First Lieutenant Colleen Macmillan, Lieutenant Samuel “Smiley” O’Riley
This comes from several jokes. The main joke was suggested by my wife for a funny poster of a woman leaving her razor out of the shower with the phrase “Winter is Coming” and somehow referencing Game of Thrones. The other is from the many conversations I’ve had with people where they refer to Game of Thrones as “back then.”
I don’t think calling a fictional pseudo-medieval setting “back then” is really all that wrong; as I said, pseudo-medieval. You could say “back in the real-world medieval period that the setting is based upon” every time, but “back then” seems like an acceptable shorthand for that.
Also, I really want to know what immediately preceded this strip; how did this topic of conversation come up? Are they actually dating now? Because how else would he know?