The Social Event of the Season

In a hurry? Read the recaplet for a nutshell description! Finished? Click here to close.

At the beginning of the episode, Robb and his posse arrive at The Twins so Edmure Tully can marry Roslin Frey. But let's run through the other plots before we check in on them, okay?

Now that Daario's on her war council, Daenerys has a plan for attacking Yunkai: Daario, Jorah and Grey Worm will sneak in the back gate and kill everyone. Simple, right? Actually, it is! They take care of the first thirty or so guards, and then it turns out that the opposing army is mostly composed of slaves who have the sense to surrender immediately. So that's it for Yunkai, then.

Sam and Gilly make their way all the way to the Wall, and now they need to figure out a way to get past it. Gilly is very impressed with Sam's plan to sneak through an abandoned castle, because this is the first time she's met anyone who's read a book.

Bran and crew are on their way north to the Wall when they have to take shelter from the rain in a convenient tower. And they're still there when Tormund's army (including Jon Snow) get there! You'd think this would be a great time for Bran and Rickon to be reunited with Jon, but they're a little worried about being killed by Wildlings. So when Hodor is afraid of the thunder and starts shouting "Hodor," Bran has to step up his superpower game: he possesses Hodor and shuts him up! Then, when Jon's in a tight spot because he doesn't want to kill someone to prove he's not a crow, Bran possesses his wolf Summer and starts ripping out throats. Orell gets killed, but I think he manages to put his consciousness into his eagle. And Jon rides away while Ygritte glares at him. Back up in the tower, Jojen explains that Bran is a warg, which normally just means he can take over an animal. Possessing Hodor is much more impressive. And now that Bran is determined to go north of the Wall to find his three-eyed crow, he tells Osha to take Rickon off to the Umbers, where he'll be safe. And they leave immediately!

Sandor steals a cart full of salt pork, although Arya keeps him from killing the owner. Then he rides her all the way up to the front door of The Twins, just in time for the wedding of Edmure Tully to Roslin Frey.

Okay, so this wedding. It goes pretty well at first. Roslin is much more attractive than Edmure had been imagining. There's a "bedding ceremony," which turns out to mean that the bride and groom are carried to their bed, stripped, and then consummate the marriage while everybody watches. There's some hooting and hollering, too.

And after the happy couple is out of the room, Talisa gets stabbed in the pregnant stomach over and over. Then the Starks just get massacred. Robb and Catelyn both get shot by crossbows kind of a lot. Catelyn manages to grab Frey's wife and threatens to cut her throat if Robb isn't allowed to leave. But Walder Frey isn't a sentimental man, so everybody dies. Robb gets his throat cut, then Catelyn kills Lady Frey and just stands there until a Frey soldier slits her own throat. Arya is hiding behind some barrels in the courtyard when she sees Stark soldiers get ambushed. She tries to save Robb's wolf, but it gets killed in front of her. Then Sandor clonks her on the head and carries her away, which is the only reason she stays alive.

Want more? The full recap starts right below!

There's a change in the opening credits! We start with King's Landing as usual, but then Dragonstone and The Twins show up before Winterfell and The Wall. We close, as has become the custom in recent weeks, with Yunkai. I'm not sure Winterfell really deserves to be in the credits at this point. No one's even been there in this entire season. It's probably full of squatters at this point.

We open with a close-up on one of those maps that the generals have been using as a war table. Specifically, Casterly Rock. Ooh, the pieces are carved to represent their specific armies! So there are wolf heads and lions and even a little Flayed Man for the Boltons. Robb describes his plan to Catelyn: he thinks if he takes Casterly Rock, which is Tywin Lannister's home, everyone will see that Tywin isn't invincible. And then, I guess everyone in the kingdom will switch their allegiance to him. He wants Catelyn's advice, so he can follow it. Unlike he did when she recommended against sending Theon to Balon to ask for help, and remember how that turned out. (It turned out with Winterfell being burned down and Bran and Rickon being lost.) He says he has enough men to take Casterly Rock, "if Walder Frey cooperates." But Catelyn says that timely reinforcements from King's Landing would trap them between an army and the sea. But after considering the options, she says, "Show them how it feels to lose what they love." So the Casterly Rock plan is on, then. Whoever's guarding it will probably be surprised to be dragged into action, since I imagine they've been pretty happy not to be involved in the war so far.

