[NORTH OF THE WALL]
[The wildlings march through the mountains. JON and MANCE RAYDER stop to talk.]
Jon straightens on his seat, the earlier mood replaced by sourness.
"Was it hard for you to kill the Halfhand?"
"Yes."
"You liked him? I like you, but if you're playing us false, it won't be hard for me to kill you. I've got wildling blood in my veins. These are my people."
"Does he?" Robb asked his father.
"I have heard rumours that he was sired from a wildling mother. I suppose they are true" Ned Stark shrugged,
"I understand."
"Well, how could you understand?"
"You want to protect your people."
"Do you know what it takes to unite 90 clans, half of whom want to massacre the other half for one insult or another? They speak seven different languages in my army. The Thenns hate the Hornfoots. The Hornfoots hate the ice-river clans. Everyone hates the cave people. So you know how I got moon worshippers and cannibals and giants to march together in the same army?"
"He sounds a lot like Aegon the Conqueror" Shireen commented.
Rhaegar turned to her alarme.
"In what way?!" he asked sharply.
The girl shrinks before she straightens to meet the dead prince's eyes.
"Aegon the Conqueror united the Seven Kingdoms-"
"Six. Dorne was yet to be brought in during his time" Oberyn corrected with a smile.
"Six… He untied Six Kingdoms, each with their customs and preferences. I mean that."
Rhaegar ponders for a moment.
"I see your point" he nods finally and looks away.
Shireen looks away as well, missing the look of pride in her father's eyes.
"I told them we were all going to die if we didn't get south. Because that's the truth."
"Well, not completely like Aegon. He threatened they would die if they didn't bend the knee" Jaime pointed out with an easy smile.
Rhaegar just shook his head. Even after he told them the reason for the conquest, they were still blind to it.
[A CRAG NEXT TO THE MARCHING FORCES]
[MANCE and JON join TORMUND GIANTSBANE, YGRITTE, and ORREL. ORREL sits, eyes white, looking up to a raven.]
"Why is his eyes like that?" Bran asked.
"He is a warg. He is currently inhabiting the mind of an animal. An eagle to be exact" Brynden explained.
"How do you know?" Arya asked. "And you said you were from beyond the wall, right? Are you in this army?"
"I am not" Brynden answered and said no more.
Arya scowled and looked away.
"Where were you this time?"
[ORELL returns to consciousness.]
"The Fist of the First Men."
"What did you see?"
"Dead crows."
A shiver ran down Jon's spine. Sam survived, so there could be more who survived with him.
[NORTH OF THE WALL]
[The Night's Watch march through the snow-covered mountains, looking exhausted. SAMWELL TARLY is drained. He falls to his knees. GRENN notices that SAM has given up. GRENN and DOLOROUS EDDISON TOLLETT walk back to him.]
Jon let out a sigh of relief. Survivors…
"I can't."
"If you stop, you'll die."
"Course if you don't stop, you'll probably die, too."
"Not helpful" Lyanna muttered with worry. She kind of liked Sam, he was a nice kid as can be.
"You don't care."
"Course we care."
"You left me. When the white walkers came, you left me."
"Aye, we left you. You're fat and you're slow. We didn't want to die."
"Fair assessment" Tyrion muttered. It was logical, friend or not. He would do the same. Perhaps… not if it was Jaime.
[GRENN and DOLOROUS EDD try to help SAM to his feet. RAST comes back to the trio.]
"Looks like that piggy is done for."
"He's mean. They all are." Tommen said with a frown. "Can we have Sam with us? He likes books, we have many books"
"I will… think about it" Tyrion answered. It wasn't the worst idea, to get the unfavoured son out of Randyll Tarly's hands and possibly have him owe House Lannister one. Plus, Sam was well educated. It would be nice to have another scholar for the company.
[LORD COMMANDER JEOR MORMONT comes back to see what is happening.]
"What is this? Get up, Tarly. Is he all right?"
"Aye, I think so."
"If he can't, we may as well just go without him."
"Fair" Oberyn nodded. "Cruel as it is, letting one man pull the group down in those conditions is suicide."
"That's enough. Tarly, I forbid you to die. Do you hear me?"
