Two young girls walk through a forest. They're going to see a witch called Maggy the frog. The blonde girl is headstrong and urges the other one further into the darkness. The blonde girl is also a princess.
They come across the witch and ask her to read their fortunes. She tells the blonde girl she'll marry a king and have three blonde children who will all die. We then realise the girl is Cersei. The witch's premonition is coming true already. One of her children has already been murdered.
In the present day Cersei is ready to pay her respects to her dead father Tywin. She blames Jaime for freeing Tyrion. He couldn't have known this would happen.
She lashes into him. He's suffering already and this isn't helping. She might love her brother but there's a streak of cruelty running through her that's 3 miles wide. It will drive him away one day.
Tyrion's escape from King's Landing has been successful but he's not doing well. The fact that he's drinking nonstop isn't helping matters either. He's bearded and in rag order. The man who smuggled him out, Varys, is shocked by his appearance. They are in Pentos. A city in Essos and far enough away that both can relax for a while.
They're staying in the home of a trusted friend of Varys. A trusted friend who Varys has been working with in secret for a very long time once they realised how bad of a leader Robert Baratheon was. Their plan has been to get a Targaryen back on the throne and bring peace back to Westoros.
That Targaryen is Daenerys. Hmmm, Varys has been backing her the whole time. This makes us see a lot of his previous actions in a whole new light. I like that. Varys has just gotten even cooler.
In Meereen the Unsullied are busy removing statues of the previous rulers of the City. The soldiers are making themselves at home, including one who frequents the city brothels. Because of his castration he can't do the usual thing but he's going there for warmth and affection instead of sex. Everyone needs an aul hug.
Suddenly his throat is slit by a masked man. A member of a rebel group called the Sons of the Harpy. It seems not everyone is happy about the way Daenerys is ruling the city.
She's furious about the murder of one of her soldiers. She wants the crime investigated now by Grey Worm and she wants the dead Unsullied soldier buried in the main cemetary of Meereen, an act that will piss off the rebels.
Missandrei and Grey Worn continue their gentle courtship. Both glow when they are near each other. She enquires about the fact an Unsullied was killed in a brothel and why he was in one? She's curious about Unsullied and their sexuality. It's obvious she wants Grey Worm.
At Castle Black it's new recruit training time. Jon trains young Olly, the boy who killed Ygritte but he bears him no ill will. Well not much anyway. Sam is stressed that Ser Allister may become the new lord commander of The Night's Watch. If he does Gilly will be out on her ear.
Jon is requested to visit Stannis by Melisandre. She's interested in him but he doesn't know why. They ride to the top of the wall. Stannis and Davos are overlooking the North. Stannis informs Jon that Roose Bolton owns Winterfell now. Davos informs him that his liking of Wildlings has pissed off many of the men below.
Stannis needs more men to take back Winterfell and the North from the Boltons. Mance has plenty to spare and so he asks Jon to persuade Mance to join him. If Mance will kneel before Stannis he'll spare his life. Jon knows for a fact that won't happen, but he'll try his best.
In the vale Robyn Arryn the little weirdo is in training to become a man and Sansa and Littlefinger (ugh) are overseeing it all. Robyn is beyond useless. Littlefinger gets a message that he quickly hides from Sansa. They head off to a place unknown where Cersei will never find her.
Also in the vale are Brienne and Podrick. She's still suffering with the after effects of her fight with the Hound. They are looking for Sansa and haven't a clue where to go. Brienne takes her anger out on Pod and little do they know that the carriage passing near them contains Sansa and Littlefinger. Jesus how small is this place?
In King's Landing Loras Tyrell tries to convince Cersei he's upset about her dead father. She's more interested in Margaery Tyrell sniffing around her son Tommen. She's approached by her cousin Lancel, a cousin she once got jiggy with. He's gone religious now and wants to atone for his sins. Including his part in Robert Baratheon's death.
He's a member of a religious fundamentalist group called Sparrows. A group that looks down on homosexuality and adultery. They'll be kept busy in King's Landing so. That place is a hotbed of riding.
Speaking of riding, Margaery walks in on her brother Loras and his fella. She asks him to be a bit more careful with his affairs but his arranged marriage to Cersei won't be happening now, not with Tywin dead.
If this marriage doesn't happen Margaery will be stuck with Cersei always over her shoulder. Tommen will be harder to manipulate if that happens. But always a sneaky Tyrell, Margaery has a contingency plan.
In Pentos, Tyrion is feeling blue. Hard to blame him really. Varys wants to shake him out of his funk. To do this he wants him to travel with him to Meereen to meet Daenerys Targaryen.
Back in Meereen Daario Nahaaris has returned from Yunkai. The city is at peace again. But there's a price. The city wants to reopen it's fighting pits for gladiatorial combat. Places where slave fought slave to the death. She will not allow it, risking trouble all over again.
Too much has happened to let the slaves of that city fall back into the hands of the masters again. They'd be fighting as freeman but they'd be slaves in all but name.
Daario tries to convince her. According to him there's a place for them and it's where he learned his skills as a young man. If he hadn't fought he'd never have met her.
Poor Daenerys has the weight of the world on her shoulders. She's sick of enemies and death. Her 3rd dragon is still missing and the other 2 are chained up below the city. She goes to visit them and quickly realises that without the third, the tamest one, they are impossible to control and even she, the mother of dragons, is in danger.
At Castle Black the pyre where Mance could be burned is being erected outside while inside Jon tries to convince Mance to pledge allegiance to Stannis.
He might as well be talking to a bag of flour. It's just not going to happen. Mance is far too proud a Wildling to ever bend a knee to a king he doesn't believe in.
His reasoning is he'll lose all respect if he bends to a Southern King. The Wildling's will never join Stannis that way. Jon argues but know's it's the truth. He's on a fools errand. Mance still respects him though. The feeling is mutual.
Mance is brought before Stannis. He's asked one last time to kneel but he declines. So he's lashed to a pole and the fire is lit. Tormund is in the crowd and it kills him to see his leader about to die.
The flames rise and the pain starts. But it's ended abruptly by an arrow in the heart fired by Jon Snow. He can't bear to see Mance in agony. This is a move that's going to piss off a lot of people.
Not a bad way to start a season. And even better is the fact that it didn't try to cover all the storylines. It took it's time and reintroduced only 5 plot lines. That's enough for anyone.
Next up - The House of Black and White
Series 1 - 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Series 2 - 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Series 3 - 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Series 4 - 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
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