Robb snacks on some bread. They're in Walder Frey's throne room already. Looks like we're moving this plot right along! Walder says that his honored guests are welcome in his halls and at his table. Upon closer inspection, I can report that they're eating bread dipped in salt. Robb begs Walder forgiveness, but Walder says he should apologize to his girls instead. The young ladies come out and stand in two lines. Walder says, "One of them was supposed to be queen. Now none of them are." He introduces them all, and I have decided not write down all the names. Most of them sound a lot like "Walder." Walder forgets one name, guessing "Waldina," and she has to correct him. Her name is "Mary," although the closed-captioning spells it "Merry." My ears are not sufficiently acute to tell the difference. Robb apologizes to all the women (and girls), saying that he loved another and hopes that the Freys and Starks can be friends. Walder claps sarcastically. If you're wondering how to clap sarcastically, the key is to do it very slowly and also wear gloves to muffle the sound a little. And make sure no one joins in.

Walder has Talisa step forward so he can have a look at her. Then he has her come a little closer, claiming that his old eyes don't work as well as they used to. He suggests that rather than falling in love, Robb was dazzled by a pretty woman. He further comments on Talisa's pretty face and her shape, even though it's under a fairly shapeless dress. He explains, "I can always see what's going on beneath a dress." What happened to those old eyes, pal? He speculates on Talisa's lack of...let's call it droopiness. Walder dismisses the idea of Robb falling in love at first sight and says, "I say he betrayed me for firm tits and a tight fit...and I can respect that." So everything's fine, then! He adds that he'd have broken fifty oaths to "get inside that." Hmm. Crass, but I guess Robb has to put up with a certain amount of razzing. And with that, Walder says that the important people get to stay in the castle and there are tents outside for everyone else. He closes the scene with, "The wine will flow red and the music will play loud and we'll put this mess behind us." Well, that sounds very nice. I'm sure everyone will enjoy that, and the phrase "the wine will flow red" will in no way seem like ominous foreshadowing in retrospect.

Daenerys's camp. She has a small map of Yunkai, because she's not involved in a big enough campaign to need one of those big fancy war tables with the hand-carved figures. Daario tells her there's a back door into the city, which his men used to use so they could go get some action from the "bed slaves." Daario doesn't use bed slaves because "a man cannot make love to property." I guess he's never seen that show about the guy who's in love with his car. So his plan is to take two of Daenerys's best men in through the back gate, kill a bunch of Yunkish soldiers, and open the front gate from the inside. Easy! Jorah thinks Daario could be setting them a trap. Daario tells him, "You have a very suspicious mind. In my experience, only dishonest people think this way." Jorah hates this guy. I think it has something to do with the way Daario put his hand over Daenerys's when he showed her the back door. Jorah asks Grey Worm to weigh in, and Daenerys reminds him he's a leader now, so he has to have opinions on stuff. Grey Worm trusts Daario. So they'll be leaving tonight! Daario smirks, as usual. Selmy tells Jorah he could use an extra sword, but Jorah won't let Selmy come along. He's the Queensguard and needs to stay with her, even if he's not proud of it. It's a good point. There have been several assassination attempts against her.

Two people are walking through the snow. That would make them Sam and Gilly. Which means there's a third person being carried, but until they give the baby a name, I think I can be forgiven for not seeing him right away. Sam explains their location, which I appreciate: "We're west of Castle Black but the Nightfort's closest to us." He goes on to blather exposition all over the place, which is entirely in character for him. The Nightfort was the first castle, but it was abandoned for being too big to maintain. It also has "the Black Gate," which no one's used in centuries. And it leads through the Wall! I guess it makes sense that there are other gates besides the one we already saw, but I still don't think it's a good idea to have a bunch of abandoned holes in your wall. But Sam knows how to find this one. He explains that he read about it. In a book. Gilly is baffled at the idea of learning from staring at paper: "You're like a wizard." That's right, kids, reading is like being a wizard! It's magical! They stop and stare at the Wall, which looms in the distance. To the south, presumably. Gilly says Craster (who she still calls "father" to remind us that he was creepy) said no Wildling ever looked on it and lived. But here they are! Craster was clearly just lying to keep his daughter-wives from going south to have a look at it.