"I don't think him forbidding the boy would do any good if he is dying," Renly said with a chuckle, a light chuckle that barely had its usual vigour.
"Rast, you're responsible for him."
Tyrion snorted with amusement.
[WOODS IN THE NORTH]
[BRAN lies sleeping on some furs. A branch snaps in the distance and he wakes with a start. OSHA and SUMMER are hunched and alert. OSHA has her makeshift spear at the ready. OSHA creeps forward and then runs into the woods. SUMMER growls. A young figure approaches. He looks curiously at BRAN. SUMMER growls more fiercely. From behind him, OSHA places her spearpoint on JOJEN's neck.]
"The boy from the dream!" Bran exclaimed.
Ned frowed deeper. Now he really felt like he knew the face somehow, with that body structure too…
"I'm unarmed."
"That was poor planning."
"My sister carries the weapons."
[MEERA REED appears quietly, slipping a knife to OSHA's throat and creating a stand-off.]
"Oh she's good," Oberyn said appreciatively, leaning forward with a smile. It was not always he saw capable female warriors up North. So far he'd seen two! And both in the viewing before him.
[OSHA releases the spear.]
"If you kill me, that wolf will tear you to bits."
[SUMMER continues to growl in warning. JOJEN approaches the direwolf.]
"You must be SUMMER."
"He… knows Summer?" Bran asks in confusion. How did he know summer?
[SUMMER immediately stops growling. JOJEN holds out his hand. SUMMER sniffs it and is pleased. The direwolf walks away. JOJEN approaches BRAN.]
"Well if the wolf trusts him…" Robb said unsure.
"I'm Jojen Reed. This is my sister Meera. We've come a long way to find you, Brandon. And we have much farther to go."
Ned snapped his fingers just as Lyanna gasped.
"Howland's children?!" she asked almost excitedly. She remembered the man, well the boy. He was young when she'd last seen him. A shy but upstanding individual. She liked him. His children no doubt would be like him too.
[RIVERLANDS WOODS]
[GENDRY, ARYA STARK, and HOT PIE walk through the woods, weapons drawn.]
"I'm just trying to understand."
"Would you please shut up about it?"
"Jaqen H'ghar offered you three kills."
"I'm not listening."
"But just explain it to me. He offered to kill any three people you wanted. Dead. All you had to do was give him the names. Anyone. You could have picked King Joffrey."
Arya frowned, a pink tinge on her cheeks.
"You could have picked Tywin Lannister."
The pink turned redder.
"Jaqen got us out of Harrenhal, so why are you complaining?"
"But you could have ended the war."
Arya was full-blown blushing now, head dipped to hide her face. Jon reached around his mother and ruffled the girl's hair.
But the point that Gendry had brought up had now seeped into the minds of everyone in the hall. And none of them could argue against it. Especially the Gendry in the hall who nodded along to his future's opinion.
[They hear some far-away singing.]
"Could be a minstrel."
"Shut up."
"A lion still has claws..."
"Gods not ominous at all" Tyrion Lannister murmured. He knew that song, had bloody heard it too many times in his childhood.
[They crouch to hide behind a broken wall, and watch a handful of men approach. One is singing.]
"And so he spoke, and so he spoke
That Lord of Castamere
But now the rains
Weep o'er his hall
With no one there to hear."
[An arrow whistles past the trio, surprising them. It embeds in a tree trunk behind them. They spin to hide out of sight.]
"Shit" Robb muttered, heart racing from fear for his sister.
"What's lurking behind that wall? A lion? A wolf?"
"Just a dirty little cub, I think."
"Loose a few more shafts."
[ARYA steps out of hiding. THOROS and ANGUY look down at her from the path. THOROS takes a deep drink.]
"Put the sword down, girl."
"You go on down the road. Just keep on singing so we know where you are. Leave us be and I won't kill you."
"Generous."
"Isn't he the guy who won the archery competition for the Hand's Tourney?" Daenerys whispered to Elia.
"I don't recall" the older woman frowned.
"You're a dangerous person. I like dangerous people. Why are your friends so shy?"
"What friends?"
"The fat to your left and the lad beside him."
