‘THE POINTY END’
Directed By: Daniel Minahan / Written By: George R. R. Martin
Original Airdate: June 5, 2011
In the aftermath of Eddard Stark's capture in King’s Landing, Syrio Forel and Arya Stark face off against Lannister guards while Cersei Lannister manipulates Sansa Stark to her own ends. At Winterfell, Robb Stark rallies his father's northern allies against Tywin Lannister and heads south to war. In the Vale, Tyrion Lannister forms an uneasy alliance with the hill tribes and then reunites with his father Tywin. At the Wall, Jon Snow lashes out at Alliser Thorne and battles a mysterious attacker from beyond the Wall. Overseas, Daenerys Targaryen is forced to reconcile her desire to conquer Westeros with Khal Drogo's savagery after the Dothraki raid a peaceful village.
featuring
CHARLES DANCE as TYWIN LANNISTER / JAMES COSMO as JEOR MORMONT / DONALD SUMPTER as MAESTER LUWIN / JEROME FLYNN as BRONN
IAN McELHINNEY as BARRISTAN SELMY / OWEN TEALE as ALLISER THORNE / RON DONACHIE as RODRIK CASSEL / NATALIA TENA as OSHA
KATE DICKIE as LYSA ARRYN / JULIAN GLOVER as PYCELLE / MILTOS YEROLEMOU as SYRIO FOREL / DOMINIC CARTER as JANOS SLYNT
IAN GELDER as KEVAN LANNISTER / CLIVE MANTLE as GREATJON UMBER / MARK STANLEY as GRENN / JOSEF ALTIN as PYPAR
ROXANNE McKEE as DOREAH / ELYES GABEL as RAKHARO / AMRITA ACHARIA as IRRI / SUSAN BROWN as SEPTA MORDANE
LINO FACIOLI as ROBIN ARRYN / IAN BEATTIE as MERYN TRANT / LUKE BARNES as RAST / MIA SOTERIOU as MIRRI MAZ DUUR
KRISTIAN NAIRN as HODOR / ART PARKINSON as RICKON STARK / DAR SALIM as QOTHO / MARK LEWIS JONES as SHAGGA
BRIAN FORTUNE as OTHELL YARWYCK / IVAILO DIMITROV as MAGO / TOBIAS WINTER as TIMETT / NATALIA LEE as CHELLA
and MATTHEW SCURFIELD as VAYON POOLE
king’s landing
Shortly after Lord Eddard Stark’s arrest in King’s Landing, the Lannister soldiers complete their purge of the Stark guards and household staff. Sansa Stark and Septa Mordane hear sounds of fighting. When they are confronted by guardsmen led by Sandor Clegane, Mordane urges Sansa to run and lock herself in her room while she stays to confront them. However, Sandor later finds and takes Sansa into custody on the order of Queen Cersei Lannister. More guardsmen, this time led by Ser Meryn Trant, interrupt Arya Stark and Syrio Forel’s sword lesson. Syrio holds Arya back, questioning why her father Eddard would send Lannister men to find Arya. She then refuses to go with them, and when they try to force the issue Syrio disarms and disables all of the guardsmen except Trant. He tells Arya to run as he faces down Meryn Trant, noting that for himself, "the First Sword of Braavos does not run." Arya then runs to the stables where the men waiting with their baggage to escort them back to Winterfell. The men lie dead, but Arya finds her real sword, Needle, in the bottom of her trunk. Arya then starts to leave the stables, however, when a stableboy tries to grab her, Arya turns around brandishing Needle and accidentally runs him through with it and kills him. Horrified, she then flees from the Red Keep.
Meanwhile, Lord Varys visits Lord Eddard in his cell in the dungeons. He is incredulous that Eddard warned Cersei Lannister of his discovery and intention. Eddard asserts that he wanted to extend mercy to Cersei's children, whom the late Robert Baratheon would have killed if he'd known the truth. Varys bluntly tells Eddard that his mercy is what killed the king, then that his wife, Lady Catelyn Stark, also no longer holds Tyrion Lannister as her prisoner, meaning that the Starks have nothing to barter with for his life. When Eddard suggests they should just kill him, Varys says "Not today, my lord." As he departs, Eddard asks Varys who he truly serves: Varys, in a rare display of honesty, replies "The realm, my lord. Someone must." Following Sansa’s arrest, Cersei and the remainder of the small council, comprised of Varys, Grand Maester Pycelle and Lord Petyr Baelish, summon the young Stark girl to inform her that her father has been arrested for treason. They manipulate Sansa into writing a letter to her brother Robb Stark, asking him to bend the knee peacefully to King Joffrey Baratheon. They add that Eddard's fate may depend on what his son and the other Northern lords do. Sansa agrees to write the letter that eventually is flown to Winterfell and springs Robb into action, heading south for war.
