Brienne tells Margaery of the demon spirit that killed her first husband, Renly Baratheon, and promises to avenge “our king,” to which Margaery replies, “Joffrey is our king now.” Maybe I’m reading too much into this, but I thought the comment was brilliant because those five words illustrate who Margaery Tyrell is to the core: an ambitious climber who knows how to play the game.
There is then a brief appearance from King Joffrey, who is being his usual self (read: a complete wank) taunting Jaime, who just so happens to be his dad, don’t forget. He prattles on about how he turned back Stannis Baratheon at The Blackwater (not so much) and how he won the war, to which Jaime counters, “The war’s not over.”
While looking those “The Book of Brothers,” a giant tome that lists the accomplishments of the member of the King’s Guard, he gets to Jaime’s page and remarks about how bare it is. Jaime says there is still time to fill it up, prompting Joffrey to make a snide quip about his 40-year-old uncle with one good hand. New season, same Joffrey.
Jaime is then reunited with his travelling companion from last season, Brienne, as the two stand overlooking Sansa Stark Lannister praying below them. Brienne reminds Jaime of his promise to deliver the Stark girls back to their mother, which leads Jaime to opine that the unseen-around-King’s Landing Arya Stark is likely dead (nope!) and that Sansa is now his sister-in-law… and oh by the way, all of her family is pretty much dead, so where exactly would he send her to anyway?
As Sansa is leaving the godswood, former knight turned king’s fool Sir Dontos approaches, thanking Sansa for saving his life at Joffrey’s name-day celebration. As a token of his appreciation, he gives Sansa a family necklace.
En route from the Twins to the Vale, Arya and “The Hound” continue to be the best combo on the show. She asks for a horse of her own, saying she wants to get away from his stench, but “The Hound” will have none of it. They come across a tavern and Arya recognizes one of the patrons—it’s Pulliver, the guy that killed her friend, stole her sword, and took her to Harrenhal in Season 2.
Arya heads to the tavern door, prompting The Hound to follow, and as they walk in, they come across Pulliver and his mates pawing over some poor girl, drinking and having some chicken. Arya and The Hound sit by themselves, but Pulliver recognizes The Hound, joining them at their table, yammering on about the exploits of The Mountain, The Hound’s brother, and offering an opportunity to make some money by joining their pillaging party, saying no one will bother them because they’re wearing the King’s colours.
“F@&# the King!” is The Hound’s response, and he asks for some chicken. Pulliver offers a trade — a chicken for Arya, who he thinks is The Hound’s conquest. The Hound declines and the fight jumps off, with Pulliver and his men trying their best against the massive Sandor Clegane.
With The Hound taking care of the majority of the crew, Arya jumps to action, forcing a long sword through one man before cutting Pulliver down at the knees. She takes back her thin blade, “Needle” as she has named it, and repeats the words he said to her friend before killing him.
The episode ends with The Hound on his horse, enjoying some chicken as Arya rides behind him on a horse of her own, Needle back in her possession.
Final Thoughts:
My first thought tonight was, “It’s over? Already?” An hour goes by quickly when you’ve been waiting nine months for its arrival.
Overall, this was a great episode—brought everyone up to speed on the major storylines (save for what’s up with Stannis Baratheon) and set the table for the season ahead.
Tyrion Lannister is still the most interesting figure in the series (IMO), but I think his brother Jaime is going to give him a run for his money this season.
Also, expect big things from Arya Stark as well—no way they have her growing more bold and ready to kill in Episode 1 without it foreshadowing bigger things from her later this season.
See you next Monday.