"He must have had his eyes on them for a while," Brandon the Elder said with a frown. This did not look good.
[Resigned, GENDRY steps out and pulls HOT PIE with him. They ready their weapons. THOROS responds, and his party swiftly comes over the wall to face the trio. They do not draw weapons.]
"Three young ones on the run carrying castle-forged swords. You escape from Harrenhal?"
"Who are you?"
"Thoros of Myr. And the fellow here with the bow is Anguy."
"Isn't he the drunk Red Priest you absolutely love to see in tourneys and shit?" Renly whispered to his brother.
Robert for his part could only grunt. He may like the man, but he has also developed a hate for the Red Religion in its entirety.
"No, who do you fight for?"
"The Brotherhood without Banners."
"Wasn't the Mountain torturing people for information on them?" Jon whispered to Robb, who nodded.
"Now come along. I want to hear how two boys and a very dangerous girl escaped Harrenhal."
"I'm not going with them. The Brotherhood? That's who the Mountain and their lot were looking for. They'll bring us back and put rats in us."
Jon and Robb both looked satisfied in recognizing the Brotherhood.
[HOT PIE takes a few steps back. ANGUY notches an arrow in response. ARYA, GENDRY, and HOT PIE raise their weapons, nervously.]
"Here's the thing, fat"
[ANGUY shoots the arrow into the sky.]
"When I'm done talking, that arrow's falling down on your fat head. So I advise you to move because I'm done talking."
[HOT PIE lurches forward two steps. The arrow lands, burying itself where HOT PIE was just standing.]
"He's an extremely good archer" Ned commented. Perhaps he'd find this man and hire his services. No doubt if he's part of this Brothehood, he has no true loyalties or a home.
[THOROS motions for the trio to move with them.]
"Half the country's starving and look at this one."
"Maybe he's the reason half the country's starving."
"Rast would have loved these two" Jon snorted in ill nature, remembering the guy from the Watch from a moment ago.
[DUNGEON]
[THEON screams as the TORTURER's ASSISTANT turns a huge screw that is planted on his foot.]
Theon flinches, twitching his foot as if he felt the phantom pain of the torture his future self was going through.
Yara had a hand on his knee, squeezing it comfortably but to no avail.
Robb on the other hand took pleasure in watching the traitorous bastard get what is deserved. Even if a tiny part of him reeled from the display.
"Why'd you take Winterfell?"
"I took it to took it-"
"Who gave the orders?"
"No one. I took it on my own."
"Why?"
"To take the North while it was vulnerable."
[The ASSISTANT turns the screw again. Blood well ups around it as THEON screams.]
"Why did you do that?"
"I told you. Why did you take Winterfell?"
"I took it to bring glory to my house and my father."
[The TORTURER approaches.]
"Wait. Wait, wait, wait. I took it because I hated the Starks. I hated them for holding me prisoner. I wanted to hurt them."
"Told you we should have sent that squid to the Wall, Ned. But you wished to show him some leniency" Robert snorted. 'See what leniency gets you?"
Ned did not say anything, his entire face massive and stone-like.
[The TORTURER places a hood over THEON's head. The ASSISTANT turns the screw and THEON screams. The TORTURER walks away, followed by his team. They leave one lowly cleaning boy, RAMSAY, behind. The door closes shut. RAMSAY removes the hood from THEON. He is surprised.]
"Your sister sent me."
A bubble of hope built up in Theon. Saved, he would be saved!
But Yara couldn't help but frown. She was in the habit of sending only her men. And she knew each of her men's faces. That was not one of them.
[RAMSAY releases the pressure on his foot.]
"I'll come for you tonight when the castle sleeps."
[RAMSAY places the hood back onto THEON's head and leaves.]
"No, don't go. Please, please. No, please don't leave me. Please, please. Please, please don't go! Please. Please. Don't leave me. Please don't go."
"Only a while" Theon chanted to himself. "I'll be free. I'll be free. I'll be home, free and can recover. Only a while more…"
Yara watched her brother with worried eyes. She did not have the heart to tell him that the man was not sent by her.
