Directed By: Jeremy Podeswa / Written By: David Benioff & D.B. Weiss

Original Airdate: April 24, 2016

Upon returning to King’s Landing, to Jaime Lannister’s surprise, his sister Cersei doesn't blame him for their daughter Myrcella Baratheon's death, having 'realized' it was all foretold. In the North, Theon Greyjoy flees with Sansa Stark, holding off Ramsay Bolton’s men long enough to be saved by Brienne of Tarth, who is finally accepted as Sansa’s protector. In Meereen, Tyrion Lannister is joined by Lord Varys in assessing the growing chaos of the city, while Daenerys Targaryen is brought in captivity to the Dothraki, who spare her life as she is a royal widow to Khal Drogo. At Castle Black, Jon Snow’s fate is revealed as Davos Seaworth asks Melisandre to use her magic to revive the Lord Commander.

main cast

the north

Having discovered her body in the courtyard of Winterfell following Sansa Stark and Theon Greyjoy’s escape, Ramsay Bolton mourns Myranda in his chamber, reminiscing aloud to her corpse. Even when they met as children, Myranda showed him no fear, unlike the rest who knew him. Ramsay promises Myranda that her pain will be paid for, many times over, and seems sincere when he voices regret that she will not be there to witness his retribution. When Maester Wolkan interrupts, however, asking what to do with the body, Ramsay abruptly changes his mood and flatly states that she's "good meat." He orders Wolkan to feed her to his hounds. Afterwards, Lord Roose Bolton meets with his son in the great hall of Winterfell and asks him if preemptively assaulting the slain King Stannis Baratheon’s army makes him feel like a winner now that they've lost Sansa, as well as Theon. Ramsay assures his father they will recapture Sansa, as he has sent his best men out to find her. Roose continues that they need Sansa to rally the North against the Lannisters, if need be, and subtly warns Ramsay that if he fails to recapture her, his unborn brother will become his heir. This leaves Ramsay visibly shaken.

Meanwhile, Theon and Sansa, having survived the plummet from the high walls of Winterfell, race through the nearby Wolfswood once they realize that there are already men with hounds chasing after them. Theon attempts to hide their scent by having them cross a freezing river. Guiding a frightened Sansa, they make it across and hide by a fallen tree with Theon hugging Sansa to try to keep her warm. Hearing the hounds approach, Theon prepares to lead the Bolton men astray, informing Sansa that she needs to continue heading north towards Castle Black where her brother Jon Snow is. The hounds quickly find the pair, despite Theon’s efforts in hiding Sansa. The Bolton leader mocks Theon over what Ramsay will do to him now. As the men prepare to head back to Winterfell with their captives, Brienne of Tarth and Podrick Payne suddenly arrive on horseback and a long fight ensues. Brienne kills most of the men while Podrick displays the techniques she has been teaching him over the months, managing to kill one. Podrick is then attacked by another and briefly holds his own before being knocked down, only to be saved by Theon. After laying her sword down to Sansa, Brienne offers her sworn services. Assisted by Podrick, Sansa recites the oath and accepts Brienne into her service.

braavos

Some time after defying the Many-Faced God, the now-blind Arya Stark begs for money on the streets of Braavos, having been thrown out of the House of Black and White by Jaqen H’ghar for killing Ser Meryn Trant, who was not hers to kill. As a sightless, hungry and disheveled Arya sits along some steps that are littered with other beggars, an affluently-dressed man offers her a squared Braavosi coin made of iron. After thanking him, Arya then overhears two passing citizens discussing the murder of Ser Meryn, and as she is intently trying to overhear the increasingly distant conversation she is suddenly startled to hear the Waif’s voice, who asks “are you listening, blind girl?” The Waif is holding two fighting sticks and she gives one to Arya with expectation to spar. Arya explains that she obviously cannot fight as result of her blindness, however, the Waif answers "that's not my problem" and starts beating her. Arya poorly tries to defend herself but continue to fail miserably, taking several blows and not landing any of her own. Unimpressed, the Waif then leaves Arya, promising to return the following day.

meereen

In Meereen, in an effort to find the Sons of the Harpy, acting ruler Tyrion Lannister and Lord Varys explore the streets of the city disguised as merchants. Upon meeting a starving woman and her baby, Tyrion offers some money to feed her child. Due to his bad Valyrian, however, she refuses, believing Tyrion intends to eat her baby. Varys then explains to the woman the money is so the baby can eat. The relieved woman accepts Tyrion's generosity. While pondering their predicament and what Queen Daenerys Targaryen's absence means to the people of Meereen, they then witness a Red Priest named Zanrush preaching to some of the former slaves to fight for their own freedom instead of relying on Daenerys. As they continue their walk through the city, Tyrion states that they need to find the Harpy leader in order to achieve peace as Varys informs that soon his spies will bring him information. They are then interrupted by a crowd of screaming people running from a huge cloud of smoke. Tyrion and Varys make their way towards the origin of the smoke and witness all of the ships in the harbor have been set aflame, as Tyrion then notes that they won’t be sailing to Westeros any time soon.