Sandor sets Arya down as they come up on a wagon with a busted wheel. He lifts the whole thing into the air so the wagon's owner can fit the wheel back onto the axel. The owner of the wagon is trying to get the salt pork to the Twins in time for the big Wedding. Sandor listens to this information, then punches him in the head so hard he falls unconscious. And then he pulls out a knife and steps forward to finish the job, but Arya gets in his way. Sandor explains, "Dead rats don't squeak." Arya has had enough of being pushed around: "You're so dangerous, aren't you. Saying scary things to little girls. Killing little boys and old people. A real hard man you are." Sandor says he's more dangerous than anyone she knows, but that just reminds her of Jaqen, so she brags about how she knows a real killer, to whom Sandor would be as a kitten. Sandor makes sure she's not talking about the guy on the ground, then starts to go ahead with his plan to kill him. Arya tries saying please and, much to her surprise, it works! Sandor tells her, "You're very kind. Someday it'll get you killed." The guy sits up and Arya whops him with a stick. He's out again. So he's not dead, but he probably has a concussion. And he's lost his cart full of pork products, so he can't even console himself with ham.

Bran's crew is at The Gift. Bran's crew currently consists of himself, his brother Rickon, their Wildling friend Osha, Hodor (the guy who only says Hodor), Jojen, and Meera. The Gift is the area of land south of the Wall that Brandon the Builder gave to the king. Meera wonders why it's uninhabited, since it looks like nice land. And it has a nice tower already built on it! Bran explains that the area was abandoned because the Wildlings kept raiding it. Osha glares at him for that. Rickon says that Old Nan told him that Wildlings turn your skull into a cup and make you drink your own blood from it. I'm not sure how that would work. This also results in a look from Osha, but it's not really a glare. There's a storm coming, so everyone figures they might as well hide in the tower. Osha tells Rickon he can drink some blood while they wait.

Enough of them. Off to the Wildlings! Orell has been doing some reconnaissance, and he says this farm has one old man with eight horses. Jon says he breeds them for the Watch, and the Watch protects him in return. Orell says he should have some gold. Tormund says he'll also have good steel, so they'll carve him up and take everything. Whee! Jon wants to leave the old man alive, because this is the scene where the undercover cop has to face a moral dilemma. Ygritte says the man will be better off with a spear than dying of old age. By that reasoning, you might as well kill everyone you see, right?

Everyone runs out from behind their tiny wall to go slaughter this guy. There are a lot more people in Tormund's merry band than I thought. I had the impression that it was just the named characters, plus maybe three hangers-on, but there are around thirty people here. While running, Jon clangs his sword onto a convenient rock, which makes the horses whinny, and the man comes out to see what's up. And when he sees that what's up is that thirty or so bloodthirsty Wildlings are storming his farm, he gets up on a horse and starts to ride away. Ygritte's about to shoot an arrow into him, but Jon calls her name and she shoots a nearby tree instead. Then she glares at him. She'd probably tell him he knows nothing, but there isn't time.

Arya looks across a river at the Twins. It's this pair of castles on either side of the river, connected by a bridge. Sandor eats some pork, which Arya thinks makes it look like he's not a hog farmer. Well, if he eats literally all the pork on the wagon, sure. But surely a pig foot here and there isn't entirely out of character for a hog farmer. He mocks her a little for constantly looking at the Twins, like she's worried that Robb and Catelyn will leave before she gets there: "You're almost there and you're afraid you won't make it. The closer you get the worse the fear gets." It's not an unreasonable fear. Things have been rough for Arya so far in this series. She takes offense at being accused of feeling dear, so she lashes out at Sandor about his fear of fire. She spotted it when Beric's sword went up. Also she heard what his brother Gregor did to him, holding his head in a fire. Well, also his face is covered in an enormous burn scar. Sandor asks, "That give you some ideas?" She says maybe. He tells her to go ahead and try. After all, her family is just over the river and maybe she could get to them. Then he reminds her about Ilyn Payne killing her father, because he's determined to get the last word in. She stares at him and says, "Someday I'm gonna put a sword through your eye and out the back of your skull." It looks like Arya wins. Although she's been dreaming of murder for several episodes and I think she needs to start doing some actual killing. You don't want to get a reputation for being all talk.