[THE NORTH]
[HODOR, RICKON, OSHA, JOJEN, and MEERA walk along a narrow road. HODOR pulls the cart carrying BRAN. The direwolves are nearby. RICKON runs excitedly down the hill.]
"The wolves will protect him."
[BRAN nods to SUMMER, who turns to follow RICKON. They continue on the path.]
"You can get inside his head, see through his eyes."
"Only when I'm asleep."
"That's how it begins until you learn to control it. You're a warg."
Catelyn was not sure how she felt about that. Wargs were… well they were rather demonic things. She'd been taught that for a long time now. But her son was not demonic. Yet he was a Warg. She did not know how to feel about it…
"It's not just wolves. Sometimes in my dreams, there's a"
"A three-eyed raven?"
"You've seen it?"
"We saw him together. You haven't forgotten?"
"Does it have anything to do with warging?"
"No, the raven is something different, something deeper. The raven brings the sight."
"Now that's a thing to wonder about" Rickard Stark murmured to himself. He had once been fascinated by the history of his family. The fascination died when he became Lord of Winterfell and had a part of the realm to look out for. But now, watching all this? That fascination was coming back.
"Seeing things that haven't happened yet?"
"Or things that happened long before you were born or things that are happening right now thousands of miles away."
"When my father died, I dreamt it."
"You didn't dream it. You saw it. So did I."
"You have the sight, too?"
"When I told my father about your father for the first time in my life, I saw him cry."
Ned couldn't help but smile at the mention of his old friend. Loyal to the bone that one.
"He saved my father's life during the rebellion."
"Your father told you about the rebellion? Mine never did. But I saw that, too."
"Wonder how much of it he saw" Brandon mused.
Ned and Lyanna had similar questions but for different reasons.
[RIVERLANDS TAVERN]
[The tavern is lively with drinking and laughing.]
"Now, how did three children-"
"We're not children."
"You are. He" Robb pointed to Gedndry sitting beside Varys, "may not be but you are."
Arya scowled at her brother.
"How did three young persons such as yourselves, untrained in the art of war, escape from Harrenhal?"
"Gendry's a smith. He was apprenticed in the armoury."
"A smith, eh? Where'd you train?"
"King's Landing. Tobho Mott's shop."
"That criminal. He charges twice as much as every other armourer in the city."
"That's because he's twice as good" Gendry grumbled.
"That's because he's twice as good."
The boy looked quite proud at repeating himself.
"Aha! A smith and a salesman."
"Gendry stole our weapons."
"Ah, fought your way out of Harrenhal, I see."
"He knows how to use a sword and so do I."
[The men laugh.]
"My brothers taught me."
"You did?" Ned raised a brow.
"Jon showed her how to stick them with the pointy end!" Robb said immediately.
Jon looked at him with a scowl and shoved him slightly rough.
Ned snorted and shook his head.
[The men laugh again. ARYA stands to prove herself. She draws her sword and points it at THOROS's throat. THOROS looks at the blade and feints a drink. Instead, he rises, draws his sword and disarms ARYA with a sweeping move of his blade. Surprised, ARYA steps backward, afraid. The men cheer. THOROS takes some dramatic and slightly drunken steps, then relents. He turns to rejoin the table, taking up some ale along the way.]
"To your brothers!"
[The men cheer. ARYA meekly picks up her weapon and sits back down at the table, next to the silent GENDRY and HOT PIE.]
"Gee thanks, Arya" Jon muttered with a small smile.
The sowling girl was now blushing.
"You can finish your meals before you go. It may be a while before you see another."
"You'll free us?"
"I gave you my word."
[The trio rises. So does THOROS.]
"But before you go, allow me to raise a cup to your-"
[THOROS is interrupted by the smiling entrance of ANGUY and more brothers, with a large hooded captive. They are proud of their capture. The men cheer.]
"Now that is an uncommonly large person. How does one manage to subdue such an uncommonly large person?"
"One waits for him to drink until he passes out."
"Of course" Olenna snorted. It's always the ale.
[He removes the hood. The captive is THE HOUND. ARYA is worried, and turns away before she can be seen.]
"Aha, not a man at all. A Hound!"
[The men howl in jest.]
"So good to see you again, Clegane."
