Game Of Thrones Season 8: 12 Easter Eggs & References You Might've Missed In 'The Bells'
1. The Bells
The titular bells have a key part to play in the episode. They're supposed to signal surrender, but instead they represent the moment that Daenerys flips a switch and burns the city to the ground instead. Which just further proves that Varys was right once more, as he told Tyrion back in Season 2's Blackwater"
"I've always hated the bells. They ring for horror. A dead king, a city under siege..."
We get all three in this episode (if you include Euron as a King), and a dead Queen to boot.
However, Varys' line isn't the only mention of the bells in Blackwater. Davos hears them too, and when one of Stannis' men suggests the city is welcoming its new King, he says:
"I've never known bells to mean surrender."
Neither has Dany, clearly.
Bells in battle form a key part of Robert's Rebellion too: The Battle of the Bells, which took place at the Stoney Sept, was an important battle during the rebellion, where Jon Connington led the Targaryen forces into the city, where Robert Baratheon was being hidden by the smallfolk, with the bells used to warn them to stay indoors.
Jon Connington, not wishing to cause so much destruction, decided against burning the city, something he's told Tywin Lannister would've done. This battle, then, serves as the opposite of those events, but further highlight the cyclical nature of things. It's also important because Connington is still haunted by the bells in the books, and when Dany does go to King's Landing and attack it in the novels (which will happen, albeit with some key differences), it'll be the supposed Aegon Targaryen (the man Connington has helped raise and support) she'll most likely be targeting. The bells will ring, but they'll be a trigger for him as the city burns, not her.
What did you think of The Bells? Let us know down in the comments.