Game Of Thrones Season 7: 7 Things You Might've Missed In 'The Queen's Justice'

2. Rickard And Brandon Stark

Last week featured a direct callback to Rickard and Brandon Stark, Ned's father and brother who rode south after Lyanna Stark's kidnapping and were killed by the Mad King, and this week keeps the references to that grisly event coming.

Although Cersei doesn't burn either of them, the way she ties up Ellaria and Tyene just out of reach of one another is very reminiscent of what Aerys II Targaryen did. When Rickard demanded a trial by combat, Aerys chose fire as his champion. He then had Lord Stark suspended while in his armour, a fire lit beneath him, and basically cooked him. Brandon, meanwhile, had a noose put around his neck, and strangled himself trying to reach a sword to cut his father free.

This was originally set to be included as a flashback in Season 1, but ultimately cut for time. A brief snippet did make it into an early trailer, with an unknown actor (who looks a lot like Sean Bean) in the role of Brandon Stark.

The signs of Cersei becoming the Mad King were already very evident, but this is another major step towards cementing her as the Mad Queen. It's also worth noting happened in the Black Cells, the same place Prince Oberyn declared himself champion in Tyrion's trial of combat, and condemned himself to death.