Game of Thrones has so far been relying on retelling and referencing when establishing its pre-Hand of the king-gate canon. But that’s about to change!

Game of Thrones season 5 production is in full swing, with the show set to return in the spring of 2015.

Speaking in Sevilla, Spain, creators David Benioff and D.B. Weiss have revealed something huge, which will fundamentally change the series: they’re going to start including flashbacks.

Previously, the writers have denied wanting to use this storytelling device. In the George R.R. Martin series, the same key past moments are remembered by several different characters, and usually their memories are coloured by personal bias or perspective.

This has been carried on to the HBO show, where all we know about the past (Robert’s rebellion, the death of Lyanna Stark, the murder of the Targaryens) is what we have been told. Will we actually get a chance to see some of these events take place in season 5?

In their report of this story, Winter is Coming cautions readers that all of the quotes that have come out from Benioff and Weiss’ talk are in Spanish, and no one has provided the English transcript yet.

We also can’t be sure what kinds of flashbacks the writers are referring to. We could be flashing back to previously unseen moments from the show’s timeline, or to original, character-shaping moments that have not been lifted from the book series (WiC speculates that we might flash back to Cersei’s childhood).

It is also worth noting that Martin has included something that can loosely be described as flashbacks in his latest A Song of Ice and Fire novel, A Dance With Dragons. Weiss and Benioff could very well be referring to these scenes.

But let’s face it: if the Game of Thrones writers find any possible way to bring back Sean Bean’s Ned Stark, the internet is going to lose it. It’s almost too big a temptation to resist!

What past events would you like to see Game of Thrones flash back to in season 5?