Arya arrives in Braavos and goes straight to the House of Black and White. She knocks, and an old man answers. She shows him her iron coin and drops Jaqen H’ghar’s name. The old man says there is no one by that name here and shuts the door. Undeterred, Arya camps out on the steps of the massive temple, chanting the names of those she seeks vengeance against: Cersei Lannister, Walder Frey, The Mountain, Meryn Trant. Day comes, and with no hint of being let into the temple, she tosses her coin in the water and stomps off. In the village, she kills a pigeon and wanders the streets. A couple of men start picking on her, and she warns them away with her pint-sized sword. They draw their own knives, but the old man from the House of Black and White appears. Without a word, the men run scared and Arya follows him back to the temple. On the steps, he tosses her her discarded coin and reveals that the old man is just a mask; beneath is Jaqen H’ghar. “A man is not Jaqen. I am no one, and that is who a girl must become.” She follows him into the temple.
Brienne and Podrick stop off at a tavern and they soon discover Sansa and Baelish are there. Brienne sends him to ready the horses – and find more – before she introduces herself. Bowing before Sansa, she explains her promise to her mother, but Baelish doesn’t trust her. As her uncle now, he doesn’t want an “outsider” getting involved. Brienne begs Sansa for a moment alone, but Sansa refuses. She points out that she bowed to Joffrey at his wedding, and doesn’t trust her motivations. Brienne leaves the tavern, looses all the horses, and she and Podrick ride off. Baelish’s guards are hot on their tail and the two are split up. Podrick is thrown from his horse and a couple knights catch up to him. Brienne kills them easily then informs Podrick that they will continue to follow Sansa – she doesn’t believe Sansa is safe with Baelish. I agree. He has always had that creepy, pervy uncle vibe – even before he was technically her uncle.
Cersei calls Jaime to her. She has gotten a stuffed snake with a medallion in its mouth. Myrcella’s medallion. Interestingly, Cersei has dropped all pretension at this point, and refers to her as “our” daughter. Cersei is incensed and wants to burn Dorne to the ground. After some arguing, Jaime promises to go to Dorne and bring Myrcella home. He will go without an army, so as not to arouse suspicions of Myrcella’s paternity, and also to avoid political missteps. But he is not going alone. He visits Bronn, who is walking the beach with his betrothed, the perky but dimwitted Lollys Stokeworth. Jaime explains that he wants Bronn to assist him on his mission. Bronn seems happy to just get married and hope that Stokeworth castle eventually falls to him and Lollys, but Jaime produces a scroll showing that Lollys has been promised to another. Bronn agrees to go with Jaime, and he promises to give him a “better girl with a better castle.”
Tyrion is getting a little cabin fever and wants to take a walk. Varys warns him, informing him that his sister has offered a lordship in exchange for his head. Tyrion gives the best line in the entire episode: “She should offer her cunt. Best part of her for the best part of me.” Tyrion wonders how many dwarves there are in the world, and if Cersei would really kill them all to get to him.
Cut to…
A few men bringing a dwarf’s head to Cersei. It is clearly not Tyrion, which Cersei informs the men disappointedly. But, she assures them, “mistakes will be made” and they escape without punishment. Cersei doesn’t want to discourage others. Qyburn wants the head for his experiments, so we have that to look forward to (hopefully). She next goes to the council, sitting in for Tommen. She assures the men that she is not hand to the king – that would be inappropriate for a woman – but she is advising her son until he comes of age and chooses a hand for himself. Mace Tyrell offers to take up the position, and Cersei quickly appoints him Master of Coin in addition to Master of Ships. He is honored and forgets about the hand. She also decrees her uncle will be Master of War, but Kevan isn’t having it. He thinks Tommen should be there, if for no other reason than to learn. He doesn’t recognize Cersei’s authority and won’t serve on her council. “You are the queen mother and nothing more.” He will return to Casterly Rock.
In Dorne, Ellaria watches Myrcella suspiciously from afar. She charges in on Doran, mad that his brother was murdered, but he just sits there. She wants him to avenge Oberyn’s death, and she is tired of Myrcella there. Ellaria suggests they send the girl back to Cersei – one finger at a time. Doran refuses to mutilate a little girl, “not here, not while I rule.” I think we all see where this is going.
Jon is brought before Stannis to be reprimanded for showing mercy to Mance. But he is offered a deal. The Lady of Bear Island will only recognize a Stark as king and won’t promise her house to Stannis. Elections for the new Lord Commander are imminent, and though Jon might be nominated, Allister Thorne will probably win, and make Jon’s life miserable. So Stannis makes Jon an offer: give him the north. “Kneel to me, you will rise again as Jon Stark, Lord of Winterfell.” Jon shares this news with Sam, who is incredulous over the offer. Jon has spent his life daydreaming of being recognized as a Stark, but he will turn down the offer: he swore an oath the Knight’s Watch. The vote for Lord Commander comes up. Allister Thorne is nominated; so is Janos Slynt. At the last minute, Sam nominates Jon, and lists the reasons why he should win, and the others shouldn’t. Allister cannot argue with Jon’s service, but thinks he is too much of a wildling lover. The votes are cast, and a tie is broken. Jon is the new Lord Commander.
In Meereen, Daario and a few guards find a man hiding in a false wall in his hovel. There is a Sons of the Harpy mask with him, and he is taken away. Daenerys meets with her council to decide the Harpy’s fate. All except Barristan believe he should be publicly murdered; Barristan wants him to have a trial, teach the people a better way, and to not follow in the footsteps of her father. Daenerys takes offense at this comparison, but promises the Harpy won’t be executed without a fair trial. Mossador takes it upon himself to mete out punishment. He kills the Harpy and puts him on display with the message “Kill the masters” written in blood. Mossador defends himself, claiming he did it for Daenerys because her hands were tied. He feared being returned to slavery. Daenerys has no sympathy; “the law is the law!” and she has her guards drag him away.
Daenerys leaves her pyramid, the crowds screaming for her. She is like a one-woman Beatles; they love her. Mossador is brought out in shackles, begging for forgiveness. She explains his crime, and that the law says death, but the crowd cries for mercy. Daario takes a huge, curved blade to Mossador’s neck. Daenerys looks to the crowd, considers the options, then gives Daario a look. He takes off Mossador’s head and the crowd falls silent. Then the hissing starts, and thrown rocks, and a full-blown riot erupts. The guards rush her back into the pyramid. Night falls and her council tries to soothe her, but she wants to be alone. She hears something outside, and creeps out cautiously to check on the noise. The noise is Drogon. He has returned and sits quietly atop her pyramid. The two move towards each other, slowly, cautiously. Drogon lets her pet him briefly, then flies away. See, that’s what happens when you don’t lock your dragons in a cave!
Below, you can watch a preview of the third episode of Game of Thrones Season 5, titled “High Sparrow.” In Braavos, Arya sees the Many-Faced God. In King’s Landing, Queen Margaery enjoys her new husband. Tyrion and Varys walk the Long Bridge of Volantis.
