Everything you need to remember from ‘Game of Thrones’ Season 3

Beware, for this post is dark and full of spoilers for Game of Thrones Seasons 1-7.

Valar morghulis, friends. You’ve just entered Mashable’s Citadel, where we are Rewatching for the Throne, dissecting Game of Thrones season by season to prepare for the final six episodes beginning on April 14. 

SEE ALSO: Everything to remember from ‘Game of Thrones’ Season 1

Here are all the best Season 3 theories, unanswered questions, unresolved plots, and forgotten tidbits you need to remember before winter comes for the endgame in Season 8.

What is the power of King’s blood?

Fire and blood, blood of my blood, blood magic, king’s blood — blood matters in Game of Thrones. But even the most knowledgable fans have no clue how or why. 

Melisandre insists that Gendry be sacrificed for his king’s blood in Season 3. But then somehow she makes do with burning just a few leeches with his blood and naming the usurpers Robb Stark, Balon Greyjoy, and Joffrey Baratheon. Then they each died, one by one.

But it’s debatable whether the leeches actually caused those deaths. People die all the time, especially during war. Also, that same king’s blood failed to do much of anything when poor, innocent Shireen Baratheon was full on burned as a sacrifice in Season 5.

Also, what even constitutes “king’s blood?” Does a person suddenly get magical blood after declaring themselves royalty? It’s not just about who’s officially king for sure, since in the books Mel claims that even Mance — the King Beyond the Wall — has powerful king’s blood.

There are a few ways to interpret the assertion that there’s power in king’s blood.

The first is simply that it’s bullshit, and just Melisandre’s clever lies, tricks, and dumb luck. 

But we have pretty solid evidence to suggest that blood magic does work. The witch Mirri Maz Duur uses it to “bring back” Khal Drogo. Burning her as a sacrifice likely had something to do with Daenerys succeeding in the ritual to hatch the dragon eggs.

Historians also widely agree that Old Valyria’s power and ability to tame dragons came from blood magic (all that Targaryen incest was said to keep the “blood of the dragon” pure). It’s possible the power of king’s blood is actually the power of Targaryen blood, since Baratheons have Targaryen ancestors too.

Or as Varys proposes, maybe it’s that “power resides where men believe it resides. It’s a trick. A shadow on the wall.” As in, the power of king’s blood might come from the belief and oaths subjects swear to their kings and houses. Remember that when Stannis sacrificed Shireen nearly all his banner men abandoned him, which arguably means he stopped being a king in that moment.

One thing is for sure: Blood (or at least lineage) does correlate to magical abilities, and not just for the Targaryens. The Starks and Reeds are known to have ancient bloodlines that gave them powers like greenseeing (psychic visions and dreams) and warging (melding mind with animals).

All the hugely important, unanswered mysteries around the Reeds

Jojen and Meera seemingly fulfilled their roles after helping Bran become the Three-Eyed-Raven. But a sly mention in Season 3 of their mysterious father, Howland Reed, hints at the much larger mysteries in the family — including Jon’s real identity.

I mean, didn’t you wonder why the Reed kids were so dead set on giving their lives for Bran?

In Episode 2, Jojen and Bran discuss how their fathers were friends, with Howland even saving Ned’s life during Robert’s Rebellion. We had no idea how important that’d be. That is until Season 6, when Bran flashes back to that fateful day at the Tower of Joy. 

Howland Reed not only saved Ned but also witnessed (and kept secret) the conspiracy to hide Jon Snow’s true parentage.

That now makes him one (if not the only) person left alive who can vouch to the rest of Westeros that Jon is Rhaegar Targaryen’s true-born son and heir to the iron throne. Since, you know, Bran’s druggy visions probably won’t do much to convince the lords and ladies who matter.

There are even wilder questions surrounding the Reeds’ extremely old bloodline, with ancestors who allegedly mated with the Children of the Forest. It’s suspected this is the reason why they and other Northern houses like the Starks have those magical abilities like warging and greenseeing.

Very conspicuously, we know next to nothing concrete about House Reed and the ancient secrets they keep hidden in their region of the Neck. It is known that the Weirwood trees there (which give Bran access to visions) bore witness to some of the most important events in Westeros’ pre-history.

In particular, the Isle of Faces is the sacred place where the First Men and Children made a peace pact thousands of years ago to end the war between them. It could be the site of countless other mysteries, like the one depicted in the cave paintings of Season 7 — when the Men and Children teamed up to defeat the White Walkers during the Long Night.  

In Season 7, Meera went back home to her father Howland after a thankless goodbye from Bran. It’d be a shame if, after everything, that was the last we ever saw of the Reeds.

Melisandre told Arya they would meet again

In Season 3 the Red Woman was added to Arya’s kill list for kidnapping Gendry. What’s unusual is that, unlike everyone else, Melisandre actually took pre-Faceless Men Arya very seriously.

