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

Original Airdate: April 14, 2013

In the Riverlands, Arya Stark may have found a new protector but one of her friends decides not to continue on their journey. Meanwhile, Robb Stark arrives in Riverrun for his grandfather's funeral only to find his uncle Edmure Tully has failed to follow his orders. Jaime Lannister attempts to negotiate his release and pays a crucial price in doing so. In Astapor, Daenerys Targaryen decides to buy all 8000 of the Unsullied and offers one of her dragons as payment. North of the Wall, the surviving members of the Night's Watch try to stay alive and return to Craster's Keep as the wildling army lead Jon to the Fist of the First Men. In King’s Landing, Tywin Lannister relieves Petyr Baelish of his duties as treasurer and assigns the task to his son Tyrion Lannister.

main cast

astapor

In Astapor, Daenerys Targaryen walks along the "Walk of Punishment" with Ser Jorah Mormont and Ser Barristan Selmy. Here, any slave who shows insubordination is strapped to a cross and left to die out in public, as a warning to all other slaves. When Daenerys offers the condemned man water, he refuses to drink, saying that he simply wants to die. As they continue, Jorah and Barristan vocalize their difference in opinions of the purchase of the Unsullied army. Afterwards, Daenerys continues her negotiations with Kraznys mo Nakloz over her planned purchase of the Unsullied and offers to sell her largest dragon, Drogon, in exchange for the entire army. Ser Jorah and Ser Barristan both object to this deal on the grounds that her dragons are key to eventually winning the Iron Throne. However, Daenerys appears to brush away their concerns and accepts the transaction, and also takes Kraznys’ translator Missandei into her service as a token of faith. Upon leaving the meeting, she scolds Jorah and Barristan for criticizing her decision in public. Daenerys then warns Missandei that as she is heading into war with her, and she may be killed or fall sick. In response, Missandei recites the Valyrian aphorism: "valar morghulis," which translated into the common tongue means "all men must die". Daenerys then realizes that Missandei actually knows High Valyrian, and retorts back to her that "we are not men".

beyond the wall

As Jon Snow and the wildlings arrive at the Fist of the First Men, they survey the bloody aftermath of the assault on the Night's Watch by the White Walkers and their army of undead wights. However, they only find corpses of horses and no human remains. Mance Rayder warns Jon that all of the missing corpses from the Fist are no longer his friends and brothers from the Night's Watch, but have been resurrected as undead monsters who serve the White Walkers. Jon reluctantly agrees. Mance orders Tormund Giantsbane to take a force of twenty men to scale the Wall to attack Castle Black from its exposed rear. Mance's plan is for Tormund's small band to distract Castle Black by attacking their exposed southern side, at which point Mance's main army will assault it from the north. Tormund will know that Mance is in position when his army makes a massive signal fire. Mance orders Tormund to take Jon with him, as Jon knows the layout of Castle Black, and it will prove a key test of his loyalty: if it turns out that he won't really betray the Night's Watch, Tormund can easily throw him off the Wall to his death.

Meanwhile, Jeor Mormont leads the ragged Night's Watch survivors back to Craster's Keep. Upon arrival, Craster mocks the survivors of the battle at the Fist of the First Men when they reach his keep. He initially wants to refuse them shelter until he notices some of them stroking their weapons. Fearful that in desperation they might try to rush him, he relents. As the black brothers warm by his hearth, Craster mocks them and insists that they should be grateful for his generosity, and that he is a godly man for helping them. Mormont tensely questions Craster's claim to be a godly man, but Craster insists that he is - to the "real gods," the White Walkers, who consume entire armies on their way to the Wall but will spare Craster for his loyalty. He admits that he's feeding his pigs better than them - as pigs are valuable to him - and half-seriously suggests to his guests that they should eat the overweight Samwell Tarly. Craster is also annoyed by Gilly's loud wailing from birthing pains. Samwell quickly leaves the main house to a birthing hut where he witnesses Gilly giving birth with the aid of a few other women. To her horror, the baby is a boy, as she knows first-hand growing up under Craster that the infant sons are given up as sacrifice to the White Walkers. Sam and Gilly exchange a look and wordlessly realize that Craster will want to sacrifice her son as well.

