Russian Roulette reveals that Yassen knew for a long time that John Rider was a British spy. This puts his last words to Alex at the end of Eagle Strike in a new light. By sending Alex to Scorpia, Yassen was trying to turn Alex, the son of the man who in his eyes betrayed him, against the organization who had carried out that betrayal. At the finish of 'Russian Roulette (the Herod Sayle assassination), Yassen tries to give Alex the choice to leave the spy life. However, Alex continues to not be given that choice by MI6, so Yassen with his last words forces the choice.
Also from Russian Roulette: a chapter on Yassen's Scorpia training gives a list of three MI6 gadgets: a metal-eating cream, a poisoned fountain pen, and a battery transmitter. The first two have been seen before, the cream in Stormbreaker and the pen in the film version of Stormbreaker. So what's the battery doing in that list? It's Foreshadowing of its eventual Chekhov's Gun status.
In the prologue of Eagle Strike, it is mentioned that the Commander was a drug dealer. Later in the book, it is revealed that Damian Cray has had many people killed for 'good causes', and that he also hates drugs. Put two and two together, and you realize that it was Cray who had hired Yassen and Alex's father to take down the Commander.
It's mentioned throughout the series that the Prime Minister feels uneasy about MI6 and specifically them using Alex. Well, yeah, because the guy shot him in the hand back in the first book! Even when the new one comes along later in the series, it's entirely possible he either heard about it from his predecessor, or was even there at the event.
This may count as Harsher in Hindsight, but after reading Scorpia where Alex gets shot in the chest, looking at the series' logo takes on a whole new meaning since the boy with the torch/flashlight, has the light from the flashlight over his chest, where Alex got shot.
Fridge Horror
In Scorpia, "Invisible Sword" works through remote-controlled cyanide nanoshells delivered by vaccine injections. Anti-vaxxers are going to have a field day with this...
If the entire story is leaked and confirmed, but the government and MI6 will likely go to any lengths to prevent it.
In Point Blanc, Grief casually mentions that sixteen women contributed to the births of his sixteen clones. While it's possible they were test-tube babies, it's also entirely possible that he raped and murdered sixteen women as soon as they'd carried the babies to term. Yeesh!
