S2·E2 — The Night Lands
The hour retold
The night lands of the title belong to the drowned god, and the hour’s best material is Theon Greyjoy sailing home to claim his inheritance and discovering he has none. Nine years a Stark ward have made him a stranger on Pyke: his father reads his fine clothes as a costume, his sister lets him flirt with her on horseback before introducing herself, and the ironborn measure a man by what he pays the iron price for, not what he was given. Theon came home expecting to command the fleet that helps Robb; he finds a father planning to reave the North instead, and a choice being assembled around him that he is exactly the wrong man to make well.
Elsewhere the season’s pieces slide into their grooves. Tyrion, discovering that Janos Slynt sold Ned Stark and butchered a baby at his post, ships him to the Wall over dinner and hands the gold cloaks to Bronn — anticorruption by way of a more reliable cutthroat. Arya shares the kingsroad with Yoren’s recruits and trades wary words with a courteous caged man named Jaqen H’ghar, a politeness that will echo for seasons. Davos recruits a pirate for Stannis with honest smuggler’s pragmatism, and in the red waste a riderless horse returns carrying Rakharo’s head in a saddlebag — the khalasars’ answer to a khaleesi with no khal. Power, the episode keeps repeating, is what others believe you can do to them; half the cast is running on credit.
What happens
- Theon Greyjoy comes home to Pyke and finds his father unimpressed and his sister commanding ships.
- Tyrion removes Janos Slynt from the gold cloaks and gives them to Bronn.
- Arya, marching north with Yoren's recruits, shares the road with a caged man named Jaqen H'ghar.
- Davos recruits the pirate Salladhor Saan to Stannis's cause.
- A rider's head comes back in a bag: the khalasar's outriders meet the wrong khal.
The people of the episode
Theon Greyjoy — Nine years a ward; his father sees only a Stark in iron clothes.
Arya Stark — A boy called Arry on the kingsroad, with three names owed to her.
Tyrion Lannister — Cleans the gold cloaks with a smile and a demotion.
Yara Greyjoy — Commands thirty ships; her brother commanded a horse here.
Daenerys Targaryen — The red waste takes its toll in horses and riders.The fallen — spoilers
- Rakharo — Dany's bloodrider, his head returned in a saddlebag by a rival khal.