Game of Thrones Episode 40: The Children

Jon Snow walks alone beyond the Wall and into Mance Rayder’s camp, where he says he has come to negotiate peace. Mance quickly sees through him and realizes Jon had meant to kill him, but before anything can happen, Stannis Baratheon’s cavalry suddenly arrives and crashes through the wildling camp, throwing the battle into chaos.

After the attack, Mance surrenders and is taken prisoner. The dead are burned, including the fallen members of the Night’s Watch, and Jon later burns Ygritte’s body beyond the Wall after speaking with Tormund.

Farther north, Bran Stark and his companions continue toward the place from Bran’s visions. Their journey is interrupted by skeletal wights attacking them in the snow, and Jojen is killed in the struggle. A mysterious Child of the Forest then rescues Bran, Meera, and Hodor and leads them to an old man sitting before a great tree, where Bran meets the being he has been seeking.

In King’s Landing, Jaime Lannister frees Tyrion from his cell after learning Tyrion is about to be executed. Tyrion makes his way through the Red Keep, discovers Shae in Tywin’s chambers, and kills her in a fit of rage before confronting Tywin himself and killing him with a crossbow.

Brienne of Tarth and Podrick Payne encounter Arya Stark and the Hound while traveling in the Riverlands. Brienne recognizes Arya and offers to protect her, but the Hound refuses to let Arya go, leading to a brutal duel between Brienne and the Hound.

In Meereen, Daenerys Targaryen is shown the consequences of Drogon’s absence and her dragons’ growing danger. After learning that a child has been killed and hearing her advisers’ warnings, she decides to chain up the two remaining dragons beneath the city.

By the end of the episode, Varys helps Tyrion escape from King’s Landing by ship after Tywin’s death is discovered, and Melisandre watches events at the Wall through the flames.