riverrun

Meanwhile, at Riverrun, the castle-seat of House Tully, the funeral of the recently deceased Lord Hoster Tully is held on the banks of the river. King Robb Stark has arrived with his Northern army as well as Lady Catelyn Stark and Queen Talisa Maegyr, who look on with the assembled crowd on the dock. Catelyn's younger brother Edmure Tully, attempts to light the funeral boat on fire with a flaming arrow but fails three times, much to everyone’s embarrassment. Just as the boat is about to disappear around a bend of the river, Catelyn’s uncle Brynden "The Blackfish" Tully pushes his nephew out of the way and skillfully makes the shot with one attempt. Inside the castle, Robb swears to Rickard Karstark that justice will be served. Robb, Brynden and Edmure then confer to discuss the war against the Lannisters and their marriage-alliance with House Tyrell. They have superior numbers, wealth, and strategic position. Edmure begins to speak of his recent victory at the Battle of Stone Mill and his capture of Willem and Martyn Lannister, but Robb points out that he didn't stop fighting because his sisters are held captive. Considering that Tywin Lannister didn't stop to negotiate when his own son Jaime Lannister was captured, taking his younger nephews hostage will have no impact on the war. Edmure asserts that they lost only two hundred men at Stone Mill and multiple Lannister soldiers died for every man they lost, at which Robb then shouts that they need their men more than Tywin. At this point, the Lannisters are in a strategic position that they can afford to be patient, and grind down Robb's forces through simple attrition.

Afterwards, in Lady Catelyn's old chambers in the castle, she mourns with her uncle Brynden over her father's death. Catelyn is happy that her uncle was able to make peace with Lord Hoster before he passed, but is upset that she herself couldn't have been there. She reminisces that she watched from this window in her childhood whenever her father left, but now he won't be coming back. Catelyn then tearfully wonders if her young sons Bran and Rickon Stark similarly looked out from their windows at Winterfell for her return when she failed to arrive to save them. Brynden insists that neither he nor Robb have given up hope that the boys may be alive and in hiding, and urges her to stay strong for Robb. Meanwhile, in the prison cells of Riverrun, Queen Talisa bandages the minor wounds of Willem and Martyn Lannister. One of them naively asks if Robb really transforms into a wolf and eats the flesh of his enemies. Talisa facetiously insists that Robb does transform into a wolf and that he only eats the flesh of children during a full moon. She then asks a guard if it's currently a full moon and reassures the boys that they are safe, making Martyn laugh.

king’s landing

In King's Landing, as Lord Tywin is fishing out into Blackwater Bay, he is approached by Grand Maester Pycelle, who apologies for his interruption. He requests to speak with Tywin over a few matters ahead of the small council taking place later that day. Tywin is quick to state that Pycelle is no longer on the council, as the maester admits that Tyrion Lannister did conspire in keeping him from the council when acting as Hand. When Tywin asserts that he himself hasn’t revoked his son’s decree, Pycelle begins to stammer in disbelief, trying to find his words. Tywin then interrupts Pycelle and tells him to drop the feeble, elderly routine that he’s been putting on for years. Tywin asks the maester if he’s the only one to see through his performance. Pycelle suddenly stands up perfectly straight and begins to speak normally without an affected voice, further displaying a lack of infirmity. Pycelle admits that he is surprised himself to have fooled so many people for so long, explaining that he prefers to be seen as weak so to survive the duplicity of the high lords. When Tywin then asks why he should be invited back into the council, Pycelle reminds him that he has unfailingly served House Lannister ever since arranging Tywin as Hand during the Mad King’s reign. Allowing him to return to the council, Tywin then states that Pycelle will serve him more actively, as befits a man with such “vigor.”

