According to George R.R. Martin, Aegon usurping the Iron Throne from Rhaenyra is based on the succession crisis after the death of King Henry I of England in 1135, who had named his daughter and only living legitimate child, Matilda, as his heir to be England's first queen regnant. The throne was usurped by Matilda's cousin Stephen of Blois, who arrived in London and was crowned while Matilda was away in Anjou. Stephen's claim was backed by reports the king had changed his mind on his deathbed and named him heir.
Helaena seems to have dragon dreams in the preceding episodes and in this one. In the scene where Otto and Alicent are looking for Aegon, Helaena is stitching what looks to be a spider, and she says to her mother Alicent: "There is a beast beneath the boards." This is most likely foreshadowing of Rhaenys escaping from custody at the end on her dragon Meleys, and the stitched spider could foreshadow Alicent's conversation with Larys Strong where he warns her of the "web of spies" in their midst.
Lyman Beesbury says "I am six and seventy years old". This makes him a rare example of a character being younger on the show than in the source material: in the book he was 80 at his demise.
This is the first episode in the series in which Daemon and Rhaenyra do not appear.
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