Bran's crew takes shelter from the rain in a high room in the tower. Osha says got south by going around the Wall through the Bay of Seals. But that's not practical for them. And climbing the Wall seems unrealistic, since Hodor would have to carry Bran all the way up. Jojen thinks one of the abandoned castles will help. And he's probably right, since that's what Sam is going to do from the other side. The rain escalates into a thunderstorm, which makes Hodor shout "Hodor!" in fear. And then! There are riders out there! Riding around and making noise! And the wolves are out hunting! Hodor hodors very loudly and starts pacing around the room. He doesn't like the thunder at all.

Down at ground level, Orell looks up at the tower. So Jon Snow's group and Bran's group are practically in the same place! I'm pretty excited by this, because usually all the stories take place in their own little silos. It's like when you're watching The Amazing Race and there's a shot of one team that shows another team at a different point on the race. Anyway, Orell is looking up at the tower because he can hear Hodor's hodoring. And then! Bran's eyes go white and Hodor falls to his knees and shuts up. Everyone in the tower looks suspiciously at Bran. And then there's the noise of a horse dying out on the ground.

Orell says he heard shouting up in the tower. Tormind suggests that it was thunder. Or ghosts. Orell thinks that's stupid, because thunder doesn't sound like shouting. Tormund doesn't care about the possibility of people being in the tower. They've caught up with the horse guy, so it was his horse that got killed. Tormund takes his knife through a combination of niceness and intimidation. Orell says to cut his throat. Tormund takes out his sword. From behind a cart, Bran and Rickon's wolves (Summer and Shaggydog) watch. Orell says to make Jon Snow kill him, which is a pretty good idea. That's what the undercover cop is always asked to do in the mafia movies.

Up in the tower, Jojen tells Bran to possess Summer and do something. Bran insists he can only possess Summer in his dreams, but the fact that he just did it to Hodor two minutes ago suggests that he's better at it than he thinks. Jojen says he's a warg and should get on with it. Jojen is supposed to be the magical mentor here, but really he's just kind of pushing Bran around.

Jon puts his sword to the man's neck. There's a long pause. Ygritte says "Do it." Orell says he's still one of the Night's Watch. Tormund says to go on. It's certainly taking him a long time. Ygritte finally shoots the guy with an arrow. Orell says this is proof that Jon is a crow, so Tormund says to kill him. Jon shoves Ygritte aside and attacks Orell. Fight! Whee! Tormund grabs Ygritte to keep her out of the fight.

Up in the tower, Bran finally gets convinced to warg. His eyes go white.

Downstairs: Wolves attack! They go to town on some of the nameless guys, so Jon is able to kill Orell. Just before sticking in the sword, he whispers in Orell's ear, "You were right the whole time." Before he dies, Orell wargs the eagle, and it comes down and looks pretty fake as it attacks Jon's face. I mean, not Birdemic fake, but pretty bad. It's just kind of flopping around on his face. So I guess that answers the question of what happens if a warg dies. Jon fights the bird off, hops on a horse and rides off. Ygritte watches, crestfallen. So does Tormund, and his crest, if not entirely fallen, still isn't doing all that well.

Yunkai. The three men on the infiltration squad are Daario Naharis, Jorah Mormont and Grey Worm. Daario strolls up to the guard on the back door and gets let in right away. Jorah and Grey Worm wait nervously (well, Jorah is nervous. Grey Worm does not show emotion), then Daario whistles for them. In the courtyard, they find some dead guards. Daario is confident that there will be no more guards. Then a bunch more roll out. Fight scene! There are twenty or thirty guards attacking the three of them. And all three of them look great! Grey Worm is doing some cool spear-and-shield movies. Daario has these things that look like scythes with very short hilts. Or maybe scimitars that curve a lot more than normal. Jorah just has a sword, but he's good with it. They work well together! Toward the end, Jorah doesn't bother cutting down an enemy because he knows he's going toward Daario, who will kill him. Then Daario throws his hand-scythe past Jorah to kill the last enemy. They end up back to back-to-back in the center of the courtyard. And then another twenty or thirty guards swarm out. Sheesh. This infiltration is not going as secretly as Daario said it would. If it's going to be a straight-up fight, they might as well have brought more than three people.

