A game changer was staring us all in the face.
The spectre of Stannis Baratheon loomed large over the superb opening episode of Season 7 of Game of Thrones.
Aside from seeing the battleground in which Stannis actually lost his life - poor Melisandre had him believing that he could actually beat Ramsay Bolton at Winterfell- we also got a guided tour of his former home, Dragonstone.
Oh yeah, we also saw plenty of Stannis' killer, Brienne of Tarth as she jostled with Podrick, but an old conversation that the former Lord of Dragonstone had with Sam has proven to be absolutely vital for the safety of the Seven Kingdoms.
As we saw in the episode, Sam has recently discovered that there's a massive underground supply of dragon glass that's buried underneath Dragonstone. No surprises there really.
This being said, you probably noticed Sam's eyes instantly light up when he saw that specific image in the book. It's almost like he saw something familiar - like a lightbulb went off in his head.
Well, cast you mind back to this conversation that he had with Stannis at Castle Black. Every single Game of Thrones fan witnessed it, but few of us remembered it.
After Stannis broke Mance Rayder's wildling army, he took shelter at Castle Black and happened to meet Sam in the library.
Here's their entire conversation:
Stannis: "Your father is Randyll Tarly, he defeated my brother at the battle of Ashford. The only battle that Robert ever lost. I told him that he shouldn't go so far west so soon but he never listened. Fine soldier your father. You (Sam) don't look like much of a soldier, but I'm told you killed a White Walker".
Sam: "I did. With a dagger made of dragon glass. It's what the Maesters call obsidian."
Stannis: "I know what obsidian is. We have it on Dragonstone. Why would obsidian kill a walker?"
Sam: "I don't know, I've been going through all the old manuscripts trying to find something. All I learned is that the children of the forest used to hunt with dragonglass."
Stannis: "Lady Melisandre told me that death marches on the wall."
Sam: "I've seen it your grace, the army of the dead and when they come..."
Stannis: "We have to know how to fight them. Keep reading, Samwell Tarly."
In fact, this line of logic was even reiterated when Jon Snow and Sam chatted about defending the Seven Kingdoms from the White Walkers after the massacre at Hardhome.
See, it's the little clues in this show that make it so brilliant.
Stannis may be dead but we now know that dragon glass - as Jon says - is more valuable than gold. The King in the North will undoubtedly be delighted to receive that raven from Sam which informs him about the reserves of it at Dragonstone.
With this information, it's safe to assume that we know the reason why one of the most eagerly
anticipated meetings in the show will happen.
Here's the conversation in full.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eW7vCYPYVds
Clip via - Game of Thrones HBO
