Game of Thrones Episode 21: Valar Dohaeris

The episode opens **beyond the Wall**, where the survivors of the Night’s Watch are fleeing the attack on the Fist of the First Men. Samwell Tarly is panicked, hunted by a terrifying reanimated corpse, and barely survives when Ghost appears and Lord Commander Jeor Mormont arrives with the remaining men of the Watch. Mormont angrily blames Sam for failing to send the ravens warning of the danger, then orders the survivors to head back to Castle Black so they can warn the rest of the realm about what is coming.

Jon Snow is brought to the wildling camp and taken before Mance Rayder. At first, Jon mistakes Tormund Giantsbane for Mance, but the real Mance reveals himself and questions why Jon would betray the Night’s Watch to join the free folk. Jon explains that he came to fight the true enemy north of the Wall, and he speaks with enough conviction that Mance listens carefully rather than dismissing him outright.

In **King’s Landing**, Tyrion Lannister receives a visit from Cersei, who is worried about what he intends to ask their father Tywin. Tyrion then meets Tywin and asks for Casterly Rock as his reward for defending the city during the battle, arguing that the castle should pass to him since Jaime is sworn to the Kingsguard. Tywin refuses, dismisses Tyrion’s claim, and makes it clear that he does not intend to honor his son in the way Tyrion wants.

The king and his entourage arrive at **Harrenhal**, where they find the castle abandoned and filled with the bodies of northern prisoners who were massacred before Tywin’s forces left for King’s Landing. Amid the dead, they discover a living man named Qyburn.

Outside the city’s center of power, **Sansa Stark** is approached by Petyr Baelish, who offers her a way out of her situation. Around the same time, Margaery Tyrell continues to present herself as charitable and gracious in public, reinforcing her popularity in King’s Landing.

On **Dragonstone**, Davos Seaworth is rescued after surviving his ordeal at sea and is brought back to shore by Salladhor Saan. Davos is grief-stricken over what happened to his son and is furious about Melisandre, whom he wants to confront; when he returns to Dragonstone and tries to act on that anger, he ends up imprisoned in the dungeons.

Across the sea, **Daenerys Targaryen** arrives at Astapor with her dragons, which have grown larger since the previous season. She begins negotiating for an army of Unsullied, the highly trained slave soldiers sold there. During her visit, a figure in disguise attempts to assassinate her with a strange creature, but Ser Barristan Selmy intervenes and saves her, then declares his loyalty to her.