Under the
cover of night, the tavern is full and the wenches are have a good old time.
But Gilly is not enjoying herself in Moletown. She keeps her head down, as one
of the wenches tells her to keep her baby quiet, Gilly warns her to never touch
the baby. Gilly shuts her up when she hears the bird calls. She knows the sound
all too well, the wench thinks its just owls, but Gilly knows differently. The
wildlings have come, and they’re slaughtering the town. Ygritte is among them
and she shows no mercy as they skewer people upon their swords. They enter Gilly’s
tavern, and Ygritte runs through the lead wench. She looks around for signs of
others and sees Gilly hiding with her baby, and signals her to be quiet, but
leaves the pair in peace. Bless her savage little heart.
Sam worries
over Gilly, blaming himself for her death. They knew the wildings were loose
nearby killing villages and he put her in harm way. Grenn is upset over the fact
that they’re sitting on their hands while the people around them are
slaughtered, that their fellow brothers were slaughtered in Moletown. Tollett
points out that the brothers broke the rules, and they shouldn’t have been
there. Grenn and Tollett tries to comfort Sam, Gilly is a smart resourceful
girl. She survived Crasters, the long march to the wall and a whitewalker, so
its possible that she got out or was able to hide herself. Jon knows that with
Molestown having fallen they’ll be next. Mance’s army must be close by. Their
forces have little numbers, only 102 left, and they’ll be greatly overrun if
the rest of the wildings descend upon them. Tollett asks that the last brother
alive burn all the rest. If he dies, he doesn’t want to come back.
It’s a hot
time in Meereen. Some of the Unsully bath and splash about in the river. Grey
Worm emerges from underwater like a sleek sexy alligator and gets an eyeful of
Missandei. He can’t take his eyes off her as she washes her clothes nude. She
rises uncomfortable and covers herself. He slips away. Missandei tells Daenerys
about her encounter. The Dothraki are much less body conscious and celebrate
nudity, but Missandei is not Dothraki. Dany doesn’t think that the Unsully are
interested in what lies beneath their clothing, but Missandei knows that he was
interested. Dany wonders what bits were taken, and which remain for Grey Worm,
and Missandei admits she wonders too.
Grey Worm catches up to Missandei alone to apologize for his leering,
but she doesn’t accept it. No harm no foul. He speaks to her in the common
tongue calling her precious, but she didn’t teach him that word. He’s learned
much from another as well. She asks him about before he was Unsully, but he
does not remember it. Missandei is sorry for what was done to him, but Grey
Worm is not. If he was never cut then he wouldn’t be Unsully, he would not
become under Dany’s rule, or become her general, or have met Missandei. He
apologizes again for today. Missandei tells him that she is glad that he saw
her, and he is too.
Ramsay Snow
dresses his little Reek up like the fine lord that he once was. He prepares
Theon to go to the Iron Borne. He looks like a Lord, formidable and proud, but
he is not that any longer, he is nothing more than Reek. Ramsay sends him into
Moat Caitlin alone upon his horse. Theon rides past the fallen bodies to the
gates. The guard asks for his name and allows the Trojan horse in. Theon comes
face to face with Kelling, who is the commander. He doesn’t believe Theon
is who he says. Theon goes over his
pedigree, convincing Kelling. Kelling wonders why he rides with a Bolton army.
Theon tells Kelling that Bolton has been good to him, that he took him in and
treated him right, and now he is offering the Iron borne the same, knowing that
they are fading. Open the gates, and the Boltons will provide them with safe
passage. Theon tells him that there is no shame in surrendering, that he
watched his own father do the same, to bend his knee to Robert Baratheon.
Though Kelling can barely stand he spits blood upon his prince, calling him a
whipped dog and alluding that he’s a woman. He proclaims that the Iron Borne
will not surrender. Theon begins to crumble when one of Kelling’s men brains
him. He asks if they yield they will live, and Theon tells him to raise the
white flag. His surrender gives him freedom from life. He’s flayed by the
Bolton bastard in the name of tradition. Reek is left shaken and wishes to go
home.