Later on, King Joffrey holds court in the Red Keep. Janos Slynt, commander of the City Watch, is to be made Lord of Harrenhal as a reward for his loyal service in dispatching the Stark retainers from the capital. Cersei then dismisses Ser Barristan Selmy as head of the Kingsguard, noting that the time has come for an honorable retirement. Selmy is confused, pointing out that Kingsguards serve for life, but Joffrey angrily declares that Selmy is too old and wasn't able to protect his father, King Robert. Selmy's disgrace is only compounded when he learns that his post as Lord Commander is to be given to Ser Jaime Lannister. Lord Varys announces that Selmy is to be given a castle and land in recognition of his years of service, but the old knight, insulted by what he sees as being offered: "a hall to die in and men to bury me," takes off his armor and throws his sword at Joffrey's feet. Before storming out, he states that he could still kill all five of the other Kingsguard at present with ease. Sansa then begs Joffrey for her father's life, claiming that the medicine he was taking for his injured leg was responsible for his treasonous talk. Joffrey says that her sweet words have moved him and he will spare Eddard, if he bends the knee to him and acknowledges him as king. Sansa says he will.
winterfell
At Winterfell, Robb Stark receives the letter from his sister Sansa in King's Landing, asking him to pledge fealty to King Joffrey. Maester Luwin correctly deduces the letter is actually the work of Queen Cersei. Robb refuses to consider the request and sends out ravens, summoning the lords bannermen of the North and their armies to assemble at Winterfell. Released ravens fill the sky. That evening, Robb holds a feast for several of his newly-arrived bannermen. Greatjon Umber assumes that he will lead the vanguard, and is offended by the suggestion that he would be made to march behind a Glover, threatening to withdraw from the host. In response, Robb promises that, after the conflict with the Lannisters, he will oust Greatjon from his keep and hang him for breaking his oaths to House Stark; when the enraged bannerman goes to draw a weapon, Robb's direwolf Grey Wind sets upon him, biting off two of his fingers. Robb recites “that it is death to bear steel against your liege lord” but then diffuses the situation by excusing Greatjon's aggression, saying that “doubtless, the Greatjon only meant to cut my meat for me”. The Greatjon roars with laughter and accepts Robb's commands, much to the shock of Bran Stark, who witnessed the entire incident.
Later that evening, Robb says farewell to his young brothers, Bran and Rickon. The youngest boy, Rickon, is convinced that he will not see neither Robb nor his parents again. The following morning, Bran prays by the heart tree when he is approached by the wildling servant Osha, who assures him that the Old Gods of the Forest are listening to him. Osha then adds that the wildlings also worship the same gods, as do most who live in the North or beyond the Wall. She laments that the South has lost touch with the past, noting that the southern weirwood trees were cut down years ago and that the Southerners don’t have any idea of what's awakening in the North. They are suddenly interrupted by the large stable-boy Hodor, who was bathing naked and has forgotten to put his clothes back on. Before Bran sends him away, Osha remarks on Hodor’s size, stating that he must have giant’s blood in him. After Hodor leaves, a curious Bran asks Osha if giants live beyond the wall. She affirms that they do, as well has many other beings, though not all of them are friendly she adds. Osha then asserts that the army Robb has gathered should be marching north, not south.
