Spectre: 23 Easter Eggs & References You Need To See

5. The Chess Game Call-Back

One of the film's most revelatory scenes comes when Bond finds Mr White (real name Swann apparently), poisoned by Thallium and on the verge of death in Austria. He's hunkered down in a bunker, and reveals SPECTRE's secrets to Bond in exchange for his daughter's safety. The fact that the key conversation takes place over a chess board also isn't an accident.: it calls back to the game played against SPECTRE agent Kronsteen in From Russia With Love. That film too was about SPECTRE seeking revenge, as Oberhauser explains is why everything keeps going wrong with Bond's life. Unlike in FRWL, the game doesn't feature a King's Gambit, but that move is a strong allegory for Oberhauser's plotting. Interestingly, Mr White's codename within SPECTRE is referred to as The Pale King - the name of writer David Foster Wallace's unfinished opus.