Game of Thrones does foreshadowing like no other: The Jon Snow Easter egg you almost definitely missed

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Game of Thrones is always full of little hints and, let’s just say, interesting prophecies. There’s one big Game of Thrones season 7 reveal, though, that was hinted at a long time ago: Jon Snow’s real name. Not only was the Easter egg not picked up on by one of the actors in said scene, it was probably brushed off by many a Thrones-watcher… so here it is.

As we now know, Jon Snow’s birth name is Aegon. Sound familiar? It should do. Aegon was the name of not one, but two Targaryen children. One died, one grew up to become King of the North. Except season 7 wasn’t the first time we heard that name, it was also uttered by a prominent ally of Jon.

Ser Davos, Jon’s new right-hand man (for lack of a better term), was once, as pointed out by a member of the fine freefolk of Reddit, taught by Stannis Baratheon’s daughter how to read way back in season 3. The first word he learnt? You guessed it: Aegon. That level of planning, plotting, and forward-thinking puts even Littlefinger to shame.

Liam Cunningham, Davos’ actor, had no clue about that Easter egg though, to put it mildly, telling Huffington Post: “No, are you kidding me? I don’t know what the hell’s gonna happen from one episode to the next. That’s testament to how good the writing is on that, too.”

Cunningham does say “they’re very good at that sort of thing” but that’s ridiculous, even by showrunner DB Benioff and Dan Weiss’ standards. I wonder what other examples of foreshadowing they’ve hidden in the depths of earlier seasons…

Image: HBO

Bradley Russell
Bradley Russell

I'm the Senior Entertainment Writer here at GamesRadar+, focusing on news, features, and interviews with some of the biggest names in film and TV. On-site, you'll find me marveling at Marvel and providing analysis and room temperature takes on the newest films, Star Wars and, of course, anime. Outside of GR, I love getting lost in a good 100-hour JRPG, Warzone, and kicking back on the (virtual) field with Football Manager. My work has also been featured in OPM, FourFourTwo, and Game Revolution.