THE vale of arryn
At the Eyrie, Catelyn Stark furiously runs up the stairs of the High Hall and into her sister Lysa Arryn’s quarters. She shakes the piece of parchment in anger and asks her sister as to why she wasn’t notified of her husband Eddard’s arrest in the capital. Lady Lysa, who sits with her son Robin Arryn, asserts that the letter was addressed to herself and not Catelyn. The message further informs of Catelyn’s son Robb’s intention of going to war for his father, as Lysa then suggests she goes to him and teach patience. Catelyn grows more irate at the notion of sitting idle while her husband is held captive and queries if family means anything to Lysa. This is quickly answered with Lysa’s refusal to consider summoning the knights of the Vale to join the Starks in the war against the Lannisters. Lysa, despite her actions of setting this war in motion by implicating the Lannisters in Jon Arryn's death, does not believe that war is in the Vale's best interests. Lysa wants the knights to stay in the Vale, fearfully citing the Lannister’s actions against them with her husband’s death and the harm that has befallen Bran Stark.
Meanwhile, Tyrion Lannister and Bronn journey on foot as they have reached the western edge of the Vale within a day. Already spending a vast amount of time together Bronn, in annoyance, insists Tyrion to keep quiet while trekking through the Vale, to no avail. Tyrion then establishes some ground rules with Bronn, saying that he will pay the sellsword more money than anyone else who attempts to bribe him in order to betray Tyrion. Later that evening, after the sun has gone down, they are awoken and then surrounded by men of the hill tribes, led by a fearsome warrior named Shagga. At first, he orders them to be killed, but Tyrion displays some charismatic fast-talking and convinces the hill tribes that House Lannister is an enemy of the House Arryn and its rulers, something that appeals to the tribe. Using his quick wit and words to win the allegiance of Shagga and the tribe, Tyrion offers to better equip them for battle and help them conquer the Vale of Arryn in return for their help. Shagga agrees, though he notes that if Tyrion tries to renege on his promise he will cut off his manhood and feed it to the goats. Shagga and the hill tribe then escort Tyrion and Bronn west towards the Riverlands where the Lannister armies are gathering.
lhazar
Meanwhile in Essos, Khal Drogo having taken an oath to take the Iron Throne, has begun his march of conquest to the Narrow Sea. The Dothraki raid a village in Lhazar to assist in financing the war to come as they must raid villages and sell the townspeople into slavery where they can then purchase ships. Ser Jorah Mormont and others try to explain this to Daenerys Targaryen, but she is disturbed to see the aftermath, the Dothraki killing the villagers and raping their women, and orders it stopped. The angry warriors take their complaints to Khal Drogo, but he is amused at his wife's fierceness. He tells them that Daenerys may keep the women she has claimed, they can find others. One man won't listen, and angrily accuses Drogo of being slave to a foreign whore. Drogo stops the complaints by killing Mago, the offended warrior who challenges him in battle. Drogo takes a deep wound to the chest in the process, however, and Daenerys insists it be treated. She allows a woman she rescued, a healer called Mirri Maz Duur, to treat the wound, despite the distaste of Drogo's bloodriders, who derisively call the woman maegi (a witch).
THE riverlands
Some time later, Tyrion, Bronn, Shagga and the rest of the hill tribesmen arrive at the large Lannister encampment in the Riverlands. Tyrion insist that he and Bronn meet with his father Tywin Lannister without the hill tribe, however, Shagga threatens him with violence again unless they all meet with him together. Once settled, they find Lord Tywin and his brother, Ser Kevan Lannister, planning to engage the Stark army, who they know are moving south from the Neck. When Tyrion informs his father that it was kind of him to go to war on his behalf, Tywin is quick to remind him of the obvious, which is the name of House Lannister is of more importance than Tyrion himself. Furthermore, Tywin shows no sign of relief that his son Tyrion is alive, however, he does accept the aid of the hill tribesmen Tyrion has procured along his journey. Shagga then asserts to Lord Tywin that his tribe will only fight if Tyrion fights alongside them, a prospect which Tywin welcomes and yet terrifies Tyrion, who is aware that while a great strategist he is not a competent fighter.
THE NECK
Meanwhile, arriving from the Vale, Lady Catelyn Stark and Ser Rodrik Cassel intercept Robb's army who have set up camp in the Neck as they press further south towards the Lannister army in the Riverlands. Upon their arrival on horseback, the pair acknowledge the snowfall rarely seen this far south, as Catelyn notes that her son Robb must have brought the North with him. Once Catelyn reaches the command text with Ser Rodrik, Robb initially exclaims with excitement upon seeing his mother, but stops short of embracing her lest he look weak in front of his Northern bannermen. Catelyn looks at her son with understanding, later embracing once their liege-lords have left their tent. Once in private, mother and son embrace as Catelyn reminisces the day she brought Robb into the world, noting how time has certainly changed with her eldest son now leading a war to save their family. She then asserts to Robb that he has no choice but to go to war, adding that he cannot lose, for the sake of his father Eddard and his sisters, Sansa and Arya. Catelyn urgently declares that if Robb is defeated, Tywin Lannister will show their family no mercy.
