Game of Thrones Episode 11: The North Remembers

Tyrion Lannister arrives in King’s Landing to take up his role as Hand of the King, immediately confronting the mess Joffrey and Cersei have made of the court. He brings Bronn and a group of mountain clansmen with him, presents a letter from Tywin Lannister confirming his appointment, and quickly establishes that he intends to curb Joffrey’s excesses.

At the royal court, Joffrey celebrates his name day with brutal, humiliating entertainment, and Sansa Stark is forced to navigate his cruelty. When Joffrey orders Ser Dontos Hollard drowned in wine for his drunken state, Sansa intervenes and persuades him to make Dontos the new court fool instead.

Tyrion clashes with Cersei almost at once, blaming her for mishandling the realm, starting a disastrous war, and losing Arya Stark, who remains missing. Cersei is clearly angered by his arrival, but she is also forced to work with him for the moment.

In Winterfell, Bran Stark and Maester Luwin are left to manage the castle and hear petitions from the remaining northern lords and smallfolk. Bran has a vivid dream in which he is Summer, racing through the Godswood, and afterward Osha and Hodor carry him to the great weirwood tree in the center of the Godswood. There, they discuss the red comet in the sky and argue over what it means, with possibilities ranging from victory and blood to dragons returning.

Beyond the Wall, Jon Snow and the Night’s Watch reach Craster’s Keep, the home of Craster, a wildling who lives with his many daughter-wives. Jon is visibly disturbed by Craster’s way of life, but the Watch must stay there for shelter while ranging through dangerous territory.

Across the Narrow Sea, Daenerys Targaryen and her small khalasar continue crossing the Red Waste with her three young dragons. The journey is grim and desperate, as the group is short on food and water and uncertain where they can find help or refuge.

On Dragonstone, Stannis Baratheon, the eldest living brother of King Robert, declares his claim to the Iron Throne. With him is the priestess Melisandre, whose worship of the Red God clearly unsettles Maester Cressen and many of Stannis’s men.

Stannis sends letters throughout the Seven Kingdoms announcing that Joffrey, Tommen, and Myrcella are not Robert’s true children, but are the result of incest between Cersei and Jaime.