With only ten episodes, we’re now in the second half of this season of Game of Thrones and things are slowly but surely getting crazy. I’d hoped that I’d have a better grasp on some of the more minor characters by now, but there are so many of them. I mostly know what’s going on, but all brutes tend to look the same, you know? So as always, head to the comments and let me know if I’m missing or misunderstanding something.

Winterfell

Theon attacked Winterfell – it was a brutal attack, including a less than clean beheading. He woke up poor, crippled Bran with the bad news. Bran refused to surrender, although those words felt a bit weak coming from a small boy who’s unable to walk.

“Theon… did you hate us the whole time?”

When Bran uttered those words, I think what was going on really hit home. Theon is split between two families, and it seemed pretty clear that he wouldn’t be doing this if Ned Stark were still alive. Theon told Bran that no harm would come to the people if he yielded, but to earn the respect (fear, really) of the people he ordered an execution. It was incredibly disgusting, but it is Game of Thrones after all. We expect gruesome.

Osha immediately bailed on Bran and declared her allegiance to Theon, but I knew she was faking to protect Bran. I especially knew when she offered herself up to him, telling him that she knew “savage things”. It was super weird when Theon said “I always wondered what you had under there.” I was wondering how she managed to get a bikini wax, yet can’t comb her hair?

Once Theon was passed out from all the savage sex, Osha creeped away, killed a guard (once again using her feminine wiles!) and rescued Bran, Rickon and Hodor.

Beyond The Wall

This storyline became more interesting this week when Jon Snow and the others discovered ex-Downton Abbey maid Gwen out in the wild. Funny, I thought Gwen had left service to become a secretary. This certainly seems like a step down from the kitchen, and that was in the basement.

Kidding aside, Rose Leslie was great here as Ygritte. Jon was supposed to execute her, but he couldn’t do it. Ygriite ran and Jon chased her, eventually catching her. I don’t think he would have killed her anyway, but he needed her. He’d lost his companions and nightfall was coming. They had to snuggle up to keep each other warm overnight. Oooh, things are heating up in the frozen wasteland. Not too much, though – always the killjoy, Jon ordered Ygritte to stop “moving” while they were laying together.

Harrenhaal

I love how much information Arya is privy to because she’s Tywin’s servant. When Littlefinger showed up, she tried to avoid eye contact so he wouldn’t recognize her – the tension was unbelievable.

Later, Arya told Tywin that she’s able to read because her father taught her, and he’d taught himself. She said he was a stonemason, and when Tywin asked what killed him she replied “Loyalty”. Then Arya asked Tywin about his own father and when she’s distracted him she stole his war plans. A sharp one indeed! She was caught by Amory Lorch and escaped just in time to get her second murder request to Jaquen, demanding it be right now. (I loved his sort of sigh when she explained that it had to be immediately.)

King’s Landing

Over at King’s Landing, Cersei’s daughter was leaving for safety and Cersei chillingly told Tyrion that she hoped he would one day fall in love, so that she could take that person from him.

Riots are getting worse in King’s Landing, and I truly hope it’s only a matter of time before Joffrey is successfully offed. It is brutal though – someone’s arm was ripped off (disgusting) and Sansa was nearly raped. Thankfully, she was rescued by Hound just in time. Later, the giant bodyguard told Tyrion he hadn’t doe it for him. Hmm. An inappropriate crush, but if it protects Sansa then it’s worthwhile.

Something good did come of it, though. Tyrion hit Joffrey for freaking out and demanding that the entire village be beheaded. I feel like that one was for all of us.

Sansa later confided in Shae that she hates the king more than any of the villagers, but Shae warned her not to say such things out loud. Even though Sansa thinks she can trust  Shae, it’s safer to trust no one. Still, I like the friendship that’s slowly developing between them.

Battleground

Robb Stark continues to flirt with the pretty nurse, who is of noble blood. His introduced her to his mother (moving a bit fast, if you ask me) and she reminded him that he’s engaged to someone else. Er…can someone remind me who he’s engaged to? Because I can’t remember, and I’d like it to be full steam ahead with the hot nurse.

Quarth

Things are picking up in Quarth, where Daeny tried to convince the mysterious Spice King to give her ships in exchange for three times the repayment once she’d taken back the Iron Throne. He said no, because she wasn’t really taking the throne “back”. She’d never had the throne, her father had.

I wasn’t surprised that Daeny’s dragons were stolen because, well, she wasn’t doing a great job of protecting them was she? It’s still an interesting plot twist though, so I’m excited to see what happens next.

What did you guys think of the episode?