Later on that evening, surrounding a map of Westeros, Robb and his liege lords are debating over the route of their march. They cannot decide if the wiser course of action is to march directly against Tywin's army or against his son Jaime's army who is currently besieging Riverrun, Lady Catelyn’s ancestral home belonging to House Tully. Robb explains that in order to get to either Tywin or Jaime’s cavalry, the Stark army needs to cross the Green Fork of the Trident River, and the only crossing is at the Twins, which is held by the notoriously prickly and easily-offended Lord Walder Frey. Catelyn notes that while House Frey are bannermen to Lord Eddard, the “Late Lord Frey,” as he is nicknamed, cannot be relied upon provided his history of participation in battle when called upon. A Lannister scout is then captured in the brush above the encampment and is brought into the command tent, where Robb asks how many soldiers he had counted up to before capture. The Lannister scout informs Robb that he counted around twenty-thousand. Much to the frustration of Greatjon Umber, Robb cites the honor and mercy of his father when declaring to send the scout back to warn Lord Tywin that “winter is coming,” as twenty-thousand Northern soldiers will be marching against him.
castle black
After their discovery of the severed hand in the Haunted Forest, Jon Snow and Samwell Tarly return to Castle Black with their party and two dead bodies in tow. The two corpses are identified as members of Benjen Stark's missing ranging party, Jafer Flowers and Othor. Jon grows increasingly concerned over his missing uncle. Though the deceased appear to have been dead for some time, Samwell astutely notes that the bodies do not smell like they have been rotting. Jon and several other Sworn Brothers urge Lord Commander Jeor Mormont to burn the bodies, but he refuses, wanting Maester Aemon to examine them.
Jon is then summoned to Mormont's chambers as news has arrived of Eddard Stark's arrest and imprisonment. When Jon asks for news of his father, Mormont tells Jon he has been arrested for treason. Jon is in disbelief and Mormont gives Jon the letter to read for himself. A devastated Jon attempts to leave before Mormont tells him not to do anything stupid and reminds him of the oath he has sworn to the Night's Watch. When Jon expresses concern for his sisters, Mormont replies he is sure they are unharmed.
Later on, Alliser Thorne taunts Jon that his father is a traitor, calling him, "not just a bastard, a traitor's bastard." Jon angrily charges at him with a knife and Thorne is only saved by Grenn and Pyp, who hold Jon back. Commander Mormont witnessed the incident and confines Jon to quarters for his trouble. That night, Jon is roused by a whining Ghost scratching at the door. Sensing trouble, Jon and his direwolf head to the Lord Commander's chambers where Jon is confronted by a wight, the reanimated corpse of the dead Night's Watchman. Though Jon is able to stab the wight through the chest with his sword, the wight simply removes the sword and is unharmed. Mormont appears, seeking out the commotion. Jon grabs Mormont's oil lamp and throws it at the wight, finally destroying it. The morning after, the two wight bodies have been thoroughly burned. Sam says he read in a book that the dead are animated by the touch of the White Walkers and only fire can destroy such creatures. He hopes the Wall is big enough to hold them back when the Walkers come in force.
*Episode descriptions from GOT Wiki
“Even now I could cut through the five of you like carving a cake”
“In my own bed, at the age of 80, with a belly full of wine and a girl’s mouth around my cock”
“If you lose your father dies, your sisters die, we die”
“All these swords, they should be going North, boy. North, not south. The cold winds are rising”
“I can, and I will”
“Tell Lord Tywin winter is coming for him. Twenty-thousand Northerners marching south to find out if he really does shit gold”
episode eight music
INSIDE THE EPISODE
did you know?
The episode title is taken from a fan-favorite piece of dialogue from the books and the first episode of the series, when Jon gave Needle to Arya and told her to remember to "stick them with the pointy end," which she also tells Ned.
