'Game of Thrones' Recap: Why Is Arya's Dagger So Important?

[Warning: This story contains spoilers for the fourth episode of Game of Thrones' seventh season, "The Spoils of War."]

Entering season seven, virtually every Game of Thrones fan expected to see Arya Stark (Maisie Williams) return home to Winterfell. It was only a matter of when she would arrive back in the North, not if, no matter how hard the premiere episode worked to convince you otherwise.

What wasn't expected was the return of another instrumental player not seen in Winterfell since the first season: the Valyrian dagger that almost killed Bran Stark (Isaac Hempstead Wright) shortly after he was pushed from high above by Jaime Lannister (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau).

For those who don't remember the weapon, a brief history: Bran was nearly assassinated with this dagger while he was bed-ridden and comatose following his "accident." The would-be killer brandished the blade in Bran's bedroom, and would have pulled off the crime — not to mention the added homicide of Catelyn Stark (Michelle Fairley) — if not for Summer ripping the man's throat out just in time to save the day. Much was made about the fact that the weapon was made from Valyrian steel, a material we know is all-too-precious in the world of Game of Thrones, and clearly came to the deceased criminal from someone with resources. During a trip to King's Landing, Catelyn learned the weapon originally belonged to Littlefinger (Aiden Gillan), but he lost it in a bet against Tyrion Lannister (Peter Dinklage), seemingly implicating the Imp in the assassination plot. Shortly thereafter, Catelyn found Tyrion by chance on the Kingsroad, made a citizen's arrest, and ignited the violent events that have reverberated throughout Thrones ever since.

Read the rest of this article at The Hollywood Reporter.

Game of Thrones also stars Kit Harington and Emilia Clarke.