Game of Thrones Episode 57: The Broken Man

At the beginning of the episode, Sandor Clegane is living quietly among a small religious community led by a kindly septon named Brother Ray, helping them build a new sept and hearing Ray talk about faith, violence, and starting over. Their peace is interrupted when three rough men from the Brotherhood without Banners arrive and try to extort the villagers, but they leave after realizing the community has nothing worth taking.

While Sandor is away gathering wood, he hears screams and rushes back to find the entire settlement massacred and Brother Ray hanged inside the partially built sept. Enraged, he takes up an axe and sets out from the ruined camp.

In the North, Jon Snow, Sansa Stark, and Davos Seaworth travel from house to house trying to win support for an attack on Winterfell. They first secure the wildlings’ allegiance, with Tormund and the others agreeing to fight because Jon saved them at Hardhome and because Ramsay Bolton would destroy them if left unchecked. They also gain the backing of House Mormont, though it provides only a small force. Lord Robett Glover refuses to join them, blaming the Starks for past failures to protect his family, so Jon’s coalition ends up much smaller than he had hoped. Even so, Jon insists they must march on Winterfell soon, before the Boltons can gather more strength and the weather worsens.

At King's Landing, Margaery Tyrell remains under the High Sparrow’s control, and he pressures her to try to bring her grandmother Olenna into the Faith as well. Margaery meets Olenna and urges her to leave the capital and return to Highgarden, but she quietly slips Olenna a note bearing the Tyrell sigil, signaling that she is still loyal to her family. Olenna accepts the message and agrees to leave.

In the Riverlands, Jaime Lannister arrives at Riverrun to help enforce the siege. He meets with the Blackfish and attempts to negotiate, but the standoff remains unresolved.

In Braavos, Arya Stark arranges passage away from the city and prepares to leave. Her plans are interrupted when she is ambushed by a disguised attacker on a bridge, stabbed, and knocked into the water; she survives by escaping into the canal and later staggers through the city while trying to hide.