Updated May 14, 2019 14.5K votes 2.4K voters 1.1M views
Over 2.4K Ranker voters have come together to rank this list of Important Things You Forgot Happened on Game of Thrones
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Vote up the plot points you totally forgot about but now can't get out of your head
HBO's Game of Thrones might not have thousands of pages to pack with details like the books on which it's based, but there are more than enough tidbits to keep diehard fans interested. Moving between a number of royal families and their scattered retainers, each episode builds up several dense storylines filled with complex webs of information and intrigue.
There are plenty of major developments that viewers all remember, highlights from each season that stick in their brains. But there might be just as many things you forget about Game of Thrones. Moments in between the battles and explosions that were filled with important details all the same. Or perhaps some lighter moments, quietly funny pauses that broke up the doom and gloom.
If you're looking to understand the story and the characters of the show a little better, here are all the things you forgot happened on GoT.
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Bran's Visions Started To Fill In The Gaps Of Jon Snow's History
Ever since Game of Thrones was just a book, Jon Snow's mysterious history has been one of the hottest topics of fan speculation. After years of discussion, fans seem to be getting closer and closer to discerning how Jon's past will play into his future. However, it was only in Bran's visions of Ned Stark's past that a concrete picture began to emerge. With help from the Three-Eyed Raven, Bran experienced Jon's birth, Lyanna's death, and an inaudible secret exchanged between Lyanna and her beloved brother Ned. You better believe that fans already have theories about that one, too.
For four seasons, viewers believed that the Lannisters had murdered Jon Arryn, King Robert's Hand before Ned and Lysa Arryn's husband. But in this WTF moment in Season 4, Lysa lovingly recounted her conspiracy with Littlefinger. It turned out that Littlefinger urged Lysa to poison her own husband, then write a letter to Catelyn Stark saying the Lannisters did it! So really, Littlefinger instigated the suspicion that would boil into war between the Lannisters and the Starks. Slimy creep.
Hodor's door-holding death was one of the most emotional scenes of the series to date. However, if you think about it too deeply, your head may explode - not from grief, but from confusion. Hodor's death may have illustrated a time-travel paradox involving the origin of Hodor's name from his repetition of the phrase, "Hold the door!" Whether time is cyclical or linear in the Seven Kingdoms, Bran's time-traveling visions into the past might have severe ramifications for the Game of Thrones universe in the future.
After the Night's Watch mutinied at Craster's Keep, Sam ran away with Gilly and her infant son into the woods North of the Wall. It's a good thing Sam still had the dragonglass dagger they recovered from the Fist of the First Men. When the White Walker came for Gilly's baby just as it had for Craster's sons, Sam's sword did nothing. He then managed to stick the dragonglass in the Walker's back, causing the Walker to shatter and blow away in the wind. With that, Sam got the distinction of giving fans the first White Walker death in the series.
In Season 6, viewers didn't have to rely on Daenerys to represent the "fairer sex" on the battlefield. In ever increasing numbers, women made big moves on both sides of the age-old battle for Westeros. From Yara Greyjoy stepping up to fight for her house, to Ellaria Sand declaring that weak men will never rule Dorne again, to Cersei taking a seat on the Iron Throne, women took care of business in ways that fans hadn’t seen before. Nowhere was this exhibited with more ferocity and fun than with Lyanna Mormont, a little girl who proved she was braver than her fellow heads of house combined.
Being locked away to hide her greyscale gave Stannis's daughter Shireen Baratheon plenty of time to read. In Season 3, she passed the knowledge on to Davos Seaworth while Stannis held him prisoner for opposing Melisandre. He would eventually become literate enough to deliver news from the Wall calling for more men to fight the White Walkers. This news would spare him from execution.
