The writers of Game of Thrones seem to enjoy testing the limits of people’s gore and sadness endurance. This week most of the characters saw their level of douchebaggery and egomania rise tenfold.
Theon Greyjoy sends men to pursue the fleeing Bran and Rickon, who departed from Winterfell with the assistance of Wildling Osha. He insists upon bestowing his form of justice on the young Stark boys.
In other Stark news, steely-eyed Jon Snow is still wandering around with Ygritte, the fiery, tempting Wildling whom he has taken prisoner. She makes insistent sexual offers to Snow, all of which he refuses in a ridiculously steadfast manner. It turns out to be a ploy, as Ygritte leads the naïve Snow to a clearing surrounded by fellow Wildlings.
Arya continues to spend intimate time with Tywin Lannister, creating some of the best moments the show has yielded all season. They play a verbal cat-and-mouse game, as Tywin tiptoes ever so closer to finding out Arya’s true identity. When she begins to discuss the mythology of dragons, his questioning becomes harder and his belief in her ruse diminishes. It’s fantastic watching these scenes, as both Arya and Tywin seem to be conscious of the game they are playing, but shy away from revealing themselves to one another. The stakes are unbelievably high for Arya and she continues to manufacture means of preserving her veiled existence.
Sansa finally becomes able to bear children, which inspires fear in her heart. She obviously has no desire to birth the monsters King Joffrey would create. Despite her efforts to conceal her period, Queen Cersei finds out and provides her with some earnest womanly advice. She tells Sansa to be weary of the love she gives and that it should be reserved exclusively for her children. We learn later in a conversation Cersei has with Tyrion that the Queen believes Joffrey is the way he is because of her incestuous relationship with her brother Jaime.
Speaking of, Jaime wins the award for asshole of the week. While in prison at the Stark Camp, the Lannister brother seduces a poor jailed squire into helping him escape, only to end up beating him to death with chains. Jaime is eventually brought back to the camp after fleeing, at which point Catelyn Stark is the only one willing to keep him alive. In a later scene, Jaime decides to viciously taunt her, prompting Catelyn to draw a sword on him. Their story leaves off at that point for the week, with only Catelyn Stark’s sheer willpower keeping her from beheading the dreadful Jaime.
Back in Qarth, which is essentially like another planet in this show, Daenerys finds herself in even deeper trouble than she imagined. At a conference of the Thirteen, reminiscent of the most horrifying version of a Star Trek convention, Pyat Pree, a creepy outcast from a David Lynch movie, kills the rest of the city’s rulers. He reveals that he has stolen Daenerys’ dragons and has placed them in the House of the Undying, which judging by Pree’s portrayal is not the sunniest place in Qarth.
The episode ends with Theon revealing the charred bodies of two boys to the masses at Winterfell. We are to assume that these could belong to his hunted enemies, Bran and Rickon. My few reserved ounces of belief that this show contains some humanity inform me otherwise. It seems unlikely that Theon, who is an incapable ruler, would be able to track down the wily Stark kids anyway. Or at least that’s what I hope.