Game of Thrones season 7 premiere: The Harry Potter reference you might have missed
Mild season 7 spoilers follow
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Fans of both Game of Thrones and Harry Potter were sent into a frenzy during the season seven premiere of the HBO hit series when the former seemed to reference JK Rowling's wizarding world.
The moment arrived in a scene between characters Samwell Tarly (John Bradley) and Archmaester Ebrose, the man tasked with training him at the Citadel.
During the scene, Tarly expresses his desire to access the “restricted area of the library” in order to acquire the material that'll help him with his Archmaester training but is refused access by Ebrose (Jim Broadbent in his Thrones debut).
Harry Potter fans were quick to jump into action recalling that Hogwarts' library also featured an area known as “the Restricted Section” which contained dangerous books on dark magic (this is the place Harry sneaks into to find information on Horcruxes, the objects through which Lord Voldemort preserves parts of his soul in order to keep himself alive). In Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, Tom Riddle - the teenage Voldemort - also asks Professor Slughorn for access to "the Restricted Section of the library."
The link? Slughorn is played by none other than Broadbent.
Many fans picked up on the moment and expressed their excitement on social media.
The Game of Thrones season seven premiere, titled 'Dragonstone,' featured an Ed Sheeran cameo which had extra significance for readers of George RR Martin's book series the show is based on.
Meanwhile, one fan collated each character's screen time to officially discover who the show's most important character is.
The premiere will be repeated on Sky Atlantic and NOW TV tonight (17 July) at 9pm.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments