In King’s Landing
While walking together, Tyrion (Peter Dinklage) and Sansa (Sophie Turner) are met by Podrick Payne (Daniel Portman), who calls Tyrion to a small council meeting. There, Tyrion learns of the deaths of Robb and Catelyn Stark. King Joffrey (Jack Gleeson) orders Robb’s head brought to King’s Landing, as he wishes to make a gift of it to Sansa, the prospect of which makes Tyrion threaten Joffrey once again. Joffrey angrily threatens Tyrion in return, before rebuffing Tywin’s (Charles Dance) attempt to calm the situation. Tywin, showing Joffrey he does not fear him, orders he be taken to his room and sedated. When the other councilors leave, Tywin and Tyrion discuss the murder at the Twins, and the appointment of Roose Bolton (Michael McElhatton) as the Warden of the North, until the son of Tyrion and Sansa is of age. At the end of their conversation, Tywin chastises Tyrion for not having impregnated Sansa, and tells him about the day of his birth. When Tyrion arrives in their quarters to tell her the grim news, Sansa has already heard.
Elsewhere, Lord Varys (Conleth Hill) and Shae (Sibel Kekilli) discuss their shared eastern heritage, Tyrion’s marriage to Sansa, and its effect on Shae. Varys gives Shae a bag of diamonds in the hopes that she will sail for Essos and make a new life for herself, freeing Tyrion from danger and allowing him to focus on making the capital a better place, but Shae refuses the offer. At night, Queen Cersei (Lena Headey) visits Tyrion and tells him to give Sansa a child, as it will make Sansa happy as it did for Cersei when Joffrey was born.
Jaime (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau), Brienne (Gwendoline Christie), and Qyburn (Anton Lesser) arrive in King’s Landing, and Jaime immediately goes to see Cersei.
At the Twins
Shortly after the murder of their liege lord, the loyal Stark bannerman fight a losing battle with the Freys outside the walls of the Twins. “The Hound” Sandor Clegane (Rory McCann) and Arya (Maisie Williams) are horrified to witness several Frey soldiers parade Robb’s decapitated corpse around the entrance to the keep with the head of Robb’s wolf, Grey Wind, attached to it. Later, Arya and the Hound come upon four Frey men discussing the murder of the Starks. Arya slips off the horse and attacks one of the soldiers, stabbing his neck repeatedly. Before his allies can aid him, the Hound steps in and easily kills them.
The morning after the wedding, Walder Frey (David Bradley) and Roose Bolton discuss the previous night’s events, the escape of the “Blackfish” Brynden Tully, and their new positions as Lord of Riverrun and Warden of the North, respectively. Walder asks Bolton what happened at Winterfell to cause it to become a ruin, to which Bolton replies that he sent his bastard son, Ramsay Snow (Iwan Rheon) to take the castle back from the Greyjoys.
In the North
Arriving at the abandoned Nightfort, Meera Reed (Ellie Kendrick) tells Bran (Isaac Hempstead-Wright) and Jojen (Thomas Brodie-Sangster) that the castle is safe to enter. While around the fire, Bran tells the story of the Rat Cook, a Night’s Watch member who killed a guest under his roof, a sin the gods cannot forgive. Later, Bran is awoken by a sound, and wakes his companions. A large man climbs out of a nearby well and is attacked by Meera, but soon after revealed to be Samwell Tarly (John Bradley), who is followed by Gilly (Hannah Murray). Sam quickly deduces Bran’s identity, seeing Bran’s direwolf. Bran asks Sam to take him and his group north of the Wall, and though Sam protests the idea, he eventually relents and takes them through the passage. Before they separate, Sam gives the group the rest of his dragonglass supply, and tells them that it has the power to kill White Walkers. Sam and Gilly later arrive at Castle Black, where they present themselves to Maester Aemon (Peter Vaughan) and tell him of the events beyond the Wall. Aemon orders all of the ravens be sent with messages telling of the return of the White Walkers.
Riding back to the Wall, Jon (Kit Harington) stops to wash his wounds when he hears Ygritte (Rose Leslie) draw her bow. Jon tries to talk her out of shooting him, but when he turns to leave, she fires, hitting him in the shoulder. Jon manages to get on his horse before she shoots him again, this time in the leg. Jon then flees, leaving Ygritte behind. Jon later arrives at Castle Black, having passed out from his wounds. The Night’s Watch brothers take him in, where Sam and Pyp (Josef Altin) discover his identity, and order he be cared for.
At the Dreadfort, Theon (Alfie Allen) begs the cleaning boy (now revealed to be Ramsay Snow) to kill him and end his suffering. Ramsay nicknames Theon “Reek”, and beats him until he calls himself by his new name.
On the Iron Islands
Lord Balon Greyjoy (Patrick Malahide) reads a letter sent from Ramsay Snow, crudely detailing his demands to have the ironborn soldiers withdraw from the region of the North under his control or be flayed. Along with the letter, Ramsay sends a box containing Theon’s severed penis. To the protests of his daughter Yara (Gemma Whelan), Balon plans to refuse the offer and allow Theon’s torture to continue. Yara disobeys her father’s decision and takes 50 of the Ironborn’s best men and the fastest ship available to march on the Dreadfort.
At Dragonstone
In the dungeons, Davos (Liam Cunningham) visits Gendry (Joe Dempsie) and tries to relate to him by telling the story of how he became a d. Later, Davos practices his reading with Princess Shireen (Kerry Ingram), when he reads the letter sent by the Night’s Watch. When they hear the bells ringing, Davos leaves Shireen to meet with Stannis (Stephen Dillane) and Melisandre (Carice van Houten). Stannis informs Davos of Robb Stark’s death, which he attributes to Melisandre’s ritualistic burning of the leeches. Melisandre plans to burn Gendry as a sacrifice to the Lord of Light, and although Davos tries to get Stannis to spare Gendry, Stannis orders he be sacrificed. At night, Davos frees Gendry from the dungeons and gives him a boat to escape Dragonstone.
Afterward, Stannis and Melisandre ask Davos if he freed Gendry, which he does not deny. Stannis orders Davos be executed, but Davos tells Stannis that he will need his assistance. When Stannis asks why he would need Davos’s help, Davos shows him the letter sent from the Wall. Melisandre burns the letter, and in the fire sees the war coming in the North. She tells Stannis that only he can save the North, and he will need Davos’s help to do so.
Across the Narrow Sea
Outside Yunkai, Daenerys (Emilia Clarke), her advisors, and her Unsullied army stand ready to greet the slaves of the city and free them. When they arrive, Missandei (Nathalie Emmanuel) tells them that Daenerys has freed them, but Daenerys tells the slaves that only they can take their freedom back. The crowd begins to chant “mhysa”, which Missandei tells Daenerys is ghiscari for “mother”. Daenerys then passes her army to walk amongst the freed slaves, who lift her to their shoulders.
Discuss