The camp outside the Twins has a lot of Stark soldiers drinking and wrestling. Inside, Walder Frey walks his daughter toward the altar. Catelyn gives Edmure a sympathetic smile as he waits at the altar to find out who he's being forced to marry. He finally gets his first look at his betrothed as the veil is removed, and she's not at all bad! She says she hopes she's not a disappointment, and he says she's a delight. Well, if all Edmure cares about is the physical attractiveness of his wife, I guess it's nice that he's pleased. Now it's time for him to cloak her and put her under his protection, like we saw with Tyrion. Well, not exactly like that, since Edmure can do it without drama. The priest has them say, "Father, Smith, Warrior, Mother, Maiden, Crone, Stranger. I am (his/ hers) and (he/she) is mine from this day until the end of my days." There are a lot of exchanged glances in the crowd. They mostly convey that Blackfish and Catelyn think Edmure got lucky.

Back at the tower, Bran admits that the evidence suggests that he can get inside Summer's mind whenever he wants. Jojen says lots of people can do that sort of thing north of the Wall. But getting inside Hodor's mind? "No one can do that. Anywhere." I suppose it would be unkind to point out that Hodor's mind is not fully developed. Bran tells Rickon he saw Jon with the Wildlings. He waited awhile to mention that, since all the Wildlings are gone now. And Jon left, so Osha wants to go to Castle Black to meet up with him. Castle Black is north of here, at the Wall, so I still kind of wonder why Tormund is so far south. I get that he's looping around to attack Castle Black from the south, but at this point, they're just randomly raiding people. Bran says he's going north past the Wall, because he's firmly on this plan to go find the three-eyed crow. But he's going without Rickon and Osha and Shaggydog. Gasp! He's splitting the party! He says they should go to Last Hearth where the Umbers will protect them. The Umbers are Stark bannermen, although I'm not sure they still are. Bran hasn't really been in a position to keep up on the news of the war. He asks Osha if she can find the Last Hearth. She rolls her eyes and says these big unmoving castles are easy to find. She promises Rickon they'll be fine and have great adventures. Rickon's pretty unhappy about this. He's so unhappy that he gets several lines of dialogue in a row for the first time in the entire series. Osha says it's time to say good-bye, even though it's the middle of the night. She tells the other kids that Bran means the world to her, so they should keep him safe. Oh, sure. "Safe." That sounds likely.

Osha, Rickon, and Shaggydog leave. As soon as we lose sight of them, I bet Osha starts filling Rickon's head with all sorts of crazy Wildling stories.

Daenerys's tent. She's getting impatient about her boys' invasion, and Selmy shrugs at her. Jorah comes in with Grey Worm and says the slave soldiers threw down their spears and surrendered. Hooray! She asks, "And Daario Naharis?" The way she asks makes it clear that she's very concerned about him, but she doesn't want to appear very concerned. There's a long pause. Oh, here he is. He's slightly covered in blood, but otherwise he's fine. And I think he might have splattered the blood himself to create a dashing effect. He has a flag and he tells her, "The city is yours, my queen." It looks to me like she's about to order everyone out of the tent so she can get all over Daario.

It's time for the wedding reception! People are eating and drinking and dancing. There's a band sitting on the upper level where they can see the entire room. Even Robb and Catelyn are laughing! Everything's going very nicely. Catelyn tells the Blackfish that Edmure is suspiciously happy for someone who whined the whole way down. They're sitting to Roose Bolton, who we last saw leaving Harrenhal in the hands of Locke. That was only two episodes ago, so he travelled pretty quickly. Roose declines any wine, since he doesn't drink. It dulls the senses, which the Blackfish says is the whole point. Roose says that he married a Frey granddaughter and was promised her weight in silver as a dowry. The punch line is, "So I have a fat young bride." Catelyn says he hopes she makes him very happy. Roose says she's made him rich, which I guess is nearly the same thing.

