Book nods, callbacks, and other things you may have missed in “Hardhome”

“Hardhome” has come and gone, but people are still talking about it. The critics loved it, fans have been effusive, and the internet remains awash in mashups and memes drawn from the episode.

Luckily, there’s plenty to talk about, as the episode was pretty meticulously produced from top to bottom. We’ve collected a few things you may have not have noticed about the episode, from subtle books nods to callbacks to the show’s own history.

First, check out this shot of a long axe-type weapon wielded by Loboda, the Thenn chieftain who helped Jon fight the bearded White Walker in the burning hut.

On Game of Thrones, Thenns are portrayed very differently from how they’re portrayed in the books. For one thing, Thenns aren’t cannibals in the novels, but are instead distinguished by their dedication to the sort of power hierarchy usually shunned by wildlings. They’re also one of the few wildling tribes capable of working metal. While most wildlings use weapons made of wood or stone, Thenns craft weapons and armor out of bronze.

Now, consider why director Miguel Sapochnik would want to get a separate shot of Loboda’s long axe hitting the ground. The shot only lasts for a second, but it would have required a whole separate lighting setup, so it wasn’t done offhand. Looking at it, it seems clear that the long axe is made of something other than stone or wood—maybe not bronze, but some kind of processed metal. It’s possible this shot was a nod to book-readers, meant to show that the producers had paid attention to this little detail about Thenn society.

Or it was just a bit of visual punctuation before the White Walker ran Loboda through. Either way, it’s neat.

Speaking of Thenns, Karsi may have had the line of the night when, following Loboda’s abrupt exit from the wildling-Night’s Watch summit meeting, she turned to Tormund and said, “I f***ing hate Thenns.” It’s a nice line by itself, but not everyone may have realized that it was a callback to when Tormund said the exact same thing in “Two Swords,” last year’s season premiere.

Apparently, this is a popular phrase north of the Wall, like their version of “A watched pot never boils” or “No use crying over spilled milk.”

We also checked in with Arya this week as she made her way through the streets of Braavos with a new outfit and a new identity: Lana the oyster peddler. This was actually a pretty straightforward adaptation of Arya’s chapters from A Feast for Crows, except that in the books, Arya goes by the name of Cat of the Canals. There’s no official word on why the producers decided to go with “Lana” instead—perhaps they thought people would confuse the name “Cat” with that of “Catelyn Stark,” Arya’s mother. In any case, they nodded toward the original name by having a cat run out in front of Arya right as she says, “Every morning, I make my down to the canals.”

Finally, back north of the Wall, the producers may have called back to the very first scene of the series, in which a trio of Night’s Watchmen were set upon by, among other things, a pale-skinned little girl with blood on her lips and a pair of ice blue eyes.

Looking back, it’s clear that this girl was a wight, one of the reanimated dead bodies the White Walkers use in their fight against humankind. In the Massacre of Hardhome, some fans think this particular wight showed up again, as one of the dead children that tackled and killed Karsi.

It’s seems unlikely that this was the same actress, as five years have passed since the series premiere and she’s probably grown up quite a bit, but the likenesses seems awfully similar. Also, note that the wight girl was given her own close-up during “Hardhome”—for a second, the camera stops paying attention to the group of wight children and zeroes in on her, possibly because she reminds Karsi of her own daughters, or possibly because the director wanted the audience to draw a connection between her and the little wight girl who opened the series. Anyway, I hoped you were thoroughly creeped out by this.

• Published on 06/03/2015 at 4:35 PM CDT
• Last updated on 06/03/2015 at 4:42 PM CDT