the dothraki sea

Some time following their departure from Meereen, Ser Jorah Mormont and Daario Naharis continue their journey in the Dothraki Sea, as they search for the missing Daenerys and her dragon Drogon. Ser Jorah stops to inspect the charred bones of a ram, assuming that Drogon could have been the only thing to melt a ram’s horn. Daario insists that they must be on the correct path. As the pair continue to ride, Daario ponders over her disappearance when questioning if Daenerys intentionally left Meereen, citing her displeasure as queen and escaping “men like us”. When Jorah asserts that there is no escape, Daario retorts by noting Jorah’s one-sided affection for their queen. They then both express the intrigue of what the world would be like once Daenerys has finished conquering it. While Daario rides ahead, Jorah examines the spreading greyscale on his arm to determine how long he might have left to live. The pair eventually discover a large circle of hoof prints, where Jorah then finds the pearl ring Daenerys purposefully dropped, leading him to realize a horde of Dothraki has taken her captive.

Meanwhile, outside of Vaes Dothrak, now a prisoner of the khalasar, Daenerys walks through the desert bound to two bloodriders, Qhono and Aggo, who are escorting her before their leader, Khal Moro. The pair continuously insult Daenerys while they discuss her capture, unaware that she can understand Dothraki. Upon arrival her arrival to Khal Moro’s encampment, his two wives insist that Daenerys is a witch and suggest cutting her head off before a spell is cast upon him. Moro ignores his wives and declares his intentions with Daenerys to his bloodriders. When Moro grabs her, Daenerys quickly reveals her identity, as well as her understanding of Dothraki. However, Khal Moro laughs off her many titles, stating that she is nothing more than his bed slave. Daenerys refuses and then reveals herself as the widow of Khal Drogo. As it is forbidden for a khal to sleep with a widowed khaleesi, Moro has a change of heart, cuts her free and promises that no one will touch her. A grateful Daenerys then promises to reward Khal Moro with a thousand horses if she is safely returned to Meereen. However, Moro asserts that Daenerys will not be escorted back to Meereen, but instead she will be escorted to the Temple of the Dosh Khaleen in Vaes Dothrak. One of Moro’s wives informs Daenerys that the temple is where she is to live out the rest of her days alongside the other widowed khaleesi.

king’s landing

Meanwhile, Cersei Lannister is sitting alone in her quarters in the Red Keep of King’s Landing when she is alerted to her brother Jaime Lannister's return from his expedition in Dorne to retrieve their daughter Princess Myrcella Baratheon. Cersei excitedly runs through the Red Keep and down to the port to meet Jaime and Myrcella, who hasn’t seen her mother in the space of almost four years now. From afar, however, Cersei’s worst fears are realized when she sees a despondent Jaime standing alone on the boat, with a covered corpse behind him. Immediately realizing the corpse is Myrcella's body, Cersei begins to well-up with tears. Afterwards, Jaime comforts Cersei in her quarters and the conversation eventually leads to the death of their mother Joanna. Cersei admits to Jaime that she believes their children's deaths truly are destined according to the prophecy she received as a child in the woods of the Westerlands by a witch named Maggy. She justifies her belief since both Joffrey and Myrcella are gone and the only child left of theirs is King Tommen. Jaime brushes this off, insisting that they are the only two who have ever mattered and promising they will take back everything that has been stolen from them. Aware that Prince Doran Martell had nothing to do with Myrcella's murder, Jaime sends Doran a letter demanding the heads of Ellaria Sand and the Sand Snakes.

Some time later, in the cells of the Red Keep, the imprisoned Queen Margaery Tyrell is being read scripture from the Faith of the Seven by Septa Unella. Margaery calmy interrupts Unella and requests to see her brother Ser Loras Tyrell, who also awaits trial in a cell under the Keep. The Septa informs the Queen that “sinners don’t make demands, they make confessions”. Their increasingly tense interaction is halted by the arrival of the High Sparrow, who excuses Unella and insists to Margaery that he will speak to the Septa with regards to her overzealous behavior. He then informs her that his reason for the visit is because of her husband King Tommen, who misses her dearly, adding that their love reflects the love the gods have for them all. The High Sparrow then calmly tells her that only confession purges sin, to which Margaery remains insistent on having nothing to confess. He then asks her is she believes she is pure and without sin, as she then claims that nobody is without sin. The High Sparrow then informs her that she is on the right path but still has a long way to go.

