No one was left uncorrupted when the blood began to flow in Game of Thrones season 4, episode 10. Check out our recap and share your thoughts on “The Children.”
Here is all the magic and madness of Game of Thrones season 4, episode 10:
All the king’s men
Jon meets with Mance Rayder beyond the Wall. They drink to Ygritte, Grenn, and Mag the Mighty, King of the Giants. Mance tells Jon that enough people have died; all he wants is to lead the wildlings through the Wall to safety from the Others. Unfortunately, if the Watch doesn’t allow this, the wildlings will slaughter them all.
Things get tense when Jon reaches for steel, but the negotiations are interrupted by a thunder of crisply organized cavalry coming from the Wall. It is none other than Stannis Baratheon (who wants everyone to know, he is the one, true, king) along with Davos Seaworth and like a million sellswords.
Jon reveals himself as Eddard Stark’s son, and Stannis takes his advice to spare Mance and the wildlings for now.
Upon returning to Castle Black, the Night’s Watch burn their dead; Jon sees Melisandre watching him through the flames. After trading harsh words with Tormund, Jon brings Ygritte’s body beyond the Wall and burns her himself.
Bones
Further north, Bran, Hodor, Meera and Jojen are about to reach the Three-Eyed Raven when they are attacked by bizarro skeleton White Walkers. Bran is forced to warg into Hodor again, but Jojen is killed just before the arrival of a Child of the Forest.
Bran, Hodor, and Meera take shelter inside a cave beneath the enormous weirwood tree, where the Walkers cannot enter. The Child leads them to the base of the great tree, where an ancient man appears to have grown into the roots. He says that Jojen died so that Bran could find what he has lost. Bran thinks this means he will regain his legs.
“You will never walk again,” the man says. “But you will fly.”
Broken wings
In Meereen, Dany hears an elderly supplicant who wishes to sell himself back to his former master. Shocked and dismayed, Dany allows him to do so on a yearly basis, though Ser Barristan warns that the masters will take advantage of this.
Then Dany’s day gets much worse when another man arrives, cradling a bundle. “He came from the sky, the black one,” the man says. “The winged shadow.”
The man lays down his bundle and reveals the charred skeleton of his daughter, burned by Dany’s dragon Drogon. The big black dragon is missing, but motivated by her horror, the Mother of Dragons and Breaker of Chains imprisons Viserion and Rheagal.
Honesty is the best policy
Meanwhile in King’s Landing, Cersei watches former-Maester Qyburn begin his attempt to save Gregor Clegane, who is dying of Oberyn Martell’s poison.
Later, she tells Tywin that she will not marry Loras Tyrell; he insists that she will, and then go off to Highgarden. Cersei is incensed by the idea of leaving Tommen with Tywin and Margaery, and threatens to tell everyone “the truth.”
Tywin has no idea what she is talking about, which galls Cersei. “We were right there in front of you, and you didn’t see us,” she says. “Everything they say is true about Jaime and me. Your legacy is a lie.”
Tywin claims not to believe her.
“Yes you do,” Cersei says, and walks out to seduce Jaime.
Lions
After nightfall, Jaime springs Tyrion from his cell. After a touching, but uneventful fairwell, Jaime sends him off to find Varys, who has orchestrated the escape.
But Tyrion finds himself in Tywin’s chambers – and Shae in Tywin’s bed. After a moment of mutual frozen horror, the two grapple together; finally, Tyrion strangles Shae to death with her own necklace. “I’m sorry,” he says, with tears in his eyes.
Tyrion takes a crossbow and confronts Tywin, who is in the privy. Tywin repeatedly tries to gain the conversational upper hand in the standoff, promising that he would never have let Tyrion die, no matter how much he hates him. But after one too many references to whores, Tyrion shoots Tywin in the belly.
“You’re no son of mine,” Tywin grates.
“I am your son. I have always been your son,” Tyrion says. He shoots his father again, and leaves Tywin Lannister to die in the privy.
Later, Varys joins a large crate on the deck of galley rowing away from King’s Landing, where the bells have already begun to toll.
The iron price
Ten miles from the Vale, Arya and the Hound are confronted by Brienne and Podrick. After a massive and slightly deliberate misunderstanding about which of them can best protect Arya, Brienne and Clegane beat each other to a pulp. Brienne staggers off with Podrick, calling for Arya.
Arya descends the dells and goes to Clegane, who says he’s going to die.
“You remember where the heart is?” he says, and she nods. Clegane says he’s ready to die, but Arya only stares at him impassively. Clegane goads her, reminding her of Mycah the butcher’s boy, and saying he wishes he’d raped Sansa during the Blackwater.
“Do it,” Clegane begs.
Arya kneels and takes his sword, and walks off, refusing to give Clegane the gift of mercy. She does not join up with Brienne, but rather buys passage on a ship to Braavos with Jaquen H’gar’s iron coin and the words “Valar Morgulis.”