S3┬ÀE2 ÔÇö Dark Wings, Dark Words
The hour retold
Dark wings, dark words: the news is bad everywhere, and the roads are worse. This is the seasonÔÇÖs traveling episode, and its gift is pairing people who should never share a fire. AryaÔÇÖs little band is scooped up by the Brotherhood Without Banners ÔÇö outlaws with manners ÔÇö and her cover survives until a captive Hound looks up and names her in front of everyone, the past arriving like a bill. Bran, fleeing north, meets a boy in the woods who has dreamed his dreams: Jojen Reed gives Bran the word for what he is ÔÇö warg ÔÇö and with it the first hint that the crippled Stark is not the storyÔÇÖs leftover but its strangest weapon.
The episodeÔÇÖs sharpest edge is on a bridge in the riverlands, where Brienne and her prisoner finally cross swords and Jaime, half-starved and chained, still nearly takes her ÔÇö until she beats him down with the patience of a woman who has been underestimated her whole life. LockeÔÇÖs men arrive before the lesson settles, and both of them belong to the Boltons now. In the capital, Sansa is invited to tea by the Tyrells and, coaxed by kindness ÔÇö a substance she has not encountered in two years ÔÇö tells the truth out loud for once: Joffrey is a monster. It is the most dangerous sentence she knows, spoken to the only people who asked, and Olenna Tyrell receives it like a woman confirming a market report.
What happens
- Bran meets Jojen and Meera Reed, and learns the word for what he is: warg.
- Arya's band is picked up by the Brotherhood Without Banners ÔÇö and the Hound names her.
- Brienne and Jaime cross swords on a bridge and lose to Locke's men.
- Sansa tells the Tyrells the truth about Joffrey: he is a monster.
The people of the episode
Bran Stark ÔÇö The three-eyed raven has a name now, and a direction: north.
Arya Stark ÔÇö Outed by the Hound in a cave full of outlaws.
Jaime Lannister ÔÇö Fought a woman to a standstill; chained beside her by nightfall.
Sansa Stark ÔÇö One honest sentence, spoken to the only people who asked.
Margaery Tyrell ÔÇö Handles a monster the way his mother never learned.The fallen ÔÇö spoilers
- Hoster Tully ÔÇö Lord of Riverrun, dead of age as war filled his rivers.