DORNE

In Dorne, Ellaria Sand helps Prince Doran Martell get to his wheelchair, as they both reminisce about the deceased Oberyn Martell, with Doran stating how he envied his late brother for the adventurous life he’d led. Ellaria states that Doran would have made a bad adventurer, while Oberyn would have been a bad ruler. After settling into his chair, Maester Caleotte brings him a message from King’s Landing that Princess Myrcella has died. Before he can even give an order, Ellaria’s daughter Tyene Sand stabs Doran’s bodyguard Areo Hotah in the back, killing him. A stunned Doran is further surprised when Ellaria then stabs him in the chest. After falling out of his wheelchair, he lies on the floor and his remaining guards do nothing, indicating they have sided with Ellaria in the war against House Lannister. As she twists her knife into Doran, Ellaria angrily informs him that he remained passive despite the brutal deaths of both his brother and his sister Elia Martell, and that the people of Dorne are with her, now. As he is gasping, Doran begs Ellaria to spare his son Trystane Martell, who has sailed to King’s Landing, but Ellaria coldly scoffs at him. Doran then dies in a pool of his own blood. Meanwhile, as Prince Trystane paints an eye-stone for Myrcella’s funeral on his private ship docked outside of the capital, Obara and Nymeria Sand surprise him with their arrival as they announce their intention to kill him. Nymeria offers the startled Trystane the choice of which one he'd like to fight. As he then readies to fight Nymeria, Obara suddenly impales him through the back of his head with a spear while his back was turned. As they leave, Nymeria calls Obara “a greedy bitch.”

castle black

At Castle Black, the mutineers from the Night’s Watch have left Jon Snow's dead body where he fell. Jon’s direwolf Ghost is scratching at the door in grief while howling, which eventually gets the attention of several people, including Ser Davos Seaworth, who leaves his room to investigate the commotion. Davos then finds Jon's dead body just before Eddison Tollett and a few other Black Brothers arrive. They take his body inside where Edd then clears a table and angrily curses Ser Alliser Thorne, who he rightfully assumed was leading the mutiny. After Eddison closes Jon's eyes, Ser Davos asks him if he trusts any of his brothers, and Edd curtly replies "the men in this room". Davos then convinces Edd to bring Ghost to them, noting that they need all the help they can get. Melisandre then arrives in shock, stating that she saw Jon in the flames and he was fighting at his home of Winterfell. Davos solemnly informs the anguished Melisandre that he “can’t speak for the flames,” but Jon is gone. Testing her faith in the Lord of Light so soon after King Stannis’ death, a devastated Melisandre quietly exits the room.

Afterwards, Ser Alliser holds a Night’s Watch meeting in the main hall and announces to the Night’s Watch that Jon Snow is dead. When an irate brother yells out for answers, Thorne admits to Jon’s murder without hesitation, also naming Othell Yarwyck and Bowen Marsh as his accomplices, though young Olly is not mentioned. While the room explodes in a shouting match, Thorne commands their attention and explains the reasoning for killing Jon, declaring that all of their loyalty is the foundation that the Watch was built on and that Jon was going to destroy them. As Jon’s actions in allowing the wildlings through the gates was controversial, most of the brothers eventually come to side with Thorne and the mutineers during the meeting. Back inside the room, Ser Davos notes that Thorne is sure to have made his move by now. In response, Eddison states that he doesn't care and will rally the loyal brothers to take out Thorne in revenge. Davos responds they are hopelessly outnumbered, stating that Ghost isn't enough when Edd brings him up. He then reminds the brothers that there are others nearby who owe Jon their lives. Realizing he means the wildlings, Edd instructs them to bar the door and not let anyone in while he sneaks out to get help. Some time later, Ser Alliser and the senior members of the Watch approach the room. Thorne speaks to Davos through the locked door and promises full amnesty for the members of the Night’s Watch who remain inside. For Ser Davos, Thorne then offers safe passage out of the castle for himself and Melisandre, but Davos mocks what he knows to be an insincere offer by requesting mutton as food for the road. Thorne then asserts that the offer is available as long as everyone in the room has surrendered by sundown.

Meanwhile, alone in her quarters, Melisandre still feels betrayed and led astray again by the Lord of Light. On a table next to her bed are various containers, some small that contain potions and other liquids. Melisandre removes her dress and stands nude before a mirror, despondently gazing at herself for a lengthy period. When she eventually removes her large crimson necklace, the gem suddenly loses its glow. Now in the mirror, Melisandre's reflection has been transformed back to her true appearance: a four-hundred-year-old woman that she was always rumored to be. The Red Priestess solemnly stares in the mirror at her frail and elderly body with sagging breasts, leathery skin and thin wispy white hair. Fully nude, with her head bowed down in a despairing manner, Melisandre then slowly climbs into bed and pulls the fur blanket on top of her before falling asleep.

*Episode descriptions from GOT Wiki