Game Of Thrones Season 6: 7 Things You Might've Missed In 'The Red Woman'

Game of Thrones is finally back, with a season premiere that was, while mostly unspectacular, still another very good instalment of the show.

Being the first episode of Season 6, it was never going to be the the best of the year (I hope not, anyway), but there was still a lot to like about it: the Sansa and Brienne scene was beautifully done, we got to see Tyrion and Varys japing with each other, Ser Davos made a big step up, Lena Headey proved yet again how great an actress she is even when she doesn't speak, and Dorne, well, it was there.

There was a lot packed in to the opening hour of Season 6, but there has only been one real talking point since it aired: Melisandre. The reveal of her true appearance was designed, in part, to shock, and it's had the desired effect. There are questions, theories, memes, and all manner of speculation about it.

However, while that was the episodes 'big moment', its placement at the end means it has distracted from all else that was going on. And with so much packed in, it's definitely worth a rewatch. Looking back at it, knowing what's coming, there's quite a bit you might've missed in The Red Woman - like the brutal irony of Myranda, the Kennel Master's daughter, being fed to the hounds - and these are some of the biggest.

The producers of the show have said that Season 6 would callback to the previous seasons more than any of the others, and that's something we see come into play quite a lot in the very first episode.

In the scene with Brienne and Sansa, which was a great moment for both characters and wonderfully played, the former finally gets to offer her services to the latter. When she does so, she makes a pledge that should sound rather familiar: it's basically the same one she made to Catelyn Stark back in Season 2. Aside from being a nice callback, it reaffirms how far both characters have come, and Sansa's status as the eldest surviving Lady Stark.

Just before that scene, when the fight is ensuing, Pod looks like he's in a bit of trouble until being saved by Theon, who stabs one of the Bolton soldiers from behind. This was a nice reversal for Pod, as it's incredibly similar to how he saved Tyrion at the Blackwater, and does solid work for Reek becoming more and more Theon again.

The final callback comes not in Westeros but Braavos. Seeing Arya get beaten around with a stick wasn't pleasant, but it did invoke memories of her days training with Syrio Forel. More pertinently, she has to learn to fight without her eyes, and way back in Season 1 the First Sword of Braavos told her to see with her heart not her eyes. Now that's some serious foreshadowing.