'Game of Thrones' Recap: Daenerys Marches Toward World Domination
SPOILER ALERT: This recap contains character and storyline spoilers.
The episode, "Breaker of Chains," in a nutshell:
What happened:
* Daenerys prepares to take over Meereen
* Tyrion's trial moves forward, with Tywin choosing a surprise judge
* The Night's Watch debates how to fight the wildlings
Body count: Dozens
Nudity count: Three
Dragon sightings: None
New people and places: None
Best line: "Say what you will of Cersei, she loves her children. She is the only one I'm certain had nothing to do with this murder, which makes it unique as King's Landing murders go." — Tyrion
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Joffrey is dead, and pretty much nobody cares except for his mother. The world keeps turning, and in Westeros, there's no time to grieve a selfish, awful idiot — even if he was the king.
After last week's gasp-inducing, game-changing episode, "Breaker of Chains" feels like the show is taking a breather and moving the chess pieces around. It checks in on a lot of characters, which makes the episode slow. Not a lot "happens," but with so many storylines that need advancing, it's a bit inevitable.
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With the seismic event that is Joffrey's death, everyone is solidifying or trying to gain more power. Tywin acts fast to assert control over Tommen, Joffery's younger brother who is next in line for the Iron Throne; Stannis Baratheon wants to press his claim on the throne even harder; while Daenerys continues on her tour of world domination.
But power always comes with a price. It's just a matter of what that price will turn out to be.
King's Landing: The Lannisters, Tyrells, and Martells
The show picks up right where it left off: Joffrey is dead, and Cersei is screaming for Tyrion to be arrested. Ser Dontos convinces Sansa to flee with him, and he takes in a rowboat to a waiting ship.
Turns out Petyr "Littlefinger" Baelish paid Dontos to smuggle her out, but instead of getting his gold, Dontos gets a crossbow to the head. "He was a drunk, and a fool. And I don't trust drunk fools," Baelish explains to a shocked Sansa. He promises to keep her safe.
Margaery, wearing widow's black, and Olenna discuss their unique situation. Is Margaery queen or what? It's unclear, and now is not the time to press the issue with the Lannisters. But if we were a king, we might stay away from Margaery — kings tend to end up dead after marrying her.
As Cersei and Tommen stand vigil over Joffrey's body, Tywin comes in and notes that Tommen will now become king. He subtly maneuvers his grandson into leaning on him for advice and counsel, and the two walk off, leaving behind a grief-stricken Cersei.
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Jaime comes in and she pleads with him to kill Tyrion to avenge their son, but he refuses — Tyrion is his brother. Cersei starts to weep, and Jaime tries to comfort her with sex. She pushes him off, but Jaime basically rapes her next to Joffrey's body! What happened to the decent guy who saved Brienne?
In their rooms, Oberyn and Ellaria are enjoying themselves with a trio of prostitutes when Tywin asks to speak to him privately. The Lannister patriarch notes that Joffrey was poisoned and, what do you know, Oberyn studied poison at the Citadel. They warily face off, as Oberyn asks if Tywin ordered the Mountain to kill his sister years ago. Tywin denies any involvement, then asks Oberyn to serve as one of the three judges in Tyrion's trial.
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Oberyn agrees on one condition: that Tywin arrange a face-to-face between him and the Mountain.
In his cell, Tyrion is visited by his squire, Podrick, who bears some bad news. They won't let Bronn come by, and Sansa has disappeared. Tyrion muses on who might've murdered Joffrey, but there are no immediate suspects. Podrick confesses that someone asked him to testify against Tyrion, who urges Pod to flee King's Landing at the first opportunity. Things are really not looking good for Tyrion.
Meereen: Daenerys Targaryen and her army
Daenerys finally arrives at Meereen, where the cityfolk are watching from the walls. A lone rider comes out — the Champion of Meereen. She needs to send her own champion against him, and chooses Daario. He casually and easily defeats the champion (a really awesome sequence), but the people of Meereen don't budge.
Then, Daenerys addresses the slaves of the city. She notes that she's freed slaves in Astapor and Yunkai, and that she can do the same for them. They launch packages over the walls that are filled with the broken shackles of former slaves.
The Meereen slaves pick them up in wonder. Daenerys Targaryen, freedom fighter, looks to have this city in the bag.
Somewhere in the Riverlands: Arya Stark and the Hound
While Arya and the Hound are watering their horses, a farmer and his daughter happens upon them. Arya makes up a story about how her "father" fought for the Tullys and their farm burned down. The farmer invites them to sleep in his barn and share their stew that evening.
As they chow down, the farmer talks about how bad the raiding is getting, and tries to persuade the Hound to stay on as a guard. Arya is surprised to hear him agree.
It turns out to be a ruse; when Arya wakes, she finds that the Hound has knocked the farmer on the head and stolen his silver. When she confronts him, he basically shrugs — the farmer will be killed by raiders before the winter, and won't need the silver when he's dead.
Dragonstone: Stannis Baratheon and Davos Seaworth
Stannis is not happy. At all. He used royal blood from Gendry and it actually worked! Joffrey is dead! But Davos let Gendry go, so he can't repeat Melisandre's spell. Davos argues that what they really need are soldiers and ships, but Stannis gloomily reminds him that they don't have any gold left.
Davos visits Shireen in her cell for their regular reading lesson. The story is about a pirate, which causes him to reflect on his days as a smuggler. Suddenly, he remembers the gold-laden barges of the Iron Bank of Braavos. Maybe it's time for Davos to put his smuggling skills back in action!
Castle Black: Jon Snow, Sam Tarly, and the Night's Watch
As some new recruits come in — a lot of rapists in the bunch — Sam goes to see Gilly. He's worried because she's the only woman among a lot of dudes, many of whom see her as a whore. He insists she leave Castle Black and go stay in a town. Gilly is hurt that he doesn't want her around, and when he drops her off there, coldly bids him farewell.
Elsewhere in the North, Tormund, Ygritte, and their group of wildlings are pillaging farms and villages.
When the Night's Watch hears of it, Pip wants to help them. But a bleak Jon reminds them that Mance Raydar is coming, and they can't afford to send any men away from Castle Black.
But then, a couple of rangers straggle in. They were being kept prisoner by Karl and the mutineers at Kraster's Keep. Jon realizes that if Mance comes across Karl, he'll find out that there are NOT actually 1,000 men at Castle Black. Jon argues that they need to kill all the mutineers before Mance discovers this lie.
"Game of Thrones" airs Sundays at 9 p.m. on HBO.