Over at Robb's table, Talisa says Catelyn does not need to be rescued from Roose Bolton. Robb smiles at her and jokes about how maybe he made a terrible mistake by marrying her. Talisa tries to slap him and he reminds her that it's an act of treason. She warns him not to kiss her, since that would certainly annoy Walder Frey.

And speaking of Walder, he takes this moment to announce that Edmure and Roslin are not yet man and wife. "A sword needs a sheath," he says, which reminds me of a filthy joke from Latin class. It revolves around the Latin word for "sheath." Anyway, it's time for the bedding ceremony. And unlike the one from Tyrion's wedding to Sansa, this one is actually going to happen. Robb says, "If you think the time is right, Lord Walder, by all means, let us bed them." Everyone cheers and the music picks up. The crowd chants, To bed! To bed!" Several unoccupied men take Roslin and carry her on their shoulders. And as they carry her out of the room, they start yanking off her clothes. Edmure gets the same treatment from the ladies, although they're just shoving him along instead of carrying him. He warns them, "Once you set that monster free, there's no caging him again." This isn't foreshadowing; it's just a dick joke.

Catelyn feels sorry for Roslin. Apparently Ned forbade it at their wedding. She tells Roose, "He said it wouldn't be right if he broke a man's jaw on our wedding night." And Talisa also feels that this is a weird, barbaric ceremony, but Robb tells her that it's tradition: "Without the bedding ceremony, there's no real proof the lord and lady consummated their marriage." Oh, do they have sex in front of the whole crowd as well? Classy! Talisa says that there are other ways of proving that sex happened, by which she means pregnancy. Because she's pregnant. If it's a boy, she has a plan to name him Eddard. Oh, that's nice. Robb is sold once she starts describing their idyllic life where he'll get to teach young Ned Stark how to ride horses. They kiss. The camera moves a bit and Catelyn is revealed in the background watching them,

Then a soldier walks in front of Catelyn and closes the big doors to the hall. The band upstairs starts playing something very important: "The Rains of Castamere." Catelyn looks up at the band. It might be worth remembering that Cersei described this song as being all about the way the Lannisters crushed an entire family.

Out in the stables. Robb's wolf is being kept locked up, and it whines as soldiers walk past.

Outside the castle. Everyone's laughing and drinking and having a great time. Sandor rides up to the castle with Arya on the back of the cart. The doorman says he's missed the feast, even though people are clearly still feasting. The man says to turn the cart around and get out. After some arguing, Sandor looks back and sees that Arya has run off.

Walder raises his hand and the music stops.

He says, "Your Grace. I feel I've been remiss in my duties. I've given you meat, wine, and music, but I haven't shown you the hospitality you deserve." Everyone sits down, and Robb is left standing in the middle of the room. Catelyn is sitting to Roose, and she looks nervous. Roose's hand is on the table, and he meets Catelyn's eye, then glances down at his arm. Catelyn pulls his sleeve back and sees that he's wearing chainmail. At a wedding reception? That's weird. Walder continues: "My king has married and I owe my new queen a wedding gift." Roose looks at Catelyn with maybe the tiniest hint of a smile. Catelyn jumps to her feet and slaps him. She shouts, "Robb!"

A soldier runs up and stabs Talisa in the stomach several times. Uh oh. And then Robb is pin-cushioned by a crossbow bolts from above. Among other hits, he gets one in the neck. Talisa falls to the ground. Catelyn gets a bolt and falls. In a wide shot, various people are getting killed. It's a massacre. Walder watches grimly. I'd say "with grim satisfaction," but that's just a guess. He might not really be satisfied yet.

Arya sneaks into the stables. She hears a Stark soldier say how happy he is to be going back to Winterfell. Then some Frey soldiers come out and say the feast is over before they start cutting Stark throats. I'm starting to think it's a bad idea to ever show happiness. Arya looks traumatized, which makes sense. She hides behind a barrel as Frey soldiers walk past. Across the courtyard, she sees Robb's Wolf trying to get out of the stable it's locked into. She starts for it, but then she sees four men with crossbows kill it. She hides again. The poor dead doggy's head is visible under the door. She runs for a horse, but Sandor stops her. "It's too late," he says. Then he clonks her and carries her out. Well, it's probably less traumatic than that time she saw her father decapitated.

