1. In the opening credits, the Lannister lion above the Iron Throne is smashed.
2. There's a shot of a charred wooden horse, reinforcing the death of the little girl who Arya tried to save in the last episode.
3. This was impossible to miss, but so damn powerful: Drogon's wings appeared behind Dany to symbolise that she had truly become a dragon herself.
4. Dany's hair was at its most elaborate in this episode, as she was at her most ~victorious~ – and most Targaryen.
5. The speech Dany gives to the Dothraki calls back to the one she gave at the end of Season 6, which was itself a throwback to Drogo's speech from Season 1.
6. Jon mentions Maester Aemon telling him "love is the death of duty" – this happened in Season 1, Episode 9, which is when Jon loses his father. Maester Aemon repeats the statement in Season 4, Episode 9 – which is when Jon loses Ygritte.
7. Daenerys approaching the Iron Throne plays out the same way it did in her vision in the House of the Undying – only this time, she gets to touch the throne. Just once.
8. Daenerys is killed in a similar way, in the same spot, as her father the Mad King was. Only Jon Snow manages to stab her in the front when he becomes the Queenslayer, unlike Jaime, who became the Kingslayer when he stabbed Aerys II in the back.
9. The way Jon holds Dany's body echoes his final moments with Ygritte back in Season 4.
10. The Iron Throne was forged with the fire of Balerion the Dread, the first dragon to conquer Westeros. It's fitting it was destroyed by Drogon, the last dragon to do so.
11. The scene in the dragonpit calls back to the scene in Season 7, only the people and circumstances are very different this time.
12. In the dragonpit scene, you can not only glimpse the new Prince of Dorne as well as Edmure Tully, you can also see the newly glowed-up Robin Arryn.
13. Grey Worm is honouring his promise to Missandei to sail to Naath when the war was over.
14. Jon's farewell to Sansa echoes their reunion scene from Season 6.
15. And his goodbye to Arya calls back to their farewell scene from Season 1.
16. Arya's "west of Westeros" plan was planted back in Season 6.
17. Brienne is fulfilling Jaime's wish of having more of his great deeds recorded.
18. You definitely didn't miss this – it's so on the nose it's not funny. But yes, the maesters really wrote ~A Song of Ice and Fire~.
19. Not only is Brienne Lord Commander of the Kingsguard, but she has knighted Podrick!
20. Davos is carrying on Stannis' legacy of proper grammar.
21. Tyrion still didn't get to finish that ridiculous "jackass and a honeycomb" story.
22. Jon is back in his "crow" cloak with his hair out, embracing his former self.
23. And, of course, Ghost.
24. The scene where Arya sails away from Westeros echoes the closing shots of Season 4.
25. Sansa's Queen in the North scene calls back to the King in the North scenes of both her brothers.
She did always want to be queen.
26. Sansa's styling has been telling a story of its own since the beginning of Game of Throens, and her coronation crown and gown is no exception.
The costuming contains a lot of nods to her family, as this Tumblr user details:
27. Finally, Game of Thrones started with the Starks and ended with the Starks – and it also began and finished with scenes of Night's Watch men heading beyond the Wall.
And with that, one of the biggest shows in TV history is over.