Truly shook, Melisandre tells Arya, “I see a darkness in you. And in that darkness, eyes staring back at me: brown eyes, blue eyes, green eyes. Eyes you’ll shut forever. We will meet again.” 

Those could be the eyes of any of the targets already eliminated from Arya’s list. But when coupled with Melisandre’s Season 7 declaration that she and Varys will both have to die in Westeros, it sounds an awful lot like one of those eyes will be Mel’s.

Ironically, it’s one of the only predictions we have no doubt Melisandre got right, because at this point it’s simple math: Elite assassin training + Arya + kill list = dead Mel in Season 8.

What will being a “fire wight” mean for Jon and Beric?

Jon’s general sexiness does a good job of helping us forget, but our boy is literally the walking dead. Like Beric from the Brotherhood Without Banners in Season 3, Jon was brought back by the Lord of Light — at least according to the Red Priestess who did the magic to resurrect him.

But how does being brought back to life by the Lord of Light even work, and what does it mean in the long run? 

On a show like Game of Thrones, it’s hard to imagine that being brought back from the dead won’t have consequences, or at least a solid explanation for how and why. Luckily, this is one question George R. R. Martin got pretty explicit about it in a 2017 Time interview when he revealed what Jon and Beric actually are now:

“Poor Beric Dondarrion, who was set up as the foreshadowing of all this… Every time (he’s brought back) he’s a little less Beric. His memories are fading, he’s got all these scars, he’s becoming more and more physically hideous, because he’s not a living human being anymore. His heart isn’t beating, his blood isn’t flowing in his veins, he’s a wight, but a wight animated by fire instead of by ice.”

That’s right: our boy Jon, savior of the living fighting the White Walkers and their undead wights, is actually in essence a lot like them as a reanimated corpse or “fire wight.”

What that actually means is a mystery for Season 8 to solve. But it likely has something to do with the Azhor Ahai prophecy, which describes the Prince Who Was Promised as being brought back from the dead.

Given what we know about the White Walkers, it might mean that resurrected Jon and Beric could be more susceptible to control by the Lord of Light (or whatever the source of that fire magic actually is). In the Season 7 episode “Beyond the Wall,” Jon’s already showing signs of being more open to the Lord of Light after Beric explains his belief in the R’hllor religion.

Their nature as fire wights might even make Jon and Beric the only ones immune to the White Walkers’ ice magic. Or perhaps like ice wights with the cold, fire wights could prove more impervious to fire. 

If we want to go all tinfoil conspiracy theory on this, maybe the Red Priests of R’hllor can bring people back from the dead to fight for the living against the White Walkers’ frozen undead. 

What voice did Varys hear in the flames?

One of the most revealing yet mysterious scenes about Varys happens in Season 3, when he tells Tyrion about the night he was castrated as a child:

“One day in Myr, a certain man made my master an offer that was too tempting to refuse. I feared the man meant to use me in the way I’d heard some men use small boys, but what he wanted was far worse. He gave me a potion that made me powerless to move or speak, yet did nothing to dull my senses. With a hooked blade, he sliced me, root and stem, chanting all the while. He burned my parts in a brazier, the flames turned blue, and I heard a voice answer his call. I still dream of that night. Not of the sorcerer, not of his blade, but of the voice. Was it a god? A demon? A conjurer’s trick? I don’t know. But the sorcerer called, and a voice answered. And ever since that day, I have hated magic, and all who practice it.”

Exactly what Varys heard in the flames remains an ongoing mystery. In Mereen in Season 6, the Red Priestess Kinvara references this night to Varys, to his utter shock and horror: 

“Terrible things happen for a reason. Take what happened to you, Lord Varys, when you were a child. If not for your mutilation at the hand of a second-rate sorcerer, you wouldn’t be here helping the Lord’s chosen bring his light into the world. Knowledge has made you powerful but there’s still so much you don’t know. Do you remember what you heard that night when the sorcerer tossed your parts in the fire? You heard a voice call out from the flames, do you remember? Should I tell you what the voice said? Should I tell you the name of the one who spoke?”

The combination of ritualistic sacrifice and hearing voices in the flames sounds a lot like Varys was used in ritual sacrifice by a practicer of the Lord of Light. 

So it’s very possible the voice said something about Azhor Ahai and the impending destruction of the entire world. Maybe that’s why Varys is so motivated to put a Targaryen back on the throne. Others see this event as a hint that Varys has special blood (see King’s blood above), foreshadowing his potential identity as a secret Targaryen.

It’s also possible that we essentially already learned what the voice in the flames said. In Season 7 another Red Priestess struck fear in Varys when Melisandre told him that they’d both die in this “strange land” of Westeros.

Others even speculate that it was Bran, in a Hodor-like situation where he influenced the past to ensure an outcome in the future.

Why did the White Walkers come after Gilly’s baby?

This question is at the heart of what the White Walkers want. For a deep dive on that, check out our guide to Season 2 here.