Tywin then calls the first meeting of the small council since he arrived in the city and assumed his position as Hand of the King. He has the meeting place changed to a room next to his own quarters in the Tower of the Hand, asserting his dominance. All of the seats are on one side of the table, as a non-verbal test to see how each of them react. Petyr Baelish ambitiously pushes his chair past everyone else to be the one who sits closest to Tywin. Lord Varys rolls his eyes at Petyr’s naked ambition and lets him pass. Cersei Lannister pulls up a chair next to her father, as Tyrion himself sits as far away from everyone as possible. Tywin is upset with his three advisors, including Pycelle, as none of them can locate his son Jaime, even though the entire Northern army has heard of his escape. Varys makes a jab at Littlefinger's recent, titular promotion as Lord of Harrenhal and impending betrothal to Lady Lysa Arryn as Tywin states that this will cement support from the Vale of Arryn, which has been neutral in the war up to now. Tyrion then points out that if Baelish departs for the Vale that leaves a vacancy on the small council, and Tywin reveals that he has appointed Tyrion as the new Master of Coin to replace him. Tyrion quickly points out that he has no prior experience in finance. With backhanded compliments, Cersei makes it clear that this promotion is really intended to give him an opportunity to make mistakes he will be blamed for.

After the meeting, Tyrion drops by Littlefinger's office, where the ledgers are kept. A flirtatious Ros helps Tyrion’s squire Podrick Payne load the ledgers onto a cart before they both leave Tyrion and Baelish in private. After exchanging a few words, Baelish hopes Tyrion does well in the position. Afterwards, Tyrion and Bronn then lead Podrick into the brothel, where Tyrion says that he wants to reward him for saving his life during the Blackwater battle: he has paid for Pod, who has never had sex with a woman, to enjoy the services of three prostitutes. Later on, Tyrion is reading through the financial records, and explains to Bronn that not all is as Baelish would like the court to think. Littlefinger always acted like he was a financial genius but in reality the Iron Throne is heavily in debt. In particular, much of their debt is owed to the Iron Bank of Braavos. Tyrion warns Bronn that when debtors to the Iron Bank cannot repay their loans the Bank will ultimately support rebellions against them. Podrick then returns, with the money Tyrion gave him to pay for the prostitutes. Tyrion is concerned that he lost heart and fled, but Pod innocently declares that he did "all sorts of things" with the prostitutes - they simply refused his offer of payment. Impressed that the women would provide their services for free, Tyrion and Bronn ask Pod to explain in detail what transpired, so they can take copious notes.

dragonstone

At Dragonstone, King Stannis Baratheon speaks with the Red Priestess, Melisandre, as she prepares to depart the island. Stannis is worried that now even Melisandre is abandoning him, however, she reassures him that she still believes he is the Lord's Chosen and her reason for leaving is to travel somewhere so she can obtain something vital for his cause. Stannis declares that he wants her, and that he also wants Joffrey Baratheon and Robb Stark dead. He asks her to make "a son" again with him like the shadow-creature she conjured to assassinate his brother Renly Baratheon. Melisandre asserts that creating a creature drains some of a man's life-force, and she fears that creating another could kill Stannis altogether. Over his protests, she explains that what she is seeking is even more powerful than a shadow, and will change his fortunes in this war, but she needs a king's blood to do it. Stannis doesn't understand, but Melisandre implies that she needs to burn a human sacrifice who possesses a king's blood as an offering to the Lord of Light. She can't kill Stannis himself to achieve this, but as she points out, "There are others with your blood in their veins".