The Elders
interrogate Baelish about his pedigree. His family came from Braavos long ago,
but Littlefinger points out that all of the great families came from somewhere
originally. The Elders of the Veil’s families came thousands of years ago, and
fought their way to the talk. Lysa told Littlefinger
much about her Elders, but Lord Royce did
not need to hear anything from Lysa, they’ve heard enough of his whoring
and Lannister bootlicking. And they were leery when they heard that Littlefinger
was smelling around Lysa. Littlefinger points out that he and Lysa have know
eachother for a long time that she had invited him, a point none of the Elders
like, but are well aware of. Lady Lysa’s affairs are her own business, but her
death is theirs. Her suicide shattered them all Littlefinger says. But the
Elders do not think she would willingly leave her child that she had fawned
over for so long. And his quick marriage to Lysa brings further questions.
Littlefinger points out she was always prone to melancholy, that she wasn’t
meant for a world as brutal as theirs. The Elders wish to speak with the other
witness, his simple neice. Little finger wishes to fetch her, but they’ve
already done so. They bring in “Aelaine” and ask what she saw. Sansa turns to
Littlefinger and apologizes but says that she has to tell the truth. Aelaine
reveals that she is Sansa Stark, and on her reveal Lord Royce becomes enraged
over Littlefinger’s lies. But Littlefinger was only protecting her she tells
the Elders. She was tortured by Joffery, tormented by Cersei and married off to
Tyrion. Littlefinger was her only friend in King’s Landing, and he did
everything he could to set her free, to smuggle her away to safety. He brought
her to the Eyrie, but they feared the Lannister’s reach. They promise her that
her secret is safe, that she is safe. They ask what happened to her aunt. She
was a troubled woman. Lysa had loved Baelish from the time she first saw him.
She never loved Lord Arryn, only did her family duty. And when she was finally
free of him, when she was finally able to marry Littlefinger she did so
gleefully, but she always feared he would leave her for another woman. Then she
saw Littlefinger kiss Sansa on the cheek, a peck on the cheek nothing more.
Littlefinger is her uncle by marriage, and he was always so kind to her. Her
aunt turned on her called her a whore, and tried to throw her through the moon
door. Littlefinger stopped her and she hit him, stepping towards the doors
herself. If she couldn’t have Littlefinger she didn’t want to live, and she
threw herself though the doors before they could stop her. Sansa finishes her
story in tears, so the little bird learned to lie. The woman Elder goes to her
to comfort her, telling her not to blame herself, and Littlefinger is just a
smidge impressed.
Lord Royce
says that you could tell something was wrong with Lyssa by the way she still
fed her child from her teat. The Elders no longer think Littlefinger is to
blame for her death, and there will be no retribution for it, not for her, but
Littlefinger wants to use her power, and go to war. The Lannisters are not
supported by the Lords of the Veil, but by staying out of the fray they have
give the Lannisters free reign, and none have been able to stand against them.
Rob Stark is dead, so there is none to back the Elders believe. Littlefinger
would have them back Robin Arryn. He’s a sickly child, but Littlefinger
believes that sickly little boys sometimes become powerful men. He needs to
learn to swing a sword, to ride a horse. It is time for him to tour the Veil,
to meet the others, to begin his transition to manhood.
Barristan
Selmy receives a missive. It’s from the hand of the King, Tywin. He opens it,
and cannot believe his eyes. He takes his missive to Jorah, who is busy poring
over maps. Jorah asks if he has forgotten a council meeting, he has not. He
gives him the missive. It’s a royal pardon signed by Robert Baratheon. Jorah
admits that he spied on her. He asks who gave it to him, but Barristan tells
him it doesn’t matter. He hasn’t told Daenerys yet, he wanted to tell Jorah
first. Jorah asks to speak with Dany in private, but Barristan will never allow
him to be with Dany in private again.
