Game of Thrones Episode 41: The Wars to Come

Cersei Lannister is shown as a young girl visiting a woods witch with a friend, where she demands to know who she will marry and how many children she will have. The witch predicts that Cersei will marry a king, have three children, and later be replaced by a younger, more beautiful queen, then a cut on Cersei’s finger leads the girl to flee in fear.

In the present day, Cersei and Jaime stand over the body of their father, Tywin, and discuss the family’s situation after his death. Their conversation is tense and bitter, with Cersei openly blaming Jaime for releasing Tyrion and helping set the events in motion that led to Tywin’s death.

Tyrion and Varys travel across the Narrow Sea and arrive in Pentos. Varys explains that he and Illyrio Mopatis have been working in secret to put Daenerys on Westeros’s throne, and he tries to persuade Tyrion to go to Meereen to meet her.

In Meereen, an Unsullied is murdered by one of the Sons of the Harpy, a masked anti-Daenerys movement. Daenerys orders Grey Worm to find the killer, showing that her rule is already facing organized resistance.

Daario and Hizdahr return from Yunkai and report that the Wise Masters are willing to hand power to a council made up of former slaves and former masters if Daenerys agrees to reopen the fighting pits. Daenerys refuses the proposal, even after Daario urges her to reconsider.

Daenerys later visits her dragons beneath the Great Pyramid. The dragons react aggressively toward her, forcing her to leave without getting close to them.

At the Vale, Littlefinger arranges for Lord Yohn Royce to take Robin Arryn as his ward. He also tells Royce that he and Sansa will travel to the Fingers, but instead they head west, with Brienne and Podrick nearby and unaware that Sansa has just passed them by.

At the Wall, Jon Snow is drawn into Stannis Baratheon’s plans. Stannis wants Jon to persuade Mance Rayder to bend the knee and convince the wildlings to fight for him so he can retake the North from Roose Bolton.

Mance refuses to submit and is sentenced to die by burning. Jon, taking pity on him, shoots Mance dead before the flames fully consume him.

The episode closes with the various power struggles established but unresolved: Daenerys under pressure in Meereen, Tyrion heading toward her with Varys, Cersei and Jaime facing the loss of their father, and Jon forced to choose between mercy and obedience at the Wall.