the north

Somewhere in the North, the servant boy returns to Theon Greyjoy’s dungeon quarters and informs him to keep quiet as he unties him and then assists him in escaping. Once outside with a prepared horse for Theon, the servant informs him to ride east and follow the rising sun. He further adds that Theon’s sister Yara Greyjoy will be waiting for him. Theon thanks him and says he'll make him a lord of the Iron Islands for this, but the boy says that they aren't in the Iron Islands now. Shortly after the sun rises, Theon is then hunted down by his captors in a prolonged chase on horseback through the woods. Ultimately his pursuers split into two groups and trap Theon between them, and he is knocked off his horse with a flail. Theon's captors pin him to the ground, and pull down his pants: the leader declares that he intends to rape Theon as punishment for trying to run away. However, the servant boy and Theon's savior returns at the very moment of his arrest and snipes all of the captors from afar using his bow and rescuing him at the last minute. As the servant approaches the terrified Theon he says ‘Come, my lord. You’re a long way from home and winter is coming’.

the riverlands

In the Riverlands, as the Brotherhood Without Banners prepare to leave the Crossroads Inn, Arya Stark and Gendry prepare to join them. Gendry has finished fixing a steel breastplate which Thoros of Myr puts on, and Arya asks why Gendry is helping them. Thoros asserts that they're not prisoners but the war-torn Riverlands aren't a safe place for Eddard Stark's daughter. Arya notices that they are loading Sandor Clegane into a prisoner cart, so she walks over and angrily asks him if he remembers the last time he was here, but he simply says all poor inns look the same. As they get ready to leave, Hot Pie explains that he isn't going with them as the innkeeper has offered him a job. He adds that a life of fighting and traveling isn't really for him, plus Thoros formally made a deal with the innkeeper to pay for the free meals they enjoyed with Hot Pie's services. Before they go, he gives Arya a present he made for her: a loaf of bread shaped like a direwolf, though Arya implies the tail looks like a head. Arya is a bit brusque but the three wish each other well as they depart, and as they are riding away Arya starts eating the wolf-bread, and turns back to shout to Hot Pie that it is very good.

Elsewhere in the Riverlands, Jaime Lannister and Brienne of Tarth are bound together on a single horse since having been taken captive by Locke and the detachment of men from House Bolton. As they ride along, the Bolton men sing a rousing chorus of “The Bear and the Maiden Fair”, a somewhat ribald song that is popular among the smallfolk and the nobility alike. It describes in a humorous tone the story of a hairy bear that, while going to a fair with a band of three boys and a goat, rescues a maiden who was hoping for a knight. Tied up back to back on the horse, Jaime warns Brienne that when they make camp for the night, they will rape her, more than once, adding “None of these men have ever been with a noblewomen. You'd be wise not to resist.” Jaime’s honest advice to Brienne is to give in and just think of Renly Baratheon. They were only sent to capture Jaime, therefore Brienne means nothing to them, so at the slightest provocation they will kill her without hesitation. Brienne asserts that she will fight even if they kill her, and Jaime agrees that if he were a woman, he would fight to the death before being raped as well.

Later that night, Locke’s men make camp for the evening and do indeed drag Brienne kicking and screaming into the bushes to gang-rape her. Jaime is disgusted by this pointless brutality, so he points out to Locke that Brienne is actually a noblewoman and the sole heir of House Tarth, the "Sapphire Isle”. Jaime adds that Brienne’s father Lord Selwyn will pay them a ransom of her weight in sapphires, provided that she is unharmed. Locke agrees and calls his men back as they tie her up to the tree again. Jaime then tries to smooth-talk Locke once again with offers of how his father Lord Tywin will make him rich, if released. Tiring of Jaime's frequent attempts to bribe him into turning over to the Lannister side, Locke decides to prove that Jaime's father will never deal with the likes of him. At first Locke has his men untie Jaime on the pretext of letting him go, but then his men hold him down on a chopping block while Locke grabs a carving knife, threatening to stab Jaime in the eye. Locke reasons that maiming Tywin’s son will be the ultimate proof that the Lannisters would never deal with Locke, much less bribe him. Locke insists that Jaime's father can't help him now, adding that "THIS should help you remember!" Locke then brutally swings the carving knife down and hacks off Jaime's sword-hand. For half a second, Jaime stares at his severed right hand in a state of shock and before what just happened can register in his mind, he begins to scream both in horror and agony.

*Episode descriptions from GOT Wiki