Let’s get one thing clear, right here, right now: you should have been watching Game of Thrones from the very beginning.

Not the beginning of this season; the very beginning, when Ned Stark first told us “Winter is Coming,” Daenerys Targaryen was toting dragon eggs around with Khal Drogo, and Joffrey was nothing more than an entitled little prat who could potentially, one day, ascend to the Iron Throne.

We understand, however, that there are people who are playing catch-up. Sometimes you just don’t buy into the buzz a show is getting or life just gets in the way. Been there, done that, and have since bought every season of Dexter and ran through a two-day House of Lies marathon prior to the start of Season Two just to make sure we were all caught up.

If you’re in that boat with Game of Thrones, fear not; we’ve got you covered. Here’s the quick look at five things to watch for this season in the Westeros and across the Narrow Sea in Essos.

(Warning: Spoilers ahead. If you’re not yet caught up and don’t want to know what’s to come, stop reading, and get back to watching this brilliant show. Consider yourselves fairly warned.)

Starks vs. Lannisters

Robb Stark, eldest son on the beheaded Ned Stark, “The King of the North,” continues his march towards King’s Landing, and a showdown with The Lannisters, King Joffrey, his grandfather Tywin, and everyone’s favourite imp, the conniving and cunning Tyrion.

Both sides have captives to trade, or at least that’s what the other believes. The Starks were holding Jamie Lannister, son of Tywin, brother of Queen Cersei, uncle – and father – of King Joffrey, but he’s kind of in between captors at the moment, while the Lannisters still have one of Robb Stark’s sisters, Sansa, under their watch in the royal capital. Arya, Robb Stark’s other sister, however, is roaming the countryside trying to reconnect with her family, along with Gendry, the bastard son of the former king.

While things may not come to a head this season, the machinations of these families as they draw closer to war are captivating, especially on the Lannister side of things, because they’re all untrusting and out for themselves.

King Joffrey and Lady Margaery Tyrell

The young king has all the markings of a future sociopath, right down to his cowardice when confronted by those who don’t fear him and uncomfortable situations.

After calling off his engagement to Sansa Stark, King Joffrey took Margaery Tyrell as his new leading lady. It’s pretty clear that she’s got her sights set on making it to the top of the royal hierarchy, even if it means saddling up next to the sadistic king for the time being.

Are they going to become a fiendish, evil power couple? Is Margaery plotting something? How will Queen Cersei, Joffrey’s mother, take to there being another strong woman in the picture? You know this is going to get all kinds of interesting.

Jon Snow and The Wildlings

Snow, the bastard son of the late Ned Stark, ventured north of The Wall with the Night’s Watch, but was taken captive by the Wildlings, a band of nomadic barbarians who live in the icy land north of The Wall. He killed “The Halfhand” in order to appear that he’s defected from the Night’s Watch, but the Wildlings aren’t so sure.

He’s got a little love/hate relationship going on with Ygritte, a red-headed Wildling girl who he captured, then lost, and then followed into the ambush where he was taken captive, but Mance Rayder, the leader of the Wildlings, is suspicious of where Snow’s loyalties and allegiances truly sit.

When you’ve got a double agent of sorts embedded with a collection of bone-and-animal-pelt-wearing outcasts, there is bound to be intrigue and trouble worth watching.