Game of Thrones Episode 44: Sons of the Harpy

Jorah Mormont steals a boat in Volantis and sails away with Tyrion Lannister in tow, while other threads across Westeros and Essos move toward open conflict. The episode follows Jon Snow, Cersei, Jaime, Daenerys, and others as tensions sharpen, ending with a violent ambush in Meereen.

At the Wall, Jon Snow writes letters to northern lords asking for men and supplies for the Night’s Watch, and he is visibly annoyed when one of the names he must address is Roose Bolton. Melisandre later visits him and tries to seduce him, pushing him to join Stannis’s effort to take Winterfell, but Jon refuses her offer. As she leaves, she repeats Ygritte’s old words to him: “You know nothing, Jon Snow.”

In the northern camp, Stannis speaks with Shireen after she asks whether he is ashamed of her scarred face. He tells her the story of how she contracted greyscale as a child, how he tried to save her instead of sending her away, and reassures her that she is his daughter.

At Winterfell, Petyr Baelish tells Sansa that he is leaving for King’s Landing at Cersei’s request. He also tells her that Stannis will soon attack Winterfell and defeat the Boltons, and that Sansa will be made Wardeness of the North.

In King’s Landing, Cersei sends Mace Tyrell to Braavos with Meryn Trant to negotiate with the Iron Bank. She then makes a far more dangerous political move by authorizing the High Sparrow to restore the Faith Militant, giving the religious order power to act against sinners. The Faith Militant quickly arrest Loras Tyrell for his sexuality, and when Margaery asks Tommen to free him, the armed zealots prevent Tommen from interrupting the High Sparrow while he prays. Margaery then informs Olenna of what has happened.

In Dorne, Jaime and Bronn continue south in secret, while Ellaria Sand and the Sand Snakes learn that Jaime has entered their territory. Ellaria urges war against the Lannisters, and the Sand Snakes agree to join her plan to kill Myrcella.

In Meereen, Daenerys receives Hizdahr zo Loraq, who again argues that reopening the fighting pits would help unite the masters and the freedmen. Daenerys still does not commit to the idea in this episode. Around the same time, Grey Worm and several Unsullied are attacked in the streets by the Sons of the Harpy. Barristan Selmy rushes in to help Grey Worm, and together they kill the attackers, but both men are badly wounded and collapse after the fight.

The episode keeps cutting between these threads until the attack in Meereen becomes the most immediate crisis, with the city’s violence exposing how fragile Daenerys’s rule has become.