Catelyn has only one bolt in her, so she drags herself under a table. She's close to Walder's table, and she can see that Walder's wife is also hiding under a table. Robb pulls himself toward Talisa's body. Walder has everyone stop the massacring. He announces, "The King in the North arises." Robb kneels to Talisa and lifts her head.

Catelyn grabs a knife and runs over to Walder's wife. She stands with her knife at Lady Frey's throat and tells Walder to let it end. She says, "He is my son. My first son. Let him go and I swear we will forget this. I swear it by the old gods and the new. We will take no vengeance." Walder is not interested in her oaths, since she already failed to deliver on a promise. She says she'll be a hostage if Robb can go. She begs Robb to walk out. Walder asks why he'd allow that. Catelyn warns that she'll cut his wife's throat. Robb stands up and kind of sways back and forth. Walder considers the threat to his wife's life and shrugs, "I'll find another." This dude is cold.

Robb says, "Mother." Roose walks up behind Robb. He says, "The Lannisters send their regards." And they did! When Jaime left Harrenhal, the last thing he said to Roose was to send the Lannisters' regards to Robb Stark on the occasion of his wedding. Then Roose stabs Robb, and he falls. Catelyn wails. Then she cuts Lady Frey's throat. A soldier walks up behind her and cuts her throat. Blood spurts out of her neck and she falls.

THE END. There is no music over the end credits, and it's pretty creepy.

So it appears that this was a Lannister ambush more than just Walder Frey being angry that his daughter didn't get to marry Robb. We'll certainly learn more about that in future episodes, along with what the implications are of the Starks being basically destroyed. As far as the public is concerned, Bran and Rickon are long dead and Arya is missing. So Sansa is the only known living Stark, which I guess makes her in charge of the smoldering remains of Winterfell. Good news for Tyrion, I guess. And the Casterly Rock guards can continue their off-screen lives, never knowing how close they came to being relevant.

Follow Monty on Twitter at @monty_ashley and read his blog, Mysterious Exhortations.

Catelyn has only one bolt in her, so she drags herself under a table. She's close to Walder's table, and she can see that Walder's wife is also hiding under a table. Robb pulls himself toward Talisa's body. Walder has everyone stop the massacring. He announces, "The King in the North arises." Robb kneels to Talisa and lifts her head.

Catelyn grabs a knife and runs over to Walder's wife. She stands with her knife at Lady Frey's throat and tells Walder to let it end. She says, "He is my son. My first son. Let him go and I swear we will forget this. I swear it by the old gods and the new. We will take no vengeance." Walder is not interested in her oaths, since she already failed to deliver on a promise. She says she'll be a hostage if Robb can go. She begs Robb to walk out. Walder asks why he'd allow that. Catelyn warns that she'll cut his wife's throat. Robb stands up and kind of sways back and forth. Walder considers the threat to his wife's life and shrugs, "I'll find another." This dude is cold.

Robb says, "Mother." Roose walks up behind Robb. He says, "The Lannisters send their regards." And they did! When Jaime left Harrenhal, the last thing he said to Roose was to send the Lannisters' regards to Robb Stark on the occasion of his wedding. Then Roose stabs Robb, and he falls. Catelyn wails. Then she cuts Lady Frey's throat. A soldier walks up behind her and cuts her throat. Blood spurts out of her neck and she falls.

THE END. There is no music over the end credits, and it's pretty creepy.

So it appears that this was a Lannister ambush more than just Walder Frey being angry that his daughter didn't get to marry Robb. We'll certainly learn more about that in future episodes, along with what the implications are of the Starks being basically destroyed. As far as the public is concerned, Bran and Rickon are long dead and Arya is missing. So Sansa is the only known living Stark, which I guess makes her in charge of the smoldering remains of Winterfell. Good news for Tyrion, I guess. And the Casterly Rock guards can continue their off-screen lives, never knowing how close they came to being relevant.

Follow Monty on Twitter at @monty_ashley and read his blog, Mysterious Exhortations.

Provenance
Original URL
http://www.brilliantbutcancelled.com:80/show/game-of-thrones/the-rains-of-castamere-1/
Captured
2016-06-08
Page Type
recap (100%)
Wayback Machine
View original capture

Historical archive · About · Takedown policy