.S. and Monday at 9 p.m. on Sky Atlantic in the U.K.