The death of Joffrey is still on the minds of most in King’s Landing — Tyrion is still imprisoned, Cersei is calling for Tyrion’s head, Tywin is getting ready to preside as judge over his trial. The only Lannister unsure about where his loyalties lie is Jaime, who wants to believe his brother is innocent, but hasn’t exactly asked Tyrion himself.
On advice from Bronn, Jaime does just that, and Tyrion convinces him that he didn’t kill Joffrey, even though pretty much everyone in King’s Landing probably wanted to. This leads to further friction, naturally with Cersei.
Jaime’s rape of Cersei last episode still hangs like a spectre, and though it’s not explicitly acknowledged, it has done major harm to the close bond the siblings once shared. When Cersei finds out that Jaime believes Tyrion is innocent, that’s the final nail in the coffin, and Cersei coldly dismisses Jaime as “Lord Commander.”
There is one thing Jaime takes from his family conversations — Sansa is probably in as much danger as Tyrion if she’s found. Sansa is (relatively) safe with Baelish, of course, and we finally rejoin the two as Baelish explains that Sansa had a hand in Joffrey’s murder — the necklace Ser Dontos gave her at the start of the season was poisoned. But who poisoned Joffrey? Though the show doesn’t outright state it, it’s pretty obvious.
Jaime sends Brienne off to find Sansa, a mission that fulfills the pacts that both parties made with the now-deceased Catelyn Stark. In a symbolic move, Jaime gives Brienne the Valyrian steel sword he received from Tywin, which Brienne names Oathkeeper. With this final gesture (along with getting Podrick to safety by having him accompany Brienne on the quest), Jaime is now in a rather precarious situation with his immediate family — Tyrion is the only warm bond he has left.
Elsewhere, Margaery is beginning to act on her new position, She knows it’s a matter of time before she’s to marry Tommen, but before it can happen, she visits him in his bedroom and begins subtly manipulating him, explaining that if they’re to be married, they’ll need to have some secrets between just the two of them. When Margaery asks Tommen to tell her a secret, he reveals Ser Pounce, his cat that he had to hide from Joffrey. While Margaery’s manipulation is startlingly brazen, the appearance of Ser Pounce is sure to delight book fans.
King’s Landing certainly isn’t the only localefeatured in this episode, of course. After the climactic ending of “Breaker of Chains,” “Oathkeeper” begins with Grey Worm, on advice from Daenerys, encouraging the slaves of Mereen to revolt against their masters.
As it turns out, the revolt was pretty easy to carry out, and once again the show features a crowd of people chanting “myhsa” (the word for mother). But the victory takes a dark turn when Daenerys decides to punish the masters for all the dead children she and her party encountered on the way to the gates. Naturally, she substitutes the children for the masters, leaving about 160 men nailed to wooden posts crucifixion-style. Ser Barristan says that sometimes a ruler should answer injustice with mercy. Daenerys replies “I will answer injustice with justice.” But is what she does just? While she’s reached many moral victories, this is the first indication that her rule is not a perfect one.
Finally, after a brief stint with Jon Snow, who gathers a group of men to accompany him to a raid on a wildling village, we join Bran and company, who come across some unexpected danger. We’re introduced to a few former Night’s Watch men who have now taken over Craster’s Keep, and it appears they’ve captured Ghost, Jon’s direwolf. Worse, they decide to give a sacrifice to the White Walkers, in the form of a newborn baby.
This development is totally unforseen, both in terms of narrative perspective and source material — from the moment the “ruler” of Craster’s Keep is shown drinking from the skull of Jeor Mormont, everything that happens is completely original to the TV show.
The ending of the episode takes on perhaps the most ominous tone of the entire series so far. While we’re constantly preoccupied with the damage the competitors to the Iron Throne are doing to themselves and others, we can sometimes forget that the White Walkers are arguably the greatest threat to the realm. And with the reveal of some sort of hierarchy among the White Walkers, there can only be more fear to come.