This is the first episode written by George R.R. Martin, the author of the A Song of Ice and Fire novels. This was the first screenplay Martin had written in almost a decade and a half.
In the books, Sansa is not with Septa Mordane when the Lannister men attack. She had gone to see Cersei to ask her to intercede with Lord Eddard about breaking her betrothal to Joffrey and sending her back to Winterfell. She doesn't realize that she is betraying all of them to their enemies. Cersei says she will help, but then has Sansa escorted to a tower room and kept there under guard.
Ser Alliser treats all of the recruits badly, but he takes a particular dislike for Jon. It is not gone into in the series, but Ser Alliser was a staunch defender of the Targaryens and when Robert took power he was forced to join the Night's Watch. Therefore, he is unhappy with his work in general and Eddard Stark in particular. Jon, being Ned Stark's illegitimate son, receives special attention, and the idea of Eddard being a traitor fills him with glee.
During the scene in which Robb holds a feast for his bannermen at the Great Hall of Winterfell, the banners and sigils of Houses Hornwood (moose head on yellow), Bolton (flayed man), Umber (silver chains on red), and Karstark (white sunburst on black) are clearly seen. On the wall behind the bench in which Bran sits two other banners can be seen, one that appears to be the sigil of the Manderlys (white merman on blue-green) and that another that might be either the Tallhart (a pine tree) or the Mormont sigil (also bearing a pine tree but the camera angle doesn't allow the Mormont bear to be seen).
When the Greatjon is rising to his feet after being mutilated by Grey Wind, a man bearing the sigil of House Cerwyn (a battle axe) on his cloak is also present.
In the scene where Ser Barristan Selmy is dismissed, he draws his sword, and the other members of the Kingsguard draw their swords as well. As the scene ends, when Ser Barristan is walking away through the Great Hall, and the Kingsguard are resheathing their swords, the one on the far right cannot get his sword back into the scabbard.
Sansa is called "little dove" for the first time. Unlike "little bird," this nickname is used in the show only.
According to writer Bryan Cogman, Ned Stark originally wasn't going to appear in this episode at all because he is imprisoned. However, the network grew wary of this because they felt that Ned was the main character and audiences needed to see him - despite the writers' insistence that it is an ensemble show (and would expand to characters beyond Ned in Season 2). Therefore, the network sent in a request to "keep Ned present" in this episode, which is why he briefly appears again in it - though only for a few seconds, as a guard kicks him awake, just for the narrative to check in on him. The off-screen guard was actually played by Conleth Hill (Varys) - they filmed the small exchange immediately after the other, dialogue-heavy scene in the dungeon between Ned and Varys.
Varys accuses Ned that his mercy killed Robert, namely that by telling Cersei he learned the truth about her children - he prompted her to have Robert killed. Varys ignores (or is unaware of) the accurate order of events: Lancel kept offering wine to Robert in "A Golden Crown" - before Ned and Cersei's conversation ("You Win or You Die"), not afterwards; hence Ned's foolishness had nothing to do with Robert's death. The fact that Cersei was perfectly calm during the conversation with Ned also implies that she has already given Lancel the order to make Robert drunk. According to the show and the novels, Cersei had various reasons to have Robert killed, before her conversation with Ned: Cersei despised Robert from their wedding night, and her hatred increased with time due to Robert's whoring and drinking habits. Robert's refusal to punish the Starks for the recent hostilities toward the Lannisters might have been the last straw in Cersei's eyes. Varys tells Ned in the novel that Cersei would not have waited long in any case, because Robert was becoming unruly, and she needed to be rid of him to free her hands to deal with his brothers.
The joke "Tywin shits gold" is mentioned for the first time in the show. In the novels, the joke is repeatedly mentioned by various characters (among them Jaime, a miller, a Lyseni captain, a squire in Harrenhal and mostly Tyrion), either aloud or in their thoughts, as a euphemism or as a joke about the legendary wealth of House Lannister.
Tyrion tells his father that his "friends" require 3,000 arms and armors. This does not necessarily mean that he has managed to rally 3,000 clansmen; he says the same number in the parallel book scene, although it is specifically mentioned that only about 300 clansmen have followed him. Perhaps Tyrion means that he promised to arm not only those who came with him, but also those who stayed at the Mountains.