Remember this guy? He is Ser Jorah Mormont. He’s the one who gave Danaerys a bunch of books as a wedding present.
We discover now why he is so far from home. He caught poachers on his land and sold them as slaves as punishment. Selling slaves is illegal in the Seven Kingdoms. So Ned Stark, Warden of the North, sentenced him to death. Mormont fled the country in exile.
Viserys lets us know that he won’t punish people for such nonsense when he is King.
Bran is alive and Tyrion wants Joffrey to pay his respects. The Prince and his uncle don’t see eye to eye. Ugh. I didn’t mean that. You know what I mean. The Prince has no sympathy for Bran after his fall and Tyrion lets him have it. Three times.
At breakfast, Cersei and Jaime learn that Bran survived the fall and is probably going to recover.
They don’t look happy. Tyrion also informs them that he won’t be traveling back to the capital with them. He wants to see the Wall while he’s this far North.
Cersei comes across as sympathetic in the scene with Catelyn but she is merely doing what Tyrion was slapping Joffery into doing... the Regal thing. It would look odd if she didn't pay her respects. Joffrey has a lot to learn. Also, don’t forget what Catelyn knows…
The letter from her sister implicates the Lannisters in John Arryn’s death. That has to be on Catelyn’s mind in this scene. She doesn't trust Cersei. No matter what she says about her dead baby.
Arya packs for her move to Kings Landing. Nymeria is an awful helper.
Jon gives Arya a sword. She names it Needle.
Jon says goodbye to Bran and Catelyn isn’t happy to see him.
I don’t think she likes the bastard.
Ned leaves Cat and heads south again. Like he did 17 years ago when he joined Robert in the fight to overthrow King Aerys.
Jon Snow says his farwell to another half-brother, Robb Stark. I guess Arya, Bran, and Robb are his favorites because we don't see him say goodbye to anyone else.
The King, his entourage, Ned, Sansa, and Arya head south. Tyrion, Uncle Benjen, and Jon head north to the Wall.
Jon and Ned say their goodbyes. Ned promises to talk to him about his mother the next time they see each other.
On the road south, the King has heard about the wedding of Daenerys Targaryen to the horse Lord, Khal Drogo. Robert wants her killed before she can give the Khal children.
Ned is having none of it. He finds no honor in murdering a child. It's unspeakable.
‘What her father did to your family, that was unspeakable.’ - (REMINDER Her father was King Aerys. The man Robert and Ned usurped seventeen years ago.) ‘What Rhaegar Targaryen did to your sister. The woman I loved.’
We now have more context about what happened to Ned’s sister. In the previous episode we learned Robert blamed a Targaryen for the death of his beloved. We now know that man to be Rhaegar Targayen. King Aerys had three children. You’ve already met his two youngest, Viserys and Daenerys. The eldest child was Rhaegar.
There’s a war coming, Ned.
On the road north, Jon’s eyes are opening about the sort of men recruited to join the Night’s Watch at the wall.
Some rapers and thieves join the camp.
Tyrion teaches us some history. His father was Hand of the King for Aerys, for twenty years.
‘Until your brother killed that king.’ Jon replies.
'Yes. Until my brother killed him.'
Wow. A lot to unpack here. Tyrion, Jaime, and Cersei’s father was the Hand of the King for Aerys, for twenty years. At some point the King did something ‘unspeakable’ to Ned’s family and Rhaegar to Ned’s sister, causing Ned and Robert to rebel against the throne. And now we learn that Jaime Lannister killed King Aerys during the rebellion.
Jaime killed the old King and Cersei married the new King.
Got it?
Meanwhile, back at Winterfell...
Someone tries to kill Bran.
But Bran's direwolf, Summer, saves the day. And then lies down next to Bran on what I assume are wolf skins. Which seems weird.
Danaerys has some hand and feet washers. One thinks the moon is an egg and the other two think the moon married the Sun. So Daenerys should rethink homeschooling.
Catelyn does some CSI work and puts together a theory that the asshole Lannisters are doing asshole things.
The blade used during the assassination attempt on Bran was Valyrian steel which is far too expensive for some bum to own. It was given to him. The team at Winterfell is not too thrilled to hear that. Catelyn will head to Kings Landing to warn Ned.
Back on the Kings Road...
Sansa meets Ser Ilyn Payne and the Hound. And she's terrified of both of them. We get a little more backstory on Aerys here.
The Hound tells us that Ser Ilyn Payne hasn't spoken since the Mad King tore his tongue out with hot pincers over twenty years ago.
Notice how the Hound refers to Aerys as the Mad King. Possibly one of the first times we hear this nickname.
The Prince and Sansa are drinking by the river because they don't give a fuck.
Arya is practicing her sword work with the butcher's boy. Which sounds gross but its fine.
We see that Joffrey might be more than just an entitled asshole. Flashes of psychopathy and sadomasochism here.
Arya goes all feral and she and her wolf make Joffrey cry. They run.
She says goodbye to Nymeria because she knows what the asshole Lannisters will do to her.
And her instincts are correct because later, after a short trial and the realization that Nymeria is nowhere to be found, the Queen convinces the King to have Sansa's direwolf, Lady, executed for being a wild animal and because Cersei is an awful human being.
This crushes Sansa and infuriates Arya. Ned volunteers to kill the beast because he's of the north and they like killing wolves.
So. Bran's direwolf, Summer, saved his life from a would-be assassin, Arya's wolf, Nymeria, protected her from a psychopathic prince, and
Lady was basically chained up the whole episode so she didn't save anybody from anything and just gets killed at the very end.
Bran wakes up.
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