Game Of Thrones: 8 Moments That Foreshadowed SPOILER'S Death

by James Hunt

1. The Catspaw Dagger

Game of Thrones Bran Arya Catspaw Dagger
HBO

Arya's dagger, aka the Catspaw Dagger, has a long, storied history on Game of Thrones. The weapon, used by an assassin to try and kill Bran Stark, was one of the inadvertent launchpads for the War of the Five Kings.

As an aside, there's also a theory that the dagger belonged to the Targaryens, and at one point Rhaegar, not just because it's Valyrian steel but also the dragonbone hilt and it being decorated with rubies (like Rhaegar's armour). Rhaegar himself was obsessed with the prophecy of The Prince That Was Promised and, if this theory holds (and a dagger like that would've had to have belonged to a Great House at some point), then he's loosely played a part in defeating the darkness, a core part of the prophecy.

Last seen in Season 1, it disappeared for several years until its re-emergence in Season 7, when Littlefinger handed the dagger to Bran. Before that moment, though, we were given a timely reminder of it thanks to a drawing in the book Sam was reading at the Citadel, which further played up its importance.

Bran, having no use for the dagger himself, hands it to Arya. At this point, the showrunners DID know that Arya would be the one to kill the NIght King, as they've had it planned since Season 7 was in production. They've also revealed that they'd give actors hints about how to play certain scenes, with an eye on the future without telling them specifically what, and this was one of them. Isaac Hempstead Wright, who plays Bran, told Insider:

"I was trying to play that. I'm really glad that came through. When Bran's looking at that dagger, I was thinking that he's feeling the Valyrian steel and thinking: 'I can see where this dagger's going to end up. It's going to be used to kill Littlefinger.'"

Not just Littlefinger, but also, even if he didn't know it then, the Night King. The weapon that was supposed to kill Bran, used to save his life instead.

What did you think of Arya killing the Night King? Let us know down in the comments.

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NCTJ-qualified journalist. Most definitely not a racing driver. Drink too much tea; eat too much peanut butter; watch too much TV. Sadly only the latter paying off so far. A mix of wise-old man in a young man's body with a child-like wonder about him and a great otherworldly sensibility.