Jorah
approaches Daenerys throne room. Barristan stands on one side of her, and
Missandei on the other. She asks why the Usurper pardoned him. He asks for a
private audience, but she refuses wanting her question answered. He knows that
Tywin sent the pardon to divide them. If they are divided then they will not be
a threat to the Lannisters. She asks if it was forged. It was not. Jorah admits
that he sends letters to Varys, the Spymaster of King’s Landing. She asks for
the content of the letters, it was information. He gave him Viserys intentions,
his selling of Daenerys, her becoming Drogo’s bride. He also told him when
Viserys died. She asks if he told them she was carrying Drogo’s child. He did.
The wine merchant that tried to kill her did so because of his information.
Jorah had stopped her from drinking his wine. She points out that he knew it
was poisoned. He betrayed her. Jorah asked for her forgiveness. He sold her
secrets to the man who killed her father, and stole her brother’s throne and he
wants forgivness. The Khalessi is not feeling forgiving. Jorah protected her,
he loved her. She scoffs at his love, and if he were anyone else she would have
him executed, but she doesn’t wish him dead or alive in her city. She gives him
until nightfall to collect his things and leave to return to his masters in
King’s Landing. If he is found after that time she will have him beheaded and
his head tossed into Slaver’s bay. Jorah goes as she asks.
The Bolton
men meet on the top of a crest. Ramsay gives his father the flag of Moat
Caitlin. It is theirs. Roose asks his bastard to walk with him. There is no
word of the younger Starks, they’re likely dead. Most of the Iron Borne are
fleeing now. Roose asks him what he sees. Ramsay sees nothingness, but its not
nothing, it’s the North Roose tells him and he is the Warden thanks to his son.
Roose asks for his name, and Ramsay gives it to him, but again he is wrong.
Roose has legitimized his bastard. Ramsay is no longer a Snow, but a Bolton.
Ramsay falls to his knees honored by his gesture. He will hold to his name and
his tradition, he vows to be worth of his father. Ramsay returns to his men, with
a gleam in his crazy eyes. He and Reek can return home now, and have that bath
he loves so much.
Littlefinger
goes to visit Sansa in her chambers. He remembers when he first saw her, when
she came to the castle, but she is a child no longer, his voice slipping into a
low gravely growl. He asks why she chose to help him. She is sure that they
would have executed him otherwise, and is unsure what they would have done with
her. She bet on the man she knew rather than the strangers she doesn’t.
Littlefinger doesn’t think that she knows him, but she knows what he wants. He
can’t deny her claims as his voice hits Batman lows.
Arya thought
she would be happy to hear that Joffery was dead, but it doesn’t. The hound
doesn’t think anything makes her happy. Plenty of things make her happy, but
the Hound sees that she’s only unhappy because she didn’t get to kill Joffery
herself. Although the Hound thought that Joffery should be killed he doesn’t
like the fact it was done by way of poison calling it a woman’s weapon. Arya
finds his thinking ludicrous, saying that he will never be a great killer with
such prejudice. She’d have killed Joffery with a chicken bone if she had the
chance. The Hound laughs, he would have paid to see that. She notices his
fussing with his armor. He should have let her burn his wound. He calls it a
fleabite, but his fleabite is slowing him down. They don’t have to walk much
further though. She wonders if her aunt will pay for her, and he knows that she
will. The gate guard asks for his name. He reveals it, and tells him that he
has Arya Stark, Lady Lysa’s niece. He offers his condolences. Lady Lysa died
three days ago. The Hound is shocked by the news, and Arya finds it hilarious.
They came all that way for nothing.
Robin is
afraid to leave the Eyrie, his mother said it was dangerous outside.
Littlefinger tells him it is just as dangerous inside. People die in their
sleep, during meals, even squatting over their chamber pots. Death is all
around, everyone dies sooner or later, not to worry about his death, but to
worry about his life, to take charge of it. Sansa arrives, and Littlefinger
takes in her sight greedily. She’s transformed from frail mouse to vixen.
