- Bran's vision of the past was part of a flashback that Ned himself had in the books. There's a little more to it in the books, but we are sort of left hanging there as well. If Bran goes back, and follows his father up into the tower, we may finally get confirmation of one of the show's (and book's) longest running mysteries.

- Rickon Stark was the youngest Stark. He seems to have diverged from the books a lot. He's actually still missing in the books, though there is hints to his location. Last we saw him in the show, Osha (the wildling woman) was taking him to the Umbers. Which, she did, apparently. And young lord Umber (called the Smalljon in the books) has decided to turn him over. Or has he? there's some speculation that this is all a trap for Ramsay. There's also speculation that that is not Shaggy Dog's head, as it looks normal wolf-sized. Regardless, there is at least one other Direwolf left - Arya's wolf, Nymeria, who she chased off in Season 1 when Joffrey and King Robert would have killed her (as he commanded for Sansa's wolf, Lady).

- A "maester" is sort of a scientist/professor/advisor. Those big chains they wear are supposed to have links made from different metal - each link shows a different subject they have mastered.