"Thoros? What the fuck are you doing here?"
"Drinking and talking too much. Same as ever."
[HOT PIE, GENDRY, and ARYA start to leave.]]
"Girl."
"Well, there goes any hopes of you guys being let go now" Brandon the Elder commented.
"He swore!" Arya argued.
"And you're the daughter of a former Lord, sister of a King, and they are brigands at this point. They will want their money's worth from you."
Arya scowled at his uncle. But with all she'd seen, she couldn't deny that was what would happen.
[RIVERLANDS BRIDGE]
[When they reach the middle of the bridge, JAIME sits down, back to the wall.]
"He's making good use of how exposed they are. Probably trying to get themselves captured by that man and his friends from before" Oberyn commented.
"It was foolish of the girl to use the bridge where they are open" Doran commented.
"Ser Jaime could jump into the river and escape if they went underneath and down the river Elia pointed out.
"He wouldn't make it far with those shackles on him. He'd drown at best" Doran shook his head. "It was a foolish choice by the woman."
[She looks around, feeling nervous and exposed.]
"I never used to get corns. Of course, I used to ride everywhere, not march around like a common foot soldier wearing the same shit boots for over a year."
[BRIENNE tires of his ploy. He grabs him and tries to make JAIME stand back up.]
"This heel is ruined. There's no way-"
[JAIME takes his opportunity and grabs BRIENNE's sword from its sheath.]
"She's let her guard down," Olenna said disapprovingly.
"She was too caught up with her surroundings" Lyanna commented. "It took her focus off of her target."
"I see" The old rose eyed the winter rose keenly.
Lyanna shrugged.
"I went on a few hunts" she explained.
[He runs as far as he can before the rope stops him. He cuts it with the sword. His hands are still bound, but he measures the feel of the sword and chuckles.]
"I never understood why some knights felt the need to carry two swords."
[BRIENNE takes an aggressive stance. JAIME is playful and cavalier, trying to goad BRIENNE into making an ill-conceived move. She remains conservative in her tactics. They take stock of one another.]
"You move well for a great beast of a woman."
[JAIME begins an attack. Their sword clash.]
"You shouldn't grimace before you lunge. It gives away the game."
[JAIME lunges again and pushes BRIENNE back. She counters, but he regains momentum. In a spinning move, they switch places.]
"Bit of a quandary for you. If you kill me, you fail Lady Stark. But if you don't kill me, I'm going to kill you."
[He attacks again. They end with their swords in a contest and switch to a game of strength and leverage.]
"You're good. Graceless, but good."
[BRIENNE uses her hilt to break the deadlock with an upward thrust of her sword. They face off again. This time, BRIENNE goes on the attack. She gains the advantage, and knees him in the stomach.]
"See? If you were willing to hurt me, you might have had me there."
"You're having fun" Tyrion noted.
"From the looks of it, I haven't had any in a year at least" Jaime mused.
[JAIME spins to increase the force of his attacking blow and drives BRIENNE back down the bridge. Their shoulders collide and they face off once again, panting heavily. JAIME starts a new assault, but BRIENNE parries and gains the upper hand. She punches him in the jaw and he reels to the bridge wall. BRIENNE's next blow misses but ignites sparks on the wall. BRIENNE grows stronger and more confident as JAIME is beaten. Exhausted, he ends up on the ground. A horse neighs just off the bridge, and BRIENNE looks to locate who has joined them. Three mounted men ride out from the woods, with additional forces behind.]
"Looks like your woman's getting the better of you if you can call that a woman."
"We enjoy a good fight. Gets our juices flowing. The Flayed Man of House Bolton. A bit gruesome for my taste."
"You sure he's the one?"
[The MAN that JAIME and BRIENNE encountered in the woods is brought forth.]
"That's him, all right. I saw him fight at the tourney for Ser Willem Frey's wedding."
"Give the man his silver."
"Let us go and my father will pay you whatever you want."
"Enough to buy me a new head? If the King in the North hears I had the Kingslayer and let him go, he'll be taking it right off. I'd rather he takes yours."
"Well… shit" Jaime sighed. The one way of escape, and the idiot brings him Stark men.