Tyrion
prepares for his upcoming trial by combat, deciding a man’s guilt or innocence
by the Gods as two men hack eachother to pieces says something about the Gods. It
will happen soon. Tyrion wonders what chance Oberyn has. Having a nickname like
the Red Viper has to be a good thing he reasons. Jamie has never seen him
fight. Tyrion laments that he’s going to die, they’re both going to die. But
Jamie knows that Oberyn is confident. Tyrion asks how he will die, likely
beheading, it seems so ordinary. He ponders over the familiar killings and what
they’re called. Every type of killing have its own word. Jamie points out
cousin killing doesn’t. Tyrion congratulates his discovery. He asks if he remembers
cousin Orsen. He does, the wet nurse dropped him on his head and left him
simple. The simple boy use to sit in the garden all day crushing beetles with
rocks. Gthunk, gthunk. Tyrion laughs, nothing made him happier. Jamie would
have thought he would have felt for the boy, but the teasing made Tyrion feel
like everyone else. Jamie drifted away,
he had other interest. Tryion stayed with Orsen. He was curious, he wanted to
know what he got out of it. He asked him, but he only said that he smashed
them. Tyrion was undeterred he went to Mace Valleric’s library, Jamie wrinkles
his nose, Valleric tried to touch him once. Much has been written about great
men, but little about Morons. It wasn’t helpful so he went back to observe
Orsen. He wasn’t mindless, he had his reasons.
Tyripon became obsessed with knowing, thinking about him all the time,
thinking about his cousin smashing of beetles, hearing the gthunk gthunk no
matter what he was doing. He thought it was awful that beetle deaths for no
reason. Jamie points out that men, women and children die everyday for no
reason, who cares about the beetles. It filled Tyrion with dread. How many were
smashed and dried out, and returned to the dirt. He woke up crying for the
them. He tried to stop Orsen once, but he was no match. Orsen smashed everyday
until a mule kicked him in the chest and killed him. Tyrion puts down a roly-poly.
He asks Jamie what he thinks, what its all about, but he doesn’t know. The
bells chime, his hour is upon him. Jamie wishes him luck.
Tyrion is
lead in shackles to watch the battle. Much of King’s Landing has been gathered.
Oberyn is dressed in very light armour, but he likes to move around. Tyrion
remarks that he shouldn’t be drinking, that both of their lives are on the
line, but Oberyn always drinks before battle. The Mountain arrives, and Ellaria
is fearful. He is the biggest man she has ever seen. But Oberyn knows that size
doesn’t matter when you’re opponent is flat on his back, one thing that Tyrion
is thankful for. The battle is set to begin. Jamie sneaks a look at Cersei, who
looks away. Tywin hurries the Maester’s speech. Ellaria asks that Oberyn does
not leave her alone in this world, and he says never. Oberyn shows his prowess.
He asks the Mountain if he knows who he is. The Mountain thinks him only a dead
man. Oberyn tells him who he is, and that the Mountain raped and killed his
sister, and her children. He wants his confession. Oberyn shows how much faster
he is than the Mountain, but his brute strength breaks the Viper’s spear. He’s
not done yet though, even though the Mountain tosses him about. Oberyn lands
devastating blows to him, and gets his opponent down. He won’t kill him though.
He wants to hear who gave the order to kill Elia. Oberyn’s need for revenge
gives the Mountain the chance to knock him down. The Mountain admits that he
raped her, and he smashed her head, demonstrating it on Oberyn as Ellaria’s
screams piece the air. He smashes the Viper’s head like a ripe melon, before
collapsing himself. Goodbye Oberyn, your exhilarating reckless spirit will be missed. Cersei is
pleased, Jamie is disgusted, and Tyrion is shocked. Tywin rises. The God’s will
is known. In the name of Tommen Baratheon, he sentences Tyrion to death.
